Brother, Paul is talking about Judaism's "human effort" to obey the law by adding their own rules. Paul has grown beyond the law to speak instead of the purpose of the law to take away sin. Paul realized that you can obey the law while sabotaging its purpose to eliminate sin. For example, in order not to use God's name in vain, Judaism added the human rule not to pronounce God's name to help obey God's law by preventing them from having to learn not to misuse His name. Judaism didn't realize that putting their faith in obeying the law with their "human effort" of their own rule leads to death because it doesn't take away sin. Doing what God originally asked takes away sin, which they sabotaged to not take away sin with their replacement of not pronouncing God's name at all.
Tell me, you who want to live under the law, do you know what the law actually says (what is sin)? The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife. The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of his promise. These two women serve as an illustration of God’s two covenants. The first woman, Hagar, represents Mount Sinai where people received the law that enslaved them. And now Jerusalem is just like Mount Sinai in Arabia, because she and her children live in slavery to the law (added by the translators when it refers to slavery to sin). But the other woman, Sarah, represents the heavenly Jerusalem. She is the free woman, and she is our mother. As Isaiah said, “Rejoice, O childless woman, you who have never given birth! Break into a joyful shout, you who have never been in labor! For the desolate woman now has more children than the woman who lives with her husband!” And you, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, just like Isaac. But you are now being persecuted by those who want you to keep the law, just as Ishmael, the child born by human effort, persecuted Isaac, the child born by the power of the Spirit. But what do the Scriptures say about that? “Get rid of the slave and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” So, dear brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman; we are children of the free woman. (Galatians 4:21-31 NLT)
Judaism, replacing God's laws with their own rules, closed heaven to everyone following their rules instead of God's law. We should not follow their "human efforts" in their own rules, but what God taught us, which does remove sin, because God is not a "blind guide" like humans are to use laws to remove sin.
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either. “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are! “Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you! For you say that it means nothing to swear ‘by God’s Temple,’ but that it is binding to swear ‘by the gold in the Temple.’ Blind fools! Which is more important—the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred? And you say that to swear ‘by the altar’ is not binding, but to swear ‘by the gifts on the altar’ is binding. How blind! For which is more important—the gift on the altar or the altar that makes the gift sacred? When you swear ‘by the altar,’ you are swearing by it and by everything on it. And when you swear ‘by the Temple,’ you are swearing by it and by God, who lives in it. And when you swear ‘by heaven,’ you are swearing by the throne of God and by God, who sits on the throne. (Matthew 23:13-22 NLT)
Instead of Paul talking about laws that led to slavery to sin in Judaism, he skips to the purpose of the law to take away sin by speaking of sin instead of law. Jesus has freed us from Judaism's slavery to sin through His cycle of forgiveness faster than animal sacrifices. Now we can handle the misuse of God's name, which was difficult before due to the slow animal sacrifices compared to the faster praying to our High Priest Jesus for the forgiveness of past sins, allowing us to deal with more sin than was possible before with the slow animal sacrifices. Paul talks about the removal of sin, which God accomplishes by giving us laws to obey through practice. Practice Jesus makes possible through His forgiveness cycle, which Paul calls slavery, which deals with sin now faster than was possible with animal sacrifices.
Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living. (Romans 6:15-18 NLT)
United in our hope for the soon return of Jesus, Jorge
