Section 4
was to be our custodian. The law was responsi ble for the care and protection of God's chosen people and eventually it brought them to Christ. Once we have been brought to Christ, we are justified by faith. Since faith has come—that is, since Christ has come—we are no longer under the custody of the slave.
Now we understand what is the sheepfold. Before Christ came, God put His chosen people under the custody of the law. The law was the fold. For example, if you visit the ranch country, you will discover that the sheep do not stay in the fold most of the time. Most of the year the sheep stay in the pasture. The pasture is the per manent place for them to stay, but the sheepfold is merely a temporary place. Only when the pas ture is not ready will the sheep be kept in the fold. The fold is used temporarily to keep and protect the sheep until the pasture is ready. This illustrates that Christ is the pasture, the perma nent place for the Lord's children to stay. But before Christ came, God prepared the law as the sheepfold to keep and confine His chosen peo ple temporarily.
However, when the Lord came, the Jewish religion had utilized the law to form Judaism. Judaism had become the sheepfold. Before the