Was the Law itself perfect and holy as God first gave it?
Yes. The Law, in its full purity as God first gave it, was perfect, holy, and righteous. Romans 8 speaks of the righteousness of the Law being fulfilled in believers. Paul still insists Gentile believers are not under the Mosaic Law but under grace.
Les explains that the Law as God originally gave it was perfect, holy, and righteous in its full purity, as Romans 8 indicates. In Galatians, Paul's whole thrust was to prove to Gentile believers in Galatia that they were not under the Mosaic Law but under grace. The Law is described as weak and beggarly in that setting, yet they thought they wanted to return to bondage under it. Paul strongly opposed that return. For believers now in Christ, the righteousness of the Law is fulfilled in them; they have experienced salvation by believing the Gospel.
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
More Questions
Why could the law not do what God required?
What the law could not do, it could not do because it was weak from the fleshly side, from man's point of view.