What did Paul see in the gospel that let him abandon the old law system?
Paul saw the truth of the power of the Gospel of Christ—that Christ died, shed His blood, and rose from the dead. This revealed the law’s handwriting of ordinances was against us and contrary to us, so it was taken out of the way and nailed to His cross.
Les teaches that nobody understood this better than the Apostle Paul. Once Paul saw the power of the Gospel of Christ—how He died, shed His blood, and rose from the dead—he could destroy everything of the old account. In Colossians 2:14, the work of the cross blots out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which is the law. Especially the law practiced at the time of Christ had become a compilation of 613 rules and regulations. That law was contrary to human nature, and Christ took it out of the way and nailed it to His cross. Coming back to Galatians 2, once Paul helped believing Jews like himself see that the old economy had been totally done away with, he knew it was nailed to His cross. If he then rebuilt what he had destroyed by putting converts back under the law, he would be building again that which he had destroyed.