In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul makes a distinction between the Old Covenant and New Covenant, between the law and gospel. What is made clear is that the law cannot save anybody and was never intended to save anybody. All the law can do is point to our failure to keep it and earn is condemnation; it’s only because Jesus kept the whole law and was punished in our place that we can be made right before God. The law and the gospel are both necessary for our salvation.