The Curse of the Law

“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”  Galatians 3:13-14

Before I get into today’s subject, I just want to say that I love the Bible.  It is the word of the One who created the world and made available to folks like you and me so that we could personally know the Lord, have our sins forgiven, and live an abundant life of peace and joy on this earth and in eternity in a perfect environment.  So many folks are all uptight about the environment and “climate change”, predicting the end of the world as we know it.  Well, this old world is going to end but not how they envision it.  What is to come for all those who know Christ is so much better than we can ever imagine.  Of course, we have to die to get there unless Jesus returns first, but everyone is going to physically die at some point.  Am I right?  Why not trust Christ, and then there are no worries about the afterlife, climate change, or anything else that an assurance of salvation can’t settle.  OK, on to the blog.

Because all people are sinners, born with a sinful nature, separated from God, the Creator, all people are under a curse while under the law, or more specifically, while trying to live under their own set of rules, regulations, values, and morals.  While we are all cursed while living apart from God, He sent Jesus to take on this curse to His sinless life, in effect, giving relief from the guilt of sin to all who would be willing to take His life in exchange.  Paul then quoted from Deuteronomy 21:23 in which Moses wrote that those who are hung on a tree are accursed by God.  Thus, this leads us to see that it wasn’t just a co-incidence that the Roman method of crucifixion was by being nailed to a wooden cross.  This was foreordained by God in fulfilling the complete satisfaction in carrying out God’s penalty in order to justify sinners.  Man was and is under a curse, and there had to be a sinless sacrifice to represent that curse in order to satisfy a holy and righteous God.  Everyone who repents of sin and receives Christ is no longer under that curse, no longer condemned.  And that is really good news.

Christ did not come and die just for Israel, God’s chosen nation.  It is true that Jesus came through the people of Israel, for He was a Jew Himself, and that He came to the Jews first, but God had always intended for Christ’s sacrifice to cover the sins of Jews and Gentiles alike.  Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:3-9 that the fact that the Gentiles would become “fellow heirs” of God’s promise of redemption was a mystery that wasn’t revealed until the Holy Spirit came.  Thus, the promise to Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation included Gentiles as well.  Matter of fact, Abraham was a Gentile.  His family came from the land known as Babylon which was situated somewhere in the southern portions along the borders of present-day Iraq and Iran.  Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, became the father of twelve sons who became the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel, and thus Israel was born as a people chosen by God to represent Him to a world of Gentiles.  Eventually Jesus was born to become the Redeemer of all men and women who would follow Him by faith.

To emphasize the force and endurance of the covenant that God made with Abraham, Paul gave an example of a covenant or contract between two people.  Once an agreement has been reached and the contract signed by both parties, they are, by law, obligated to fulfill their part of the contract.  One party can’t decide to abandon his or her promise to fulfill his or her obligation.  The contract is supported by the full extent of the law.  Neither can one party make changes to the contract without the consent of the other party.

God’s promise or covenant was made to Abraham between Abraham and Himself in the person of Jesus Christ, Abraham’s seed because Christ descended from the line of Abraham.  The covenant was not made to Abraham’s children, but his Child, or Descendant, Christ.  It was God’s promise to provide a Savior for all who would believe in Christ, faith-based with no works involved other than the work of Christ on the cross.  However, 430 years after that promise was made to Abraham, the law was given to Moses for God’s people.  Since the promise was made between Abraham and Christ, the Mosaic law had no power to disannul the promise.  Had the promise been made to Abraham’s children, the law, made later, would have seemed to contradict the promise or perhaps supercede it, but that was never the case.  If God’s promise could have been fulfilled in the law, then the promise would have been broken, but that was and is not possible for God to break a promise or never fulfill His promise.  God will never break His promise.  Reconciliation to God can only be by faith in Christ.  The Old Testament saints were saved by believing in God’s promise and not by living by the law.

Next time:  What was the point of the law since it could never save anyone?