The Curse Of The Law

Galatians 3:10-14 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. 11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. 13 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: 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Christians Are Under The Law Of Faith And Love,
Not Of Works

The Mosaic Law did not bring a blessing to God’s Israel. In fact, it wasn’t supposed to bring a blessing. God has never ruled His people by Law, but by Promise and by Love. The Law was not given until Mount Sinai, and it was given to Israel to show them that they needed the love of God.

Galatians 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

Paul is quoting the Bible of his day, from

Deuteronomy 27:26 (ESV) CURSED be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

The Law demanded compliance, or else the curse. God told Israel:

Deuteronomy 28:15-21 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these CURSED shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: 16 CURSED shalt thou be in the city, and CURSED shalt thou be in the field. 17 CURSED shall be thy basket and thy store. 18 CURSED shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 19 CURSED shalt thou be when thou comest in, and CURSED shalt thou be when thou goest out. 20 The Lord shall send upon thee CURSED, vexation, and rebuke, in ALL that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. 21 The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until He have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.

The Law had to be kept perfectly, something that no one but Jesus Christ has ever done. The Law did not bless, but CURSE every aspect of your life.

Illustrate: Keeping the Law is not like climbing a ladder to Heaven. It is like climbing a chain to Heaven, a chain you have forged by your works. If you have just one link insecure, one link weak, then that chain will not support the weight of your soul. The Scripture says:

James 2:10-12 (NKJV) For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. 11 For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.

The Law was never given to man to save us. The Law defines sin, but does not eradicate it. The Bible says:

Romans 3:23 (NKJV) all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God ..

Romans 6:23 (NKJV) the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Illustrate: Sin kills. The Law points out sin. It diagnoses that which makes us sick, but will do nothing to correct the sickness. The Law condemns us, but cannot bless us. Consider this: Have you ever seen anyone in the local paper being commended for keeping the Law? If I keep all the Laws of Columbia, Tennessee, and obey every jot and tittle for twenty years, I will never be recognized in the paper as an “outstanding citizen”. BUT if I rob one store and get caught, what happens? I broke the Law. I’m arrested. My picture is in the paper, and people would shun me. The Law does not reward, but penalizes.

God’s People Live By Faith, Not Law

Galatians 3:11 But that no man {oudeis} is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

Word Study: The Bible is clear that NO ONE {oudeis}, not “no man” but “no living being” is “justified” or made right in the eyes of God by the Law.

The concept of us as humans “making it better by our works” can be traced all the way back to the Garden of Eden.

When God put Adam in the Garden of Eden, the Bible says that God put him in a perfect place, a perfect environment, and gave him a perfect wife and a perfect life. God did this because He loved Adam. The Bible says that:

Genesis 2:15-17 (KJV) And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. [16] And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: [17] But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

God did not give Adam a LAW. God gave Adam life.
God gave Adam love.

God gave Adam a wife. God gave Adam something to do. But God in love warned Adam against taking fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Why? Because God loved Adam, and God gave Adam everything he needed for a great life. God warned Adam that, as created beings, we do not have the capacity to fully comprehend good and evil. God’s warning was not,

“I will kill you if you eat of this particular tree”

No, God’s warning was,

“If you eat of this particular tree, your actions will kill you”
Sin is to walk away from God Who is Life.
Sin is self suicide!

When Adam sinned, did he die? He didn’t die physically, but he died spiritually, for his action separated him from God. What was the first thing Adam did when he spiritually died? Adam tried to make it better by his works.

Genesis 3:7 … the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

Adam led Eve and together they tried to cover up their spiritual death with man made solutions. Adam said, “I see I’m naked – let’s make clothes”. When God came into the Garden and asked, “Where art thou?” (Genesis 3:9), it was not because God lost His omnipotence. It was because there was now a sin barrier between God and man, a barrier that Adam put in place. Rather than repent, Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent, and none of this made things any better. Adam brought a curse into the whole world, the curse of spiritual death.

The Law exposes sin, but does not dispose of sin. Adam has always either (1) made excuses for sin, or (2) tried to “fix” sin by his works. It’s like taking aspirin to cure cancer – it does no good.

When Adam sinned, God gave no Law. Instead. God promised a Redeemer. God told Satan, that old Serpent:

Genesis 3:15 … I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

This was the first promise of the Messiah. Adam’s fig leaf works and blame shifting did not fix his transgression against God’s love.

Galatians 3:11 But that no man {oudeis} is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

Those who are JUST, or righteous in God’s eyes, must live BY FAITH. We cannot fix ourselves – God must fix us. It is PRIDE that makes us think we can make ourselves better. This is what God said through the Prophet:

Habakkuk 2:4 (NKJV) Behold the PROUD, His soul is not upright in Him; But the just shall live by his faith.

Those who are pride filled, full of themselves, believe that they can make their souls UPRIGHT IN HIM, righteous with God. The lost will claim the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the fruit of what they think is their own goodness, and demand that God consider it to be “enough” for Heaven. This evil concept lies dormant in every man’s mind. When someone dies, people say things like:

“If anyone deserved to go to Heaven, so and so is there!”, or
“When they left this earth, Heaven was made better by their coming”, or
“Our loss is Heaven’s gain”.

These are statements of PRIDE. The proud person, the person who “knows” they are right with God, relying on their own abilities as the Pharisees did – that person’s soul is NOT UPRIGHT in HIM, in God. No, those who are saved must “live by faith”. What do we have faith in.

We live by faith in God’s promises,
faith in God’s love for us.

Galatians 3:12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

This is a quotation from:

Leviticus 18:5 You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.

Preach: God did not give Israel the Law until fifty days after they left Egypt, when they got to the base of Mount Sinai. God only gave Israel the Law after they repeatedly called His love into question. Up to this point the only “Law” they had was to follow the pillar of fire at night, and the pillar of cloud by day. To follow God, to trust God, to have faith in His love.

God did not give Noah the Law, but the Covenant of Grace and a promise. Noah believed the promise of God, and did not die with the world, but by faith rose above the judgment of God.

God did not give Abraham the Law, but the Covenant of Grace and a promise. Abraham believed the promise of God, by faith was saved from sexual death. It was faith that gave Abraham his child Isaac, faith in the goodness of God.

God did not give Moses and Israel the Law while they were in Egypt, but the Covenant of Blood and a promise. God told Israel:

Exodus 12:13 (NKJV) Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

No Law saved Israel when they passed through the Red Sea. No Law gave Israel manna and meat in the desert. No Law brought water out of the rock.

Jesus Saves Us From The Curse Of The Law

Galatians 3:13-14 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: 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

The word “REDEEMED” is a very interesting one. This is the Greek exagorazō (pro. ex-ag-or-ad’-zo), which means “to pay a price so as to recover someone from the power of another, to ransom one who is kidnapped”. When God made Adam, God made Adam the Federal Head of the earth. God created the earth and all that was in it, and gave stewardship of the earth over the Adam. When Adam walked away from God, he gave his stewardship over to sin and Satan.

All of humanity became servants of sin because of Adam. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a SLAVE to sin (John 8:34). Without God, we are “sold as slaves to sin” (Romans 7:14).

The sinner sins because they are slaves to sin. The Bible tells us that “the Law is spiritual” (Romans 7:14), “the Law is good if one uses it legitimately” (1 Timothy 1:8), “the Law is holy, and its commandments are holy, right, and good” (Romans 7:12). The Law is not evil, but a mirror that shows us that we are slaves to sin if left to ourselves.

This is where redemption comes in.

A slave cannot redeem themselves. They must be redeemed. Adam put us into slavery. We can’t get out – unless God gets us out. And God can only get us out of slavery LAWFULLY. God cannot violate His own Law. His Law is right, and holy. So Jesus came to this earth to save us.

Galatians 3:13 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:

No one ever lived perfectly under the Law but Jesus. The Bible says of our Lord, that He is the “Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29, 36). Adam disbelieved the love of God, and brought sin into the world by eating from a forbidden tree. Jesus Christ went to a horrible tree, the Tree of Calvary, for us. The Law pronounced us all slaves to sin. But Jesus, Who was without sin, shed His Blood on that horrid tree for us.

1 Peter 1:18-19 (ESV) …knowing that you were RANSOMED {lytroō, pro. loo-tro’-o} from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, [19] but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

The Law made provision to temporarily cover sin with the shed blood of a lamb without defect, without blemish. Jesus was without defect. Our Lord Jesus Christ “was in every way TEMPTED AS WE ARE, and YET WITHOUT SIN” (Hebrews 4:15). We suffer temptation. Jesus suffered temptation.

Jesus was harassed by Satan in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11).
Jesus was hated on by Pharisees and Saduccees (Luke 20; John 5).
Jesus was lied about, and tried (Mark 14:57).
Jesus was betrayed by a dear friend (Matthew 26:49-50).
Jesus died associated with two criminals (Lluke 23:32),
Jesus was abandoned by both Father and Spirit (Psalm 22:1; Matthew 27:46)

Jesus was literally made “a CURSE IN OUR PLACE”. He did this so that when we receive Him as Lord and Savior, His actions redeem us from the slave market of sin. We are told:

Galatians 3:14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Israel before the Law followed Pillar of Fire and Pillar of Cloud, this being the physical manifestation of God. Under Christ, we follow the Holy Spirit Who indwells us to “guide us into all truth” (John 16:13). Paul put it this way:

Romans 6:6 (KJV) Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Christians are NOT slaves to sin. We do not “practice” sin. We may sin, but when we do, we immediately feel the guilt of it, and run back into the arms of Jesus. The Apostle said:

1 John 3:6 (NKJV) Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.

1 John 5:18 (NKJV) We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.

Those who are born again of God, saved by Grace through faith in Christ, may sin but do not practice sin as normal. The born again believer may violate the Law of God, but will not remain in violation. We do not belong to the world, nor to sin, nor to Satan. We belong to God our Savior. We do what we do not to earn salvation, but because we are “new creatures in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

When someone tells me “I’m a Christian”, but in their lives are living in perpetual sexual sin without repentance, I know that they are not Christians but SLAVES. Christians serve the Kingdom. Christians serve Christ, and glorify God.

Though both Jews and Gentiles were slaves to sin because of our forefather Adam, God never gave the Law to the Gentiles, but to the Jews. And yet, in Abraham God wanted to save both Jews AND Gentiles from our enslavement to sin.

Galatians 3:15-16 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. 16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made (see Genesis 12:7). He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

When men make a covenant or a contract, that contract is binding until it is fulfilled. This is what Paul means by “I speak after the manner of men”. When you sign a contract with me, that contract stays in effect until it is satisfied, or until I myself eradicate it. God made a contract with Abraham – not through the Law (which did not come for 430 years – but God to man. God told Abraham”

Genesis 17:7-8 (ESV) I will establish My covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your OFFSPRING after you.

God made an everlasting covenant with Abraham, not just with him, but with his OFFSPRING, or his SEED. In Genesis 12:7 God promised Abraham that his SEED {Hebrew zeraʿ} would be blessed. God did not say “to your SEEDS I will make My covenant”, but “TO YOUR SEED (singular)”. God’s promise was not to fallen man, but to the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus is the “Seed of the Woman” spoken of in:

Genesis 3:15 (KJV) I will put enmity {make you enemies} between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and HER SEED; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

God made His Covenant with Abraham long before there was any Law of God. The Covenant with Abraham was that he would have a son, and a nation through that son. But the covenant was also that a son of Abraham, The Son of God, would come and offer salvation to the whole world.

The target of the Abrahamic Covenant was not Israel, a nation enslaved to sin. The target of the Covenant was Christ Jesus, the Messiah, the One born of Abraham Who would defeat the slave market of sin!

Galatians 3:17-19 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. 18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. 19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

The Law came 430 years AFTER the Everlasting Covenant that God made with Abraham. You cannot come in years later and annul a perpetual covenant with another covenant – at least, not lawfully. For the Israelite to say “We are God’s people because we have and keep the Law” is absolutely untruthful. The Law did not erase the Abrahamic Covenant, nor the promise of the Redeemer through Abraham. Why was the Law given?

It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made

God added the Law to Israel because they continually rejected the Love of God, and repeatedly accused God of doing evil. Rather than trust God, their enslavement to sin caused them to plot against God, saying:

Numbers 14:3 (NKJV) Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”

God loved Adam, and Adam betrayed God. God loved Israel, and Israel betrayed God. But did God destroy them? No. He knew they were enslaved the sin. The Psalmist wrote:

Psalm 78:38-43 (NKJV) But {God}, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, And did not destroy them. Yes, many a time He turned His anger away, And did not stir up all His wrath; 39 For He remembered that they were but flesh, A breath that passes away and does not come again. 40 How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert! 41 Yes, again and again they tempted God, And limited the Holy One of Israel. 42 They did not remember His power: The day when He redeemed them from the enemy, 43 When He worked His signs in Egypt …

The Old Testament is a picture of a people enslaved to sin, but who did not realize it. So God gave the Law to show them that they are sin sick slaves. The Law was but temporary. It was given …

Galatians 3:19 till the SEED should come to whom the promise was made

This SEED is Jesus Christ. Jesus told us on His Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 5:17-18 (NKJV) Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

Jesus died on Calvary for our sins. When we receive Him, we receive the SEED that God promised to Abraham, and all that this SEED gives. If you have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, you are a recepient of the Everlasting Covenant that God made with Abraham. A Jew is not the physical seed of Abraham. Jew or Gentile, only those who have by faith received the SEED, Jesus Christ, only these are freed from enslavement to sin. I close with:

Romans 2:28-29 (ESV) For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

May God open your blind eyes to see Jesus. Amen and Amen!