3:13: Christ
has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is every one that
hangs on a tree.”
In Deuteronomy alone,
there are over 144 curses. This is not
inclusive of all of the O.T. curses.
However, every curse of the law is broken for the Christian at the
cross. It is not automatic. It has to be appropriated by Faith,
the Holy
Spirit of God and the Blood of Jesus.
This includes the
curse of the woman, curse of the man, curse of the ground (Genesis 3: 10-19)
and the curse of the tithe.
This chapter is mine,
mine, mine!!! I could almost preach it
blindfolded.
Paul wades into His
Galatians in Chapter 3, Verse 1-2: “O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you,
that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been
evidently set forth, crucified among you?
Answer me one thing, when you came to Christ, did you receive
the Spirit by works of the law. Or by hearing of faith?
In Chapters 1 and 2,
he artfully defended his Apostleship.
Now he lets them have it. Have
you lost your wits, he asks? Everything
they have received so far is based on what Christ has done for the, not what
they have done for Him.
Paul reckons the only
reason they would trade the Gospel of grace for a gospel of dead works is
because they have been hypnotized. To
jar them from their stupor he asks: did
you receive the Spirit by doing or by believing? They were fully aware that the forgiveness of
sins and son-ship in Christ came via the Spirit. They didn’t done thing to receive the Spirit
other than believe the Gospel. Surely
you must be under some kind of spell, says Paul.
(Vs. 3-4): “Are
you foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the
flesh? Have you suffered so many things
in vain? If it be yet in vain?
If one begins a life
by means of the Holy Spirit, it is only reasonable such a life cannot be
completed by any other agency. What the
Holy Spirit begins, only He can complete.
In effect Paul is saying, “Do you think by performing rites and
ceremonies you can bring to completion that which only the Sprit could start?
Why throw away all
the rewards you gained suffering for the Name of Jesus? Are you ready to trade them off for the
worthless codes of the Law?
(Vs. 5): He, therefore, that ministers to you the Spirit, and works
miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of
faith?
Answer this too. Paul’s question has an obvious answer: the Galatians didn’t even know the Law, much
less receive the Spirit because they observed it. The Galatians were already enjoying the
confirming gifts of the Holy Spirit. The
Law was still unknown to them. Thus the
charisma of the Spirit belongs exclusively to the Gospel. The Law offers no experience with the
Spirit. On the other hand, those
receiving Christ via the gospel, thrill to the “witness of the Spirit” the
instant they are saved. (1John 5:10)
If the Holy Spirit
cannot come by Law, then neither can justification. If the Spirit comes by faith only, then so
does justification; consequently, those passing over to the Gospel from Judaism
must receive the Holy Spirit, but no one can receive the Spirit by doing the
works of the law.
This helps to clarify
how in many Pentecostal circles people have the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, but
have not yet been sanctified to reveal Jesus Christ in their lives.
(Vs. 6): “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was
accounted to him for righteousness”
Abraham was the first
Jew. He was justified before the Law was
given. How? By Faith, i.e. he believed God. Note how he was circumcised after he was
declared righteous (Rom.
4:11). Thus, faith was established as
God’s means of justification before the Law was given. The Jews, however, felt they shared in
Abraham’s justification because they were his literal descendants. They counted on the rite of circumcision (the
covenant sign between Abraham and God) to make them immune from the Law’s
penalty.
Paul was as strongly
aware as any Jew that the promise belonged to the children of Abraham! Paul answers that by asking another question:
what was it that brought the blessing to Abraham in the first place? Faith, of course. Therefore those exhibiting like faith are the
true sons (also heirs) of Abraham.
Literal descendancy does not automatically bring the blessing of
Abraham, but faith does.
(Vs. 8 & 9): “And
the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith,
preached before the gospel to Abraham, saying, ‘In you
shall all nations be blessed.” So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful
Abraham.”
It was God’s intention that Israel, by virtue of her natural
descent from Abraham, should be a people of faith. In His own time, God meant for this people to
receive the Holy Spirit to became a quickened nation in which God Himself
lived.
But alas, Israel,
as a nation, turned from trust God for righteousness to seek her own
righteousness under the law.
With the promised Holy Spirit coming only by way of faith
of Abraham, Israel forfeited her exalted
position as the heir to this promise.
However, this forfeiture did not affect the gentiles. In his promise to Abraham, God included the
Gentiles. Yet, they too would receive
the Spirit only as they exhibited the same faith as Abraham. Paul is eager to show that it was God’s
intention for all nations to receive the Spirit.
Paul argues: the promise of the Spirit had nothing to do
with the Law, having been made to Abraham long before the Law was given, And it
is by the Spirit that life and the blessings of God come to men.
(Vs. 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 continues not
in all things which are written in the law to do them.”
A curse is the opposite of blessing. The faith-life offers blessing. Life under the law brings only a curse. Law and faith work on different
pincip0les. Justification by faith is
based on what God does for man, whereas justification under Law is based on
what man does for God. They proceed in
different directions. The Law requires
perfect obedience in all things—continually.
It demands perfection. There is
no room for failure.
I you are a penny short in your tithe, under the law, you
are under a curse.
Seeking righteousness under the Law is like a man scaling a
cliff—one slip and he’s dead—for the Law demands the full penalty for even the
tiniest transgression. He who violates
any part of the Law is guilty of breaking the whole Law (Ja. 2:10).
Then is everyone under the curse of the law until he
receives the Spirit by faith?
(Vs. 13) Christ rescued us from the curse of the Law by
making Himself a curse for us when He was crucified. The Law is clear on that, too: Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.
Paul has mentioned two curses in connection with the law.
(1)
Upon all failing to fulfill the Law’s conditions.
(2)
Upon those hung upon a tree.
While Jesus did not break the law Himself, He did accept
the total guilt of us as Lawbreakers.
For “the Lord has laid on Him the
iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6b)
thus both curses fell on Christ.
The first which bespeaks the guilt of sin, and the second, which
bespeaks the punishment for sin.
(Vs. 14): and why
did he become this curse: “that the blessing of Abraham might come on
the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the
Spirit through faith.
When a man comes to Jesus, two amazing things happen:
(1) He is baptized
into Christ.
(2) Christ indwells
him.
This is precisely as Jesus said it would be. In the days of his earthly ministry, He told
His disciples repeatedly that, even as He stood before them, His Father was in
Him and He was in His Father (John 14: 10, 11).
Then he said a coming day (Pentecost) would find Him in
them and they would be in Him, in exactly the same relationship (John
14:20). Paul is saying that believers
have the justification which Abraham enjoyed and also the Spirit which was
promised. Abraham received
justification, but not the Spirit, for the Spirit was not given until Jesus was
glorified (John 7:39).
After Pentecost, Jews and Gentiles alike could receive
Christ (in the spirit) to experience both justification and son-ship (1 John
3:2).
What, if anything, did the Law do to the promise God made
to Abraham?
(Vs. 15-16) “Brethren
I speak after the manner of men; (everyday life) though it is but a man’s covenant,
yet if it be confirmed, no man disannuls, or adds to. Now to Abraham and his
seed were the promises made. He said not, And to seeds, as of many; but as
of one. And to
your seed, which is Christ.”
Paul is relaxing some now.
Having let off steam, his tone is softer. First his Galatians were “foolish”, now they
are brethren. Resorting to a legal
analogy from daily life, he argues that even in business there is a big difference
between a contract and a will. A
contract has binding conditions between two parties, while a will is one man’s
promise his heirs. If the Law, a
contract between God and Israel
and made many years later could somehow invalidate His sworn promise to
Abraham, God’s integrity would be at stake.
If the works of the Law have anything to do with justification, then
God’s pledge to Abraham and Christ is broken.
If God’s promise to one man can be voided, because He later
makes an agreement with different heirs, then God’s honor is in question. God cannot be untrue to His own nature. The promise to Abraham is as valid as the
fact that God will not lie to Himself.
(Vs. 17 & 18):”And
this I saw, 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 no effect.
For it the inheritance is of the law, it is no more of promise: but God
gave it to Abraham by promise.”
God promised this inheritance to Abraham with no strings
attached. The promise was not made to
Abraham alone, but to one other Person, his Heir. If the word “heirs” had been used, then
national Israel
would have been intended. But the
promise was to a sole heir, Christ.
This means that the promise cannot be separated from Jesus
in any way. As the solitary heir, he
becomes the universal Heir, inheriting the promise for His people. It follows then, for anyone to participate in
the promise, he must be “in Christ”.
How does one get there?
He is baptized (placed—immersed) there by the promised Spirit (1 Cor.
12:13).
Any Jew or Gentile who receives the Lord via the Spirit is
born into the family of God. Christ, the
Head of the spiritual family inherited God’s promise to share it with all who
are in him who are “joint-heirs”. (Rom 8:17)
(Vs. 19-20) Why then
was the law given? Wherefore then serves the law?
It was added to the redemption program because of transgressions, until
the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by
angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a
mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.”
The entrance of the Law into Israel’s history was a business
deal. First god made definite proposals
to the people. Then they formally
accepted His conditions vowing, “All that
the Lord has spoken we will do.”(Ex. 19:8)
Thus, it was a binding agreement between two parties. A will on the other hand is executed solely
by its maker and designed to carry out his wishes alone. His heirs receive the benefits simply because
he is pleased to bestow them.
God’s will (promise) freely pledged the Spirit to all
exhibiting the Faith o Abraham. However,
it didn’t become effective until the death of Christ (Heb. 9:16).
Paul says there is as much difference between the Law and
God's (3 fold) promise as there is between a will and a contract. The Law, an entirely separate instrument was
executed long after God’s promises were made and had no effect on them
whatsoever.
God appeared to Abraham in Person (a theophany) making His
promises directly. This is the way God
likes to deal with people. But in giving
the Law, which had to do with sin and punishment, He stayed in the background
and worked through agents. Angels
represented God and Moses represented man.
That way the very giving of the Law dramatized the separation between
God and man due to sin. God is not
pleased to have mediators separating Him from His people. He prefers to bring them into immediate
fellowship with Himself. But sin made it
necessary, so Moses and the legal priesthood were used to keep man at a distance
from god. The gospel too has a Mediator
(1st. Tim 2:5). Not one of separation,
but of reconciliation. Him Himself,
Jesus represents both god and mankind.
So that all parties can meet in Him.
Yet even his role as the Gospel mediator is temporary, for when He has
reconciled all things to God, He will vacate the mediator’s office (1 Cor.
15:24). Then we ourselves will be face
to face with God as he desires.
“Then comes the end,
when he shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father: when he
shall have put down all rules and all authority and power. For He must reign, until he has put all
enemies under His feet.”
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