Curse, Faith and Redemption

Take your Bibles and turn with me to Galatians chapter 3 as we consider good news today. As we come to the Lord's table next week again we'll resume our series on worry and anxiety. This week we want to concentrate on what Jesus has done for us at the cross. You follow as I read Galatians chapter 3, verses 1 through 14. O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you?

It was before your eyes that Jesus was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this. Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? did you suffer so many things in vain if indeed it was in vain does he who supplies the spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law or by hearing with faith just as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as as righteousness know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham and the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preach the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, In you shall all the nations be blessed.

So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, and do them. Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law. For the righteous shall live by faith, but the law is not of faith.

Rather, the one who does them shall live by them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree, so that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised spirit through faith. Father, now as we open your word, we pray that you would open our minds again, even though we might think this is a familiar theme, that we might even be tempted to yawn at the great news of salvation I pray today that you would open our hearts so that we would see the greatness of what you have accomplished and the glory of the gospel Help us now as we consider these things in Jesus name Amen We all have a performance mentality.

Here's the standard of quality. Here's the list. Now, if you fulfill all those obligations, if you attain a good record, you get the job. You get the raise. You're recognized as the best. Approval of man is showered upon you.

Fulfilling the obligations. It's all about performance. For many, the same standard rules in their relationship with God. God accepts you if you obey him. He looks at your obedience and says, you're a good fellow. Or you're a righteous woman. and so I'm going to accept you as one of my own.

You fulfilled the obligations. You've done all that I've asked you to do and so I'm going to accept you. I'm going to say that you're a righteous person. He says, here's my law. Now meet its obligations and I will say that you are righteous. That is, I will justify you.

That's what that term means, to justify. It means to declare righteous. To justify means that God says you are a righteous person. You have right standing. But the Apostle Paul says that is a competing gospel. The gospel that says God will accept you if you do what's right.

God will accept you if you fulfill the obligations he's laid upon you in his law. In fact, the Apostle Paul says in chapter one that such a gospel brings the curse of God and anyone who preaches that gospel deserves the curse of God. And so that sounds really serious. Well, Paul, what are you talking about then? If that's not how we gain acceptance with God, then how?

Because you're telling me I'm cursed if I even tell someone that. Well, we need to turn our attention again this morning to the faraway province of Galatia. Let's recall a few things. Paul and Barnabas on that first missionary journey, established congregations of Christians in the province of Galatia by preaching the gospel of Christ for the forgiveness of sins and the rescue from the present evil age And yet now these congregations were turning to another gospel not the one that they had preached but the one that came from someone else a gospel that would result in curses from God.

They began to believe a performance gospel preached by others after Paul and Barnabas had left. And it was saying this, in order to find salvation, You must first be incorporated into the people of God. You must take the badge of God's people's identity, which is circumcision. And you submit to that and become counted as one of the people of God. And in order for God to declare you righteous, you must become righteous through your obedience to the law.

Because circumcision then brings you under the lordship of the law. Circumcision says, now I am committed to this covenant of keeping the law of God. You see, they said, the law governs your relationship with God. That's the gospel they were preaching. So the Apostle Paul responds with this in chapter 3, verses 1 through 5. He says first to the Galatians, recall your own experience.

Recall your own experience. Look to the cross. Jesus died for your sins. and if you could gain a declaration of righteousness through keeping the law then jesus died for nothing he died for nothing he goes on and he asked what requirements did you meet in order to receive the spirit and and again the spirit was the sign that god had accepted them what did you do in order to gain the spirit he said you did nothing your acceptance was not based on on any performance your your gift of the gift of the spirit was not yours because of what you did so do you think God's going to change now you got the spirit through through belief and now you're going to perfect yourselves on your own and then he says in our text this morning verses 6 through 14 that is what your experience says but what does the scripture say what do the scriptures say to you about this matter in order to show that salvation does not come by observing the law he turns now to the scriptures.

First he looked at their experience. Now he turns to the scriptures. What do the scriptures say about your acceptance with God? What do the scriptures say about God declaring you righteous First thing he does is say consider Abraham Consider Abraham verses 6 through 9 By the way I believe that verse 6 should go with the next paragraph Okay, there's a paragraph break.

End of the sentence at the end of verse 5. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Now then, know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, And you shall all the nations be blessed. So then those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Now, why would he turn to Abraham? Why would he turn their attention to Abraham? These agitators, these teachers that had followed them, taught that in order for God to look on you favorably, for God to accept you, for God to declare you righteous. In order for that to happen, in order for you to have all the privileges of God's people, you had to become a son of Abraham.

You had to become a son of Abraham. Suppose, let's call him Tepes Vlad. Suppose Tepes Vlad comes from Romania and he wants to become a United States citizen. He wants all the rights and privileges of United States citizenship. He wants to become one of us. What does he have to do?

He wasn't born into it, so what does he have to do? He'd have to fill out all the appropriate documents with the appropriate photographs and fingerprinting. He has to have an interview with an INS official. And then he'd have to take classes in English and civics, followed by tests in English and civics, exams. Finally, he'd have to take an oath that he would uphold the Constitution of our country.

After all that had happened, Vlad would be considered a citizen of the United States with all the same rights and privileges that you have as a born citizen. He'd have them all. But he would have to go through all of these steps in order to gain those rights and privileges. And so, for these false teachers, you must become part of the people of God. You must become a son of Abraham, as defined by the law.

That is, you must be circumcised, and then you must submit to circumcision, which is the identity badge. of the people of God from the Old Testament. That's what set you apart. And then you must begin to obey the law covenant that God made with his people. Now you have to obey the law. All this in order to become a son of Abraham. You see what they're saying?

In order for you to be right with God, you have to become a son of Abraham. How do you do that? Through circumcision and in commitment to obey the law. And Paul replies, you don't understand one bit. God's dealing with Abraham himself. You don't get it.

You don't even understand Abraham. You've got the wrong idea to begin with. And so he turns to the Scriptures. In fact, he quotes Genesis 15, verse 6, where he says, verse 6, Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. He's quoting straight from the Old Testament. You heard it this morning from Genesis chapter 15, verse 6.

Abraham believed God and God reckoned him as a righteous person. That is not saying his faith was a righteous act, so God counted him righteous. Rather, he says, because he believed God's promise. God reckoned him. God counted him. God accounted righteousness to him.

So he reckoned him righteous. He counted him righteous. He even accounted righteousness to him. God declared Abraham righteous, not because of his obedience, but because of what? But because of his faith. He took God at his word.

He just said, okay, if that's what you say, I've got no son, but you're telling me, I've got no heir, but you're telling me that as the stars are in the sky, that's how many descendants I will have? I believe you. And on the basis of that bare, naked trust in God, God declared him righteous. So Paul says, understand this. You become children of Abraham through faith.

You become children of Abraham. Know then, verse 7, that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. Not those who have been circumcised and committed to obeying the law. Those who are of faith are the sons of Abraham. You become children of Abraham through faith. Not because of obedience to the demand of circumcision or the obedience to the law.

Do you want to enter the realm where you can enjoy all the privileges of citizenship You don do anything You just trust You just believe You want to be a son of Abraham Then it faith not obedience that gets you there That's his point. That's his point. If you want to become part of the people of God, you trust God in Christ. Now, none of this should really surprise you, because if you read the covenant that God made with Abraham, It looked ahead to the day when God would justify not just Abraham, but Gentiles by faith.

Those outside, the outsiders. Do you see what he's saying here? He's saying even the outsiders don't have to go through all this stuff. Just like Tepesh Vlad had to go through all those steps in order to become a citizen. He's saying, just like Abraham, you're counted righteous not because of what you do, but like Abraham, because of believing. and that you become a son of Abraham by believing.

And God saw that Gentiles, the outsiders, would become part of his people by believing, would be declared righteous by believing. He says, the promise to Abraham looked ahead to the day when God would justify not just Abraham, but Gentiles by faith. So then, those who are of faith, he says, And you shall all the nations be blessed, verse 8, In you shall all the nations be blessed.

Nations is a term used for Gentiles. OK. All of the nations, Gentiles, will be blessed through you, Abraham. Therefore, those who have faith, not those who have obedience, not those who are circumcised, are reckoned righteous along with Abraham. Abraham believed and not worked and God declared him righteous. You also believe and God declares you righteous.

So you too, along with Abraham, have been given a right standing with God through faith, not through obedience. So consider Abraham, he says. Abraham was counted as righteous on the basis of faith, not on the basis of obedience. The same is true of you. You are counted righteous. You are in right standing with God on the basis of faith. not anything you have done.

Well, he doesn't leave us there. In verses 10 through 12 then he says consider the law First he says consider Abraham Now the second thing he says is consider the law Verse 10, for all who rely on works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, curse be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, and do them. Now, it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for the righteous shall live by faith.

But the law is not of faith. Rather, the one who does them shall live by them. Consider the law. Now he brings up the law because these teachers had said, put yourself under this law. For if you do, you have full and acceptable life before God. Put yourself under the law.

Circumcision means you're coming under the law. put yourself under that law by the way isn't that what a lot of people believe today don't they still believe that they still believe i'll be acceptable to god if i accumulate so much obedience right paul replies you don't have any idea what it means to put yourself under the law he says let me explain to you what you're gonna what you're saying if you say, I'll put myself under God's law. I'll do my best and God will declare me righteous. I'll do my best and God will declare me righteous.

He says, you don't understand what it means then to be under the law. Let me tell you what it means to be under the law. What happens when you put yourself under the law as a means of gaining God's favor? What happens then? You know, most people think to seek God's favor by obeying the laws, like going to a bookstore, going to Amazon and ordering the book Ten Principles for a Good Life.

And they say, you know, this looks like a good book. They buy the book and that book says to you, if you want to be happy, if you want to be happy, then be honest, be content, don't covet, and take one day off a week from work. And then you'll have a good life. but what happens if you lose interest in the book? What happens if you lose interest in the book?

Or you just say, you know, that's interesting but it's not for me. I just don't even want to do all those things. Well then you just don have a good life It not as good as it could have been Right And that how many people think about the law They think well God gave us this law and if I obey it it be good But you know if I don so it won be so good I'll live with it, right?

But Paul says that's not the way the law of God operates. Here's what he says. if you lose interest or decide to live by another way, then you end up cursed and condemned by the law. The law doesn't say, oh, okay, well, I'm sorry, it didn't work out for you. The law says, if you even walk away from me, you're damned, you're cursed, you're condemned. You see, the law of God does not just tell you what to do. listen the law of God does not just tell you what to do it also tells what it will do to you if you abandon it or if you choose not to obey it you know you need to always beware of anyone that says to you if you want God to declare you righteous then obey his law someone says but I'll do my best I'll just do my best and I'll be okay with God I was outside one day I was mowing the lawn when a couple stopped.

Drove in the driveway and stopped. And they came out and they said, Ah, you're busy. We'll come another time. And I'm thinking, I know who these people are. And so, a few weeks later they came back. I wasn't mowing the lawn.

So I said, okay, we'll talk. And so they start out with, Do you think this is all that God has? No, there's a better world coming. Great. Do you want to be a part of that? I said, sure.

By the way, I never identified myself as a churchgoer, or no way was I going to say I was a pastor. And so I said, sure. And so they started to tell me how to do that. And it was obeying the law of God. And so I said, okay, let me ask you something. Like, what's the tipping point?

He says, what do you mean? I said, so how much do I have to obey to get there? he says well you got to do your best I said okay so what is my best what's the is it like 60% or is it 80% or is it 95% obedience that gets me there and he says well see you just got to do your very best No, but what is the best? How much do you have to do to get there? Right?

And he couldn't answer me. So I started telling him how. It was funny, it was the last thing he said to me was, you remind me of my brother. He's a Baptist in West Virginia. I said, oh, well, that's interesting. But anyway, the point is, he was saying, you've got to do your best.

But Paul says, if you come under the law, best isn't good enough. You've got to do everything. Everything. If you choose to gain God's favor by obedience to the law, you will end up cursed. Because the law demands everything. Everything.

Clearly, no one is justified. He says clearly no one is justified by obedience to the law. It is evident, verse 11, that no one is justified before God by the law. Okay? No one. Paul again says, look at the scripture.

Specifically, he's quoting now Habakkuk chapter 2, verse 4. and God clearly says that you're reckoned righteous by faith, not by obedience. The righteous will live by faith. Righteousness is associated with faith alone and not with obedience. The law, the only thing the law can do is bring a curse. It can never bring a declaration of righteousness. Here's what he's saying. the law was never intended to do that.

It never was intended to bring a declaration of righteousness. So, you drive out of town and you get about two miles out of town. You come to that stop sign where there's hardly any traffic and there's a police car sitting there because people are always just running through that stop sign, right? They're just rolling through it all the time. And that policeman is sitting there.

And so you drive up, you stop, full stop. You stop and you sit there for 30 seconds You not going to get a ticket And then you drive on And that police car pulls out pulls you over and you go what going on And he walks up to you and you roll down the window and he says here, I want to give you a commendation for obeying the law of God, or the law of the state. Has that ever happened to you?

Have you ever been pulled over and given a little certificate that says, congratulations, you've been obedient? Right? No. Why? Because the policeman is not there to commend you. The policeman is there to catch you.

That's his purpose. The purpose of the police is not to go door to door and tell you you're a great person because you've obeyed the law. The purpose of the police is to catch you. That's why they exist. That's why the law exists. It doesn't exist to commend you.

It only exists for one purpose, to catch you, curse you, and condemn you. That's what the law is supposed to do. It was never intended to say, hey, you did a good job. Congratulations, God's going to declare you righteous. That was never its purpose. Its purpose was only to catch you, condemn you, and curse you.

That's it. That's the purpose of the law. So Paul says clearly no one is justified by the law. because you can only be justified by faith and the law was never intended to accomplish that purpose of declaring you righteous. You see. Do you get it? You say, I'm going to obey the law and God will declare me righteous.

And God says the law was never intended to do that. The law was only intended to show that you can't do it and that you're going to be condemned. In fact, faith and law are two opposite principles, he says. Faith means trusting, resting in what God has done. Law means effort and performance. And that's what the scripture says in Leviticus chapter 18, verse 5, which he quotes in verse 10.

Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, and do them. If you don't do them all, you're cursed. If you live by the law, you have to live by its statutes. but you have to make a real effort. Okay? And so he says, this righteousness where God says I see you as righteous and I declare you as righteous comes by faith just believing in contrast to the law that insists on effort and performance So, he says, consider Abraham, consider the law.

It can never justify you. For God to declare you righteous, you must believe. Believe in what? which should be the object of our faith. Ah, this is where he says consider Christ. Verses 13 and 14. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree, so that in Christ Jesus the blessings of Abraham might come to the Gentiles so that we might receive the promised spirit through faith.

He says consider Christ. The law can only bring a curse. It can never be the means of finding favor with God. What hope is there for anyone then who does not do everything written in the law? Because no one does everything. So what hope is there?

Jesus. Because he's redeemed us from the curse that the law inevitably brings. What is that curse? The apostle quotes Deuteronomy chapter 21 verse 23. A person was cursed if his body was exposed by impaling. All right.

Let me just, can I give you a footnote here? Let's leave the text entirely and give you a footnote. When this scripture talks about hanging on a tree, it's not talking about, it's talking about impaling. So, for example, people have always wondered, in one of the Gospels, it says Judas hung himself. In another Gospel, it says he hung himself and his gut spilled out on the ground.

So they've tried to harmonize that, saying, well, he hung himself. And then somehow, you know, his stomach exploded. No, no, they're talking about the same thing. Somehow Judas impaled himself. He didn't hang himself by the neck. He impaled himself.

Hanging. When you see hanging in the scripture in this regard, it means impaling. Okay? Now Jesus was impaled. Hung, impaled on a cross. Right?

And that shows that he was cursed of God Impaling showed that God curse was upon you And so as Jesus was nailed to a cross everyone all the Jewish people of his day knew this man is cursed by God. He's been hung. You see? Obviously, God has cursed him. By the way, with that in mind, with that in mind, can you see why the Apostle Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 2 about the foolishness of the gospel because they were preaching that a man who had been cursed by God, obviously, was the Savior.

Do you see the scandal of that? Your only hope is in one who is cursed by God. Does that make any sense to you? When you entered that life, does that make a bit of sense to you? It doesn't make a bit of sense at all, does it? But why was he cursed by God?

Why was he cursed? Right? To redeem us. He took that curse that was owed us. He redeemed us by being impaled on that tree, by hanging on the cross. He redeemed his people.

Now, redeem means to purchase, to buy. So when you go to Walmart and you walk up to the counter and you check everything through, you hand over your money, you put in your card, and that transaction is over, that stuff is yours. It no longer belongs to Walmart. It is entirely yours. You can't be arrested for going out the door with those goods because what?

You bought them. Here, the Apostle Paul says, that Christ redeemed us, bought us. He purchased us. He delivered us. He bought us out from under the curse of the law that was our due. This idea is used of slaves or prisoners who were purchased out of bondage.

They were redeemed. So when Jesus died, he purchased you. He paid the price necessary to release you from the curse that was due you. You see that? He purchased you. You're no longer under the curse.

Why? Because he took the curse. He is cursed of God. And he's cursed of God in your place. That is to say, since he purchased you, you're no longer under the curse. Right?

How did that happen? By hanging on that tree, by being impaled, he took upon himself the curse of the law that should have fallen on us. No one has ever done anything, I mean, I'm sorry, no one has ever done everything written under the law, and so they deserve the curse of God. And he says, Jesus took the curse. Think about this. Jesus never did anything to bring the curse on himself. he was perfectly obedient to every demand of the law and yet god cursed him why for your sake he took your curse upon himself he became accursed and so he redeemed us why verse 14 unless he removes that curse we would never experience the blessing of right standing with God The blessing promised to Abraham and to the Gentiles in that covenant from Genesis 15 Unless he removes the curse you cannot have the blessing of right standing with God because you still under the curse And without the removal of that curse he says in verse 14 you would not have received you would not have ever experienced the work of God through the Spirit of God in your life The curse had to be removed for you to receive the Spirit The curse had to be removed before you would know the blessings of the Spirit at work in your life.

Jesus redeemed you, bought you, purchased you from under the horrors of the curse of God by bearing the curse himself. And so he says, consider Jesus, consider Christ. what is god telling you this morning he says give up the performance way of gaining any favor from me banish from your mind any thought of god blessing you with a right standing before him by your obedience he says consider abraham god declared him righteous because he trusted god not because of anything he did consider the law if you if you trust in your efforts to obey the law you will end up cursed. If you bring yourself under the law you will be cursed.

And then he says consider Christ. Put your hope in Jesus alone who removes the curse from you. You see this is the good news Everyone under the curse Those who have entrusted themselves to Jesus as the only one who can remove the curse You put all your hope in Him It all in Him The curse is removed from you for He has paid that price to remove you from under, under the penalties of that curse.

That's good news. And that's why we're here today to celebrate the Lord's table. Father, thank you for the Lord Jesus that you sent to deliver us from the curse that you impose. I thank you for a Savior who willingly came, who willingly came and took that curse upon himself to deliver us from it. and so father we thank you this day for this good news father we confess to you that we're still fighting the legalist in our heart and still thinking that unless we obey you all you be mad at us until we do so much you be an angry father with his children Father help us to remember that you our father because of Jesus and not because of what we do That any favor you show us is only because of Jesus For without him, we're always under the curse.

Thank you for a savior who has delivered us from the curse now, delivered us from the curse for what we've done in the past, and even has delivered us from the curse for what we will do in the future. We thank you for the fact that because the curse has been removed, we are free to love you and to obey you from love. Thank you that you've removed the threat of judgment, that the curse no longer rests upon us, that we are now free, redeemed and purchased by the blood of Jesus that we might live differently, that we might live in freedom.

Thank you, Father, for the great news of Jesus. We pray it in His name. Amen.