Galatians 3:10-14 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will 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 hung on a pole.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
God made a covenant with Abraham 400 years prior to the law that was given to Moses in the Sinai wilderness. Abraham’s covenant entails God's blessing to all people on the earth through Abraham’s loins. Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. (Genesis 17:3-5). God MADE him a fountain of blessing to all nations, not genetically but through his acceptance of God’s word to him. This faith in God’s promise to him would be the lode stone to the salvation of mankind. All nations through his Seed, Jesus Christ, would be drawn to God in righteousness. God made an everlasting covenant with Abraham. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. (Genesis 17:6-7) So out of the covenant of Abraham would come the blessing to all people: the Seed, Jesus Christ. But this Seed would be carried through the loins of Isaac's seed, the Jewish people. Through the Jewish lineage would come the divine, everlasting WORD, Jesus Christ. To insure that this precious Word would emerge through the Israelites, the law was given. The law was a way for a people to live righteously, pleasing to God. But being humans, even though especially blessed by marvelous acts from God, they failed to be obedient to God’s commands and regulations. The Israelites failed to please God by obeying the requirements of the law in their daily lives. They indulged in sinful behavior, worse than the heathen nations around them. They even sacrificed their own children, who were made in God’s image, to their idols made out of their own imaginations. From the very beginning, the Jews gave obeisance to other gods, making idols and shrines to them. And as the law says, Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law. They received the full cup of judgment from God when they were dispersed throughout the nations around them. Daniel talks about this waywardness of the Israelites and the assurity of God fulfilling the curses written in the law because of their transgressions. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. “Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. (Daniel 9:11). God’s word clearly documents God’s desire to bless his people and shows their persistent disobedience and rebellion to his will.
Humans are incapable of justification by the law, for none are righteous. The Bible makes this clear. There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. (Romans 3:10-11) Because of this nature of rebellion innate in humans and because God is a just God who carries out his word to the fullest, a judgement must be wrought on sin. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” Jesus’ death paid the ransom price for the sins of humanity. His sacrifice covered the full price of the judgment of God on the sinful nature of mankind. How often do we contemplate what a tremendous sacrifice it was for the son of God to become accursed for our sins? Yet by his actions, He knit man and God together in peace by paying the debt for man’s estrangement from God. Jesus is the Prince of Peace; He is the Good News that has come to this earth. As the angels stated, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:14) The bondage of pleasing God through law and regulations was broken, for it only revealed man’s waywardness. The law never could cure this lethal condition of man’s lostness and separation from God. Paul laments this condition of alienation when writing to the church in Rome. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans. 7:21-25) He recognizes his hopeless situation; he knows that his actions and life are not pleasing to a righteous God. He understands that he was created to be like God for he was made in God’s image, but he is hopeless in achieving this perfection of being like God. Instead of being free as God is from sin, he is a hopeless prisoner of the law of sin, for it is thriving inside of him, separating him from the relationship he wants with God. He knows in the flesh he is a WRETCHED Man, unable to please his loving Creator. How can he escape this captivity to his own flesh, his wayward, sinful nature? Who among us cannot identify with Paul in his description of the battle between the flesh and the Spirit of God? And who would not agree with his conclusion: not by his efforts will he live unto God for he understands, Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.
We often speak of the faith of Abraham and that we are his children, inheritors of God’s promise to him. But what does the faith of Abraham bring to us? What are the blessings that we receive if we rely by faith on God’s revealed Word, Jesus Christ, and not on the law given to us on Mount Sinai through Moses the intermediator between God and the Israelites? First of all, eternal life: (John 3:16). We know God loved the world so much that He sent his only Son to sacrifice himself for our sins. Eternal life is given to all who put their trust in the Eternal One, Jesus Christ. IN HIM we garner life: IN HIM we are one with the eternal God forever. However, immediately we will receive what Abraham had: he talked with God; he interacted with God; he bargained with God about saving Sodom and Gomorrah. He wanted those cities to be spared so he asked God not to destroy them if there were 10 people that were righteous in those cities, but there were not, so they were destroyed. Abraham interacted with God--this is a promise given to us. He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. Through and in Jesus’ work on the cross, we have the privilege to interact with God, for He has sent us the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. He promised his disciples He would send the Comforter to teach them all things, and He kept his promises. When Christ comes into our hearts, He makes us alive to his voice as Abraham was alive to his voice. We no longer have to wait for the Lord to walk with us in the Garden, as it was in the beginning; we can have immediate fellowship with God. Jesus said He would not abandon us, and when he went away, he told the disciples to wait for this inner voice to come to them. And that is exactly what they did, and the inner voice came to them with the evidence of tongues and prophesy. The Spirit came to them fulfilling completely the promise of God to Abraham, that He would bless all people through the covenant given to Abraham. All nations would be blessed with his intimate presence. Now all humans have access to the voice of God; all can be known by the heavens as children of the living God. We who are IN CHRIST have entered into a new realm where only new creatures can abide. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. (Romans 8:9-11) Praise God for the precious promise that the Spirit will give life to our mortal bodies. We know the Spirit gives life. We have received the promise of the Spirit. We have NOW the presence of the Holy Spirit within us, so let us not live by the laws and the regulations of Mount Sinai, which will only bring condemnation and death; instead, let us live IN CHRIST and by every word that comes to us from the Holy Spirit within us. Let us go about doing good, manifesting the name of Jesus Christ and our Father the Creator of all things. Amen! Walk in FAITH today!
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