GALATIANS 3 - EVERY CURSE WAS BROKEN AT THE CROSS
EVERY CURSE WAS BROKEN AT THE CROSS
By: Faith, the Holy Spirit of God and the Blood of Jesus
Galatians 3
Preached by: Carolyn Sissom
Sunday, August 9, 2009
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.”
Next week we will start with Verse 21. We will put on the Glorious garment of Christ, the “Toga Virilus” (Gal. 3:27)
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries, Inc.
Bibliography: Lovett’s Lights on Galatians by: C.S. Lovett. Comments are my own. Scripture from King James Version.
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