Text: Galatians 3:10-14
Title: The Law Is Not Of Faith
The testimony of Christ crucified is good news to a sin stained world. This gospel
message is the message that Paul had preached among the Galatians and that they had
accepted by faith. But this message is only good news if it is rightly understood and rightly
believed. Paul’s message had been challenged by certain men who had followed him and
taught that Christ crucified was not enough. They said that in order to receive the blessings
of God you must continue in the Jewish law.
Paul has laid out his thesis to these bewitched believers in 2:16; “we know that a
person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.” He then went
forth to prove his case. First, if our justification were through the law, then Christ died in
vain. Then as we saw last week, he went back to the Bible itself and made the case that not
even Abraham was justified by works, but Abraham believed God and it was counted to him
as righteousness. In today’s verses, Paul sets out to prove from the scriptures that his
opponent’s reliance upon the law is misguided. No one is justified before God by the law
because we are law-breakers which means we are under a curse.
The Curse of the Law – v10
At the heart of the controversy between Paul and his opponents is the role of the
Mosaic covenant in our salvation. Paul’s challengers have misunderstood the Mosaic
covenant, a problem that is prevalent today. He has already made his case from Genesis
that blessings of God come through the covenant made with Abraham and are seized by
faith. So the question becomes, where does the law fit into this equasion? After all,
Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness long before
circumcision was commanded or the law was given to Moses.
Paul’s opponents were coming behind him and in essence saying, yes Abraham and
faith are great, but you can’t forget about Moses. God also made a covenant with Moses in
which he gave his law and he promised blessings to all who keep the law, and curses for all
who break the law. The quote that Paul uses in v10 in fact comes from Deuteronomy, which
is a covenant renewal just prior to Moses’ death and Israel’s entrance into the Promised
Land. The final chapters end with promises for keeping the covenant and curses for
breaking the covenant.
It’s not as if the Mosaic Covenant, or the law is bad. There would be blessings for
obedience. The problem was in relying upon the law to receive these blessings. This is the
point that Paul is making as he quotes from Deut. 27:26, which was to be read by Israel at
the base of Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerazim when they had entered into the Promised Land. The
problem was not in the law. The problem is we are all law-breakers and the law says
everyone who does abide by all the things written in the book of the law are under a curse!
The whole history of mankind is a history being law-breakers beginning with Adam who
ate of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Not only are we law-breakers individually,
but the history of Israel was a history of breaking the law and coming under the curse of
God. That was the task of the prophets, to announce how they had broken the law, and
announce curse that would come as result. Israel as a nation had experienced droughts,
famines, exile… all because they were law breakers. Now Paul’s opponents were trying to
get them to go back to what has brought them under God’s curse
The Weakness of the Law
In v. 11 Paul states, this is what is evident or this is what is clear, meaning that it is
beyond dispute and a settled matter. No one is justified before God by law. No one can
stand before God and measure up to the standard of righteousness found in the law and be
declared just or innocent. This is because to stand in your own law keeping before God, you
must abide by all that is written in the book of the law. If you come before God in the
Mosaic Covenant you cannot pick and choose what parts of the law will be used to judge
you, it is the whole law that is used. That is what the law states, “Cursed is everyone who
does not abide by all that is written in the book of the law.” To seek justification by work of
the law demands perfect obedience to the whole law, a standard, which no Son of Adam can
meet. The law says you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind and
your neighbor as yourself. Could you measure up to this standard even since you walked
into this church building? How much less could you measure up over your entire life time.
Not only is it evident that no one is justified before God by the law, but it is also
evident that the righteous (or just) shall live by faith. Paul quotes from Habakkuk 4:2 to
prove his case that justification has always come by faith and not through works of the law.
The context of this quote is a condemnation of the pride of the Babylonians who trusted in
their own power and might to save themselves. In contrast to the Babylonians, Habakkuk
states that the just shall live by faith, not with a soul that is puffed up nor upright within
him. To seek to be justified before God through the law is to come to come puffed up and in
pride based upon what you have accomplished. But God has said that the just shall not live
by pride, but by faith. We hear this principle in Psalm 51:16-17 where David says, “You will
not delight in sacrifices or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The
sacrifices of God area broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart. O God, you will not
despise.” In other words, not in the law, sacrifices, shall I come to you, but by faith – with a
broken spirit trusting in you.
It is evident that no one will be justified before God by the law, but the righteous
shall live by faith because the law is not of faith. These two things, law and faith, are
opposed to each other. It is impossible to hold both of these as the grounds for your
justification. Either we trust God to justify us through faith, or we try to justify ourselves
through our own works. Conformity to the law is not a matter of trust but a matter of
achievement in your own accomplishments. These two things exist together in the life of
the believer, but they cannot both be the basis for our salvation.
The Christ Who Redeems
The question then becomes, If no one can be justified by the law, and it only brings
curses, then why the law? Why the promise of blessing for obedience and curses for
disobedience if no one is able to be obedient and keep the demands made? It was to point
out to all mankind our greatest problem and point us to the solution to this problem. It was
to inform us that we are under a curse, because cursed is everyone who does not abide by
all that is written in the book of law. It is to scream to us that we are not able to come
before God in our own merits, but that something else is needed if we are to be blessed.
We see this principle working out even in the giving of law to Moses at Sinai. God
gives the 10 commandments to Moses followed by some example examples of case law
showing how they are to be applied. Then the next thing that we read is God gives to Moses
the pattern for the tabernacle and all of its furniture and furnishings– tables, ark, altars etc.
Then he gives instructions for the making of sacrifices. In essence God was saying here is
my law, but you will not be able to keep it so here are the provisions that I am making for
you because you are covenant breakers. These sacrifices that God commands for breaking
his covenant all point to the perfect sacrifice, Jesus the lamb of God who takes away the sins
of the world.
How is it that faith allows us to stand justified before God? The answer is found in
v13, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” Faith rests
not in our own merits, but the merits of Jesus who died by being hanged upon the tree
between two condemned criminals, which is why the law is not of faith. It wasn’t just that
Jesus died, but that he died becoming a curse. For proof that this is the case, Paul quotes
Deut. 21:23, which states “Cursed is everyone who hangs upon a tree.” This is one of the
reasons that the Jews had such a difficult time believing that Jesus was the Messiah, he died
under a curse a curse of God. It is not until we apprehend the words “for us” that Jesus
death makes sense.
The words “for us” are the key to understanding this verse, and indeed
understanding Jesus’ death. It is only Jesus who could stand before God under the law and
receive the promised blessing for perfect obedience to the whole law. Only Jesus could
come to God in the law and not be under a curse. Yet Jesus hung upon a tree, cursed by God
according to the law, not for his own disobedience but for us or in our behalf. Because
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, the blessings of
Abraham have now come to us Gentiles.
If Christ had not taken the curse upon himself, we would have remained under the
law and thus not blessed but cursed. That is the two options before us – blessings or curses.
But Christ was cursed, in order that we might be blessed. Because Christ redeemed us from
the curse we have received the blessing of Abraham, we have received the spirit. This
brings us back full circle to where we began – did you receive the spirit by works of the law
or by hearing with faith? Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by believing in
Christ. If you begin in the Spirit, then why would anyone turn and attempt to finish through
the flesh.
Oh how the death of Christ ought to cause us to put aside any pride and folly of
resting in our own works of accomplishments. Christ died a cursed death. He died a cursed
death for us because it is impossible for any to be justified before God apart from Christ. If
Jesus does not die a cursed death for us, then we have no hope to stand Justified before a
holy God. This truth ought to lead us to love and worship him with all of our hearts, all of
our soul and all of our being
Oh what comfort this ought to bring to all who place their faith in Jesus. If we seek
comfort in our own works, then we ought to tremble because the law brings nothing but
curses to sinful men and we are sinful men. But our hope and comfort is in Christ who has
redeemed us from this curse and taken it upon himself. My comfort and hope come because
I know that blessings do not come to me because of my obedience, but Christ’s obedience,
which was perfect.
Oh how the death of Christ ought to cause us to despise our own sin and cause us to
put to death any sin that the HS illumines in our hearts. Our sin brings us under a curse, and
our curse brought the death of Christ Jesus. Nothing but the blood of Jesus could take away
the curse of our sin.