The Book Of Galatians – Chapter 3:13-14 - Message 8 – Praise The Lord – We Have Been Purchased From The Strong Prison Of The Enemy Called "Curse”. We Are Free! Series

THE BOOK OF GALATIANS – CHAPTER 3:13-14 - MESSAGE 8 – PRAISE THE LORD – WE HAVE BEEN PURCHASED FROM THE STRONG PRISON OF THE ENEMY CALLED “CURSE”. WE ARE FREE!

I guess this is a good time to recap so far. Paul preached the gospel through Galatia and there were a lot of believers in a number of different churches. He taught those churches well but after he left, the Judiasers came in to corrupt the gospel. They claimed that the Galatians had to add something extra to their faith, and that extra was the keeping of the Law. They were a bit like a similar group today who enter churches once established, bringing their Sabbath keeping and Law keeping in.

Paul was angry that the gospel was so abused and made worthless by the devil’s agents. He wrote to combat all that with a number of arguments. He was showing that faith and Law can not consist together. He was so upset about this evil teaching of keeping the Law that he had to say this – {{Galatians 1:8-9 “Even though we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, LET HIM BE ACCURSED. As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, LET HIM BE ACCURSED.”}} We are going to continue this from where we left off.

[1]. FROM ABRAHAM TO THE GENTILES BUT ONLY THROUGH CHRIST AND BY FAITH

That heading means that the blessings of Abraham can be claimed by Gentiles through faith but only through the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us have a look at these two verses.

{{Galatians 3:13 CHRIST REDEEMED US FROM THE CURSE OF THE LAW, having become a curse for us, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” - Galatians 3:14 in order that in Christ Jesus THE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM MIGHT COME TO THE GENTILES, so that we might receive THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT THROUGH FAITH.}}

(a). THE LAW, DEATH, AND THE CURSE

Let us dissect these verses. Paul begins very decisively with a true statement that Christ redeemed US from THE curse of the Law. Straight away we can ask, “Who is the US Paul mentions?” In an earlier message on Galatians I mentioned that Gentiles were never under the Law. The Law of Moses was given to Israel right back about 1450 BC and the Law is for Jews. Gentiles were not bound by the Law but by conscience according to Romans 1. The conclusion here is that these Galatian churches must have been largely Jewish or Paul would never have used the word “US”. Gentiles would have been inclusive in the argument.

Let us talk about this CURSE mentioned by Paul. It is associated with condemnation. We already know the Law is perfect and therein lays the problem. It is the standard of God but it had to be kept to perfection. When it was kept to perfection, the Law declared a person righteous in God’s eyes, but who ever could keep the Law to perfection? To keep 99.99% of the Law but offend that tiny bit is a failure in the Law and then you are condemned by the Law’s penalties as if you had broken the whole Law. The breaker of the Law stands condemned. James deals with that.

There are penalties for condemnation. The penalties are severe. The soul that sins shall surely die. The breaking of the Law brings death. That is the curse. The curse of the Law is what it pays the attempting keeper. It curses all because no one can keep the Law. It will bring death.

Man did not face eternal death because of the Law. He faced death because he sins. The Law only highlighted what sin is. All are under a curse; the Jew, because he can not keep what is in the Law; and the Gentile because he sins. {{Romans 2:12 “for all who have sinned WITHOUT THE LAW will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned UNDER THE LAW will be judged by the Law.”}}

(b). CHRIST REDEEMED US FROM THE CURSE

Having looked at this truth that the Law brings a curse, we move on to the next point which is Christ redeemed us from the curse. Again remember the “US” in that statement is Jewish, not Gentile for Gentiles were never under the Law. In a broader sense everyone is under the curse of sin so we will keep to that for now. Paul was being inclusive of the whole body of believers.

It says Christ redeemed us, not saved us or reconciled us or released us. Why does it use the word “redeemed”? This word means to buy back, to pay the price for a new ownership. What it infers here is that the Law owned us, but more to the point, the curse owned us. It locked us away in its own prison, kept captive by the curse with no hope of escape. Then One came along, stronger than the curse, and released us from that prison. There was a release price to pay and He did that.