Curse of the Law
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10 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.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 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”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
Verse 10
“For all who rely on works of the Law are under a curse...” - Last meeting we touched on verse 7, where Paul speaks of those who are of faith are the sons of Abraham, which means that those who have given up all confidence in their own works and put their trust in God to fulfill the promise of salvation alone are justified by that faith before God, however here we see the contrast that those who put their confidence in their own works for salvation are under a curse. The question now is why?
“… For it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” - This quote is cited from Deuteronomy 27:14-26
14 And the Levites shall declare to all the men of Israel in a loud voice: 15 “ ‘Cursed be the man who makes a carved or cast metal image, an abomination to the Lord, a thing made by the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’ 16 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father or his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 17 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who moves his neighbor’s landmark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 18 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind man on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 19 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 20 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s nakedness.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 21 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who lies with any kind of animal.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 22 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his sister, whether the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 23 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 24 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who strikes down his neighbor in secret.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 25 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 26 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
Moses had just given the Law to the people and enters his third speech on blessings and curses associated with the covenant that God made with his people Israel. Obviously we are looking at the curses, but this is not comprehensive list of the law, but a sample of it that demonstrates any person failing to keep the Law is cursed. We can see that this curse is not simply punishment via humanly governing powers because even those who do these things in secret, as seen in verse 15, are cursed, so governing powers can not condemn what they can not prove(or shouldn’t at least). Throughout the OT we can see the curse come upon the Israelites throughout their history in failing to uphold the Law. This curse goes beyond earthly divine punishment, but comes to it’s conclusion in the Lord’s Day, where mankind will be judged for their sins and a sentence of everlasting punishment will overcome the ungodly known as Hell or the wrath of God.
This is troubling for us because we know that by looking at the Law we have not keep the Law in all regards - So when looking back in Galatians 2:18
18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.
If we go back to the Law we only prove ourselves to be in violation of it and condemn ourselves.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
We see that all have sinned, but this isn’t just a teaching found in the NT as we can see in Psalm 53:1-3
1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good. 2 God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. 3 They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.
and in Psalm 51:5
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
We see not that David was conceived by sin, but that our sinful nature can be traced back to the beginning of our existence
So if we have broken the Law are we then cursed? Paul will answer that for us in the coming verses
Verse 11
“Now it is evident...” - We just went through some passages of scripture that show us the evidence of our inability and lack of desire to fulfill the Law, which is inline and validate our own experiences. We can weight our choices against the Law of God and see that we fall short of it.
“…that no one is justified before God by the Law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” - We see another contrast between those of faith and of under the Law “If justified by faith, then it can not be by the law; we are justified by faith, therefore it can not be by the Law”. I really like what John Calvin has to say on the different methods of Justification
The law justifies him who fulfils all its precepts, while faith justifies those who are destitute of the merit of works, and who rely on Christ alone. To be justified by our own merit, and to be justified by the grace of another, are two schemes which cannot be reconciled: one of them must be overturned by the other.
So we can not be justified both ways, in fact our only hope of Justification is by faith, correct?
We see that Paul is quoting Habakkuk 2:4 when he says “The righteous shall live by faith.”
4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.
To give some context of this verse, God is making a distention between the wicked, in this particular case the oppressive Babylonians(whose soul is puffed up and is not upright)and the righteous, the remnant of Judah, who live by faith. But these characteristics are not exclusive to the nature of the Babylonians and the remnants of Judah, but also to the wicked and the righteous as a whole. My soul being puffed up and not upright was true of me before God worked within me to transform my heart. Now as a Christian I shall live by my faith and have eternal life by that same faith.
Verse 12
“But the Law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them” - Now I want to touch upon the contrast of the Law and Faith. They are not at odds with one another in a general sense. What I mean by that is that our faith is not inactive, we live out our faith which is show as good works and that is reflected by the moral Law. The contrast that Paul is highlighting isn’t that we are set free from the Law in the sense that we should practice the moral precepts of the Law, the contrast is in matter of justification. If we are placing hope in our doing of good works in the Law then we shall live and die by the Law, but if we place our hope in the works of Christ we live by faith, an active faith that performs good works out of conviction and desire to honor the Lord.
Verse 13
“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” -