Galatians Series Righteous Shall Live By Faith

Galatians 3:6-14

Galatians 3:6–14 ESV

just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. 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.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall 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 hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Paul had preached Christ crucified, not obedience to the Law and this message changed their lives. The people had received the Spirit of God through this Gospel, for this Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

To go back to rule keeping for salvation is foolish. You cannot do anything in and of yourself to please God, to earn salvation, or God’s love. The Gospel of Grace teaches that only Christ can do this for us, and we are to receive the gift or we are to reject the gift.

But here comes the Judizers pointing to Abraham, “We are sons of Abraham.” “This is the way...”

Ok… Here we go… How was Abraham saved? By faith! How will you be saved? Through the same faith. God’s revelation is progressive, and the promises that were revealed to Abraham were believed by Abraham… and it was counted to him as righteousness.

The Law didn’t make Abraham righteous. The Law came hundreds of years later… how could it make Abraham righteous?

God promised to bless all the nations through Abraham, Jew and Gentile… Through... faith… In God… and in the Promises that God makes. Abraham did not have all the details of the Gospel that we have today, but he believed and trusted God with what God gave him.

Abraham believed God’s Good News...

We have the fuller picture, but it has always been salvation by grace through faith.

There are no two Gospels, there is One Gospel. There are no two groups of God’s people… There is only One People of God, in One Vine.

You know the song: “Father Abraham had many sons… I am one of them and so are you… so that’s just praise the Lord.” This song communicates what we are seeing here: All people who are coming to God through Christ are God’s spiritual Children and we shall all receive the blessings of faith.

However: In order to receive the blessings… Someone must take the curse...

10-14 - There was a curse. There is a curse. Everyone was under a curse. The curse came in the Garden in Eden. Sin fractured everything, cursed the ground, relationships between God and man, and between man and woman. Sin brought a curse on everything.

Deuteronomy 27:26 shows that failure to keep the law perfectly brings divine judgement and condemnation. One violation of the law brings the curse.

What is the curse of God? Death, judgement, guilt, condemnation, cut off from God and His benefits.

And James gets this: James 2:10 - Whoever keeps the whole law and but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

The Law is a unit. And you… want to go back to that…? “Who has bewitched you?” The does not, can not save you.

*So hey pastor, what is the purpose or reason for giving the law? It is a mirror. 1. It reflects the perfect righteousness of God and it also shows our unrighteousness as we compare. It cannot change a human heart, but like an x-ray machine, it can reveal what is within us. The x-ray machine is a medical device but it is not the Great Physician. It only shows the Need for the Great Physician… It points to the Savior.

2. The law restrains evil. It can let you know what is evil and it can serve to preserve order and justice. It can protect the righteous from the unjust. We can produce parameters and boundaries to keep evil from running rampant.

3. It also shows us what is pleasing to God, and if we love Christ, we will seek to live by it. All the 10 Commandments can be found taught in the New Testament, minus keeping the Sabbath Day...

But… we follow these commandments of Christ… not to be saved… but because we are saved and because we love the Savior.

We are in Christ… Not in or under the Law.

Verse 11 has changed many lives. This is identical to Romans 1:17 - “The righteous shall live by faith.”

There was this German monk who lived in the 1500’s. He studied and prayed every day. He earned several degrees, could understand different languages. He fasted and prayed all the time until the skin hung off his bones. He confessed sin for hours every day, beat himself up (literally), and stayed in constant misery....

Why? Because he understood something clearly. God is Holy, he is not, and he could not keep the law perfectly at no time… and this verse set him free. God used this verse to liberate the great Reformer Martin Luther, and the rest is history.

He was under the curse without help, healing, and salvation. And that is what we are left with… the curse.

Unless… Verse 13 is a reality in our lives. I was under the curse, but Christ has redeemed (delivered me through payment) me from the curse of the law (from the sin slavery, from the death, from the guilt, shame and condemnation).

And how does Christ do this? By becoming a curse for us. We have to enter into this teaching very carefully… 2 Corinthians 5:21 - For our sake God made Christ to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

These spiritual realities are beyond me. I do not understand them as I should.

On the Cross, Jesus took upon Himself your curse. He took your sin-debt, your condemnation, your guilt, your death, your hell, your separation, your wrath - God saw you as an enemy. God saw you as an object of wrath.

“Fallen, guilty, condemned, unclean, damned, no good, evil, separated, not Mine, enemy.”

Christ took all of that upon Himself.

Now the Blood of Christ speaks a better word over me.

It says: “You are forgiven; you are redeemed; you belong to a heavenly city; you worship the God of the Universe and your worship is received and adored by God; you are a saint; you are pure, holy and complete in Christ, you are Mine, My Child, My friend, Mine! – Not by your blood, sweat and tears; not by the Law – But by Christ and Christ alone.

The Righteous Shall Live By Faith Alone.