Freedom from the Curse

Intro

- Acceptance illustration- soccer team- shaving my head… school, relationships

o Usually our acceptance is performance driven- am I cool enough, athletic enough, funny enough, handsome or pretty enough

o So much of what it takes to be accepted in our world today is tied to our performance

- The Galatians feel this same pressure they want acceptance into this community of God followers. And even more importantly they desire with all their hearts acceptance from God himself

- As we’ve talked about at the beginning of this study, the Judaizers came in to the churches there in Galatia and have stressed the need for cultural conformity, wanting the Galatian Christians to participate in things like circumcision, the observance of the Sabbath, obtaining from eating certain things, etc.

o But their true intention was to make these Gentiles believers subject to the whole of Jewish law. To pursue the law as they did, making it the center of their religious obligation and, in the end, their means of justification and acceptance before God

- Here in chapter 3 verses 10-14 we see Paul continuing his argument from scripture

- Paul has shown the sufficiency of faith for our justification, now he turns to focus on the insufficiency of the law

- Read Galatians 3:10-14

- Because of our complete inability to fulfill the requirements of the law, we are all under a curse for falling short of God’s standard, but Christ, in his great love and mercy, became a curse for us so that we might be made right with God (accepted by God) and experience blessings in Him.

- So we go back to this idea of acceptance

Searching for God’s acceptance

- The reality is that we are much like the Galatian Christians

A. Many Christians have a genuine desire to know God and find acceptance in Him

1. This is a good thing

2. From the moment we realize the truth about our Creator we want to please him, we want to have a relationship with him

3. We see this in every major world religion- the moment that there is an understanding of something greater than me, that my eternal destiny is ultimately in someone else’s hands, there is this natural desire to find acceptance from that higher power- to appease them

4. A proper understanding of who God is should lead us to an overwhelming sense of awe and reverence

a. Just like I was- a high schooler looking up to these college athletes. I wanted their acceptance

B. If we try through our actions to be “good enough” we will find ourselves always striving and never arriving

1. You see we have been conditioned in much of our life to tie acceptance to performance and we often do the same thing in our pursuit to find acceptance from God

a. No one really has to teach us this

b. Growing up I was always taught that salvation is by faith alone, that works cannot save me, and although I knew that to be true, for much of my life, and I am still tempted to do this, I was basing my worthiness before God, my acceptance in his eyes, on my performance

(1) What I did, how I lived- Do I look, act, think, talk in the right way?

(2) Am I being faithful enough my actions

c. Now obviously we don’t often judge ourselves by “the works of the law” like we see in verse 10

(1) I don’t imagine anyone has that list on their refrigerator checking off each one

(2) We might not create our checklist from the book of Leviticus, but we are masters at making our own laws and moral standards by which we judge ourselves (and often others)

(3) We measure our standing before God by how closely we follow these rules

2. But in our striving, we are often met with disappointment and discouragement because we will inevitably reach the realization that we cannot keep up, that we are, at our very core, messed up people

a. We can’t even keep our own standards much let all the commands found in the law of God

3. Like the song from the Greatest Showman “Never Enough”

a. Perhaps there are some, like the Pharisees that are convinces of their moral goodness, but most people clearly see their true selves and how messed up they really are

b. And the more we get to know God, the more our own sinfulness is exposed

c. So we dive into this cycle where the realization of our inadequacy drives us to improve our performance in order to find acceptance from God- and we fall short

o Paul knows this cycle all too well- for much of his life, he lived it- and this is what made him so passionate in this letter. He saw these brand new Christians falling into the same cycle that he had been freed from

C. There are two paths to finding acceptance with God, and Paul lays out both in this passage (if you are going to pull any quotes from this message, don’t let it be this!)

1. The first path is through the Law

2. The second is through Faith in Jesus Christ

3. So let’s take a look at these two paths

Seeking Acceptance Through God’s Law (10-12)

A. The Law requires perfection

1. If someone fulfills the law, he is deemed legally righteous

2. Alex Honnold illustration

a. Tommy Caldwell- "Imagine an Olympic-gold-medal-level athletic achievement that, if you don't get that gold medal, you're gonna die."

b. This is what it takes to fulfill the law- perfection- zero mistakes

3. So understanding what the path of the Law requires, Paul continues to a logical conclusion

B. In pursuing God’s acceptance through keeping the law, we are actually placing ourselves under his curse

1. Paul’s first statement in v.10 must have shocked and angered the Jewish teachers

a. But he goes on to explain and give proof from the law itself

2. V.10- this is a quote from Deuteronomy 27:26 Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

a. This passage comes as the Children of Israel were crossing the Jordan river into the promised land and the 12 tribes are proclaiming 12 curses on those who do not keep the laws God had given to his people

b. The first 11 dealt with specific laws like cursed is anyone who makes an idol, cursed is anyone who dishonors his father or mother, etc

c. But this last one was all encompassing

d. Paul uses the word abide or remain giving the picture of a moral boundary, a line, that if I cross, I am under the curse

3. So, if this is the path you choose, acceptance through the works of the law, then this is the standard that you will be held to- perfection

a. V.12- “the one who does them, shall live by them

C. The law is not of faith (12)

1. Seeking to gain acceptance through my performance is placing the weight of my justification squarely on my shoulders- and the reality is, I cannot begin to bare that weight

2. As long as I am relying on my performance, I will not have the faith that Paul talks about here in Galatians

a. It is not true faith if I am still hanging on to my works

3. You cannot have both, you choose one path or the other

4. You can’t start the climb up the wall of performance with a parachute on your back

- Because of our inability to meet God’s standard through our own performance, because we are by our very nature, law breakers, we are under a curse if we pursue our acceptance by this path

- It would be just as foolish for me to drive down to Yosemite and attempt to climb El Capitan without any ropes seek acceptance or justification through the works of the law

- But there is another path- thank God there is another path

Seeking Acceptance through Christ’s Sacrifice (13-14)

A. Christ became a curse for us

1. This curse that came upon us the moment we entered this world as sinful human beings has been taken from us

2. Christ was not under this curse, because he met all the conditions of the law- he lived it perfectly

3. But he willingly became a curse for us

a. Deut. 21:22-23 “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.”

b. Here’s the fascinating thing, God knew the death his Son would die when this was written

c. But don’t you think the Jewish people knew this passage as well? This was a major road block for them- not only was Jesus killed, but in a manner reserved for those who were cursed! How could he be their messiah?

d. So we see in Christ’s death this idea of substitutionary atonement- he paid the price we were unable to pay

(1) Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

B. Through faith in Christ, we are accepted

1. So now, because of Christ, that curse is gone

2. But only if we are trusting in what He has done and not in our own efforts- This is the other path- faith

3. How do we begin down this path?

a. Romans 10:9 "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

- And not only are we freed from this curse, but we are accepted into God’s family and we receive all the blessings that come along with that relationship

C. Through Christ we share in the blessing of Abraham

1. We receive the promised Spirit

a. When we place our faith in Christ and what he has done for us on the cross, God places his Spirit to live within us

b. And the Spirit begins to change us in incredible ways

c. He gives us the strength and the ability to live the way God has called us to live not by conforming our performance, but transforming our hearts

Conclusion

- So while we’ve laid out 2 paths this morning, there is really only one that gives us the hope of being accepted by God, and thankfully it has nothing to do with our performance and everything to do with God’s grace and mercy toward us

- Sadly, today many people are struggling through life the other path, looking to their rules and self-made moral standards to get them to the end, but in choosing that path, they have chosen their outcome- death and separation from God, not the acceptance they were striving after

o If we are followers of Christ, we have the opportunity to point them to the right path- not because we are morally superior, but because we are utterly dependent on God

- But as Christians we are not exempt from this warning- how often are we pulled back into a performance-based way of thinking and living? Remember, we cannot pursue both. Rest securely in what Christ has done and let the Spirit of God transform you

- So What?

o Where do you find your acceptance?

§ In your performance or in Christ?