Redeemed From The Curse Of The Law

Galatians by H.A. Ironside

Lecture 7

Galatians 3:10-18

For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulled!, or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. (Gal 3:10-18) 

Naturally one might ask, "What do we mean when we speak of the curse of the law?" Is it a curse to have good laws? Was it a curse for God to give to the people of Israel the Ten Commandments, the highest moral and ethical standard that any people had ever received and that ever had been given to mankind, until our Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed the Sermon on the Mount? Is this a curse? Surely not. It was a great blessing to Israel to have such instruction, showing them how to live and how to behave themselves, and it kept them from a great many of the sins to which the Gentile nations round about them were given.

Yet we have this expression in Scripture, "The curse of the law," and read, "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them."

When God gave that law, He pronounced a blessing on all who kept it, and declared that they would receive life thereby. "The man which doeth those things shall live by them" (Rom. 10:5), but on the other hand, He said, as quoted here, "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." Every one who recognizes in that law the divine will as to the life of man here on earth and yet fails to measure up to it comes under its curse. And who is there today who has ever kept this law? I know people say, "If we do the best we can, will that not be enough?" Scripture negates any such thought. In James we read, "Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all" (James 2:10). We know how true that is in regard to human law. Suppose that I as a citizen of the United States violated none of the laws of my country except one. By violating that one law I have become a lawbreaker and am, therefore, subjected to the penalty of the broken law. When we speak of people being under "the curse of the law" we mean that they are subject to the penalty of the broken law, and the penalty is death, spiritual and eternal. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezek. 18:20). Therefore the law is well called "the ministration of death" and "the ministration of condemnation" (2 Cor. 3:7, 9), for all who are under the law but have failed to keep it are under condemnation; they are condemned to death, and therefore under the curse. But our Lord Jesus Christ has died to deliver us from the curse of the law.

Can we not deliver ourselves? Though we have broken it in the past can we not make up our minds that from this moment on we will "turn over a new leaf," and be very careful to observe every precept of the moral law of God? In the first place, we could not do that. It is impossible for men with fallen natures to fully keep the holy law of God. Take that particular commandment, "Thou shalt not covet"; you cannot keep yourself from coveting though you know it is wrong to do so. You look at something your neighbor has and involuntarily your heart says, "I wish that were mine."

On second thought, you say, "That is very unworthy; I should really rejoice for my neighbor" but still, have you not coveted? The apostle Paul says that as far as the other commandments were concerned his life was outwardly blameless. He was alive without the law until the commandment came, "Thou shalt not covet." "But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence"(Rom. 7:8). And so he was slain by the law that he could not keep. But suppose you were able to keep it from this very day until the last day of your life, would not that undo and make up for all the wrong doing of the past? Not at all. The past failure still stands on God's record. "God requireth that which is past" (Eccl. 3:15).

"But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith."

Notice, no man is justified by the law of God, no man ever has been justified by the law of God, no man ever will be justified by the law of God. In Romans 3 we read, "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Rom. 3:19-20). In other words, God did not give the law to save man, He gave the law to test him, to make manifest man's true condition. And that explains a passage that puzzles some, "The law was added because of transgressions" (Gal. 3:19). It was really given in order to give to sin the specific character of transgression.

I was strolling across the park the other day when I suddenly looked down and saw almost at my feet a sign, "Keep off the grass." I was on the grass, but the moment I saw the sign I hurried to get onto a path. If I had continued to walk on the grass after seeing the sign, I would be a transgressor. I was not a transgressor before this, for I did not know I was doing wrong. I saw other people walking on the grass, and did not realize that there were certain sections where this was not allowed. I did not know that it was forbidden in that particular place. Until the law sin was in the world, and men were doing wrong in taking their own way, but "where no law is, there is no transgression" (Rom. 4:15). God set up His law to say, as it were, "Keep off the grass." Now if they walk on the grass they are transgressors. If men disobey God, they transgress. The sinfulness of man's heart is shown up by the fact that men do deliberately and willfully disobey. It is impossible to be justified by the law, for to be justified is to be cleared from every charge of guilt. The law brings the charge home, the law convicts me of my guilt, and the law condemns me because of that guilt.

It was written in the prophets, "The just shall live by his faith" (Hab. 2:4), so it was made known even in Old Testament times that men were to be justified, not by human effort, but by faith. Three times those words are quoted for us in the New Testament. In the epistle to the Romans the apostle says, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith" (Rom. 1:16-17). In the epistle to the Hebrews we have exactly the same words quoted, "The just shall live by faith" (Heb. 10:38). And here we have them in the epistle to the Galatians. It has been very well said that these three epistles expound that text of six words, "The just shall live by faith."

How do men become just before God? As we have already remarked, Romans answers that question and expounds the first two words, "The just." It tells us who the just are, those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. But if justified by faith, how is one maintained before God in that position? Is it not now by works of their own? Galatians answers that and puts the emphasis on the next two words, "The just shall live by faith." And what is that power that sustains and strengthens and enables just men to walk with God through this world, living an unworldly life, even as "Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him" (Gen. 5:24)?

Again the answer comes to us, as in Hebrews the last two words are expounded, "The just shall live by faith. "It takes three epistles in the New Testament to expound one Old Testament text of only six words,

"The just shall live by faith." It gives us an idea of how rich and full the Word of God is.

But if "The just shall live by faith" then men never can be justified by efforts of their own, for verse 12 tells us, "And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them." The law did not say, "The man who believes shall live," but, "The man who does shall live." The latter might seem to us to be the right thing; if a man does right he ought to live. The trouble is, man does not do right. We read,

"All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). If one commandment out of ten has been violated, that man has forfeited all claim to life. Suppose a man falling over a precipice reached out his hand as he went over, and caught hold of a chain fastened to some stump in the cliff, and there hung on to the chain. The chain had ten links. How many would have to break to drop the man into the abyss below? Only one. The law is like that chain; when you sinned the first time you broke the link and down you went, and you are in the place of condemnation if not saved. You never can fit yourself for the presence of God by any works of righteousness that you can do. The law says, "The man that doeth these things shall live in them," but men have failed to do, and therefore are condemned to die.

Now see the glorious message of reconciliation! "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law!"

How did He do it? "Being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." Here was One who had never violated God's law, here was the holy, eternal Son of God, the delight of the Father's heart from all eternity, who came into the world, who became Man, for the express purpose of redeeming those who were under the curse of the law. He Himself said, "The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Matt. 20:28). But if He Himself has violated that law, He is subject to its penalty and never can redeem us; but how careful the Word of God has been to show that He never came under that penalty. He was holy in nature from the moment He came into the world. The angel said to Mary, His mother, "That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). His life was absolutely pure as He went through this scene. He magnified the law and made it honorable by a life of devotion to the will of God. "[He] was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15). Sinless, though tempted; and at last God "made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him"  (2 Cor. 5:21). He against whom God had nothing, voluntarily took our place, went to the cross, and there paid the penalty that we should have paid. If I had to pay, eternity would be too short for it, but He, the Eternal One, hung on the cross, settled to the utmost farthing every claim that the offended law had against me, and now I receive Him, trust Him as my Savior, and what is the result? I am delivered from the curse of the law.

Free from the law, O happy condition!
Jesus hath bled, and there is remission,
Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall,
Christ hath redeemed us once for all.
Now we are free there's no condemnation,
Jesus provides a perfect salvation;
"Come unto Me," oh, hear His sweet call!
Come, and He saves us once for all.
Has your soul entered into this?

I shall never forget, after struggling for so long to work out a righteousness of my own, the joy that came to me when I was led to look by faith at yonder cross, an empty cross now.

I saw One hanging on the tree,
In visions of my soul,
Who turned His loving eyes on me
As near His cross I stole.

I knew He was there on my behalf. He, the sinless One, was suffering there for me, the sinner, and I looked up to Him. In faith I could say, "Lord Jesus, I am Thy sin; I am Thine unrighteousness. Thou hast none of Thine own, but art bearing mine." And I looked again, and that cross was empty and my Lord's body had been laid in the tomb. "He was delivered for our offenses," and buried out of sight as I deserved to be buried out of sight. But I looked again and that tomb too was empty, and He came forth in triumph, "[He] was raised again for our justification" (Rom. 4:25). I looked not to the cross now but to the throne of God, and by faith I saw Him seated there, a Man exalted at God's right hand, the same Man who stood mute in Pilate's judgment-hall, and did not say a word to clear Himself because I could not be cleared unless He died for me.

Who would want to work out a righteousness of his own when he can have one so much better through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree."

And now because of that, the blessing of Abraham may come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus; we may receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. "That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." What is "the blessing of Abraham?" Long ago God had said, "In thee and in thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed."

But centuries rolled by and the nations of the Gentiles were left outside; they were outside the pale, strangers to the covenant of promise, they knew nothing of the blessing of Abraham, nor what God had promised through his seed. But now Christ has died, not for Jews only but for the Gentiles also, and because of His work the message goes out to the whole world that God can save every one who believes on the Lord Jesus, and all believers become in faith the children of Abraham and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of God. The blessing of Abraham is justification by faith for every believer, even as "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness" (Rom. 4:3). The apostle draws attention to the fact that when God said to Abraham, "In thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed," He was not referring merely to the nation that should spring from him but to one individual Person, for it had been settled in the purpose of God from eternity that the Christ was to be born of Abraham's lineage.

"Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto." When men make covenants we expect them to live up to them. God made a covenant of unconditional grace to Abraham long years before. Later the law came in, but did that invalidate the covenant of pure grace made to Abraham? "To Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." Through the Lord Jesus, then, the blessing of the covenant goes out to every poor sinner who will believe in Him.

"And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect."

God was not playing fast and loose with Abraham when He gave him this unconditional covenant of grace. He did not say, "If you do thus and so, and if you do not do certain things, all the world will be blessed through your seed." But He said, unconditionally, "In thee and in thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed." It is not a question at all of human effort; it is not a question of something we earn.

When the apostle discusses this same subject in Romans 4, he says, in the opening verses, What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture?

Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. (Rom. 4:1-4)

What does that mean? It means that if you had to do something to earn your salvation you would not be saved by grace. Suppose you work six days for an employer, and at the end of that time he comes in a supercilious kind of attitude, hands you an envelope, and says, "You have been working well the last six days, here is a little gift, I want to give you this as a token of my grace." 

Lo I saw One hanging on the tree,
In visions of my soul,
Who turned His loving eyes on me
As near His cross I stole.

Look at it and find it contains your wages, and you say, "Sir, I do not understand; this is not a gift. I earned this." But the man says, "I want you to feel that it is an expression of my appreciation." "No," you would say, "you owe me this; you are in my debt, for I earned this money." If I could do anything to save my soul I would put God in debt to save me, but all God does for me He does in pure grace. And so we read, "To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Rom. 4:5). And though the law came four hundred and thirty years after this promise of grace for all nations through Abraham's seed, it did not alter God's purpose; it was given only in order to increase man's sense of his need, to make him realize his sinfulness and helplessness, and lead him to cast himself on the infinite grace of God.

"For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise." If it comes through self-effort it is not a question of promise at all. But God gave it to Abraham by promise, and, "The promise," Peter says, "is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call" (Acts 2:39). Perhaps, reader, you have been struggling for years to fit yourself for God's presence, you have been trying hard to work out a righteousness of your own, "trying to be a Christian." Let me beg of you, stop trying, give it up! You cannot become a Christian by trying any more than you could become the Prince of Wales by trying. You are what you are by birth. You are what you are as a sinner by natural birth, and you become a child of God through second birth, through believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. The blessing of Abraham is yours when you receive it by faith.