The Curse of the Law

As we continue our study in the book of Galatians, Paul’s words on grace and faith leave us with a bit of a conundrum. If we are not, as it was commonly believed and practiced, made right with God by our works and the keeping of the law, what then is the point of the law? Why did God give it to begin with? If we are, as we looked at last week, Sons of Abraham by faith, or believing that Jesus is who he says he is and has done what he said he has done on our behalf, then why in the world do we need the law?

According to legend, Tecumseh, the famed

It’s a little like one of my favorite chili recipes - I’m a man, I have three different chili recipes. I put refried beans in this particular recipe. Julie doesn’t like refried beans and I said to her, you really can’t taste them to which she asks, “Well, then why are they in there?” What’s the point of the refried beans if they don’t add flavor to the resulting chili? Now, I get to ask her that some question when she tries to put vegetables in our food. What’s the point of broccoli? Not just broccoli in things, but just broccoli in general.

In our text today, Paul will explain for us what is the purpose of the law. Since it is not a list of things to do in order to keep God happy with us, we need to understand both WHY God gave it to us and HOW we are to use it. And despite what might appear as a contradiction, there is a divine purpose in both the law and the gospel - and they both point us back to Paul’s main argument in this letter that we are saved not by works but by faith in Christ.

The Law Is A Curse If We Use It Improperly

Paul makes a pretty bold statement here right away. He tells us that if we are relying on works of the law to make us right with God, we are cursed people. Thankfully, Paul doesn’t just say it and drop the mic, he gives us some reasons why but they all lead to a simple conclusion - you and I were never meant to live under the structure of the law as a means to be right with God. We

Those of you who know me well know I am not a handy man. I don’t own a lot of hand or power tools. Thus, I am often faced with a situation where my thoughts on how to do something are challenged by my lack of tools and I am forced to try and improvise. It never goes well. To use the wrong tool for the job is a recipe for frustration and disaster. The same thing can be said when we use the tool of the law. We need to see the law as a tool and if we want to benefit from it, which I think we can, we just need to learn how to use it properly.

The Judaizers used the law of God improperly, just as the Pharisees and Scribes did in Jesus’ time on earth. Paul, in order to combat this, makes a pretty bold statement here right away. He tells us that if we are relying on works of the law to make us right with God, we are cursed people. Thankfully, Paul doesn’t just say it and drop the mic, he gives us some reasons why but they all lead to a simple conclusion - you and I were never meant to live under the structure of the law as a means to be right with God. We were meant to live by believing God is telling us the truth about who we are and who he is. We are called to be people who live by faith and not by sight.

Paul points out a problem to us. If we want to be made right by the law, you need to keep ALL of the law. The point is that I may go my whole life without stealing anything but when the officer pulls me over for driving too fast, my defense can’t be that I’ve never stolen anything. They will tell me too bad, you were still speeding. You can’t say that you’ll keep the speed limit from now on, because you still owe that one fine. And you can’t pay that fine with your obedience because you are guilty. If you want to be made right by the law, you know that you can never break even the smallest part of it.

Paul tells us that we are not made right by keeping the law - in fact, no one ever is. You might go your whole life by never getting caught at breaking man’s laws. But you will never go a whole life without breaking one of God’s laws. Thankfully, we are not called to live by the law, but by faith in Christ. That is what Justifies us. It is how God intended for us to live - by faith. We’ll come back to that in a moment. Paul goes on to say that Jesus became the curse for us when he died on the cross. He could do that because he did what we could not do - that is keep the whole of the law.

Paul goes on to say that Jesus became the curse for us when he died on the cross. He could do that because he did what we could not do - that is keep the whole of the law. But it is more than just not lying and not stealing. It’s about walking in faith with God. Sin cannot simply be violations of the Mosaic law because we know that Adam and Eve sinned. They ate of the tree they were not supposed to eat from. However, I am convinced that it wasn’t just eating of the fruit that tripped them up.

But the law is more than just not lying and not stealing. It’s about walking in faith with God. Sin cannot simply be violations of the Mosaic law or even the Ten Commandments because we know that Adam and Eve sinned and the law given to Moses hadn’t happened yet. They ate of the tree they were not supposed to eat from. However, I am convinced that it wasn’t just eating of the fruit that tripped them up. It was that they believed the lies of Satan who asked if God REALLY said that they shouldn’t do it or they would die. They no longer believed the truth about God that he loves them and wanted what was best for them. They believed a lie. They lacked faith and trust. And we know that no matter what a person does, tells us,

Romans 14:23 ESV

But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

Romans 14:23 ESV

But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

Romans 14:22 ESV

The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves.

We need to step back and remember that God created Adam and Eve to walk in fellowship with Him but when they sinned by ignoring God’s promises and listening to the enemy of God, they sinned. I have and always will argue that before they ate the fruit, Adam sinned when he didn’t tell Satan that he was wrong, God said they could eat from any tree except for the one and that he needed to go. Adam and Eve doubted God’s goodness and his love and thus no matter what they did it would be sin because it was not from a place of faith and trust in God.

So, let me ask you - how are you living your life? Are you living by faith - that is to say a rock solid belief and trust that Jesus is who he says he is and has done and will do what he promises? Or, are you trying to live by the law? Are you trying to make yourself acceptable with God by your actions? If so, you’d better know the whole of the law and I’ll tell you that even that won’t work. The law is good because God gave it but if we use it improperly, we are destined to be cursed by frustration because we were meant to live by faith, not in keeping the law.

The Law Does Not Invalidate Paul’s Point

Paul shifts gears slightly and uses another illustration. You have a contract with someone. You are unsure of what the contract requires of you as an individual so you have some language clarified within the contract. It does not change the contract but it doe change your understanding of the contract. This is what Paul is driving at . God’s promise given to Abraham neither changed nor was invalidated by what he gave to Moses. What Moses received simply expanded on and clarified what God had given to Abraham. But before we get there, we need to look a little closer at Paul’s other point.

Paul shifts gears slightly and uses another illustration. You have a contract with someone. You are unsure of what the contract requires of you as an individual.

I’ve made a point in earlier sermons in this series that the promise given to Abraham wasn’t a promise to make him the father of A nation but the father of many nationS (plural). In other words, Abraham is the father of a multitude of nations that are brought into the Kingdom through faith. Now, Paul makes an interesting observation and one worth a mention. Paul points out that the promise was made to Abraham and his singular, not plural, offspring. You would thing this would be plural offspring as well, but it is not because what Paul is driving that the blessings came to Christ and then through Christ to those of us who trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of sin.

The blessings of Abraham’s faith were then given to Christ who came so that others could take God at his word and be forgiven their sins by faith and repentance. The Mosaic law does not invalidate the covenant given to Abraham which stood for 430 years. The way people are made right with God is the same under the Mosaic Law as they were before it came to them. It was the same way that Abraham was justified in God’s sight - by faith. And it is the same way that we are made right with God today - by faith. God made a promise, Abraham believed him (that is trusted or had faith) and God counted that faith as righteousness for Abraham - and all who have faith like Abraham.

Finally Paul asks the question in such a way that I think it clears it up for us. He says in verse 19, “Why then the law?” The answer is somewhat surprising for us. The law was given because we were already rebellious sinners before God! It’s true! Look at verse 19 again where Paul says

Galatians 3:19 ESV

Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.

The law was added to point out that we were lawbreakers and we would need to take care of our debt from lawbreaking through faith in Christ. It’s not to say that idolatry was acceptable prior to Mt. Sinai. Or theft or murder or any of the other of the 10 commandments. No, they were always wrong. They were always a sin. The law was given to codify the reality that they were lawbreakers in God’s court of law.

We like to think of the law as what determines right from wrong. If it is legal, if it is lawful, then it’s OK to do. The Christian ethic says, “Not so fast.” Paul even reminds us in

1 Corinthians 6:12 ESV

“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.

Just because we’ve made a law that says it’s ok or there is not a law prohibiting something doesn’t mean we should do it. And likewise, just because there is not a prohibition on something in the Bible, we should look at things differently rather than simply saying, “Does the Bible tell me no?” We need to stop and ask questions if it is helpful, will it show love and care for my neighbor and will I glorify God in all of this. These are the fundamental questions we need to ask. Not, “Can I do something?” That’s legalism. “Should I do something?” That’s morals.

The Mosaic law was given not to give us a path to get right with God but instead to show us just how far away from him we really are. It’s intended to show just how much we need Jesus. Paul tells us that the law was added to show us our sin until the time that the offspring of the promise, or Jesus, came to fulfill the promise. God did not intend for us to earn our righteousness with him. Instead, he intended, from the very foundations of His work in creation, for every man, woman and child to walk with him in faith and trust. Thus, as we saw earlier, anything that is not from faith is sin.

We need to see that the law was not given to us as a code of conduct or a laundry list of tasks to do. Instead, the law was given to us to show God’s character and as a means to show us what a life lived in faith would look like. Because we disagree with those who claim that Jesus is JUST a good, moral teacher, we forget that He is an example to us. We are to love as he loves () we are to forgive as he forgives (). Peter tells us that we are to endure suffering as he did (). Paul goes as far as to tell us in that we are to be conformed to the very image of God. The purpose of the law was to show us what a life of faithful trust in God looks like before we saw it physically manifested in Jesus Himself.

This reminds us that a life of faith as Paul describes is one that trusts God to get it right all the time. It’s a life that says “I believe” and when we don’t “Help my unbelief!” We need to be people who trust God in season and out of season not out of fear but because he has promised to love us with a never giving up, always and forever love. We need to trust God, even when it may not make sense, because a life of faith is a life that takes God at his word.

The Law Is A Blessing When Used Properly

I’m sure that you have heard people say that there seems to be two God’s in the Bible - the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament. The old, angry, smite every thing if they step out of line God of the Old and then the lovey-dovey, kind, pat you on the head God of the New. But we know that this is not the case because in verse 20, Paul reminds us that God is one. There is one God that is God in the Old Testament and the very same God is God in the New Testament.

The problem is that each one of us view law on one hand and grace on the other. We break the law, we deserve eternal punishment but Jesus died so we might have eternal life. So, we confess our sin and then set about cleaning up our act. This is how we view things. The problem is that is not how Paul did. Paul viewed the law not only as a means to point out our sin, but to point us to the perfect one. The law is a mirror - it shows us where we are not living by faith and thus sinning. And thus, the law is an instrument of God’s grace in our lives. It shows us not only where we are not trusting God by how we behave, but it also shows us where we can walk by faith and not by sight.

The other day, a friend of mine asked me if I had ever preached on the tenth commandment - covetousness. I said no, but I lead a study on it once and asked why the question. We started talking about why we thought it was a sin. He shared he always thought it was due to the fact that covetousness dehumanized your neighbor. Rather than seeing them as a person, you see them as a source of stuff. I shared that I always thought that it was a sin because we are called to trust that God will provide all our needs and to covet our neighbor’s jet ski or sports car is to say to God that he doesn’t know what he is doing because he didn’t give us that. I think we are both right on the money. A life that lived out in faith loves our neighbor as our self and seeks their best in life. It also trusts that God will always get it right and to never let us go with out. The law points out where we are falling short and helps us to see where we need to look more like Jesus so we can have the abundant life He promises us.

The law is a mirror - it shows us where we are not living by faith and thus sinning. And thus, the law is an instrument of God’s grace in our lives. It shows us not only where we are not trusting God by how we behave, but it also shows us where we can walk by faith and not by sight.

The other day, a friend of mine asked me if I had ever preached on the tenth commandment - covetousness. I said no and we started talking about why we thought it was a sin. He shared he always thought it was due to the fact that covetousness dehumanized your neighbor. Rather than seeing them as a person, you see them as a source of stuff. I shared that I always thought that it was a sin because we are called to trust that God will provide all our needs and to covet our neighbor’s jet ski or sports car is to say to God that he doesn’t know what he is doing. I think we are both right on the money. A life that lived out in faith loves our neighbor as our self and seeks their best in life. It also trusts that God will always get it right and to never let us go with out. The law points out where we are falling short and helps us to see where we need to look more like Jesus so we can have the abundant life He promises us.

What Paul is arguing for in the last two verses of our text today is that the law is not contrary to God’s promise, but it is complimentary. Since God never intended for the law to be used as a means of righteousness but instead to hold captive every person to the Scriptures which tell us that Jesus is the promise given to the nations by which we can be saved. It is not God’s fault that we misused and misapplied the law. It is our fault and the solution to misuse of the law isn’t to stop using the law but to instead start using it rightly because the law is a blessing to us when used rightly - it shows us where we are off track and what it will look like when we get back on track.

What Paul is arguing for in the last two verses of our text today is that the law is not contrary to God’s promise, but it is complimentary. Since God never intended for the law to be used as a means of righteousness but instead to hold captive every person to the Scriptures, the law is not a curse for those who use it properly. Those same Scriptures tell us that Jesus is the promise given to the nations by which we can be saved. tells us that he came to proclaim good news to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus came to do what the law could not - set the prisoner to sin free because he who knew no sin became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God ().

It is not God’s fault that we misused and misapplied the law. It is our fault and the solution to misuse of the law isn’t to stop using the law but to instead start using it rightly because the law is a blessing to us when used rightly - it shows us where we are off track and what it will look like when we get back on track. So let us be a gospel people who use the law for it’s intended purpose. That we don’t us the law to beat people up or to anger them or belittle them. Instead, let us use the law in a loving way, first in our own lives to deal with our own sin and then in the lives of those around us. Let us not force ourselves or others adhere to a moral standard of our creation and interpretation of the law, but to use the law to show us the path of Christ and in so doing live by faith and not by sight.

So let us be a gospel people who use the law for it’s intended purpose. That we don’t us the law to beat people up or to anger them or belittle them. Instead, let us use the law in a loving way, first in our own lives to deal with our own sin and then in the lives of those around us. Let us not force ourselves or others adhere to a moral standard of our creation and interpretation of the law, but to use the law to show us the path of Christ and in so doing live by faith and not by sight.

Conclusion

In this overly litigious society, we have warning labels everywhere. I read an article on the internet this week that had several funny warning labels including my personal favorite on a package of fishhooks - “Harmful if swallowed”. Especially if you are a fish! Because we are foolish, we need to be protected from our stupidity and reminded what the proper use of an item is so we don’t hurt ourselves. Paul is reminding us in this passage what the proper use of the law is.

That’s not what Paul is teaching. Instead, Paul is confirming the complimentary nature of the law to the promise given to Abraham. The law, given to Moses, doesn’t contradict or supersede or trump the promise given to Abraham, but instead compliments it and shows us not only where we fall short when we don’t live by faith but what then a life lived out in faith looks like.

Paul’s whole argument to this point in his letter has not been “ignore the law”. That would make him an “antinomian”. If we view legalism on one end where they teach we must obey all of the rules we make up to please God, then one might naturally conclude antinomianism is the other end where we say that since we are under grace, it doesn’t matter how we live. Paul, however is not pitting a life of free grace against a life of legal obedience. Instead, Paul is challenging us to use the law as directed. He is confirming the complimentary nature of the law to the promise given to Abraham as the proper use of the law. The law, given to Moses, doesn’t contradict or supersede or trump the promise given to Abraham, but instead compliments it and shows us not only where we fall short when we don’t live by faith but what then a life lived out in faith looks like.

Let’s pray.

Benediction -

Romans 15:13 ESV

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.