Gal 3:13-14 | KingComments | STEP | . The false teachers referred to Abraham as proof of their theory. This, however, was entirely wrong. Paul makes clear who the real sons of Abraham are. These are not the Jews who proudly claimed that they were the physical posterity of Abraham. The real sons of Abraham are those, both Jews and Gentiles, who have the same faith as Abraham. He who possesses that faith receives the blessing. This blessing means, among other things, that he who believes will be justified. As stated, this means that such a person is declared righteous by God. It is as if God says: ‘You trust Me, that‘s why you belong to Me; I give you a place in My presence.’ It really was good news to Abraham, when he heard that in him God would bless all nations with the same blessing he too had received. So this blessing was not only for him personally and for his physical posterity, but also for all nations. God made this promise to Abraham when there was not yet a word of the Old Testament put on paper. Moses only did that several hundred years later. Still it is written: “The Scripture, foreseeing … preached.” From this it is evident that the Scripture and God are one and the same. That makes the Bible so exceptionally impressive. It is truthfully the Word of God. . So it is clear that it is not the people who try to keep the law who will receive the blessing, but those who believe. They are blessed with the believing Abraham and not with the circumcised Abraham. All the emphasis is on faith; the law is completely excluded. . But the adversaries are not yet silenced. Well, they might say, Abraham is justified by faith; but the law came in later on, didn’t it? You can’t put that aside, can you? Well, Paul also says, the law did indeed come in later. But let us take a good look at the law. It is clear that in the law God tells people exactly how He wants to be served. Obedience is the key word. But does man desire to submit himself to the law? Is he able to fulfill the law? No, Paul says in Romans 8, the flesh “does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able [to do so]” ( ). So the next question might be: if I am justified, and I am risen to a new life, then don’t I desire to keep the commandments of God? However, the question is not if I desire to obey the commands of the law but if I do what the law commands. Acknowledging the law and fulfilling the law go together, in order to be acceptable to God and to be rewarded by Him. That brings us to the question: am I able to keep all that God has commanded? Who, as a Christian, dares to say: yes, I can, deceives himself and makes God a liar ( ). And what if I don’t succeed? As soon as I stumble in one commandment and so don’t succeed to keep them all to the full, I fall under the curse. The law shows no mercy in case of violation ( ). There is no pardon! The quotation where the curse is pronounced upon all who don’t perform what the law says comes from Deuteronomy 27 ( ). There Moses speaks about six tribes that had to bless and six tribes that had to curse. And what do you read about the blessing? Nothing at all! And what do you read about the curse? That is pronounced in detail at the end of the above quotation, which you find cited here in . That is significant. The quotation is introduced with the words “for it is written”. Let these words affect you with power. They contain the acknowledgment of the authority of the Scriptures with which you can defeat the enemy. The Lord Jesus did just that in the wilderness where the devil tempted Him ( ). Here Paul does the same to refute the false doctrine. “It is written” is the only guarantee to escape from the wiles of the devil. . Paul has more quotations from Scripture. Habakkuk already has said that the righteous will live by faith ( ). By law you can only expect judgment. Law and faith don’t match in any way. That’s why it is an error when someone talks about keeping the law ‘out of gratitude’. . The verse that Paul quotes can help in refuting this false doctrine. It is written in Leviticus 18 ( ). You can’t contradict that a Christian lives by his faith . What sense does it make to involve the law? The law is meant to earn life, and you can only earn that life if you practice “them”, that is, all what the law says. . You can see very clearly in this verse that Paul doesn’t wipe out the law with his arguments. In a moving way he confirms the law in this verse. You see the merciless character of the law by what the Lord Jesus did on the cross. When the Lord Jesus on the cross (“the tree”) took the sins upon Him of everyone who believes and would believe in Him, He became a curse. In the Lord Jesus the law has taken full effect. When He lived He perfectly kept the law and fulfilled it. However, we are not redeemed by the perfect way in which the Lord Jesus kept the law. We are redeemed because on the cross He took the curse of the law on Himself. During His life God’s pleasure was upon the Lord Jesus; on the cross, in the hours of darkness, God cursed Him and He became a curse. By that – and by that alone – we are redeemed from the curse we deserved. That is substitution in the true sense of the word ( ). The price He paid is His blood. . Because He turned the curse of the law away from us, it is possible that the blessing freely flows in all its fullness to both Jew and Gentile. Both receive the Holy Spirit only by faith. Now read Galatians 3:8-14 again. Reflection: What do you learn about the law in these verses?

‏ Galatians 3:13-14

Blessing or Curse

Gal 3:8. The false teachers referred to Abraham as proof of their theory. This, however, was entirely wrong. Paul makes clear who the real sons of Abraham are. These are not the Jews who proudly claimed that they were the physical posterity of Abraham. The real sons of Abraham are those, both Jews and Gentiles, who have the same faith as Abraham. He who possesses that faith receives the blessing. This blessing means, among other things, that he who believes will be justified. As stated, this means that such a person is declared righteous by God. It is as if God says: ‘You trust Me, that‘s why you belong to Me; I give you a place in My presence.’

It really was good news to Abraham, when he heard that in him God would bless all nations with the same blessing he too had received. So this blessing was not only for him personally and for his physical posterity, but also for all nations.

God made this promise to Abraham when there was not yet a word of the Old Testament put on paper. Moses only did that several hundred years later. Still it is written: “The Scripture, foreseeing … preached.” From this it is evident that the Scripture and God are one and the same. That makes the Bible so exceptionally impressive. It is truthfully the Word of God.

Gal 3:9. So it is clear that it is not the people who try to keep the law who will receive the blessing, but those who believe. They are blessed with the believing Abraham and not with the circumcised Abraham. All the emphasis is on faith; the law is completely excluded.

Gal 3:10. But the adversaries are not yet silenced. Well, they might say, Abraham is justified by faith; but the law came in later on, didn’t it? You can’t put that aside, can you? Well, Paul also says, the law did indeed come in later. But let us take a good look at the law. It is clear that in the law God tells people exactly how He wants to be served. Obedience is the key word. But does man desire to submit himself to the law? Is he able to fulfill the law?

No, Paul says in Romans 8, the flesh “does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able [to do so]” (Rom 8:7). So the next question might be: if I am justified, and I am risen to a new life, then don’t I desire to keep the commandments of God? However, the question is not if I desire to obey the commands of the law but if I do what the law commands. Acknowledging the law and fulfilling the law go together, in order to be acceptable to God and to be rewarded by Him.

That brings us to the question: am I able to keep all that God has commanded? Who, as a Christian, dares to say: yes, I can, deceives himself and makes God a liar (1Jn 1:8 ; 10). And what if I don’t succeed? As soon as I stumble in one commandment and so don’t succeed to keep them all to the full, I fall under the curse. The law shows no mercy in case of violation (Heb 10:28). There is no pardon!

The quotation where the curse is pronounced upon all who don’t perform what the law says comes from Deuteronomy 27 (Deu 27:26). There Moses speaks about six tribes that had to bless and six tribes that had to curse. And what do you read about the blessing? Nothing at all! And what do you read about the curse? That is pronounced in detail at the end of the above quotation, which you find cited here in Gal 3:10. That is significant.

The quotation is introduced with the words “for it is written”. Let these words affect you with power. They contain the acknowledgment of the authority of the Scriptures with which you can defeat the enemy. The Lord Jesus did just that in the wilderness where the devil tempted Him (Mt 4:4-10). Here Paul does the same to refute the false doctrine. “It is written” is the only guarantee to escape from the wiles of the devil.

Gal 3:11. Paul has more quotations from Scripture. Habakkuk already has said that the righteous will live by faith (Hab 2:4). By law you can only expect judgment. Law and faith don’t match in any way. That’s why it is an error when someone talks about keeping the law ‘out of gratitude’.

Gal 3:12. The verse that Paul quotes can help in refuting this false doctrine. It is written in Leviticus 18 (Lev 18:5). You can’t contradict that a Christian lives by his faith. What sense does it make to involve the law? The law is meant to earn life, and you can only earn that life if you practice “them”, that is, all what the law says.

Gal 3:13. You can see very clearly in this verse that Paul doesn’t wipe out the law with his arguments. In a moving way he confirms the law in this verse. You see the merciless character of the law by what the Lord Jesus did on the cross. When the Lord Jesus on the cross (“the tree”) took the sins upon Him of everyone who believes and would believe in Him, He became a curse. In the Lord Jesus the law has taken full effect. When He lived He perfectly kept the law and fulfilled it. However, we are not redeemed by the perfect way in which the Lord Jesus kept the law. We are redeemed because on the cross He took the curse of the law on Himself.

During His life God’s pleasure was upon the Lord Jesus; on the cross, in the hours of darkness, God cursed Him and He became a curse. By that – and by that alone – we are redeemed from the curse we deserved. That is substitution in the true sense of the word (2Cor 5:21). The price He paid is His blood.

Gal 3:14. Because He turned the curse of the law away from us, it is possible that the blessing freely flows in all its fullness to both Jew and Gentile. Both receive the Holy Spirit only by faith.

Now read Galatians 3:8-14 again.

Reflection: What do you learn about the law in these verses?