Sermon Number 07
Law and Faith Compared, Part 3 (3:10-14)
Jim Bordwine, ThD
Introduction
REVIEW
In the third chapter of Galatians, by comparing faith and Law-keeping, Paul illustrates the necessity and exclusivity of faith in the matter of justification. In the first five verses of this chapter, Paul speaks of the place of faith in the history of the Galatian churches. He appeals to the Galatians' first contact with the gospel. He reminds them that their present interest in Law-keeping as a means of gaining justification before God was completely out of accord with the manner in which they came into the Kingdom.
By listening to the teaching of the Judaizers, the Galatians were contradicting the origin of their relationship with God. As I noted before, the message of the Judaizers was presented in a manner which appealed to the pride of the Galatians. Whatever was said was designed to entice the Galatians and take advantage of their fleshly desire to be exalted. And this approach was working; so Paul recalls the history of these believers in order to show them how foolish and dangerous was their present conduct.
In vv. 6-9, as we saw last week, Paul speaks of the place of faith in the Abrahamic covenant. In summary, I noted that Paul accomplishes three things by his citation of Abraham's experience. First, he undermines the integrity of the Judaizers by showing that their chief patriarch, Abraham, was declared righteous by God without keeping the Law of God. This is a major blow against the Judaizers; if Paul's words are believed by the Galatians, then the Judaizers have lost all credibility.
Second, Paul notes that the gospel which he preached and which these Galatians believed and which the Judaizers were opposing was preached to Abraham first. Paul's reference to Abraham proves that he was not preaching some novel doctrine. Contrary to what the Judaizers implied, Paul's message was ancient and he was being faithful to the revelation of the past; it was the Judaizers who were contradicting what God already revealed about the nature of salvation and the place of faith.
Third, these verses provide the covenantal perspective on the gospel which is essential to a proper understanding of the gospel and which becomes pivotal in some of the remarks which Paul makes in the immediately following context. Paul's use of Abraham shows that he was the father of Jews and Gentiles; Abraham's experience showed that there should be unity between Jew and Gentile in the gospel, not division, as the Judaizers were teaching. Therefore, these four verses silence the Judaizers and give vital insight regarding the nature of the gospel.
END OF REVIEW
Now we come to the third and final illustration which Paul provides regarding the place and importance of faith. In vv. 10-14, Paul writes about the place of faith in a Law-based theory of justification. The previous two examples, that of the history of the Galatian churches and the experience of Abraham, focused on the role of faith and the lack of a role for Law-keeping. In this third example, Paul looks at the matter from the perspective of Law-keeping or, as I indicated, from the perspective of a theory of justification built around the concept of keeping the Law.
03. The place of faith in a Law-based theory of justification (vv. 10-14)
10 For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM.” 11 Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.” 12 However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, “HE WHO PRACTICES THEM SHALL LIVE BY THEM.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us -- for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE” -- 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Paul's last statement before this section serves as an introduction to his next faith-Law comparison. In v. 9, he wrote: “So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.” The apostle teaches that the blessings of God, the blessings associated with the gospel, come to the sinner when the sinner has faith in the promises of God, just like Abraham. Now, the question remains: What about the Law of God? The Judaizers were teaching that the Law was useful, not as a code of conduct after one was justified, but as a means of justification. The teaching of the Judaizers was, therefore, a direct contradiction of Paul's teaching. So, Paul goes beyond extolling faith as the instrument of justification and comments in these verses on the Law.
What is to be said of the sinner who places himself under the Law as a means of attaining justification before God? Paul says: “as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse…” (v. 10) This verse is a corollary to vv. 6-9. There, Paul taught that those who are of faith are blessed; here he teaches that those who are of the Law are cursed. It is Paul's turn to attack the teaching of the Judaizers by declaring that their method of justification is not a deliverance for the sinner, it is a curse. Keeping the Law to be justified is a terrible approach, Paul implies: “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the Law, to perform them.”
These words come from a section in Deut. 27 which lists various curses threatened upon the people of Israel should they disobey God's laws once they were in the promised land. Paul's point is that if a sinner chooses Law-keeping as a means of attaining justification, then he must keep the Law perfectly; there can be no slip-ups, no mistakes, no infractions of any kind at any time; if the sinner does not obey perfectly, then he faces divine wrath, which is what was threatened against Israel for transgressions. God is perfect and those who desire fellowship with Him must be perfect. If that perfection is sought in Law-keeping, Paul writes, then it must be true and complete perfection. Not one mistake, however slight, is allowed to the man who desires to be justified before God on the basis of what he is or what he is able to do.
One purpose in the giving of the Law was to show the people that they could not possibly keep it and, therefore, should look for a Substitute Law-Keeper, namely, the Messiah. But here, Paul is looking at this matter from the perspective of the Judaizers. “They tell you that you must keep the Law to be justified,” Paul says to the Galatians; “But do you know that you must keep it perfectly and do you know that you must keep all of it, if this is the course you choose?” The Law does not allow for a partial compliance, as the apostle declares. Even the slightest infringement results in judgment.
“All things written in the book of the Law” must be met. This means that the Judaizers were not going far enough in their insistence on circumcision and certain other aspects of the Mosaic legislation. If Law-keeping is the way to God, then it must be total and it must be without fault. All of God's Law must be kept and all of God's Law must be kept without a single mistake. This is what it takes to be justified by Law-keeping. No wonder Paul is outraged at the Judaizers. Look at what they are teaching! Who can gain God's favor by keeping His Law perfectly? The Galatians knew only too well that they could not hit that mark.
Paul is, once again, turning the tables on the Judaizers. This time, by arguing from their perspective, Paul shows just how impossible it is to do what the Judaizers are suggesting. In a Law-based theory of justification, faith has no place and everything depends on perfect, unfailing obedience to the Law of God. If Law is chosen as the means of justification, then faith is eliminated and the sinner cannot look to Another for deliverance, as Paul taught in his gospel, but must depend upon himself alone. “So, Galatians, if you are going to follow the Judaizers, then know the whole story,” Paul implies.
This is the raw truth of Law-keeping; it is all you; all depends on you, all is given by you and all is demanded of you. There is no one to help when justification is based upon Law-keeping. Did the Galatians realize that this is what they were getting themselves into? It is unlikely that they did have the understanding which Paul is providing here. He wants them to know that faith and Law are not compatible, so if they follow the Judaizers, then they have abandoned the gospel of salvation by grace through faith alone. You cannot mingle faith and Law-keeping, Paul teaches; you cannot do a little on your own and then “trust God” for the rest. No, “cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the Law…”
It must be by faith alone, without reference to the Law, or it must be by Law-keeping alone, without reference to faith. The history of the Galatians taught them which was the correct approach; Paul's reference to father Abraham taught them which was the correct approach. Now they must choose. They could not believe Paul's gospel and the so-called gospel of the Judaizers.
The wickedness of the Judaizers is shown more obviously as Paul reveals the full implication of what they were teaching. It wasn't just the law of circumcision which had to be obeyed; it wasn't just a few ceremonies or rituals. If the Galatians chose Law-keeping as a way of attaining justification before God, then they had to keep it all, as I said. Even the Judaizers themselves were ignorant of the implications of their position. Paul shows just how ignorant they were when he quotes from Habakkuk the prophet: “Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, 'The righteous man shall live by faith.'” (v. 11) Had the Judaizers paid more attention to the word of God, they would have known the statement as well as Paul. It nullifies their entire scheme of works-righteousness.
This prophet operated during the days of the evil Jehoiakim. He was troubled by the fact that the wicked seemed to prosper while exploiting the needy. They seemed to be beyond accountability and Habakkuk questioned Jehovah. The LORD responded that the wicked soon would suffer when the Babylonians came into the land; further, the LORD tells Habakkuk that all evil-doers, including the Babylonians, will be punished. Finally, the prophet heard from the LORD that “the righteous man shall live by faith.” The worshiper of Jehovah has the duty of trusting God and His ways at all times, even when what is observed doesn't seem to make complete sense. Even when the wicked appear to prosper, the follower of God knows that the LORD will, in His time, vindicate His holiness and punish the wicked. The truly righteous man will trust the LORD no matter what. By and in this simple trust, the righteous man lives.
Habakkuk learned that the basis for the relationship between a man and God is faith. This is the only means whereby a man can have a loving and comfortable relationship with the LORD. That statement from the prophet is applicable anytime men consider how they may approach God. This is why Paul quotes Habakkuk in this passage. The question now before the Galatians had to do with how they believed they would find justification before God. Would it be on the basis of Law-keeping or by faith in God's provision of a Substitute Law-Keeper? If Habakkuk is to be believed, then faith is the right approach and Law-keeping is out.
Now Paul makes a definitive statement: “the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, 'he who practices them shall live by them.'” (v. 12) Law and faith are not similar, they are not compatible, they cannot be mingled. Law is Law and faith is faith. Law is your efforts, faith is Christ's efforts on your behalf. If you choose the Law, then you must live by the Law and you must impress God by your Law-keeping. In these verses, then, Paul contrasts faith and Law-keeping. The righteous man “shall live by faith,” but the man who chooses Law as his means of attaining justification “must live by law.” There is no middle ground, as I noted. This issue must always be framed as “Faith or Law,” not as “Faith and Law.”
All of this leads Paul to an inevitable mention of the Savior. He has been defending faith as the means whereby the sinner attains justification; he has been opposing the Judaizers who wanted to emphasize the necessity of Law-keeping as a means of winning God's favor. Now Paul brings together the Savior in whom believers have faith and the Law which the Judaizers insisted was still operative. In the gospel, we are told some wonderful news; we are told that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us…” (v. 13) Has God's Law ceased to have relevance for those who have faith? Does God simply forget about His righteous standard and the demands it makes upon all of us? Is faith a way of escaping the requirements of the Law or is faith a way of negating the holy Law of God?
Paul gives an answer. The reason the Galatians need not give attention to the Law in this matter of being justified before God was not because the Law had become irrelevant or because God would “look the other way” in their case. The reason the Galatians need not give attention to the Law, the reason the Galatians need not give one minute's worth of attention to the Judaizers is because the Savior-their Savior, Jesus Christ-received the penalty for all of their Law-breaking upon Himself. The curse of the Law, which is the Law's demand for absolute perfection, fell upon the Christ, the sinner's Substitute, the Galatians' Substitute.
In Him, the Law was satisfied; this is what the gospel promises and those who believe this promise of God are free from the curse of the Law. The Galatians did not have to worry about keeping the Law because Christ died for them as a result of their failure to keep that Law. To place themselves under the Law now, now that they had received the gospel and trusted in Christ, would have been outrageous. The Law had no jurisdiction over them as a means of justification. They could not match that perfect standard, so the Savior died for them to pay the penalty of their failure. Christ, once again, received the death-blow of the Law in His own person.
When Paul says that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law,” he uses a word (exagorazo) which refers to “the payment of a price to recover something or someone from the power of another.” Christ paid the price of His life to ransom us from the demands of God's holy Law. If this is true, then do you see why Paul was so agitated by the teaching of the Judaizers? They were claiming that the Law, the Law for which Christ gave Himself, was still authoritative in the lives of the Galatians as a means of pleasing God and receiving His saving favor. “No!,” Paul says, “Christ died for you because you could never keep the Law.”
The doctrine of the Judaizers was horrendous; it was as destructive and wicked as anything could be. They were nullifying the death of Christ and placing on the backs of the poor Galatians the requirements of God's Law. This is why there is no place for faith in a Law-based theory of justification. A faith-based system declares that the Law has run its course on the Person of Jesus Christ who died upon that cross. A Law-based system declares that Christ's death was not enough. What was transpiring in the Galatian churches at this point in history was a life and death struggle for the gospel. There could be no middle ground, no compromise, no “truce” between Paul and the Judaizers. This was not a time for negotiations or “agreeing to disagree” or charity. This was a time for battle. The Judaizers had to be exposed, condemned and vanquished.
You'll notice that Paul quotes from Deut. 21:23: “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” This verse referred to the custom of taking the dead body of a wrong-doer and nailing it to a post or tree as a means of publicly identifying the offender as a cursed individual. Paul applies the implications of such an action to Christ. The hanging of a dead body on a tree was a curse in the sight of God; how much more, then, was the painful death of His Son upon that cross a curse beyond imagining? The manner of Christ's death shows, Paul teaches, that He was cursed for us. Only guilty men are nailed to trees and the guilt which Christ bore was not His own, it was the guilt of the Galatians. Here is a picture of substitutionary atonement; here is the Savior putting Himself in the place of the sinner; here is the Savior taking the punishment necessitated by the Law, which demands perfection, while the truly guilty go free.
What happens when the curse of the Law is lifted? Paul tells us in v. 14: “in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” The Law stood between the Gentiles and the blessings promised to Abraham. Something had to be done about the Law. As Paul explained, Christ stepped in, as it were, and took upon Himself the curse of the Law. Now, all those who are in Him by faith are eligible to receive the blessing promised to Abraham-the blessing of walking with God, the blessing of being at peace with God, the blessing of having sins forgiven.
When Gentiles, like the Galatians, believe the gospel, they receive the Holy Spirit who seals to them the favor of God which is promised in the gospel. The Spirit Himself was promised by Christ as evidence that the Savior had accomplished redemption and had returned to heaven. This was the great event which occurred on Pentecost and which set in motion the preaching of the gospel and the missionary trips of Paul during which these very people professed belief and embraced the Christ. All this comes about by faith, Paul adds, not by the keeping of the Law. All that is necessary to partake of this wonderful blessing known as redemption is faith.
Conclusion
If I said to you that you must keep the Law of God perfectly and completely before you can know His saving favor, what would you think? If I said to you that, in order to get into heaven and avoid hell, you must abide by God's Law in its entirety and that you are allowed not a single mistake throughout your entire life, how would you respond? This is how one is justified before God outside of Christ. This is what anyone is facing who rejects the gift of salvation in Christ and chooses to count on good works as a means of finding God's favor.
And what would you do if I said to you that at the time of the slightest infraction of God's Law-be it an improper action, a misspoken word or even an unrighteous thought-the full and fierce wrath of God is going to fall on your head and there will be no escape?
this is the “curse of the Law”
but then we read those beautiful words of Paul: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us”