Transcript

Cursed For Trying

Galatians 3:10-14
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Pastor Randy Smith

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In the heart of winter, 1925, the young people in Nome, Alaska were facing a deadly outbreak of diphtheria. The only antidote was a serum that was in Anchorage, Alaska nearly a thousand miles away. Due to the frigid temperatures, the planes could not start, so the serum was transported by train as far as possible. From there it was up to a scheduled circuit of twenty sled dog teams. There were blizzard conditions with temperatures down to -23 F. On the final leg on the Iditarod Trail in whiteout conditions, led by lead dog Balto, the serum arrived safely in Nome and lives were saved. As you know, the dogs get most of the credit in this wonderful story, but many humans also risked their lives in an effort to save others.

Now could you imagine if when the invaluable serum arrived that the mayor of the town poured it out on the ground and began injecting the infected children with his own concoction that he whipped up using random chemicals he had laying around the house? Nothing could be more foolish. There would be outrage. The children would die, and the sacrifice and courage and love of the sled teams would have gone for nothing.

Tragic, but there is even a greater tragedy that I would like to speak about this morning along these lines. Make a mistake on this one and you ignore the greatest sacrifice made on behalf of humanity. Make a mistake and you forfeit more than just your physical life. Disregard this one and you waste not a serum, but trample under your feet the priceless blood of Jesus Christ. Nothing could be more foolish.

The letter to the Galatians was written to several churches in the Galatian region (now modern-day Turkey) that were making this grave mistake by substituting an ineffective and damning Gospel for the one that brings true healing. When the apostle Paul was among them they received the Gospel of free grace. They believed that Jesus' sacrifice on the cross was sufficient to pay the full penalty of their sins. But then the false teachers known as Judaizers arrived and began to instruct the new converts that personal works needed to be added to faith in Jesus. Back then the work that they stressed more than others was circumcision.

So applicable for today. Just ask someone, even someone professing to be a Christian, "Are you going to heaven?" And if the individual is asked why he or she answered in the affirmative, you are bound to receive a laundry list of good deeds. My friends, this is a false Gospel and not one that God will in any way honor to get you to heaven.

We desperately need this letter to the Galatians today for it spells out clearly the antidote to our infection with sin. Coming off the inspired pen of the apostle Paul, it boldly travels across all epochs and all cultures to bring to our hearts today the sweet medicine leading to reconciliation with God. There is no other remedy than grace freely received by faith in Jesus Christ alone.

Five verses, two points and one Lord's Table is waiting for us.

1. The Curse Remains (verses 10-12)

I am calling the first point, "The Curse Remains."

While there are a few people who simply believe everybody goes to heaven, the majority of people from the beginning of time have always assumed we need to first be made right with God. In the book of Job, arguably the oldest book in the Bible we read, "How then can a man be just with God? Or how can he be clean who is born of woman?" (Job 25:4). And the answer to that question, again as old as time, is that there are certain things that you must do.

So if we go this route we have two options. One is we can write our own rules. Very convenient! If I get baptized, go to church, support cancer research, watch the 10 Commandments once a year, have good table manners and don't murder anyone (that one always makes the list!), God is obligated to save me. Or, two, we can take God's rules; Paul calls it here the Law, and seek to fulfill them. If I follow the Bible, it is believed that God is obligated to save me. Oftentimes people do a combination of the two. My friends, all of these options are a dead end street. These options bring not salvation upon you but a curse.

Look at verse 10, "For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written [quoting Deuteronomy 27:26], 'Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them.'"

As you attempt to earn your salvation, Satan whispers in your ear, "You don't have to be so fanatical." "You're close enough." "The effort is what matters most." "God will cut you some slack." "Nobody's perfect." And then we come back to Scripture and realize these are all lies. Any attempts to gain your salvation by following even the commandments of God will result according to verse 10 in placing yourself under a curse.

Why is that? Because it's an all or nothing proposition. You want to meet God based upon your efforts? Then you must meet Him based upon His standards - perfection! You wish to go the route of the Law? Then it's perfect compliance. Verse 10 - performing all the things written in the Law. Or verse 12, "He who practices them shall live by them" (Lev. 18:5). Have fun! Odds are if your slate was clean, you'd blow it before you enter your home for lunch this afternoon. The irony of it all! In your attempt to win God's favor you receive His curse.

Or let me put it like this. Say you start a new job and the boss asks you two questions: "Do you agree that the rules for my organization are good." You read over all three-thousand of them and can't deny that any of them are bad. Then he asks, "Do I then have the right to fire you if you violate any of them?" Again you answer in the positive. If I were you I wouldn't get too settled in!

God's laws are based upon His character. All of them are good. As creatures made in His image He expects perfection. We fail, but the problem is not the law - it is our hearts. It reminds me of my three-year-old son, Shane. For some reason he is compelled to hit the dog almost every time he passes by her. He knows the dog doesn't like it, and he knows he wouldn't like it. He knows the rule is good, but he has so much trouble obeying it!

It is the same with us and God. We cannot deny the fact that the law is good and that we will never meet His expectations. It is clear when you rightly see yourself as the sinner that you are and God as the holy Being that He is. Paul put it like this in verse 11, "Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident."

But there is something else that we must see in these passages. Not only are we sinners and therefore under God's curse, but the curse in this context is especially upon sinners who have the audacity to think they can do it on their own! The curse is upon those who have the audacity to think they can earn God's acceptance. We call it legalism. Jesus Christ was very gentle with the harlots and tax collectors, but He came down the hardest on the Pharisees. They were the religious people, but in their love for religion they thought they could achieve God's favor, and it brought about our Lord's greatest contempt.

Likewise Paul when he writes Galatians is not speaking to the atheist, immoral outsider, but people in the church professing Christ. The curse is upon people professing to be God's, but obsessed with the works of the Law to merit His acceptance. The reason God hates this spirit so much is because it is the epitome of self-righteousness and pride.

It is the most grievous offense to His holiness when self-sufficient and self-reliant sinners think they can rise to His level. For example, let's pretend my son wished to get in the water with Olympic swimmer, Michael Phelps. Would Mr. Phelps be more likely to agree if I told him my son had three lessons at the "Y" and wished to challenge him in a race or that my son admired him and would be most grateful for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?

And God is also offended when we try to work our way to Him because it is an offense to His love. Staying with my son, which honors me more as a father? The son who says, "Dad, what can I do for you to love me more?" or the son that says, "Dad, I am so thankful that you have promised to always love me."

That is why as we learned last week, from the time of Abraham long before the Law even came, God accepted people based on faith in His promises. Faith is recognizing God's supremacy. Faith is acknowledging your spiritual bankruptcy. Faith is utter trust with childlike dependency casting yourself fully in His benevolent arms. That honors the Lord. Earning His favor through the Law does just the opposite.

That is why Paul said in verse 12, "The Law is not of faith." They are in opposition. One says obedience will bring God's love. The other says freely receive God's love and that leads to obedience. One says try to clean yourself up and then hope God will accept you. The other says be accepted by God as you are and then allow Him to clean you up. So how do you get righteous? It can't be clearer! In verse 11, quoting Habakkuk 2:4, Paul says, "The righteous man shall live by faith."

2. The Curse is Lifted (verses 13-14)

So as we move to the second point we naturally have a few questions? How does faith lead to favor with God? What should be the object of my faith? How is the curse lifted? This is where Paul now turns his attention in verses 13 and 14.

The common response I get from people is that mere faith in God seems too simple to grant eternal life. They feel like they need to do something. And then when I compound the issue as I did today that all people are under God's curse, they often doubt the message of free grace even more. Many can see the hole they dug for themselves, and they simply think they need to do more or try harder to get themselves out. My friends, the way out is not the way you came in. You don't need a bigger shovel. All you need is a bigger Savior than the one you are presently trusting in which is yourself!

The curse is upon us, but as verse 13 teaches, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us." This is shocking! God in the Person of Jesus Christ chose to bear the curse in our place. The curse meant eternal separation, but Jesus Christ in all His glory stepped out, fulfilled the Law perfectly and went to the cross as our substitute. He received the wrath of God that the sinner deserved. He paid the full penalty for sin. The Son was forsaken by the Father. Justice was accomplished. In 2 Corinthians 5:21 we read, "He [God the Father] made Him [God the Son] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." The ability to be righteous with God is available, and it comes entirely through the work of Jesus Christ.

And the Galatians knew this (verse 1 - Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified before their eyes!) and they were running around trying to earn God's favor with their good deeds. "My morality for Your mercy!" What an insult to the sufficient and finished work of Jesus - wanting Law over grace. As Paul said, they were fools (Gal. 3:1, 3)!

It was exactly this sacrificial work of Jesus Christ that the Jews in the first century struggled with. If Jesus really was the Messiah why was He crucified? They knew the passage from Deuteronomy 21:23 that Paul quotes in verse 13, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree." Back then when criminals were stoned to death they were fixed to a stake or hung on a tree as a corporate warning and symbol of divine rejection.

We agree with the Jews that the Messiah was indeed cursed by God. But here is also where we part company with the enemies of Jesus. They said the curse was proof He was not the Messiah (cf. 1 Cor. 12:3). We say the curse is proof that He is indeed the Messiah. They say the curse was awful, proof He was forsaken by the Father. We say the curse was beautiful, proof He was doing the will of the Father by allowing Himself to be forsaken on our behalf.

After all, wasn't it exactly this that was prophesized about the coming Messiah in Isaiah 53? "Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him" (Isa. 53:4-6).

And why did Jesus become the curse for sinners? Because He loved you, Christian! Verse 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." Christ died an atoning death on the cross not for His sins, but for ours. Christ died an atoning death on the cross so that the promise given to Abraham that he would have many spiritual descendants would come not to those who follow Jewish traditions (as the Galatians were falsely taught), but to Jews and Gentiles that receive Him by faith. And Christ died an atoning death on the cross that God would now take up full residence in our hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit when we simply believe in Christ's work when we receive it by faith.

My friends, God is performance orientated. Try to do it on your own and you will fail. The curse will remain. Or you can let Jesus assume the curse for you and accept God's free offer of salvation. The choice is yours, but you can imagine the consequences if you neglect so great a salvation. If the Father was willing to pour out His wrath on His Son, how can we expect to escape it? Apart from Jesus, God's judgment is forever before you and His justice is right on your tail. There is nowhere to turn but to His mercy and grace. If you have yet to do so, will you receive God's gift of love, the removal of the curse, salvation for your soul and fellowship with the Father that is found by grace through faith in Jesus Christ right now?