GALATIANS (13): Deliverance from the Curse (Galatians 3:10-14)
To be in relationship with God requires us to be justified by God (declared righteous in His sight). This provides the legal basis for us to receive the indwelling Holy Spirit, who brings us into dynamic fellowship with God, through which we experience His abundant and eternal life. All of this is included in the Blessing of Abraham.
How can we come into a right relationship with God, receive His Spirit and experience His life? There are only 2 possible ways to be righteous before God:
(1) The way of WORKS, in conformity to God's law (the works of the law) - trying to establish our own righteousness by our own works, by trying to keep God's law in our own strength (man's way of pride).
(2) The way of FAITH, trusting in the work and righteousness of Christ, which He gives us in His GRACE.
These two ways lead to 2 destinies. The way of works always results in us coming under the curse of condemnation and death, because the law requires total perfection all the time, which no one can achieve (except Jesus). So, the only way to be justified before God and live under His life and blessing is to submit to God's way of grace through faith. Jesus made it possible for us to be delivered from the curse and for us to come under God's blessing, by taking our place on the Cross and bearing our sin and becoming a curse for us - taking the punishment we deserved for breaking God's laws. So, if we believe in Christ and receive Him as our Lord, we are put into Christ and receive His righteousness and the blessing of life through his Spirit within us.
We discuss the relevance of the law to the unsaved and to the saved, especially pointing out that the ministry of the law is to reveal sin, not to be a means of salvation. We also ask: What is the Blessing and what is the Curse? We also look at the typology in Deuteronomy 21 that Paul referenced in Galatians 3:13, and point out how Christ fulfilled all the requirements for removing the curse from us through His death and burial, before receiving the blessing of God for us, and releasing to us in his resurrection. We also take an initial look at the Type of the Bronze Serpent on the pole (Numbers 21).
How can we come into a right relationship with God, receive His Spirit and experience His life? There are only 2 possible ways to be righteous before God:
(1) The way of WORKS, in conformity to God's law (the works of the law) - trying to establish our own righteousness by our own works, by trying to keep God's law in our own strength (man's way of pride).
(2) The way of FAITH, trusting in the work and righteousness of Christ, which He gives us in His GRACE.
These two ways lead to 2 destinies. The way of works always results in us coming under the curse of condemnation and death, because the law requires total perfection all the time, which no one can achieve (except Jesus). So, the only way to be justified before God and live under His life and blessing is to submit to God's way of grace through faith. Jesus made it possible for us to be delivered from the curse and for us to come under God's blessing, by taking our place on the Cross and bearing our sin and becoming a curse for us - taking the punishment we deserved for breaking God's laws. So, if we believe in Christ and receive Him as our Lord, we are put into Christ and receive His righteousness and the blessing of life through his Spirit within us.
We discuss the relevance of the law to the unsaved and to the saved, especially pointing out that the ministry of the law is to reveal sin, not to be a means of salvation. We also ask: What is the Blessing and what is the Curse? We also look at the typology in Deuteronomy 21 that Paul referenced in Galatians 3:13, and point out how Christ fulfilled all the requirements for removing the curse from us through His death and burial, before receiving the blessing of God for us, and releasing to us in his resurrection. We also take an initial look at the Type of the Bronze Serpent on the pole (Numbers 21).