Get Out From Under There!

To this passage here, I wanted to let you know we had announced three supplemental handouts that you could take from the cabinet on the right as you exit the room. I ran out of two of those, so we have those additionally supplied. Feel free to take those. We also don't want to have you run short of these supplements at all, so take your supplements, all right? So we've got more of those for today. Hal had a write-up Here, centering in Galatians 3, that lists a number of ministries of the Spirit, 21 if I recall correctly, and then an additional handout that covers some slides from this morning. So, anyway, plenty to take advantage of if you'd like to there.

Now, we wanted to give you the big picture this morning so that you'll stay oriented and understand how things work. And to give you the big picture, you're here. Okay? All right. That's probably not quite what you had in mind, and neither did I, so we'll get there.

Galatians 3, 6-14, that is last week's passage through this week's passage. What was the big picture that Paul's presenting here? Last Sunday in our study of the verses 6-9, Paul used the record of God's dealings with Abram, or Abraham as he was later called. from the book of Genesis to prove that all are justified by faith and only by faith. That's the picture that we got from last week's passage. Today in Galatians 3 verses 10 to 14, today's passage, Paul turns the tables.

He goes the other way and proves the impossibility of being justified by the works of the law. Only by faith may you be justified. Impossible that you'd ever be justified by works of the law. Just as we said a couple weeks back, you cannot nail jello to a wall. You cannot get blood out of a turnip. You cannot go from the law and get to righteousness. Can't happen.

The law can only curse, as we'll see multiply in today's passage, because nobody can keep the law perfectly. Nobody. Another way to look at it is it's a good news, bad news story. Start with the bad news, okay? The bad news is that because of our human inability to keep the law, we as human beings cannot do so. We can't keep the law of Moses. We can't keep the law under any system of law or any principle of law. The law can only curse us.

That's the message from verses 10, part of verse 11, and verse 12. Now, the good news, we'll give you that part here. God, at Christ's expense, by His works, not ours, the law is our works, by His works, justifies, that is, declares righteous everyone, every single person who believes. And it's that simple. We who believe are blessed. There's all 613 of the laws of Moses. Let me know you got them memorized and go to the next slide. Okay, maybe not. All right.

In this passage, one of the things that jumps out at us is that Paul hits several times, keeps harping on this word curse or cursed. And we see that coming again and again in the passage. And finally, the last part, blessed. There's a reason for his putting it that way and putting so much emphasis on the curse in order to thus reveal and show the blessing.

First of all, we have to tell you, what kind of curse is this? This isn't one of those Pirates of the Caribbean, Black Pearl kind of curses. Not one of those. It's not the Curse of the Mummy or anything like that. No. Paul is not writing about that kind of curse. Not even one of those Harry Potter curses. All right. Not that. What kind of curse is this? He didn't write about some curse that's human to human magic. None of this kind of thing.

No, that sort of thing is written of, the book of Acts, believe it or not, covers it. Chapter 8 and chapter 19, actually several different versions of it in chapter 19 are addressed. No, this instead about a curse from God, and what is that? It's not that God gives a curse like you see in these popular movies of late, but it is a rejection by God.

It is His judgment, a negative judgment. That's what Paul's writing about. That's what he's talking about here. One way to think of it, and to get it clear in our minds, God's curse is the opposite of His blessing. God's curse is the opposite of His blessing. That helps us clarify. If we look at what's God's blessing, God's curse goes the other way.

So, we won't understand how Good the good news is until we understand how bad the bad news is. That's why Paul starts off with curse, curse, curse, curse, curse, curse, and then tells us about the blessing. That's why the sequence is even important. In the presentation of the gospel, Those who don't believe have to be first presented with the bad news in order to understand the good news. Right? We've told people, here's the basics of the gospel. Christ died for your sins. He was buried and He was resurrected. If you believe that, you're saved. What most people miss out on is Christ died for your sins.

Do you know what bad news sins are? Then, and only then, will you understand how good the good news is. Gospel means good news. And that's Paul's point right here. It's wonderful, wonderful news when we understand how bad the bad news is. In the presentation of God's blessing, and that's certainly what we see here in the book of Galatians, Paul must first get each one of us to understand that trying to live under the law is really bad news. The law is no blessing. There's no avenue of blessing. Only then, when we understand that, do we understand the good news.

Another point that Paul is going to make, not only does he have the beginning part of this passage filled with this word curse, but he also uses superlatives. First is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law to perform them now that no one notice the repeated use of superlatives it's all the way this is no grayscale okay this isn't sort of this sort of that it is absolute in each direction okay superlatives all the way all right now as we step into the passage here verses 10 through 14 Let's first take a look at verse 10. And it goes like this. We've got this phrase here I want us to touch on first. Under a curse. Paul's asking these believers in Galatia. Remember, this is written to the churches, the believers in Galatia. He's asking for the believers in Galatia to think over this.

What are you doing there under a curse? What are you doing under there? What are you doing under that curse? He wants them to understand that what they're stepping into, what they're being sold by these legalists, is a false bill of goods. What are you doing under there?

For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse. This is the reason why Paul can say categorically for as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse. Those who are placed under or place themselves under the law of Moses, if you want to pick that one, or a principle of law, any kind of law system that you cook up, are subject to God's total rejection. Subject to God's judgment against both the thoughts, as we've been seeing in our Sermon on the Mount elective, the thoughts and the actions of sin. Sin doesn't start with what comes out on our body. It starts on the inside, doesn't it? That's where the problem lies.

You see, the thing is, any shortfall at all is a lack of total perfection. Did you miss one? That's it. Trap door. If our works are the chain from heaven to earth, one single link that's bad is a problem. They're all made with hardened steel of the greatest strength, except for that one that's made from styrofoam. Uh-oh. That's the problem. None of us has a perfect chain. All it takes is one. One oops.

Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all. So, how many human beings can abide by all the things written in the Law of Moses, to do each and every single one of them all the time. Perfectly. No exceptions. None. None. This stadium here contains all the people who can be declared righteous by the law. Here's a room. All the people who can be declared righteous by living out the law are gathered in this room. How do you like that? They're all gathered right there. See them? Oh, how about this one? All the people who can be declared righteous by living out the law are on this freeway. You get the point?

It's empty. Can't do it. Can't be done. That's why Paul wrote and quoted, Cursed is everyone. If the law of Moses or any law system is what calls the shots for us, sets the standard, then cursed is everyone. None of us humans pulls it off. It's like the high jumper who gets up ready to jump the bar. And he says, somebody put the bar up. And they say, it is up. And he says, what? Look up. The bar is way high.

None of us are going to make it, not even the best. Who does not abide by all the things, every single one. There's an assumption that Paul has here in his writing about the Law of Moses or any principle of law. You see, it doesn't have to be the Law of Moses. It could be any system of laws that somebody cooks up. Do this, don't do that. Human beings can't perform perfectly according to any law system. Can't. The failure rate, unfortunately, is 100%.

Isaiah 53.6, all we like sheep have gone astray. Realm of 323. They both get the critical point across very well. All. All.

Trying to live by keeping the law perfectly is like taking a ride on that Titanic. If at first you don't succeed, you're sunk. That's it. Or I could compare it to skydiving. First you don't succeed, that's too bad. It's one failure is all it takes. It's not you get yourself up and say, OK, let's try again. No, it doesn't work that way. You've already gotten the condemnation. Now, let's look at verse 11. This gives the underlying assumption behind what Paul says there in verse 10.

Absolutely nobody can fulfill or live out the law in every detail all the time. None. zip. Nobody will ever be justified that is declared righteous. Nobody will be declared righteous by God by trying to live out the law of Moses. It isn't going to happen. No way.

The righteous man, Paul says, will live by faith. That's the only route. That's the way. He quotes from Habakkuk 2.4, the last line there, part C. Paul also quotes that in Romans 1.17. So Paul answered the question of whether we can live the law by the law or by faith. He did it right here. His answer, from the Old Testament itself, from one of the prophets of the Old Testament, clear and singular, we live by faith. Nothing else, nothing more. God is the one who declares us righteous and spiritually alive. Got that? Spiritually alive. And we live out that walk, that daily walk, by faith. Faith not in ourselves, not in I believe myself. Not faith in what Vern says. Please don't believe in Vern. In what God has said and what He has done in Christ. It's what He has revealed. It's what He has accomplished. That's what our faith belongs in.

If we talk about life, it means being joined to the Lord. Death, as we underscored, and this is part of the supplement, means separation. Several places there in Ephesians and Colossians underscore this point. Death is separation. Life is being joined to Him. Death as separation is also taught in other passages, including the Galatians 2, 19 and 20 passage that we looked at. It's also in the supplement there. And 1 Peter 2, 24. lays the truth out as well. Spiritual death is all about separation of relationship from the Lord. Spiritual life is about establishing and keeping that relationship with the Lord.

We showed it this way with a diagram. The unbeliever is joined to the principle of law. The unbeliever is joined to the principle of law. Notice how this is set up. Separated from Christ. Joined to law. Separated from Christ. By faith, once we have put our trust in Christ, it reverses. The believer is joined to Christ. Romans 7, first six verses, lay out the same principle. And the believer is separated from the law. Now, in verse 12. So, why isn't the law of faith? I mean, after all, you look at the law of Moses. Isn't it God who gave Moses this law? So why would he say that the law is not of faith?

Faith is not just believing something. Faith is dependence upon what God has done and is doing and will do. It's dependence on His works, not my own. That's the difference. That's the distinction. It is not dependence upon what I accomplished, have accomplished, or will accomplish in the future. It is, in the past, in the present, and in the future, dependence upon what God is and is doing.

In Leviticus 18, 1-5, in the last verse there, Paul draws from it, A man may live if he does them. Notice the if? That is a big if. A really big if. Man may live if he does them. But how many of us can do them all? And remember, it's like the Titanic. If at first you don't succeed, you're sunk. How many of us can do it?

None. The law is not of faith. On the contrary. And we're talking about more contrary than a toddler saying no. On the contrary. This is a sharp contrast. The words here are, we've introduced this word in the past, it's Allah, a sharp contrast. The law is not of faith, but way in the opposite direction. He who practices the law must live by them, if, but that's the big if, if they can. Paul is getting across here that the law of Moses, any principle of law, anyone you cook up with, Seeking to live that out is contrary to the principle of grace and by faith. You want to choose the law? That is contrary to grace and by faith. They go in opposite directions. We as believers, as we've pointed out in weeks past, we breathe in an atmosphere of 100% grace. Total grace. Every breath is 100% by faith. We breathe in an atmosphere total grace. We breathe, we take in those breaths entirely by faith.

Some years back I took a course as a part of my core curriculum in college in philosophy of Eastern religions. The instructor there is one I spoke about way back and we learned about Philippians. And this instructor was taking roll calls, they do in college about the first few weeks, and after that they stopped. Anyway, he was going down the list and he says, Vern Peterman, he says, you're a Christian, aren't you?

I said, yeah. He says, what would you do if I hit you on the face? So he decided to try me out. Whack! Across the face. And I mean really hard. And some of the students started yelling, hit him again. And some of the others said, no, this is stupid. They're probably both right.

But anyway, one of the things that I discovered in going through that class, as I looked at this, is there's a whole bunch of religions out there. And for jokes, there's even a McDonald's symbol over there. There's a whole bunch of religions out there, lots.

Only in Christ are we saved and live 100% by grace, depending totally on his work. Only in Christ. Hinduism, and many aspects of Buddhism, reincarnation, and an absolutely graceless law of karma. You will pay absolutely no exceptions for every single sin. For millions of years. Hinduism puts a date of four trillion years on the age of the universe. You've got to be reincarnated again and again again.

Absolute zero grace. Christianity says there is truth. It is in Jesus Christ and 100% grace and that's unique. Very unique. As believers we breathe an atmosphere of 100% grace. Sharp contrast to the thick 90 weight stuff that the rest of the world's breathing. Entirely by faith.

Let's look at verses 13 and 14 here. Christ curses everyone who hangs on a tree. These words are a summary of what Moses laid out to the Jews just before they went into the Promised Land. Deuteronomy 21, 22, and 23. Now, hanging somebody, a criminal, on a tree was not a common practice among the Jews. They did do it. It was one done by other nearby nations throughout biblical times, all the way up to the Romans, of course. But even the Egyptians did it. You look in Genesis chapter 40, and there's an account of where they did or threatened to do just exactly that.

And here's what Deuteronomy 21, 22, and 23 says. If a man has committed a sin worthy of death and he is put to death and you hang him on a tree, his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree. But you shall surely bury him on the same day for he who is hanged is accursed of God. Again, this is not a Harry Potter kind of curse. This is God's judgment. Death.

Galatians 3.13, Christ redeemed us from that curse, from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. He took upon himself what I should have received. Verne should have been the one dying there on that cross 2,000 years ago. I was the one who deserved to be there. He instead of me. That is amazing grace. He instead of me. This word redeemed, I'd like us to take a quick look at it here. You have on page three of your handout a bit of an explanation.

Redeemed here is a word that was used for buying a slave, however the slave got there. It may even be by military captivity or even piracy. but buying a slave out of the marketplace by paying the full ransom price. Now notice there's a distinction here not just buying a slave on the marketplace but out of, not to be returned for sale again.

The Lord paid the price for every single person on the planet. We who believe receive the benefit of that full price paid. The Lord bought us off, bought us out of the marketplace. No longer to be returned to slavery again. Isn't that wonderful good news? The Lord paid the price 100% for each and every person that those who believe may have the benefit of that. Never to go back on the auction block again. Never to be returned to the slave market of sin.

On the supplement, we have listed some of the different words in the New Testament used for slavery and that kind of thing. You can certainly take advantage of that. We'll be looking at a couple of those as we proceed through the book of Galatians. And additionally, words especially for redemption, for redeeming. This one here we're using this morning and we'll see again as we get into chapter 4. It's a buying out of the slave market to be removed from the possibility of being resold.

Isn't that great comfort for us as believers? The Lord didn't just say, hey, I think I'll try it for a while. We'll see how it works out. If it doesn't work out, I can always put you back in the auction block. No. The Lord says, I'm buying you out. I paid full price to buy you out of the slave market. Never, ever to be returned again.

We have also additionally in the supplement there, and we'll return to this because we'll see additional verses in Galatians that bring up this point. By the Lord paying the price for us, the price we could never hope to pay, those who believe take full advantage of that, receive forgiveness of sins, and we are justified. Included within our justification are being declared righteous by God. Included within that is the forgiveness of sins and the redemption, the being bought out of the slave market entirely. That's wonderful good news. Christ redeemed us. He redeemed us having paid full price, no bargain deals, full price for each one of us to buy us out of the slave market of sin.

His intent in doing so was, boy, I'm going to milk everything I can out of this person. No, what amazingly is the case. I'm going to buy this person out of the slave market of sin. And my intent is to bless them. bless them so abundantly that it will take eternity for them to understand how immensely they've been blessed. Isn't that amazing grace? It is astounding grace.

He could have said, I bought you, and boy, you're going to pay. He could have said, I bought you, and I'm going to get every cent out of you that it's worth. No. Instead, he says, I bought you. You are never going on the auction block in the slave market of sin again. and I intend to bless you so that it will take eternity for you to understand the immensity of that blessing."

That's huge. That's massive. That is amazing grace. Christ's intent was to remove us from that slave market entirely. He bought us out from that slave market of sin forever. Completely. He took upon Himself the penalty we should have paid. He became a curse for us. The curse that I deserve, the curse that you deserve, was placed upon Him. And guess what? Wonderful news?

He said, I will gladly take it for the joy set before Him, Hebrews 12 says. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross. He joyfully said, put the nails in. He joyfully said, put me up there on the cross. I'll take the penalty for each one here, including those who drove the nails. In order that, there's a purpose in this, okay? In order that, in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles.

In Genesis 18.18, which we read previously, Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation and in him all the nations the Greek the Old Testament there has ethnos the ethnic ones the Gentiles as Translated in many places will be blessed. That's you and me That we be blessed Because of God's promise Four chapters later, Genesis 22, 18, God said, in your seed, that is in Christ, as we'll see later on in Galatians, all the nations of the earth will be blessed, all the ethnic ones, all the ethnos, that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, us. So God is the promise keeper. God is the promise keeper.

You ever wonder why God doesn't say, you know, this this experiment with earth and people, it's getting kind of raunchy. And I think I'll just kind of roll up this carpet and call it good. But you know what? You know why he hasn't done just that? He has promises to Abraham he's still going to carry out. And because he is the eternal promise keeper. He is the promise keeper. That's why we're not done yet. That's why you and I are still here this morning.

He made promises to Abraham and he's going to keep them. Isn't that amazing? One man who lived 4,000 years ago, God made promises to him and he's not going to wrap it all up until he has fulfilled every promise that he made to Abraham down to the letter. Everyone. He is the promise keeper. And what's cool is we can count on those promises today and tomorrow and forever. So that, here's more reason, here's more outcome, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

In Galatians 3.2, which we studied earlier, Paul had written, this is the only thing I want to find out from you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? What's the answer? He gave it to us here.

We receive the Spirit by faith, by faith, by faith. We don't do it this way. I'm going to keep the law and I'll be good enough that the Lord will give me the Holy Spirit. No, it's by faith. That's his answer. By faith entirely. Here is the expanded and explained version. Let's read through it. This is where we take the meaning of the verse and try to put the full sense into it.

It follows logically that as many people as pursue righteousness from human accomplishments, from the law of Moses, or any law principle, are under a negative judgment from God. And this fact is based upon what Moses himself wrote. Cursed by God is every single one who does not conform to every single detail to the things that are in the book of the law. So then, that absolutely no one is declared righteous by the law before God is abundantly clear, since the law itself says this, the man who is declared righteous shall live and not die by faith in what God says. However, the law is not out of faith, but in sharp contrast He who does all that the law requires shall live by his own self-effort. You ready for it? Ready to sign up? We've got another sign-up sheet on the hall. No, forget that. Next slide.

Christ has paid the full ransom price to buy each one of us out of the slave market of sin, never to return us to there again, away from the curse, from God, which comes from the law. Christ has become cursed by God in our place. We were the ones who deserve to be there. For it is written in the very law of Moses, cursed is every single one who hangs on a tree, in order that by what Christ Jesus has done, his work on our behalf, the blessing God promised to Abraham would come to all the non-Jews so that we, whether Jews or Gentiles, would receive the long-promised blessing of the Spirit by means of faith, which is utter dependence upon what God has done through Christ. This morning we'll be taking the Lord's Table shortly. And as we do so, I think one of the points that gets drawn out of this passage is Christ redeemed us. As we take the elements of what the Lord has given us here, He is the one who paid the price.

And notice it's not a, I bought you and I might sell you again. But it's a buying out of. He bought us to keep us. He bought us to keep us. And that keeping is not some iffy thing. That keeping is if you're really good. If you do exactly what I say. He bought us to keep us forever. He became the curse for us. He became the curse instead of Verne. Instead of the curse that I deserve the penalty for. The judgment that I could well have taken upon myself. He took that instead.

That is astounding. That's amazing. He redeemed us. Isn't that wonderful? Let's pray. Lord, as we look at what you have written, what you have had written, by the Apostle Paul here. We are indeed astounded. See, we are astounded. We're amazed by your amazing grace. And as we look at this passage, we thank you for, instead of a repeated curse, a curse which is so final. Amazingly, we have, by your absolute and total grace, a blessing. We thank you for it. We thank you and praise you in the name of our Lord Jesus, who redeemed us. Amen.