The Curse of the Law Galatians 3:10 - Shirley Nightingale Writes

When I was a teenager, I thought that to get to heaven, I needed to be a good person and keep the Ten Commandments. I’d treat everyone I met with decency and respect.

And when opportunities presented themselves to do good deeds, I’d do them. Like carrying heavy bags of groceries for little old ladies or giving up my seat on the train for a pregnant woman or rescuing a box full of kittens from drowning in the creek. You know, the usual. It was nice to be nice, and good to be good.

Attempting to live up to this high moral code wasn’t easy. Besides this, I never really knew when I had done enough good deeds to earn a place in heaven.

What was even more disturbing was no matter how hard I tried, I’d always managed to slip up somewhere along the line by telling a fib to my friends, disrespecting my parents by being hyper critical of their decisions (aka arguing with them), and being obsessed with whatever popular TV show—Growing Pains, Who’s the boss, The Cosby Show—was airing at the time, over any devotion to the Lord God.

You get the picture. I was failing at keeping the 10 commandments every single day.

For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. Gal 3:10

I was under the curse and cursed.

I had broken God’s laws; guilty as charged. I was condemned and subject to God’s wrath for where I’d crossed the lines. I felt the weight of my sins, and sensed God’s disapproval. I knew something was wrong with me. And no matter how hard I tried to please God, I’d mess things up in one way or another.

Unbeknownst to me at that period in my life, was that the 10 Commandments were doing precisely what they were designed to do.

The law is holy, just and good. Romans 7:12

The Commandments reflect the character of God and what righteousness looks like. They reveal to us how God wants us to live.

Yet, no regular human being can keep these commandments 100 percent of the time. The law shows us the true condition of our hearts—that we are sinful and broken.

Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Galatians 3:24

In the apostle Paul’s day, a schoolmaster was a family servant who led a boy back and forth from school, watching over his behavior.

In like fashion, the law—God’s Word—points out our sin and the sinfulness of our hearts. We recognize our spiritual bankruptcy and that we can’t earn our way to heaven or curry God’s divine favour by keeping the big 10.

To become Christians, we must swallow our pride and put our faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.

It is Jesus alone who can forgive and banish sin. Praise Him for the simplicity of the Gospel of salvation. We can know that we have eternal life.

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Galatians 2:16

What is a curse?

In today’s world, when we hear the word curse, we think of evil spells or hexes on people that have wronged us in some manner.

We might recall funny scenes from movies where a voodoo doll (perhaps an old Ken doll that resembles a rotten ex-boyfriend) is stabbed forcibly with a kitchen knife multiply times by some crazed woman. Then as a final act of revenge, the Ken doll’s arms are snapped off by the embittered ex-girlfriend.

The camera pans to the real ex-boyfriend driving alone in his car on some dirt road. All at once, he screams, clutching random parts of his chest. He is in agony from the bursts of acute pain. His arms suddenly lose control and dangle limp by his sides. . .

A Jewish perspective

However, for scriptural context, we need to consider what being cursed meant for a Jew.

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Galatians 3:13

That the blessings of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Galatians 3:14

To be cursed in this context is to be removed from the presence of God.

In the Jewish mindset it meant to be set outside the camp where God’s people were dwelling.

Due to being severed from God’s presence, you missed out on His blessings and favour. You were effectively cut off from the Lord which was the worst of all fates.

Conversely, to be blessed by God meant to have God’s face turned towards you, and the glory that stems from his countenance shine upon you.

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. Numbers 6:24-26

RC Sproul wrote that the opposite of these verses of blessing would read something like this to highlight a supreme curse.

May the Lord curse you and abandon you. May the Lord keep you in darkness and give you only judgement without grace. May the Lord turn his back upon you and remove his peace from you forever.

In the Old Testament, stoning was the approved method of executing criminals. Another form of ending the life of a criminal which by far was more shameful was to be hung upon a tree.

The body must be removed from the tree and buried on the same day, limiting its exposure to the elements. Why? The criminal hung upon a tree was an object accursed of God and leaving him hanging upon the tree would defile the land itself.

His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day;(for he that is hanged is accursed of God) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance. Deut 21:23

The Jews viewed sin as an infection

Sin, and the curse that results from it, can be spread from individual to individual. Sin can contaminate areas, things, and as stated in the above verse, the land.

In Genesis when Adam sinned a curse fell upon him and all humankind, but a curse also settled on the earth, with thorns and thistles springing up through the land.

For a fuller picture of the sin and its consequences, Deuteronomy 28 reveals a myriad of curses on offspring, sheep, birds, business ventures, physical health, psychological states and even the sky above.

The Curse and the Cure

When Christ became the curse for us on that dark day on Calvary, he was cursed—removed from the presence of God. Jesus experienced the desolation of being cut off from relationship with the Father. He was severed from the source of all lovingkindness, peace and blessing.

Which is why as he hung on the cross, the loneliness overwhelmed him and he quoted Psalm 22:1 from Old Testament scripture, “My God, my God why hast thou abandoned me . . .”

He hung on the cross as a common criminal—experiencing the horrific physical agony of crucifixion, whilst also experiencing the fury of God as he bore our sins. He took our punishment that we deserved upon himself.

However, the spiritual anguish of being separated from his Father was even more excruciating, a curse of the greatest magnitude.

But we know that’s not the end of the story. Jesus took upon himself the curse, in order that he would be the cure for the deadly infection—sin. It is only through faith in Christ that we may be saved and reconciled unto God.

I hope the curse has been lifted from your life. If not, you know who to trust for the cure.

Bibliography

Author unspecified. 2024. ‘What does Galatians 3:13 mean?’, Got Questions Ministries. BibleRef.com. Retrieved 23 January 2024 from

https://www.bibleref.com/Galatians/3/Galatians-3-13.html

Author unspecified. 2011. ‘Jesus Became a Curse for Us?’, Christianity.com. Retrieved 23 January 2024 from

https://www.christianity.com/jesus/death-and-resurrection/the-crucifixion/jesus-became-a-curse-for-us.html

De Young, S. 2019. ‘Cursed us Everyone Who Hangs on a Tree.’, The Whole Counsel of GOD an introduction to your Bible. AncientFaith.com. Retrieved 23 January 2024 from