Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity
September 10, 2006
Scripture Readings: Jonah 3:1-10; Luke 18:9-14
Hymns: 16; 391; 380; 310; 360

Grace to you and Peace, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The word of God taken for our meditation this morning comes from Galatians 3:10-14:

10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” 11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” 12 Yet the law is not of faith, but "the man who does them shall live by them." 13 Christ has 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 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Theme: Redeemed From the Curse

In the Name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who has redeemed us from the curse of the law, Dear Fellow Redeemed of the LORD,

You are under a curse! Quite powerful words. The sporting world often speaks of curses. You may have heard of the “Curse of the Bambino” the so-called curse on the Boston Red Sox after trading Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1920. After that trade, the Red Sox failed to win another World Series, while the New York Yankees went on to win 26 - more than any other team in baseball. But in 2004 that curse came to an end as the Boston Red Sox won their first World Series since 1918. Was it really a curse? More fiction and legend than a curse.

Did you notice the words that stand out in these verses this morning? Paul uses the word curse (or cursed) five times in these five verses. We also find the word law used another five times. Here in the section of Scripture we are considering this morning, Paul calls to our attention a real curse. A curse that does not just affect a select few, but is upon all people. It is the curse of the law, because of our sin! We are all under that curse. But Paul also assures us that through faith, Christ has set us free from the curse of the law. May the Holy Spirit bless us in our consideration of His Word this morning. Amen.

The apostle Paul had been redeemed from the Curse by the truth of the Gospel. After his conversion he traveled throughout the then-known world telling others about that Truth and the freedom given by it. One of his stops was in the Roman province of Galatia, the churches to which Paul wrote this letter. But the reason for writing this letter was not a pleasant one. After Paul had left these churches, other people had come in and were proclaiming another way to heaven. They were telling the believers in Galatia that they could only be saved by keeping the Law. This kind of false teaching struck particularly close to home for the apostle Paul, since he had grown up as a Pharisee, and knew their traditions and focus on keeping the Law. Following his conversion he knew that such a works-focused religion undermined the power of the Gospel itself, and destroyed the Truth. In this letter to the Galatians, Paul writes to them warning them that freedom does not come through the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus.

Paul has an important point to get across to the Galatian believers. He does this by using the Old Testament as proof. The false teachers who were coming into the Galatian congregation and promoting salvation by works were using the Old Testament Law as their guide. So to prove how foolish such a teaching was, Paul goes back to the Old Testament as well. In verse 10 Paul quotes a passage from Deuteronomy, writing, “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.’” Do you really want to be under the Law? Trying to work our own way to heaven is to be under the curse of the Law. From the fall into sin we have all been under that same curse. The curse of sin and death. We are under that curse because we cannot keep the Law of God. The LORD said to the People of Israel, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” If you cannot keep every single aspect of the Law, you are under its curse. Since Adam and Eve we have all been born to fail. We have been sinful from birth, and have continued in sin to this very day.

Do you really think you are saved by obeying the Law? Do you think you will go to heaven because you are a “good person”? Think again! Paul says that such a person is doomed to fail - such a person is under a curse. The Holy Spirit knew that there would be people in the world who would try to get to heaven by keeping the Law. But through the evangelist James the Spirit points out that being a good person isn’t enough. “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). Even if we only make one little mistake in our life, we are still under that curse of sin and eternal death.

Paul goes on in verse 11, “But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for‘the just shall live by faith.’ Yet the law is not of faith, but ‘the man who does them shall live by them.’” Here Paul references passages from Habakkuk and Leviticus. Were people saved by works of the Law in the Old Testament? No! No one can be justified in God’s eyes by his own works of the Law. The LORD’s words from Leviticus at the end of verse 12 point out a hypothetical situation, “the man who does them shall live by them.” If a person was capable of keeping the whole law and not stumbling even in one point, then that person would be acceptable in God’s sight. He would have lived up to God’s standard of perfection. But we know that this is not possible for us in our fallen state of sin. No one has even been even close to keeping God’s commands in their entirety. The result then, is that our sin has put us under the curse of God.

That is some really bad news for us sinners, isn’t it? Paul told us, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” We have looked at what the Law requires of us and we realize that there is no way that we could stand up to those requirements. We realize that we were born to fail in that regard because of our sinfulness, and utter helplessness. So what do we have to look forward to? What do we have to be happy about or be thankful for if that is what we have ahead of us? Paul tells us what has happened to that curse in verse 13, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us.” That is what we have to be thankful for. We were doomed to hell because of our sin, and Christ stepped into the picture and rescued us from such a horrible fate. He came to this earth and took our curse upon himself. Through His own death, He redeemed us from our sin and the curse that was ours because of our sins. Now thanks to Jesus, we are no longer cursed, but we are blessed. The Law brings a curse, but faith in Christ brings blessings beyond our wildest dreams.

Paul has shown in the previous section that we are saved by faith and not works by using the Old Testament example of Abraham. “Abraham ‘believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’” Was Abraham saved because he was righteous and just in the sight of God? No! Moses tells us that He was seen as righteous in God’s sight because of His faith in God - because He believed God. Abraham believed what God had told him about sending a Savior to redeem all people from their sins. What did God tell Abraham? “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’” In you all nations of the earth shall be blessed, not just the Jews who had been given the Law of Moses but all nations.

This is what Paul was trying to get across to the Galatian Christians. They were Gentiles, just like us, who were being attacked by the work-righteousness of the Jews. They were justified the same way that Abraham was - not by his woks of fulfilling the Law, but through faith. Today we face the same false teaching that was attacking the Galatian Christians. There are people all around us that think they can get to heaven by living what they feel is a good life. They think that if they don’t murder cheat or steal, they have obeyed God’s commands and deserve to go to heaven. Thinking like that is contrary to the Word of God and what it teaches about salvation by grace, through faith in Christ Jesus.

There are many different religions in the world: Atheism, Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, Mormonism, Scientology, Zoroastrianism - and the list goes on and on. Because there are thousands of religions in the world, does that mean that there are also thousands or even hundreds of different ways to heaven? Many people would say “Yes. You can get to heaven by believing in any of those religions, because they all connect you with a god.” But the LORD says, “No.” There are not thousands or even hundreds of ways to heaven. All those religions that I mentioned before have one thing in common. They are all religions based on the Law. Each one says that you have to do something to earn for yourself salvation.

There are not many different ways to heaven. God says that there is only one way to heaven. Through the apostle Paul He says, “that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” Through faith, and in Christ Jesus we receive the blessing of Abraham and heirs of the promise that a Savior would come to set us free from the bondage of the Law. That’s what we have to be thankful for!

Does it matter what you believe or have faith in? Yes, it does. If you have a really strong faith in Buddha, will that get you into heaven? No! If you have great confidence in yourself and your ability to do good things, will that get you to heaven? Not a chance! Contrary to what some people say, it does matter what you believe in.

What is the object of your faith? The blessing that Abraham received comes to us only through faith in Jesus. He is the only way to heaven, and if you believe that Jesus came to take away all your sins through His death on the cross, then you know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.

In this section of scripture the Holy Spirit points out that there are two basic kinds of religions in the world: Religion of Works (or the Law), and Religion of Faith. These two ways of salvation are mutually exclusive - like oil and water, they do not mix. In other words, it is one or the other but not a combination of the two. If you are able to keep the whole law then you can save yourself. But since we are not able to do that, we are totally dependant on Christ and His merit. If we could save ourselves by fulfilling the demands of the Law on our own we wouldn’t need Jesus, and there would be no reason for Him to have come to this earth, to live and to die. If that is the case then Christ died for no reason at all. Paul tells us that as sinners we are all under a curse - a curse which is very real and which can destroy us eternally. But Christ, our Savior has redeemed us from that curse, and set us free through faith in Him. Thanks be to God for that freedom. Amen.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7 Amen.

Pastor Nathanael Mayhew