Cursed, Redeemed, Blessed

Q: What does the Bible say about being cursed under the law?

The Bible teaches that all men are cursed by the law due to sin, as stated in Galatians 3:10. The Bible clearly teaches that all humanity is under the curse of God's holy law because of sin. In Galatians 3:10, it is stated, 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.' This demonstrates that the law cannot save or justify; it only condemns and exposes the guilt of those who have sinned. Thus, by nature, we are all cursed and condemned because there is not a just person on earth who does good and does not sin. This state of being cursed is a universal condition for all descendants of Adam, who inherit sin and guilt.

Q: How do we know Christ redeemed us from the curse?

Christ redeemed us from the curse by becoming a curse for us, fulfilling the law's demands, as seen in Galatians 3:13. We know that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law because He was made a curse for us. Galatians 3:13 states, 'Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.' This act of becoming a curse was necessary because the law demanded justice for sin, which is death. Christ took upon Himself all the guilt and punishment due to sinners, providing a perfect sacrifice with His own blood. This ensures that those who believe in Him are no longer under condemnation but have received redemption and acceptance by God. Hence, the work is complete, and Christ's sacrifice is sufficient to cover the sins of God's elect.

Q: Why is the blessing of Abraham important for Christians?

The blessing of Abraham signifies justification and grace, which Christians receive through faith in Christ, as explained in Galatians 3:14. The blessing of Abraham is crucial for Christians because it represents not just physical blessings, but the spiritual inheritance of justification by faith. As stated in Galatians 3:14, 'that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles through Jesus Christ.' This blessing is the promise of being counted righteous before God, not because of works but through faith. It signifies that all who are united with Christ partake in this blessing, confirming that the covenant of grace is extended to both Jew and Gentile who believe. By understanding and believing in the blessing of Abraham, Christians can recognize the completeness of their acceptance and standing before God, grounded in the righteousness of Christ.

Q: What is the role of faith in redemption?

Faith is the means by which believers receive the blessings of redemption, as it is a response to God's grace, according to Galatians 3:14. Faith plays a critical role in redemption as it is the channel through which believers receive God's promised blessings. Galatians 3:14 illustrates that 'we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.' This emphasizes that while redemption is accomplished by Christ's work, faith is not the cause but the consequence of that redemption. Faith is the gift of God that enables us to trust in Christ, affirming our position as children of God. Therefore, it is essential to note that our faith does not earn our redemption; rather, it is the response to the grace already extended to us, allowing us to experience the fullness of spiritual blessings given through Christ.

Several weeks ago when Brother
Lindsay first got to Galatians chapter 3 verses 13 and 14, I sat and listened to
the message and I thought, what a tremendous message that is.
And as Lindsay expounded the passage, I said to him afterwards,
that was great, good job, real blessing. And then I turned back
to him and I said, I'm convinced I haven't yet grasped the connection
between verses 13 and 14 and the fullness of what's said there.
Well, I haven't fully grasped it yet, but I've been studying
it for the last several weeks. And I want us to go to that passage
this morning, Galatians chapter 3, verses 13 and 14. Now, folks who like to poke fun
at preachers, commonly talk about preachers, say they have three
points in a poem. Well, I'll give them something
to poke fun at. I've got three points in a poem. The three points
are these. This first scripture, these two
verses, show us God's elect in three states. First, cursed. And then, redeemed. And then,
blessed. Christ hath 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, that the blessing
of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ,
that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. We were cursed, but Christ redeemed
us from the curse of the law in order to make a way and in
order to secure the blessing of Abraham coming on us, the
Gentiles as well as the Jews, God's chosen among both. that
we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Now understand what Paul is teaching in the book of Galatians. The
law of God cannot give life. The law of God cannot save, it
cannot justify, it cannot make a sinner righteous, it cannot
sanctify, it cannot bless. The law can do nothing except
curse and condemn. The law is holy and just and
good, but the law cannot produce good. The law cannot produce
good. All the law can do is punish
the lawbreaker. All the law can do is expose
and identify sin. All the law can do is condemn
because of guilt. It cannot destroy or it destroys,
it cannot build again, it ruins but cannot raise up, it imprisons
but it cannot open the prison door. Sinai has the thunder and
terror of God Almighty, but none of the goodness and grace of
God Almighty. Understand what Paul's teaching.
The law condemns. That's all. That's all. That's all. It can't do anything
else. It can't do anything else. Even
in a natural sense, in our civil society, the law only identifies,
exposes sin, and condemns. It cannot produce good. That's
impossible. That's impossible. It takes something
else to produce good. But blessed be His holy name. Though we were condemned by the
law, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law. Now
here's the first point of the message. Our text speaks of God's
elect as men and women who were once under the curse of God's
holy law. Cursed. Cursed. Condemned. This is the state
of nature. It is the state of all the sons
of Adam by nature, believing men and women were once condemned,
all unbelieving are condemned. The curse of the law is God's
sentence upon the guilty. It is the utterance of his holy
anger. He speaks in accordance with
the law. He cannot but speak in accordance
with the law. So really, the curse of the law
is God's curse. It is not some abstract thing.
It is God Almighty pronouncing curse upon man according to the
demands of the law. The law simply proclaims the
curse that God himself has made. It is written in the law, the
soul that sinneth, it shall die. We read in Galatians 3 verse
10, cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. If you're holy, perfectly
holy, without sin, without fault of any kind, without any deviation
whatsoever mentally, emotionally, morally, in heart, in word, in
thought or in deed, without any deviation from the revealed will
of God, then the law has nothing to say to you. It has nothing
to say to you. The law has nothing to say to
you. Nothing at all. But since you're not such a person,
since there is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good
and sinneth not, the law's got something to say to everybody
here. The law says to everyone here without Christ, every unbeliever,
cursed. Cursed. Cursed is everyone that
continueth not in all things written in the book of the law
to do them. The book of God declares that
all of us by nature are born under the curse of God's holy
law. Condemned, justly condemned by
the law. Turn if you will to Romans chapter
5. Do you remember what our Lord told Nicodemus? He that believeth
not is condemned already. Condemned already. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
of God shall not see life. But the wrath of God abideth
on him. I'm looking into the faces of
some folks upon whom the wrath of God abides. And you know it. Romans chapter
5, verse 12. Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned. Now we'll look at that a little
bit more in just a minute. But this is what the book of God
teaches. Because we are all born sinners. We are all children
of wrath by nature. Ephesians 2 verse 4. We are wrathful
children. What does that mean? Children
of wrath. It means we are children under a sentence of wrath. Wrathful
children. Children deserving wrath. Children
with a consciousness of guilt. That's the nature of man. Look
at it in Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter 1. This is not something men have
to tell you. This is something you know. Men try to tell you
it ain't so. But you know it. You'll try to
tell yourself it ain't so. No, no, no, no. That's just not
so. But it's so. And you can't escape it. And
it's true whether you live in Denver, Kentucky, or whether
you live in Nairobi, or whether you live in Zimbabwe, or whether
you live in New Guinea, it doesn't matter. It's true whether you
were raised as the son or daughter of the most faithful preacher
who ever walked on this earth, or whether you were raised a
son or daughter of some hot and tight witch doctor. It doesn't
matter. You're under the wrath of God by nature, and you know
it. You know it. Look at verse 18, Romans chapter
1. For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who
hold the truth in unrighteousness. Now let me tell you what that
means. The word hold, it means suppress. Suppress. It's not they hold the truth
like you hold your Bible. That's not it. It means they
push it down. You got a pot that's overflowing
and seething and you try to catch it, you hold it down, you suppress
it. You don't want it to pop out.
You don't want it to overflow. That's what it's all about. You
suppress what you know in your heart. Hold down the truth in
unrighteousness. Say, no, I'm not bad. That's
not so. I've been told that. That's scare
tactics. No, I'm not under the wrath of God. That's just religious
boogaboo stuff. No, no, no. I'm not under the
wrath of God. You hold it down. You hold it down. Look at it. Because that which may be known
of God. Now, I know this is so. Because that which may be known
of God is manifest in you. You know it already. Manifest
in them. For the invisible things of Him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even His eternal power in Godhead. So that they're without excuse. No excuse. Because of sin. The curse of
the law. The curse of God is upon all
men by nature. The law is justice. And the one
thing in this world that's sure enough blind, if you could ever
find it, is justice. Now you can forget about that
in our courts, I'm sorry to say. Our courts are not blind. No,
no, no, no. No, no. You can forget about
justice, really. You can forget that. But if you
ever find that justice is blind, what do you mean, preacher? Justice
has no pity. It can't see anything to pity.
Justice has no mercy. It can't see anything to have
mercy upon. Justice has no compassion. There's no compassion in justice.
None whatever. It can't be there. Justice gives
no consideration to someone's age, are their circumstances,
their ignorance, or their knowledge. Justice gives no consideration
to who mama and daddy were, what the circumstances were in which
you were raised. Justice simply declares the soul
that sinneth, it shall die, and it executes the sentence with
cold, passionless, unfeeling blindness. Justice has no pity. Justice is cold and hard and
unrelenting and will not bend. Justice. Justice. The soul that
sinneth, it shall die. The wages of sin is death. Thou shalt surely die. That's
justice, Brother Larry. That's justice. Or what is this death that's
passed upon all men we read of in Romans 5.12? Because we have all sinned, death
has passed upon all men. The sentence of death has passed
upon us, but more than that, death itself. It's already passed
upon all men. That death that the law of God
coldly Without passion. Without feeling. You can't affect
it. You can't plead with it. You
can't deal with it. It just says DEAD! That's all. Dead. That death involves the
wrath of God. And as horrifying as you think
it is, you haven't begun to imagine what that is. Death involves
shame. Bondage. It involves darkness
and unrest. The dead are shut out. They're unaccepted. They're unacceptable. The dead are unwanted. Unwanted. How often we speak
of the dead and you'll say, well, I wouldn't want them back like
they were. Who would? Dead? Leave them alone for just a couple
of days and you'll be wanting to get rid of them. The dead
are unwanted. Death is banishment, exile, deprivation
of good. Death is the deprivation of all
happiness or possibility of happiness. This death, which the law declares
to be our rightful just wage, That which it is right and just
for all to suffer at the hands of God is spiritual death. You, hath he quickened who were
dead, spiritually dead. Dead with reference to God, dead
in your soul. Somebody says he's dead on the
inside, that's it. Dead on the inside. No life in
there. Death to all things spiritual. Death to all things truly living. This death is also physical,
temporal death. All sickness, all disease. I've had a little sniffle for
a few weeks, like most of you. All of you. Whether it's in a
youngest infant or the oldest, most saintly woman. All sickness
is just death, that's all. It's the result of sin. It's
just saying, hang on bud, you're fixing to leave here. All sickness,
all of it. Soon you're going to die. These
bodies are going to the grave. Physical, temporal death is the
result of sin. What a long, torturous process
it is. And then, Then comes death. The second death. Endless death. Eternal death for your body and
your soul and your mind with all the faculties of your being.
most keenly aroused forever under the wrath of God. I read something to our folks
here Tuesday night a few weeks ago. Brother Joe Terrell's son,
Nathan, his youngest boy, wrote this in his college paper, answering
the question, what is hell? He said to say that hell is a
horrible place is an understatement. Most people think of hell as
the farthest point from God. It is the caves where Satan's
minions scamper about poking feeble folk with tiny pikes and
taunting them for all eternity. As bad as this seems, Nathan
wrote, it does not even compare to what hell really is. is the very presence of God and
His wrath without Christ as a mediator. Hell is the place where men face
God without a Savior, without anybody to pay their debt of
sin. If you thought Satan's minions
were scary, imagine being face to face with all God's wrath
with no Jesus in sight. That's death. That's death. Death passed upon
all men because all have sinned. This is the state and condition
of all men by nature. Cursed. But bless His name. God hasn't left us there. Here's
the second statement. Christ hath redeemed us. Redeemed how I love to proclaim
it. Redeemed by the blood of the
lamb. Redeemed through his infinite
mercy. His child and forever I am. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law. Our Redeemer is Christ, the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He was appointed and called to
the work of redemption by His Father from old eternity. And
He voluntarily agreed to do the work to become our Redeemer because
of His great love for us. The Old Testaments, the prophets
spoke of one who would come. who would be the Redeemer of
his people. In the Old Testament, our Lord
said, I am thy Redeemer. Thy Redeemer. I have redeemed
thee. And our Lord Jesus Christ is
that one of whom the prophet spoke. In the fullness of time,
he came. He came into this world in human
flesh to redeem us. And by his obedience unto death
as our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus has obtained eternal redemption
for us with his own precious blood. Christ Christ hath redeemed
us. The work is done. The work is
done. Is that good or what? Now listen
to this. Christ hath redeemed us. Us. I take that to mean He didn't
redeem everybody. I take that to mean He did not
come to redeem everybody. I take that to mean all men are
not redeemed. Christ hath redeemed us. Who? Who are these us whom Christ
has redeemed? Clearly, they are God's elect.
Those for whom the Son of God came to save. Those given to
him in the covenant of grace from eternity. Clearly, these
redeemed ones are the same ones for whom he makes intercession
as their high priest at the throne of God. He says in John 17, I
pray for them. I don't pray for them, I pray
for them. I pray for them, which thou hast given me, so that those
who are the objects of his intercession are the ones who are the objects
of his sacrifice and the objects of his grace. Those who are redeemed
by him, those whom he hath redeemed, are those whom the Father gave
him in eternity to redeem, and those whom the Father gives him
in time because they're redeemed. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Oh, God. Will you give some to
the Savior right now? All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. I know that these are included,
because this is the will of him that sent me, the Savior said,
that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but
raise it up again at the last day. Those who are numbered among
these us who are redeemed, Turn to John chapter 1, I'll show
you who they are. I'll show you exactly who they are. Preacher,
could it be that He redeemed me? Could it be that He redeemed
me? Those who are redeemed by Him
are us who believe Him, receive Him, and trust Him. Look at John
1 and listen carefully. Listen carefully now. I'm more than a little weary
of hearing preachers fuss about fine points of theology without
regard to the souls of men and scared to death somebody might
get saved that wasn't supposed to. And scared to death somebody
might go, oh Don, you sound like an Arminian now. I don't care
how it sounds. Those who are redeemed are those
who actually, personally reach out, and take hold of, and embrace,
and catch, and receive the Son of God. A preacher thought I'd
just passively wait on Him to come by. You'll passively wait
and go to hell is what you'll do. It's exactly what you'll
do. Oh, but you can't tell sinners
that. They'll think they got work to do. No, not if you lay
hold of whom you want. Now you lay on Him you won't.
Look what the book says. John 1 verse 12. As many as received
Him. Now let me tell you what that
word is. There are two words translated received in the New
Testament. One of them means to receive
like that glass received water. Now that's how sinners receive
life. The Spirit of God sovereignly comes and gives you life. What
did that glass do to get any water? Nothing. How'd that water
get in there? Somebody put it in. What's the
result? The glass is full of water. The
other word is this. I'm fixing to receive some water. Boy, that's good. You know why
I took that water? Because I wanted it, and it was
there. I had a thirst for it, and I received it. Now if God the Holy Spirit puts
in you a thirst for the water of life, you won't have to have
anybody tell you, as soon as you see Him, you're going to
take Him. That's the Word right there. To as many as reach out
and take Him. To them gave, not He shall give,
to them gave He power to become the sons of God. I know I'm His
because I took Him. He gave me power to believe Him.
And if He hadn't given me power, I couldn't have. Even to them
which believe on His name, which were born not of blood, nor the
will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. We were lost,
cursed, condemned under the sentence of God's holy law. But Christ
redeemed us. He brought us out from under
the curse by His own precious blood. Well, how did He redeem
us? Look at this. Christ hath 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. The Lord
Jesus Christ was made to be a curse for us. He was made to be sin,
the cursed thing. And being made to be sin for
us, He was made a curse for us. We were under the curse! We were
under the curse! Hear me! We were under the curse! Horrible as that is! But Christ
was made the curse. He was made an offering for sin.
He was made to be sin. But Paul says it is written,
cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. The passage from which
he is quoting is Deuteronomy 21, verse 23. Let me give you
a literal translation of Deuteronomy 21, 23. He that is hanged upon
the tree is the curse of God. Cursed. Is that what? Hanging on a tree. The curse of God. The word redeemed means delivered. Delivered. And let's think about
that deliverance that our all-glorious Christ accomplished for us, being
made a curse for us. He delivered us from all that
to which the curse had subjected and brought us, present and future, physical
and spiritual, temporal and eternal. Where did the curse bring me? Down here in death, bondage,
imprisonment, terrified, helpless, doomed, damned in darkness
with no ray of light. Redemption is deliverance from
all that. Deliverance. Our blessed Savior
delivered us by a just and lawful purchase. There was a heavy bounty
on my head. The bounty on my head was infinite
wrath and holy justice that must be satisfied. The Son of God
paid the bounty in His own precious blood. Redemption is deliverance
by substitute. In whom we have redemption through
His blood. The forgiveness of sins according
to the riches of his grace. Someone said our Savior coined
the ransom money out of his own person. He took our legal place, bore
our guilt before the law, endured all our curse. The Son of God
stood in our place as the offender, as the guilty one. The curse
that was due us fell on Him and was made to be His curse. He
died for the just, the just for the unjust, the blessed for the
cursed, the holy for the unholy. He took the curse and the sword
of justice into His own holy being. and exhausted it all. Exhausted it. Exhausted it. It did the law of its curse. It did justice of its wrath.
It did justice of punishment. It did it. Redemption is deliverance
by Christ alone. He said he saw that there was
no man and wondered that there was no intercessor. Therefore
his own arm brought salvation unto him. His righteousness it
sustained him. But redemption is not deliverance
by Christ by power alone. Oh no. The power of God could never
deliver you. The omnipotence of God could
never deliver you. Oh no, no, no. Redemption from
the curse of the law is redemption by Christ crucified. There's
no other way. We must be saved by blood or
we cannot be saved without shedding of blood is no remission. The
substitute must hang on the cursed tree lifted up between heaven
and earth. Rejected by heaven, despised by the earth. He must
bear our shame, endure our anguish, die our death. Christ was made
a curse for us. And being made a curse, He was
crucified. Crucified, He put away our sin,
removed our guilt, paid our debt, took away our punishment, took
away our doom, took away our judgment. He took away our curse. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. To them that walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit. Oh, well, who's that? Who's that?
Who walks after the Spirit? I've heard fellows talk about
that. I don't know how on earth they
do it. They figure out a way to get Romans 8.1 to be at work. That's what
that means is you can get some assurance now. Are you really gods? Are you
really redeemed? Do you know it? Well, if you
don't walk after the flesh anymore.
But you strap on your spiritual stilts and you walk on the clouds
and you have wonderful, sensational, sweet communion with God and
love and peace and everything's good. Now you look at yourself
and you say, now I'm not condemned because I'm a good fella. I really
do worship God. I really love Him. I really believe
Him. So I'm not condemned. No. That
ain't walking in the Spirit. That's walking in the flesh.
That's walking after the law. That's not it. What is the walk
in the Spirit? To walk in the Spirit is to believe
God. To walk in the Spirit is to trust
the Redeemer. To walk in the Spirit is to look
to Christ, who has delivered us from the curse of the law,
for all acceptance. That's all now. Here I am. with my empty, cold, dead, barren,
lifeless, hard heart, so full of unbelief and so full of rebellion,
so full of sin, with no hope but God in a substitute. I'm redeemed. And there's no
condemnation now, none tomorrow, and none the next day, and none
forever, and there's not even a possibility of it. Because
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. Are you listening? This fact brings God's holy law by which
I was once cursed. Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law. That fact brings God's holy law,
by which I was once cursed, over to my side and demands deliverance. The law satisfied cannot hold
me prisoner. The law satisfied cannot condemn. The law satisfied cannot curse. Now, that brings us to verse
14. And here's the connection between
verses 13 and 14. That. That. That. Don't ever overlook small words
in the scriptures as if they were small words. They're big
words. Sometimes the biggest words in
the book are the smallest ones. Matter of fact, the biggest word
in the book is the smallest one. It's called I. And the I speaking
is Jehovah, the great I Am. Here's the connection, that,
and this connecting word makes it clear, that every redeemed
sinner, though cursed by nature, is brought into a state of blessedness
by grace. Christ hath 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. That the blessing
of Abraham. Now here is the sure consequence. Might come on the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ. That we might receive the promise
of the Spirit through faith. Redemption involves more than
merely removing the curse. Redemption involves more than
merely making a way for sinners to be saved. Redemption involves
more than merely making it possible for the blessing to come. Redemption
brings the blessing of Abraham, that is, the blessing of God
upon Abraham, upon all the redeemed. The blessing must come, else
redemption is incomplete. The blessing must come, else
grace is frustrated. Redemption must come, else the
love of God is meaningless. Redemption must come, else the
blood of Christ is insignificant, a worthless waste. Redemption
must come. To all the redeemed, else the
justice of God falls to the ground. Redemption must come to all the
redeemed. Otherwise, God Almighty, whom
we worship, is an idolatrous monster who slaughtered his son
for nothing. Redemption must come. Our great
God and Savior did not leave his work incomplete. He not only
took the curse away, he supplanted it with blessedness. Now let's
look at verse 14, line by line, just for a minute or two. That
the blessing of Abraham. What on earth is that? The blessing
of Abraham. Oh, that's talking about Abraham's
physical seed and land of promise. Oh, that means one of these days
God's going to bring the Jews back together over in Palestine
and reestablish a kingdom over yonder and he's going to let
us Gentiles get in on it. Well, that's one way of looking
at it. Or you can look at it in the book and find out what
the book says. Let's look in the book, Romans chapter 4. What
is the blessing of Abraham? We read of it first in Genesis
15, verse 6. Listen to this. Abraham believed
God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. Well, surely
that ain't all there is to it. Let's see. Romans 4, verse 3. What saith the Scripture? Abraham
believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. Now
to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of
debt. Verse 6. Even as David also describes
the blessedness of the man to whom the Lord imputeth righteousness
without works. Verse 9, cometh this blessedness
What blessedness? This blessedness of free justification
by imputed righteousness through a crucified substitute. Cometh
this blessedness upon the circumcision only or upon the uncircumcision
also? In other words, is this blessedness
something God gives to folks because they're associated with
Abraham's physical seed and they've been circumcised in the flesh?
Or is this blessedness something that God gives to men freely
as he gave it to Abraham, whether they've been circumcised or whether
they haven't been circumcised? That's it. Is this a blessing just for the
Jews or is this for Gentiles also? Is this a blessing that
comes by legal ceremony or a blessing that comes by free gift? Free
gift. Read on. Cometh this blessedness
upon the circumcision only or upon the uncircumcision also?
For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. Now, not his faith, that's made
clear in the next verses. What's he talking about? He's
talking about the object of his faith. Abraham believed God. He believed
the Son of God revealed to him and in him, in whom all the nations
of the earth would be blessed. And I know that's what he believed
because when he took his son up to Mount Moriah, he took his
son up to sacrifice him, drew a knife in his hand to kill him,
and believed fully that God would raise him from the dead because
the blessing was in him. The blessing was in him. He said,
my son and I, we're going to go yonder and worship God. I'm
fixing to kill him. And we're going to come back
here together. The blessing's in him. That's what he believed.
Verse 60. Therefore, it is of faith that
it might be by grace. Faith? What's faith? I used to look at that and go,
why did Paul say that? That's so confusing. It is a
faith that it might be by grace. Why didn't he say it is a grace
that it might be by faith? He said it's a faith that it
might be by grace because faith doesn't involve anything you
do. It just believes God, takes what
he says, That's good. It's a faith that it might be
by grace. The blessing of Abraham is the
blessing of free justification by the righteousness of Christ.
That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles. It
was promised to Abraham that in him, that is, in his seed,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Gentiles, God's elect through all the earth,
through all the nations of the world, would be blessed with
this great gift of free justification by Christ in beauty of righteousness,
the blessing of redemption, of deliverance from the curse of
the law. Now, obviously, this doesn't
mean that justification would come on all the Gentiles. This
old preacher, how do you know that's not what it means? Because
they're not all justified, that's how I know. What's he talking
about then? This blessing comes to all who
were ordained to eternal life and redeemed by the blood of
Christ. And in consequence of being redeemed, they now believe
on the Son of God. In other words, faith is not
the cause of the blessing, but the consequence of it. Though God's elect were blessed
with everlasting blessedness long before the world began,
blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ, blessed with redemption,
grace, salvation, and righteousness in Christ, the curse of the law
stood between us and the enjoyment of the privilege and the knowledge
of the blessing. of being the sons of God. Well, we spend all our days under
the sentence of death. Cursed. Cursed. Christ had already taken the
curse away. But I didn't know anything about it. I didn't know
anything about it. I was still cursed. In my mind. In my conscience. In my heart. Until one day, the Lord God came in His mercy
and grace and calls me to see His Son. And my soul looks back to see
the burdens Christ did bear when hanging on the cursed tree in
hopes her guilt was there. Believing I rejoiced to see the
curse removed, I blessed the land with cheerful voice and
seen redeeming love. Christ has redeemed me from the
curse of the law. It's God. It's not my faith that takes
the curse away. It's not my faith that makes
me righteous. But faith receives the blessing. The Spirit of God
comes in the fullness of time and causes us to cry, Abba, Father,
and we receive the adoption of sons. The blessing is ours through
Christ, only through Christ. Now watch this very quickly,
that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Now Paul is telling us here that If we will believe, then God
will give us His Spirit? Not hardly. Not hardly. We wouldn't believe if God hadn't
already given us His Spirit. Faith is the fruit of the Spirit,
Galatians 5. It is the work of His power, Ephesians 1. It is
the gift of His grace, Ephesians 2. It's the operation of His
grace in us, Colossians 2. Well, what's Paul saying then?
Through faith in Christ, we receive the Spirit of promise. looking
away to Christ, believing on Christ, this sinner, condemned
by nature, cursed by nature, this is as to heaven. It says,
my father, my father, my father, my father, God is my father,
my father. Because the Spirit gives me assurance
by giving me faith. I've been adopted. I'm a child
of God. I know it because I believe on
the Son of God. Amen.

Cursed, Redeemed, Blessed

What does the Bible say about being cursed under the law?

How do we know Christ redeemed us from the curse?

Why is the blessing of Abraham important for Christians?

What is the role of faith in redemption?

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Cursed, Redeemed, Blessed

What does the Bible say about being cursed under the law?

How do we know Christ redeemed us from the curse?

Why is the blessing of Abraham important for Christians?

What is the role of faith in redemption?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

Comments

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