In Galatians chapter 3, and let's
read in verses 10 through verse 14. 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. but that no man is justified
by the law, by your works of the law, by religious works.
No man is justified in the sight of God. It is evident, because
the just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith,
but the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for
it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree, that
the blessing of Abraham, the blessing God promised to Abraham,
might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive
the promise of the Spirit through faith." The Apostle Paul had
been attempting here in this epistle to beat these Galatians
off of the work of the law. They had heard the gospel and
now they had been led by these men who came down from Jerusalem,
these self-righteous men. They had been led to go back
to the law, especially the ceremonial law of Moses. And the apostle
here was seeking to bring them to a clearer knowledge of the
gospel. He began all the way back in
chapter 1 in verse 6, and he uses this whole epistle as this
one subject to beat these men off of the works of the law,
from trusting in the law, and bring them back to the clear
gospel of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And my text that
I have read to you this morning gives four things that will be
a benefit to both saint and sinner. If you are here this morning
and you are lost, this will give you a clear view of what the
gospel is. You need this, that you may see
where you are at and flee to the Lord Jesus Christ for refuge. If you are here this morning
and you are a believer, you are saved. This will help you, hopefully,
to lay a firmer hold by faith upon the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And I give you these four things,
and I want to press them home. I don't want to just skim over
them hurriedly. But these four things need to
be pressed home. It's the four things, I'm afraid,
outside of our little realm is seldom preached in our day. And seldom is heard in the congregation
of religious folks. So I want to emphasize these
things. And the first one is found here
in verse 10. Look at it again. As many as
are of the works of the law are under the curse For it is written,
Cursed is every one who continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them." My first point is this,
the curse of a broken law. Paul makes this general statement
here in verse 10 and says, as many as are of the works of the
law are under the curse. As many. He just makes a general
statement. Those who seek to be saved by
works, by religious works, by conforming to religious duties. Those who seek to be accepted
with God, justified before God, by religious efforts and religious
works, he said, are under the curse. Instead of being blessed,
which they expect to be, they are cursed. And he makes no exceptions,
he says here, as many, as many. It does not matter who the many
are. They may profess themselves to
be Pharisees. They may profess themselves to
be saints. They may be Catholics. They may
be Baptists. But whoever they are, if they
are of the works of the law, if they are doing religious deeds
in hope of being saved by those deeds, Paul said they are under
the curse. They are under the curse. And
he proves this from Scripture in the last portion of verse
10, and he makes a quote from Deuteronomy chapter 27 and verse
26. But when he quotes this, he makes
it very particular. He goes from a general statement,
as many, and look what he says here then. For it is written,
Cursed is every one. Cursed is each person. He goes from many to each person. Cursed is each person who does
not continue in all things which are written in the book of the
law to do it. And here in verse 10 and verse
11, He gives us two reasons why men cannot be saved by religious
works. He calls it the works of the
law. First of all, here in my text, he shows us the utter impossibility
of fallen man rendering to the law what it requires. And he says, Cursed is everyone
who continueth not in all things, which is written in the book
of the law to do him. For a man to be saved by works,
he has to know what work is required of him to do. Does he not? If
I'm going to say I can be saved by doing good works, then I've
got to find out what good works that I'm going to have to do. Keeping my preferences is not
enough. Having personal convictions is
not enough. Walking in the light that I have
is not enough. If I'm to be saved by works,
I've got to have somebody to tell me what works that I have
to do to be saved. Where do we find what is required
of us to do to be saved by works? Paul says the book. There is
a book. There is a book of Moses. There
is a book of the Law. And if you and I are to be saved
by what we do, then we must go to that book to find out what
it requires of us. Do you know anybody that knows this
book perfectly? Do you know very much about this
book? I mean, there is a lot in here,
is there not? Somebody said there was over
600 rules and commandments when they were all compiled together. That's a bunch, isn't it? And
if a man is going to be saved by his works, then he better
go to the book to find out what it requires of him to do. Knowledge. Knowledge. He must know all things that's
written in the book to do him. If he has to perform all things,
then he must first know all things. I don't know anybody that has
that kind of knowledge. And secondly is this, when he
has knowledge of all things, then he is required to render
perfect obedience to everything that he is taught. First is to
know, secondly is to do. And this brings us to something
else. Not only knowledge, but my goodness, what a strong will. What perfect understanding. What perfect perfections. What perfect affections would
a man have to have to keep everything that is written in the book of
the law to do him? Can you imagine the strength?
That would tell you. There was a man that came to
the Lord Jesus. He was a scribe, and he asked
the Lord which was the two great commandments. What was the great
commandment in the law? And the Lord Jesus told him this,
and you'll remember this in Mark chapter 12. The Lord Jesus said
the first of all the commandments is this. Now listen to this.
Here is the book of the law. Here is what we are commanded
to do, and the Lord Jesus takes all of those commandments and
He compiles them into just two commandments. And here is the
first one. Hear, O Israel, the Lord your
God is one Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord your God with all
your heart, all your mind, all your soul,
and all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself."
Now, that's a lot, ain't it? I mean, that's a handful. That's
a task. Not only to know the will of
God, have knowledge of all that He commands, but to do it with
all your heart, with all your affections, with all your understanding,
with all your strength. Now, brothers and sisters, if
a man is going to be saved by his works, then that's what's
required of him. Do you know anybody like that?
Do you know anybody that loves God like that? Do you keep this
law? Have you ever one time kept it? I tell you, it's a serious thing.
It's a serious thing when you and I look into the law and see
what it requires. And you go just one step further. Paul did not say that we must
love God this way one time. The Lord Jesus basically said
this is the way that you must love God. But it's not enough
if we can reach such a pinnacle just one time. Paul said, Cursed
is every man who continueth not in all things. It's not only
enough to do it, how impossible that is, but you must do it continually
from your cradle to the grave. And if a man doesn't, then he's
cursed. Adam Clark yesterday, an old
commentator that has been dead quite some time, on 1 Timothy
1 where Paul said the law is not made for a righteous man,
but for the lawless and disobedient. And here is Adam Clark's comment
on that verse. He says, here is what this means
when the law is not made for a righteous man. He says, it
does not lie against a righteous man that is a believer. Because
he does not transgress it. It's strange to me, it's always
been a marvel to me, ever since the Lord opened my heart, it's
always been a marvel to me that men can make these statements
so lightly. A believer does not transgress
the law of God. We either keep it or we don't
keep it. Do you keep it? Can you keep
it? Do you have such a will? Do you
have such a strength? Do you have such a heart? If
you love God perfectly, and what all does that include? Would
that not include a perfect fear, a perfect obedience, a perfect
love, perfect affections, a perfect heart, a perfect mind? to render
such obedience to what the law requires, you'd have to be perfect. Do you transgress that law? If
you don't, I'm telling you, you're a very unique person. You're
so unique that the Bible knows nothing about you. The Bible says this about us,
brothers and sisters, there is not a just man upon this earth
that doeth good He doeth good perfectly. He doeth good continually. He doeth good in the sight of
God, and sinneth not. There is no such man. Oh, we
marvel when we look back in the garden and see our parents come
from the hand and breath of God. How holy they were! How sinless
they were! How perfect they were. What strength
of mind and affection they must have had that they could work
and please God and live and please God and love God with all their
hearts. We marvel at that, don't we? But we're not sons of that Adam. We're sons of that Adam that
sinned. We're sons of that Adam that
disobeyed. We were sons of that Adam that
sinned against God and offended God and was cursed and lost His
ability, lost His righteousness. That's whose sons we are now.
Oh, would to God that we had such a heart. Would to God that
we had such ability and were inexcusable, we're guilty. But I'm telling you, brothers
and sisters, every man, Every woman, every boy and girl outside
the Son of God is living under a broken law, living cursed,
cursed. You and I look around us, and
we see mostly religious people, and they are seeking to do all
of these things to be good. But you know something? Everybody
outside Jesus Christ is living under a broken law, under a cursed
law, and there is no way in and of themselves that they can satisfy
this law's demands. The only way to satisfy it is
this, continue in it. Do it perfectly and then continue
in that without any sin, without any flaw, without any thought
of foolishness. all the days of your life. It's impossible to be saved by
works. It's impossible to be saved by the works of the law,
because the law is too strict, and you and I are fallen sinners. We are fallen sinners. The second reason he gives here
in verse 11 and verse 12, the first reason he tells us that
we can't be saved by our works is because the law is too demanding.
And then secondly here in verse 11 and verse 12, he says God
never intended to save men by the works of the law. God never
intended to save you by you keeping the law. He had another purpose.
He had another way that he justifies men. Look at it in verse 11.
But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God,
it is evident. And he quotes Habakkuk 2.4. The
just shall live by faith. Paul said God never intended
to save us by the law, by our works. He intended to save us
through faith. And he tells the distinction,
he gives the distinction in verse 12 of the law and faith. And
the law is not of faith. They're different. They're distinct.
Here's what the law says. The man that doeth these things
shall live in them. He lives by doing them. But what
if he can't do them? Then he's cursed. Is there another
way to be saved? Yes, by faith. By faith. And by faith only. He had done
mention of this in this chapter here in verse 6. Look at this.
Even as Abraham believed God, and God accounted it to him for
righteousness. You remember where this verse
was taken from. Paul quoted this verse from Genesis
chapter 15 in verses 1-6. A very interesting verse. The
Lord God came to Abraham and He told Abraham who he was to
him. He said, Abraham, I'm your shield. I'm your exceeding great
reward. And Abraham said, Lord, what
will you give me? I'm going childless. I don't
have a child. And the Lord made this wonderful
promise to him. He said, you're going to have
a child. And through your child, all your posterity, all your
future families and children, I'm going to make them as the
stars of heaven. He said there in verse 6, he
said, look up to heaven and count the stars if you're able. So
shall your seed be. And verse 6 says this, Abraham
believed in the Lord. He believed in his faithfulness.
He believed in his grace. He believed in his mercy. He
believed in the Lord. And the Scripture says there
in verse 6 of Genesis 15 that God counted it to him for righteousness. And this was over 300 years before
the law was given to Moses on Mount Sinai. And God counted
a man righteous. Why? Because he believed it.
He believed it. And God sent His dear and blessed
Son that fulfilled all the demands of this strict and holy law.
And He raised Him from the dead, and He turns now to us, and He
says, Here's my promise. Here's my promise. Here's life. Here's salvation. It's in my
Son. And when we believe in Him, believe
Him only. There's when we're justified.
There's when we're made righteous in the sight of God. It's not
by the works of the law, but it's by faith. And Paul said,
that's the way God intended it all along. And look around you,
brothers and sisters. Look around you. You've got a
world that's floundering. You've got a world full of religion.
And you get under the curse. The curse. Because they don't
know the way in which God has purposed to save sinners. Not
by the works of the law. That's the curse. But by faith
in Christ alone. That's my first point. That's
my first point. Under a broken law. Curse under
a broken law. My second point is this. The
substitutionary death of the Son of God. Bearing the curse
of His people. And we find it here in verse
13. We see two things in this verse. Christ hath redeemed us
from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone who hangeth on a tree. We read there in verse 10, Cursed
is everyone that continueth not. And what's the judgment upon
such a person that continueth not? It's death on a tree. That's what it deserves, isn't
it? Here's the reward for not continuing
in all things. It's death on a tree. If that
wasn't the reward, if that wasn't the penalty, then why did Christ
die upon this tree? The end of an ungodly life, the
end of living under a broken law is to be cursed forever. It's to die for death. And Jesus Christ suffered what
you and what I deserve, what we earned. It was by our own
obedience we were cursed, but instead of us bearing what we
earned and what we deserve, He dies for us in our room and in
our stead. Now, people say, Bruce, we've
heard this all our life. We ought to get on to something
else. You really haven't heard this, have you? That's why we
have to stop and emphasize this. This is the gospel. But people
read over this. But let's get so, let's stress
this. Let's stress this this morning.
The death of the blessed Son of God. We admire Him, do we
not, when He comes into this world? And the first thing that
He says is this, I delight to do thy will. Oh my God, your
law is within my heart." He was made of a woman. He was made
under the law, and yet he knew what God required of him from
that law. He wasn't ignorant like you and
I are. He was wise. He knew what the
law taught him that he must do. He knew it all. Every commandment,
every precept, every judgment, every deed, every motive. He
knew it all, what God required him to do. He knew it perfectly. He knew the Father's will perfectly.
Don't you admire Him? Don't you admire the wisdom of
Jesus of Nazareth? He could read men's thoughts.
He knew what they were thinking. They were all naked and open.
But not only did He know man's thoughts, He knew God's thoughts.
He knows God perfectly. He knows the law perfectly. Every
jot and tittle that He was required to do, He said, I know it. It's
in my heart. I know it all. And you know something? He did it. He did it. He never failed. Every turn that
He made in this life, and the Father looked upon Him, and here's
what the Father said, This is My Son, and I am well pleased
in Him. He has honored my law. He has
magnified my law. He's kept it. He's kept it. I tell you, when you and I see
ourselves and our inability, we admire what Jesus Christ did
in the days of His flesh. We absolutely admire Him. We
stand and wonder at Him that He never sinned against God. From the time He was conceived
and in His mother's womb to the time He said, He never sinned. He kept the law of God perfect. But you know, that's not enough,
is it? That's not enough. That was essential. He had to
render obedience to the law of God in the days of His flesh,
but that's not enough. Sin, our sin, that we had committed
our disobedience against this law of God had to be punished. Sin had to be punished in a way
that's consistent with justice. And that's what we see here in
verse 13. Cursed is everyone who hangs
on a tree. Cursed. Cursed. Cursed of men. Cursed of devils. Cursed of God. You read this
passage here in Deuteronomy 21, verse 33, where Paul takes it
from, and he doesn't say it here, but go back and read it sometime.
It reads like this, Cursed of God is everyone who hangeth on
a tree. There Jesus Christ of Nazareth
hangs, and God gathers up every sin of every elect soul, of all
ages, and He puts them in the soul, and He puts these sins
upon the body of the Son of God hanging upon that tree. Peter
says He bore our sins in His body. How did they get there?
How could sin be transferred from one person and put upon
another person and that person stand responsible for that sin? Only God can do such a thing.
And that He did. And Jesus hung upon the cross
with our sins in His body and in His soul. And oh, He smarted
for it in His conscience. And there He hangs. And there
stands the law. There stands justice with its
sword uplifted. Our sins are in Him, and now
here stands justice with its sword. What happens? The sun is darkened. The angels,
they leave the scene. God hides His face. Men forsake
Him, and here devils gather around Him to tarnish Him. And justice
lifts its sword and justice strikes Jesus in His humanity and kills
Him dead. But just as He dies, the sword
reaches the divinity of Christ. And what happens when that sword
reaches Christ's divinity, His merit and His worth? The sword
is lifted up, bloodied with His blood. And what does justice
say? Satisfied. Satisfied. I'll never smite again. I'll
never curse again. I'm satisfied with Emmanuel's
sacrifice. A full atonement was made. A full redemption was accomplished. Brothers and sisters, I mean
a full, effectual redemption was accomplished. The Lord was
satisfied. That's what I'm saying. That's
what Paul is saying. Christ was made a curse for us. He satisfied God. He satisfied justice. He satisfied
the penalty of the law. How many times are we hearing
that in our day? Oh, we don't know why that, if
we listen to the preachers of our day, do we? It was just some
kind act of example that He desired so people could follow Him. No,
no. He met the penalty of the law
and satisfied it. He satisfied it. Bless His precious
name. He satisfied it. And only He
was able to do that. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. That brings me to the third thing
quickly. A complete removal of the curse. A complete removal
of the curse. Notice my text again in verse
13. Christ hath redeemed us. He hath redeemed us. No, He's not redeemed everybody,
but He's redeemed us. He's redeemed us. Paul didn't
say here, perhaps. He didn't say maybe. He didn't
say we're waiting to see how everything's going to turn out.
Hopefully that he did. He didn't say the death of Christ
has made redemption merely possible. What did he say? He hath redeemed
us. Not a redemption that is not
worthy to be called a redemption because it does not redeem? Christ
hath redeemed us. If the death of Christ only made
salvation merely possible, can I say that again? If the death
of Jesus Christ, being cursed on the cross, only made salvation
possible, then hang on to your free will. Then add the works
of the law. Then glory in your ability to
make a choice or some decision. Add all of these things to him
if it's uncertain. But if he accomplished redemption,
if he delivered his elect people from the curse of the law, then
throw down everything else that you're on. Cast it into the dust
and burn it in ashes at your feet. And look up there to Him
and say, there is my redemption. There is my salvation. There
is my life eternal. And on nothing but Him. Brothers and sisters, I will
not ever again, God help me, believe that Jesus Christ could
die upon the cross and be made a curse for some man, any man,
and yet that man have to bear that curse again himself. I refuse,
God help me, ever to believe such a thing again. There will
not be one soul in hell whom Jesus Christ has died for. Can you imagine what would take
place if one for whom Christ bore this penalty of the law
and satisfied it, and yet he went to hell? Can you imagine
the devil holding him up? Can you imagine walking through
hell with this soul and saying, look what I've got? I've got
one for whom the Son of God suffered. And look, I've got Him. Jesus
lost Him. His ransom, His redemption was
not good enough. He was not efficient. I've got
me one. And oh, I tell you, the devils
would rejoice. But it will never happen. Heaven
would weep, would it not? Angels would weep. The Son of
God Himself would bow His head. But it will never happen. Bruce,
how do you know? He hath redeemed us. Take that literally. Take that
in its fullest extent. He hath redeemed us. Get that in your heart, dear
soul. There is where you will find your assurance. If Christ
has died for you, you will never perish. You will never perish. His blood will never cease to
cleanse. He'll never cease to plead. God will never forsake
you. The Holy Spirit will never unseal
you because you have been redeemed. And consider this lastly. Consider
this. Fourthly, we must have this when
we preach the gospel. Under the curse of the law, unable
to fulfill it, Jesus Christ dying under that curse, earning and
obtaining a full and eternal redemption. And this, lastly,
is this. Consider this. Every blessing
will flow to sinners through this redemption. Every blessing
that God has purposed for poor, believing sinners will flow to
them through the blood of the cross. of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm saying this, that sin that
was punished at the cross will be forgiven in time. You may
be here this morning, and you may be loaded down with guilt.
You may just be sitting here this morning, and suddenly you've
become somewhat awakened of your guilt and your sin. And it begins
annoying at your heart. I'll tell you this much. I'll
tell you this much. If that sin has been punished, It will be
forgiven. It will be forgiven. That sin
that was purged at the cross before God will be purged from
the conscience in time. Every blessing that God has promised,
the blessing of salvation, the blessing of life and justification
and adoption and regeneration, mercy to help us and grace to
strengthen us and heaven at last, All of these blessings are going
to flow freely to us through this cross. You are not going
to have the Son of God to earn these blessings and to purchase
these blessings at such a great cost and then God deny them.
It is not going to happen that way. God saw the travail of His
soul and was satisfied. And now He is rewarding His Son
with these blessings. Look in verse 14 of chapter 3
of Galatians. Look at this, verse 14. When
he said there in verse 13 that Christ redeemed us by being made
a curse for us, and here's the reason for it in verse 14, that
the blessing that was promised to Abraham might come on the
Gentiles through Jesus Christ, through His redemption, His blood.
That is, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit. through faith. And you know the
promise of the Spirit. Isn't this every blessing in
a nutshell? If you have the Spirit of Christ
in your heart, you know you have the seed of all other blessings.
If you have the Spirit of Christ, you're regenerated. If you have
the Spirit of Christ, you're forgiven. If you have the Spirit
of Christ, you're justified. If you have the Spirit of life,
you have the Spirit of life. You have all the blessings of
God in the seed. Look what he says in chapter
4. Look over in chapter 4. Look how he says it here. He
elaborates just a little bit more in chapter 4. Look in verse
4. But when the fullness of time
was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under
the law, that's what we've been looking at, to redeem them that
were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons. That's a blessing that comes
to us through the cross. And because you're sons, God
has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts crying,
Father, Father, wherefore you are no more a servant but a son. And look at this, and if a son
Then an heir of God through Christ. An heir of God. Let me read three
or four verses of Scripture to you. This is amazing to me. It's absolutely amazing. Those whom Christ hath redeemed
will inherit God. That's always amazing. That's
astounding to me. Not just what God has. Not just
what God can create. But God Himself. All of God that
He can communicate to us through Christ the mediator. Listen to
these verses of Scripture. Psalm 16, 5. Listen to this. The Lord is the portion of mine
inheritance. The Lord is the portion of mine
inheritance. What's He saying? I have an inheritance. What is it? The Lord. You know,
you see people down here, boy, and their parents dies, or some
rich uncle dies, and man, they're well off for the rest of their
life. Can you imagine what it will be to inherit the Lord? Ah, think about it. Listen to
Psalm 73. Somebody read it this morning.
My flesh and my heart, But God is the strength of my heart,
and He is my portion forever. The everlasting God is my portion. And if He's my portion, He must
be my portion forever. Listen to Jeremiah 10, verse
16. The portion of Jacob is not like
them. They're not like idols. He is
the farmer of all things. The Lord of hosts is His name. Jacob's portion. Listen to Lamentations
3, verse 24, "...the Lord is my portion, saith my soul, therefore
will I hope in Him." Revelation 21, verse 7, "...he that overcometh
shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall
be my Son." He shall inherit all things and inherit God to boot. I think
that's what the Lord Jesus meant when He said, Come thou into
the joys of the Lord. Oh, can you imagine to be filled
with the fullness of God? To have your soul and your body
filled with God in heaven? Can you imagine inheriting the
joy of the Lord? Inheriting the peace of God?
And He had given to you and communicated to you in a manner and a degree
that's unimaginable. Heirs of God. And how does that
come to us? Through the cross. Through the
cross. Here we began this morning. And
where did we begin? Cursed, didn't we? Here we were
helpless. Cursed under the law. Unable
to fulfill it. But now look at us. Heirs of
God. And why? Through the cross. Through the cross. Let us pray.