Category Archives: Law

Bible, Blessing, Curses, Grace, Holiness, Judgment, Law, Scripture

UNDER A CURSE

GALATIANS 3:10

“For all who are of works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written: ‘CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THE THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO DO THEM.’”

Being penalized for not keeping the rules is frustrating. I love football, but I don’t like all the rules. Some of them are flat out silly, if you ask me (of course, no one has asked me). But rules are rules. If you break the rule, there is a penalty. Some of those penalties may come at the absolute worse time in a game. I have seen penalties that have actually cost a team a win.

Paul talks about curses today in verse 10. The Greek word for “curse” is katara. It refers to the penalty that occurs when God condemns something. Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 27:26. He is saying that if you try to keep the Law but fail in just one of the commands, you are guilty of breaking the whole Law and are cursed. You will receive the penalty as if you had not kept any of it. That’s the futility of trying to keep the Law.

APPLICATION

So, do we just give up? Well, yes and no. James 2:10 says it well, “For whoever keeps the whole Law, yet stumbles in one point, has become guilty of all.” James understood the futility of law-keeping. He had been under the Law. He knew only Jesus (his half-brother) could satisfy the demands of a holy God. We give up on the Law but place all our faith in the One who satisfied it.

I had much rather be blessed than cursed. How about you? Curses push you down. Curses break your spirit. Curses kill all hope. But blessings – awwwww blessings – they cheer the soul. They renew hope. They bring joy. Numbers 6:24-26 rings through my head right now. “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” Isn’t that awesome?

Keep on trying to do stuff to please God and fall flat on your face. You just can’t do enough to earn heaven. All you have to do is turn to Jesus. It really is that simple. I will still strive to keep all of God’s commands, not because I have to but because I want to. I want to live holy to honor Him, not appease His wrath. Jesus has already taken care of that. Amen! Hallelujah!

Thank You, Father, for sending Your Son to satisfy the demands of the Law. His sacrifice covers me!

Standard
Bible, Choices, Grace, Law, Questions, Scripture

JUST TELL ME ONE THING

GALATIANS 3:2

“This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?”

Have you ever said, “Okay, just tell me one thing”? We say that when we are trying to win an argument or to clarify something to someone. Keeping the important things, the important things is important (say that five times real fast, lol). I know when I preach, I try to tell the people what I am going to say, I say it and then I tell them what I said. I want to make sure they understood the message and the facts were clear.

In today’s verse we see Paul making sure the Galatian believers kept the main things the main things. Can’t you just hear Paul exhorting them? Let me ask you one question – was it through faith or the Law that you received the Spirit? I don’t know about you, but I can hear that in the tone of this verse. Paul was tired of others coming in and muddying the water with their added restrictions and guidelines.

APPLICATION

Don’t ever let anyone put you back under the Law. Carl, no one is going to do that! Oh yea? How about those people who say you can’t miss church, or you must dress a certain way? Romans 7:6 says, “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.”

There are plenty of people out there ready to put you back under the Law. They have a long list of “Thou Shall Nots.” But for us, it’s more about “Thou Shall.” For instance, look at 1 John 4:7. “Beloved, let’s love one another; for love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.” Isn’t that better than getting your hand slapped for something you did or didn’t do? We are commanded to love each other.

So, let me ask you just one thing. Does your life exemplify Jesus to a lost world? That’s really what matters. That is a main thing. We are his witness. We represent Him. Take that to the world. Let them see Jesus in you. If you and I do that daily, we will grow in our faith. We will mature as believers. We will see fruit for our labor. Do the main thing.

Keep me focused, Lord, on what You say is important, not what others say.

Standard
Abiding, Atonement, Bible, Blessing, Law, Needless, Righteousness, Salvation, Scripture

NEEDLESS

GALATIANS 2:21

“I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

Have you ever done something for someone that was a waste of time? Perhaps you prepared a wonderful dinner for them, only to have them never show up to enjoy it. Maybe you worked and saved for that special gift and then they never got it. It is a hollow feeling. All your effort, all your work was in vain. It meant nothing to them. That can be painful.

Paul concludes his rebuke of Peter, Barnabas and the other Jewish believers with this final sentence of chapter two. He proclaims once again that their salvation is through Christ alone, but this time he shows the absurdity of the return to the Law. He says he refuses to just throw away God’s grace (something Paul had experienced so fully) and rely on the Law to give him righteousness. The word “needlessly” is used nine times in the New Testament. It can be translated in a good or bad sense. Here it used in that negative sense (in vain, without cause, needlessly). Certainly, Christ’s death was not in vain.

APPLICATION

Well Carl, I would never treat Christ’s death that way. Are you sure about that? Take a look at what you put your faith in. Is it in family? They will fail you. How about that big bank account? That could be gone in a second. In your health? Don’t count on it. The only thing that is for sure is what we have received through Jesus. As Coke says, He is the Real Thing!

The reality is in order to see Christ’s death as meaningful, we must see ourselves as sinners in need of a Savior. We must all come to believe what Romans 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” We can’t get there by ourselves. We can’t get there any other way than Jesus’ atoning death on the cross. Did He die needlessly? Certainly not!

There are so many people who think they can achieve holiness in the way they live. If they don’t do this and do that, God will smile on them. Listen, holiness only comes as we submit completely and fully to the Holy One. He takes our ungodly life and transforms it through His Spirit. Today, dwell on His atonement. Think about what He did for you. There is no other way but Jesus.

Lord, I praise You for giving me the only thing that could bring me to You – Jesus.

Standard
Abiding, Accountability, Appeasement, Bible, Choices, Commands, Deliverance, Freedom, Gospel, Law, Scripture

YOU CAN’T GO BACK

GALATIANS 2:18

“For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a wrongdoer.”

Millions of people make the fatal mistake of returning to past sins or past ways of living. For example, meth addicts are extremely precluded to do this. They can be in jail for a year, clean from the use of this substance, and the very day they get released they return to it. It’s like a magnet drawing them. Sadly, there are many who also come to Christ but get drawn back into old habits or sins.

In today’s verse, Paul is still addressing Peter and the Jewish believers who are there in Antioch. He is saying that once they had come to Christ, the Law no longer held any sway over them. The sacrifices were no longer required. Circumcision was no longer needed. Kosher eating had been abolished. They were free in Christ. But they were returning or still trying to observe these guidelines in the Law. Paul said that would make them a “wrongdoer.”

APPLICATION

In Romans 14, Paul addresses at length this issue of our freedom in Christ. Take a minute or two and read that whole chapter. But let me share a couple of verses as an example. Verse 2-3 say, “2 One person has faith that he may eat all things, but the one who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him.”

I have a responsibility to myself and to others to be true to Christ, not some man-made, imposed tradition or rule. I only answer to Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5:17 comes to mind. Do you know that verse? You should. It says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

Oh, the freedom we have in Christ. I live each day to please Him. I know if I am pleasing my Master, He will take care of the rest. Others may not like my freedom in Christ. That’s okay. He does. That’s all that matters. Are you free? Have you laid down all those old laws that bound you? Or have you returned to them, thinking that by doing them you are pleasing Him? Lay them down. Live in Him.

Thank You, Lord, for freeing me from the shackles of sin and the Law.

Standard
Accountability, Belief, Bible, Commands, Forgetting, Joy, Law, Obedience, Scripture

REMEMBERING THE IMPORTANT STUFF

MALACHI 4:4

“‘Remember the Law of Moses My servant, the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.’”

I have to admit that my memory is slipping a bit. I make a lot of lists to keep me from forgetting stuff. I am thankful for that Note app on my iPhone. I work hard at memorizing Scripture because I believe that will help my memory. But I still forget things that are important to me or others (Sorry, Chris).

The statute and ordinances which the Lord is referencing in verse 4 were not unknown to the people. They had heard them from the priest and scribes. They probably did not have their own copy, but they were expected to know and obey them. These had been around since Moses. That’s a long time. There was no excuse for forgetting them.

APPLICATION

Joshua 1:8 tells us, “‘This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will achieve success.’” This verse is the third verse we memorize in the Every Man A Warrior study. It is key to what we teach about Scripture.

While we are not under the Law anymore as Christians, we still have to obey the Lord’s commands all through Scripture. For instance, Deuteronomy 6:5-7 still applies to us today. “‘5 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 And you shall repeat them diligently to your sons and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk on the road, when you lie down, and when you get up.’”

If we will remember God’s commands and obey, we will be blessed. If we don’t, we run the risk of falling into sin which always has its consequences. I have heard it said, “Joy never precedes obedience.” So, remember His commands, obey them and receive joy. We all want more of that, don’t we?

I have joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart. Thank You, Lord

P.S. For my frequent followers, I will be taking a short break when we finish Malachi in two days. I will pick back up on January 1. Pray that the Lord shows me where to go to next in our daily study.

Standard