Galatians 3:10-14: Christ Became a Curse for Us

In Galatians 3:10-14, Paul continues to lay down the solid foundation of the gospel: the truth of salvation through faith in Jesus. While it may seem that Paul went hard in the last section of Galatians, this goes even harder. What I truly respect is Paul’s desire and skill at continuing even through persecution. He’s going against hundreds of years of theological adjustment, unafraid of what those that he’s going against will think. Or if he is afraid, it didn’t stop him.

I get so in my head, worried about what people will think that it keeps me stuck. I start to record content and then I get worried that someone will think I’m wrong or bad or whatever. But the truth is that none of that matters. If I am wrong, I’ll learn from it, admit it and correct myself. There will be plenty of people that don’t like me and I’m still alive. It only takes going viral on social media a few times to be dramatically humbled by the content section.

If you relate to that I want you to know that you’re not alone and we’re doing this together. If you’re someone who struggles to believe that Jesus loves you or that you have to somehow earn His love, this series is for you. Check out the last post here.

Under the Curse

At the beginning of the last post, Paul says “who has bewitched you?” in regards to the Galatians believing the false gospel of works-based faith. Now in verse 10, he says that “all who rely on works of the law are under a curse” and then goes on to explain why. There are strong ties between those things as witchcraft can bring on curses. While this wasn’t explicitly brought up in either of the commentaries I studied, it immediately stood out to me.

“Any attempt to be justified by the law leads to a curse, for righteousness comes only by faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ. All those indwelt by the Holy Spirit enjoy the blessing of Abraham.”¹ Paul continues, “for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the Law, and do them” (Galatians 3:10). If you do not follow the Law perfectly, you are cursed. That was the Law and those that still follow that way of living are experiencing that – a cursed life. “They have failed to obey the law, and so they stand under the “curse” on unfaithful Israel. They stand in contrast to Abraham and all believers, who are blessed.”²

The Law Could Only Condemn

It is impossible to obey the law to the standard that God has set. That’s why He gave us the Law to begin with. God was making it clear that we can’t live without Him. We can’t claim righteousness without Him. We are physically, spiritually, mentally unable to be fulfilled without Him.

“Contrary to what the Judaizers taught, the Law could not justify; it could only condemn.”³ That’s why Jesus came to bridge that gap, to die on the cross and bear the weight of our sins. This wasn’t some new idea, either, the Law highlighting our failures as humans. “The history of Israel and human experience demonstrates that all fall short of what God demands.”⁴ Every time I read Scripture, especially the Old Testament, I can’t help but praise God for His patience. As annoyed as I am with those Israelites, I know that the Lord has to deal with me on the same dang things. Israel was chosen by God Himself and they still couldn’t keep it together. Imagine how much harder it is for the rest of us.

Cursed Is Everyone Who Doesn’t Keep It All

Paul quoted Deuteronomy 27:26, again pointing to the Old Testament, saying “Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.” He did this to highlight how the Law required perfection and lack of perfection meant a curse. Just one slip up and we’re cursed. Since we all mess up, that means we’re all cursed. Once again using the Old Testament, Paul points to Habakkuk who said that “the righteous will live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4).

It’s also interesting to me how Deuteronomy specifically says “for everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book.” Jesus calls us to abide in Him and nothing else. In the Old Testament, they had to trust in their ability to follow a Law. I’ve been going through the Abide Bible study and after understanding what it means to abide in the Lord, this hits really different.

Faith and the Law Don’t Mix

But could we use both faith and the Law? Maybe that’s the answer. Well Paul continued using Scripture to show how that just wasn’t possible. “Law and faith are mutually exclusive. The basic principle of the Law is found in Leviticus 18:5: The man who does these things will live by them. Only perfect performance could win divine approval under the Law” but since perfection is impossible, the Law only condemned.⁵

Hustle Culture and the Refusal to Rest

All this being said, it does stand out to me that there were (and are) people that are so focused on getting it right, so obsessed with the Law and their place in it, that the idea of accepting freedom from it is absurd. It makes me think of the “hustle culture” vibe we have today. We hate to stop and rest, we hate to not have to earn our worth, love, health, etc. The idea of not going until we’re so burnt out that we can’t sit up straight is insane to us. I saw a reel on Instagram where a woman was talking about changing her life in 6 months without using hustle culture tactics and actually doing less.

She shared that the hardest part of all of it is that she has had to be present and actually sit with her thoughts. She spoke about how she loves to live in the future because it’s a dream world that she has control of versus real life where everything feels so heavy. Now she’s having to learn how to process her feelings and be present with God right now. I do wonder if this was how it felt for them, even subconsciously. If they were so used to doing something a certain way, keeping busy, staying the “workaholic” in order to not process feelings or trauma. While we’ll never know for sure, to my knowledge, we don’t have any information on that. But it is wild to me just how parallel things are between the biblical times and today.

Christ Became a Curse for Us

While the curse came upon us due to disobedience, “the burden of the curse has been lifted by Christ’s work on the cross. Paul talked in 2:20 of Christ’s death for him personally; now he focuses on Christ’s substitutionary work for others.”⁶ That means that we all get to release that burden from ourselves. Through relying on Jesus, trusting that He is who He says He is, we get to be free from all of that. Paul says in Galatians 3:13 that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” The Bible itself says, as Paul points out in the second half of verse 13, that “a hanged man is cursed by God.” (Deuteronomy 21:23). To be crucified was shameful, yet Jesus chose to take that shame upon Himself to ensure that we all could be reconciled to God.

“This is a strong declaration of substitutionary redemption whereby Christ took the penalty of all guilty lawbreakers on Himself. Thus the “curse of the Law” was transferred from sinners to Christ, the sinless One… When Christ was crucified, it was evidence He had come under the curse of God.”⁷ This made it very difficult for Jewish people to accept that Jesus was the Messiah. Not only did He not do what they thought He was going to do, but He died in the most shameful way possible. It wasn’t until they understood that His death was to stand in the gap for them that they were able to truly process and accept it.

The Blessing That Came From a Curse

The beauty in that is the fact that the most shameful death brought life back. The cursed tree that Jesus hung on “not only brought blessing to Israel but took place “so that… the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles.”⁸ Jesus bearing the weight of the curse brought the blessing. It gives me chills to think about. I used to roll my eyes at people who got this excited over Jesus’ death and resurrection and what it truly means. But now that I’m studying Scripture, I understand it at a completely different level. It’s like “Oh! I get it now.”

But not only do we get the freedom that comes from forgiveness through Christ, but we also have “the living presence of God with them. Paul explains more of what it means to have the gift of the Spirit in Galatians 5 and 6.”⁹ Feel free to read ahead if you’re too excited to wait. Understanding and experiencing that gift is something that I still don’t know how to put into words. What I do know is that I am so grateful to Jesus for what He did so I can experience Him fully.

So That We Might Receive the Spirit

Verse 14 begins with “so that.” Any time you read this phrase or others like it in Scripture, you need to go back a little bit to get the full context of what is being said. The “so that” is about to tell you the result of a “why.” Without that why, you’re missing most of the message.

In this case, Paul is sharing the purposes of the redemptive work that Jesus did. The first “so that” leads to Paul saying that the Gentiles will be able to receive the same blessing that was given to Abraham. That blessing is freedom from the Law, in order to receive it all one has to do is believe and share that faith with God. There’s another “so that” which tells us that the freedom from the Law comes so that “we might receive the promised Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:14). “Again the apostle emphasized that salvation and sanctification come by faith, not by works.”¹⁰

Not So Different From Biblical Times

Oof. This short little section of Scripture covered a lot. While it may seem like Paul is really going on and on about this faith without works thing, it’s because it really is that deep. Understanding Christ’s torture and death matters a lot more than most Christians realize. When we take the time to really study Scripture, it becomes easy to see that, one, we’re not so different from those living in biblical time. And two, how to process and understand this information. Selfishly, doing this study has been so impactful on my life. I can tell that God is really hammering home the message that the only thing I really need to do is lean on Him and abide in Him. If I’m doing that, then I’m on the right track.

Please remember just how much Jesus loves you. Don’t let the enemy or the world minimize it.

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Footnotes

1. Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2249.
2. Ibid., 2250.
3. Donald K. Campbell, “Galatians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 598.
4. ESV Study Bible, 2250.
5. Campbell, “Galatians,” 598.
6. ESV Study Bible, 2250.
7. Campbell, “Galatians,” 598.
8. ESV Study Bible, 2250.
9. Ibid.
10. Campbell, “Galatians,” 598.