If you've been a Christian for any length of time, you've probably heard someone declare that "we've been redeemed from the curse of the law."Actually, that's not true.
Given the currency of this erroneous notion in today's Church, a brief explanation is in order.
The idea that Christians have somehow been "redeemed from the curse of the law" finds its roots in Galatians 3:13, in which the Apostle Paul states:
"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.'"
Now, if this were the only verse in the New Testament, one might reasonably argue that the "us" Paul is referring to in Galatians 3:13 is all of humanity -- or at least each and every Christian. But that is not Paul's point at all. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.
If we are to make any sense of 3:13, we must read the following verse, 3:14, as well. In other words, we must read it in context:
3:13-14 "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.' in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit by faith."
For the purpose of this exegesis, an abbreviated passage should serve to make Paul's point quite obvious:
"Christ redeemed US from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for US...in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to THE GENTILES..."
See, the "us" Paul is referring to here are his fellow ethnic Jews. If you doubt this, dear reader, I suggest you flip to the previous chapter (Context, man! Think context!) and read Galatians 2:15:
"We are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners"
The simple truth is that those, and only those, who were under the law could be redeemed from its curse. And the ONLY ones who were ever under the law in the first place were ethnic Jews. Don't believe me? Well, listen to Paul:
Galatians 3:10 For all who rely on doing the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the book of the law."
Did you get that? THOSE WHO RELY ON DOING THE WORKS OF THE LAW are under a curse. At what point in history did the Gentiles start observing Torah? NEVER, that's when. The fact is, the law never applied to Gentiles. And it never, ever will.
Romans 2:14: For whenever the Gentiles, who DO NOT HAVE THE LAW..."
1Corinthians 9:20(b)-21: TO THOSE UNDER THE LAW I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) to gain those under the law. TO THOSE FREE FROM THE LAW [i.e. Gentiles] I became like one free from the law (though I am not free from God's law but under the law of Christ) to gain those free from the law.
4 comments:
Wyatt,
Excellent post! Thanks for the explanation.
Great post Bro! You are wise in your years, Old One. Jus Playin'. Keep up the great study. Look forward to "Part 2".
Good post G2.
Nice man. I like this. It's good to hear people who see along the same lines as me. Context, context, context! When they say that before the Messiah we had to rely on the Law (Torah) for salvation, it gets my wheels turning. My response is usually like "Well, for one, like we were ever under the Law in the first place...and two...are you telling me that there is more than one way of Salvation?" What happened to everyone before the Messiah then?
Sometimes I wished I lived in the first century so I could more easily grasp what Paul was saying to everyone.
I'm reading a really good book right now called "The Letter Writer" by Tim Hegg. It's a real good book about the context of Paul and his letters. You can get it at Amazon or www.torahresource.com From what this article is like I could probably tell that you'd like the book.
Anyway great post. Take Care.
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