In our previous post Paul clarified the problem of trying to live by the law. He pointed out the foolishness of it all, and the inconsistency law-living has with living under the New Covenant. Then in v6-9 he zeroes in on the connection with Abraham. If you have Abraham’s faith, then you receive Abraham’s blessing. In 3:10-14 Paul expands on this issue of the “blessing” of Abraham.
Two ways of being
righteous in God’s sight (justified) are being contrasted: either you keep the
law as best you can or you put your faith in Christ. But in fact, no one will be justified by the
law (v11a). Why, you ask? Because the standard is impossible. Paul quotes two passages from the Pentateuch:
Cursed is everyone who does
not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to
do them (v10b, from Deut. 27:26).
… the man who does
them shall live by them (v12b; from Lev. 18:5).
Deut. 27:26 is the last of a collection of
curses related to the Mosaic law (27:11-26).
The Levites declared these words as the people stood on Mounts Gerizim
and Ebal and pronounced an “Amen” of agreement with each one.
The Leviticus passage was also quoted by Paul
in Rom. 10:5 to make the same point: to be justified by law-keeping you must
keep the whole law; you must “live” it.
If that is what you are going to try to do, remember you don’t just say
you agree with the law; you must live by the
law. If you were reading through the
book of Leviticus you might miss this phrase altogether. It is tucked in a passage with many
phrases. Why does the Holy Spirit make
such a big deal about it? I can’t be
sure, but I do know that in the post-exilic time of Nehemiah, when the people
were confessing their sins, the exact same line was on their lips, in Neh.
9:29: they acted proudly, and did not heed Your commandments, but sinned
against Your judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them.
On the other hand, you can still be justified in
the sight of God. How? Paul cites a third OT passage, from Habakkuk
2:4: the just shall live by faith (Gal. 3:12; also in Rom. 1:17; Heb.
10:38). Again, it’s the faith of
Abraham. The blessing of Abraham
comes upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus that we might receive
the promise of the Spirit through faith (3:14).
Thus, we are under a curse because we can’t
keep the law. But by faith in Christ we
can be declared righteous in God’s sight.
What in the world did Christ do that makes Him such an object of our
faith? The answer is: He became a
curse for us. Wait a minute! No, wait forever! How can that be? Christ knew no sin; how can He come under a
curse like us sinners, who deserve to be under the curse? The answer is: He was hanged on a tree. This is a marvelous truth and must be
explored in our next post.
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