Galatians 3:13-14: “Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When He was hung on the cross, He took upon Himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’ Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing He promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.”

If you’ve attended a church service during the resurrection season (Easter), then you have probably heard a sermon about Jesus dying for our sins. Jesus was the perfect Lamb that was offered as a ransom (or payment) for mankind’s sin. But under the Levitical priesthood, there were men that were selected to serve as priests, and who offered sacrifices for the covering of Israel’s sin. The office that Jesus filled while He was on the earth was very unique—Jesus was our High Priest, but He was also our spotless Lamb. As the High Priest, He offered Himself unto the Father in heaven, His offering was accepted, and payment was made in full.

Now that we have discussed the payment of sin by our Savior, let’s look at the principle that Paul teaches us in Galatians. He tells us that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. The Bible is very clear that all of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory; but did you realize that God gave mankind the Law so that we can know (or have consciousness) of sin in our hearts? Sin blinded man’s heart to our own transgression against God’s law. This is why you read in Genesis where Adam blamed Eve instead of confessing the sin in his own heart. His heart was darkened by sin to his own sinful ways.

When God handed down the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai, and the Jews transgressed against the Law, it caused the curse to manifest in their lives. Look at the account where the Israelites were in the wilderness before the law was given; there you’ll see that they murmured against Moses and God and nothing happened (no consequences). Then look at the time that they murmured against Moses and God after the Law; they were bitten by fiery serpents. The Law revealed that we were living under the curse of sin and not just living in sin. The wages of sin is death.

If we are saved by faith, then we must also live or obey by faith so that the grace of God might continue to set us free from the bondage’s of our flesh nature. But if we should decide to live according to the lusts of our flesh nature instead of walking by faith, then we place ourselves back under the law—through works and the curse of the Law. When, as Christians, we choose to live according to the lusts of the flesh instead of obeying God by faith, we are committing iniquities that allow the curse of the Law to manifest in our lives. If you struggle with iniquity as a Christian, which is defined as: do amiss; bow down; make crooked; perverse; do wickedly, then all that the Father requires is that we repent and turn from our own wicked ways and obey His ways. Isaiah tells us that God has laid on Christ the iniquities of us all. In Christ, not only are our sins forgiven, but when we repent for disobedience and begin to obey, so are our iniquities forgiven. We are in Christ, but we must also live and walk in Christ in order to be free from the curse of the Law.  —submitted by Asa Dockery, US