The Curse of the Law

In Galatians, Paul seeks to polemically destroy the legalist false gospel of righteousness by law keeping. He has just declared that by faith, Gentiles receive the blessings promised by God to Abraham by faith.

He then declares that those who labor under the law to keep it are under a curse of judgment for not perfectly obeying the law.

This brings to light the dishonesty of the legalists. They have falsely taught that blessings would come from the righteousness of law keeping.

But legalists always minimize the curse, and the law's requirement of perfection.

The blessings of law keeping are always held out, tantalizing, but they can never be received, because nobody can keep the law.

So rather than blessings, we get the curse, the judgment, the wrath for our transgressions.

It's bad enough that legalists pervert the Gospel, and that true blessing comes by faith in God's promises rather than law keeping. But to find out that law keeping places everybody under the curse of judgment reveals the true horror of the danger of the legalist.

The Judaizers never learned from Israel's sad history, that the law cannot be kept, because of sin and the fall. Israel is the test case that proves that law keepers are all cursed.

Paul thus lays bare the wickedness of the legalist false gospel: it attempts to draw Gentiles into a system that will utterly destroy them forever!

Paul next proves logically from Scripture that nobody has ever been justified by law keeping, but only by faith.

How then are we who live by faith to be rescued from the curse for our disobedience?

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us at Calvary!