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Galatians 2:15-3:14

¹⁵ We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; ¹⁶ yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

¹⁷ But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! ¹⁸ For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. ¹⁹ For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. ²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

¹ O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. ² Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? ³ Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? ⁴ Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? ⁵ Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— ⁶ just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

⁷ Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. ⁸ And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” ⁹ So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

¹⁰ For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” ¹¹ Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” ¹² But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” ¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— ¹⁴ so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

You feel it. You feel it in your body every night when you grow weary and need to sleep, when you get sick, when your stomach is empty enough that it growls, or even when you stub your toe. You feel it in your emotions when you become angry with your spouse, or when the sorrow and angst of a broken relationship keeps you up at night. You see it. You see it on the news when people and nations war against each other, when the weather destroys people’s homes and livelihoods and brings back memories of when it happened to you. You see it when your loved one is lowered into their grave, and you are reminded that same fate is somewhere in your future.

All of this is the same as as when Nathan points his finger at David in our Old Testament lesson (2 Sam. 11:26-12:14) and says, “You are the man!” All of these things point to you and say, “You are the one who is under the curse of the law and the curse of sin.” “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” You are under the curse of the law.

The curse of the law impacts every aspect of our life. But we all do our best to ignore it. Like Simon the Pharisee in our Gospel lesson (Lk. 7:36-8:3), we look at others and believe that we are more moral or worthy than the other sinners in our midst.

We try to cover our cursed lives with as many good works as we can muster in the hope that, in the end, the scales will tilt, at least a little, in our favor. But we will never find comfort that this has actually happened. In the end, there is no ignoring it or covering it up. In the end, we all stand before the holy, righteous God and Judge who demands that we abide by all things written in the Book of His Law.

But the curse has been removed – more than that, it has already been carried out.

In the fullness of time, God sent Jesus, His Son, born or a woman, born under the law to redeem you who were under the curse of the Law (Gal. 4:4) because you could not and would not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law. Jesus entered this sin-cursed world and placed Himself right beside you in your muck and filth. But Jesus went even further.

Though Jesus had lived a perfect, sinless life and had done every righteous deed, He bore your sins in His body on the cross (1 Pet. 2:24). Jesus is the Divine Thief. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (Jn. 1:29).

Jesus took those sins of David, the sins of the woman, the sins of Paul, the sins of the Galatians, and your sins. God made Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus Christ redeemed you from the curse of God’s Law by becoming a curse for you. There on that cross Jesus became the only object of God’s wrath. God poured all of His wrath against all your sin upon Jesus, and hell’s flames were drowned with His holy blood.

The Law used to say, “Let every sinner die.” But now because Jesus has taken all sin, the Law looks around and finds no other sins on you or on anyone else. Your curse is gone. As Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished” (Jn. 19:30). You, yes you, have been decursified because of the love and mercy of your Savior, Jesus Christ.

So now, when you feel that the circumstances of this life turn sour, don’t assume that you are still under the curse. You are free, redeemed from the curse.

There was a woman on a ship in the middle of a terrible storm, and she was terrified. So she went to the captain of the ship, who happened to be her husband, and asked him, “Why am I so terrified of this storm, and you’re not concerned at all?” But her husband said nothing. Instead, he unsheathed his sword and held it to her chest as though he was going to kill her. He simply looked at her sternly. But after a few moments his wife giggled at him.

Her husband asked her, “Don’t you understand that this sword is sharp and could kill you in an instant?” The wife responded, “Of course I know it’s sharp. But I’m not afraid of a sword when it is in the hand of my beloved husband.”

And the captain responded, “Then neither am I afraid of these storms when they are governed by and in the hand of my heavenly Father.”

The same is true for you. When all of the signs of the curse are surrounding you and threatening you, remember that they are all in God’s control. And you have been redeemed from the curse. You, yes you, sinner, have been decursified. Nothing in this life can harm you because Jesus has become a curse for you. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.