Galatians 3:10-14 (NIV)
All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.” The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
The Judaizers taught that only by becoming a Jew, including males submitting to circumcision, and then by observing all the fine points of the law, including all the additions and interpretations that had grown up around it, could faith in Jesus for salvation be effective. But Paul, a former Pharisee, came at the issue from an entirely different direction.
Paul understood that no one, not even the staunchest Pharisee, had ever succeeded in keeping the whole of the law in both letter and spirit. And, according the law itself (Deuteronomy 27:26 as quoted here by Paul), that put them not among the blessed, but squarely among those who were cursed. If we depend on keeping the law for our salvation, then we must keep it perfectly, both internally and externally, or we fail completely to earn our salvation by it.
Salvation through the law is salvation by works. But the prophet Habakkuk (2:4) wrote that the righteous, those who are truly justified, live, are saved, by faith, not by their own efforts at keeping the law. John emphasizes the same point in John 1:17.
We are no longer under the curse of trying to save ourselves by keeping the law flawlessly. This is precisely because Jesus became a curse for us by allowing Himself to be hanged on a tree, crucified on a wooden cross. And, as a result of His sacrifice, salvation is now available to both Jew and gentile by grace through faith in Him (Romans 3:21-24).
This had been God’s plan from before the creation of the world. He knew that when He gave the law to Israel from the top of Mt. Sinai, it could not save. Instead, He gave it to His people as a schoolmaster, to help them to become aware of their massive internal sinfulness (Romans 3:21, 7:7), until they cried out for mercy and grace. The sacrificial system that He put into place was a foreshadowing of Jesus, the perfect sacrifice for sin (John 1:29) that would finally be able to bring true forgiveness and reconciliation to the people of the world. And, as a result of people turning away from their own efforts at righteousness (like the Pharisees and the Judaizers practiced) and turning instead to God for mercy and grace by faith in Jesus, He could then pour into each life His Holy Spirit to effect a literal and complete transformation of each person, a remaking of that individual into a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). That transformed person would then be able to keep His commands (Ezekiel 26:27), not by their own efforts or in order to win salvation, but as a result of the transforming presence and the power of God’s Spirit working unhindered through their life.
Father, those are amazing promises, the fulfillment of Your amazing plan. How sad that so many people today, both non-Christians and Christians, are still stuck trying to please You and earn Your favor by striving to keep Your commands in their own strength. Forgive us, Lord, and help each one of us to surrender ourselves to your true salvation, which is only by grace through faith, not something we can earn, but a divine gift (Ephesians 2:8). And then help us to open our hearts to the transforming, sanctifying work of Your Holy Spirit, so that we can be remade into the very image of Jesus, living out that gracefully bestowed salvation by a life of obedience and power in Your strength, and to the eternal glory of Your name. Amen.