Galatians 3:10-14: a reflection

10For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who doesn’t continue in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them.” 11Now that no man is justified by the law before God is evident, for, “The righteous will live by faith.” 12The law is not of faith, but, “The man who does them will live by them.” 13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,” 14that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Paul lays out a hard truth and then a stunning rescue. The hard truth: everyone who relies on keeping the law to be right with God is under a curse, because the law requires everything, all of it, perfectly, and no one delivers that. Try to be justified by your performance and you land under a curse you cannot lift, because you will always fall short somewhere.

Then the rescue, in one astonishing sentence: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. He took onto himself the very curse we were under. Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree, Paul quotes, and points to the cross. The exchange is total: he takes the curse, and the blessing promised to Abraham comes to us, even to those who were far off.

Sit with what this frees you from. You do not have to keep climbing the treadmill of earning God's acceptance by your own flawless performance, always anxious that you have not done enough. That way only leads under the curse. Christ has already taken the curse, and holds out the blessing as a gift received by faith. Stop trying to justify yourself by getting everything right, and receive the blessing he bought by becoming the curse for you.

Lord Jesus, you became a curse for me, taking what I could not lift, so that the blessing could come to me. Free me from the exhausting effort to earn my acceptance, and let me receive by faith the gift you bought at such cost.