Galatians 3:10 - Homiletics

Third argument—the curse of the Law.

"For as many as are of the works of the Law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the Law to do them." The apostle is carried naturally by antithesis of thought from the blessing of faith to the curse of the Law.

I. THE CURSE . This is "the curse of the Law" of Galatians 3:13 , from which the Law itself cannot deliver men, for its function is to condemn.

1 . It is not the mere civil punishment inflicted on the Israelites for the transgression of the ceremonial or judicial Law. The context shows that the curse is a far deeper thing, for the contrast is between wrath and blessing, condemnation and justification. Besides, the passage refers to Gentiles who could not be affected by the dispensational peculiarities of Judaism.

2 . The curse is the Divine sentence upon transgressors involving doom and shame , the loss of God, and separation from him ( Isaiah 59:2 ). The curse includes the penal sanction of the moral Law—a Law written in the hearts of Gentiles as it was delivered to Jews on tables of stone; so that Gentiles and Jews were alike under curse. It is a mistake, therefore, to regard the curse as the mere natural consequence of transgression, as disease is the consequence of debauchery; it is a penal evil.

II. THE RANGE OF THE CURSE . It extends to "as many as are of the works of the Law." A distinction is here necessary between being of the works of the Law and being under the Law. The Old Testament saints were under the Law, but they were not under curse, because, like Abraham, they "saw the day of Christ afar off." They "believed God, and it was counted to them for righteousness." They apprehended God's mercy and grace under the sacrificial forms of the Jewish economy. But the curse must necessarily descend upon "all who are of the works of the Law," because they have broken it and are still breaking it day by day.

III. HOW THE CURSE COMES INTO OPERATION . It is by a Divine sentence which pronounces the curse upon all transgressors of the Law. The curse here quoted is the last of the twelve curses pronounced by the Levites on Mount Ebal ( Deuteronomy 27:26 ). The reference points to ethical, not ceremonial, requirements.

1 . The Law demands practical obedience. It is not "hearers" of the Law, but "doers," who are in question.

2 . It demands a personal obedience. "Every one." There is no room for a proxy or a mediator.

3 . It demands a perfect obedience ; for it covers "all the things written" in the Law.

4 . It must be a perpetual obedience. " Cursed is every one that continueth not." The least failure involves the transgression of the whole Law ( James 2:10 ).

5. The effect of transgression is curse. All the evil that is involved in that terrible word. "Death and hell are the end of every sin, but not of every sinner."

6 . The Law still exists to curse transgressors. It is not abrogated, though Judaism is no more.