"Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father" (Galatians 1:3, 4).
"Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law" (Gal. 3:13). Some who superficially read this rush off frantically exclaiming, "We don't need to keep the law, because Christ has redeemed us from the curse of it," as though the text said that Christ redeemed us from the curse of obedience. Such read the Scriptures to no profit.
The curse is disobedience: "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to do them" (see Gal. 3:10). Therefore Christ has redeemed us from disobedience to the law. God sent forth His Son "in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin ... in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us" (Rom. 8:3, 4).
Someone may lightly say, "Then we are all right: whatever we do is right so far as the law is concerned, since we are redeemed." It is true that all are redeemed, but not all have accepted redemption. Many say of Christ, "We will not have this Man to reign over us," and thrust the blessing of God from them. But redemption is for all. All have been purchased with the precious blood--the life--of Christ, and all may be, if they will, free from sin and death.
Stop and think what this means. Let the full force of the announcement impress itself upon your consciousness. "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law"--from our failure to continue in all its righteous requirements. We need not sin any more! He has cut the cords of sin that bound us so that we have but to accept His salvation to be free from every besetting sin. It is not necessary for us any longer to spend our lives in earnest longings for a better life. Christ comes to the captives of sin and cries to them, "Liberty! Your prison doors are open. Go forth" (see Isa. 61:1).
What more can be said? Christ has gained the complete victory over this present evil world, over "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" (1 John 2:16), and our faith in Him makes His victory ours. [1]
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