Meditations in Galatians #12, Friday, June 12, 2009    Galatians 3:10,11

______________________________________

"For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM."
______________________________________

Everyone who does not perform all that was required by Moses is cursed!  Paul knows this is true. Jesus said that every detail of Moses' Law will remain intact as long as the universe does, so He is saying that this is true. This quote is Moses himself saying everyone who does not keep all the laws is cursed. Father, what are they talking about?  I have never met anyone, even among my Jewish friends, who has ever even dreamed of actually learning all of Moses Laws, much less performing all of them correctly. What is going on here? Am I wrong in assuming that "cursed" basically means "doomed?" Moses, Jesus and Paul all seem to be saying that there is no hope outside of perfect obedience to Moses Law.  I remember Jesus indicating those most obedient to Moses were no where near righteous enough, and Paul, quoting the Old Testament, says that no one has ever been righteous. What is a Jew supposed to think about all of this? And we gentiles, doesn't this condemn us even before we start?

OK, Paul says somewhere that those who are not under the Law will be judged without reference to the Law. In Romans 1, I remember him basically saying that the Gentiles have a law within themselves that they will be judged by. He said that nature revealed so much about God that no one is without excuse. So even though it may appear that the gentiles are not under this curse as Moses has stated, we are still doomed because we will be judged by another kind of law which has robbed us of our excuses. So, even without reference to Moses, we already stand condemned before God because we cannot even obey the Law of our own consciences. How often do we know the right thing to do, only to find we cannot make ourselves do it? When James says something like this in his letter, he is not quoting Moses, but reavealing part of that universal law which everyone, Jew and Gentile, is unable to keep. I can understand those who never had any direct revelation from God being confused, or even tragically mistaken about the true nature of right and wrong.  Paul even said that God had in some ways "overlooked" some sins comitted in the past due in part to this kind of ignorance. I'm glad for that, but this complete condemnation of those under Moses' Law is much harder to understand.              

If Moses is talking only about Israel, those to whom the Law was given, then this particular "curse" would not include the gentiles.  But that means this extraordinary set of Laws which made the nation of Israel the moral light of the world, has as its inevitable result, the ultimate condemnation of everyone who was ever a part of it. It would mean the Mosaic Covenant is only a covenant of death, and that no Israelite would ever be righteous before God because of the Law that God gave him.  Father, is that what Paul actually believes? There must be something more here. Oh, there is?
"...for THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."
So THIS is THE answer.  Paul, quoting the prophet Habakkuk, really is saying that even in the Old Testament days, salvation was never by keeping the Mosaic Law.   Salvation/righteousness has always been based on faith. And it doesn't matter if we are Jew or Gentile, pre-Calvary or post-Calvary, because faith in Jesus has always been the only way of becoming righteous for anyone. No law, will never be capable of producing righteousness before God. Not even the laws we are barely conscious of that we make up in our own hearts and use to make excuses for ourselves. Jesus' death must be the only way for everyone, anywhere, in any age, to become righteous in God's eyes. This is the only fair way to do this. A Just judgment is not possible if there are many laws, or different kinds of laws for different people in different times and places.  People from all religions will face the exact same judgment, the exact same standard, and no one will pass. The Grace of God, revealed to human history in Jesus, is the only cure for the universal disease of sin.
Father, I believe that since You have created a world such as this, and revealed salvation by faith to everyone, that You will draw to Your Son everyone who is willing to believe. I know that faith in Your Son is "the Way, the Truth and the Life, and that no one can come to You except through Him." And so I trust You to deal fairly with those born into cultures and religions and philosophies that oppose Your Son. Including my own.

______________________________________

"The Church at Antioch" by Rudyard Kipling

______________________________________

Thank You for giving me a few minutes of your time. Galatians is a unique letter. It will take some time to get into Paul's mind, and from there to understand what God has chosen to reveal through the disaster that the congregation at Galatia was experiencing.

The effect of these Meditations will be cumulative, and the real benefit may have nothing to do with what I have written. I believe that the discipline of having a brief daily conversation with God about the meaning of a variety of Bible passages over a period of a few weeks, even if you come to some very different conclusions, will still be a wonderful and enlightening experience for you. At DeadRight.net, under the Yellow Pages, is some background info about Galatians. If you missed an earlier Meditation, you can still read it at DeadRight.net by going to the homepage, clicking on Newsletter, and clicking on "browse previous newsletters."