Table of Contents | >> | Redeemed from the Torah? | ||
Galatians 3:13 begins, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law..." What could be clearer? The Torah is a curse and Christ has redeemed us from it. Isn't that what it says? Nowhere else in the Bible is the Torah called a curse. On the contrary, the very first Psalm begins, "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the Torah of the Lord, and in His Torah he meditates day and night." And Shaul/Paul, even when writing about how sin had used God's commanding of the Torah to deceive us, nevertheless says, "Therefore the Torah is holy..." (Rom 7:12) The Torah of the Lord cannot be both holy and a curse, so what is Galatians 3:13 saying? Throughout the Torah there are descriptions of the blessings which result from obedience, and the curses which are the consequence of disobedience. In a general sense, Galatians 3:13 is saying that Messiah has redeemed us from all of the curses. Specifically, it is referring back to the curse mentioned in verse 10, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." (Deut. 27:26) In other words, if there is a Torah instruction I am not yet able to perform, or not yet aware of, or if I used to walk in God's ways but have fallen away, or I've never walked in God's ways, then I am under a curse and in need of redemption. Yeshua took the punishments for our sin upon Himself. He redeemed us from the curses which are the consequence of our falling short. But He never took away the blessings that result when we delight to do His will, being led by the Spirit. Yeshua has redeemed us from the curse, but not from the blessing, of the Torah! |
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