A Matter Of Life And Death

Meditations on the Book of Galatians

April 23, 2020

A Matter Of Life And Death

But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing.

Galatians 3:13a

Galatians 3: 10-14

You have heard it said that the USA is a nation of laws. Even though we are a constitutional democracy governed by many, many laws at the local, state and national levels, we are not particularly a law-abiding nation. Our congress and President frequently ignore laws they find inconvenient. While the vast majority of Americans would never sneak into their neighbor’s garage and steal a tool or yard equipment, these same Americans have no compunction filing a false tax return, exceeding the posted speed limit, littering, or violating hundreds of laws they deem minor, annoying or with which they just disagree. Accordingly, we need to work a bit to fully comprehend the two points Paul is making in this passage.

The general principle of the religious laws of Israel was that each and every provision was essential in working out a right relationship with the Almighty. Not one provision could be compromised. If on the Sabbath you did everything perfectly, and then stooped to tie the straps around your sandals, you might as well have violated every provision of the Sabbath law. The result was the same; you were a sinner in God’s sight and in need of atonement. If you are trying to keep the law to please God, the only response according to Paul is to cry out, “Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?” Of course, Paul also provides the answer: “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7:24-25).

To make his case that Jesus is the answer, Paul used a provision of the law in Deuteronomy 21 that deals with capital punishment. That provision states a person convicted of a crime punishable by death and then executed and hung on a tree, is cursed by God and must be removed from the tree and buried the same day. Paul is saying that Jesus took our place. Paul is saying that when Jesus “was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing” (Galatians 3:13). Paul is saying that Jesus is our answer because he rescued us from having to keep every dot and tittle of the law in order to earn a right relationship with God. Paul is affirming that Jesus is our righteousness, our right- standing with God, and that all we need to do is remember we have “died to this life, and (our) real life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).

My Takeaway: Whether we realize it, we and our brothers and sisters in the Galatian churches are like two peas in a pod. It is not optional whether we are in a rightrelationship with God. It is a matter of life and death. Thank God! Our answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2020 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.