The Curse of the Law
Exodus 20 recounts the Lord’s revealing the Ten Commandments to His people. The subsequent chapters lay out the laws the Lord wanted His people to follow. In Paul’s letter to the Galatians he tells them, “As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse” (3:10 KJV). God’s standard is perfection, and a holy God cannot accept sin, not even one. The Law was not meant to redeem; it merely revealed our true condition. Deuteronomy 27:26 says, “Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them” (KJV). James 2:10 gives further light: “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (KJV). Even if one were to commit only a single sin, it would still be enough to deny entrance to God’s perfect heaven. A holy God demands perfection, which cannot be attained under the Law, for we are all guilty of breaking it.
The Condition of our Souls
We are born sinners. We know from Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Therefore, it should not be a surprise that God begins many of the Ten Commandments with “thou shalt not.” Our natural instinct is to commit each of these sins. The Law was an impossible standard that no one could keep. We are unable to rid ourselves of the burden of sin; there is no amount of praying, reading, charity, pleading or working we can do to redeem ourselves. Furthermore, Isaiah 59:2 tells us that our sins have separated us from God. If we die in our sins, that separation continues into eternity and can never be reversed. So what’s the good news? If our natural state is sinful, and that sin causes separation from a holy God, how can we be redeemed?
The Care of the Father
The God who implemented the Law is the same One who is able to remove the curse. In fact, redemption was always part of His plan. 1 Peter 1:20 says that Christ was “foreordained before the foundation of the world.” Even before God created the world, He knew mankind would succumb to sin and His only Son would have to be sent to die. Grace is the only way we can be set free. Galatians 4:4-5 tells us that “when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (KJV). Christ’s death and resurrection secured our redemption. He was made a curse for us so that the curse of the Law could be removed. Much like Mephibosheth, who was brought into the house of David and ate at the king’s table as one of the king’s sons (2 Samuel 9), we can become sons of God because of Christ’s death on the cross. Once hopeless and unable to help ourselves, God displayed the ultimate form of grace by redeeming us through His Son. Accept Christ as your personal Savior and become a son of God.
