Good day,<\/p>\nIn Galatians 3:10-13, did Jesus become a curse? Please give some insight into this verse.\nThanks.\n\t
“The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the nations will be blessed<\/strong> in you.'” So then those who are of faith are blessed<\/strong> with Abraham, the believer. For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse<\/strong>; for it is written, ‘Cursed<\/strong> is everyone who does not abide by all the things written in the book of the Law, to perform them.’ \u00a0Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “The righteous man shall live by faith.’ However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, ‘He who practices them shall live by them.’ Christ redeemed us from the curse<\/strong> of the Law, having become a curse<\/strong> for us–for it is written, ‘Cursed<\/strong> is everyone who hangs on a tree’ — in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing<\/strong> of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith<\/em>” (Galatians 3:8-14).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Paul is contrasting the ideas of blessings and curses. A blessing is to desire good for someone or to give someone a benefit. A curse is to desire ill for another or to devote someone to punishment. Paul reminds us that God promised to bless everyone through Abraham. It comes not through direct lineage but through sharing a faith similar to the faith displayed by Abraham.<\/p>\n
Yet, the Israelites, who directly descended from Abraham were under a curse because they were under a law that required its followers to keep every law perfectly, which no one is able to do. One of the problems that Paul deals with in the book of Galatians is the desire of Jews to pull the Gentile Christians into the Law of Moses. Paul argued, “We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles; nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified<\/em>” (Galatians 2:15-16). Paul’s argument here in chapter 3 is to ask why would you want to bind yourself under the curse of the Law?<\/p>\n
Still, the question is how did the Jews bound under the Law’s curse gain their freedom? The answer is that Jesus took on the ill (the curse) by dying on the cross. The Law declared that everyone who died by hanging, and dying on a cross is a form of hanging, is under a curse; that is, ill has befallen him. Jesus’ ill-treatment and death on the cross purchased our freedom from both sin and the Law of Moses. As a result, the blessing of Abraham, which comes by faith, flows to all people allowing us to receive the promise of eternal life from the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n
Jesus was without sin. He did not become sinful while dying on the cross. Rather, he was treated as if he were a sinner, though he was innocent of any crime. His willingness to suffer punishment on our behalf purchased our freedom. As Albert Barnes eloquently wrote: “He consented to die the most shameful and painful death, as if he were the vilest malefactor, in order that the most guilty and vile of the human race might be saved.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Good day, In Galatians 3:10-13, did Jesus become a curse? Please give some insight into this verse. Thanks. Answer: “The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the nations will be blessed in you.’” So then those who are of faith are blessed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[710,73,76],"class_list":["post-24522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-galatians","tag-jesus","tag-terminology"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":74252,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-the-families-of-the-earth-be-blessed-through-abraham\/","url_meta":{"origin":24522,"position":0},"title":"How can the families of the earth be blessed through Abraham?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi there! I hope you're well! Romans 2:24, \"Because of you, the Gentiles blaspheme My name.\" Does this contradict Genesis 12:3? How could the blasphemers be not cursed if they are excused by Romans 2:24? Thank you so much. Answer: \"And I will bless those who bless you, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15725,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/shouldnt-we-live-by-faith-and-not-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":24522,"position":1},"title":"Shouldn’t we live by faith and not law?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 18, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: You said in one of your articles, \"He offers forgiveness of sins if a person submits to God's laws.\" What about faith? Shouldn't we live by faith and not law (Galatians 3:12)?\u00a0Also, what about Romans 7:1-6? Answer: The requirement for faith is a part of God's law. \"And without\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6796,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-were-the-patriarchs-saved\/","url_meta":{"origin":24522,"position":2},"title":"How were the Patriarchs saved?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 4, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How are those in the patriarch times saved if there was no hope for them? Was it because of Jesus' death that all (who tried to live good unto God) were saved before Moses and the Ten Commandments? Please explain. Answer: \"And for this reason He is the Mediator\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61195,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/works-in-the-book-of-romans\/","url_meta":{"origin":24522,"position":3},"title":"Works in the Book of Romans","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 8, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Irvin Himmel via\u00a0Truth Magazine\u00a0XXIII: 2, pp. 43-45, January 11, 1979 Frequently Paul mentions works or deeds in his epistle to the saints at Rome. Whatever he means by \"works,\" the term expresses something opposed to grace and faith. He insists that justification does not find its source in works.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2040,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/abraham-wasnt-baptized-so-why-should-we-need-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":24522,"position":4},"title":"Abraham wasn’t baptized, so why should we need it?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 3, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In Romans chapter 4 it talks about Abraham being saved by belief.\u00a0 \"For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness\" (Romans 4:3).\u00a0 \u00a0Did they baptize in the Old Testament?\u00a0 Nowhere that I have read.\u00a0 Now you might say that baptism wasn't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20009,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-you-work-to-become-more-righteous-is-it-true-you-are-not-accepting-gods-righteousness\/","url_meta":{"origin":24522,"position":5},"title":"If you work to become more righteous, is it true you are not accepting God’s righteousness?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Mr. Jeff, A friend posted this on Facebook. I've read it over and over, and I just can't grasp what is being said. I'm always skeptical when a writer only quotes one Bible verse when he has so much to say. Sounds to me like a false doctrine or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24522\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}