Key verse: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree."

    God made man in His image, and called his name Adam. Upon this man's shoulders was placed a great responsibility; possibly the greatest responsibility in all the world. He was to serve before God as the representative head of all the millions of people that were to come from him. His actions of obedience or disobedience would determine the future of his posterity. His choice would be their choice, his actions would be their actions. In that God desires to be loved man was not made a machine but a being with the ability to think, will, and choose. He was put into a perfect environment, and was given personal fellowship with God. But, in the wisdom of God, it was necessary that he be tested, and so he was. Satan was allowed to cast reflection upon the character and honesty of God by which Adam's wife was deceived, and cast into sin through disobedience. Adam was faced with the greatest decision of his life: should he take his wife, or should he remain in fellowship with God. You know the result. He chose Eve and went into disobedience knowing the consequence. This is what we term the fall. It was here that sin entered the human race. It was here that man sinned against his Creator. It was here that the curse of sin and the law was put upon man. Adam acted for you and me. His sin was our sin. His curse is our curse, and apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, we are driven from the. presence of God.

    The result of Adam's transgressions? He lost his original righteousness, and received a nature that is adverse to God. I say, "Is adverse to God" because his nature has been passed down to every person born into the world. Every son of man, without exception, is born into the world with the sinful nature of Adam, and has no righteousness to gain the favor of God. This nature is passed to us by our earthly fathers and will condemn us unless removed by the supernatural work of God. In regeneration the sinner receives righteousness, which is a sure pledge that in death, or resurrection he will be saved from this sinful nature. Adam ran from God which is proof that man has lost his ability to seek God in mercy until first sought after by God. To expect careless, unconcerned, sinners to come to Christ, and seek the Lord is foolishness in that they are dead in sins and cannot come to God. They will only seek the Lord's mercy when called by the Holy Spirit. This is the effectual drawing of God whereby the sinner is enabled to come to the cross for forgiveness. This is why preachers are to lay before the sinner his danger and show him his responsibility. Those drawn by the Spirit will respond and come.

    Then, after Adam was brought to the realization that he was naked., and. that God knew all about him, he was brought to despair. Although he had tried to cover himself, he knew that it would not hide his nakedness from the eyes of God. He began to make excuses, trying to lay the blame on God. "It is the woman that YOU gave me that got me into this trouble!" This is just like a sinner. He will try to excuse himself from his responsibilities by placing the blame of his condition upon God. "'God says that we are sinners, we might as well be!" "If He is going to save me, He will do it, so I will not try to be saved!" "God says that we cannot live up to the law, what is the use of trying, etc." But it is not until the sinner is driven to the corner in despair that he will be saved. He must be brought to the place that he sees that he cannot save himself before he will find mercy in Christ. Christ came to "save sinners." My theme here is: "Despairing, yet filled with hope." Once the sinner is awakened to his sinful condition, and sees that he deserves hell, there is hope for him in the sacrifice of Christ. Until this happens there is no hope of him ever being justified. Justification is by faith in what Christ does for us, and not in what we do for ourselves. In our text here, Justification by faith is proven by 1. The Ministry of the Law, and, 2. The Ministry of Christ. The law drives the sinner to despair, and Christ holds open a door of hope for him.

I. THE MINISTRY OF THE LAW

    1. The law was never given to save sinners. In verses 11 and 21 we read, "But that no man is justified. by the law in the sight of God is evident: for the just shall live by faith. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law." The law is not in conflict with faith, as many teach, but their objectives are different. They have a different ministry and purpose. The law was never given for the purpose of saving sinners, but on the contrary, to show sinners that they cannot save themselves, no matter how many good works they might produce. Faith was given for the purpose of laying hold of Christ, Who can justify the ungodly. The proof of this is, "The just shall live by faith." I like another translation of this verse better, which reads, "He who is made righteous by faith, shall live."

    Verse 11 states that no man is justified by works. This excludes any who might think that they are exception to the rule. No matter who you are, no matter what you do, or claim, you cannot be justified by the works of the law. There has never lived a person in this world that was justified before God on the basis of obedience. If you were not a sinner there would be a possibility of gaining justification by law.

    2. The law was given to curse sinners, i. e., to give them the realization that they are under the curse and displeasure of God on the account of transgression. In verse 10 we read, "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them."
    What is the curse of the law? In answer to this I must agree with Matthew Henry in what he said: "Unless our obedience be universal, continuing in all things that are written in the book of the law, and unless it be perpetual too, we fall under the curse of the law. The curse is wrath revealed, and ruin threatened: it is a separation unto all evil, and this is in full force, power, and virtue, against all sinners, and therefore against all men; for all have sinned and become guilty before God: and if, as transgressors of the law, we are under the curse of it, it must be a vain thing to look for justification by it." The curse of the law is to bear the penalty of it: it is to bear God's displeasure, anger, and wrath. It is to stand judged by God NOW!

    Who is the curse of the law upon? Who must bear it? Our text says, "Cursed is every one that CONTINUETH NOT in ALL THINGS which are written in the book of the law to do them." If you have ever failed to keep any part of the law, you are under its curse. If you have committed the least of sins you are under its curse. It only takes one transgression to break the whole law, and fall under God's judgment. It takes only one sin to corrupt your whole system. I read where once a famous ruby was offered to England. The report of the crown jeweler was that it was the finest he had ever seen or heard of, but that one of its facets – one of the "little" cuttings of the face – was slightly fractured. The result was, that almost invisible flaw reduced its value by thousands of pounds, and it was rejected from the regalia of England. When Canova was about to commence his great statue of the great Napoleon, his keenly observant eye detected a tiny red line running through the upper portion of the splendid block, which at infinite cost had been fetched from Paros, and he refused to lay a chisel on it. During the Civil war one of the Federal warships had what seemed a merely superficial leakage, and though noticed, it was not thought necessary to countermand the order that she should take part in an approaching conflict. At the crisis of the encounter, it was found that the sea water had got oozing into the gunpowder magazine, and rendered nearly the whole useless. On that powder hung victory or defeat. The little leak went uncared for, and an inferior force won. It only takes a drop of ink to color a glass of water. From this I conclude that all are under the curse of the law, in that all have sinned!

    The curse is upon you now! You feel the evidence every day of God's displeasure. You continue to live in sin, and the results of sin keep finding you out. You drink deep of sin only to find the marks left just as deep. Your poverty, heartaches, loneliness, all witness to you that sin's curse is upon you. You drink to run from yourself, only to return home to find a heartbroken wife, and scared babies to add to your misery. The more you run, the more sin makes you captive. Just this week (March, 1956) I read in Look magazine of the awful condition in France. There even small children are alcoholics, suffering delirium tremens. The low moral condition of that country is finding her out.. But this isn't all – I wish it were. I wish that I could avoid such a message as this. Death will soon visit you. Death is the curse of a broken law. If there were no sin there would be no death. Your loved ones will gather to weep over your body. Some will care little about your going. Soon the undertaker shall lower you into the earth from the sight of the world, and dress the outside of your marble home with beauty, so that those who visit the grave side will not see the nakedness of death. All this proves that death is a curse, the result of sin. People don't want the remains of those who are loved best around after death. But your death will be the worst of all! You will die without Christ and go into eternity under the curse of the law. Soon you are dragged before the Lamb of God. He has no appeal to you, for now He is Judge, and not Saviour. Your record will he read. You will be branded as a lawbreaker. The woeful words of displeasure will fall from the lips that once spoke such words of grace and say, "Depart from me you worker of evil, I never knew you" Into the lake of fire you will be thrown, and over you will be written, "Cursed, cursed!" All through eternity these words will ring in your ears, "Cursed!, Cursed!"

    Why does sin deserve such a curse as this! I can do no better than answer in the words of that great old Puritan preacher, Thomas Boston. "The reason is, it is a kind of infinite evil; and, therefore, since the punishment is deservedly proportioned to the offence, it deserves infinite punishment. Sin is an infinite evil in two respects. 1. In respect that the guilt and defilement of it is never taken away, but endures for ever, unless the Lord Himself in mercy do remove it. 2. In respect it wronged an infinite God. The creature, being finite, is not capable of punishment infinite in value, therefore it is necessarily infinite in duration. There is a manifold wrong to God in the least sin. (1) It wrongs His infinite sovereignty (Jas. 2:10,11). (2) It wrongs His infinite goodness (Exo. 20:1, 2). (3) It wrongs His holiness (Hab. 1:13. (4) It breaks His law, the eternal rule of righteousness (I John 3:4)."

    3. The law was given to make sin sinful. In verse 19 we read, "Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions till the seed should come to whom the promise was made, and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a Mediator." Without the written moral law sin existed in the world as sin, but not as a transgression. From Adam to Moses sin was against the law of God as it was written in the heart of man, and was the deviation from the right course of moral behavior. But this did not reveal sin in its most awful character, i. e., a direct transgression against the revealed law of God. The word "transgression" means to overstep. The law shows to man that he has sinned directly against God by overstepping His commandments.

    The law of God is binding upon the whole human race. God expects all his creatures to live according to His holy standard. Failure to do so brings forth His displeasure, and puts you under the curse of the law. In that all have sinned and come short of God's glory all are under the curse of God. "By the law is the knowledge of sin" (Rom. 3:20); "Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound" (Rom. 5:20). The ministry of the law is not to save, but to show up sin in its true nature.

    4. The law was given to slay the sinner, and strip him of all excuses and self righteousness. "But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed." (vs. 23). The law becomes a jailer who puts us in prison under condemnation. Here we are shown that there is no escape from ourselves. We are stripped of all righteousness, and stand naked in the presence of God. Here we despair of self. If we are never killed by the law, we can never be made alive through the Lord Jesus Christ. We are shut up to the faith. That is, we are shut up to Christ, Who is the Author, Object, and Finisher of faith, for salvation. He is the only way out of the prison that the law has placed us in.

    "Law and grace are not in conflict, since they operate in different spheres. For instance, here is a father who has discovered that his son has disobeyed his commands, he calls the son's attention to the law which he broke, and pronounces him guilty. He uses this very sentence of guilty to bring the boy to see his misdemeanor in its true light. The son becomes repentant, and the father assures him of his forgiveness. The father is not in conflict with himself when using law to bring his son to a realization of the true nature of his disobedience, in order that he might repent and thus put himself in a position where the father can forgive him. God is not in conflict with Himself when He gives the law that man might come to see his sin as a transgression or violation of His holy will, which is the first step in his
act of repentance and faith, and which latter is answered by God with the gift of eternal life."– Wuest.

    "In reply to this question (what is the purpose of the law?), the apostle explains the great object of the law to be to prepare men for the reception of the gospel by awakening them to a consciousness of their sins and convince them of their need of the deliverance from guilt and condemnation, which the redemption of Christ affords. ... It is the office of the law to awaken in men the consciousness of sin, in order that they may feel the need of a Saviour; for such is the nature of sinful men, as even heathen writers have confessed, that they are provoked by just restraint, and are sure to covet what is forbidden." – Hovey

    After telling you the use, or the ministry of the law, I must insist upon you a question – How do you stand before God? Have you a garment of righteousness from His provision, or do you stand in your own filthy rags? You say, "I am doing the best I can." Your best will not do. If you are determined to disregard the satisfaction made by Christ, you must perform perfectly. There can be no flaws. You answer, "I am living up to the Ten Commandments." I fear that you are not. Let met test you and we shall see. Have you loved God supremely all the days of your life, yea, from the time of your birth till now? Are you sure that there has never been a time when anything of this world did not have your affections? If you have failed here you have broken the first table. Further let me ask, have you at all times loved your fellowman as your self? Do you put as much value upon the person next to you as you do on self? Have you always treated others as you would have them treat you? Have you lived without anger in your heart for your brother? Did you ever lust after a woman, or any object that you did not possess? An honest answer to these questions will reveal the evil in your heart, and strip you before God as a naked sinner. There is no hope for you outside of the grace of God. You must beseech Him for mercy, and turn away from your self-efforts for salvation. The law is your schoolmaster to bring you to Christ. After shutting you up to the fact that you are a sinner, and can never save yourself by the works of the law, the law turns you toward Christ that you might see that justification is by faith. This is given full evidence in

II. THE MINISTRY OF CHRIST.

"The law commands and makes us know
What duties to our God we owe;
But 'tis the gospel must reveal
Where lies our strength to do His will.

"The law discovers guilt and sin,
And shows how vile our hearts have been;
Only the gospel can express
Forgiving love and cleansing grace.

"What curses doth the law denounce
Against the man that sins but once!
But in the gospel Christ appears
Pardoning the guilt of numerous years.

"My soul, no more attempt to draw
Thy life and comfort from the law;
Fly to the hope the gospel gives,
The man that trusts the promise lives."

                                                   – Watts

1. The Nature of His Ministry.

    A. It is a work of redemption. In verse 13 we read, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." To redeem means to buy back that which is lost. In the eternal past God gave to Christ a people for His name's sake. In the fall Adam sold the race into slavery under sin and Satan. It was necessary that Christ come into the world and pay the price for our redemption. He did this by becoming a man, and stepping into our place. He was made sin, that we might be made righteous. God treated Him as He would have treated us in our sins, and now treats us as He treated Christ in favor. Christ took our place that we might take His place of favor before God. This is substitution, and is the greatest demonstration of Christ's love for us possible. Without this we could not be saved. It is said that Damon, a Grecian philosopher, was remarkable for his devotion to Pythias, his friend. Pythias having been condemned to death, obtained leave of absence to go home and settle his affairs, and Damon pledged himself to endure the punishment if his friend did not return. Pythias was absent at the time for the execution, but Damon was punctual, and ready to die for his friend, and the king was so pleased with the friendship of Damon that he pardoned him. In the 1920's, so I read, Gov. Warren McCray of Indiana was convicted by the Federal court on the account of financial misfortune at the close of World War I. Chase S. Osborne, Gov. of Michigan, wrote President Coolidge the following, ''If you will permit, I would like to go to Atlanta and take the place of McCray and serve out the balance of his sentence. I have no family and am use to more hardship than a prison entails, and appeal to you to let me stand in his stead." These are praiseworthy actions, but fall far short of what Christ did for the sinner on the cross. All week the words set to music by my good friend, Homer Hammontree, have been ringing in my ear:

"Shall I tell you what brought me to Jesus,
What caused me to seek His blessed Face?
It was this, that, to save and to cleanse me,
He just put Himself in my place.

O, He felt all my load in the garden,
My guilt He did carry to the tree;
I was lost, and condemned unto judgment,
But my Lord Himself died for me.

"Soon He's coming again from the glory –
The prophets of God on this agree;
And till then this to others I'm telling.
That for them He died as for me."

    May God give to many of you grace to see that deliverance is in Him. He is all that you need. O weary heart! Come to Him. Cast your burden upon Him. His redemption on Calvary's tree can set you free from sin! Trust Him, I beg you, trust Him!

    B. He became a curse for us. In verse 13 it is stated, "Being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.'' The word translated "for'' (made a curse "for" us) in this verse could be translated "above", which would give us a mental picture of what Christ actually did for us on the cross. The picture is this: Because of sin we had been cursed, and damned to die. Our heads were already on the block, but Christ threw Himself above to catch the death blow of the sword Himself. God's displeasure fell upon Him rather than us. In suffering our curse Christ experienced in a short while what you and I would have experienced throughout eternity. He suffered separation from God.. When He cried, "My God (Not my Father), why hast Thou forsaken Me?" He was undergoing separation from the Father that we would have known in hell. I believe that in that short three hours He went through an eternity of hell for all the elect. Dear one, this was done for sinners. You should have been the one on that cross, bearing the wrath of God. Christ was the sinless Son of God, who never did a wrong that deserved suffering. He suffered for us, that we might have the blessings of Abraham.

2. The Purpose of His Ministry.

    A. Christ died that we might be justified by faith. His death holds out hope to the despairing sinner. You see that you cannot be saved by the law, therefore you are shut up to faith. But there can be no justification by faith until the demands of the law are satisfied in the sinner's stead. This was done in the death of Christ. His death makes it possible to be counted righteous on the basis of faith. -- "Not that faith makes any the children of God, or puts them into such a relation; no, that is God's own act and deed; of his free rich grace and. goodness, God the Father has predestinated his chosen ones to the adoption of children, and has secured and laid up this blessing for them in the covenant of grace; Christ by redemption has made way for their reception and enjoyment of it; the Spirit of God, in consequence of their sonship, as a Spirit of adoption bears witness to it, AND FAITH RECEIVES IT and so such persons become evidently and manifestively the children of God by faith in Christ." Gill. Faith is the arm that receives Christ, and by this act we are counted righteous before God.

    To be justified is to be freed from the wrath of God, and our obligation to the law for righteousness. God no longer holds our sins against us. He sees us perfected in our Head, Christ Jesus. This gives the sinner assurance that the law can never again damn him. His record has been cleansed.

    B. Christ died that the Holy Spirit might come upon us as the Spirit of adoption. In verse 14 we read, "That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." There are two blessings in this verse that are ours by faith: one, the blessing of Abraham, or justification, the other is the Holy Spirit. There should be the word "and" between "Christ" and "that". Dr. Gill says, "Not as a Spirit of regeneration, conversion and faith for as such, he cannot be received by faith since, antecedent to his being so, there can be no faith; but rather as a Spirit of adoption, in respect to which he is said to be received, Rom. 8:15; and this blessing of adoption, as in consequence of redemption from under the law, its curse and condemnation."

    C. Christ died to bring us into full sonship. "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." (vs. 26). In regeneration we received the nature of sons, but in adoption we are given the position of sons. It is the latter that is meant here. God has adopted us by faith into his family, and has given us all the privileges of full grown sons. In 2 Samuel there is a beautiful story that illustrates our adoption. David had been chosen by God as king of Israel. Saul, who then was serving as king, was stirred up in anger and set out to destroy David. Finally, Saul was removed, and David was set up as king. Jonathan, the son of Saul, and a sworn friend of David's had a son that was lame in his feet. His name was Mephibosheth. David sent for him that he might do him good. When he was brought before the king he spoke of himself as a dog, that deserved nothing good. David promised to restore all the land of Saul to him, and gave him a place at the king's table that he might feast there the rest of his days. David treated him as a son, though he was the son of a one time enemy. This is an illustration of God's mercy. You were the captive and son of Satan, God's great enemy. You were lame in both feet, and unable to come to God for help. You were nothing more than a dog. Yet God sent His son to die that He might demonstrate His love and show mercy to you. If you will come before Him as a dog, realizing that you deserve hell, He will take you into His family as His son and prepare a place at His table for you. This position is for you by faith. Why don't you reach forth and claim it as your own? God is drawing you now. I can see the expression of conviction on your face. Now that you see yourself as the chief of sinners believe in the Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

    In verse 27 is given your response now that your faith is in Christ. We read "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." You must confess Christ publicly. He demands it, and you cannot be happy until you have obeyed. This verse does not mesh that baptism saves you. It simply means that by this act you put on the Christian uniform. You make a public stand before the world for Christ. Putting on an army uniform, does not make a soldier. He must be sworn in first. Baptism will do you no good unless you have first been brought to faith in Christ. But after you have trusted Him you should follow Him in believer's baptism. It is by baptism you enter into New Testament church membership. It is in baptism that you tell the world that you have died to sin and have been resurrected into newness of life. May you obey the Spirit's call now! You must come! Today is the day of salvation! 
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