So let's continue:
Galatians*3:9*So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. 10 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.
Because of a misunderstanding of the book of Galatians, there are a lot of people who believe that anyone attempting to obey Yahweh's commandments are "under a curse." But if this was true, we would be cursed every time we tried to honor our parents. We would be cursed for refraining from adultery or even choosing to worship Yahweh alone. But the truth is that we are no more cursed for doing those things than we would be if we kept the Sabbath. So what does verse 10 actually mean?*
We see that he is comparing those "which be of faith" and those which are "of the works of the law". In this is the contrast of the two versions of the "Good news," the 'good news of the circumcision' and the True Good News. The 'good news of the circumcision' says that we do not receive salvation through faith in Yahushua alone, but we receive salvation when learning/keeping the Torah and are circumcised.*
As we said earlier,*if we require Torah obedience as a prerequisite to salvation, none of us would be found faultless before the throne of Yahweh on the day of judgment. We would be relying on the Adam man (self) and his abilities in the flesh to obey the Torah rather than trusting in what Yahushua has already done for us. Anyone attempting to trust in the Adam man for their righteousness are "of the works of the law" and are under a curse because the Torah itself says "cursed is everyone" who has not done the things which were written in the Torah/law! Since none of us has done them, none of us will receive salvation by them. Anyone attempting to be declared righteous (justified) by them will find themselves condemned.*
Sadly though, today many think that we are under a curse if we seek to obey them. But this is not what it says. Paul is quoting from Deuteronomy 27:26 where it says:
Deuteronomy 27:26* Cursed*be*he that confirmeth not*all*the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.
Does this scripture say that those who do them are under a curse? Certainly not. It is saying those who DO NOT do them are under a curse! Paul is not saying that we should not do them. Paul is saying that no one should submit to the false 'good news of the circumcision' which actually places a person under a curse by trying to insert the works of the 'Adam man' into Yahweh's plan for salvation. Anyone seeking to be justified (declared righteous) by the law is going to be condemned because they haven't kept the law--thus, they are cursed and not blessed with believing Abraham. So Paul says:
Galatians*3:9-11*So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. 10 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. 11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of Yahweh,*it is*evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
No one is justified by the law because the law doesn't declare us righteous. It declares us to be unrighteous. Therefore, the "just" (one who is declared righteous) must live (have eternal life) by faith that Yahweh has mercy and will forgive our sins. Let's look at the scripture quoted here:
Habakkuk 2:4*Behold, his soul*which*is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
One cannot live or be justified by trusting in his own righteousness. This scripture says*"his soul*which*is lifted up is not upright in him."*To claim that we have our own righteousness is to be prideful. Here is how the New King James version translates this:
Habakkuk 2:4*(NKJV) "Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.
So just because a person claims to be "upright" does not mean he is. We cannot be justified before Yahweh by our claims of righteousness because all men have sinned at some point in their life. We are left with no choice but to "live" (have eternal life) by faith!* We must come to Yahweh and trust in Him to forgive us of our sins and make us righteous through Yahushua the Messiah if we expect to have any hope whatsoever. Any other claim to righteousness is pure pride! The 'good news of the circumcision' minimized the sufficiency of our righteousness in Yahushua.*
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Galatians*3:11-12*But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of Yahweh,*it is*evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.
This is once again a quote from the law. Let's examine it:
Leviticus 18:5*Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall*live*in them: I*am*Yahweh
If a man has done the law, he will certainly LIVE and have eternal life. This man would be justified by the law. But NO MAN has ever done this except Yahushua the Messiah. Therefore no man can LIVE or have salvation because they kept them. We all must rely on Yahushua!*We cannot rely on our own obedience to the law to save us.
Galatians*3:13*The Messiah 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:
Is the law a curse? Some would love to quote this verse to you to tell you that. But as we learned earlier, it isn't those who KEEP the law that are under the curse, but those who have BROKEN it. Yahushua redeemed us from the curse that came when we disobeyed the law, For He was cursed for us by being hung on the tree.
Deuteronomy 21:22*And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: 23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged*isaccursed of Elohim
that thy land be not defiled, which the Yahweh thy Elohim giveth thee*for*an inheritance.
Yahushua was hanged on a tree, yet He committed no sins. It was for our iniquities and our transgressions that He was put to death, just as the prophets foretold:
Isaiah 53:5-6*But he*was*wounded for our transgressions,*he wasbruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace*wasupon him; and with his stripes we are healed.*6*All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and Yahweh hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
We have committed sins (transgressions of the law, 1 John 3:4) that are worthy of death (the wages of sin IS death, Rom 6:23). Yahushua has redeemed us from this curse by becoming a curse for us when Yahweh laid on Him the iniquity of us all. So for anyone to claim that they have salvation because they have done the law, they cannot be speaking the truth. None of us has done them, so none of us will live (have eternal life) by them. Anyone saying that you aren't saved unless you are first circumcised and keep the law is seeking salvation by their own works and are under a curse. Such a one has not submitted to the truth that Yahushua's righteousness is sufficient to bring a sinner the cleansing he needs to be a child of Abraham:
Galatians 3:13*The Messiah 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: 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Yahushua the Messiah; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
We see this promise fulfilled when we saw how the Gentiles received the Spirit in Acts 10. So now the blessing of Abraham (eternal life in the promised land) would also come to the Gentiles when they receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. The Spirit of Yahweh was poured out on the Gentiles when He purified their hearts by faith in Acts 10 and other scriptures, proving that He had accepted them in their uncircumcised state when they believed in Yahushua. For Jews to refuse fellowship with Gentiles (Galatians 2, Acts 11, 15) until they were circumcised and kept the law was hypocritical, was a misrepresentation of the true good news, and denied the power of Yahushua's blood as being sufficient to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.*
Next Paul begins to explain how the good news was preached to Abraham in the Genesis 12 & 22 promises, and how that applies to us today as well:
Galatians 3:15*Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Thoughit be*but a man's covenant, yet*if it be*confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.
Even in covenants of men, no one can take away or add to that covenant. Therefore the same is true of Yahweh's covenants.
Galatians 3:16*Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And*to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is the Messiah.
Notice carefully that Paul makes an important point regarding Genesis 22. Yahweh did NOT mean "To seeds" (all descendants of Abraham) but rather "To his SEED" (Yahushua the Messiah). Thus, the promise is made to two people: Abraham and Yahushua. For "He saith not, And*to seeds, as of many".*
Not everyone is going to inherit the land promised to Abraham. The wicked among the literal children of Israel will not inherit it. The wicked among the Gentiles will not inherit it. Only the righteous will inherit the land. In order for one to be righteous, they need to be a part of the body of Messiah, the "Seed" to whom the promises are made. Thus, Yahweh said to Abraham:*
Genesis 12:3*And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and*in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Genesis 22:18*And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
So Yahweh also promised to Abraham and to the Messiah that through them*all the nations and families of the earth*(Yes, Gentiles!) would be blessed.through Abraham and through his Seed, the Messiah. That blessing is eternal life in the promised land. Thus, the following promise in Genesis is fulfilled in Him:
Genesis 3:15*And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
We know that Yahushua bruised the head of the serpent, but not without a wound Himself. Yahweh chose to bring this Seed (the Messiah) through a son of Abraham, then later narrowed it down to a son of David, then through Mary, the prophetic woman who brought forth the Seed that would destroy the work of the enemy--namely, sin and death.*
1 John 3:8*He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of Elohim was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
Let's continue in Galatians 3:
Galatians 3:16-17*Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Messiah.*17*And this I say,*that*the covenant, that was confirmed before of Elohim in Messiah, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.
Now here is where it can get very confusing if we did not understand the previous points and the context in which they were given. The 'good news of the circumcision' sought to involve the necessity of circumcision and Torah/law keeping as a prerequisite to receiving salvation (forgiveness of sin and eternal life in the promised land) and being accepted into full fellowship. But Paul is making the point that there is nothing written later on in the Torah that can disannul the promise given to Abraham and to His seed. If we are in Yahushua, we have everything we need! The additional requirements which the 'good news of the circumcision' sought to involve were attempts to disannul the Abrahamic covenant or add to it. So Paul said:
Galatians 3:18*For if the inheritance*be*of the law,*it is*no more of promise: but Elohim gave*it*to Abraham by promise.
So if the inheritance (eternal life in the promised land) comes from Yahweh's law then it is no longer a promise but something conditional upon our own perfection. If it were conditional upon our own ability to obey the Torah, none of us would make it. Therefore, we need the promise. It is this promise to Abraham and to his Seed (Yahushua) which is actually the "Good news" that we need. It is that "Good News" that was preached to Abraham:
Galatians*3:8-9*And the scripture, foreseeing that Yahweh would justify the heathen through faith,*preached before the gospel unto Abraham, [saying], In thee shall all nations be blessed.*9*So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.*
We need to be as faithful Abraham who believed the "good news" and we need to be the Seed of Abraham (Messiah) in order to be blessed with the inheritance. It is no longer we who live, it is Yahushua the Seed of Abraham who lives in us. This is the simple plan of salvation that Yahweh first mentioned in Genesis 3:15 right after the first sin was committed, further revealed by Yahweh's promise to Abraham and to his Seed, and even further revealed by the righteousness found in the Torah, Yahweh's promise to David, and the words of the prophets.*
So where does the law of Yahweh actually fit in all of this? Paul was glad we asked...*
Galatians 3:19*Wherefore then*serveth*the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made;*and it wasordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
Now if we hadn't paid any attention to the previous verses, we might get the impression that the law was just a temporary thing until Yahushua came. But since we have been going over this very carefully, we will understand what is truly meant here in verse 19.
Firstly, notice that it says that the law was added 'because of transgressions.' It needed to be established that Yahweh has a righteous standard that He wants everyone to live by. If Yahweh had not given the Torah/law, there would have been no transgression from which one needed to be redeemed through Yahushua the Messiah:*
Romans 4:15b*for where no law is,*there is*no transgression.
Now notice that it says that it was added..."till the seed should come to whom the promise was made." But to whom was the promise made? We know the answer:
Galatians 3:16*Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Messiah.
The promise was made to Abraham*and to the Messiah Yahushua, his Seed.*
But how is it that Seed should come to Abraham and Himself? Oh but this is the beauty of the good news! We ARE the body of the Messiah. It is no longer we who live but Messiah who lives in us. The day will come when Yahushua will return to gather each of us (His body) together with Abraham and at that time we will have no need of the Torah because we will no longer have sin within us.*
1 Timothy 1:9-10*Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,*10*For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;
