Lies of our fathers by Jeff Rostocil

Torah Apologetics for countering the Law is done away

doctrine!

GALATIANS 3:6-14
Truth #32 Christ liberated us from the curse
of the law, not the law itself!!!!
This chapter makes it clear that we have been
lied to about the context of these verses. We
have been freed from the punishment of the law
through Christ Jesus to walk as a new man in the
fathers instructions just as Jesus did! Do you
have to eyes to see and ears to hear this truth?
 GALATIANS 3:6-14
"Just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it
was accounted to him for righteousness.’
Therefore know that only those who are
of faith are Sons of Abraham. And the
Scripture, foreseeing that God would
justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the
gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying,
‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’
So then those who are of faith are
blessed with believing Abraham.

-Galatians 3:6-9
 GALATIANS 3:6-14

Using Abraham as an example, Paul assures the Galatians that a

person is justified by faith alone. As a Gentile, it was Abraham’s
faith, not his circumcision, that gave him right standing with God
and secured the blessings of the covenant. As the first Hebrew,
there was no Jewish advantage to speak of.
Just as Abraham was justified through faith, so are those who are
of faith" (v.7,9). The true offspring of Abraham come not through
status conversion or Hebrew ethnicity but through faith in Jesus
Christ.
GALATIANS 3:6-14
A son of Abraham or ben Avraham was a common term used for a
Gentile that underwent a legal conversion to Judaism. A ben Avraham
was viewed as a child of the covenant.
Seeing the obvious correlation, Paul seizes upon this Definition and,
distinguishes how one becomes a ben Avraham in God's eyes.
Whether Jew or Gentile, those who trust God for their justification as
Abraham did, are legitimate sons of Abraham and true sons of God.
In this way, Abraham is the father of those who possess his spiritual
DNA more than his physical DNA.
GALATIANS 3:6-14
Faith vs. Flesh
The phrase “those who are of faith” is
worth mentioning. The tussle is not
between those who are of faith' and
"those who are of Torah. It is with those
who are of faith and those who are of
flesh. Paul reiterates that flesh, not
Torah, is the opposite of faith. Since the
law had not been codified in Abraham’s
day, Paul likely is not breaching the topic
of Torah legalism here.
GALATIANS 3:6-14

“For as many as are of the works of the law are

under the curse; for it is written, Cursed is
everyone who does not continue in all things
which are written in the book of the law, to do
them.” - Galatians 3:10
GALATIANS 3:6-14
Emphasis can be found on the word written as it appears twice in
this verse. Paul places it in contrast to the unwritten rules of the
works of law. The troublers strayed from what was written by God
and were guilty of championing what was esteemed by man. Paul's
message for these men and their followers is that their works of the
law could not redeem them from the curse of the law. Notice that
the curse of the law does not apply to everyone. It applies only to
those who are of the works of the law (v.10). Since the works of the
law cannot atone for sin, those who rely on them are still under the
curse of the law.
GALATIANS 3:6-14

Paul's doctrine is that those who rely on Jewish and rabbinic

regulations are not of faith. They still bear the weight of their sin
under the curse of the law. Gentiles faithlessly submitting to
institutional rules were liable to the full weight and punishment
of sin spelled out in Torah. Paul wants those seeking the
blessing of Jewish identity to consider the consequences that
come with that pursuit. While they might receive certain
blessings that come upon the nation of Israel, they would
equally receive all the curses as well.
GALATIANS 3:6-14
If Paul truly believed that following the Torah
places one under a curse, then he cursed
himself when he sacrificed in the Temple
(Acts 21) and encouraged the Corinthians to
celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. (1
Corinthians 5:8). Was Paul living and
ministering under the curse of the law?
According to the antinomian definition of the
phrase, he was. We know better. Keeping
God's commands is never a curse, and
forsaking his commands is not how the curse
is broken.
GALATIANS 3:6-14
"But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is
evident, for `the just shall live by faith. Yet the law is not of `faith,
but the man who does them shall live by them.
- Galatians 3:11-12

"The law is not of faith," indicates that the Torah is not

redemptive. The law justifies no one. It is not of faith, because it
requires no faith to obey it. Yet without faith, it is impossible to
keep all the laws of the Torah perfectly.
GALATIANS 3:6-14
But Jesus Christ fully obeyed the laws of the Torah. He is the Man
who did them and lived by them. Only through him can we live out the
commands of the Torah properly.
No one is made right before God through Torah observation, but it is
going beyond the text to say that the Torah cannot guide the behavior
of an individual or society. Paul cites not one but two proof texts to
state that he who obeys the Torah is a righteous man who lives by
faith. Faith evidenced by actions - this is the Biblical picture of godly
behavior. The troublers somehow squeezed faith out of the equation.
GALATIANS 3:6-14
In defiance, Paul saw that those teaching that righteousness came
by Jewish identity and faithless Torah compliance were still under
the curse of the law. He uses the law to validate his point, which
means, of course, that he cannot be disparaging the Torah. If he
wanted to invalidate the Torah, it would be irrational to quote the
Torah to validate his invalidation.
The apostle quotes the Torah authoritatively five times in a span of
nine verses. This is hardly the practice of someone seeking to
undermine the law and liberate Gentiles from it.
GALATIANS 3:6-14
Christ has redeemed Us from the
curse of the law, having become a
curse for US (for it is written,
'Cursed is everyone who hangs On
a tree ), that the blessing of
`Abraham might come upon the
Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we
might receive the promise of the
Spirit through faith.
- Galatians 3:13-14
GALATIANS 3:6-14
Ironically, some teach that anyone attempting to obey the
Torah is accursed. This is a misreading of Paul. Even
though followers of Christ are imperfect in following all of
the Torah, they are not under the curse of the law. Those in
Christ have been redeemed. Unlike those still under the old
covenant, they are not condemned for failing to perfectly
keep all that is written in the law. So, it is not believers but
unbelievers who find themselves under the law's harsh
penalty for sin.
GALATIANS 3:6-14
Conclusion
Do not make the mistake of equating the Torah with the curse of
the law. The curse of the law is not the law. It is from the curse
of the law, not the law, that we have been freed. The fact that
we have been redeemed from the curse does not excuse us
from our obligation to the Torah. It simply means that (1) we are
not condemned for failing to obey the law flawlessly, and (2)
God will not count our transgressions against us.