Well, good morning. I would invite you to turn with me in your Bibles to Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3. If I seem a little bit tired this morning, it's only because I'm still recovering from a weekend, a good weekend with our young people. I think some of you are probably still tired from the activities of the weekend as well. You know, paintball and volleyball and Bible study, it was a good weekend. So thank you for your prayers for us. But if I seem a little slow this morning, it's because I'm still recovering and I don't recover as fast as our young people do. I need a little bit more time than they do. Our text today is going to be Galatians 3, verses 10-14. Before we jump into the text this morning, I just want to remind you of what we looked at together last Lord's Day. Last Lord's Day, as you know, we considered Galatians 3, verses 6-9. We focused in especially on the patriarch, Abraham. We saw that God saved Abraham through faith in the coming Messiah. We asked the question, Who was Abraham's faith then? Was it in Christ, or was it in someone else? Of course, it was in Christ. Whose righteousness did Abraham receive? Through faith, it was Christ's righteousness. Abraham has the same Messiah as we have, the Lord Jesus Christ. And thus, everyone who believes in Christ, the Apostle Paul calls a true son of Abraham. And so Galatians 3, 10 through 14 is the continuation of Paul's treaties on covenant theology. Paul shows us the contrast between the old covenant and the new covenant, between the law and between the gospel. So we need to see this contrast. We need to see this very clear distinction that the apostle Paul makes between the old and the new covenant, between the law and the gospel. And interestingly enough, in these five verses that we're going to look at today, Paul quotes the Old Testament four times, showing us, as Augustine once wrote, the New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed. The Old is in the New revealed. And indeed, that is true. That is a good principle of interpretation to hold on to. We need to understand that this is indeed true. The New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed. The old is in the new revealed. So let's consider these things together. Today, by looking at Galatians chapter three, I'll read verses 10 through 14. So let's begin with Galatians three and verse 10. The apostle writes, for as many as of our the works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law to perform them. Now 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 a faith, on the contrary, he who practices them shall live by them. Christ 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. In order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God shall stand forever. Amen. I wonder if you've ever been to the doctor and heard these terrifying words, I have some bad news for you. Have you ever heard those words before? You know your own reaction immediately, your heart begins to beat faster when the doctor speaks those words to you. Because you don't know what's coming next. You don't know what he's going to say to you. So you are anticipating with terror and with fear what he might say next. So the doctor says to you, you have cancer. And it's a terminal diagnosis. So after a moment of silence, you ask, what kind of cancer is it? Is there any treatment? assures you that it's terminal, that there is no treatment available, there are no options for you to help you recover. Well, in Galatians chapter 3, verses 10 through 14, Paul is our apostolic physician. He is our apostolic physician and he is giving us the bad news, as a doctor sometimes has to give his patients bad news. Here's the bad news that the apostle delivers to us. In Galatians 3, 10-14, he tells us this. He tells us that we are cursed with a terrible disease. He's the doctor who enters into the room, and he says, I have bad news for you. You have a disease. You have a problem. You are cursed. Even now, you are living in the valley of the shadow of death. You have an ailment that will ultimately kill you if you are not cured. But unlike your earthly doctor, who sometimes cannot provide a cure, who sometimes cannot help you, the apostle comes with a cure, and he comes with good news. Even though you have a disease that has taken over both body and soul, there is a cure. There is help for you in your weakness. There is a remedy, a remedy for total restoration and healing. See, the curse of the law is death. And the cure for that curse is faith in Christ, who redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. Curse of the law is death. This is our problem. We are sinners and we are in need of a savior. And so as a result of our sin, the curse of the law upon us is death. This is what We have earned for ourselves, this is the only thing that we have ever earned for ourselves, it is death. And there is only one cure for this curse, it is the curse of God, it is faith in Christ. If we will be redeemed from this curse, we must look to the Savior who redeemed us from the curse of the law by taking the curse of God upon himself, by burying the wrath of God in his own body on the tree. So we must look to Christ. And so today we will consider these things in Galatians 3, 10 through 14. The curse, the cure, and the Christ. A bit of alliteration for us today. I'd like you to consider with me in the first place this morning the curse of the law, verse 10. And so notice with me verse 10, once again. Paul writes, for as many as are, excuse me, for as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse, abide by all things written in the book of the law to perform them. What is Paul saying here? The first part of verse 10, we are told that as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse. The language is clear in other English translations. In fact, I much prefer the way that the ESV translates it. I'm reading to you out of the NASB. I know many of you have the New American Standard translation, but I think ESV gets it right in translating the Greek this way, especially verse 10a, for all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse. That's what Paul is communicating. I wonder, are you in this spiritual situation? Are you relying upon the works of the law for your justification? Are you relying upon your own works to justify you before God? What does Paul say here? He says, if this is you, if this is what you are trying to do, you are actually under a curse. You are actually under the curse of God. You are under God's wrath. You're trusting in your own righteousness for acceptance with God. Dear friend, this endeavor is vanity. It's vanity. You are not good, and you can never be good enough. The scripture says that your self-reliance is a vain effort. If you are depending upon your own goodness to get you to heaven, you are at this very moment under the wrath and curse of God. This is so many people in our world, isn't it? So many people think that they will get to heaven by their own good works, by their own merits. But none of us are good. None of us are righteous, as Paul teaches, not even one. We have no good works to offer. to a holy God. And we know this by the standard and by the measurement of God's own law. Just think with me about God's commandments. God has given us many commandments, many laws, many statutes in his word. Think of the Ten Commandments for a moment. Think of the moral law. Think of the Decalogue. Have you kept all of those laws in your life? Are you like the rich young ruler? Do you remember what the rich young ruler said? As he came into the presence of the Savior, pridefully he said, I have kept all of these things since my youth. Do you think that you are that person? Do you think that you have kept the law of God since your youth? Paul says that all who are under the law, all who are relying upon the works of the law for their justification are under a curse, under the wrath of God. Do you measure up to the standard of God's law? Have you always loved the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength? Have you always and only loved your neighbor as yourself? Which one of us in this room can claim that we are that good, that we are that just, that we are that whole? The obvious answer to all of these questions is no. Not one of us has, even for a day, fully and completely and righteously abided by God's law. We have all fallen short of the glory of God. And so Paul's statement here is a comprehensive one. It takes in all of humanity. It takes in all of mankind. This is the condition that we are all born in. We are all born under the law. of the works of the law, and we are therefore all under a curse. Even before we come out of our mother's womb, even at the point of conception, we are sinners and we are guilty of God and his judgment. No one is righteous, not even one. I want you to think with me for a second about the game of golf. I know that a few of you have played some rounds of golf in your life. In the game of golf, sometimes you get what's called a mulligan. If you've heard that word before, it's a golf word. If you haven't heard it, it's OK. It's peculiar to this game. And a mulligan is where you get to retake a bad shot. But there are no mulligans under the law of God. There are no redos. You don't get to retake any shots. You don't get the occasional free pass from the law of God. God's holy standard is higher than you can attain. It's a standard that's meant to prove that to you. It's a standard that's meant to show you your sinfulness, your unrighteousness, your unholiness, so that you will put no confidence in yourself. As Paul tells us in this very letter, as Paul tells us in the book of Galatians, the law is what? It's a tutor to lead us to Christ. The law What does the law do for us? The law sends us to Christ by showing us our need of Christ. It shows us who we really are. The law is a mirror for us. When we look in the mirror, what do we see? We see a sinner. We see ourselves for who we truly are. So this is what God's law is meant to do for us. And what is God's law? But a reflection of God's own holy character. You see, as we consider the law, as we consider God's commandments and his statutes, it tells us something about who he is. The law sends us back to God himself. The law is holy because God himself is holy. These are his commandments. This is his word. It's a reflection of his holy character. And in order to enter into God's presence, you must be made holy. Friends, there is no other way to come into the presence of God. We learn here in Galatians 3 and verse 10 about the consequence of disobedience to the law of God. I've already mentioned it to you. It is the curse of God. And to prove his point, if you'll notice in the text, Paul cites the Old Testament scripture in Galatians 3.10. Notice the words that have been capitalized. Paul is citing Deuteronomy chapter 27 and verse 26. He's citing the Old Testament scripture to prove his point Here's what Deuteronomy 27 verse 26 says. Cursed is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them and all the people shall say Amen. Commentator says this and reflecting on Deuteronomy 27 verse 26 and being required to say Amen to the denunciation of a curse on every act of disobedience. the Israelites pronounced a sentence of condemnation on themselves and disclaimed all hope of justification by their own obedience and thus shut themselves up to the faith. What Paul doesn't record is the last part of Deuteronomy 27 and verse 26, and all the people shall say amen. See, that denunciation, that corporate amen that Israel was called upon to give was a pronouncement. It was a sentence of condemnation upon themselves. If we do not obey this law, then we are cursed, and everybody was supposed to say amen. It was to be a recognition of what Paul is teaching here, that none of us can abide by the law of God. We must believe in the Messiah. We must believe in Christ for salvation. There is no other way. There is no other hope for us. In the following verses in Deuteronomy 27, at least the one that Paul cites here in Galatians 3.10, we are told what will happen to Israel for her disobedience, for her law breaking, for her continual transgressions. What will follow? Destruction, famine, barrenness, pestilence, heat, boils. These are all of the consequences of breaking the law of God, of violating God's holy standard. And this is all of the Old Covenant, isn't it? What does the Old Covenant say to us? The Old Covenant says, do this and live. The Old Covenant says to you, if you want to live, if you want to be blessed in God's land, if you want to be blessed in the land of Canaan, you must obey my law and you must obey it perfectly. Not sometimes, not partially, you must give a perfect obedience. Was there anyone in Israel, was there anyone under the Old Covenant that was able to give that kind of obedience? That was able to uphold that high and holy standard? There was not one person in Israel. The Old Covenant says, do this and live, and the implication of that is disobey and die. Are you attempting to do this and live? If you are attempting to do this and live, then you do not understand yourself, and you do not understand the law of God, and you do not understand who God is. God's holy standard is too high for you to attain. Are you attempting to live by the works of the law? If so, the Bible says that you are under the curse of God, and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. So Paul's point here in bringing the law to bear upon us is so that we might feel the weight of the law upon our conscience, that we might see and understand our inability before a holy God, that we might understand something about who we are, that we have no hope apart from Christ. We have no hope apart from God's Messiah. What does the law do for us? It shows us our sin. shows us our need of Christ so that we might run to him, that we might flee to him in light of our sin, in light of our inability. So this is what the apostle is saying. This is what he is telling us is our disease, the curse of the law. I'd like you to consider with me now in the second place, the cure of faith, verses 11 and 12, the cure of faith. Notice with the verse 11. Paul writes these words. Now that no one is justified by the law before God is evidence for the righteous man shall live by faith. Paul writes that no one is justified by the law of God. And he says that this is a self-evident truth. He says, this is evident. This is obvious. This is something that everybody should know. Every man has the work of the law written upon his heart. And so let me speak to you directly. Each of you in this room today knows that you are a sinner and that you sin every day. This is evidence. God has written his very law upon your heart because you are an image bearer of God. You have a creator who has made you, and he has imprinted his moral law upon your heart, even from the moment of conception. You may view yourself as a good person relative to other image-bearers, relative to other people, but your self-perception and your self-assessment is totally irrelevant. You see, it doesn't really matter how you assess yourself, how you think of yourself. And isn't that counter-cultural? We live in a day in which everybody is concerned about self-perception, about self-image. The world says to you today, what's most important is really just how you view yourself. That is that is so wrong. In fact, it couldn't be more wrong. What's most important is how God views you. What's most important is not your assessment of yourself. What's most important is God's assessment of you. Because you ever stand, you ever live before the face of your creator, you cannot escape that. The only thing that matters is God's assessment of you, and God says, But apart from his Son, you are not good, and there is no goodness in you." Now, so far, our apostolic physician here, as we think back upon that physician or doctor analogy, so far, our apostolic physician has only given us bad news. All you've heard so far from me, by way of the Apostle Paul, is bad news, but there's good news. He gives us the good news beginning in the second half of verse eleven. He says to us, there's a cure for our disease. There's a remedy to our problem. Notice what he says in verse eleven. He says, the righteous man shall live by faith. Before he says these words, what were we? We were dead men. We were lost in our trespasses and sins, but now he says, the righteous man shall live by faith. In other words, the man who is justified by faith in Christ shall live forever in the presence of God. That's what Paul is saying. That's the Pastor Matt translation, the Pastor Matt edition. The man who is justified by faith in Christ shall live forever in the presence of God. And Paul again cites the Old Testament scripture. He cites Habakkuk 2 and verse 4. And Habakkuk 2.4 is also quoted in Romans 1.17. It's quoted in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 38. This is an important part of the Old Testament. When we see Old Testament passages show up more than once with frequency like this passage does in the New Testament, it should tell us that it's a very important passage. It's a passage in the Old Testament that our eye needs to be drawn to, that we need to understand carefully and clearly. So I want you to turn over with me for a moment to Habakkuk chapter two and verse four, Habakkuk chapter two and verse four. For those of you who have been with the church for a while, you might remember that I actually preach through this book. It's been about eight or nine years. I had to go back and look at my notes, and as I was looking at the time stamp on my notes, I thought, well, it's been a long time since I've preached through the book of Habakkuk. We did work through this book together as a congregation. Habakkuk chapter two and verse four. The prophet writes this. Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him, but the righteous will live by his faith. Righteous man is here contrasted, excuse me, the self-righteous man is here contrasted with the righteous man. Notice the contrast that's taking place from the first part of verse four to the second part of verse four. And the contrast is quite striking. Those who are prideful do not have a right standing with God. And so again, I would ask you to ask yourself this question. Are you pridefully depending upon your own works to get you to heaven? As for the proud one, his soul is not right within him. If you are one of these proud ones that Habakkuk is talking about, your soul is not right within you. You do not have a right standing before holy God. The self-righteous man will only perish under the wrath and curse of God. But he says the righteous man, the righteous man will live by faith. We must be careful to not misunderstand what Paul is saying here. Or how Paul is using this citation from the Old Testament. Paul is not teaching, in his citation of Habakkuk 2.4, Paul is not teaching that man has to be righteous in order to put his faith in God. That would be a grievous misunderstanding of what the apostle is teaching us here. Rather, the apostle is teaching that God makes man righteous through the gift of faith, resulting in eternal life. We must understand the order of things. This text is often misinterpreted. And all we have to do is go back to Abraham and think about how Abraham came to faith. Abraham did not gain spiritual life by his own righteousness. He gained spiritual life through faith in Christ. And what is faith but the gift of God? Faith is the gift of God through which instrumentally by which God imputes the righteousness of Jesus Christ to a sinner, so that that sinner is counted as righteous, so that that sinner is counted as having the very righteousness of Jesus Christ, and then at that moment, God declares that sinner to be just or justified. Abraham did not gain spiritual life by his own righteousness. He gained spiritual life through faith in Christ. And like Abraham, you must believe in Christ. This is the only way that you can be justified. You must receive and rest upon Christ's righteousness alone. As Paul tells us here in Galatians 3.11, the righteous man shall live by faith. I'd like you to turn back with me now to Galatians 3.12. Let's turn back to Galatians 3. Paul continues on with his argument here in Galatians 3, picking up with verse 12. He says, however, the law is not of faith. On the contrary, he who practices them shall live by them. Now we are told that the law is not of faith. And here, faith is being used as shorthand for the gospel. We have a clear contrast here between the law and the gospel. What is Paul saying? Paul is saying this to us. The gospel is not the law, and the law is not the gospel. The law and the gospel are always to be distinguished, but they are never to be separated. As Spurgeon writes, what does the law demand of us? The law demands doing. The gospel enjoins believing. What does the law require of you? The law requires that you do the law. What does the gospel require of you? That you simply believe. Do you see the difference between the law and the gospel? The law says, do this and live. The gospel says, come to Christ and live. There is nothing that you need to do because there are no good works that you can offer to God. The law demands doing, the gospel enjoins believing. So we must distinguish between the law and the gospel, but we must never separate them. You can't have one without the other. You can't have the good news without the bad news. In verse 12, Paul summarizes Leviticus chapter 18 and verse 5. He doesn't give a direct quotation, a direct citation of the Old Testament, but he summarizes it. Leviticus 18 and verse 5 says this, you don't need to turn there, but just listen to the word of God. So you shall keep my statutes and my judgments, by which a man may live, if he does them, I am the Lord. You shall keep my statutes and my judgments, by which a man, if he does them, shall live. What was the condition of the law? Do this and live. If you abide by my commandments, if you abide by my law, you will live in my land. You will be blessed by me. God says, I am the Lord. In order for Israel to receive God's blessing, they had to keep God's commandments. Israel's general corporate obedience was required for God's blessing in the land. It was required for them to be protected from their enemies who were around them. There's also an individual and typological application here in Leviticus chapter 18 and verse 5. And this is what Paul is focused on. In his citation of Leviticus 18 and verse 5 in Galatians 3 and verse 12. Again, notice the citation here. Paul writes, he who practices them, that is God's laws, shall live by them. You have to understand this, dear friend, that if you object to faith in Christ, then you have to live a perfect life before God. If you are currently living in rebellion against God and His holy law, God says, if you're going to rebel against me, if you are going to attempt to live by the works of the law, then you have to live a perfect life. You can't sin even once, not in your heart and not in any of your external actions. You have to keep my word every day. And to fail in one point of the law is to fail in the whole law. This is the clear teaching of scripture. Turn over with me to Galatians chapter five and verse three. I'm gonna stay in the book of Galatians, but Galatians five and verse three. Notice what Paul writes here, and he's demonstrating the point that I just articulated. Paul says in Galatians five and verse three, and again I testify to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole law. The one who bound himself to circumcision in the first century. Remember what controversy Paul is dealing with here. He's dealing with the controversy of the Judaizers. Judaizers said, in order to be a part of the church, you must be circumcised and believe. And Paul refuted that error. It was contrary to the gospel. It was a workspace salvation. And so Paul says, again, I testify to you that every man who receives circumcision, every man who thinks that he must and can live by the law, he is under obligation to keep the whole law. You have to give a perfect obedience to God. It's not just one law or a few laws. It's all of God's law. The entirety of God's law. James 2 in verse 10 says this, for whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, in one point, has become guilty of all. Let's just throw out a hypothetical here for a moment. Let's say that you were the most moral of everyone in this church, maybe the most moral of everyone in the entire world. And you kept God's law perfectly every day of your life. But on the last day that you drew breath, you sinned one time. You sinned one time. What would that mean for you if you were that person? That means that you would be guilty of the whole law. What is God's standard? God's standard is perfect obedience. Full obedience, perpetual obedience. And we all know that none of us can measure up to that standard. There is only one who can measure up to God's standard, and it is the Lord Jesus Christ. What is the law meant to do for us? The law is meant to show us Christ. The law is meant to show us our own sin, our own inability. It's meant to show us that in our natural state, in our natural condition, we are under the curse and wrath of God. And there is only one who can deliver us. So the only cure for the curse is faith in Christ. If we will be redeemed from the curse of the law, we must be redeemed by Christ, by faith in Christ. So we have curse of the law, we have the cure of faith. Now in the third place this morning, we have the Christ of redemption. Verses 13 and 14, the Christ of redemption. In verses 13 and 14, Paul teaches us now about the object of our faith. He's already said that the cure for the curse of the law is faith, and it's faith in Christ. And now he goes on to tell us not only who Christ is, but what he's done for us. Verse 13, Christ 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. Friends, what is the work of Christ? We can look at the work of Christ from many different angles, from many different perspectives, because the scripture gives us all of these angles and perspectives. One way that we should always look at and consider the work of Christ is from the perspective, from the angle of redemption. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the wall. Christ's work is the work of redemption. It is the work of setting free. It is the work of setting at liberty. We were like the Israelites in our sin. We were under bondage. We were captive. We were slaves to our sin. We were sons of disobedience. That's the language that Paul uses in Ephesians chapter two. But what does Christ do for us? When he comes to save us, he comes to set us free. He comes to release us from our bonds. To release us from our captivity, comes to set us free and redeem us in himself. And how does he do this? How does he do this for us? He redeemed you, his people, by becoming a curse for you. By becoming a curse for you. I want you to apply this to yourself. If you are in Christ, Dear Christian, this is what Christ has done for you. He became a curse for you. The Old Testament scripture predicts that this will happen along with the manner of Christ's death. And so Paul summarizes Deuteronomy 21 and verse 23 here, when he writes, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. Again, what does the law teach us? The law teaches us that the wages of sin is death. This is what we all deserve apart from Christ. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of death. He has done so by becoming a curse for us. Listen to Hebrews chapter nine, verses 11 and 12, which speaks to us about Christ's great redemption. But when Christ appeared as high priest of the good things to come, he entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, That is to say, not of this creation, and not through the blood of goats and cows, but through his own blood, he entered the most holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. And how did he do that? He didn't do it through the blood of goats and cows and the ashes of a heifer. He did it through his own blood. the shedding of his own blood, by the sacrifice of himself. And his sacrifice was a substitutionary sacrifice. It was a voluntary sacrifice. It was a vicarious sacrifice. So, Christ is the satisfactory substitutionary atonement for all who believe in him. Dear Christian, Christ redeemed you from the curse of all. How did he do so? By becoming a curse for you. By bearing sin for you, by becoming sin for you. He took your sin upon himself. He who never sinned, he who was above reproach, who was blameless, took sin upon himself, took your sin upon himself and endured the wrath and the judgment of God for you. so that you would receive his righteousness. Think about. Spurgeon writes this. Speaking of Christ's sacrifice and the necessity for Christ to become a curse for us, Spurgeon writes this, he says, We believe that God never remitted the penalty. He did not forgive the sin without punishing it, but he exacted the full penalty without the abatement of a solitary jot or tittle. Jesus Christ, our Savior, drank the veritable cup of our redemption to its very dreads. You hear what Spurgeon is talking about here. He's saying God doesn't just sweep our sin under the rug. Why? Because God is just and because God is holy. And it would be unjust of him to just simply bypass our sin Sin must be punished because of who God is. And how was our sin punished? How were our sins remitted from us? Remitted from us because they were placed upon Christ. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. Or in Paul's language in the book of Romans, he says Christ became sin for us. He embodied sin in himself and enduring the wrath and judgment of God. The penalty for our sin had to be paid by someone. It was paid by Christ. Christ received and suffered for our sin as if it was his own. He suffered on the cross under the wrath of God as a sinner. He became sin for us and he was obedient even to the point of death. As we will read in just a few minutes in Our Lord's Supper Meditation from Isaiah 53, Surely our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried. What griefs did he bear? What sorrows did he carry? Our sin, our sin. Yet we ourselves have seemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. For as 1 Peter 2 and verse 24 says, And he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, for by his wounds you are healed. And there, Peter is drawing on Isaiah 52 and 53. He's using the language of the prophets. How have we been healed? How have we been redeemed from the curse? What is the cure but faith in Christ, who has redeemed us from the curse of the law, who became sin for us, and in doing so, satisfied the wrath of God? For as we often sing, bearing shame and scoffing rude, in my place condemned he stood. Christian, Christ stood condemned in your place. Christ redeemed you from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for you. Redeemer has canceled the certificate of death which stood against you. Christ became a curse for us. And who is the us that the apostle speaks of? Who is the us? For whom did Christ die? Christ died for the elect. All those given to him by the Father from before the foundation of the world. This is particular redemption. This is what Paul is referring to here. And those who have been given to Christ will most assuredly come to Him in faith. As many as have been appointed to eternal life will respond to God's call in faith. And in verse 14, we see the final purpose of Christ becoming a curse for us. This is the last thing that I'd like to look at with you today. Verse fourteen, in order that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles so that we would receive the promise of the spirit through faith. This is what Paul says here as he as he concludes verse fourteen, Christ became a curse for us to redeem us that we might receive Abraham's blessing. What was the blessing that Abraham received? What was Abraham's blessing and what is our blessing? It is the blessing of faith. It is the imputation of Christ's righteousness and the divine declaration of justification. Friends, we receive the same blessing as Abraham. If you are in Christ, not only has our Lord suffered in your place, but His righteousness has been imputed to you. You have Christ's righteousness. His righteousness is the cause of God's declaration over you, that you are now justified in his sight, that you are now innocent in his sight. It is the very righteousness of Christ through faith which is brought about this divine declaration. And included in this blessing, included in the blessing of Abraham, which is now being fulfilled in you, is the promise of the Spirit. Isaiah 44 and verse three says, For I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground. I will pour out my spirit on your offspring and my blessing on your descendants. Blessing of Abraham has been fulfilled in us. We have received Abraham's blessing. Faith in Christ, imputation of Christ's righteousness, the divine declaration of justification. So Christian, Having now believed as Abraham believed, you have received the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ. Amen. Holy Spirit indwells you. He abides with you, and he will remain with you forever. This is God's promise to you. Jesus says this in John 14, in verse 17, he says, the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see him or know him, but you know him because he abides with you and will be in you. Jesus himself assures us of this promise. Here is the surety assuring us of what he will do for us and what he has done for us in himself. And so what great blessings we own in Christ. This is what Paul is reminding us. We have great blessings in Christ because of Christ, for the glory of Christ. We have Abraham's blessing. We've been given the blessing of faith, blessing of Christ's righteousness. declared righteous in sight of God. And so what have we seen today in Galatians 3, 10 through 14? We've seen this, that the curse of the law is death. The curse of the law is death, but the cure for the curse is faith in Christ. It is this Christ who has redeemed us from the curse of the law, empowered by becoming a curse for us. And not only this, but we have inherited the same spiritual blessings as our father Abraham. And so, dear believer, Let this be an encouragement to you. Be encouraged by what Paul writes here. As you contemplate your Savior, here is Christ. By his life and by his death, he has endured God's curse for you. He has given you his righteousness, and he has sealed all of his blessings to you by the presence of his Spirit. None of these blessings can be taken from you. They've been sealed to you forever in Christ. Christ has purchased you with his blood, and you belong to him forever. Heavenly Father, our God, and our King, how we thank you for your word, and we thank you for this good reminder of Christ. We thank you, O Lord, that you sent your Son to redeem us from the curse of the law. For all who believe in you, you've redeemed us from the curse of the law. You've done so by becoming a curse for us, and so we bless you and we thank you for Christ. For without Christ, we would still be under your curse. We would still be under your wrath and judgment. We have no hope. of entering into eternal life apart from him, and so we thank you, O Lord, for our blessed Savior and Redeemer. Help us, O God, to think upon Christ, to respond now as we come to the Lord's Supper with hearts that are full of thankfulness, because we know we cannot partake of this meal, we cannot enjoy Christian fellowship, we cannot enjoy any of the good blessings that you have given to us in this life apart from your Son. And so we thank you, O Lord, for such undeserved favor, for such grace that you have given. O God, we are unworthy sinners, but you have called us your own in Christ and you have given us his righteousness, so we bless you and we thank you for your abundant grace to us. We pray that you would help us now as we come to this table to, again, to further think upon Christ and to remember his great sacrifice for us. To the end of your glory, in Jesus' name.