ガラテヤの信徒への手紙3:10-14 Galatians 3:10-14,

キリストは、わたしたちのために呪いとなって、わたしたちを律法の呪いから贖い出してくださいました。『木にかけられた者は皆呪われている』と書いてあるからです。

　　　　　　　　　　　　（ガラテヤ3:13）

律法を守り行うことを基準にするならば、人間に救いはありません。滅びと呪いがあるのみです。ところが、私たち人間が受けなければならない呪いを、キリストは代わりに受けてくださいました。「木にかけられた者は皆呪われている」とは、旧約聖書の申命記21章23節からの引用です。申命記21章23節の「木にかけられた者」は、罪を犯したために死刑にされて死体が木にかけられてさらしものにされた者のことです。元々は十字架ではなく、地面に立てられた木の柱であったようです。パウロはそれを十字架につけられたキリストに当てはめました。そして、キリストが十字架につけられて死んだのは、律法を守ることのできない私たち人間の代わりに、呪いを受けてくださったのだと述べているのです。

キリストが私たち人間の代わりに、呪いを受けてくださったのは何のためだったのでしょうか？14節にはその目的が二つ記されています。一つは14節の前半に記されているように、「アブラハムに与えられた祝福が、キリスト・イエスにおいて異邦人に及ぶため」でありました。律法を守ることのできない私たち人間の代わりにキリストが呪いを受けてくださったことを信じるならば、その信仰によって呪いが祝福と交換されます。なぜなら、ユダヤ人の先祖であるアブラハムが信仰によって受けた祝福を異邦人も受け継ぐことは、最初から神様のご計画であったからです。神様はそのご計画をキリストの十字架によって実現してくださったのでした。もう一つは、14節の後半に記されているように、「わたしたちが、約束された“霊”を信仰によって受けるため」でした。すなわち、律法を守り行うことのできないわたしたち人間が、キリストを信じることによって聖霊を受けて、この手紙の2章20節で述べられているように「キリストがわたしの内に生きておられる」という状態で生きるためでした。そして、「キリストがわたしの内に生きておられる」状態になるならば、この手紙の5章22節に記されているように、その人の思いや行いは「愛であり、喜び、平和、寛容、親切、善意、誠実、柔和、節制」へと変えられていきます。こうして、人は律法とその呪いから解放されて生きることができるのです。（10月15日の説教より）

Sadly, we are sometimes subjected to malicious words in our daily lives. For example, suppose a person working for a company was strongly advised by his/her boss to take training for work on his/her day off. That would be the same as working on his/her day off, so he/she would be entitled to holiday pay. However, it was customary in that company for the person to take training on his/her day off without holiday pay. Therefore, when the person applied for holiday pay, the boss said to him/her: “Do you want me to pay for training for you? It’s disappointing to have such a person like you in this company!” The words of the boss would sound like a curse to the person being addressed. Alternatively, you might also encounter malicious words in private situations. For example, suppose three male brothers who lived apart from their parents made it a habit to take their wives and children back to their parents’ home during New Year holidays. However, the wife of the eldest of the brothers did not go to her husband’s parents’ home this year, saying that she did not want to go because she was told various unpleasant things when she met her mother-in-law. Then, the mother and other brothers said to the eldest son, “She is not a good wife of the eldest son because she does not show her face at New Year!” After all, that sounds like a curse, doesn’t it?

In other words, there are unspoken rules in social and family life, such as “people who belong to this company must do this” or “those who belong to this family must do that,” and if you go against these rules, you may be subjected to malicious, curse-like words. Such curse words can deeply hurt people’s hearts and remain in their minds. And if it is a curse spoken in the name of God, it will be a terrible force that will bind a person for the rest of his/her life. Many people in Japan do not believe in the God of the Bible, nor do they live according to God’s teachings. However, many people may think, even if only vaguely, that there are some teachings that humans should follow. And even though they usually think that they have followed the teachings to a certain extent and have done well, when something calamitous happens to them, they are reminded of their past mistakes and failures, which they have usually forgotten. And they may become worried that they are under a curse as a result of their past mistakes and failures.

The Jewish people valued the teachings of God recorded in the five books of the Old Testament, from Genesis to Deuteronomy, as God’s law. Paul, who wrote this letter, was also a Jewish teacher who, before he believed in Christ, lived a life that strictly adhered to the teachings of the Old Testament law. However, while travelling towards the city of Damascus to persecute Christians, Paul encountered the risen Christ in heaven. He was then rebuked by Christ, “Why do you persecute me?” and made aware of his sin. Paul then converted and was transformed into a way of life that believed in Jesus Christ and was guided by the Holy Spirit. He preached to many people the teaching that “one can be saved by believing in Christ.” However, there were evangelists who took Paul’s teaching lightly and taught that one could not be fully saved without not only believing in Christ but also undergoing the ritual of circumcision as required by the Old Testament law. This greatly upset the religious life of the believers in the churches in Galatia, which is now the south-eastern part of Turkey.

In this letter to the Galatians, Paul is trying to bring the believers to the right faith by pointing out the incorrectness of the teaching that full salvation can only be obtained by undergoing the ritual of circumcision as prescribed by the Old Testament law. The supposed basis for the evangelists’ insistence on this false teaching was the life of Abraham in the Old Testament. Abraham was a man who was an ancestor of the Jewish people. And it was at the time of Abraham that the Jewish people were given the law that they must undergo the ritual of circumcision. Presumably, the evangelists who taught that “full salvation cannot be obtained without the ritual of circumcision as prescribed by the Old Testament law” were doing so on the basis of Abraham’s circumcision. In contrast, Paul shows that before Abraham underwent the ritual of circumcision, he believed God’s promise that your descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and was counted as righteous and blessed by God. He then teaches that that same blessing is given to those who believe in Christ. In verses 8 and 9 before today’s Bible passages, Paul writes:

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

In other words, just as Abraham was already justified and blessed by faith before he underwent the ritual of circumcision, so those who believe in Christ are justified and blessed by God even without undergoing the ritual of circumcision.

In the verses 10 and 11 of today’s passages that follow, Paul notes that in contrast to being “justified and blessed by faith,” a person is cursed and not justified by the law as follows.

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”

“Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them,” is a quote from Deuteronomy 27:26 in the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 27:15-26 is where the Israelites are told of specific laws to keep in mind, in the phrase “Cursed be anyone who does/doesn’t ~.” As its conclusion, in 27:26, we are told that “Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them,” with the implication that all the laws in Deuteronomy must be kept. In the Old Testament that we read, the word “all” is absent in Deuteronomy 27:26. However, in Paul’s quotation, there is the word “all,” as in “everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law.” This is because the Greek version of the Old Testament, which was widely read in New Testament times, has the word “all.” And the English and Japanese Old Testament, translated from the Hebrew version that we read, don’t have the word “all.” However, even the English and Japanese Old Testament are considered to contain the word “all” in its meaning. This means that if you want to be counted as righteous by keeping the Old Testament law, you must keep all of its provisions. The teaching of Deuteronomy 27:26 is that if you do not keep even one of them, you will be cursed.

And it is on the basis of the teaching that Paul says in 5:3 of this letter, “I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.” “The whole law” includes, of course, ethical laws such as the Ten Commandments. And as Jesus Christ said, it is not enough to keep the Ten Commandments only superficially, but one must also keep them in one’s heart. For example, in Matthew 5:21 and 22, Christ says: “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.” In other words, even if you don’t actually murder someone, if you are angry in your heart, you have violated the teaching “You shall not murder” and you will receive God’s judgement. What a harsh teaching! According to the standard of this teaching, everyone is breaking the commandment “You shall not murder.” Since they have broken the commandment, it is impossible for them to be counted as righteous by the law. Rather, you will be cursed for not keeping the law.

However, even if you cannot keep God’s law, those who have faith in God can be counted as righteous by their faith. Verse 11 quotes the phrase “The righteous shall live by faith.” This phrase is taken from an Old Testament prophecy in Habakkuk 2:4. The context in which this prophecy was spoken is as follows. The time was the end of the 7th century BC, when the Kingdom of Judah, with Jerusalem as its capital, was on the verge of destruction. The prophet Habakkuk complained to God about the dire situation of the Kingdom of Judah, which was infested with tyranny. God replied that he would judge the Kingdom of Judah by the Babylonian Empire, which was rapidly gaining power at that time. Then, Habakkuk complained again that “the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he (Habakkuk 1:13),” when the Babylonian Empire would judge the Kingdom of Judah. God then replied that he would judge the proud at the end time (Habakkuk 2:2-20), and that “the righteous shall live by faith.” In other words, even though the righteous will be oppressed in the kingdom of Judah (Habakkuk 1:4) and in international politics the Kingdom of Judah will be swallowed up by the wicked Babylonians, God said that in the end time “the righteous shall live by faith.” It is those with “faith” who will be able to withstand God’s judgement.

Just as Abraham was counted as righteous by his faith in God, and the prophet Habakkuk said that “the righteous shall live by faith,” the way of salvation in the Old Testament is the way of faith. However, there are also passages in the Old Testament that can be read as emphasising law-keeping behaviour. Paul quotes one such passage in verse 12. Namely, “the law is not of faith, rather ‘The one who does them shall live by them.’” “The one who does them shall live by them” is a quote from the Greek version of the Old Testament, Leviticus 18:5. Our Bible, translated from the Hebrew version, says: “You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them.” The point of this Leviticus 18:5 is the emphasis on “doing,” that he who “does” the law will be saved. Whether or not one does the law, is the criterion for whether or not one can be saved. The more important matter, whether or not one has “faith,” is not questioned in this passage. Certainly, if someone had been able to keep and fulfil the law perfectly, he would have been saved by it. However, in reality the people of Israel did not keep the law, which led to the destruction of the nation. In other words, the history of the nation of Israel itself proved that one cannot keep and fulfil the law.

Thus, if the standard is to be based on keeping and doing the law, there is no salvation for man. There is only destruction and cursing. However, the curse that we humans have to suffer, Christ has suffered instead. On this subject, Paul says in verse 13: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.’” “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” is a quote from Deuteronomy 21:23 in the Old Testament. He “who is hanged on a tree” in Deuteronomy 21:23 refers to those who were put to death for their sins and had their bodies hanged on a tree to be exposed. It seems that originally it was not a cross, but a wooden post erected on the ground. Paul applied it to crucified Christ. He then states that Christ died on the cross because he took the curse on behalf of us human beings who cannot keep the law.

What was the purpose of Christ’s taking the curse on our behalf? The first was, as stated in the first half of verse 14, “so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles.” If we believe that Christ took the curse on behalf of us human beings, who cannot keep the law, then by that faith the curse is exchanged for the blessing. This is because it was God’s plan from the beginning that the Gentiles would inherit the blessing that Abraham, the ancestor of the Jews, received by faith. God fulfilled that plan through the cross of Christ. The second was “so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith,” as the second half of verse 14 states. That is, that we human beings, who cannot keep the law and do it, might receive the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ and live in the state of “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me,” as described in 2:20. And once a person is in the state of ‘Christ living in me’, his thoughts and deeds are transformed into “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control,” as stated in 5:22 of this letter. Thus, one can live free from the law and its curse.

The Old Testament law is not the same as the customs and traditions we experience in our daily lives. Some are diametrically opposed. For example, the Old Testament law strictly forbids idolatry, while Japanese customs and traditions consider it good to worship something, no matter what it is. However, the two are similar in that if you go against customs and traditions, you will be cursed. In particular, Japanese society is a society of strong peer pressure, so if you say or do something different from others, you may receive a curse. And sometimes that curse words stick in your mind and don’t leave. If this happens to you, I hope you will remember today’s Bible teaching. The cross of Christ has the power to take away even the curse of God’s law and exchange it for a blessing. Because the cross has such power, curses from the customs and traditions of this world can be overcome by believing in the cross of Christ and living under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. By believing in the cross of Christ, we can live delivered from curses.