The Mystery of Lawlessness – Cursed or Blessed – Galatians 3:10

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mystery of lawlessness cursed continueth all things written in the book of the law “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work;” (2 Thess 2:7 NKJV)

Many will not see because they “love…not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”(2 Thess 2:10-12) “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” (Romans 8:9) And the heart is yet to be renewed and willing that “the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us.” (Romans 8:4) “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” (Romans 10:3)

Now before I go to far, it is important to understand regarding the writings of our brother Paul that there are some things “hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.”(2 Peter 3:16)

The Blessing of Abraham

There is a blessing that Abraham and his seed were to receive and also to give.

Genesis 12:2-3 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 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.

We are told in Galatians 3 that “the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.” (Galatians 3:8, 9)

The blessing is to Abraham and his seed through faith. In fact the only way to be a child of Abraham is through faith, it is written that “they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.” (Gal 3:7)

Many today confess to be Abraham’s seed. So did the Pharisee’s, however there was something wrong with their confession. Jesus said to them: “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.” (John 8:39).

What are the works of Abraham? What did Abraham do that was blessed?

Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

Abraham “obeyed” the word of God “by faith.” When he trusted the word of God alone, he received the blessing. What else did Abraham obey?

Gen 26:5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

Abraham obeyed God’s commandments, statutes, and laws. As it is written:

Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

Psa 119:1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD

It is written in Galatians 3:17 that “the covenant, (with Abraham. See Genesis 12) that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after (Given at Mount Sinai), cannot disannul (That is, change the covenant with Abraham).”(brackets added for clarification).

Since the covenant was not changed at Sinai, and the Israelites were offered the covenant given to Abraham. (See Exodus 6:1-8). This would imply that the commandments, statutes, and laws that were given at Sinai was the same law that Abraham “obeyed”. The evidence will accumulate as we continue.

We read further in Galatians 3 after speaking of the blessing to Abraham, we find the following text regarding the curse.

Gal 3:10 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.

Abraham was “blessed” not “cursed”. So did Abraham continue in all things that God commanded? Yes. Did God change anything in the covenant with Abraham at Mount Sinai? No. The problem with Sinai was with “them” and their “promises”.(Heb 8:6-8) The law was not the problem, the heart was the problem.

Gal 3:21 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.

But the law can’t give life. It does however point out the standard by which life can be had. The blessing of Abraham is not by works of the law, but by faith. The law though it is “ordained to life” (Rom 7:10) and as Jesus said “if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.”(Matt 19:17). Yet the law could not give life itself. It could not fulfill this purpose. It was only by faith in what God could do that Abraham obeyed the commandments, statutes, and laws. And Abraham did it continually. To keep the commandments is life. To break the commandments is death.

The issue Paul is bringing out in Galatians is not whether or not we are to keep the commandments, but rather how we are to keep the commandments. By working at it and trying, or by accepting the word as it reads, that the promise is good, and the promise enables us to do it, God writing the law not just on dead stones, but on the living stones of his church, writing it in the heart, placing it in the ark of the most holy place in his temple. “Ye are the temple of God.” (1 Cor 3:16)

A Blessing to Keep All Things Written in the Book of the Law

Gal 3:10 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.

Some will quickly take Galatians 3:10 to mean that it is a curse to obey the law and we have been freed from that curse. Therefore they believe we no longer are to obey or this would bring a curse. This is a deadly and terrible deception swallowed up by most christians today. But consider it carefully. The curse is actually for not obeying the law. What does the book of the law say?

Deuteronomy 11:26-28 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

The blessing is to those who do the law. The curse to those who break it. This should be quite obvious. However it is not, and that is again because “the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” (Romans 8:7)

A blessing to those who walk in the law of Jehovah. But what about today? Has God changed? Anyone who will carefully read the bible could see that God does not change. What brought a curse 4000 years ago will bring a curse today. And although Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, he has not redeemed us so we could disobey the law.

Imagine being put in jail for killing a man. And waiting on death row for your execution. Then someone steps in and says “I will take that man’s penalty” so that you could be free. He took your curse for breaking the law, then after you are set free, would this then mean that you are free to go and kill others now? Is this what you were freed from? Obeying the law? It is nonsense, yes? But yet it is believed by millions of Christians today that this is what Christ died to free us from. They believe that we are cursed if keep the law.

The curse for violating those things written in the book of the law is unchangeable. If it wasn’t, then Christ would not have needed to die to redeem us from it.

lawlessness Why did Christ die? Why was he made a curse if the law was just the Father being arbitrary and the laws were just a bunch of laws that could be changed anyway? If it could have been changed then Christ would not have had to die to take the curse. Oh what terrible deception for those who see our Father in this light. What a terrible picture of the Father has been drawn by these preachers of unrighteousness. God is ever the same, today, yesterday, and forever, and what brought the curse of death back then will just as surely bring a curse today.

Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

Blessed are they that keep what commandments. Cursed are they that will break them. The same commandments that God said:

Deuteronomy 30:10-19 If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the lawI have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

The blessing is the holy spirit which is the down payment on the inheritance, the power by which the law can be kept. When the Spirit is had, the law is written on the heart, and therefore it does not witness against those who have the spirit. (See Galatians 5:22, 23) The promised land as promised to Abraham in Genesis 12, is mentioned in several other places. It is written that “now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.” (Heb 11:16)

The blessing to enter that city is to those who keep all the words in the book of the law written in their heart, not just sometimes, but always that it might be well with us and our children FOREVER. (Deu 30:6, 14)

Deuteronomy 6:5-7 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

This commandment was not written in stones. It was written in the book alone. If we fail to teach these to our children, what will we bring upon them? A blessing or a curse? Are we Abraham’s seed?

Gen_18:19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

The only way to receive the blessing of Abraham is to keep the law. Blessed are they who do His commandments, cursed are they who continue not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

“But wait” someone screams. “It is impossible to keep the law.” Ahh, yes. “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26) Where is your faith? In what man can do? Or in what God will do? Stop working at it, and accept the promises of God by faith. God calls us to walk in the sphere of knowledge we have and obey our conscience.

Romans 2:13-15 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another😉

God calls for accountability with respect to the light He has given to us. With respect to the law, it is not “You must keep the law to be saved”. It is rather “You must be saved to keep the law.” God can only make a man good if that man is willing to be made good and will trust Father to work mightily in him above all that a man can ask or think. (Eph 3:20) It is all faith alone that will do the law.

Law of Moses The Law of Moses and the Curse

Some have thought that the Law of God was only the moral law, while the law of Moses was the ceremonial law. However the term “Law of Moses” is not used in the first 5 books of the bible. Yet most understand that those books are “Law of Moses”. Those books include both moral and ceremonial law. The prophets when using the term “law of Moses” often referred back to the first five books of the bible. Notice the following:

Luke 2:22-24 And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;) And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.

You’ll notice that the term “Law of Moses” is used in this passage, but you will also notice that it is interchanged with the term “Law of the Lord”. If you read that carefully, you will also notice that the term “Law of the Lord” is used to refer to the ceremonial law. Many teachers today teach that the term “Law of the Lord” is used only for the moral law, and the term “Law of Moses” is used only for ceremonial law. But the bible does not teach this as demonstrated above.

Regarding the “law of God” which is sometimes referred to as the “law of Moses” we read the following.

Malachi 4:4-6 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

And the curse is written in the law, and the curse comes if we “continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.”(Gal 3:10)

To Summarize:

1. Lawlessness would be a doctrine of the last days
2. Lawlessness is unrighteousness
3. Abraham obeyed God’s commandments, statutes, and judgments
4. These were given to Israel at Mount Sinai
5. The blessing is to those who keep the commandments and laws.
6. The curse is to those who break the commandments and laws.
7. The book of the law expresses what brings a curse.
8. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law.
9. Christ did not redeem us so we could go on breaking the law.
10.God is a good God with good laws, and good laws do not change that we should teach diligently to our children lest He come and smite the earth with a curse.

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