Good News! Why the Curse of the Law Is Powerless Galatians 3:13
Have you ever wondered what the curse of the law really is—and what it means that Christ has redeemed you from it(Galatians 3:13)? The curse isn’t a vague spiritual concept; it includes real bondages like sickness, poverty, fear, oppression, and spiritual death—everything that entered the world through sin. But here is the good news: Jesus didn’t just forgive your sins; He permanently removed you from the dominion of the curse by becoming the curse for you at the Cross. In this episode of Light on Life, we uncover exactly what the curse of the law includes, how Jesus legally broke its power, and how you can actively walk in the blessing, health, and freedom God intended. Understanding your redemption is the key to stepping out of bondage and into the victorious life Christ purchased for you. Why the Curse of the Law Is Powerless — all on this week’s Light on Life.
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You can view a basic transcript of this podcast at the bottom of this section.
Accept the Challenge
Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.This week’s call is:
Sickness is a curse — its not a blessing. You’ve been redeemed from the curse. That means you’ve been redeemed from sickness. Rise up and claim your redemption in Jesus' Name.
Join the Conversation
Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11). Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony.This week’s question is:
Question: Have you ever rose up against sickness by saying 'I am redeemed from the curse, sickness has no place in me? Please share what your testimony in the comments section so others can be inspired.
About Emery
Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 48 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. He and his wife Sharon of 44 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.
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Podcast Notes:
Prayer
Well again, welcome.
Let’s pray.
Well, again welcome.
Let’s pray.
Father God thank you pulling back the veil from over our hearts so that we can see the marvelous work of redemption that took place at Calvary. We thank you for redeeming us from the Curse of the Law. We bless you for it in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
The Curse of the Law: What Is It?
Galatians 3:13 (ESV) — 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”—
Normally the phrase, ‘it is written’ refers to a passage in the Old Testament.
That’s the case here.
Deuteronomy 21:22–23 (ESV) — 22 “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.
Jesus redeemed us from the curse.
That is, He became a curse for you so you don’t have to experience the curse of the law.
Now, we need to know is what is this curse of the law all about?
Well, the book of Deuteronomy helps us with this.
It had quite a bit to say about curses.
Going over to Deuteronomy 26 and starting at verse 15, you will find an entire list of individual acts that bring a curse.
You understand that a curse is the absence of a blessing.
What are some of these acts?
You have idolatry in verse 15.
Dishonoring parents in verse 16.
Dishonest land dealings in verse 17.
Taking advantage of people with disabilities in verse 18.
Perversions of justice perpetrated on defenseless people in verse 19.
Wrong sex in verses 20, 21, 22, 23.
Murder in verse 24.
Murder for hire in verse 25.
All of this individual acts bring a curse and all of this summed up in verse 26 with.
Deuteronomy 27:26 (ESV) — 26 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
Now, verse 26 here is a summary statement: If you don’t confirm the Word by doing the Word, the curse comes.
There is always a reason why the curse comes.
Proverbs 26:2 (TNIV) — 2 Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.
An undeserved curse does not come.
In other words, if there’s a curse attached to a person’s life, that is, an absence of a blessing in your life, there’s a reason why.
Now, the scriptures of the Old Testament gives us those reasons.
We just heard some of them.
There’s another list just one chapter later in Deuteronomy 28.
Deuteronomy 28:15 (ESV) — 15 “But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.
This sounds like what we just read in Deuteronomy 27: ‘Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’
What does it mean to confirm the Word.
The Hebrew word ‘confirm’ means to rise or to standup.
Our lives have to rise to the level of the Word.
Now, if you read starting in Deuteronomy 28 and verse 16, you will find even a more extensive list than the eleven verses we just saw.
Here in chapter 28, you have 52 verses describing the curse of not following the law.
Fifty-two verses!
These verses describe the curse as drought, pestilence, and disaster to the land and the food supply (28:21–24).
Defeat in war (28:25).
Personal disasters: unburied corpses open to animals, illness, weakness, death, mental illness, blindness, being oppressed and robbed with no one to help, interrupted marriage arrangements, interrupted housing plans and harvests, loss of livestock to others, children dragged away from parents (28:26–32).
People being driven to insanity, and grievous boils (28:34).
Oppression by a foreign nation (28:35).
Exile, being taken to another nation, serving other gods (28:36).
Becoming a talking point among people of other nations (28:37).
Frustrated efforts at farming (28:38–40).
Frustrated efforts at parenting because children are taken into exile (28:41).
Sojourners rising while the Israelites go down (28:43, 44; see the parallel blessing in 28:13).[2. Hughes Kent R., “A Word to Those Who Preach the Word,” in Preaching the Word: Deuteronomy—Loving Obedience to a Loving God, ed. R. Kent Hughes (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), 594–595.]
The Lord was trying to get the attention of His people Israel under the Old Covenant.
Now, taking this over into the New Testament.
Galatians 3:10 (ESV) — 10 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.”
Sounds just like what we read in Deuteronomy, right?
If you don't abide by the Law, this curse comes into play.
And all of that is right except for one thing.
Galatians 3:13 (ESV) — 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”—
Where the curse of the law is concerned, Jesus is the difference maker.
He redeemed us from the curse.
Redeemed from the Curse
Now, it’s a positive thing for us to understand what it means to be redeemed from the curse.
And with that thought, here is the Definition of the Day.
The Greek word redeemed is the word exagoridzo and it means to cause the release or freedom of someone by a means which proves costly to the individual causing the release—‘to redeem, to set free.’[3. Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 487.]
Rick Renner did a word study on this word redeemed — exagoridzo — and he says this word is a compound word that consists of the words ‘ex’ and ‘agoridzo.’
The word ‘ex’ is a Greek preposition that means ‘out.’
The word ‘agoridzo’ was the Greek word most notably used to describe the slave market — a disgusting place where human beings were bought, sold, and traded like animals.
Now, when you put the two words together, the words ‘ex’ and ‘agoridzo,’ it pictures a buyer who has gone to the slave market to purchase a slave for the solitary purpose of bringing him out of that place of slavery so he can be set free.
This is what it means to be redeemed.
Therefore, this particular word for “redeem” conveys the thought of permanent removal from captivity.
Because this word is used in connection with Jesus redeeming us from the curse of the law, Paul is telling us plainly that Jesus’ sacrificial death didn’t only pay the penalty for our sin; His death removed us from living under the curse henceforth!
Paul continues to tell us that Jesus’ work of redemption was the reason He came into the world: “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Galatians 4:4,5).[4. Rick Renner, https://renner.org/article/your-redemption-is-a-done-deal/]
So, now knowing that Jesus has set you free from the effects of disobeying the law, you can now go back and compare your life in parallel with the curses we read in Deuteronomy 27 and 28.
Redeemed from the Curse of Sickness
Some of the curses deal with sickness.
Deuteronomy 28:21–22 (ESV) — 21 The LORD will make the pestilence stick to you until he has consumed you off the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 22 The LORD will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought and with blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish.
Are any of the curses of sickness clinging to your life?
Here are a few more verses on the curse of sickness.
Deuteronomy 28:27–29 (ESV) — 27 The LORD will strike you with the boils of Egypt, and with tumors and scabs and itch, of which you cannot be healed. 28 The LORD will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of mind, 29 and you shall grope at noonday, as the blind grope in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. And you shall be only oppressed and robbed continually, and there shall be no one to help you.Deuteronomy 28:35 (ESV) — 35 The LORD will strike you on the knees and on the legs with grievous boils of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.Deuteronomy 28:58–61 (ESV) — 58 “If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, the LORD your God, 59 then the LORD will bring on you and your offspring extraordinary afflictions, afflictions severe and lasting, and sicknesses grievous and lasting. 60 And he will bring upon you again all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. 61 Every sickness also and every affliction that is not recorded in the book of this law, the LORD will bring upon you, until you are destroyed.
Sickness is a curse — its not a blessing.
You’ve been redeemed from the curse.
That means you’ve been redeemed from sickness.
Redeemed from the Curse of Poverty
But, you’ve been redeemed from even more than sickness.
Deuteronomy 28:17–19 (ESV) — 17 Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 18 Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. 19 Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.
You’ve been redeemed from poverty.
Poverty is a curse — it’s not a blessing.
Deuteronomy 28:38–40 (ESV) — 38 You shall carry much seed into the field and shall gather in little, for the locust shall consume it. 39 You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm shall eat them. 40 You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives shall drop off.
Israel was an agricultural society.
So, having a curse on the seed that one plants for crops would be devastating.
This ‘poverty’ curse consists of worms, locusts, and whatever caused olives to prematurely fall off.
Olives and olive oil was integral to Middle Eastern people and with that thought, here is the Historical Background of the Day.
Olives are often used for food in the Bible. While untreated olives are very bitter, the techniques of salting and pickling introduced into Israel during the Hellenistic and Roman periods enabled the Israelites to consume olives as a fruit (MacDonald, What Did the Ancient Israelites Eat?, 23).
Olives were particularly valuable because of the oil they produce. Olives were used for lighting.
Do you remember the Parable of the Five Wise and Five Foolish Virgins?
What made the virgins foolish?
Matthew 25:3 (ESV) — 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,
Olive oil was used both to provide light for homes as well as the Tabernacle.
Leviticus 24:2 (ESV) — 2 “Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning regularly.
Olive Oil was to be offered unto God.
Exodus 29:38–40 (ESV) — 38 “Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day regularly. 39 One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight. 40 And with the first lamb a tenth measure of fine flour mingled with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering.
Olive oil was used to anoint kings and priests.
Exodus 29:5–7 (ESV) — 5 Then you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod. 6 And you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. 7 You shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.
So, you see, oil was used to consecrate people into the ministry
Olive oil was also used to treat people of their wounds.
Do you remember the story of the Good Samaritan?
Luke 10:30–34 (ESV) — 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
There’s the oil that we’ve been talking about.[5. Will Briggs, “Olive,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).]
So, now the olive trees do not have the blessing of God because the human being who lived on the same land that the olive trees grew on is sinning against God.
The curse comes on the trees — and look at the results — look at all that’s affected.
So, poverty is a curse, — it’s not a blessing as some suppose.
Jesus redeemed you from the curse.
Why The Curse Still Clings to Many Believers
Since that’s right and scripturally true that fact leads us to the Question of the Day.
Here is the question.
If sickness is a curse of the law and Jesus redeemed us, why then are they still sick? We could ask the same question about any other part of the curse of the law. Why is the curse clinging to people who are redeemed from it?
One answer to this question is obvious.
People don’t know they’ve been redeemed.
Isaiah 5:13 (ESV) — 13 Therefore my people go into exile for lack of knowledge; their honored men go hungry, and their multitude is parched with thirst.
To enjoy the benefits of redemption, you need to know it’s available.
God’s Word works by faith.
It doesn’t work just because it’s written on paper between two pieces of leather.
Men must believe and act on the realities declared with the Bible’s pages.
Nothing in God is automatic.
You know that’s so just by looking at the subject of salvation.
The Bible tells us that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world.
But, the whole world is not saved, right?
So many are walking in the opposite direction of salvation.
That’s why this statement in Romans ten must be taken to heart.
Romans 10:13–15 (ESV) — 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
The good news must be preached and acted on even though the good news is clearly recorded in the Bible.
Nothing is automatic in God.
Everything is by faith.
You must believe it.
You must believe that you receive your redemption from the curse of the law.
That’s how it works.
You must rise up against all the curse that would try to cling itself to you and say, ’No, I’ve been redeemed.’
So, lack of knowledge is one reason why people are not enjoying the blessings of God.
Here’s another reason.
Luke 6:46–49 (ESV) — 46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? 47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”
What is the house being ruined?
Isn’t that the curse?
Why is the curse in effect.
Because of the same reason why the curse came into effect in the Old Testament: not doing the Word.
Disobedience is every bit a reason why the house — your house could implode.
Be a doer of the Word and not a hearer only.
The Curse of the Law: Conclusion
Now, you know what to do.
The curse causeless shall not arise.
If there’s a part of the curse clinging to your life, there is a reason why?
Rise up and appropriate your redemption in Christ.
You’ve been redeemed from the curse of the law.
Thank God for it.
Become a doer of the Word — it’s the right thing to do.
Do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do.
Now, Father God thank you for your Word. Thank for the redemption that is only found in Jesus. We give you all the praise for it and today we honor you and your Word by appropriating that which rightfully belongs to us. We thank you that the Son of God has made us free in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
The Good News! [Of] Why the Curse of the Law Is Powerless.
You guys have a great God week and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.