Being cursed for hanging
on a tree is based on Deuteronomy 21:22-23. In this case, a body was hung on a
tree after execution for the purpose of public display. Hanging a body
on a tree was not itself a form of punishment since the body at the time was a corpse.
This hanging was not a penalty or a punishment, it was a public display of an
already dead body. Do not conflate a dead body becoming a curse with being put
to death. They are 2 different things! Paul is not saying that the death of
Jesus is the curse, that would be a reading comprehensible mistake.
When Paul writes, “Christ
redeemed [release/freed] us from the curse of the law by becoming a
curse for us,” he is saying that Christ freed us from the law, effectively cancelling
the law because those who truly follow Christ and live accordingly to his
spirit do not need the law. Christ became the picture of illustration of a
curse for our sake, demonstrating, in the most shocking way, the vast evil of
sin due to humans grossly violating the law when they put to death the most
innocent of all men. Due to him becoming the picture of a curse, the true curse
of sin which is revealed by the law is vividly portrayed and we who are affected
thereby choose to live as Christ lived, according to a superior righteousness
which is defined by God, not by a written moral code.
The result of this
curse is stated by Paul when he says, “so that in Christ Jesus the blessings
of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised
Spirit through faith.” This means that there is no need for Gentiles to
embrace the Mosaic law (which Gentiles had to do if they wanted to become Jewish)
because there is a higher righteousness demonstrated by the faith and spirit of
Christ. The curse, the burden of having to adopt Mosaic law has been removed!
It has been replaced by faithfully embracing Christ and living according to his
teachings.
When Paul writes that
Christ became “a curse for us,” the word “for” is the Greek “hyper,” meaning “on
behalf of” of, “for our sakes.” It is not substitutionary and does not mean “in
exchange for us!” The entire context of the passage, indeed the entire book of
Galatians, is Paul’s argument that those who follow Christ (both Jews and
Gentiles) no longer need the Mosaic law, which has effectively become a cursed
way of living in comparison to the liberty we have in Christ (presuming we are
actually abiding in him and in his teachings).
Regrettably, those
who teach Penal Substitution latch on this passage and rip it out of context,
disregard the author’s intent and grammar, and use it to teach that God literally
cursed Jesus! Their claim is that the law and our sin were placed on Jesus
thereby provoking God to curse His own Son. Not only in this claim possibly
blaspheming, but also assumes that Jesus became a vile sinful sacrifice, in
which case he would not have even qualified for being an offering, as offerings
to God were supposed to be clean, the best of the flock, not the sick, lame,
mangy rejects of unworthy condition. “When you offer blind animals in
sacrifice, is that no evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is
that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you
favor? says the LORD of hosts.” Malachi 1:8
Galatians 3:13-14 is
a single paragraph that is part of a greater arguments against those who claim
that followers of Christ must adhere to all the Mosaic laws and regulations
like the Jews had been taught, which often included multiple layers of legal
traditions beyond what was actually written. In order for the Mosaic law to be
set aside and to become free of it higher, superior, law or covenant had to be
put in place that was better . . .
In verses 17-26, Paul
explains that the law of Moses was an addition to the promise given to Abraham
and the law only served as a tutor, a means to establish boundaries, until the
ultimate promise, Jesus Christ, would come (Deuteronomy 18:15-18). Now Jesus
defines what is right and wrong, and by having faith and loyalty (not mere
mental assent) to his teaching and his example we are righteous (1 Jn. 3:7). Those
who follow Christ have no need of the Mosaic law because they have a greater, living
source of defining what is right and wrong. Instead of following the sometimes abstract
Mosaic laws we follow the Son of God who lives out all the righteousness of
God.
An example of this is Cornelius, a God-fearing Gentile
who was considered righteous (Acts 10:22) before even hearing of Christ! Notice
Peter’s “PSA-incorrect” statement: “So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly
I understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who
fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” Acts 10:34-35
Only after this statement does Peter actually tell
Cornelius about Jesus “ . . .This is the One who has been appointed by God as
Judge of the living and the dead. Of Him all the prophets bear witness that
through His name everyone who believes in Him receives [Gr. lambanō, Eng. lay
hold of] forgiveness [Gr. aphesin, Eng. release] of sins”
(Acts 10:42-43)
Peter does not tell Cornelius to repent (similar to Luke 5:32).
He was already living a godly, righteous life; he just needed to know and
believe in the promised Messiah who had come. (Kevin George, Atonement and Reconciliation: On what
basis can a holy God forgive sin? A search for the original meaning, contrasted
with Penal Substitutionary Atonement [2023], 172-74)
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