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Pathways Through Paul, Vol 2
Daily Devotional
January 24
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Today's Pathway:
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Verse 9 is a continuation of what we looked at yesterday. God promised that all the families of the world would be blessed through Abraham, and it was through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that the blessing of salvation was made available. Abraham believed what God said, was justified because of his faith, and received the blessings that God had promised to him. So down through history all those who choose to believe God's Word are also justified by their faith, and receive all the blessings that God has promised to them.
In verse 10 Paul gives further explanation as to why attempting to keep the Law can neither save someone nor even aid in obtaining or maintaining one's salvation. The Law can only bring a curse to mankind, and thus all who are trying to use the Law to obtain redemption are trapped under its curse. He proves his point by referring back to Deuteronomy 27:26 where we read,
"Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them.".
This is repeated in Jeremiah 11:3, where the prophet writes,
"Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant."
Lest there be any question about which covenant God is speaking of, He answers that in verse 4 by saying,
"Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt."
This would be the Mosaic Covenant, which took place on Mt. Sinai, and which included both God giving the Law to Israel and Israel's responsibility to keep that Law. The key to understanding why the Law is ultimately a curse is that the Israelites had to obey all of it all the time. Notice that verse 10 reads, "continueth not in all things". There could never be one moment of deviation from maintaining all of the Law's precepts. Besides the outward responsibilities of the law, such as "Thou shalt not kill", and "Thou shalt not commit adultery", the law also demanded the inward responsibilities of,
"thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." (Deuteronomy 6:5)
and,
"thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Leviticus 19:18).
So, even if a man could make the claim that he never killed anyone or committed adultery, he could never honestly claim to have both loved the Lord with the totality of his being and to have loved his neighbor every bit as much as he loves himself, for every minute of his life. James 2:10 tells us that,
"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all"
Therefore, all men are law breakers, and come under the law's curse.
In verse 11 Paul quotes yet another Old Testament passage. Habakkuk 2:4 reads,
"the just shall live by his faith".
If justification comes by faith, then good works can not provide salvation. Paul says that this is "evident", which means that it is clearly visible and is thus obvious to anyone who thinks about it. Verse 12 reiterates that the Law has nothing to do with faith. They are two mutually exclusive things. William Hendriksen wrote,
"Law is the very opposite of faith. The two cannot be combined. Leaning on law means leaning on self. Exercising faith means leaning on Christ. As avenues by which men attempt to obtain salvation the two simply do not mix. They are thoroughly antagonistic."
Paul then closes by referencing Leviticus 18:5, which states,
"Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them."
Once again, we see that mankind can not possibly keep all the Lord's statutes all the time, so if a man tries to earn his way to Heaven he will be forced to live with the consequences of that choice, which means that he will spend eternity separated from God in the Lake of Fire.
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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