Tomorrow’s
FAMILIES TODAY
God’s Commandments: Curse or Blessing?
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f you are an older teen or young adult, you may have come to understand that you need a guide— someone or something helping you to avoid the pitfalls that life will throw your way. The Bible can be that guide, and the Ten Commandments—and other commands God gives in His word—have provided thousands the sort of guidance you are seeking. However, there are many who would warn you away from these time-honored laws. Some who consider themselves Christian try to say that God’s commandments don’t need to be kept anymore, because Jesus Christ kept them for us. “Those old commandments were nailed to the cross!” they say. In fact, they often use the Bible itself to claim that the Ten Commandments and other elements of God’s law are actually a curse. Don’t be deceived! These are some of the greatest lies ever devised, and the claim that God’s laws are a “curse” has been perpetrated by none other than Satan himself, the father of lies (John 8:44). Don’t believe it, not even for a second. The Devil does not want you to benefit from the blessings that come from living according to the commands and laws of the Bible. Is there, in fact, a “curse of the law“? If so, how did Christ redeem us from it? Let’s look at the evidence together. A Bible Passage Twisted The key passage of the Bible around which this entire question revolves is Galatians 3:13, which begins, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us….” The Apostle Paul wrote this, but just what did he mean when he wrote it?
24 Tomorrow’s World | May-June 2019
First, notice that this verse does not say that we do not need to keep the spiritual laws of God. Paul also wrote the Book of Romans, which states that “the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good” (Romans 7:12). Paul was also inspired to write that “not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified” (Romans 2:13). Paul did not contradict himself, but many people twist what he wrote and what he said (1 Peter 3:14–16). Secondly, this verse does not say that we will be put under a curse if we seek to obey God’s commands. In fact, the Scripture shows just the opposite to be true—that keeping God’s laws can bring blessings (see Leviticus 26:1–13; and Deuteronomy 28:1–14)! Keeping God’s spiritual laws will result in a happy, interesting, and fulfilling life. Breaking God’s laws brings curses, not keeping them! The Consequence of Lawlessness So what is the “curse of the law” that Paul refers to in Galatians 3? Put simply, it is the death penalty for disobedience. Romans 6:23 clearly tells us, “the wages of sin is death.” James wrote that each of us “is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (James 1:14–15). Sin is lawlessness, disobedience to God’s spiritual law (1 John 3:4). Over and over, the Bible tells us to repent of sinning—which means turning away from breaking God’s commandments and beginning to keep them. This is one of the first steps to receiving God’s forgiveness and salvation (Acts 2:38). If we hope to
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