The apostle Paul wrote: “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law…having become a curse for us…” (Col. 3:13).

Before you go and pop the cork on that bottle of champagne upon hearing this news regarding what Christ did…may I challenge you to take a moment to consider this: who was Paul referring to there when he mentions….'us'? Who are the ones that are actually included in that great news…about being ‘redeemed from the curse’?

I only do that because we know how easy it is for people to ‘jump to conclusions’ when they read various scriptures and just automatically ‘assume’…it applies to them, especially when it comes to being on the receiving end of blessings and/or good news.

How many people are we told in Matt. 7:22 will ‘come in that day’…when they stand before God and just presume they are ‘in’ as they list all those glorious works they did in ‘His name’, only to discover that Jesus ‘never knew them’? (Matt. 7:23)

And how many people did Jesus imply would be on the ‘broad road that leads to a wide gate’…in Matt. 7:13-14…thinking it leads to ‘life’…but will tragically discover just the opposite?

Would you just pause for a moment and let those thoughts sink in, please?

Because of widespread, faulty teaching that can be misleading, many…sincere ‘church members’ are in for a rude awakening when they come to discover that yes, God’s law does indeed still stand today…and it ‘brings a curse’ …along with ‘wrath’ (Rom. 4:15). And Jesus Himself made it quite clear that He did NOT come to ‘abolish the law’ (Matt. 5:17).

Were you aware that Paul affirms that the ‘law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good’ (Rom. 7:12)…and he also spells out why…the law remains to be good…if used lawfully. He even tells us who the law is for, there in 1 Tim. 1:8-11, and those who are ‘righteous’ need not worry about the law since it is set in place to deal with... ‘law breakers’.  Isn't that the purpose for most laws, in general?

Maybe putting it this way will help – far too many people who call themselves ‘Christian’ today…have been led to believe that since they made a ‘profession of faith’ and ‘joined a church’ somewhere…that they are somehow immune to the law, because they are ‘in the faith’, or are ‘under grace…and no longer subject to (or under) the law’ (Rom. 6:14).

In other words, that would be like thinking you can no longer receive a ticket for speeding, or parking illegally, or not have to pay a fine if you are late sending in your taxes, etc., because you are now a ‘Christian'. Imagine standing before a judge in traffic court and hearing the charges read against you…before you look up to the judge with a smile and inform him that you are ‘no longer under the law’…and that ‘Jesus paid it all’. What will be the response of that judge, do you suppose?

So when we are told that ‘Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law’…the ‘us’ he is referring to are those who are actually being ‘led by God’s Spirit’ (Gal. 5:18). They are no longer subject to the law because they are no longer walking ‘according to the flesh, but the Spirit’ (Gal. 5:16; Rom. 8:1,4).

Friends…’faith’ and the ‘law’ are not in conflict with one another; on the contrary…people of ’faith confirm, or uphold…the law’ (Rom. 3:31). Why do you suppose Paul wrote that it’s ‘not the hearers of the law who are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law who will be justified’ (Rom. 2:13). People of faith will demonstrate that the ‘law has been written upon their hearts’ (Rom. 2:14) and are walking in the love of God, which is how ‘all men will know we are His disciples’ (John 13:34-35). Did you even know that was in your NT Bible???

And remember…what embodies all of God’s law? Love does; love is the fulfilling of the law, loving God with all our hearts and loving our neighbor as ourself. (Gal. 5:13-15; Rom. 13:8-10; James 2:8-11; Matt. 22:36-40)

Last question for today: How on earth could any of us be expected to fulfill God’s law, which is summed up by loving others with the same nature and character of God…without having His nature and character (love) residing in and flowing through us?

It. Is. Impossible.

Unless…we have His divine nature in us…which He freely imparts to those who come to Him with all their heart (2 Pet. 1:2-4; John 3:30)

When I lived back in Texas, I used to offer these photography classes where I helped folks get out of shooting in ‘Auto’ mode on their cameras and learn to shoot in ‘manual mode’, which in turn would hopefully improve their skills (and images). I would always inform them up front that there were three basic camera settings they would need to learn and master in order to do this. I always told them that I did not want to burden them with a bunch of ‘technical’ stuff, but it was imperative that they do learn and grasp what those three settings did, and how they interacted with each other. I also had to cover all 3 settings in that one class session, which could be overwhelming at times, but it was not like you could just go out and practice one of those settings and not worry about the other two, because they all were dependent on each other. i.e. – if you adjusted your ISO, that would affect your shutter speed, and then you’d need to adjust your aperture.

So it is with this study on what I have termed ‘3 pillars of truth’ that are essential for our foundational understanding on what it means to follow Jesus, or ‘abide’ in Him. For a number of reasons, we have been lacking in our understanding when it comes to The Law, The Flesh, and The Devil, and how and why all three are ‘connected’. It’s not like I can just address one of these without tying in the other two, try as I may at times. Tomorrow, we will direct our attention to that ‘third setting’, or ‘pillar’, and hopefully it will shed more light as to why ‘God’s people'…even today...are still being 'destroyed for a lack of knowledge’ (Hosea 4:6)