He Became a Curse

Believers receive favor from God. But there is the nasty possibility of rejecting His salvation as a gift and coming under a curse.

We do not like to think about such things, but the Bible tells us that whenever we try to earn something from God rather than receive it as a gift, we put ourselves under the law.

We condemn ourselves when we choose to trust our ability to obey the law. In fact, Paul quoted Deuteronomy 27:26 when he wrote, All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." (Gal 3:10 NIV) And no one can do everything.

This grates against most of us—and even against our upbringing. We want to think we deserve what we have. Many of us are performance oriented. We might look around and think we’re as good as most other people. And to make matters worse, if this is true, even though we can’t possibly fulfill the Law, the Law is still valid—still in effect.

But praise God! We can turn to Jesus. He fulfilled the law for us by always trusting His Father. He lived a perfect life. Yet in the end, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. . . . (v. 13) And that is God''s greatest gift of grace to His children.

Originally published October 21, 1988.
Picture: Commercial display, West Fargo, 2009. Photo by Solveig.

Does God Subvert Judgment?

The Biblical book of Job is confusing. Job tried to explain his condition to his friends by saying unthinkable words that seemed to blame God: He crushes me . . . and multiplies my wounds . . . For He is not a man . . . Let Him take His rod away from me, and do not let dread of Him terrify me. (Job 9:17-34)

Bildad the Shuhite was shocked by Job’s outbursts: How long will you speak these things. . . ? Does God subvert judgment? (Job 8:2,3 NKJV) To make matters worse, two additional friends named Eliphaz and Zophar agreed and said similar things. Furthermore, Job’s friends must have quoted truth because almost everything they said can be found in other portions of Scripture.

Yet, in the end, the friends were pronounced guilty. God instructed them to provide an offering so Job could sacrifice in their behalf and pray for them. Now, is that not confusing?

A big difference between Job and his friends was that Job trusted the person of God for salvation. Although the friends seemed to be God-focused as well, they focused on ideas about God. Perhaps they trusted more in being right—more in what they believed about God—than they trusted in God Himself.

Originally published September 27, 1992.

Picture: Lindenwood Park, Fargo, 2009. Photo by Solveig.