Grace in Galatians (Part 75): Religious People Are Cursed
Today, we continue our series entitled “Living the Grace Life,” where we will learn to embrace and walk in God’s unmerited, unearned, and often undeserved favor throughout 2025.
As part of this series, I am teaching a verse-by-verse exposition of the book of Galatians.
Key scriptures for this year:
(2 Corinthians 9:8 TPT)
"Yes, God is more than ready to overwhelm you with every form of grace, so that you will have more than enough of everything—every moment and in every way. He will make you overflow with abundance in every good thing you do."
(Galatians 5:4 TPT)
"If you want to be made right with God by fulfilling the obligations of the law, you have cut off more than your flesh—you have cut yourselves off from Christ and have fallen away from the revelation of grace!"
(Romans 6:14 ERV)
"Sin will not be your master, because you are not under law. You now live under God's grace."
(1 Corinthians 15:10 CEV)
"But God treated me with undeserved grace! He made me what I am, and his grace wasn't wasted. I worked much harder than any of the other apostles, although it was really God's grace at work and not me."
Scripture we will study today:
(Galatians 3:10 NIV)
“For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.'”
(Galatians 3:10 TPT)
“But if you rely on works of keeping the law for salvation, you live under the law’s curse. For it is clearly written: ‘Utterly cursed is everyone who does not fully obey everything that is written in the law!'”
(Deuteronomy 27:26 NIV)
“‘Cursed is anyone who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.’ Then all the people shall say, ‘Amen!'”
(James 2:10 NIV)
“For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”
Setting the Stage:
In the past few messages, we’ve been celebrating the truth that we’re blessed WITH Abraham through faith. We discovered that the blessing has been flowing for 4,000 years and that faith connects us to it. As we move to verse 10, we see that Paul drops another truth that should shake every religious person to their core: While those who rely on faith are BLESSED with Abraham, those who rely on keeping the Law are CURSED!
This is one of the most dramatic contrasts in the Bible! Paul isn’t mincing words here. He’s not saying those who rely on the Law are slightly disadvantaged or somewhat hindered. He says they’re CURSED! And not just cursed by Paul’s opinion, but cursed according to the very Law they’re trying to keep!
The Galatians were being deceived into thinking they could start with faith and finish with flesh, start with grace and complete with Law. But Paul is showing them (and us) that the moment you shift from faith to works, you don’t just lose some blessing; you move from the blessing to the curse!
So, what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. The Law Demands Perfection or Pronounces a Curse.
Paul quotes Deuteronomy 27:26 to prove his point: You must obey EVERYTHING written in the Law, not just most things, not just the big things, but EVERYTHING! Miss one requirement, and you’re cursed. This isn’t Paul being dramatic; this is what the Law itself declares!
How this applies to you:
— The Law doesn’t grade on a curve! It’s not like school, where 90% gets you an A. With the Law, 99.9% compliance still gets you a curse! You need 100% perfection, 100% of the time, from birth to death, in thought, word, and deed. One slip-up in 70+ years of living, and you’re cursed!
— The curse isn’t just for big sins; it’s for ANY violation! Did you ever tell a “white” lie? Cursed. Ever have a lustful thought? Cursed. Ever dishonor your parents even once? Cursed. Ever worked on the Sabbath? Cursed. The Law doesn’t distinguish between big sins and little sins; breaking is breaking!
— You can’t selectively keep the parts of the Law you like! Some Christians say, “Well, I keep the Ten Commandments.” But Paul was speaking to people who were attempting to keep those and the 603 additional commandments! Why? Because you can’t pick and choose which laws to follow. It’s all or nothing, and since you can’t do all, you get nothing but a curse!
— Every time you try to earn God’s favor through your performance, you’re placing yourself under a curse! Think about that! Your very attempt to be good enough for God through your own efforts doesn’t make you blessed; it makes you cursed!
— The Law is like a contract where breaking ANY clause voids the ENTIRE agreement! Imagine signing a 613-point contract where violating even one point cancels everything and brings a penalty. That’s exactly what relying on the Law means!
— Religious people who boast about their law-keeping are actually boasting about being under a curse! They don’t realize that their self-righteousness isn’t connecting them to blessing but to cursing. The very thing they think is making them holy is actually making them cursed!
— Stop trying to impress God with your law-keeping when He’s trying to bless you with His grace! Every moment you spend trying to qualify yourself through works is a moment you’re rejecting the blessing that comes through faith!
2. Self-Effort Activates the Curse, Not the Blessing.
Here’s a truth that may change your spiritual life: Your efforts to be good enough for God don’t move you closer to blessing; they move you deeper into cursing! The harder you try in your own strength, the more you activate the curse of the Law!
How this applies to you:
— Religion says “DO”; Grace says “DONE!” Religion puts the burden on you to perform; grace celebrates what Jesus has already performed!
— Religion focuses on your doing, and it leads to a curse. Grace focuses on your believing, and it leads to a blessing!
— Every time you think God is mad at you because of your performance, you’re thinking under Law, not grace! Under the Law, God’s mood toward you changes based on your behavior. Under grace, God’s love for you is constant based on Jesus’ behavior! You’re not blessed because you’re good; you’re blessed because HE’S good!
— Here’s another way to look at it: Your sweat doesn’t impress God; your faith does! God isn’t looking for your religious perspiration (self-effort); He’s looking for your spiritual participation through faith (believing)!
— The curse comes from trusting in your own ability to keep God’s standards! The moment you say, “I can do this,” or “I’ll try harder,” or “I’ll be better,” if the emphasis is on YOU, then you are essentially saying, “I don’t need grace; I’ve got this!” Paul is teaching us that this type of self-reliance activates the curse, not the blessing!
— Your best day of law-keeping still leaves you cursed; your worst day of faith still leaves you blessed! This is what Phillip Yancey calls “the scandal of grace!” Think about the implications: The Pharisee who fasted twice a week, tithed on everything, including his spices, memorized large portions of Scripture, and kept the Sabbath meticulously was MORE cursed than the tax collector who simply cried out “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” The religious expert who kept 612 out of 613 commandments perfectly was infinitely more cursed than the thief on the cross who had nothing to offer but faith in his final moments.
— Grace violates the sense of fairness and merit that religious people are focused on. They want God to operate like a heavenly accountant, tallying our good deeds against our bad ones. But grace operates on a completely different economy – it’s not about the score of your performance but the source of your trust. The failing believer who trusts in Jesus is more blessed than the performing religionist who trusts in themselves.
— This means on your absolute worst day (when you’ve failed miserably, when you’ve let everyone down, when you can’t even look at yourself in the mirror), if you’re still trusting in Jesus, you’re still blessed! Meanwhile, someone else, on their best religious performance day (when they’ve checked every religious box, served at every church event, and followed every rule), if they’re trusting in that performance, they’re still cursed! This is why grace is both scandalous and glorious!
3. There Are Only Two Systems: Blessing or Cursing.
Paul is establishing that there are only two operating systems in the spiritual realm: the faith system that brings blessing and the works system that brings cursing. You can’t run both systems simultaneously. You can’t have dual citizenship in both kingdoms. You must choose!
How this applies to you:
— You’re either in the blessing zone or the cursing zone; there’s no neutral zone! You can’t be partially blessed and partially cursed. You can’t have grace for salvation but Law for sanctification. It’s one system or the other, all the time!
— Mixing grace and Law doesn’t give you the best of both; it gives you the curse! Paul will say in Galatians 5:4 that if you try to be justified by Law, you’ve fallen from grace! Adding Law to grace doesn’t enhance grace; it cancels grace!
— You can’t earn what’s already yours through inheritance! The blessing is yours through faith, period. Trying to earn it through works doesn’t make you more deserving; it disqualifies you from receiving!
— The faith system is rest; the works system is stress! Under faith, you rest in what Jesus did. Under works, you stress about what you must do. One brings peace; the other brings pressure. One brings blessing; the other brings cursing!
— Your choosing between systems happens daily, even moment by moment! Every time you face a challenge, you choose: Will I trust God’s grace (blessing) or my own effort (cursing)? Choose wisely.
4. The Curse of the Law Makes Grace Even More Amazing.
Understanding the severity of the curse makes you appreciate the glory of grace! You can’t fully appreciate the blessing until you understand the curse you’ve been delivered from! This is why Paul spends time on the curse; not to condemn us but to help us celebrate our freedom!
How this applies to you:
— You’ve been rescued from an impossible situation! The Law demanded perfection you couldn’t achieve and pronounced a curse you couldn’t escape. But Jesus achieved perfection for you, and He bore the curse! You’re not just forgiven; you’re free from an entire system of cursing!
— The curse wasn’t removed; it was redirected to Jesus! This is the great exchange: He took your curse and gave you His blessing! He took your sin and gave you His righteousness! He took your death and gave you His life! Every curse that should have hit you hit Him instead!
— Understanding the curse protects you from going back to Law! Once you truly understand that Law-keeping leads to cursing, not blessing, you’ll never want to go back to that system!
— The severity of the curse reveals the intensity of God’s love! God didn’t minimize the curse or pretend it didn’t exist. He took its full force upon Himself in Christ! The curse that would have destroyed you was absorbed by the One who loved you!
— You’re not hoping to avoid the curse; you’re celebrating that it’s already been avoided! In Christ, the curse is not your future threat but your past victory! It’s not something you’re running from but something He’s already freed you from!
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for delivering me from the curse of the Law!
I declare I will not rely on my works but on Your grace alone.
I choose the blessing system of faith over the cursing system of self-effort.
My performance doesn’t determine my position; Jesus’ performance does!
I’m not trying to earn what You’ve already given me by grace.
The curse can’t touch me because Jesus became a curse for me.
I refuse to mix Law with grace, works with faith, or earning with receiving.
Every curse that should have been mine was redirected to the cross.
I rest in the finished work of Jesus, not in my unfinished efforts.
I am blessed with Abraham through faith, not cursed through law-keeping.
I am Living #TheGraceLife and GREATER IS COMING FOR ME!
I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
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