AUGUST 11, 2025 – CHRIST

READ: Gal. 3:10–14: … the just shall live by faith … Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us …

Law-keeping and faith are mutually exclusive when it comes to the blessing of salvation. If you depend on the law, you are still under its curse, since you cannot fulfill it entirely. You remain guilty (Rom. 3:23). As the LORD says in Deut. 27:26: “Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law by observing them”.

Because of our sinful nature, perfectly keeping the law is impossible. No one is freed from the law’s curse by relying on obedience to it.

Salvation is possible only through faith in God and His promises, because Christ fulfilled the punishment and perfectly kept the law. At the cross, He redeemed us by becoming a curse Himself. This is how Abraham’s blessing also came to the Gentiles.

Paul speaks sternly to the Galatians who followed false teachers—but in his sternness, the gospel of free grace still shines through. The only thing the Lord asks of us to be saved is to believe in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross, and to live from that faith. Nothing from ourselves contributes to our salvation.

What the Galatians needed to hear, we still need today: to let go of our own efforts as a basis for our salvation. This does not mean we don’t live for God. Out of thankfulness, we should serve the Lord with our whole lives as evidence of true faith (Matt. 7:17–20; James 2:20–24). But it all remains pure grace.

If you truly believe in your Saviour, then the Holy Spirit will dwell and work in you, so that by His power you will also bear the fruits of faith that the Lord desires (v.14).

Is believing in Christ easy—or difficult?

Sing: Ps. 103:4