Galatians 3:13: What is this curse that Christ became?

October 31st 2015 | 68175 views 

It helps to have some history of the book of Galatians. Some Jews had accepted Jesus as their Messiah but were not willing to accept that the Law given by God had been replaced. They insisted that it was necessary for salvation that Christians keep the Law.

The Apostle Paul heard of this and wanted to set this important matter straight. He wanted them to know that "There is salvation in none other, for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, by which we must be saved!” (Acts 4:12)

Then Paul said in Galatians 3:13, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,’” (Quoted from Deuteronomy 21:23). This referred to the curse for not keeping the Law. This curse was added on to the original curse of the ground (Genesis 3:17-18) because of Adam's disobedience by eating the fruit he was told not to. The consequence of that sin was death. 

Paul is showing that by taking the severest penalty for breaking the Law, dying hanging on a tree, Jesus took the penalty for everyone who broke the Law (and this could only be broken by those who accepted this Covenant from God, as the Jews had said "all that the Lord has commanded we will do" - Exodus 19:8).

Galatians 3:13 teaches that Jesus’ death provided the needed pardon for those who lived under the condemnation of the Mosaic Law. The Law itself was good, but it couldn’t bring life to fallen humans because no one could keep it perfectly. Every Jewish person found themselves in bondage to this covenant — always falling short, always condemned by its standards. The only way out of that special condemnation was to “die” to the Law through Christ.

Under the Law, there was a specific and severe penalty for certain crimes: being hung on a tree. This wasn’t Adam’s penalty — Adam’s sentence was simply death — but the Law added this heightened curse for Jewish offenders. Jesus was born as a Jew, “under the Law,” and he kept it flawlessly. Because of that perfect obedience, he became the rightful heir to all of its earthly promises. Yet to free the Jewish people from the Law’s curse, he willingly took that very penalty upon himself by dying on the cross. In doing so, he met every demand of the Law and bore its curse on their behalf.

When a Jewish believer accepts Christ and becomes “dead with him,” the Law’s claims are fully satisfied. They are no longer condemned by the covenant they could never keep. Instead, they stand justified — counted clean, forgiven, and covered by Jesus’ righteousness. And through this redemption, they gain access to something far greater: they are grafted into the Abrahamic promise itself, becoming part of the spiritual seed and heirs of the blessings God originally promised to Abraham.

Jesus took the full penalty for both curses. He died to take the place of Adam to redeem all of Adam's race, and he did this on a tree to redeem the Jews from the curse of the Law. This made Jesus a ransom for all, both Jews and Gentiles (1 Timothy 2:6).

Additional Resource:
Christian Questions Podcast
Episode #1084: Does the Old Testament Law Apply to Me?
Understanding what to take and what to leave from the Jewish Law
Preview Video
CQ Rewind Show Notes

Related Questions