Your correspondent (whatever force he may attach to the word "curse"), in denying "that Christ died as a curse, either for Jew or Gentile," is at direct variance with scripture, for the statement in Gal. 3:1313Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: (Galatians 3:13), relating, at any rate, to the Jew, is this: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." The quotation made by the apostle, and applied to Christ, is from Deut. 21:2323His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance. (Deuteronomy 21:23), where it runs thus: "For he that is hanged is accursed of God." The Jew was under the law, with its appended curse, by divine appointment, and from the curse thus entailed on him he could only be delivered by Christ's undergoing the curse for him; and whatever is comprehended under the expression, "he that is hanged is accursed of God," Christ underwent, in order to redeem the believing Jew.
In a way your correspondent admits this, for he says, "That He died under the curse of the law, I admit, but this was only for the Jews, who had deliberately placed themselves under law as a means of justification, and therein entailed its curse upon themselves, the curse which its non-fulfillment carried with it; but then the law was ordained (not of God), but by angels, in the hands of a mediator." But, as will be seen, his statement of the case takes away the true force of the curse, by making it merely the penalty attached to a law, "ordained (not by God), but by angels," which, therefore, had not the direct authority, and thus the judgment of God appended to it. This is to destroy the integrity of the law itself, and with it the true work of redemption wrought by Christ on the cross, by which the Jew was delivered from its curse, for God Himself has no place in it as the Judge whose claims have been satisfied.
Now, "ordained by angels" is merely the statement that God used them as instruments to communicate the law to the mediator, and it would be correctly rendered, “ordained through (διά) angels." In Acts 7:5353Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. (Acts 7:53), Stephen speaks of the Jews as having "received the law by the disposition of angels," but that by no means implies that they were its authoritative source. Scripture uniformly speaks of the law as "the law of God," or "the law of the Lord." To connect the law with angels, as if their authority was represented in it, is, I repeat, to destroy its integrity and with this its power over the conscience, as being the claim of God on man as His creature, and the measure of his obedience to Him. That it is this, your correspondent surely would not deny.
The Jew was formally put by God under this claim, as a test; nor is this touched by his being himself a party to its imposition by accepting it, his conscience- as must every conscience- bowed to its just demand. The law was God's law, and the penalty imposed for its breach was God's curse. This curse Christ on the cross bore in all its terrible reality.
Now, while in a special way the Jew was under law, and stood ostensibly on this footing before God, the law itself is the expression and measure of God's claim over men generally as His creatures, so that, if not formally under it dispensationally, they are all responsible to meet its requirements, and this is distinctly stated by the apostle Paul, as to Gentiles, in Rom. 2:1515Which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) (Romans 2:15): "For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: which show the work of the law written in their hearts, and their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing, or else excusing one another." Thus, though not under "the law," they have "the work of the law" written in their hearts, and they will be judged according to its requirements, as recognized by their own consciences.
It is of all importance to see clearly that God has claims over man as His creature, which neither originate with, nor depend upon, "the law" for their authority. These claims the conscience of man, whether with or without law, acknowledges. How to be "just with God" under these claims is another question, and involves the principle that touches Jew and Gentile alike- "The just shall live by faith." Outside this ground all perish, though the judgment in each case will vary according to the light and privileges that have been enjoyed, according to God's sovereign pleasure.
In this connection it is important to recognize another thing, and that is, that while Jews are specially and dispensationally under the curse of a broken law, it is stated in Gal. 3:1010For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. (Galatians 3:10), as a principle of universal application, that "As many as are on the principle of works of law are under curse" (new translation). Now this is not the same thing as saying, that all that are of the works of the law are under the curse of the law, as this would confine it to Jews, who alone are under "the law." It is the statement of the principle that underlies "the law," and "the law" is appealed to as the declared proof of the principle, but the principle has held good from Adam downwards, and stands in contrast with that of the principle of justification by faith. Abel represents the one; Cain the other. Faith is the principle on which blessing depends, while "works of law" is the principle that entails the curse. The Jews under the first covenant are the dispensational proof of this latter, and thus the apostle uses their condition as a warning to Gentiles, while laying the ground of blessing for Jew and Gentile alike in the cross, where Christ was made a curse for them.
While fully, then, admitting that the Jews are specially under the curse of a broken law, and that Christ bore this curse for them, it is, I believe, going far beyond scripture, and opposed to its teachings, to say, "The thought of sin carrying with it the curse of God is absolutely unscriptural." This would imply that none but Jews are under God's curse, and that nothing but a distinct breach of "the law" involves man in eternal condemnation, which "the curse of God" entails. And further, if "the curse of God" and "the curse of the law" are not the same in effect, and the curse of the law be only the penalty attached to the breach of "the law ordained (not by God), but by angels," none are under "the curse of God," none will be eternally lost, and all Christ redeemed the Jews from, by being made a curse for them, was some penalty short of eternal condemnation, a penalty measured by the mere hanging on the tree, and which the thief that went to paradise with Christ endured for himself; so that, as far as "the curse of the law" was concerned, he was redeemed from nothing by the Savior who hung by his side.
Is this really what your correspondent means? for he says, "I do not accept the view that Christ died as a curse, either for Jew or Gentile;" adding, "if He died as a curse, or under the curse of God, for mankind generally, Jew or Gentile, you must show me where man, as such, was ever cursed." The question may fairly come up here, What is involved in being "cursed of God"? If it only means hanging on a tree, a certain mode of death, then none but those who have been hanged have been "cursed of God," and if tied down to a breach of "the law," none but Jews, and only some of them, have been the subjects of it.
But let us see what scripture says about the curse. In Gen. 3:1414And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: (Genesis 3:14), where it is first mentioned, we find Satan the subject of it: "And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field: upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:" a curse as enduring as the existence of the being cursed, and having its unending and full accomplishment in the lake of fire. (Rev. 20:1010And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:10).) Then, in Gen. 3:1717And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; (Genesis 3:17), the earth is cursed because of Adam's sin, and a curse, the effects of which are all around us to-day, and which will remain unrelieved until the manifestation of the sons of God. (Rom. 8:1919For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. (Romans 8:19).) Next, in Gen. 4:1111And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; (Genesis 4:11), man himself, in the person of Cain, is "cursed from the earth" for killing his brother, and he begins the world, a social and political system of happiness without God, and founded on indifference to the curse resting on himself and the scene around him After the flood we find God saying, that in consequence of the sacrifice offered by Noah (Christ on the cross typically), He would "not again curse the ground for man s sake," but man himself is again cursed, as we read, "Cursed be Canaan " (Gen. 9:2525And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. (Genesis 9:25).)
Subsequently, again and again, we find man cursed in connection with sin, when no question of "the law," as such, is raised. In Jer. 17 on the general ground of unbelief: "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord." Then, in Matt. 25:4141Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: (Matthew 25:41), man is cursed for the rejection of Christ in the person of His brethren, at the close of the dispensation, in these terms: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." In 1 Cor. 16:2222If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha. (1 Corinthians 16:22) we read, " If any man love not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema." Very many other instances might be referred to, but enough has been educed to show that the curse is not confined to a breach of "the law," and it is plain that man, and the earth with him, are under the "curse attached to sin," and also that it is "the curse of God."
The testing of the Jew under law has proved that man cannot get from under the curse by law-keeping, but only brings it distinctly on himself by taking that ground. It is here the work of Christ on the cross comes in. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: that the blessing of Abraham might come on them through Jesus Christ, and that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." (Gal. 3:13,1413Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:13‑14).)
It may be questioned here whether the "being made a curse" has any reference to Gentiles? But one thing is clear, that the cross gives the manner of death that answers to "hangeth on a tree," and is the proof given by the apostle that Christ was made a curse. Have we, then, no part in the cross- the manner of our blessed Lord's death? If so, why, then, does Jesus Himself connect God's love to the world, and thus "mankind generally" with this mode of death, when He says, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life"? (John 3:14,1514And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:14‑15).) And again, later on, when He exclaims, "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die." (John 12:31-3331Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. 32And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. 33This he said, signifying what death he should die. (John 12:31‑33).) Mark, too, here it is "the Son of man," not simply " the Christ," that is lifted up.
Your correspondent concludes with some remarks that read very strangely. "If you say," he remarks, "the curse you refer to relates not to law at all, but to sin, then, I say, where in scripture do you find a curse attached to sin? (I mean, of course, the curse of God). Had it been so, then redemption itself were impossible. ‘The strength of sin is the law,’ and its penalty death, and this Christ bore for us." What does he mean by "a curse attached to sin" rendering redemption impossible? and what connection has this with "the strength of sin is the law"? Then, again, is death, pure and simple, without what the "curse of God" implies- His wrath and eternal reprobation, all the penalty that sin has attached to it? Is this all that Jesus went through to save us from the consequences of our sins? Is there no second death- "the lake of fire"- for man to be saved from?
Let death itself, and that death the death of the cross- the hanging on the tree- be ever so terrible, it is what lies behind it, what death enshrouds- the curse of God- the wrath of God- that gives to death its true character as the judgment of God upon sin. This Christ tasted in all its awfulness when hanging on the tree, and expressed in those words of unfathomable agony, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" That alone can tell us what it is to be "accursed of God." C. W.