t sin, death, and the curse are void,
why, they are null, zero. Whenever sin and death make you nervous write
it down as an illusion of the devil. There is no sin now, no curse, no
death, no devil because Christ has done away with them. This fact is
sure. There is nothing wrong with the fact. The defect lies in our lack
of faith.

In the Apostolic Creed we confess: "I believe in the holy Christian
Church." That means, I believe that there is no sin, no curse, no evil
in the Church of God. Faith says: "I believe that." But if you want to
believe your eyes you will find many shortcomings and offenses in the
members of the holy Church. You see them succumb to temptation, you see
them weak in faith, you see them giving way to anger, envy, and other
evil dispositions. "How can the Church be holy?" you ask. It is with
the Christian Church as it is with the individual Christian. If I
examine myself I find enough unholiness to shock me. But when I look at
Christ in me I find that I am altogether holy. And so it is with the
Church.

Holy Writ does not say that Christ was under the curse. It says
directly that Christ was made a curse. In II Corinthians 5:21 Paul
writes: "For he (God) hath made him (Christ) to be sin for us, who knew
no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
Although this and similar passages may be properly explained by saying
that Christ was made a sacrifice for the curse and for sin, yet in my
judgment it is better to leave these passages stand as they read:
Christ was made sin itself; Christ was made the curse itself. When a
sinner gets wise to himself he does not only feel miserable, he feels
like misery personified; he does not only feel like a sinner, he feels
like sin itself.

To finish with this verse: All evils would have overwhelmed us, as they
shall overwhelm the unbelievers forever, if Christ had not become the
great transgressor and guilty bearer of all our sins. The sins of the
world got Him down for a moment. They came around Him like water. Of
Christ, the Old Testament Prophet complained: "Thy fierce wrath goeth
over me; thy terrors have cut me off." (Psalm 88 16.) By Christ's
salvation we have been delivered from the terrors of God to a life of
eternal felicity.

VERSE 14. That the blessing of Abraham might come, on the Gentiles
through Jesus Christ.

Paul always keeps this text before him: "In thy seed shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed." The blessing promised unto Abraham
could come upon the Gentiles only by Christ, the seed of Abraham. To
become a blessing unto all nations Christ had to be made a curse to
take away the curse from the nations of the earth. The merit that we
plead, and the work that we proffer is Christ who was made a curse for
us.

Let us become expert in the art of transferring our sins, our death,
and every evil from ourselves to Christ; and Christ's righteousness and
blessing from Christ to ourselves.

VERSE 14. That we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith.

"The promise of the Spirit" is Hebrew for "the promised Spirit." The
Spirit spells freedom from the Law, sin, death, the curse, hell, and
the judgment of God. No merits are mentioned in connection with this
promise of the Spirit and all the blessings that go with Him. This
Spirit of many blessings is received by faith alone. Faith alone builds
on the promises of God, as Paul says in this verse.

Long ago the prophets visualized the happy changes Christ would effect
in all things. Despite the fact that the Jews had the Law of God they
never ceased to look longingly for Christ. After Moses no prophet or
king added a single law to the Book. Any changes or additions were
deferred to the time of Christ's coming. Moses told the people: "The
Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee,
of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken." (Deut.
18:15.)

God's people of old felt that the Law of Moses could not be improved
upon until the Messiah would bring better things than the Law, i.e.,
grace and remission of sins.

VERSE 15. Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a
man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth
thereto.

After the preceding, well-taken argument, Paul offers another based on
the similarity between a man's testament and God's testament. A man's
testament seems too weak a premise for the Apostle to argue from in
confirmation of so important a matter as justification. We ought to
prove earthly things by heavenly things, and not heavenly things by
earthly things. But where the earthly thing is an ordinance of God we
may use it to prove divine matters. In Matthew 7:11 Christ Himself
argued from earthly to heavenly things when He said: "If ye then, being
evil, know how to give good gifts to your children; how much more shall
your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"

To come to Paul's argument. Civil law, which is God's ordinance,
prohibits tampering with any testament of man. Any person's last will
and testament must be respected. Paul asks: "Why is it that man's last
will is scrupulously respected and not God's testament? You would not
think of breaking faith with a man's testament. Why do you not keep
faith with God's testament?"

The Apostle says that he is speaking after the manner of men. He means
to say: "I will give you an illustration from the customs of men. If a
man's last will is respected, and it is, how much more ought the
testament of God be honored: 'In thy seed shall all the nations of the
earth be blessed.' When Christ died, this testament was sealed by His
blood. After His death the testament was opened, it was published to
the nations. No man ought to alter God's testament as the false
apostles do who substitute the Law and traditions of men for the
testament of God."

As the false prophets tampered with God's testament in the days of
Paul, so many do in our day. They will observe human laws
punctiliously, but the laws of God they transgress without the flicker
of an eyelid. But the time will come when they will find out that it is
no joke to pervert the testament of God.

VERSE 16. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith
not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is
Christ.

The word testament is another name for the promise that God made unto
Abraham concerning Christ. A testament is not a law, but an
inheritance. Heirs do not look for laws and assessments when they open
a last will; they look for grants and favors. The testament which God
made out to Abraham did not contain laws. It contained promises of
great spiritual blessings.

The promises were made in view of Christ, in one seed, not in many
seeds. The Jews will not accept this interpretation. They insist that
the singular "seed" is put for the plural "seeds." We prefer the
interpretation of Paul, who makes a fine case for Christ and for us out
of the singular "seed," and is after all inspired to do so by the Holy
Ghost.

VERSE 17. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before
of God in Christ, the law which was four hundred and thirty years
after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.

The Jews assert that God was not satisfied with His promises, but after
four hundred and thirty years He gave the Law. "God," they say, "must
have mistrusted His own promises, and considered them inadequate for
salvation. Therefore He added to His promises something better, the
Law. The Law," they say, "canceled the promises."

Paul answers: "The Law was given four hundred and thirty years after
the promise was made to Abraham. The Law could not cancel the promise
because the promise was the testament of God, confirmed by God in
Christ many years before the Law. What God has once promised He does
not take back. Every promise of God is a ratified promise."

Why was the Law added to the promise? Not to serve as a medium by which
the promise might be obtained. The Law was added for these reasons:
That there might be in the world a special people, rigidly controlled
by the Law, a people out of which Christ should be born in due time;
and that men burdened by many laws might sigh and long for Him, their
Redeemer, the seed of Abraham. Even the ceremonies prescribed by the
Law foreshadowed Christ. Therefore the Law was never meant to cancel
the promise of God. The Law was meant to confirm the promise until the
time should come when God would open His testament in the Gospel of
Jesus Christ.

God did well in giving the promise so many years before the Law, that
it may never be said that righteousness is granted through the Law and
not through the promise. If God had meant for us to be justified by the
Law, He would have given the Law four hundred and thirty years before
the promise, at least He would have given the Law at the same time He
gave the promise. But He never breathed a word about the Law until four
hundred years after. The promise is therefore better than the Law. The
Law does not cancel the promise, but faith in the promised Christ
cancels the Law.

The Apostle is careful to mention the exact number of four hundred and
thirty years. The wide divergence in the time between the promise and
the Law helps to clinch Paul's argument that righteousness is not
obtained by the Law.

Let me illustrate. A man of great wealth adopts a strange lad for his
son. Remember, he does not owe the lad anything. In due time he
appoints the lad heir to his entire fortune. Several years later the
old man asks the lad to do something for him. And the young lad does
it. Can the lad then go around and say that he deserved the inheritance
by his obedience to the old man's request? How can anybody say that
righteousness is obtained by obedience to the Law when the Law was
given four hundred and thirty years after God's promise of the
blessing?

One thing is certain, Abraham was never justified by the Law, for the
simple reason that the Law was not in his day. If the Law was
non-existent how could Abraham obtain righteousness by the Law? Abraham
had nothing else to go by but the promise. This promise he believed and
that was counted unto him for righteousness. If the father obtained
righteousness through faith, the children get it the same way.

We use the argument of time also. We say our sins were taken away by
the death of Christ fifteen hundred years ago, long before there were
any religious orders, canons, or rules of penance, merits, etc. What
did people do about their sins before these new inventions were hatched
up?

Paul finds his arguments for the righteousness of faith everywhere.
Even the element of time serves to build his case against the false
apostles. Let us fortify our conscience with similar arguments. They
help us in the trials of our faith. They turn our attention from the
Law to the promises, from sin to righteousness; from death to life.

It is not for nothing that Paul bears down on this argument. He foresaw
this confusion of the promise and the Law creeping into the Church.
Accustom yourself to separate Law and Gospel even in regard to time.
When the Law comes to pay your conscience a visit, say: "Mister Law,
you come too soon. The four hundred and thirty years aren't up yet.
When they are up, you come again. Won't you?"

VERSE 18. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of
promise.

In Romans 4:14, the Apostle writes: "For if they which are made of the
law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect."
It cannot be otherwise. That the Law is something entirely different
from the promise is plain. The Law thunders: "Thou shalt, thou shalt
not." The promise of the "seed" pleads: "Take this gift of God." If the
inheritance of the gifts of God were obtained by the Law, God would be
a liar. We would have the right to ask Him: "Why did you make this
promise in the first place: 'In thy seed shall all the nations of the
earth be blessed'? Why did you not say: 'In thy works thou shalt be
blessed'?"

VERSE 18. But God gave it to Abraham by promise.

So much is certain, before the Law ever existed, God gave Abraham the
inheritance or blessing by the promise. In other words, God granted
unto Abraham remission of sins, righteousness, salvation, and
everlasting life. And not only to Abraham but to all believers, because
God said: "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."
The blessing was given unconditionally. The Law had no chance to butt
in because Moses was not yet born. "How then can you say that
righteousness is obtained by the Law?"

The Apostle now goes to work to explain the province and purpose of the
Law.

VERSE 19. Wherefore then serveth the law?

The question naturally arises: If the Law was not given for
righteousness or salvation, why was it given? Why did God give the Law
in the first place if it cannot justify a person?

The Jews believed if they kept the Law they would be saved. When they
heard that the Gospel proclaimed a Christ who had come into the world
to save sinners and not the righteous; when they heard that sinners
were to enter the kingdom of heaven before the righteous, the Jews were
very much put out. They murmured: "These last have wrought but one
hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the
burden and heat of the day." (Matthew 20:12.) They complained that the
heathen who at one time had been worshipers of idols obtained grace
without the drudgery of the Law that was theirs.

Today we hear the same complaints. "What was the use of our having
lived in a cloister, twenty, thirty, forty years; what was the sense of
having vowed chastity, poverty, obedience; what good are all the masses
and canonical hours that we read; what profit is there in fasting,
praying, etc., if any man or woman, any beggar or scour woman is to be
made equal to us, or even be considered more acceptable unto God than
we?"

Reason takes offense at the statement of Paul: "The law was added
because of transgressions." People say that Paul abrogated the Law,
that he is a radical, that he blasphemed God when he said that. People
say: "We might as well live like wild people if the Law does not count.
Let us abound in sin that grace may abound. Let us do evil that good
may come of it."

What are we to do? Such scoffing distresses us, but we cannot stop it.
Christ Himself was accused of being a blasphemer and rebel. Paul and
all the other apostles were told the same things. Let the scoffers
slander us, let them spare us not. But we must not on their account
keep silent. We must speak frankly in order that afflicted consciences
may find surcease. Neither are we to pay any attention to the foolish
and ungodly people for abusing our doctrine. They are the kind that
would scoff, Law or no Law. Our first consideration must be the comfort
of troubled consciences, that they may not perish with the multitudes.

When he saw that some were offended at his doctrine, while others found
in it encouragement to live after the flesh, Paul comforted himself
with the thought that it was his duty to preach the Gospel to the elect
of God, and that for their sake he must endure all things. Like Paul we
also do all these things for the sake of God's elect. As for the
scoffers and skeptics, I am so disgusted with them that in all my life
I would not open my mouth for them once. I wish that they were back
there where they belong under the iron heel of the Pope.

People foolish but wise in their conceits jump to the conclusion: If
the Law does not justify, it is good for nothing. How about that?
Becau