Reading Galatians With John StottSample

Under God's Curse

After utter astonishment, Paul’s second reaction to the situation in Galatia was indignation over the false teachers. Now he pronounces a solemn curse on them. The Greek word translated “under God’s curse” is anathema. It was used in the Greek Old Testament for the divine ban, the curse of God that rested upon anything or anyone devoted by him to destruction. So the apostle Paul desires that these false teachers should come under the divine ban, curse, or anathema. That is, he expresses the wish that God’s judgment will fall upon them.

Should we dismiss this anathema as an intemperate outburst? Should we reject it as a sentiment inconsistent with the Spirit of Christ and unworthy of the gospel of Christ? At least two considerations indicate that this apostolic anathema was not the expression of Paul’s personal venom toward rival teachers.

The first consideration is that the curse of the apostle, or the curse of God that the apostle desires, is universal in its scope. It rests upon any and every teacher who distorts the essence of the gospel and propagates this distortion. Paul even desires the curse of God to fall upon himself, should he be guilty of perverting it. The second consideration is that his curse is uttered deliberately and with conscious responsibility to God. Paul utters his anathema both impartially (whoever the teachers might be) and deliberately (in the presence of Christ his Lord).

Why did Paul feel so strongly and use such drastic language? Two reasons are plain. The first is that the glory of Christ was at stake. To make human works necessary to salvation, even as a supplement to the work of Christ, is derogatory to his finished work. It implies that Christ’s work was in some way unsatisfactory and that people need to add to it and improve on it. The second reason is that the good of people’s souls was also at stake. Paul was not writing about some trivial doctrine but about something fundamental to the gospel. Nor was he speaking of those who merely hold false views, but of those who teach them and mislead others by their teaching.

To many it is inconceivable that we should desire false teachers to fall under the curse of God and be treated as such by the church. But if we cared more for the glory of Christ and for the good of people’s souls, we too would not be able to bear the corruption of the gospel of grace.

From Reading Galatians with John Stott by John Stott with Dale and Sandy Larsen.