Classic Christianity – The Purpose of the Law – 8-26-26
To understand what Jesus did for us under the Law, we need to understand how Jesus, the True Goel Kinsman-Redeemer, under the law fulfills the Law of the Goel (Kinsman-Redeemer). He completely redeemed us. Not in just a spiritual way, but one that is flesh and bone too. Because someday, we will be like Him, having new flesh and bone ourselves.
Under the unyielding legal logic of divine jurisprudence, salvation is not a passive, disembodied sentiment; it is a rigorous, binding contract paid in full. To truly understand how this transaction balances the cosmic ledger, we must look to a core mechanism of ancient Israelite society: the Law of the Goel, or the Kinsman-Redeemer. Codified into the Mosaic Covenant at Mount Sinai, the Goel was the nearest blood relative responsible for stepping into the courtroom of justice to protect, rescue, and buy back the property, freedom, or lineage of a family member facing poverty or destitution. God established this system to protect the vulnerable and preserve tribal inheritances, defining the redeemer’s duties across four Mosaic axioms: redeeming property, ransoming persons from debt bondage, levirate marriage to preserve a deceased brother’s name, and executing blood vengeance (Go’el ha-dam).
To legally qualify for this highly restricted role, a person had to simultaneously meet three non-negotiable criteria: Kinship (must be a close blood relative), Ability (must possess the actual resources or power to pay the debt), and Willingness (must take on the burden voluntarily without coercion). Crucially, the Goel operated under the “Rule of Exact Replacement”. Under this law of the estate, a redeemer is legally prohibited from declaring a debt fully settled if any portion of the forfeited inheritance remains under a foreign claim. If a relative lost a physical tract of land, the Goel could not satisfy the contract with a spiritual sentiment; he had to physically buy back the actual soil.
This legal bottleneck reveals the fatal flaw in traditional Gnostic theology, which teaches that salvation is merely an invisible, spiritual escape to a disembodied cloud. When our first parents rebelled, they committed a catastrophic breach of contract, triggering a double forfeiture: the spiritual death of their souls (immediate alienation from God’s presence) and the physical sentence of decay and mortality (nekros) over their bodies and the soil. If a savior redeems the human spirit but leaves the physical body to rot permanently in the grave, the redemption is incomplete—leaving the physical plane under a perpetual, active claim by the adversary. To satisfy His own courtroom laws, the Redeemer must buy back exactly what was lost, which legally mandates a literal, physical reclamation of our touchable flesh (basar) and our physical ground.
Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled every legal requirement of the Goel:
- Kinship: By taking on literal human blood and flesh, He became our near-kinsman, legally restricting His redemption exclusively to the literal bloodline of Adam (Hebrews 2:16), completely excluding demonic hosts, hybrids, or corrupted non-human flesh.
- Ability: He offered His own sinless life and blood as a perfect, infinite propitiation (hilasmos) that paid the global debt of sin in full.
- Willingness: He was not conscripted, but willingly offered Himself as a voluntary sacrifice.
Because Jesus executed this legal purchase, He is now contractually bound to finish the transaction by reclaiming and rebuilding the physical bodies of His redeemed people directly on this Earth. This physical-legal obligation was understood thousands of years ago by Job, who declared, “For I know that my Redeemer (Goel) lives, and He shall stand at last on the Earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh (basar) I shall see God” (Job 19:25-26). This physical victory was proven when the resurrected Christ commanded His disciples to handle His body of “flesh and bones” (Luke 24:39), proving for all eternity that our final destiny is not an abstract spiritual vacuum, but a concrete, touchable, and physical inheritance of regenerated flesh on a fully restored, deathless New Earth. Revelation chapters 21 and 22 point this out in great detail. That is something truly glorious to look forward to!
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Revelation 21:1,2
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Pray to God:
Do you really want to know the WHOLE Truth of what is going on today?
Lord Jesus, teach me the truth of the world today and give me the wisdom to know the truth and identify the lies of the devil. Thank you God.”
~ Bob George discusses the concept of faith versus the law in Christianity, emphasizing that faith in Christ is the path to righteousness, while relying on the law leads to a curse. He explains that the law, introduced 430 years after the promise to Abraham, was meant to highlight humanity’s sinful nature and the need for a savior. Bob argues that the law does not justify but reveals the need for faith in Jesus, who redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. He concludes that believers are now guided by the Holy Spirit, not the law, and should rejoice in their new life in Christ.
“So Christ redeemed us from the death coming from the law by becoming death for us, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. Now he redeemed us. Now, folks, how many of you remember redemption stores? How many of you old enough to remember green stamps? All right, you remember those? Now, what’d you do to those green stamps? You went to a redemption store, didn’t you? And what’d you do with those worthless green stamps? Well, you turned them in and got a toaster. Now those stamps are worthless. You couldn’t buy anything with them if you wanted to. You didn’t go to the movie theater and hand them some green stamps. So it’s a redemption. What’d you do? Turn in something worthless and got something of value. What did Christ do for us? He redeemed us. We turned ourselves into Him. I gave Him everything that I was, nothing, and He gave me everything that He is, and that’s everything. I gave Him my sins; He gave me His righteousness. I gave Him my death; He gave me His life. It’s an exchange of life. So don’t ever expect your life to change until you experience the exchange, the exchange of your life for His. Till Paul could say, “The old man Paul’s dead. Nevertheless, I live. Yet it’s not I, but it’s Christ who lives in me. And the life that I live in is flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, the one who loved me and gave Himself for me.
So he says he redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we Gentiles too might receive the promise of the Spirit. Now was that news to the HEBREW? Of course it was. Did they like it? No. But it was truth, and that was the message that Paul, God revealed to Paul, and Paul was the administrator of to the Gentile world. Now, brothers, he said, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Now let’s go back for a moment on this. No one can set aside or add to a human covenant. Now, a covenant is a will. Now, if I have a will, can you add to it? Can you subtract from it. Can you set it aside if it’s been duly established? When I die and you sit in the attorney’s office and you’re not in there, can you change it? Can you alter it? It has been duly established. What does that mean? It’s in concrete, and if I don’t give you the Cadillac, you’re not getting the Cadillac.” ~ Bob George
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Bob George 0:28
Well, let’s turn to the third chapter of the book of Galatians. Understand then that those who believe now in Christ Jesus are children of Abraham. In other words, you’ve come out of the same family as Abraham. Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. And to any of us today who believe God, it’s credited to them as righteousness. Now the Scripture it said foresaw something, and what it foresaw was that God would justify the Gentiles by faith. Now, here again, you’re dealing with this Jew and Gentile thing that we’ve been talking about quite a bit. But to the HEBREW, it was unthinkable that the Gentile would ever come to Christ. It was unthinkable that a Gentile could ever be anything except a heathen. And so the Scripture foresaw and pre-announced that way back in the Book of Genesis that the Gentiles were going to come to Christ. Did the HEBREWS believe that? No, I think they glossed over that one. There must have been a slight mistake there. We just kind of read that fast or talk louder. That’s what’s what we do when our contents low. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and He announced that gospel. So the gospel was announced way back in the book of Genesis, and that was that all nations will be blessed through you. Was that given to Abraham? That was a promise to Abraham.
So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith, called the man of faith. Now, in contrast to that, all who rely upon observing the law are under a curse. Now, what do you mean relying on something? What are you relying on? That you’re making yourself righteous through obedience to the law, right? Are we together? I’m relying on the fact that if I obey the law, God will bless me. I’m relying on the fact that if I will tithe, God will bless. I’m relying on the fact that if I obey the law, God will increase my borders. I’m relying on something other than who? Jesus. Anything except Jesus. In the Garden of Eden, if you eat of this, you will be like God. And I want to tell you, folks, we’ve never gotten very far away from that garden, and we want to be like God. And I want to be able to say to God, God, you watch my smoke, you just see how good I am, and then I’m going to by faith claim that you’re going to bless me. What are you doing? Relying upon yourself to do something that will cause God to do something on your behalf. So what does it say about that.
It says all who rely upon observing the law are under a curse. Now is that good news? Now that ought to get your attention, shouldn’t it, folks? I mean, if someone walked up to you and said, “I put you under a curse, you’d probably like to hit me in the head. Number one, it’d be a lie. But there are some people who believe that that somebody can put curses on you. He’s saying that anyone who relies upon observing the law for not just their salvation but for their acceptance or for their blessing is under a curse. Why? For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do how much? Everything written in the book of the law. Do you guys know how much is written in the book of the law? Try reading the first five books of Moses. How much is written in the book of the law? A bunch, like eating shrimp and bacon and all of the other dietary laws. What else is included in there, folks? In the law, what’s the biggie included in there? The 10 Commandments. What did James say about the 10 Commandments? That if you missed one of them, you’ve missed them all. Now, is that good news? If you’re under the law, is that good news, folks? Well, how do you rationalize this then? How does the so-called Christian world today teaching you’re under the law, you’re under the 10 Commandments, and probably to the majority of people that. They’re teaching. They are under the 10 Commandments because the 10 Commandments are for the lost, but not for the saved. How do you rationalize this fact? How do you say, “I’m saved, but I’m under the law” when it says you’re under a curse because it’s written that cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law. Now, what would that everything include? If you’re under the 10 Commandments, why would you say there’s a difference between ceremonial law and moral law? Does this say that there’s any difference in the two? Is there any place in the Scripture saying in the New Covenant, or any place saying there’s a difference in the two? If you’re under the law, you’re under the law. The law is the Pentateuch, the first five books of Moses. If you’re under a part of it, you’re under all of it. Why don’t we bring a bull and goat in and slay them, not on Sunday, but on Saturday? Why don’t we do that? I mean, that’s a part of the law. Why would we bring tithing over as an example and leave that behind? I’ll tell you why. Paul just told us why. We’re foolish, foolish, idiotic, moronic Dallasites. We’ve been hypnotized, cast an evil spell upon us. We used to see the meeting of Christ’s death as clearly as though we’d waved a place card in front of you. Have you gone mad? And that’s what he’s saying to the Christian world today. If he was here, that would be the message that he’d be given an NRB, National Religious Broadcaster Meeting, not the ones that are given, putting people under laws. Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law. That’s the law.
Now, why is that true? What is the wages of sin under the law? How many sins do you have to commit before you’d be dead? One. Well, just today or through your lifetime? Lifetime. And so, folks, again, I’m just getting back to this thing. What can the law do for you? Kill you, kill you. What? What was the purpose of the law? To show you you’re dead, so that you would what? Turn to the only one who came to give you life. I came that you might have what? Life. He isn’t talking about just joyful times. I came to give you life because you’re dead, and you don’t get life through the law. Now again, same thing they accuse Paul of. Are you saying? I love that. Are you saying we get that on the radio? Are you trying to say? No, I’m not trying to say. I’m saying it, and that’s what you’re always getting. Why? We don’t understand the message. You trying to say, should we should go on sinning so that grace can abound? Well, those questions get asked today. Same dumb questions get asked today that were asked 2000 years ago. Why? Paul just explained it. Foolish! Don’t understand the fact that under the law you’re a goner. Don’t understand the fact that of our total depravity, that we’re born into this world as a fallen creature. Don’t understand that. Don’t rejoice in the fact that God has pulled us out of darkness into light, that He’s pulled us out of this fallen condition into a brand new creature in Christ, that we were born into this world as an old caterpillar crawling underground, and He metamorphosizes into a butterfly that can fly, and we don’t appreciate that. We take it for granted because we’re used to playing religion instead of enjoying a new life, and so He’s saying to us, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law clearly look at this, folks. Clearly, you ought to say clearly. You ought to see this. No one is justified before God by the law. No one. How many of us have tried? Why? Because the righteous will live by faith. You become righteous in the sight of God, when you put your faith in Jesus, the law is not based on faith. That ought to be another clue to us. The law is not based on faith, and without faith, what is it? Impossible to please God. Under the law, there is no faith. Impossible to please God. People under the law think they’re pleasing God again, do you hate the law? No, law is good. It’s holy. It’s righteous. What’s wrong with it?
When it flows through this old thing, kills me. Here’s the problem: the righteous, he says, will live by what? By faith. Faith in who? Faith in the one who made you righteous. Who is that? Jesus, and that’s why it says that we come to Christ. You and I are clothed in the righteousness of Christ Jesus. What does that mean when God looks at you? What does He see? The righteousness of Christ Jesus. He doesn’t see you and me. He. The righteousness of Christ Jesus. The law is not based on faith. On the contrary, who man who does these things will live by them. If you’re going to be under the law, live under it. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. What is the curse of the law? What is it? Death. He redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, the curse of the law is death. He died for us. He took the punishment of the law on himself, entered into our spiritual death with us. Did he have to do that? No, he was sinless. He was God. He never was going to sin, but he chose to become sin in order to enter into my death with me, so that what? I could choose to enter into his resurrection with him, come alive with Him. That’s the meaning of the resurrection. He came alive so that I could come alive. That’s a good Identity, he came and identified with me in my death, so that I could identify with him in his resurrection.
So Christ redeemed us from the death coming from the law by becoming death for us, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. Now he redeemed us. Now, folks, how many of you remember redemption stores? How many of you old enough to remember green stamps? All right, you remember those? Now, what’d you do to those green stamps? You went to a redemption store, didn’t you? And what’d you do with those worthless green stamps? Well, you turned them in and got a toaster. Now those stamps are worthless. You couldn’t buy anything with them if you wanted to. You didn’t go to the movie theater and hand them some green stamps. So it’s a redemption. What’d you do? Turn in something worthless and got something of value. What did Christ do for us? He redeemed us. We turned ourselves into Him. I gave Him everything that I was, nothing, and He gave me everything that He is, and that’s everything. I gave Him my sins; He gave me His righteousness. I gave Him my death; He gave me His life. It’s an exchange of life. So don’t ever expect your life to change until you experience the exchange, the exchange of your life for His. Till Paul could say, “The old man Paul’s dead. Nevertheless, I live. Yet it’s not I, but it’s Christ who lives in me. And the life that I live in is flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, the one who loved me and gave Himself for me.
So he says he redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we Gentiles too might receive the promise of the Spirit. Now was that news to the HEBREW? Of course it was. Did they like it? No. But it was truth, and that was the message that Paul, God revealed to Paul, and Paul was the administrator of to the Gentile world. Now, brothers, he said, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Now let’s go back for a moment on this. No one can set aside or add to a human covenant. Now, a covenant is a will. Now, if I have a will, can you add to it? Can you subtract from it. Can you set it aside if it’s been duly established? When I die and you sit in the attorney’s office and you’re not in there, can you change it? Can you alter it? It has been duly established. What does that mean? It’s in concrete, and if I don’t give you the Cadillac, you’re not getting the Cadillac.
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Bob George 14:47
And so he’s saying to us, “Is just as no one can set aside or add to your will. That’s what a covenant is-is a will. They’re all the same. So no one can set aside or add to a will that has been duly established. So it is in this case. The promises were spoken to Abraham and his what? Seed. Is seed plural or singular? If it was plural, what would it say? Seeds. Did it say seeds? Said seed. So we’re talking about a person. The scripture does not say “and to seeds, meaning many people, but it said to your seed singular, meaning one person who is what? Christ. So the promises that were given to Abraham were given to Abraham and to Jesus, his seed. Now, what I mean is this: the law introduced 430 years after Abraham does not set aside the covenant that was previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. So, what he’s saying here is that this promise has not been set aside by the law that was introduced 430 years after the promise. It wasn’t set aside. In other words, when he added the law, he didn’t set aside the promise. For if the inheritance, if your inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise, but God, in His grace, gave it to Abraham through a promise. Well, what then was the purpose of the law? We got it. What was its purpose? Isn’t it wonderful that that question was asked? What then was the purpose of all of this law? If the promise was given to Abraham 430 years before the law was introduced, and the law does not supersede the promise, what in the world was the purpose of it? Makes sense, doesn’t it? Well, he says, “Okay, I’ll answer it. The law was added because of sins, transgressions, until… Now when you have an until, what does that show you? What are two words you could use with an until? Before and after. Thank you, Ellen. Before and after. Until you got something before until something else came along. You had an old Victrola until CDs came along. Then something else would come along and replace those. It’s a contrast. So the purpose of the law was added because of sins until the seed. Who’s the seed? Jesus.
Okay, so let’s read it. The law was added because of sins until Jesus, to whom the promise referred, had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. A mediator, however, does not represent just one party, but God is one. It represented two parties, God and man. But God is one; He’s the initiator. He’s the one who made the will and the promise. And so, what He’s saying here is, back up here, He’s saying that the law was given until Jesus came, are we all together on this? Until Jesus, for all of those years prior to Jesus, were they was that were they under the law? Well, then how were people saved back in those days? By faith in the promise. Promise hadn’t come yet, but they knew it would. Saved by faith in the promise, were they saved the same way we were with spiritual regeneration like we have? No way. No one was saved like we are today until the day of what? Pentecost. No one prior to the day of Pentecost was ever born again of the Spirit permanently, like we are. So we’re not only a new creation in comparison to who I was before I was saved. I’m a new creation on this side of Pentecost in regard to all the other people that had ever been born in the world. We’re new creatures. The Spirit of God had never been given to a man ever before, until the day of Pentecost, that could not be destroyed. The Holy Spirit came upon Old Testament saints for divine service and then left them. That’s why in David’s prayer he prayed, “Lord, don’t take Your Holy Spirit from me, but the kind of salvation that we have today, which is eternal, was never in effect until the day of Pentecost.
Now, what did He have to do before He could give you and me that life? What had to be done in order to give you and me eternal life? He had to deal eternally with the cause of death. Let’s say, as an example, that cancer was the only disease in the world. Let’s just say that it almost appears that way sometimes. Only disease in the world that killed people, and some doctor came along, and they got their heads together. They figured out a way to raise people from the dead. And he said, “Hey, that’s neat, doc. You can really raise people from the dead. Yeah, no problem at all. Fantastic. Hey, incidentally, what killed him? Cancer. Cancer killed him. Have you cured cancer? No, no, we haven’t cured cancer. Well, then what do you want to raise them from the dead for? Because you raised them from the dead and you haven’t cured cancer, they’ll just die again. Well, what are you going to do then? Well, raise them again. So you got a dracula theology: dead one day, alive the next. Dead and alive, dead and alive. Why you haven’t cured the cause of death? So, in order to give you and me eternal life, he had to deal eternally with the cause of spiritual death. What was the cause of spiritual death? Sin, not only before the law, but sin under the law, to for the for the first time to point out to you how sinful you were, and that the consequence of sin is death, which was never understood prior to the law. So, do you see all of this this marvelous plan of God unfolding in front of our face of how He set everything into motion. There was a promise before the law. I gave the law 430 years later because nobody was understanding what sin was. No one was understanding the consequence of sin. So I put into effect the law to show you your condition of death, so that you would turn to Jesus when the seed came for life. The law was put into effect.
Now it goes ahead to say, then is the law therefore opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not. For if a law had been given that could impart life, now you’re getting down to the meat of the gospel, which is life. If a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come through the law. Could the law impart life? No. So no righteousness. But the Scripture declares this. Now look at this, folks: that the whole world is a prisoner of sin. We’re all on death row, so that what? What was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to all who believe. The Scripture declares the whole world is a prisoner, so that what was promised, which is salvation by faith, might be given to those who believe. Before this faith came. Now, folks, that is before Jesus came 2000 years ago, and that is before Jesus came into your life. Same thing. Before Jesus came, and you exercise faith in Him, you were a prisoner under the law, held as a prisoner until faith was revealed. Under the law, dead in Christ, alive. The whole issue of the gospel, the whole world-that’s you and me. I was a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised to Abraham might be given to me through faith in Jesus Christ. Before this faith came, you and I were held prisoners by the law, we’re in jail, locked up until faith should be revealed.
Unfortunately, you can’t get the radio program here, but this week we got a telephone call from I cannot remember that guy’s name. Is it Fain? I think it’s Fain. You saw the article in the newspaper on death row for 18 years, and DNA set him free. He has been in touch with us for well over eight years. He came to Christ through the radio. We’ve sent him materials. Ed Heck has counseled numerous times, and first person that he called after getting out was us to thank us for what we had done in his life, I asked him, “How do you sit in an eight by eight cell for 18 years? He said, “Without Christ, I could have done nothing. DNA saved him. Now, what was he? He was a prisoner. He was locked up until what? Truth was. Revealed, and when truth was revealed, he was set free, and it’s a perfect picture of that.
And so we have to understand that the law was put in charge for the purpose of leading us to Christ. That’s its purpose. How come, so that we can be justified under the law? No, by faith in Jesus, and now that faith has come, now that you’re in Christ, you are no longer under the supervision of the law. You’re all sons of God through faith in Christ. No longer under the supervision of the law. Who are you under the supervision of? The Holy Spirit of God living in you, the Holy Spirit of God that Jesus said, “I’ll send him to you, and he will lead you into what? All truth. So, what are you guided by today? The Holy Spirit. The Bible says, “Don’t commit adultery. The Holy Spirit says, “Quit looking with lust in your heart. Law says, “Don’t murder. Holy Spirit says, “Quit being angry. Don’t let the sun go down your anger. It deals with the underneath the skin, down where we live. The law deals with exterior. The Holy Spirit deals with the interior. And now that faith has come, you’re no longer under the supervision of the laws written on stone, but you’re under the supervision of the Holy Spirit of God written on your heart. People think, well, if you take the law away, you don’t have any guidelines. No, just God’s all. Just just God living in you is all you got. You realize, folks, the dynamic of this, of Christ Jesus, the God of this universe, living inside of you and me, and guiding us into all truth, is that a miracle? And we want to get all hopped up over our toe getting grown back on, or something, or get hopped up because we had something now we don’t have it. Hopped up with physical disease, and now I don’t have it. Man, the greatest miracle that you and I will ever experience in our life is the miracle the day God came to dwell inside you and me. And there’ll be nothing that can ever touch that. If we all want to be rejoicing in miracles, we ought to be rejoicing in the miracle of new birth. You’re all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. That’s your identity, a child of the living God.
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Thank you so much for tuning in to Classic Christianity with Bob George. We hope you’ve enjoyed today’s program. We truly hope that today’s message has inspired you to walk a life of faith in the Lord. Find more information online at BobGeorge.net. There you’ll also find available CDs, DVDs, and Bible studies available for purchase. It’s through your help, that we are able to spread the good word of Jesus Christ. Until next time, walk in faith, be good to one another, and praise the Lord. Amen.