On the fourth signpost we see the cross of Christ. The only way to be delivered from the curse of the law is to turn in faith to the cross of Christ. In large letters this signpost announces the fact that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. How Christ became a curse for us is explained in the citation from Deuteronomy 21:23: Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.

Cursed is everyone . . . the first signpost reads in its proclamation of condemnation on all for failure to keep all the law. Cursed is everyone . . . the fourth signpost reads in its proclamation of redemption by the One who hung on a tree. By hanging on a cross, Jesus came under the burden of the curse that all deserve for failure to keep all the law. By bearing the total burden of the curse himself, Jesus set us free from the terrible weight of the curse.

The Jewish Christians who were pestering the Galatian believers had drawn two circles: the circle of blessing for Jews and the circle of the curse for Gentiles. The Galatian believers were moving from the circle of Gentiles to the circle of Jews so that they could be free from the curse and obtain the blessing. But Paul has demonstrated from the law itself the surprising fact that the circle of Jews is also under a curse for failure to keep all the law. Transferring from the Gentile circle to the Jewish circle is no way to escape the curse of the law. The only way for Jews and Gentiles to escape the curse of the law is to turn to Christ.

The fourth signpost points toward the blessing of Abraham and the promise of the Spirit. Verse 14 tells us that the reason Christ set us free from the curse of the law was to open the way for us to participate in the promised blessings to Abraham. The parallelism of the two phrases in verse 14 indicates that the blessing given to Abraham is equivalent to the promise of the Spirit. When the Galatian believers received the Spirit by faith in Christ crucified (vv. 1-2), they were recipients of the blessing promised to Abraham. The reference to the Spirit brings the argument back full circle to the beginning of the chapter. Since the Galatian believers are already recipients of the promised blessings to Abraham but are now trying to keep the law in order to obtain the blessings they already have, they deserve to be called foolish (v. 1).

Why would you be so foolish as to take the road toward a curse when you were already on the road to blessing?