Objection: We Should Never Teach That Jesus Was Cursed Because No One Speaking by The Holy Spirit Can Call Jesus Cursed (1 Corinthians 12:3)

1 Corinthians 12:3 says “Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.”

Believe it or not, this verse has been used to “prove” that Jesus was not cursed (literally made a curse) in our place, and that anyone teaching so is not speaking by the Holy Spirit.  It should be obvious to the reader that the person “not speaking by the Holy Spirit” in this verse is calling Jesus accursed NOW, not saying that He was cursed in the past.

The Bible is emphatic that Jesus WAS made a curse for us in Galatians 3:13.  Jesus did hang on a tree, and this verse quotes Deuteronomy 21:23 (part of the Law of Moses under which Jesus lived) as saying that anyone hung on a tree is cursed.  When the symbol of Christ was raised in Numbers 21:5-9, it was a serpent (the symbol of Satan!) on the pole.  That is because when Jesus died on the cross, He wasn’t spotless.  He was carrying our sins and He had “become sin” Himself (2 Corinthians 5:21).  The Law specified a curse on everyone who broke it (Deuteronomy 28:15-68).  When Jesus carried our sins, He therefore had to be cursed because that is what our sins deserved.  If He were not cursed Himself, He would not have paid the penalty for our sins and settled our accounts with God.  If He had not taken ALL sicknesses on Himself, He would not have legally redeemed us from ALL sicknesses.  Thank God, the Bible is clear that He did that for us (Isaiah 53:4-5).

The Bible cannot contradict itself.  Therefore 1 Corinthians 12:3’s true meaning cannot contradict these other Scriptures.  Jesus bore the curse we deserved for our sins, so 1 Corinthians 12:3 must refer to a present-day cursing of Jesus that would of course be out of order because He rose from the dead without that curse and He lives forever without it today.