Posted on : 09 Mar, 2006
Subject : Paul and the Law
Paul & the Torah
One of the most important issues that must be answered by Believers is whether the Torah [the Law of Yahweh contained in the first five books of the Bible] still pertains to us today, or whether it is obsolete and irrelevant. Is the Torah applicable to those in our modern age who believe in the Messiah Yahshua [Jesus], or did it long ago pass its expiration date?
Torah means ‘law’ and it means ‘instruction’. The average Christian believes the Torah was terminated by the death and resurrection of Yahshua. If that is true, then Believers are under no obligation to attempt to obey the Law. Christian churches assert that the Apostle Paul taught that the Torah is of no consequence since the Resurrection – that the laws and instructions Heavenly Father gave His people in Old Testament ought to be ignored by Christians.
Was the Torah cast off for Christians? Did Paul teach that the Torah had expired? Were the instructions abolished? Did Paul assert that all the rules were eliminated? Most pastors and evangelists say that he did.
Is it possible that they have misunderstood?
The following quotes represent examples of Paul’s comments, exhortations, and practices with regard to the Torah, sometimes called the Law of Moses. Various translations are used to maximize comprehension, including the King James Version [KJV], The New Jerusalem Bible [NJB], God’s Word to the Nations [GWTN], the New International Version [NIV], the New Living Translation [NLT], and the Jewish New Testament [JNT].
· Romans 2:13
“For not the hearers of the Law are just before God, but the doers of the Law shall be justified.” [KJV]
“For the ones that God will justify are not those who have heard the Law, but those who have kept the Law.” [NJB]
“People who merely listen to laws from God don’t have God’s approval. Rather, people who do what those laws demand will have God’s approval.” [GWTN]
“For it is not the hearers of the Torah whom God considers righteous; rather, it is the doers of what Torah says who will be made righteous in God’s sight.” [JNT]
“For it is not merely knowing the Law that brings God’s approval. Those who obey the Law will be declared right in God’s sight.” [NLT]
· Romans 3:31
“Do we then make void the Law through faith? God forbid! Yea, we establish the Law.” [KJV] [See also Matthew 5:17]
“Are we saying that the Law has been made pointless by faith? Out of the question! We are placing the Law on its true footing” [NJB]
“Are we abolishing Moses Teachings [Torah] by this faith? That’s unthinkable! Rather, we are supporting Moses Teachings.” [GWTN]
“Does it follow that we abolish Torah by this trusting? Heaven forbid! On the contrary, we confirm Torah.” [JNT]
“Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the Law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the Law.” [NLT]
· Romans 7:7
“Is the Law sin? God forbid!” [KJV]
“What should we say, then? That the Law itself is sin? Out of the question!” [NJB]
“What should we say, then? Are Moses’ laws sinful? That’s unthinkable!” [GWTN]
“Therefore, what are we to say? That the Torah is sinful? Heaven forbid!” [JNT]
· Romans 7:12
“Wherefore the Law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just and good.” [KJV]
“So Moses’ Teachings are holy, and the commandment is holy, right and good.” [GWTN]
“So then, the Law is holy, and what it commands is holy and upright and good.” [NJB]
“So the Torah is holy; that is, the commandment is holy, just and good.” [JNT]
· Romans 7:14
“…the Law is spiritual.” [KJV]
“…the Law is spiritual.” [NJB]
“I know God’s standards [laws] are spiritual.” [GWTN]
“For we know that the Torah is of the Spirit.” [JNT]
· Romans 7:22
“I delight in the Law of God after the inward man.” [KJV]
“In my inmost self I dearly love God’s Law.” [NJB]
“I take pleasure in God’s standards in my inner being.” [GWTN]
“For in my inner self I completely agree with God’s Torah.” [JNT]
“I love God’ Law with all my heart.” [NLT]
· Galatians 3:21
“Is the Law then against the promises of God? God forbid!” [KJV]
“Is the Torah contrary to the promises? God forbid!” [JNT]
“Does this mean, then, that the laws given to Moses contradict God’s promises? That’s unthinkable!” [GWTN]
“ Does this mean that the legal part of the Torah stands in opposition to God’s promises? Heaven forbid!” [JNT]
“Is there a conflict between God’s Law and God’s promises? Absolutely not!” [NLT]
· Galatians 3:13
“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.” [KJV]
“Christ paid the price to free us from the curse that God’s laws bring by becoming cursed instead of us.” [GWTN]
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by being cursed for our sake.” [NJB]
“The Messiah redeemed us from the curse pronounced in the Torah by becoming cursed on our behalf.” [JNT]
It is critical to recognize that Paul does not say that Messiah redeemed us from the Law, nor did Paul say that the cursings are done away. There is a Law, and there are cursings. When we repent of and forsake our sins, and trust Messiah, and enter a covenant, then He bears the cursings that are stipulated by the Law, on our behalf. It is the curse of the Torah that was fulfilled in Messiah.
“For the wages of sin is death.” [Romans 6:23] Before the death and resurrection of Messiah, breaking of Commandments resulted in the imposition of curses. These curses ranged from the levying of fines and mandatory offerings to ‘cutting off’ from the congregation, and even the death penalty.
Paul was rejoicing in the knowledge that those curses had been done away through the sacrifice of Yahshua. The rules were not dissolved, but the physical penalties were.
Rabbi Paul
Paul was a Torah-observant rabbi of the Pharisee sect. He had studied under Gamaliel, who was the grandson of Hillel, the ‘founder’ of the Pharisees. [Acts 22:3] Paul had an earth-shaking conversion experience, and became a fervent believer that Yahshua is the Messiah of Israel. However, Paul continued to follow the Commandments of the Covenant.
In Acts 23:6 we read: “Paul…cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee.” [KJV] “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, and the son of Pharisees.” [NJB]
· Acts 25:8
Beginning with Acts 24:5, we read that Paul was accused of being a law-breaker, disloyal, a nuisance, and one who had defiled the temple. Paul defended himself before the High Priest by saying that he conscientiously obeyed the Law.
“While he [Paul] answered for himself, ‘Neither against the Law of the Jews, neither against the temple…have I offended any thing at all.’” [KJV]
“Paul’s defense was this, ‘I have committed no offence whatsoever against either Jewish law or the Temple.’” [NJB]
“Paul defended himself by saying, ‘I haven’t broken any Jewish law or done anything against the temple.’” [GWTN]
“In reply, Sha’ul said. ‘I have committed no offense – not against the Torah to which the Jews hold, [and] not against the Temple.’” [JNT]
· Philippians 3:6. Paul said of himself:
“…touching the righteousness which is in the Law, [I am] blameless.” [KJV]
“…as for the uprightness embodied in the Law, I was faultless.” [NJB]
“When is comes to winning God’s approval by keeping Jewish laws, I was perfect.” [GWTN]
Paul worshipped on the Sabbath day
“Paul and his companions…went to synagogue on the Sabbath and took their seats.” [Acts 13:14]
“As they left they were urged to continue this preaching the following Sabbath. When the meeting broke up many Jews and devout converts followed Paul and Barnabas, and in their talks with them Paul and Barnabas urged them to remain faithful to the grace God had given them. The next Sabbath almost the whole town assembled to hear the word of God.” [Acts 13:42-44]
“Paul, as usual, went in and for three consecutive Sabbaths developed the arguments from Scripture for them, explaining and proving how it as ordained that that Christ should suffer and rise from the dead.” [Acts 17:2]
“Every Sabbath he used to carry on discussions in the synagogues, trying to convince the Jews as well as Greeks.” [Acts 18:4]
Paul Kept the Annual Feasts
“[Paul] bade them farewell, saying, ‘I must by all means keep this Feast that cometh in Jerusalem.” [Acts 18:21, KJV]
“So he left, saying, ‘I must by all means be at Jerusalem for the upcoming Festival.’” [NLT]
Pentecost [Shavuot]
Acts 20:16
“Paul was anxious to be in Jerusalem, if possible, for the day of Pentecost.” [NJB]
“He was hurrying to get to Yerushalayim [Jerusalem], if possible in time to celebrate Shavuot.” [JNT]
1st Corinthians 16:8
“But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost.” [KJV]
“I will remain in Ephesus until Shavuot.” [JNT]
“I will be staying here at Ephesus until the Festival of Pentecost.” [NLT]
Passover & Unleavened Bread
1st Corinthians 5:7-8
“Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the Feast…with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” [KJV]
“For our Passover has been sacrificed, that is, Christ; let us keep the Feast, then, with …the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” [NJB]
“Christ our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed. So we must celebrate [our festival] with the bread of purity and truth that has no yeast.” [GWTN]
Notice that even though Paul unmistakably identified the Messiah as the ultimate Passover Lamb, he still exhorted the believers to ‘keep the Feast ’.
Acts 20:6
“We [Paul and some disciples] sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread.” [KJV]
“We ourselves left Philippi by ship, after the days of Unleavened Bread.” [NJB]
“After the Festival of Unleavened Bread, we boarded a ship at Philippi.” [GWTN]
“As soon as the days of Unleavened Bread ended, we boarded a ship at Philippi.” [NLT]
Day of Atonement / The Fast / Yom Kippur
Acts 27:9
“Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the Fast was now already past, Paul admonished them…” [KJV]
“ A great deal of time had been lost, and navigation was already hazardous, since it was not well after the time of the Fast, so Paul gave them this warning…” [NJB]
“Since much time had been lost, and continuing the voyage was risky, because it was already past Yom Kippur, Shaul advised them…” [JNT]
Misinterpreted?
Peter admitted that some of Paul’s writings are easily misconstrued, and hard to understand, especially for those who are not well educated in the Law. [2nd Peter 3:15-16] People in old times, as well as today, distort the meanings of Paul’s epistles. Every day, individuals and pastors fail to correctly understand Paul’s writings – they think Paul taught some things that he didn’t actually teach. [In fact, Paul would surely be horrified to learn how his words have been twisted into seeming to support ideas that he never, ever taught or practiced.] In order to comprehend what Paul meant, his teachings must be read in context, with a willingness to look at all that he said and did, and his motives for writing.
Whether studying Paul’s letters, the Messiah’s sermons, or the words of any of the prophets, it is foolish to take a ‘pick-and-choose’ approach. In other words, a person is guaranteed to fail to understand the true nature of Paul’s teachings unless all of what he wrote and did is taken into consideration. It is virtually impossible to comprehend what Paul wrote and what Jesus taught without understanding that they conscientiously followed and promoted observance of the Torah.
The greatest misconception about Paul, by both Christians and Jews, is the incorrect notion that Paul was anti-Torah. [Theologians use the word antinomian, which means ‘opposed to the law’.] It is true that Paul and others most definitely did declare with enthusiasm that the sacrificial laws relating to the Levitical priesthood came to their conclusion with the atoning self-sacrifice of Messiah. The bondage of the sacrificial laws, and the physical penalties of breaking the Law came to a conclusion in Yahshua’s great Sacrifice.
Paul did speak out against people’s belief that conscientiously following the Law, itself, was the source of their righteousness. The Messiah, not the Law, was the true source of righteousness. Messiah lifted the curse of the Law, but He did not terminate the Torah, itself. The Law defined sin. The Law is ‘good’. The Law is the pattern of how we are to live our covenantal allegiance to Elohim. Paul emphasized a new teaching to the Jews: that Gentiles who would take hold of the Covenant offered by Jesus the Messiah would be saved, also.
Conclusion
Paul upheld the Torah in his writings and in his lifestyle practices. He never taught that the Law was abolished, nonessential, or reserved only for the Jews. In fact, just the opposite was true: Paul declared that the Law is holy, upright, and good. And he, himself, conscientiously observed the Law, and, when the occasion required, pointed out to others that he was a careful Law-keeper.
Paul [and the others of the early church] kept the Law, including the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath, and the annual Feasts after the Resurrection – demonstrating that the Torah applied to Christians.
Those who have taught that Paul was anti-Torah have misunderstood, or have quoted him out of context, or have been biased by their denomination or theological education. Paul was a staunch defender of the Torah – the Law of God.
David Bruce Clark
Lion of God Ministries
PO Box 33 Oak Grove MO 64075
www.lionofgod.com
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