From the Mind of a Christian Jew #3
Paul - Law - Israel
by Juster (1986) PAUL - LAW - ISRAEL In all of Scripture, there is no greater theological depth and glorious truth than is revealed in Paul's teaching on the Law. This teaching is central to the meaning of the Good News itself. Yet, how tragically this teaching is misunderstood, both by Yeshua's followers and those who do not follow Him. The error is usually one of carelessness. A verse is taken out of context and false conclusions are drawn, when the true meaning of the verse can be seen only in the light of Paul's whole connected presentation, Further, various meanings of the word "law" or "namos" are not distinguished; all are lumped together. Yet, in everyday speech, we know one word may carry several meanings - according to the context of usage. In addition, there are plays on words, so loved by Jewish thinkers, but totally missed by the modern reader. We believe that Paul's teaching is thoroughly in line with his profession and example in the Book of Acts and fully in accord with Messianic Judaism. Any teaching on Paul and the Law must take note of his key foundational statements in relation to Torah as God's revelation, as well as a reflection of His eternal standard of right and wrong. So far as the Law reflects this eternal standard of God, it is irrevocable. As such we should note these verses: * Romans 3:31--faith established the Law. "Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law." * Romans 3:2 states that the Law is a gift of God. * Romans 3:7 teaches that the Law defines what sin is, while Romans 6:1-2 says we are not to continue to sin. * Romans 7:12 states the the Law is holy. "The commandment is holy and just and good." * Romans 7:14 states that the Law is spiritual; 7:16, that the Law is good. In the Law the great wisdom of God's standards is revealed. Only the Bible reveals an infinite, personal, ethical God! Paul certainly had the Law in mind when he said, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for correction, for instruction and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work" (II Timothy 3:16-17). This verse was written before the New Testament came into being. The Torah is to be a source of our correction and training. As Paul said, the Law is good if one uses it rightly (I Timothy 1:8-11). Paul also quoted the Law to give ethical direction to congregations under the Spirit: In Ephesians 6:1-3, "Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother; this is the first commandment with a promise, that it may be well with you and that you may live long on the earth." Paul takes it that the promise of Torah will apply to them who obey. Paul also maintained the validity of the Law as uniquely related to Israel's continuing religious national identity and special witness as a people. Then what is the problem? Is it that there are passages in Paul addressed to the misuse of the Law which are interpreted to invalidate the Law itself? Is it that there are uses of the word "law" that do not refer to the revelation in Torah, but are, instead, false applications of it? The major assault in Paul's writings is in regard to the use of the Law as part of a system of works-righteousness. According to this system, man stores up merits before God by keeping the Law, i.e., earning God's acceptance and salvation. Such a view produces hypocrisy, since the person with such a view does not see how much he breaks the Law, though professing to keep it. It also produces self-righteous pride. The exposure of the wrongness of this view is central. We must first see that God's standard is absolute holiness and perfection. Falling short of this, we stand condemned by the Law before a holy God. Paul quotes a medley of passages from the Psalms and Prophets to show God's view of our selfrighteousness - from Psalm 53, "There is none that doeth good, no not one, they are all fallen away ... all alike depraved." Paul's conclusion is, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23), and "the wages of sin is death," (Romans 6:23). We think we can earn God's righteousness because we tend to compare our achievements with others, not God's absolute holy perfection and standard of total love and self lessness (Deuteronomy 6:4; Leviticus 19:18). We may seem miles ahead of others, but are still light-years away from real perfection when we examine our heart attitudes and motives. Our self- righteousness further calls into question whether we are really ahead of others at all. Before God's Law, we all stand condemned; not justified. There is within us a nature that desires to break the Law, to sin; it is called a sin nature. The rabbis perceived this in their doctrine of the "Yetzer ha ra," the evil impulse. This sin nature is such that the Law may even inspire it to desire to sin more since sin finds the forbidden fruits sweeter. This is a principle that Paul also calls a law, making a play on words with "nomos" or "law." It is a "law" within me ("law" used in a different sense than Torah) that when I want to do right evil lies close at hand. To eliminate misunderstanding, Paul, in this same chapter, calls the law (Torah) "holy, just, good" and "spiritual," which of course is not the case with the law (principle) "that evil lies close at hand." These facts evoke two other principles also called "law" in a play on words; again, they are not Torah.: They are the laws of sin and death. The law of sin is the principle that God's holy righteous Law is more a source of temptation to fallen man than a source of righteous motivation. This is not because of any fault in the Law, but because of sin's nature. "But sin, finding opportunity in the commandment wrought in me all kids of covetousness" (Romans 7:8). The weakness of the Law is not its high standard, but that it is powerless to cause the sinful man to fulfill it. "For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin (7:14). The law is "weakened by the flesh" (8:3). So Paul says, "I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members" (7:23). Breaking the Law leads to greater bondage, to more lawbreaking and sin. The pervert, for example, holds that one more indulgence of curiosity will assuage his desires. This is so, but only temporarily. Later temptations are stronger and even grosser. The liar, the drunkard, the thief and the glutton all find a similar operation of sin in their lives! This law of sin leads to death, in all its ramifications. The law of death is the law of the wages of law-breaking, separation from fellowship with God, physical death and, finally, eternal death. What an incredible tragedy that some think the law of "sin and death" is the Torah! How unfortunate is this false interpretation. As John said, "Sin is the transgression of Law"; in Paul's words, "where there is no law there is no transgression." All therefore stand "guilty." Paul's central question is: How then shall we stand as righteous - not guilty - or justified before God? He finds his solution in Abraham: "Abraham," says Genesis 3:15, "believed God and God accounted it to him for righteousness." Abraham was justified by faith! Only years later did he receive the sign of circumcision as the sign of his covenant relationship with God (Romans 4:12). In Galatians, Paul argues that any interpretation of the Mosaic revelation must be based on the foundational revelation of the Abrahamic Covenant. The Mosaic Law, which came 430 years later, "cannot annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void" (Galatians 3:17). Paul is not, as some think pitting the Mosaic revelation against the Abrahamic. They have different but complementary purposes. "Is the law against the promises of God? Certainly not!" (Galatians 3:21). It is then that Paul goes on to delineate that we can be accepted as righteous before God by faith; by believing in Yeshua's life, death and resurrection. Combining the truths of the old sacrificial images and of the teaching on Abraham, Paul argues as follows: As Adam (and all humanity) fell and became a fallen, sinful race, so there is a new humanity in Yeshua. We, by faith, must recognize that He died for our sin. He is the representative of the race and the race is tied together into one human family. Our reality is not only our separate, individual selfhood, but the reality of the whole interconnectedness of the race. In identity with us, the sinless One pays our penalty. He also exhibits the suffering love and mercy of God and reveals the destructive nature of sin which seeks to annihilate the one righteous and perfect man. His sacrifice was accepted and He arose from death. By faith we accept these truths. By faith we are accounted as "In Messiah." These words, "in Messiah," are perhaps the two most significant words in the New Testament. We are part of His reality now. By faith we are given a new nature of righteousness (II Corinthians 5:7) and are given the Spirit of God to dwell within as promised in Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36. We are not guilty but are justified in Him by faith. So Paul can quote David, who was not justified by the Law but by God's mercy and grace: "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord reckons no sin" (Psalm 32:2). "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin" (Psalm 51:2). The believer now has supernatural power in identifying with His atonement which puts sin to death as he prayerfully applies its power, and in the new nature or spirit he is given, and lastly by the power of the Spirit which motivates him and enables him to do God's will. His eternal fate is sealed; he is righteous in Messiah and has eternal life. Progressively, this life works itself out into daily growth so he becomes more like the Messiah. Now, what is the relationship of the Law to all of this? First, we no longer turn to the Law seeking to find intrinsic righteousness. To the whole legalistic preoccupation with the Law we have died in the Messiah. Paul gives the example of a woman whose spouse's death has freed her from the legal bondage of the marriage. We have died to the Law (Romans 7:4) in the sense that there is no more penalty to be paid or legal bondage. Our primary focus now is on the power of the Spirit and His love working in a life lived according to the law of love. If this love is real, however, then the Law makes its reappearance as a guide and teacher under the power of the Spirit. Without the power of the Spirit and the power of the atonement of Yeshua as our focus of dependence, our old nature shall reassert itself. This is also the case with the mistaken focus on the over 1,000 commands in the New Testament which can also become a focus - of works - righteousness. The Law will now be kept progressively in Spirit and truth in response to God's mercy and grace. The whole Bible - including the Mosaic Law rightly applied - will be our guide, "profitable for doctrine, reproof and training in righteousness" (II Timothy 3:16). The reformers rightly perceived the wonderful use of the Law as a guide, as well as a standard by which we are convicted by the Spirit, "to continually confess our sins and find forgiveness." They call this the third use of the Law. The Law is a mirror for seeing the blemishes of your life; Yeshua is the living Torah. Hence, the Christian reformers found no conflict parallel to the conflict of today's misinformed Christians in reciting, "Oh how I love thy law" (Psalm 119:97). This view of Law and grace may seem paradoxical, but when understood, it is certainly consistent and full of the depth of truth. Even psychologists have learned that on a human level, acceptance and forgiveness must precede obedience. Forgiveness and acceptance by grace thereby become the motive for obedience. This is our focus; this is the emphasis of all Scripture; "I am the Lord thy God which brought you out of the land of Egypt" (by grace, Exodus 20:2). Therefore, "you shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3). To think we can earn God's love and salvation is an affront to his holiness. The confusion comes also from those who say that salvation by grace through faith will lead to a moral laxity. This shows a superficial understanding of grace, indeed. For the acceptance of God's grace is the acceptance of a new nature which wants to obey God, and the acceptance of God's own Spirit, who Ezekiel said would dwell in our new spirit, causing us "to walk in" God's "statutes" (Ezekiel 36:27). Paul also had to answer the foolish arguments of those who did not understand, of those who said we could "continue to sin that grace might abound." If we have living faith and love for God we can respond as did Paul: "How can we who died to sin still live in it?" (Romans 6:2). There are a few phrases which tend to cause confusion; but with a little prayerful thought they are quite clear. One we shall cover here: "For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under the law but under grace. What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!" (Romans 6:14-15). Again, some take the phrase "not under law but under grace" to imply that we have no relationship to "Law" or Torah. This cannot be in the light of II Timothy 3:16,17 and all the other verses we have previously recorded. The context makes this verse clear. The key word is under. The Law is no longer a tyrant of condemnation to us. We are not under the condemnation of the Law. We are not in bondage and fear, seeking to obey the Law through our own power as a way to please God, which is impossible. This becomes wonderfully clear if we substitute Paul's own definition of sin, since the Law defines sin - "therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20) - or, as John and James say, "sin is the transgression of law," or "law breaking" (I John 3:4; James 2:8-10). Let us then paraphrase: "For law-breaking will no longer have dominion over you since you are not under the condemnation of the law or a system of works righteousness, but under grace. What then? Are we to 'break the Law' because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!" (Romans 6:14,15). It is the same teaching as in Ephesians 2:8-10. "For by grace you are saved through faith, and not that of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Messiah Yeshua, for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." And in Titus 3:5, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit." Often we hear Romans 10:4 quoted out of context as well. "For Messiah is the end of the law, that everyone who has faith may be justified," The word "end" here is "telos," not "finis." Telos includes the idea of goal or purpose rather than the finish of something. What does it mean to say that Yeshua is the "telos" of the Law? In Romans 9:31, Paul says the problem is not that Israel pursued the Law, but that "they did not pursue it through faith, but as if it were based on works." Israel's problem was not that they pursued the Law, but the way they pursued the Law. In context, Messiah is telos in these senses: He is the personal embodiment of a human life lived in spirit and truth according to Torah standards. He is the living Torah. He is the goal of Torah, the perfect life to which holy standard and sacrificial sytem had pointed. He is the finisher of the misuse of Torah as a system of works-righteousness. When we believe in His sacrifice, we understand the true purpose of the Law was never to be a system of merits by works. The "telos" of the Law, however, can never mean doing away with the Law since the cardinal rule for interpreting Scripture is that the true meaning of a passage must always be understood in the light of the whole of the Bible! Scripture is a consistent revelation from the infinite personal God of the universe. I believe that we shall find Scripture to bear out this exposition. Salvation is "by grace through faith" indeed! Yet God is a God of Law, of principle upon which basis the universe rests. God himself could save us and yet be righteous according to His own standard of justice only by the righteousness of the Messiah and His death for our sins. We are counted as righteous in Him (Romans 3:26). So we also hope with the prophet, "for out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:3). (AMEN to this understanding of the Law and Justification: the Law defines sin; if there is no Law since the cross, then there has been no sin; and if there has been no sin, there has been no need for a Savior. To teach the Law of God was "abolished" at the cross is gross theological gibidy-doo and theology from planet Pluto - Keith Hunt) PAUL AND ISRAEL The preoccupation of much religious preaching today is personal peace and happiness. The desire for God is really part of a desire that He might make us happy. Fellowship with God is the greatest joy and treasure to be enjoyed by human beings. However, God desires us to lose our self preoccupation and be enveloped in prayerful intercession for the salvation of the world. Every person won by the Good News or by the coming of God's Kingdom to earth through the reign of the Messiah Yeshua in us is a fulfillment of God's real goal and burden on our hearts. Therefore, God seeks to have us fulfill this burden in our own witness and prayer for our immediate contacts - neighborhood and city. If our hearts are knit with him we shall hear the Word, "God so loved the world" (John 3:16). Great saints have at times understood that the full coming f of God's Kingdom and the hope of every creature hearing the Good News are tied up with God's purpose of manifesting Himself through Israel. Thus, Rees Howells interceded and prevailed after years of prayer for the state of Israel to be formed. So Messianic Judaism believes in a crucial future for Israel. Furthermore, Messianic Judaism itself may somehow be significantly related to the future. One of the keys to understanding all of this is Paul's teaching on Israel, Romans 9-11 are the central chapters in the Pauline writings on a theology of Israel. The ninth chapter begins with Paul's statement of his great burden of sorrow and anguish for Israel. Surely this was a prayer burden. He even says that he could wish himself cut off for their sakes. Furthermore, Paul fully recognizes Israel's national calling and in the present continuous tense says that they have "the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Messiah" (Romans 9:4-5). Paul then goes on to state, however, that not all who are descended from Israel are spiritually considered to be Israel. This is the doctrine of the remnant, an important concept which we must unpack. Then he responds to those who would accuse God of injustice in the matter of Israel's failure as a nation to embrace Yeshua as Messiah. Romans 9 seems like a very "harsh" chapter; it concerns itself with Israel as a nation. It is not speaking of the opportunity for individual salvation. In the affairs of nations, God's wisdom goes far beyond our intellectual capacity. We cannot accuse God, for "who are you, a man, to answer back to God?" (9:20). Then Paul gives a lesson in pottery, a lesson greatly misunderstood. He names several vessels: wrath, mercy, honor and dishonor. Honor was a beautiful vessel, chosen to be displayed for pouring water to drink, etc. Dishonor was a vessel which did not come up to such a high standard of beauty; it was used to wash feet or for other menial uses. The potter makes the choice as to which vessel he will make, but both are needed. Mercy is a vessel which breaks in baking, but is repaired and rebaked. If it stays together it will be used, a vessel of mercy. If it does not, it is a vessel of wrath or destruction. Note that Romans says that "God endured with much patience the vessels of wrath made for destruction" (9:22). Any judgment by God took place after much long suffering. The mercy of God to Jews and gentiles is even more pronounced in the light of this; and despite our sin, we are vessels of mercy made for His glory. All of the decision, however, must be left up to God's sovereignty. Now that Paul has boldly asserted this sovereignty, he can delineate some considerations in the Spirit which reveal God's continued purposes in Israel. First are prophetic intimations. In Hosea, we see that God's relationship to different groups changes: "Those who were not my people I will call my people" (Hosea 2:23). Isaiah in his day (10:22-23) says that only a remnant would be saved from war's destruction. There are other reasons, too. One is that Israel pursued the Law in the wrong way, as a system of works-righteousness. Israel did not succeed because they did not "pursue it through faith, but as if it were based on works" (Romans 9:32). This produced an attitude of self-righteousness whereby Israel, "being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, sought to establish their own" and did not "submit to God's righteousness" in Yeshua (10:3). Hence the gentile, who did not have the pride of the Law, was more capable of seeing his need and submitting to God's righteousness than was Israel which, in a self-righteous pursuit of the Law, did not see their need! In addition, the Gospels clearly show that Israel expected the Messianic king to defeat their enemies and set up His worldwide reign of righteousness from Jerusalem. This is certainly one of His roles. However, so preoccupied were the Israelites with this image of the exalted King Messiah, that there was little room for another Messianic visitation in which the Messiah's role would be a suffering servant who bears the sin, grief and sickness of the world as a dispensational step toward His reign. The Messiah king would die a shameful death on a cross of wood: "cursed is he that dieth on a tree" (Deuteronomy 21:23; Galatians 3:13), which was more than many Israelites could accept. Yes, that curse was in identity with us, for us, and in our place. Yet only God's Spirit could open up hearts to this truth, for this message was a "stumbling block" to Jews, a scandal! (I Corinthians 1:23). To the reasons for the Jewish non-acceptance of Yeshua, we can add the importation of pagan elements into institutional Christianity - even if such elements were rebaptized and changed. In addition, there is the almost unbroken persecution by the institutional Church for 1,900 years, despite the fact the non-Jewish followers of Yeshua were counseled in Romans 11 to make Israel jealous for their own Messiah by great acts of love (Romans 11:13,30-31). The incredible capstone to Paul's argument is found in Romans 11:1. as God rejected his people? By no means! Paul points to himself as proof that God has not rejected Israel. What meaning this must have in the light of Paul's own recollection of his past as a persecutor of "the Way!" Indeed, there were 7,000 more than Elijah realized who were true to God in his day (1 Kings 19:18)! "So, too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace" (11:15). This remnant should not be thought of as excluding the rest of the nation as God's elect, but as a first fruit pointing to the eventual salvation of the nation as a whole. Paul quotes the prophets and David to show that the lack of response on Israel's part was foreordained. The whole situation of Israel and its pursuit of righteousness by works (in Chapter 10) now brings God's judgment. For now, Paul states that Israel's unbelief is an act of God as well. "But have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means" (11:11). The Greek here implies, "is their stumbling fatal, an irretrievable fall?" Paul's answer is an emphatic "No!" Israel shall yet have its day! However, their trespass in not recognizing the righteous way of God in the Messiah is the means by which "salvation had come to the Gentiles" and "riches to the world" (vv.11-12). What could Paul mean by this? Why would Israel's unbelief have anything to do with gentile salvation? The historical context of the Book of Acts makes this clear. Whenever posssible, in each town to which Paul traveled, he went first to the local synagogue. Some Jewish people accepted the Good News of Messiah, but the majority usually rejected the Gospel. However, Gentiles came in large numbers when they were given the opportunity to know the God of Israel without the barriers of circumcision and the Jewish national lifestyle being required of them. Let us note Paul's controversy with the Judaizers. These Jewish followers of Yeshua taught that gentiles could not be saved unless they were circumcised and kept the Law of Moses. With great difficulty, the apostles prevailed (Acts 15) and refuted this view. Many Jews did accept the Gospel - myriads according to Acts 21 - as well as numerous Gentiles; yet these believers were still greatly a minority in Israel. Part of this minority doggedly hounded Paul and the gentile converts. The problems they brought about are addressed in Paul's epistles. What if instead of a minority, the majority of Jews had accepted? The percentage of Judaizers was not small. In every major city there was a large Jewish presence, not to mention the powerful Jews of the land of Israel. One to two million it is estimated were in the land, four to five million in the Diaspora. Imagine the pressure for the Judaizing viewpoint from three to five million Jews "all zealous for the law" (Acts 21). This would have been a huge barrier to the Gospel among the gentiles who were not called to be part of the nation Israel. Now we see the sense of Paul's words; but once the purpose of hardening has been accomplished, "how much more will their full inclusion mean." Jewish rejection also caused an intensified effort in preaching to non-Jews. Paul would see Israel made jealous for their own Messiah through the riches gentiles had received by the grace of God; so he "magnifies" his ministry. Here comes a semi-climax in the argument. The best website to prove all this is britam.org It is not possible that Israel and Judah will not fulfill their prophetic history; it is woven through all the prophetic books of the Old Testament. There is fulfilment now and at the end of the age for the house of Israel and the House of Judah. There is fulfilment for them as a whole people, all 12 tribes, under David and the 12 apostles. All that is written will surely come to pass. The people of the Church of God will be part of the bride of the Lamb; resurrected saints from all ages back to Adam. All kinds of jobs to do as we proceed into the Kingdom of God on earth, under the Messiah Christ Jesus.
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