Ariel HaNaviy Supporter Messianic Jew and Torah Teacher with Messianic Congregation 'The Harvest'

In my experience as a Messianic Jew (one who believes in Yeshua (Jesus) yet follows the Torah (Law) of Moses, I have found that many of the standard Christian answers to Paul’s teachings unfortunately characterize the 1st century Judaisms as legalists seeking to earn their way into heaven by keeping the commandments. This overly simplistic caricature is historically inaccurate; the Judaisms of Paul’s day did NOT believe mere commandment keeping saved them. Therefore, Paul would not have needed to write to anyone (Jews especially, but also including Gentiles) to stop striving to keep the Law for salvation purposes. 

Allow me to present what I believe is an answer that is closer to the socio-religious challenges that Apostle Paul faced as he was moving in and among Gentile Christians seeking legitimacy in an otherwise “Jewish-members only” social club.

Paul uses the word Law in this verse but he may in fact be referring, not to the concept of Law proper in and of itself, but instead to a flawed theological policy long held in religious Isra'el, a policy that he once held to himself, a policy he now teaches against in many of his letters. Paul calls this policy “works of the Law” six times in his letters to Romans and Galatians combined (Rom. 3:20; Rom 3:28; Gal. 2:16; Gal 3:2; Gal. 3:5; Gal. 3:10). Sometimes he also uses the shorthand term “circumcision,” and other times he only uses the single word “Law.” I believe he is using “Law” in this particular technical sense in this verse. This flawed policy is that “all Jewish Isra'el and only Jewish Isra'el has a place in the World to Come (a.k.a., heaven) based on their ethnic status as Jews; if a Gentile wanted to get into the group, they had to undergo proselyte conversion and become a legally-recognized Jew. Based on this flawed theological policy, I would translate the verse using my own paraphrase thusly: “For if it is the adherents of the [Jewish-only membership policy] who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.” 

Unlocking Paul’s many uses of the word Law (Greek=nomos) will go a long way in developing one of the core hermeneutic keys to historically understanding Paul’s letters. Paul teaches in this passage (and this verse) that “…it is not the “adherents of the Law who are to be heirs…” On the one hand, mere mechanical Law-keeping will NEVER save anyone, nor will sincere Law-keeping for that matter. The Torah was not given of God to provide salvation of the soul. So on the theological level, it is true that keeping the Law does NOT save us. In fact, keeping the Torah has never saved anyone. But this is not Paul’s argument. Paul is arguing against Jewish-only membership into Isra'el—viz, only Jews can be saved. 

You see, in their segregated way of thinking, all of covenant Isra'el was comprised of Jewish people only, viz, every one in Isra'el was a Jew. If a non-Jew wanted to attain corporate salvation (both now and after they died), that person needed to legally convert to become a Jew first and thus join “Jewish Israel.” Once they were legally recognized as Jewish, their place in the physical covenant was ostensibly maintained by keeping the Torah. 

If we study the NT as an historical document alongside the other extant writings that have survived from the 1st Century Judaisms (the rabbinic commentaries, Talmud, etc.), as well as corroborate the theology of the OT in proper context, then we begin to get a more accurate picture of the pattern of theology of the 1st Century Jewish people and what we discover is that the Jewish concept of individual/group salvation cannot be easily caricatured by simplistic “merit theology” the way historic Christianity has traditionally characterized Jewish devotion to Torah.

August 31 2015 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

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