How are we to understand Paul's teaching on 'the law'? Clifford Denton considers the Torah-based society from which God called the Apostle to the Gentiles.

The series in context

In these studies we are considering the way the Christian Church has become distanced from Israel. The parting of the ways began in the first century, quite soon after the time of the first apostles. The apostles themselves, whilst recognising that the New Covenant distinguished their interpretation of Torah from the existing rabbinical schools, would nevertheless have seen their faith as fulfillment of ancient promises to their people, not in terms of the separation that occurred later in the Christian Church.

Engaging with Paul

The teaching of the Apostle Paul is central to the New Testament – yet his teaching is often interpreted in different ways, depending on the mind-set of the reader. If, in our way of thinking, we do not consider the context of his life and teaching we might read Paul's letters through a wrong filter and draw imbalanced conclusions. We will consider how Paul's approach to Torah is consistent with the view that Christianity has deep Torah roots that are intended to bear good and lasting fruit in our lives. This is consistent with the Sermon on the Mount and all else that is the background to the New Covenant.

As an aside, we will use the Hebrew term Torah in this study, rather than the English word law, which has become less precise in our day when we seek to understand the Scriptures. The root meaning of Torah is teaching and instruction, while nowadays the concept of law is often derived from a Greco-Roman framework. Certainly, Paul would have used the Hebrew word Torah, just as Jesus would have done when he spoke to his disciples in their native tongue. It may take some time, but perhaps words like Torah and halakhah should be as familiar to Christians as other Hebrew words such as Hallelujah and Amen!

If we are to understand Paul's approach to 'the law' in a balanced way, we must consider the context of his life and teaching."

Recap: the series so far

We have already noted the importance of understanding the religious environment of Jesus and the apostles. For many centuries Torah had been the central focus of Jewish life. The oral traditions as applications of God's teaching were considered to be on an equal footing with the written Torah (the first five books of the Bible) and it was the responsibility of every generation to interpret God's teaching into a lifestyle that God could bless. Let us recap a little as we also extend our study.

Elders of the community took counsel together and defined the legal framework of life based on the Bible's teaching. This was known as halakhah, from the verb halakh, to walk. When we read the word law in our New Testament we are looking at a complex term. The biblical meaning is rooted in the intent of Torah- God's teaching to his people.

However, it is not as simple as that, because each person must decide how to apply this teaching to every aspect of his or her own life. Therefore the word law or even the word Torah itself means the relevant application of God's teaching. This depends on current circumstances and is subject to interpretation; Paul the Apostle knew this.

When we read the word 'law' in our New Testament, we are looking at a complex term that refers not only to God's teaching, but also to its interpretation and application."

The Hebraic mindset is one of action rather than philosophy. This is why the Talmud is still so important today in Judaism. The Jewish mindset is to know what to do, practically, in relation to God's teaching, trusting the Rabbis and traditions for the interpretation. The Talmud consists of the Mishnah (Oral Torah) and a commentary on the Mishnah. What became the Mishnah was the background to Paul's own studies as a Jew, along with the Hebrew Scriptures.

The rabbinic responsibility that was familiar to Paul is described in the introduction to Danby's translation of the Mishnah (OUP 1933):

It was the Rabbi's task to bring together the mass of Halakoth, the work of many generations, handed down in the form of miscellaneous collections of oral teachings, stored in many memories, and growing ever more complicated and unwieldy by reason of controversy between rival teachers and contradictory traditions; to reassemble this material and to present it as a single coherent whole, arranging it systematically, abbreviating arguments, summarizing discussions, rejecting what seemed superfluous, sometimes in disputed cases giving his own ruling, or adding arguments if they seemed called for.

The Torah, whether written or orally transmitted, is not static. It was the current accepted interpretation into halakhah that was the law, so to speak, constantly interpreted for new situations. It seemed revolutionary when Jesus said that the entire Torah and the prophets hung on the two principles of loving God and loving one's neighbour, but when that foundation was secure, teaching for all circumstances of life followed. Paul was to bring about a transition from conventional rabbinic Judaism to teaching the walk of God (halakhah) with the Torah written on the heart.

Paul's teaching encouraged a transition from traditional rabbinic Judaism to teaching the walk of God, with the Torah written on the heart."

Striving for perfection

The zeal of the Rabbis, at least in their own eyes, was not so much that they claimed perfect interpretation, but that they saw their mission as striving for that perfection. This fits with the accusation of Jesus that they strained out gnats and swallowed camels (Matt 23:24).

Some from the Jewish world of today also realise a failure to do what God expects, and that this has brought God's judgement upon them. In a recent commentary, Popular Halachah: A Guide to Jewish Living (ed. A. Tomaschoff, 1985), we read in the chapter entitled Serving the Creator:

Because of the sins of our forefathers, we were driven from our land, the land of Israel. Exile, dispersion and suffering caused many of our people to neglect the study of the holy language (Hebrew), to forget the Torah and to assimilate among the gentiles. But God has promised the eternity of the Jewish people: "And yet for all that, though they be in the land of their enemies, will I not cast them away, neither will I abhor them to destroy them utterly, nor will I break my covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God." (Leviticus 26:44)...Go forth and search for the nations of old; where are they today? They have vanished! Not so the people of Israel who live on forever more. What is the secret of their survival? There is but one answer: The Torah! "And you who cleave unto the Lord your God, you are alive, everyone of you, to this day." (Deuteronomy 4:4) Our sages explained it this way: The children of Israel who clung to God, the Source of Life, have come to possess life everlasting.

If Israel would return to God in true repentance, then will He fulfill unto us His promise which He gave us through the prophets, His servants, to gather in the remaining exiles from the four corners of the earth, to restore us to the land of our inheritance, and bring us the Messiah who will rebuild the Temple and restore Divine Worship and the holy mountain, in Jerusalem.

Here we find a contemporary echo that would also have applied in Paul's day. At that time there was a Messianic expectation arising within Israel, having been dominated by Rome for many years. It expresses the heart of the Jewish hope for the future despite all past failures, to cling to God through right interpretation of Torah and remain embedded in the flow of covenant history, preserving traditions and searching out contemporary meaning.

Of course, we discover from the New Testament that even with such zeal there was a striving for self-righteousness that brought some blindness to personal sin even among the Scribes and Teachers of Torah (e.g. Matt 23), and also blindness to the revelation of Jesus as Messiah.

In the midst of zeal for interpreting Torah, there was often a striving for self-righteousness that brought blindness to sin and to the revelation of Jesus as Messiah."

This was the nation, for example, that was so zealous for the Law that they would still seek to put false prophets to death, in accordance with their understanding of Torah (Deut 13:1-5). It was a dangerous nation in which to appear as a teacher or prophet- yet zeal for the interpretation of Torah was unquestionable!

Paul Emerges from this Background

Consider carefully the following statements, which Paul made about himself. The first two are about his background, his misplaced zeal and his conversion (note that it was after he had studied the Bible and the traditions of the Jews under a prominent Rabbi of the day that the Lord chose to use him as an apostle):

I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers' law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today. I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, as also the high priest bears me witness, and all the council of the elders, from whom I also received letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished. Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?' So I answered, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.' (Acts 22:3-8)

So he, trembling and astonished, said, "Lord, what do You want me to do?" Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do. (Acts 9:1-6)

Paul, being deeply grounded in the Old Testament Scriptures, could transfer this knowledge to an understanding of New Covenant fulfilment – types and shadows coming into clear focus. Surely, if he was any less grounded he would not have had the same authority to teach what he now understood.

For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. (Phil 3:3-6)

Paul's early upbringing and training made him a prepared vessel for his later ministry as Apostle to the Gentiles. Just as Jesus did not come to change the teaching of God, but to bring perfect understanding to it, so Paul emerged from his background to a fulfilled understanding based on the established Torah foundations of his life – the teaching of God, to be rightly interpreted. He had been prepared by God to bring the New Covenant gospel to the Gentile world.

For Study and Prayer

• Review Paul's letters in the New Testament. Also review the promise of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-35. Do you think that Paul saw his ministry as the authentic fulfilment of the teaching of the Old Testament or as establishing a completely new religion?

Next time: We will consider further Paul's teaching.