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What Must I Do?
The Believer, Judaism, and the Law of Moses
by Chris Davis

Introduction

Worldwide, Christians are beginning to experience a turning of their hearts toward the Jewish people, the land of Israel and Judaism. Individuals and families are expressing this new interest in a variety of ways: For some, their relationship with Christ has been greatly enhanced by discovering how He fulfilled the Sacrifices, the Festivals and the Law. For others, the repetitive and non-participatory nature of the average church has driven them to celebrate Jewish festivals and even join churches whose décor and liturgy look very much like synagogues. In extreme cases, some have concluded that God gave the Law to all mankind; therefore, even believers must become Torah-observers and obey the Law of Moses.

 

I am going to share my own perspectives on what I have observed among believers, on what I have observed while living in Israel and interacting with Orthodox Jews, and what I have observed of those who call themselves “Messianic Christians” or “Jewish Believers.”

 

Well-meaning men and women, as well as theologians and scholars, have hotly debated whether the coming of Christ and His creation of the church replaced the Jewish people in God’s purposes. This paper should not be seen as an attempt to enter that discussion.

 

Any student of history would have to admit that the institutional church has, at times, singled out the Jewish people to do them harm or has behaved with complicity as others have done so. Jews themselves will tell you they are difficult to live with, saying they are brash, opinionated, argumentative and aggressive. Their deeply held belief that they are to be separate from others may come across as arrogance. God, Himself, says of them, “All the day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people” (Isaiah 65:2 & Romans 10:21).

 

However, a careful reading of Romans, chapter 11, should give believers reason to ponder God’s negative response toward those who mistreat the Jews.

 

For their part, Jews are reacting to this new-found interest in them with a range of responses from bemusement to condescension to contempt. Basically, they are not interested in a Christian’s interest in them. Yet, they are almost schizophrenic in their behavior toward believers: Israelis make it very difficult for believers to be in their country, but they willingly accept whatever financial help believers are willing to offer. A Jew recently said to me, “What do you expect? It’s taken us 2,000 years just to get to the point of being cynical.”

 

Part 1: The Believer and the Law

 

This paper deals with some questions I am convinced believers must consider as they relate to Judaism and the Law of Moses. I contend that even when trying to respond to God, believers must respond in ways that are fundamentally scriptural to avoid being drawn into deceptive practices which can distract them, often for years, until the Lord is able to bring them back to the truth. Why not just begin with the truth?

 

Here are the questions I want to pose and attempt to answer:

• Is there really such thing as a new covenant? If so, in what way is it new?

• Is there really such thing as an old covenant? If so, in what way is it old?

• Is there any biblical basis for these concepts? If so, where is it found in the Bible?

• If these are truly biblical concepts, how are the old and the new related to one another? Is the new a further revelation that has been added to the old; is it a fulfillment of the old; or is it new in the sense of being completely (or uniquely) different than the old? If it is different than the old, is the new meant to supplant the old (meaning the new has done away with the old)?

• For those who believe in the new, do they have a relationship to the old? If so, what kind of relationship?

Old and New Covenants?

 

Again, is there really such thing as a new covenant? If so, does that mean there is also an old covenant? Is there a biblical basis for these concepts? If so, where is it found in the Bible?

 

It will only take a few scriptures to satisfactorily answer these questions:

 

Hebrews 9:1, “Now even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary” (Hebrews 9:1). [*]

 

Hebrews 9:15, “For this reason He [Christ] is the mediator of a new covenant….”

 

2 Corinthians 3:14, “But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ.”

 

Hebrews 8:13, “When He said, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.”

 

Hebrews 8:7-10, “If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no reason to seek a second [Gk: that which follows up on the previous one]. For finding fault with them He says, ‘Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will effect a new (Gr: not new chronologically, but new as in totally different) covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out from the land of Egypt…” (emphasis mine).

 

Hebrews 10:8-9, “After saying, ‘Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have not desired, nor have You taken pleasure in them’ [quoting Psalm 40]—which are offered according to the Law—then He said, ‘Behold I have come to do your will.’ He takes away the first in order to establish the second” (emphasis mine).

 

Why a New, or Second, Covenant?

 

The prophets of the Old Testament consistently stated that what God really desired from man was not just the Law’s sacrificial requirements, but something else. There has always been an “original intention” in God’s heart that can be seen throughout the Bible, an intention which is key to the New Testament’s argument that the Law was always to be seen as something temporary.

 

The prophet Micah (chapter 6) asks one of the most important questions found anywhere in scripture:

 

“What does God require of you?”

 

He says, “With what shall I come before my God when I come to bow myself before His holiness? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings? With year-old calves? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams? With ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my first-born for my transgressions, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” This seems to cover everything an individual could possibly bring as an offering to God. However, by implication, none of these are what God wants:

 

“Oh, man, He has shown you what is good. What does God require of you? To do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”

 

Further scriptures reinforce that there is something of the heart of man that God desires that is above the sacrifices of Law:

 

Psalm 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, oh God you will not despise.”

 

Psalm 107:22, “Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare His works with rejoicing.”

 

Isaiah 1:11, “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts, and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.”

 

Jeremiah 6:20, “…your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me.”

 

There is a continuity within the entire Bible as to what God requires of man:

 

Mark 12:29-33, “And Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength’. This is the first commandment. And the second is like it, namely that you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is none other commandment greater than these…. [This] is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

 

What is commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount is really a series of statements by Jesus showing the original desires of God’s heart. This sermon unveils God’s attitude toward mankind as well as His desire for man’s relationship with his fellow man. What Jesus said to the multitude was not what the people’s spiritual teachers had been teaching them were God’s requirements. “The result was that when Jesus had finished these words, the multitudes were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes” (Matthew 7:28-29).

 

No wonder they were amazed: Jesus’ teaching was music to their ears. The people intuitively knew that religious systems of behavior—“…the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us….” (Colossians 2:14)—could not be all there was to a real relationship with their God.

 

Jesus’ words cut through religion—phrases like, “You have heard…but I say to you….” and, “From the beginning it was not so,” were His constant refrain. Jesus took them back to the heart of God, into a higher realm than simply living an earthly life of selfishness and expediency. He told them that God wanted something of the heart. They knew He was right.

 

Law and the New Testament

 

It should not be wearisome—but rather helpful—to take a quick glance at what the New Testament says about Law. Below I have placed nearly all the scriptures relating to the Law in the order they appear in the New Testament beginning with John’s gospel where John juxtaposes Law and grace.

 

John 1:17, “For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.”

 

Acts 13:39, “…through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.”

 

Acts 15:5, “Certain ones of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed, stood up saying, ‘It is necessary…to direct them to obey the Law of Moses.’”

 

[However] Acts 15:10, “Now therefore, why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?”

 

Romans 3:20-21, “…by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets…”

 

Romans 3:27-28, “Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from [Gr: separately/without/by itself] works of the Law.”

 

Romans 5:20, “…the law came in [Gr: was slipped in] so that the transgression might increase [Gr: be made worse than it originally seemed]…”

 

Romans 6:14, “For sin shall not have mastery over you: for you are not under law, but under grace.”

 

Romans 7:4, “Therefore, brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God.”

 

Romans 7:6, “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.”

 

Romans 7:9, “For I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive, and I died.”

 

Romans 8:3, “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh.”

 

Romans 10:4, “For Christ is the end [conclusion/termination/fulfillment of the goal, or purpose, originally set forth] of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

 

1 Corinthians 15:56, “Sin is the poison that produces death; the Law gives sin its supernatural ability [Gr: dunamis].”

 

Galatians 4:4-5, “But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

 

Galatians 4:21, “Tell me, you who want to be under Law, do you not listen to the Law?”

 

Galatians 5:3-4, “And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.”

 

Galatians 5:18, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.”

 

Ephesians 2:15, “Having abolished (ceased/put away/made void) in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances…”

 

Philippians 3:9, “…may I be found in Him, having a righteousness which comes from God (on the basis of faith) and not a righteousness that comes from myself (derived from the Law).”

 

1 Timothy 1:6-7, “Some men, straying from these things [love and a good conscience v. 5] have turned aside to fruitless discussions, wanting to be teachers of the Law…”

 

1 Timothy 1:9, “…the Law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless…”

 

Hebrews 7:19, “For the Law made nothing perfect.…”

 

James presents a different kind of law: Love—the very law his Brother spoke of to His disciples (of which James was one):

 

James 1:25, “The one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does.”

 

James 2:10, “For whoever is determined to keep the whole Law, yet stumbles in even one point, has become guilty of [breaking] it all.”

 

James 2:12, “So speak and so act, as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.”

 

Romans 13:10, [here Paul and James agree that the totality of the Law’s requirements can be completely fulfilled by one act], “…love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the Law.”

 

Matthew 22:37-40 [Jesus said it most clearly], “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

 

A Letter to Jewish Believers

 

A few remarks from the letter to the Jewish believers (Hebrews):

 

Hebrews calls the old covenant a shadow and says there is something very important the old cannot do. Since the old relates only to issues of behavior, the old cannot make whole a person’s conscience (Hebrews 9). Hebrews 10 says the old can never take away sins but can only continually remind people of their sins. This is why Paul calls the Law a minister of death and a minister of condemnation (2 Corinthians 3:7-8). Who would choose to live under those ministers?

 

The old is also called the first, making it clear there is a second. The old is also called obsolete and ready to disappear (Hebrews 8:13).

 

Finally, Hebrews says that God takes away the first in order to establish the second (Hebrews 10:9). The words “in order to” mean that, for the second to be established, the first must be removed.

 

By contrast, the new covenant not only takes away sins, it is capable of making one’s conscience clean. Hebrews refers to the new covenant as new (totally unique), better, and more excellent over 20 times!

 

What Must I Do?

 

Satan never contests God’s word or even its truth. Instead, he distorts it by reinterpreting it for us. He says that what Christ has done is not all that must be done. What Christ did is not sufficient without what we add to it. Satan puts the individual at the center—what the individual can do to add to what Christ has done, rather than what Christ has accomplished all by Himself without any help from man.

 

For this reason, the answer to the question, “What must I do?” is central to the gospel message.

 

Acts 16 tells the story of Paul and Silas being freed from prison by an earthquake. When the jailer saw their miraculous deliverance, he fell at their feet and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” The answer was, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved….”

 

This answer has never fully satisfied those who feel that, surely, there is something they must do. The true gospel message challenges mankind to add nothing to what Jesus did on the cross. But every historical religious system has been birthed when, in answer to the question, “What must I do?” (as in Acts 16), requirements are laid upon the individual beyond the simple requirement to believe.

 

The Galatian Believers

 

Paul’s letter to the Galatian churches is considered by most to be Scripture’s most poignant debate between law and grace.

 

The history of the Galatian peoples directly affected their eager reception of Paul’s message of freedom in Christ, as well as their “so quick” (1:6) acceptance of the message that, to be a believer, one must obey the Law of Moses.

 

In Paul’s day, the area known as Galatia was in the geographical center of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). A few hundred years before Paul’s visit, a large number of families had migrated to this region from Gaul (or modern-day France) and, eventually, had become the ruling class in the area. They were known as “Galatians” (peoples from Gaul).

 

When the Galatians came to Asia Minor, they brought with them Druidism, the religion of their Celtic ancestors. The Druid religion was one of history’s most demonic, legalistic and fear-producing religious systems with its dark laws and human sacrifices.  When Paul arrived in Galatia, his message, simply put, set these Druidic Galatians “free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2).

 

Druidism is a religion of witchcraft and fear. Accepting the simplicity of what Jesus accomplished is difficult for anyone growing up in a legalistic system, and the Galatians’ upbringing was the most legalistic imaginable. Moving from a religious system which governs every aspect of one’s life to freedom in Christ can leave a person wondering, “Isn’t there something I am supposed to do?” For most people, freedom is too good to be true!

 

In the earliest days of the church, men were following Paul around with the intention of correcting his message. We know that all the earliest believers were Jews. The men we now call Judaizers (makers of Jewish converts from among Gentile believers) had been Torah-observing Jews who had come to believe that Jesus was their Messiah and were now Torah-observing believers. These men were convinced that to follow the Jewish Messiah, all believers must obey the Law of the Jews, especially circumcision (the sign of the Covenant for all Jews). They were convinced they had the answer to the question, “What must I do?”

 

No sooner had Paul left his new converts, they were visited by the Judaizers from Jerusalem. It took little to persuade the Galatians that what Paul had told them could not possibly be all there was to the story.

 

Paul’s Galatian letter is filled with frustration over his new converts deserting the gospel. Paul says the Judaizers came to the Galatians with a form of gospel (good news) that was not even close to what he had shared, but was rather a distortion of the truth (Galatians 1). Their actual message was, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1). The result was that the Galatians—who had spent generations steeped in legalism—“so quickly deserted Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel” (1:6), and came under the Law; only this time, they exchanged the law of Dis Pater (Druidism’s main deity—the God of the Dead) for the Law of Moses.

 

Paul asks, “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you…?” This was a particularly stinging insult to people who formerly lived under a witchcraft religion. He asks, “Does He then, who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by the hearing with faith?” (chapter 3).

 

Paul’s Gospel

 

Paul’s struggle with the Judaizers shows that they differed in what each considered to be the gospel message. Each passionately believed they were right. So, let’s ask, “Where did Paul get the gospel message he shared?”

 

When Paul first came to Christ, did he seek out Jesus’ disciples to find out what the gospel message was? This would have made sense. However, he did not do this. Rather, he says he did not want to consult with anyone, not even those who were established apostles. He came to Jerusalem to visit the apostles only after having spent an interval of three years in Arabia. And, when he finally did come to Jerusalem he stayed with Peter only a couple of weeks (Galatians 1:16-19).

 

The revelations Paul received from God while in Arabia are evident throughout his writings. Whether he shared them during his two-week stay with Peter is not known. It may be assumed that Paul shared some of what God had shown him, especially the revelation that, for those in Christ, there was no longer a distinction between Jew and Gentile.

 

Paul and Peter were both in Antioch when the Judaizers “came from James” (Jerusalem) to visit the rapidly growing Antioch church.

 

The Judaizers must have been a powerful influence and they must have had some frightening dominance that Scripture doesn’t readily reveal. To Paul’s mind, the Judaizers were dangerous because they did not grasp the deep significance of what Christ had done for mankind. He called them, “…false brethren who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage” (Galatians 2:4). In spite of Paul’s feelings, these men were influential enough to cause Peter to draw back.

 

Paul tells the Galatians of the time in Antioch when Peter stopped fellowshipping with the Gentile believers and began fellowshipping only with the Jewish believers. Paul says he withstood Peter “to his face” on the grounds that Peter was a hypocrite (chapter 2). Later on in this letter, Paul ties Peter’s actions to his fear of the Judaizers, indicating that Peter was concerned about what others might think of him—or, perhaps, what others might do to him—if Peter behaved consistent with Paul’s gospel. Paul says of the Judaizers (and, by extension, of Peter), “Those who are circumcised do not even keep the Law themselves…. Those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh try to compel you to be circumcised simply that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ” (Galatians 6:13 & 12—emphasis mine). Was Peter not really in agreement with Paul’s revelation of what Christ had accomplished? Did Peter believe there were different requirements for Jew and Gentile believers? As a Jewish believer, was it only prudent that he associate only with his “own kind”? Was he just not sure that, in Christ, there really was “one new man” who was neither Jew nor Gentile as Paul taught? (Ephesians 2:15). Or, was Peter simply still afraid of persecution?

 

During his discussion of Peter’s actions, Paul uses the phrase “by the works of the Law” three times in the same verse (2:16). It seems he wants to sufficiently make the point that, “…by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified” (the original language doubly emphasizes the two words “no flesh”).

 

The Face-Off

 

For the next 14 years (Galatians 2:1) Paul and Barnabas traveled widely, sharing the gospel. Finally they came face to face with the Judaizers and such a “great dissension and debate” broke out between them that it was “determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders…” to settle the ongoing issue of “What must a believer do?” (Acts 15:2).

 

What is known as The Council at Jerusalem (Acts 15) was convened. “And after there had been much debate….” (Acts 15:7), it was Peter who put the matter straight (having earlier been roundly rebuked by Paul for Peter’s two-faced behavior):

 

“Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith (Acts, chapters 10 & 11). Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are (Acts 15:7-11—italicized emphasis mine).

 

The Verdict

 

The Council answered the question, “What must the Gentile believers do” by concluding that God was placing on them four requirements: “…abstain from things contaminated by idols, from fornication, from what is strangled and from blood” (Acts 15:20). What is interesting is what they were not required to do: Be circumcised and obey the Law of Moses.

 

The Judaizers had demanded that Gentile believers become Torah-observing believers. The Council’s decision refuted the Judaizers’ demand. However, perhaps unknowingly, the Council created an altogether different problem that took years to overcome.

 

Peter had made two extremely important statements to the Council. They were, “He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith,” and, “We believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus….” (Acts 15:9 & 11). The Council had answered the question, “What must Gentile believers do?” But, they seemed to overlook the implications of Peter’s statements and effectively created a distinction between Jewish and Gentile believers, each with their own, distinctly different “what-must-we-do” requirements.

 

Two Gospels for Two Kinds of Believers?

 

A strange story from Acts 21 will illustrate what I mean by my statement, “effectively created a distinction between a Jewish and a Gentile believer.”

 

Acts 21 takes place when Paul returned to Jerusalem following his third and final missionary journey. Paul was now one of the church’s elder statesmen, soon to be arrested and imprisoned. He was only a few years away from the end of his ministry because of his death at the hands of the Romans.

 

Paul had spent years spreading the gospel of Christ. Much had transpired between the aforementioned Jerusalem Council and this meeting where Paul once again appears before these same apostles. In the intervening years, Paul had had great success among the Gentiles as had Peter among the Jews:

 

Paul had written to the Galatians that, at the Jerusalem Council, it was agreed that, “He who effectively worked for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcision effectively worked for me also to the Gentiles.” The next statement is significant for this discussion: “…James and Cephas [Peter] and John…gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship that we might go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised [the Jews]” (Galatians 2:8-9—emphasis mine).

 

Now, Acts, chapter 21 has Paul arriving in Jerusalem to report to the assembled apostles his successes among the Gentiles. After everyone had rejoiced with Paul, they reported to him their own success among the Jewish population: “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law” (Acts 21:20—emphasis mine).

 

At this point in the narrative of Acts 21, the apostles tell Paul that a rumor had been circulating regarding Paul’s gospel. The rumor was that, when Paul shared his gospel to the Gentiles, he also was telling the “Jews among the Gentiles” that they should “forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor walk according to the customs” (21:21).

 

Of course, this is exactly what Paul believed and what he was sharing with the Gentiles. The fact that Jews were present when Paul shared his gospel didn’t affect what he said:

 

“For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit….” (Romans 2:28-29).

 

“For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new [Gr: completely different in kind] creation” (Galatians 6:15).

 

“…put on the new self which is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created Him—a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised…but Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:10-11).

 

Paul’s revelation that, in Christ, there no longer existed a distinction between men had apparently not yet been accepted by all the apostles of the early church. There was still a “barrier of the dividing wall” even between believers. Nevertheless, Paul knew what God had shown him:

 

“…He made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances [Gr: all of the things we may not do—which is what the Law contains], that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace [Gr: rest]” (Ephesians 2:15). Again the word “new” in the original language means “something totally different and superior to the old.”

 

“There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free man; there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).

 

Yet, after telling Paul about the rumor, the Jerusalem apostles said, “What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come” (Acts 21:22). No mention is made of who “they” are; but, “their” opinion of Paul had caused sufficient fear that the apostles told Paul he must submit to their requirement to join a group of men who were under a vow. Then, they concluded, “…all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law” (v. 24—emphasis mine). Again, no mention of who the fearful “they” are.

 

What is amazing is that, in spite of what Paul believed, he still submitted to the Jerusalem apostles and put himself under the Law! Why would he do this, considering what he believed and taught? Because he had been given a mission and that mission trumped all else. As he put it,

 

“Though I am free of all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more. And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law, though not being myself under the Law, that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the Law of God but under the law of Christ, that I might win those who are without law” (1 Corinthians 9:20-21—emphasis mine).

 

Spirit of the Judaizers

 

The point is that, although the Judaizers had tried (and failed) to force Gentile believers to become Torah observant, as late as Acts 21 Torah observance was still an expected practice among Jewish believers. Eventually this changed as Paul’s revelations become more and more accepted. Throughout the history of the church, however—and in response to the continuously asked question, “What must I do?”—different portions of the body of Christ would succeed where the original Judaizers failed: to bring believers under Law.

 

Judaizers have existed in every generation of the church, spreading what Paul called their “distorted gospel” (Galatians 1:7) among Gentile believers who fall into the category of “you who want to be under Law….” (Galatians 4:21). For 2,000 years, those who have failed to closely read Paul’s letter to the Galatians and the letter to the Hebrews have fallen for this deception.

 

If you are a believer who has a desire to live under Law, be prepared to become totally focused on keeping every minute detail of it. If you break even the smallest commandment, you will be cursed: “…for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the Law, to perform them’” (Galatians 3:10).

 

The very Law under which you want to live will cause you to disobey it. Here is the progression of what will happen:

 

First, the Law will have jurisdiction over you as long as you live (under the Law): “…I am speaking to those who know the Law, that the Law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives” (Romans 7:1).

 

Second, not being under the jurisdiction of the Spirit, but under the Law, you can only disobey the Law: “…the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death” (Romans 7:5).

 

Third, you will be unable to obey all the Law because you will find yourself under a curse: “For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse….” (Galatians 3:10).

 

Are you certain you want to be included among those of whom Paul writes, “You who want to be under Law…”? (Galatians 4:21)

 

How would a person know if he was living under Law or simply trying to enjoy some of the things the Jews do? The answer is simple: ask yourself, “What would God think of me if I didn’t…”

 

What would God think of me if I didn’t wear a kippa? If I didn’t wear tzit-tzit? If I didn’t observe certain holidays? If I didn’t consider Friday night through Saturday night as having a special meaning? What would God think of me?

 

“You observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you….” (Galatians 4:10-11).

 

The Judaizers have always had one goal: to convince believers that they must obey Law. These men prey on the natural desire of individuals to please God and to answer the question everyone asks, “What must I do?” The Judaizers have an arsenal of very sensible arguments. The years Paul spent finely honing his intellect to prepare him for a future as a Pharisaic scholar, God was actually preparing him for a different task: that of refuting Jewish believers would put their brethren under Law. Derek Prince, a Bible teacher who had formerly been a philosophy professor at Cambridge University (and one of the world’s leading experts on the philosophy of Plato), once remarked in my hearing, “Plato is generally considered the greatest mind history has ever produced. In my opinion, Paul was the only man whose intellect was greater than that of Plato.”

 

Paul Refutes the Judaizers: Who are Abraham’s True Offspring?

 

The Old Testament story of Abraham placing his faith in the promises of God must have been discussed among the apostles as various versions of the story appear in the letters to the Romans, the Galatians, and the Hebrews. Why was this story so important? For one thing, the Judaizers were using this story to demonstrate that a non-Jewish believer could only become a descendant of Abraham by obeying the Law. The apostles, on the other hand, were using this same story to show just the opposite:  that it was faith and not Law that allowed a believer to become Abraham’s descendant.

 

Since the story of Abraham was the cornerstone of the Judaizers logic, Paul used logic to refute the Judaizers’ own argument. The Judaizers’ “gospel” stated that all believers must become descendants of Abraham. Scripture says that God had given promises to Abraham, the main promise being, “In your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 22:18).

 

The Judaizers formed the following premises from this scripture: 1. God made promises to Abraham. 2. These promises were made not just to Abraham, but through Abraham to his descendants. 3. It is obvious that Abraham’s descendants are the Torah-observing Jews. 4. No one but Torah-observing Jews are Abraham’s descendants.

 

A simple conclusion was then deduced from these premises: If one is not a descendant of Abraham (not in line to receive God’s promises), one may become Abraham’s descendant (be put in line to receive God’s promises) by becoming Torah-observant.

 

In logic, if one is making an argument, he first proposes certain premises that, in turn, should lead to an obvious conclusion. If his premises are infallible, then the conclusion will usually be infallible. However, if his premises are fallible, the conclusion will also be fallible (illogical, or wrong).

 

To prove the fallibility of the Judaizers’ conclusion, Paul attacks the premises of their logic; and, in so doing, we receive one of the most amazing revelations given us in Scripture: Who are the real descendants of Abraham? This revelation is what the writer to the Hebrews calls “solid food” (Hebrews 5:14)—an argument so carefully and logically presented that most who read this passage never grasp it. An added “bonus” to Paul’s refutation of the Judaizers’ argument is that Paul gives us another amazing revelation: the answer to the question, “What was the purpose of God giving the Law?”

 

In Romans 4 and Galatians 3, Paul agrees that God gave promises to Abraham. In Galatians 3 Paul says that these promises were not only to Abraham but also to his future descendant (his seed). Here Paul challenges the Judaizers’ premise by stating that God’s promises were not made to all of Abraham’s descendants (seeds, plural), but to only one descendant (seed, singular). Paul says this single descendant is Christ. If it is true that one becomes “righteous in Christ” through faith, and if it is true that God called Abraham “righteous” because of his faith (i.e., he believed God), then the promises God made to Abraham and his descendants can only be received by faith. If this premise is correct, then one may substitute Christ for the phrase your seed, leaving the statement, “In Christ shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.”

 

Now the conclusion changes to be thus: “Whether one is a natural descendant of Abraham or not, in order to partake in God’s promises to Abraham, a person must first become a descendant of Abraham (i.e., a believer in Christ by faith), because Abraham’s true descendants are exclusively those who are “in Christ.”

 

Paul then brings up the Law because the Judaizers had concluded that Gentiles must obey the Law in order to become sons of Abraham.

 

An Aside

 

Before stating what Paul has to say about the Law, I am going to share a side note about the Jews and the Law:

 

A Jewish friend and author recently told me that Jewish tradition states that God created the Jewish people with a nature different from that of other humans. Their different nature gives them the capacity to obey the Law God had given them. This is one reason why, even today, Jews believe the Law was intended solely for Jews, while other humans are required to obey what Jews call the Noahic Covenant, supposedly a set of laws given by God to Noah. According to Jews, Noah was a Gentile and the laws given to Noah, though similar to the Ten Commandments, were slightly different. The Hebrews did not exist as a people until Abraham, the world’s first believer in a single god; and the Hebrews did not exist as a nation until Sinai and the giving of the Law. This belief in two distinct peoples with two distinct requirements from God may have been the reason the apostles of the early church considered it appropriate to place different requirements on Gentile believers than what was generally expected of Jewish believers. This may also have been one of the reasons the Judaizers were requiring Gentiles to first become Jews: so they might then also have the (supposed) capacity to obey the Law.

 

To continue: according to the Jew, God would never give man a system of laws he was incapable of obeying. According to Paul, that is exactly what God did. According to the Jew, man’s nature is not fallen, leading the Jew to the conclusion that man does not need a Savior because man’s nature is, basically, good. According to Paul (who emphatically dismisses the notion that man is, basically, good), all men have but one nature, and that nature is deadly: “…for in Adam all die….” (1 Corinthians 15:22). Adam’s failure changed man’s nature so inalterably that nothing could “make him better,” especially God’s Law.

 

The idea that man is fallen has been a major stumbling block in my own discussions with Jews.

 

Therefore, if, as Psalm 19:7 says, “The Law of the Lord is perfect…,” and if man is capable of obeying the Law, Judaism would say that man has no excuse not to obey it.

 

What Judaism cannot accept is that “basically good mankind” would need no Law.

 

It has often been said that it is impossible to legislate morality. Just the opposite is true: Morality is the only thing that can be legislated. Legislation is required only because man is not basically good. If man were naturally moral, no law would be needed to curtail his basic drive for self-centered fulfillment. Without laws, the good man would naturally be other-centered. One cannot imagine a society functioning without law; anarchy is the result of the absence of law.

 

Jews are humanistic in their belief in the natural goodness of mankind. In saying, “man is, basically, good,” they are saying that man begins with good intentions and his nature is improvable as his understanding of and obedience to Law improves.

 

This attitude flies in the face of both history and common sense. If man had been improving himself throughout the millennia, the century just past would have been the most peaceful in history. Instead it was more deadly than all the previous centuries combined, and the century we have just entered is shaping up to be worse than the last. If any people-group should realize this from their personal experience with history, it should be the Jews.

 

Paul denounces Jewish humanistic philosophy. He says that Law is for one class of humans only: “We know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous man, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God….” (1 Timothy 1: 8-11). What class of humans is the Law meant for? Anyone and everyone who is not in Christ. For those not in Christ, Law is good because it holds lawless humanity in check by legislating against his natural behavior.

 

As for Law improving man’s already “good” nature, Hebrews 7:19 says flatly, “Law made nothing perfect….”

 

Why the Law?

 

Paul answers the following two questions: “Why did God give the Law?” and “Do Gentiles become Abraham’s descendants (partakers of the promise made to Abraham) only if they became Torah observers” as the Judaizers were claiming?

 

The Law, says Paul, came to man 430 years after Abraham (i.e., after God gave the promises to Abraham). When the law was added, it did not affect [invalidate] the promises previously made (and ratified by God) so as to nullify those promises.

 

But, if the promises were to Abraham and to those who were exclusively his descendants in Christ, what then was the point in God giving the Law?

 

Paul’s answer is simple: After Adam’s fall in the garden, mankind’s nature had changed to become so profoundly corrupt, it kept him from being able to receive the promises given to Abraham and to his descendants. “Sin was in the world…” but man could do nothing about it, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). For further discussion of “falling short,” see Part 2 of this paper.

 

Paul uses three little words that completely sum up the entire problem with man from the days of Adam until Christ. These words are, “We were helpless” (Romans 5:6). Let no one ever forget that this was his situation before Christ came to him!

 

Why the Law? It was given “…because of transgressions” (Galatians 3:19).

 

But Paul also uses the word “until” when referring to the Law. (If you will take the time to look up the incidences where the word “until” is used in Scripture, you will receive a blessing). Referring to the Law, Paul writes (Galatians 3:19) that the Law will be in effect “UNTIL the seed should come to whom the promise had been made.” The “seed” here is Christ and this statement refers to what Paul has been saying about our becoming Abraham’s descendants (seed) in Christ.

 

We now know a little of why the Law was given and how long it would remain in effect (until Christ), but we need to discuss what the Law was supposed to accomplish while it remained in effect.

 

The Bible says over and over what the Law was not supposed to accomplish. It was not given to impart life. Righteousness is life and if the Law had been given to impart life then the Law would have made people righteous. Paul poses the question, “If Law could have accomplished righteousness, then righteousness would have been based on Law. If, however, righteousness is not based on Law, does Law then work against the promises of God?” (Galatians 3:21—emphasis mine).

 

Paul answers his own question: Law does not accomplish righteousness, but it does contribute to righteousness (just not in the way the Jews think). Law does do at least four things that contribute to Abraham’s promises being fulfilled (in Christ). Let’s look at these four things.

 

What Law Accomplishes

 

First, Law would keep mankind in custody: “But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the Law….” (3:23). How does the Law keep a person in custody?

 

Colossians 2:14 calls the Law “…the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us….” The Law contains almost limitless requirements (which are continually being added to by successive generation of Jews). As the Law becomes man’s primary focus, it so captures his thoughts—so incarcerates the mind—that he is totally preoccupied with obeying every minuscule requirement. No act could be considered without first giving thought to how that act might either satisfy or offend some requirement of Law.

 

This preoccupation keeps the person’s mind in custody and it continues until what scripture calls the right time: “While we were yet helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6—emphasis mine).

 

Second, while waiting for the “right time” for this new covenant to be revealed—while waiting for this “time of reformation” (Hebrews 9:10) when the new covenant was in place that men could appeal to and, by it, be set free—while waiting for “…the faith that was later to be revealed” (Galatians 2:23), the Law would act as man’s Tutor.

 

A tutor teaches, or trains, another. We usually think of a tutor as another person. Here, Paul speaks of the Law as man’s Tutor. What is one of the most important things the Tutor would want mankind to learn while waiting for the “right time”? The Tutor would want man to understand that the Law would not be fulfilled until Christ was finished with what He came to accomplish. Here are Jesus’ words regarding what he came to accomplish:

 

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls the least of one of these commandments, and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:17-19—emphasis mine). To all those who had not yet received freedom in Christ, obedience to the most abstract and minute aspect of the Law would be critical to hold mankind in custody until Christ fulfilled every detail of the Law; and, there will yet be people held under the Law “until heaven and earth pass away…” at which time all will be accomplished!

 

The Tutor would further teach men that a day would come when they would be allowed to become subject to the new covenant promised by Jeremiah; i.e., their faith in Christ would set them free because Christ’s death had set aside the sentence their guilt demanded. That being accomplished, the role of Tutor (the Law) would no longer be necessary, “Therefore, the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor” (Galatians 3:24-25).

 

Third, those formerly held under the old system (but now under the new), would be baptized into Christ. This baptism (identification with Christ—see Romans 6) would make them partakers with that (singular) descendant of Abraham because they had, by their baptism, become “clothed in Christ” (Galatians 3:27).

 

Who, then, are the true descendants of Abraham and, thereby, heirs of the promises?

 

“And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” (Gal 3:29). The only way the promises previously made (and ratified by God) could be nullified is if the promises depended on the Law: “…if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise” (Galatians 3:18). Paul says this another way in Romans 4:13, “For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.”

 

Fourth, “…the law came in [Gr: was slipped in] so that the transgression might increase [Gr: be made worse than it would originally seem]….” (Romans 5:20). This statement comes from Paul’s personal experience which he outlined in Romans chapters 6, 7 and 8. The Law showed man that he was so helpless, only death could solve his dilemma.

 

Paul never shies away from giving honest expression to his personal journey from Law to Christ, from murderer to minister of grace. The Law kept him in passionate bondage until the time “…when He who had set me apart, even from my mother’s womb, and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me….” (Galatians 1:15-16).

 

Paul was a Jew, yet he did not think of himself as a descendant of Abraham until the time he would be in Christ. In Galatians, chapter 4, Paul testifies how, in his own life, he was freed from slavery to the Law.

 

Promises or Law?

 

We can now ask the question, “Which is more important: the Promises or the Law?” Another way to ask this is, “Which one is permanent: the Promises or the Law?”

 

I reiterate: Scripture makes is clear 1) that the Law was added to the Promises (Romans 5:20 & Galatians 3:19); 2) that its addition was not meant to abrogate the Promises; and 3) the addition of the Law was not meant to be permanent. Nowhere in Scripture are the Promises referred to as “being made obsolete,” “growing old” or “ready to disappear”; whereas, each of these phrases is used in reference to the Law (Hebrews 8:13).

 

A careful reading of Hebrews reveals that one cannot be both “in Christ” and “under the Law” because that person would be trying to relate to the two different sanctuaries at the same time.

 

To look further into the aspect on becoming a descendant of Abraham (a son of the Promises by faith), let’s look at Paul:

 

God saw that one day Paul would be a son; yet, for the years Paul was under Law, he was a slave. While under Law, Paul was “…under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world. But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:2-5).

 

Sonship

 

How does God work sonship into our lives? In practical terms how do we become “heirs in Christ according to the promise”? Paul has already said how: Adoption as sons. (Romans 8:15 & 23; Galatians 4:5; Ephesians 1:5).

 

What is adoption? I will give a couple of practical examples in my own life:

 

When I married, my wife already had a 6-year old daughter. On this little girl’s birth certificate was the name of her natural father. When I adopted my wife’s daughter, the judge who was officiating at the adoption ruled that the little girl’s birth certificate be changed to show that I had been her father from birth. I was surprised that such a thing was possible, and I will always remember thinking at the time that something very spiritual had happened during that moment.

 

I was not raised in a Christian home. Growing up, I did not know who Jesus was, had never heard a prayer or a religious discussion in the home, had never opened a Bible. By the time I was 14 years old, I had lost both parents. Not long after being orphaned I chanced upon a Bible and opened it at random. My eyes fell upon the scripture, “God is a father of the fatherless….” (Psalm 68:5). I was fatherless. Though I did not know who God was, I remember saying out loud, “I am fatherless, so, from now on you, God (whoever you are), will be my father.”

 

Within a few days someone shared with me Jesus’ words, “…no one comes to the Father except through Me.” I came into the Family through the Door. I had been adopted. But that was only the beginning.

 

Every family has its own, unique “culture”: how things are done and what is expected of individuals within that family. Usually, members of the same family share a common family resemblance; and, unless individuals rebel against their family’s culture, they become acculturated by their upbringing. However, when a person is adopted, he changes families, which means he also changes family cultures.

 

I had been adopted into a family whose “culture” was radically different from the one in which I had grown up. The pervasive habit patterns I grew up with took time to change; in some cases, years. But, God had begun a good work in me and He was committed to complete that work (Philippians 1:6). His goal: “…until Christ be formed in [me] (Galatians 4:19). He intended that there be a recognizable family resemblance between me and Jesus—my now Elder Brother. I had been of the earth, earthly; now I was of the heavens, heavenly. My family and home were not “of this world.”

 

My Father had been the author of my faith; now He was going to perfect that faith (Hebrews 12:2). How was He to accomplish this perfection? The first section of Hebrews 12 describes His method to bring forth the image of His Son in me: the words “discipline” [Gr: training] and “endurance” [Gr: to remain subject to and persevere while being trained] are the operative words here.

 

He trains; I remain. I endure. I abide in the Vine. I am a branch, grafted in. The fruit comes, but not instantly. Fruit takes time, but my Father (the Vinedresser) knows how to bring forth fruit that pleases Him.

 

Immorality, impurity and sensuality had been expressed in my life because there was no joy and peace. Strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions and factions had been expressed in my life because there was no patience, kindness, goodness or self-control. Like all of humanity, I had been created to be able to express life only when connected to Life, Himself. When humanity became disconnected from Him, they were only capable of producing “deeds of the flesh.” But, when I became grafted into The Vine, life began to flow and fruit began to grow. The lack of life-flow had left me producing the fruit of death. Now, what was manifested by its lack, slowly began to disappear as spiritual fruit began to grow and crowd out the fruit of death (Galatians 5:16-26).

 

The other aspects of my acculturation into my new family were supposed to come through the effectual working of each “joint” in Christ’s body, “…until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). Believers have a way to go to learn how to fulfill this responsibility in one another’s lives.

 

Deception

 

After Paul discloses that adoption is the avenue God created to redeem us from the Law and release us from slavery, he then asks the Galatians how it was that the Judaizers were able to deceive them so easily, “…how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? You observe days and months and seasons and years” (Galatians 4:9-10—emphasis mine).

 

One of the behaviors I see among believers interested in Judaism is that they are “observing days and months and seasons and years.” In Paul’s words, they are “turning back again to weak and worthless elemental things, desiring to be enslaved.” Is this a salvation issue? Read Hebrews, chapter 6. It definitely affects a believer’s ability to enter God’s rest (see Part 2 of this paper).

 

Continuing his discussion of sonship, Paul asks the Galatians if they understand that Abraham actually had two sons: one the son of a slave, the other the son of a free woman. Still speaking of God’s promise to Abraham—and of the son born of promise—Paul says that the son of the slave woman is an allegory for Mt. Sinai and the covenant of Law that was given there. This covenant corresponds to modern-day Jerusalem—to the Jewish people, whose children are slaves because, “The Law will go forth out of Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3 & Micah 4:2). To continue the allegory, there is also a Jerusalem that is above, is free, and is our mother. Here Paul uses the strongest possible Greek word for “free.”

 

The Jewish people believe they are the true sons of Abraham. Telling them they are not sons at all, but slaves, did not exactly endear Paul to his own people!

 

The tragedy of the Galatian Gentile believers becoming Torah observers was one of the main reasons for convening the Jerusalem Council. One of the statements coming out of the Council was, “Certain ones of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed [these were believers] stood up, saying, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them, and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses’” (Acts 15: 5). Members of the Council wrote a letter to all Gentile believers which included the following sentence: “…we heard that some, having gone out from us, have disturbed you with words which have unsettled your souls with commands saying, ‘Be circumcised and keep the Law’, to whom we gave no such command” (Acts 15:24—emphasis mine). The Council had already convened at least once before (Acts 11) to hear Peter’s testimony of how God had provided salvation and the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles. Now this same council of apostles was willing to require little more of Gentile converts than, as Paul said, “…to remember the poor—the very thing I also was eager to do” (Galatians 2:10).

 

Whatever became of the Judaizers? They found a home in institutional religion, willingly answering the oft-asked question, “What must I do?” Today they have found new and fertile ground among believers who have an interest in Judaism and the Jewish people. It is obvious that the spirit under which they once operated is very much alive.

 

On a positive note, it might be said that, without the Judaizers and their influence on the earliest believers, believers throughout the ages would not have had the advantage of Paul’s words, words which protect the believer from following those who are “…straying from these things [love], [and] have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions” (1 Timothy 1:6-7).

 

The Law is Good

 

So, the Law had a purpose after all. One which God, alone, understood until that purpose was revealed.

 

The Law had glory and it came with glory Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 3. Paul also calls the Law spiritual and good (Romans 7). But it was also a minister of both death and of condemnation (1 Corinthians 3:7 & 9). Why? The problem was never the Law; the problem was (and is) man’s basic nature. And, just here, Paul gives what is arguably the most amazing revelation the church has ever received!

 

In Philippians 3, Paul relates his own testimony of how he strove to become one of the greatest Pharisees of his time. Then, in Romans, chapter 7, he alludes to the fact that God showed him that this striving was nothing more than him coveting fame and glory.

 

Covetousness: Paul was faced with the truth that he was breaking one of the Ten Commandments! How did he respond? As any good Jew would when something is pointed out to him that he knows displeases the Lord: he would change his behavior. It was then Paul realized the very requirements of God (which Paul deeply desired to obey) were impossible for him to obey since evil was deeply rooted within his character—so deeply rooted that mere willpower was not going to be enough to root it out.

 

An analogy will help here. The word sin means to miss the mark. In order to miss the mark, there must be a mark to miss. What is the mark that one misses that allows it to be said that he sinned? It is an established set of rules one aims to obey: in our discussion, the Law.

 

If I agree that the Law is something I should aim at obeying, then I am going to try to hit the bull’s eye (so to speak) with my behavior.

 

Picture an archer taking aim with his bow and arrow to hit a target. However, every time the archer aims at the target and lets go his arrow, the arrow goes wild and misses the mark. The archer inspects the target. It hasn’t moved. Then, he inspects his bow and arrow. He discovers them to be defective. No wonder he cannot hit the target: he has defective equipment. No matter how good an archer he is; no matter how badly he wants to hit the target; no matter that he has equipment that seems as if it should do the job; no matter how much he has practiced; if the equipment came from the manufacturer defective, the archer cannot hit the target.

 

So then, says Paul, the “target” (God’s Law) is not the problem. Instead, when forced to inspect his ability to obey God’s requirements, Paul discovers his “equipment” is defective. If the Law is not the problem, he must be. Romans 7:14-24 says it over and over with verse 21 summing it up: “I find then the principle that evil is present in me; the one who wishes to do good.”

 

What to do? As I said, the answer is, perhaps, the greatest revelation scripture offers us, and it is so simple! Romans 6 explains that all we can do is return the defective “equipment” (ourselves) for “equipment” that comes from the manufacturer without defect; that is Christ, Himself. In other words, we exchange our life for His. We die so that he can live in us. “…in Him you were made complete….” (Colossians 2:10).

 

Its simplicity is what makes salvation difficult to grasp. The answer to the question, “What must I do?” is found everywhere in scripture. Here is what Paul wrote to the Ephesians: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (verses 8-10).

 

Now, to the issue that is at the heart of this entire paper: Let’s say our archer returned his defective equipment and exchanged it for that which has no defect. For the first time in his life he feels he is capable of hitting the target he once continually missed. He goes looking for the target, confident that, this time, he has what it takes [to obey the Law].

 

He looks for the target, but he cannot find it. Where did it go? Colossians 2 gives the answer: “In Him you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh [i.e., you exchanged your equipment] by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead [this is Romans 6]. And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh [Romans 7], He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us [that is, the Law]; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Colossians 2:11-14—emphasis mine).

 

Where, then, is the target? Where is the proof [certificate of debt] that we still owe God? Where are those decrees which were against us and which were so hostile to us? He nailed them to the cross! If you want to find the Law, go to the cross. It was nailed there with Him.

 

As God forms Christ in each of His sons—in other words as the family resemblance grows—we find that we are walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh: “…walk in the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). More and more we bear the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5: 22-23).

 

What a marvelous thing to consider: The natural tendency of man was to do evil and the Law came to clarify both what man was doing wrong and show him he was helpless to do anything about it. So, man spent his life trying to do right (and not to do wrong) and failing miserably. But, when he died to his old nature, and was born with a different nature (one that naturally pleases his God), man “…is led by the Spirit and is not under the Law” (Galatians 5:18). The teaching of the church, on the other hand, would tell us that man’s natural tendency is still to do evil (due to him still having an evil nature) and the only thing that has changed is that he is now capable of making the choice to decide against his natural, evil propensities. The Judaistic teachings of the church puts man back under the Law!

 

I now turn to a subject that must be addressed to all those who love the Jewish people and who love Israel as this subject relates directly to what I have been sharing.

 

In the New Testament, believers are told there is something they should fear. The writer to the Jewish believers (letter to the Hebrews) tells us that we should fear the possibility that we might actually fail to appropriate what Christ’s death has provided for us.

 

Part 2: The Believer and Sabbath Rest

 

Hebrews is filled with urgency. The writer to the Hebrews uses phrases such as,

“…we must pay much closer attention….”

“…how shall we escape if we neglect….”

“…lest we drift away….”

“Take care, brethren….”

“…do not harden your hearts….”

“Let us fear….”

“Let us, therefore, be diligent….”

“…let us hold fast….”

And these are only from the first four chapters of the letter!

 

What is so pressing? What is so important? What so concerns this writer?

 

The writer is pressing upon his fellow Jewish believers (in Christ) that God has made a way for them to enter a place their forefathers were forbidden to enter; and to enter this place would be to experience something new, something better, something more excellent. Again, the words new, better, and more excellent are used over 20 times in this letter and the word enter is used over ten times in chapters 3 and 4 alone!

 

The writer is insisting there is a new paradigm, a better worldview, a more excellent place or position provided for the believer, and if the believer chooses the old, the less-than-better, the less-than-excellent, he is refusing this provision and is, actually, choosing to live short of the Presence of God!

 

What the writer wants believers to enter is God’s rest.

 

Religious people think this means God wants them to stop working one day a week so they can take a break. In fact, the word used for Sabbath rest actually means intermission. Intermission is something that happens between two activities. This is not the rest the writer to the Hebrews is talking about.

 

It is not our rest that is spoken of here. It is His rest we are invited to enter—to join in on.

 

A key issue the writer tries to make is that God did not take a day of rest because He had grown weary of working (as if He needed to take a break and then rise on the next day and return to work). He rested because He had finished—He was done with His work. He had no more to do.

 

Being finished with His work, He rested.

 

Rest is all about being finished with one’s work.

 

Entering Rest

 

We enter His rest only when we have finished: when we are done with our own works. Here is the exact quote from Hebrews 4:10,

 

“The one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.”

 

The rest spoken of in Hebrews is, therefore, a state of being out of which a person lives. It is not something one does one day a week. Isn’t it our own experience that Shabbat and Sunday services are more labor intensive than restful. Many Christians admit that Sunday is their most unrestful workday.

 

The writer uses a vivid word to describe an individual’s own works: He calls them dead (Hebrews 6:1 & 9:14).

 

Why dead? Because they are impotent to accomplish God’s purposes since they are only intended to enhance our own, personal lives.

 

When God speaks of a work—and resting from one’s work—He is not talking about whether you are a doctor or a carpenter or a farmer and you need to spend one day each week not doctoring or carpentering or farming. Today we think of work as one’s occupation. This is not the kind of work God calls dead.

 

Before the fall, man was given an occupation. He was put into a garden to take care of what God had already created. Man did not plant the garden; God did. Man was only required to take care of God’s things. What God calls dead are works that are outside what God has created and given us to tend. These are works that relate either to making our own lives fruitful or to religious behaviors.

 

Under Law, many concepts such as “rest” and “work” cannot coexist, being contradictory. However, in relationship with Him (like the one Adam and Eve enjoyed in the garden), these concepts can be held in common, being complementary.

 

In the Old Testament, the Law requires a worker to take a Sabbath one day a week. After his Sabbath rest, he returns to his labors. When one works continually, Sabbath is the break (intermission) he takes in that work.

 

A Messianic Jew recently quoted Hebrews 4:9 to me. He said, “There remains a Sabbath day rest for the people of God.” It is common for Messianic believers to think this is what the verse says. However, this is not what Hebrews 4:9 says. The original language says “There remains a rest for the people of God.” The word used in this verse for rest is a figure of speech, referring to the heavenly life we have in Christ. The man had added the words “Sabbath day” because he believed that having a weekly Sabbath was one of God’s answers to this man’s inner question, “What must I do?”

 

Is there a work we must do?

 

There are many “works of the Law” that people spend their entire lives wrapping their minds and their behaviors around. Jesus continually suggested that the Law could be reduced to a simple sentence or two. It is no wonder one confused listener asked,

 

“What shall we do that we may work the works of God?”

 

“Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God that you believe in Him whom He has sent’” (John 6:27-29).

 

Failing to Enter Rest

 

If it is really possible to fail to enter God’s rest, how does one fail to enter?

 

The rest I am speaking of—God’s rest—exists exclusively in Christ because Christ is in God. We rest from our dead works by entering into Jesus who is the finished work of God. Therefore, Jesus is our Sabbath rest.

 

If one is living short of God’s presence, he cannot be in God’s rest. Understanding this is critical to the logic presented here about how one enters (or fails to enter) God’s rest. So, what does “living short of God’s presence” mean and how does one enter rest?

 

The answer is that there exists not one, but two, different kinds of priests serving in two different kinds of temples under two different kinds of Laws. It takes most of three chapters in Hebrews to explain this (chapters 7, 8 & 9).

 

Jews are most familiar with the priesthood of Aaron, the temple in Jerusalem and the Law of Moses. But the writer tells us that now a new covenant had been initiated, one that had been promised since the days of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31). This covenant was new (according to the original language) in that it was an entirely different kind of covenant, totally unlike the former.

 

The new (better, more excellent) covenant has a different Priesthood (Hebrews tells us all about Him), serving in a different temple (Hebrews tells us where it is located—not on earth) and a different Law (which James calls The Royal Law—2:8 and The Law of Liberty—2:11).

 

In the Jerusalem temple, the innermost court was the place of God’s presence and only one man could enter, and then only once a year. Everyone else stayed in the outer court, away from (coming short of) His presence. Under the former (old) covenant, mankind was not permitted to enter God’s presence. An individual might want to be accepted into God’s presence with all his heart. However, wanting was not sufficient. “…the way into the Holy Place has not yet been disclosed while the outer court is still standing” (Hebrews 9:8).

 

What did God do to enable mankind to enter His presence? He took away what kept man from Him. While the Temple was still standing; while Law, the sacrifices, the festivals, the Sabbath Day, the requirement that all Israel come to the Temple three times a year were still in effect, the author of Hebrews writes, “He takes away the first in order to establish the second” (Hebrews 10:9). God “took them away,” not in practice, as they remained for those who continued to live under Law, but as a means, of being accepted into His presence.

 

There would never be a way into the Holy Place of that earthly temple. The Law forbade it because the things required by Law simply “…cannot make the worshipper perfect in conscience, since they relate only to food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation” (Hebrews 9:9-10—italics mine).

 

The entire Temple system was part of the first covenant (of Law) and, under that original covenant, it was illegal for the congregation to enter God’s presence. If a person decides to again place himself under Law, he will again be barred from God’s presence. He has taken a step backward where he must remain in the Outer Court.

 

Again, how may the congregation enter His presence? Hebrews 9:11-12 says,

 

“But, when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” If you can read the rest of Hebrews, chapter 9, without shouting praises to the God of your salvation, you don’t understand what it says!

 

In Christ, we enter His presence with complete confidence that we are welcome there! As Hebrews 4:16 puts it, “Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we might receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.”

 

“Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh; and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:19-22).

 

Hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and bodies washed with pure water! What more perfect description of “rest” could there be?

 

Believers need to decide if they are willing to put their faith in Romans 6: “For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection; knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him; knowing that Christ having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all, but the life that He lives He lives to God. Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ” (Romans 6:5-11).

 

And, believers need to decide if they are willing to put their faith in Galatians 2: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me. I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly (Galatians 2:20-21).

 

When man was sent from the Garden, the Tree of Life was no longer available to him. What he was left with, to help him determine how to live life, was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil: Knowledge, Education and Wisdom. Without Christ, that’s all he has to work with.

 

However, there remains a rest for the people of God. It is to live in the Garden God planted—the place He initially intended us to live. In Christ we return. There we are sustained by the Tree of Life. There we tend its fruit: “…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23—emphasis mine). Law does not belong in this garden. It is not needed.

 

This is rest. And we invite others to join us in the garden by bringing “…good news to the humble…binding up the broken-hearted; proclaiming liberty to the captives, and opening the eyes of those who are bound….” (Isaiah 61:1).

 

Against such things there is no Law.

 

Conclusion

 

Not long ago, I was spending a Sabbath weekend with some friends in their Orthodox community in Israel. My friends had made it clear that I, as a Gentile, would not be required to observe the legal requirements imposed on them by the Law. Nevertheless, I wanted to respect their lifestyle and, for sure, I didn’t want to do anything that would offend them.

 

So, I was careful…

 

I tried to remember which side of the sink to put my dishes and which sponge to use when I washed them. I did turn on the light in my bedroom on Saturday but I closed the door so no one would notice. I didn’t put milk in my coffee if I was going to eat any kind of meat.

 

This one Sabbath, the legal minutia finally got to be too much for me. I had remembered, too late, that I wasn’t supposed to tear the toilet paper. In disgust I said out loud (but not so loud my hosts could hear), “I hate the Law!”

 

Immediately, I felt a gentle rebuke. I knew it was God who had created the Law. And, I knew He had created it for the good of His people.

 

Among the most ancient peoples of history, only three remain today: The Egyptians, the Hebrews and the Chinese. How did the Hebrew people keep their culture intact while scattered throughout the world, immersed in so many diverse cultures and without a land of their own?

 

It was the Law. More particularly the Sabbath.

 

We who have been freed from the Law must always keep in mind what Paul said about “his people.”

 

“I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! …God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew….

 

“In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.

 

“What then? That which Israel is seeking for, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened….

 

“I say, then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But, by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles to make them jealous. Now, if their transgression be riches for the world and their failure be riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!

 

“For if their rejection be the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? And if the first piece of dough be holy, the lump is also; and if the root be holy, the branches are too. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.

 

“You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.’ Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you.

 

“Behold, the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off….”

 

Romans 11 goes on and on in this vein and we should read it from time to time to remind ourselves that God has an attitude toward the Jewish people that must also be our attitude.

 

If God gives you a love for the Jewish people, love the Jewish people. If God gives you a love for Israel, love Israel. If God gives you the desire to learn how Christ fulfilled every aspect of Law, celebrating the feasts may have merit.

 

However, do not flirt with the Law! It is a deception to think that one can be a “Torah-observing believer” on any level.

 

“For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls upon it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, received a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.

 

“But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation….” (Hebrews 6:4-9).

 

“My righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul” (Hebrews 10:38-39).

 

“We maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law” (Romans 3:28). “By faith we understand….” (Hebrews 11:3).

 

FOOTNOTES:
[*] The Greek language places emphasis on words or phrases just as does the English language, and knowing where to emphasize words can give a scripture new meaning one might not ordinarily recognize. In Greek, emphasis arises from the location in a sentence where the word or phrase is placed by the writer. For the remainder of this paper, and to help the reader better understand what the various biblical writers intended to convey, I have taken the liberty to emphasize, in this font, words which the writers strongly emphasized in the original language. Whenever a word (or words) appears in this font, the reader may place emphasis on that word (or words). [Emphases supplied in the NAS translation: The Discovery Bible, Moody Press]