What is the Biblical basis for claiming that Paul upholds and teaches the Torah law?

score:1

Accepted answer

Romans 7:12-14 "So that the Torah truly is set-apart, and the command set-apart, and righteous, and good. Therefore, has that which is good become death to me? Let it not be! But the sin, that sin might be manifest, was working death in me through what is good, so that sin through the command might become an exceedingly great Sinner. For we know that the Torah is Spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold under sin."

Romans 3:31 "Do we then nullify the Torah through the belief? Let it not be! On the contrary, we establish the Torah."

Romans 7:22-23 "For I delight in the Torah of Elohim according to the inward man, but I see another law in my members, battling against the Torah of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members."

Romans 8:3-4 "For the Torah being powerless, in that it was weak through the flesh, Elohim, having His own Son in the likeness of flesh of sin, and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteousness of the Torah should be completed in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."

Ephesians 5: 25-27 "Husbands, love your wives, as Messiah also did love the assembly and gave Himself for it, in order to set it apart and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, in order to present it to Himself a splendid assembly, not having spot or wrinkle or any of this sort, but that it might be set-apart and blameless." (The "washing of the water of the Word" is the baptism we undergo through obedience and observance to what Torah shows us.)

Many people will use the following to say that Torah has been done away with, but this is due to a misunderstanding of Scripture:

Romans 7:1-4 "Or do you not know, brothers – for I speak to those knowing the Torah – that the Torah rules over a man as long as he lives? For the married woman has been bound by Torah to the living husband, but if the husband dies, she is released from the Torah concerning her husband. So then, while her husband lives, she shall be called an adulteress if she becomes another man’s. But if her husband dies, she is free from that part of the Torah, so that she is not an adulteress, having become another man’s. So my brothers, you also were put to death to the Torah through the body of Messiah, for you to become another’s, the One who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to Elohim."

What this passage speaks of is the changing of obedience from the "water" (the physical Torah), to the "blood," the physical being of Messiah, manifesting many things (not all things) in Torah that we are to abide by. In essence, He showed us the Spirit by which to live. This is covered in I John 5:8. Please, be aware of what extra verbiage is associated with this passage, that is not in the earliest extant manuscripts.

In Romans, chapter 14, Rav Shaul (Paul) speaks of the Hebrew calendar, when he speaks of days to observe. He did not declare that people could observe just any old day (the adoption of pagan days), but he was guiding us in the proper application of Torah -- NOT the doing away of Torah. This goes for the passage in Colossians. He was speaking of the Hebrew days of the calendar, and not to just any old days (again, the adoption of pagan days). He didn't declare Torah to be done away with. He was filling us in on the proper understanding of Torah. Many people have taken it too far in interpreting what Rav Shaul spoke of.

There is a passage in Galatians that people are prone to use to further their view that Rav Shaul was trying to say that Torah had been done away with. Galatian 3:10. is that passage. It goes into a larger argument (presentation of opinions), and it is late, as I type this. I will get to that passage, later. It is safe to say, thought, that Galatians actually shows great support for the observance of Torah, rather than its being done away with.

There are several other passages that indicate Rav Shaul's support of Torah. They can be easily found through a Google search, or via a good application like E-Sword or Bibleworks.

Upvote:1

Would you take the opposite?

As a Jew, I think Paul, continued to uphold the Law of Moses, Romans 3:31 GOD'S WORD®

Are we abolishing Moses' Teachings by this faith? That's unthinkable! Rather, we are supporting Moses' Teachings

But I would not call this promoting the Law of Moses, Galatians 3:10 ISV

Certainly all who depend on the actions of the Law are under a curse. For it is written, "A curse on everyone who does not obey everything that is written in the Book of the Law!

Ironically, Paul's undisputed epistles are Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, and Galatians. And they talk a lot about the Law of Moses.

Upvote:4

Paul supports the Torah to the extent that he believes it was a valuable and God-given thing in its day. However he very clearly indicates that Christians are not bound by its requirements. Much of the Epistle to the Romans is devoted to this subject, and it gets extensive discussion in other places. I will do no more than quote a couple of important passages. If you are looking for more information on the subject, I recommend any good commentary or Bible dictionary on the subject.

The Law is Good

What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. (Romans 7: 7-13)

Christians are not bound by the Law:

Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man. So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. (Romans 7 1-6)

More post

Search Posts

Related post