Paul and the Law
1. Paul was a Pharisee
a. the strictest sect of Judaism (Acts 26:5)
b. Acts 22:3 “Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the
law of our fathers
and was just
as zealous for God as any of you are today.”
i. Gamaliel was one of the greatest Rabbis of all according
to Jewish
tradition
c. Paul’s evaluation of himself as a Pharisee: “as for legalistic
righteousness,
faultless” (Php
3:6).
d. Paul knew the Law! and he lived by it!
e. under Pharisaic teaching, adherence to the Law earned one
righteousness
f. after becoming Christian, still observed at least some parts
of the Law; Ex:
scripture records
Paul going to Temple to make a vow, which required sacrifice.
2. Paul’s perspective of Law after
becoming Christian
a. Rom 2:13-15 [read]
i. “it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous”
(v 13)
ii. gentiles don’t have the law, yet their hearts (consciences) either
accuse
or defend them, serving as the law (v 15)
b. Rom 2:20. “. . . you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge
and truth”
i. ceremonial law: knowledge/truth regarding redemption; symbolic
ii. dietary law: knowledge/truth regarding healthy/unhealthy foods
iii. civil law: knowledge/truth regarding behavior, punishment/restitution
c. Rom 3:20-22. “Therefore no one will be declared righteous
in his [God’s] sight
by observing
the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. But
now a righteousness
from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which
the Law and
the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through
faith in Jesus
Christ to all who believe.”
i. OT Law and Prophets testify to righteousness that comes
from God
through faith in Jesus
ii. purpose of the law: to make us conscious of sin
iii. Rom 4:15. “law brings wrath.”
iv. Rom 7:7. “What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly
not! Indeed
I would not have known what sin was except through the law.”
d. Rom 3:28. “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith
apart from
observing the
law.”
e. Rom 3:31. “Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not
at all! Rather, we
uphold the law.”
f. Rom 7:12. “So then, the law is holy, and the commandment
is holy, righteous
and good.” —
context: speaking of one specific law to show a principle
g. Rom 7:14. “We know that the law is spiritual.”
h. Rom 10:4. “Christ is the end of the law so that there may
be righteousness for
everyone who
believes.”
i. “end of the law” as in “fulfillment, goal or outcome of
the law”
i. Rom 13:8-10. “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the
continuing debt to
love one another,
for he who loves his fellow man has fulfilled the law. The
commandments
. . . are summed up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as
yourself’ [Lev
19:18, quoted by Jesus]. Love does no harm to its neighbor.
Therefore love
is the fulfillment of the law.”
j. occasionally Paul cites the Law as support for his position
k. Gal 2:15-16. “We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile
sinners’ know that a
man is not justified
by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we,
too, have put
our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ
and not by observing
the law, because by observing the law no one will be
justified.”
l. Gal 3:2-5. “Did you receive the Spirit by observing the
law, or by believing
what you heard?
Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you
now trying to
attain your goal by human effort? . . . Does God give you his
“Spirit and
work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because
you believe
what you heard?”
m. Gal 3:11-12. “Clearly no one is justified before God by
the law, because, ‘The
righteous will
live by faith.’ The law is not based on faith.”
n. Gal 3:13. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law
by becoming a curse
for us.”
i. we’re not subject to the curse of the law; curse came on
anyone who
violated the terms
o. Gal 3:24-25. “So the law was put in charge to lead us to
Christ that we might be
justified by
faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the
supervision
of the law.”
i. alternate translation: “the law was put in charge until
Christ came.”
ii. notice, we’re not under supervision of the law
p. Gal 5:3-4, addressing those who advocated circumcision as
a ritualistic sign of
the covenant.
“Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised
[observance
of ceremonial law] that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You
who are trying
to be justified by law [seeking justification by adhering to the
law] have been
alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.”
q. Gal 5:18. “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not
under law.”
r. Col 2:13-14, 16-17. “He forgave us all our sins, having
canceled the written
code, with its
regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he
took it away,
nailing it to the cross. . . . Therefore do not let anyone judge you
by what you
eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon
celebration
or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to
come; the reality,
however, is found in Christ.”
i. the issue is not judging people regarding observance of
the Sabbath;
doesn’t address whether we should observe Sabbath.
s. Christian is free from burden of the law (burden or curse?)
t. HS enables us to fulfill God’s will apart from external
observance of law’s
demands
u. Jesus and Paul both honored the culture in which they were
raised, but did not
require others
to become observing Jews.
3. Book of Hebrews
a. OT
i. creation account: what did God do on seventh day? rested
ii. ten commandments: remember Sabbath day, for Lord rested on seventh
day and made it holy
iii. Book of Hebrews addresses OT issues from NT perspective
b. Heb 4:1-11
i. God, speaking about Israelites, 3:11: “They shall never
enter my rest.”
ii. 3:18-19, again referring to them not entering God’s rest
iii. 4:1, “the promise of entering his rest still stands.”
iv. 4:3, “we who have believed enter that rest.”
v. 4:4, reference to God resting on the seventh day of creation
vi. 4:6, “it still remains that some will enter that rest.”
(1) seems rest on seventh day not only for recreative benefit, also
prophetic of eternal rest
(2) similar to taking communion; reminder of covenant, also
prophetic
vii. 4:9-11, “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God;
for
anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God
did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest,
so
that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.”
(1) “Sabbath-rest” (sabbatismos), used only once in NT
(2) “make every effort to enter that rest”
(a) “make every effort”: strive, work hard, do one’s best
(b) “rest”: Gk word means ceasing from work/action;
inwardly quiet, peaceful; freedom from worry
(3) work at making Sabbath a reality to you today; whatever it takes
to make it relevant to you today; it may look different each of us,
yet common principles.
(4) Sabbath-rest, dual significance: present & prophetic
(5) church emphasizes prophetic, lax on present significance
c. Hebrews does not instruct us to observe Sabbath, but urges
us to “strive to enter
that rest.”
4. “Christian Sabbath”
a. First 2 centuries of church history, believers observed
Sabbath
b. Sunday became day of celebration of Jesus’ resurrection
c. around third century, believers began observing Sunday instead
of Sabbath
d. perspective: God’s blessing and sanctification of seventh
day is taken to mean he
intended all
men in all ages to observe day of rest and worship; Sunday is valid
e. to “observe the Sabbath” implies
i. adhering to traditional Sabbath ceremonies (lighting candles,
specific
prayers, Sabbath begins and ends at sundown, and so on)
ii. doing all this on Saturday, seventh day of week
f. not advocating “observing the Sabbath”; instead, advocating
honoring God’s
intent for a
day of rest and peace
g. while in Jerusalem, observed “Shabbot Shalom” is a common
greeting on
Sabbath
i. “Shabbot” means “Sabbath
ii. “Shalom” means “peace, rest” but is much broader; includes wholeness,
complete well-being
iii. “Shabbot Shalom” is a pronouncement of blessing: “may all be
well
with you on the Sabbath”
h. to help us rise above expectations of our western post-Christian
culture and
understand what
a day of rest might be, consider Jewish perspective of Sabbath
Notes from “The Sabbath,” book by Samuel Dresner, Burning Bush Press
1. Sabbath Peace between man and
nature
a. on seventh day we cease from activities that affect nature,
move attention from
creation to
the Creator.
b. man creates nothing on Sabbath, doesn’t disturb nature
c. On the Sabbath we are at peace with nature and recognize
we are not self-
sufficient masters
but creatures of an Almighty God.
2. Sabbath Peace between man and
society
a. on seventh day we cease from competition (including commerce),
withdraw
from conflict
between man and man.
b. We are free from the inequalities which our economic and
social existence put
upon us.
c. We all stand as equals before God. The Sabbath is a day
of freedom from
slavery.
d. Our rest on Sabbath is closely related to concept of freedom.
e. Sabbath transforms man; he looks on his fellow man with
different eyes.
3. Sabbath peace between man and
himself
a. makes us aware, easier to make peace with the strife that
burns within us.
b. The Sabbath reconciles, shows us how to enlist the desires
of the body and turn
them to noble
ends, how to capture the “evil urge” and bring it under the realm
of the holy,
how to sanctify the common.
c. The Sabbath is not a day for the soul alone; it was meant
for the body as well.
d. Holiness does not mean removal from the world, but sanctification
of the
worldly.
e. We are not required to become ascetics on the seventh day.
Our physical
demands are
not denied on Sabbath; rather physical demands become something
in which God
too has a share.
i. Food, wine, marital relations, all of them fleshly desires,
become
something which God shares.
ii. Passions are sanctified, “evil urge” is transformed and enlisted
in the
divine cause.
f. To learn to listen to the voice that can only be perceived
once the din of the
weekday subsides
is a special blessing of the Sabbath.
i. Withdrawal from the active, divisive life, which so dulls
the senses, to a
more passive mode of living which permits new sounds to be heard and
new experiences to be felt.
ii. A creative pause.
g. Quiet joy. Devout prayer, soft laughter, happy faces, friendly
talk, special
clothing, special
meals, celebration, families united in Sabbath peace.
h. In the deepest sense, an inner harmony.
4. Keep Sabbath holy by avoiding
the following:
a. earning one’s livelihood, engaging in any business or commercial
transactions
(including shopping)
b. performing strenuous physical exertion
c. altering or making anything
d. traveling from one’s community
e. making preparations during the Sabbath for after the Sabbath
f. engaging in any activity that constitutes drudgery
g. allowing self to be preoccupied, distracted or anxious about
any of the above; or
to be angry,
hateful, grieved or despairing about anything
h. otherwise defiling, profaning or cheapening the precious
holiness of the Sabbath
by deed, word
or thought.
5. Keep Sabbath holy by doing the
following:
a. making preparations in advance of Sabbath in honor of the
Sabbath
b. providing for the needy in advance of the Sabbath
c. studying scriptures
d. eating festive meals, wearing special clothes, taking a
leisurely walk, taking
special rest
e. increasing appreciation and enjoyment of “creations of the
human spirit, such as
literature and
song”
f. increasing level of love, affection, concern, care, sharing,
understanding among
members of household
and among friends
g. turning to God by praying, reciting grace over meals.
God’s intent for day of rest: rejuvenation (spirit, soul/psyche, body)
1. may be different for each of
us
2. you need to decide what it
means to you