What did Paul mean when he said,
1 Corinthians 9:20
And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; to them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to Elohim, but under the law to Messiah,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
Explanation: It is evident that when Paul uses the phrase, “under the law” in his writings, he at times infuses different connotations into this phrase. Only by studying the context of the surrounding passages in which this phrase is imbedded can we understand the exact connotation that Paul is attaching to the term “under the law.”
In this passage, the phrase “under the law” is found four times, and doesn’t connote “under the penalty of the law,” (as is the case with Paul’s usage of the term in Romans). The first three times this phrase is found here it means “in subjection to a legalistic perversion of the Torah” (as David Stern translates it in his Complete Jewish Bible and then explains reasons behind this translation in his Jewish New Testament Commentary). Here Paul identifies several groups of people, each of which had its own view of the Torah. These groups were (a) ethnic Jews, (b) those (ethnic Jews or otherwise) who had come under a legalistic view of the Torah in that they believed, for example, that circumcision was a precondition for salvation (certain Pharisees believed this [see Acts 15:1], and Paul was dealing with this doctrinal perversion in the first several chapters of Romans), (c) those (presumably Gentiles) who had no knowledge of the Torah, and (d) those new believers who were still weak and unstable in their faith.
In Paul’s final usage of this phrase in this passage he adds to the phrase under the law” [Gr. ennomos meaning “in the law”] the two words “in Christ.” This changes the whole meaning of the term under the law. As we have noted above, “under the law,” as Paul uses it can mean “under the [penalty of] the Torah,” or “under a legalistic perversion of the Torah,” but here Paul is referring to Torah obedience in the context of a faith in Yeshua. Is Paul referring here to Christians who keep the Torah? Yes! This is what the first century redeemed believers were, and what Paul confesses here about himself (1 Cor 9:21). Paul’s pro-Torah stance is totally consistent with other apologetic statements he makes concerning the Torah along with his confession to being totally Torah-obedient himself (e.g. Rom 3:31; 7:12, 22, 25; 1 Cor 7:19; Acts 21:24; 24:14; 25:8). Torah obedience was also to be a normative attribute of the life of the redeemed believer then and now (e.g. Acts 21:20; 22:12; Rev 12:17; 14:12; 22:14).
So what specifically does the phrase “not being without the Torah toward Elohim, but “under or in the law toward Messiah” mean? Simply this. There is a keeping of the Torah that is done through men’s legalistic efforts that is devoid of trusting faith toward Elohim, whereby one hopes to earn Elohim’s grace or merciful kindness through human effort. This approach Paul proves in Romans 3 and 4 was never how Elohim intended men to come into a spiritual relationship with him, since it is impossible for men to keep the righteous requirements of the Torah perfectly without sinning. Thankfully, salvation is by the grace of Elohim through faith in Yeshua (Eph 2:8–10). It is through Elohim working through his Holy Spirit through our relationship with Yeshua that we can do the good works (Eph 2:10) of loving Yeshua by keeping his Torah commandments (John 14:15; 1 John 2:3–6; 3:24; 5:2–3). When Yeshua and his apostles use the term commandments in their writings, how do we know that they’re referring to the Torah-commandments? In Luke 18:19–20, Yeshua answers this question when he connects the word commandments (Gr. entole) with the laws of Torah (in this case, the Ten Commandments, which is the cornerstone of or the basis for all the other 600 plus commandments in the Torah).
Therefore, when Paul says “not being without the Torah toward Elohim, but under [or, in] the law toward Messiah,” he is referring to Torah obedience within the paradigmatic context of Elohim’s grace toward us (which covers our past sins and delivers us from the penalty for violating the law, which is death), and to Yeshua living in the redeemed believer’s life through his Set-Apart Spirit, which enables one to love Yeshua by obeying his Torah (John 14:15).
Hallelujah. I love this and needed it so bad. Pastor Lawrence, I need a genuine translation of Romans with commentaries. Is that possible?
The best translation I know is that of David Stern and his Complete Jewish Bible along with his companion Jewish NT Commentary. It may not be perfect, nothing is, but it’s the best that I know.
This is why we are in-laws and not outlaws!
Like that Carol. Who would have thought what Paul wrote was right…..the law is good holy & just ..& one day they will read the whole sentence………if one uses it correctly. Won’t it be good when those who believe in God’s Salvation; Christ, actually believe in Christ. Shalom and Shavua Tov to all. FJ
Agreed. Clearly delineated and written. Thanks.
There were also, however, those who preexisted Messiah who essentially lived this same manner of faith as those “under or in the law toward Messiah” and they can also be considered as having been saved and keeping the Torah by the empowering of the Holy Spirit, right?
Yes, as long as they had a repentant heart toward sin, looked to Elohim to forgive them and looked forward in faith to the coming Messiah Redeemer as best they understood and as all the sacrifices and many OT prophets clearly spoke about.
Then if someone does the same today, yet neither affirms nor denies that Yeshua is the Messiah of Israel, or neither affirms nor denies that Torah in its fullness is still for today, may also be just as assuredly saved, right?
Not sure what you’re saying/asking. There is not salvation outside faith in Yeshua. The Bible is clear on this. Period.
Salvation involves faith in Yeshua to atone for sin, and then we have to make our calling and election sure by loving and obeying him including his Torah-word. That is what Paul is saying here: under the law to Messiah.”
Yes, but we agree according to what you said that those who lived according to this faith pre-Messiah coming could be considered saved also as long as they had a repentant heart toward sin, looked to Elohim to forgive them and looked forward in faith to the coming Messiah Redeemer as best they understood. Therefore, one can be atoned for apart from faith in YESHUA as messiah, for how can one have faith in him if they do not know him? How can one NOT be saved if they have a repentant heart toward sin, look to Elohim to forgive them and look forward in faith to the coming Messiah Redeemer (if they even know of such a concept), if they are living according to Torah as best they understand?
Here’s a couple of verses that suggest one may be atoned for without faith in Yeshua as Messiah per se:
Pro_16:6 By mercy and truth is iniquity atoned, and by the fear of Adonai one avoids evil.
Isa_6:7 He touched my mouth with it and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips. Your iniquity is taken away, and your sins atoned for.”
And that does not even imply any animal sacrifice as a substitute for atonement through the blood of Yeshua.
I agree that Yeshua is the exact expressed representation and the fullness of God was dwelling in him, and so his life, death, burial, and resurrection served as the fullest expressed means of atonement and if once revealed as the truth by the Ruach, he is denied as Messiah and God’s fullest expressed means of atonement, then one may not be atoned for and saved. Of course he had to come in the flesh and fulfill all he did, but scripture even says he was slain BEFORE the foundation of the world. So the truth that atonement and salvation is in YHVH did not take Messiah coming for that to be the case. It took Messiah coming for that to be fully manifested.
But what if one lives as though they have Torah even though they do not? What if one lives as though they have Messiah, even though they do not? Is their sin not atoned for? Are they not saved? Would you be willing to stand in judgement of them and have your atonement and salvation held in the balance if you say their sin in not atoned for and they are not saved, if you were wrong?
I am not putting Yeshua on trial here, charging that he is not the Messiah. I am suggesting that YHVH is looking for repentance from sin and faith in Him and a life lived according to mercy and truth as expressed in Torah and Messiah, and that atonement and salvation can be had without the fullness of the knowledge of Yeshua as the messiah and without the fullness of the knowledge of the Torah.
Nevertheless, if one has come to the knowledge of the truth of their sin, was/is repentant, and had/has looked to Elohim to forgive them, they can be atoned for and saved, even if they did/do not look forward in faith to the coming Messiah Redeemer (if they have no knowledge of that concept even), but they will desire to grow in their knowledge of the fullness of the truth of both the Torah and Messiah and will progressively be trying to live accordingly.
Be careful with your line of reasoning here. It’s a slippery slope leading to Yeshua denial. I suspect that you’ve been listening to the rabbinic Jewish anitmissionary arguments and are being taken in by some of them. Their arguments are alluring, but only have a thin veneer or patina of truth. Upon deeper analysis, they fall apart quickly under logical scrutiny and are incongruent with the whole truth of the Tanakh, and they don’t even line up with what the pre-Christian Jewish sages believed. I have written about this before and it is a well-documented fact for those who care to dig deeply into the truth.
First, what you’re saying about salvation apart from Messiah doesn’t square with the NT including the words of Yeshua himself. Such a line of reasoning is the first step in denying the divine revelation of the NT and Messiah.
Secondly, you’re equating atonement with salvation. In a sense, Hebraically, they’re the same. This is because the word salvation in Hebrew as used among the OT writers has broad meaning and application. Salvation can be used to refer to deliverance from virtually anything such the pain from a stubbed toe to salvation from death leading to resurrection and immortality. We can’t just throw the terms atonement and salvation around haphazardly (as the mainstream Christians do) without providing context. Salvation in Christianese has a very specific meaning that the OT didn’t apply to the word. To properly understand a word, we have to understand it in the cultural and literary context of the era in which it was used.
Finally and as an extension of my second point, atonement in the OT doesn’t necessarily equate with salvation from death resulting in immortality as Yeshua and the gospel writers teach. Yes, this idea of salvation is to be found in the Tanakh, but not every place were the term atonement or salvation are used is this ultimate concept of immortality suggested or implied. To do so is a mistake that many people make and is an improper dividing/interpretation of Scripture.
One is not and cannot be saved by Torah obedience alone. This is a false rabbinic Jewish concept. No one can ever live up perfectly to Torah without sinning. This is why we need Yeshua’s atoning death and imputed righteousness till the day we die. This is why we need his example to follow, and the help of the Ruach in our lives to empower us from within to live up to the high standards of
Torah. Make now mistake, there is no salvation apart from Yeshua. As we look back in history to the atoning death of Yeshua on the cross, those before the cross who were saved (in the NT sense of the word) looked forward to him, even though it was through the obscurity of prophetic and metaphorical types and shadows.
I hope this brief explanation helps.