Tag Archives: Paul

Confronting the Lies About Paul—Galatians Explained from a Hebraic Perspective

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The church has lied to YOU about Paul and his epistle to the Galatians!  NOW learn the truth…

An Important Question

When addressing the lies that the mainstream church has been dishing out like a load of dung against Paul and the Word of Elohim (i.e. Yeshua the Messiah, the Word of Elohim) since the time of the early church fathers, let us first ask an important question that has far-reaching implication including whether you can trust the Bible and whether you are saved or not. In the Epistle to the Galatians. It is this: Is Paul advocating the abrogation of the Torah-law as mainstream Christianity teaches or not?

This is the lens through which most Christians view Galatians. For example, the chapter subheadings in my NKJV Bible reveal the antitorah bias of mainstream Christianity. The heading above Galatians 2:11 reads, “No Return to the Law,” and the heading over Gal 3:10 reads, “ The Law Brings a Curse.” When Christians study their Bibles and encounter these subheadings that are written by men and not inspired by the Spirit, what are they to think? Most don’t questions the scholars who translate the Bible or the publishers sell the Bibles. Most readers will automatically thinks to themselves, “After all, these translators and publishers are Bible experts, they know more than I do, so who am I to question them?”

Interestingly, the same author of Galatians elsewhere admonishes us to, “Prove/test all things; hold fast to that which is good” (1 Thess 5:21). This is the responsibility of each saint as he studies the word of Elohim. Therefore, it behooves us to have a touch of intellectual scepticism when studying the Scriptures to insure that we’re not unwittingly putting our faith in the traditions and doctrines of men by which the word of Elohim has been made of none-effect (Mark 7:9, 13), and that we haven’t inherited lies that have been passed on down to us from our spiritual fathers (Jer 16:19). Let us instead be like the righteous Bereans who “searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11).

Instead of looking at Galatians as a stand-alone book, let’s view it in the broader context of all the New Testament writers’ and Yeshua’s view of the Torah. After all, the Scriptures cannot contradict themselves. The Bible doesn’t lie, Elohim doesn’t change, and Yeshua declared that the Scriptures can’t be broken (or loosened, untied, dissolved, annulled, John 10:35).

In 1 Cor 11:1, Paul instructed us to imitate him as he imitated Messiah. So let’s follow Paul’s advice.

What did Yeshua teach and do vis-à-vis the Torah? 

He never violated the Torah (or sinned), or else he couldn’t have been our sin-free Savior and taken upon himself the consequences or penalty of our sins, which is death.

Yeshua advocated Torah-obedience for his followers (Matt 5:17–19; John 14:15).

Paul goes on to tell us to imitate him as he imitates Yeshua. This includes obedience to the Torah.

Elsewhere, in many places, Paul advocates Torah obedience as we will see next.

How Did Paul View the Torah (“Law”)?

In answering this question, let us allow Paul to speak for himself in order to establish his predisposition with regard to the Torah-law. Was he a proponent or opponent of it? Several Scriptural quotations from his own pen should suffice in answering this question:

Wherefore the law [Torah] is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. (Rom 7:12)

For we know that the law [Torah] is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. (Rom 7:14)

For I delight in the law [Torah] of Elohim after the inward man… (Rom 7:22)

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin [i.e. violation of the laws/Torah of YHVH, see 1 John 3:4], that grace may abound? Elohim forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? (Rom 6:1–2)

Do we then make void the law through faith? Elohim forbid: yea, we establish the law. (Rom 3:31, Romans was written in about A.D. 56)

But we know that the law [Torah] is good, if a man use it lawfully…(1 Tim 1:8, First Timothy was written just before Paul’s martyrdom in about A.D. 66)

But if, while we seek to be justified by Messiah, we ourselves also are found sinners [i.e. violators of the law/Torah], is therefore Messiah the minister of sin [lawlessness/Torahlessness]? Elohim forbid. (Gal 2:17, Galatians was written between A.D. 55 to 56)

Toward the end of Paul’s life and ministry when, according to many Christian theologians, Paul was supposed to have already liberated the first-century believers from the “shackles and bondage” of the Torah-law, yet in the Book of Acts we read the following:

And when they heard it, they glorified YHVH, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe [in Yeshua the Messiah]; and they are all zealous of the law [Torah]: And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. What is it therefore? The multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come. Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law [Torah]. (Acts 20:20–24, written in about A.D. 58 to 60)

While he answered for himself, Neither against the law [Torah] of the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I offended any thing at all. (Acts 25:8; Paul made this statement in a court of law about A.D. 62.)

And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together: and when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, [i.e. the Torah] yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. (Acts 28:17, written about A.D. 63)

Viewing Galatians Through a Different Lens

In view of the fact that Paul instructed us to imitate him as imitated Yeshua, who was Torah observant, and in light of the fact in numerous places in Paul’s own writings and in the Book of Acts we see that Paul was Torah observant to the end of his life, what conclusion can we come to in light of these facts? Either the Bible is consistent, and the Torah is for all people for all time, or Paul was an inconsistent liar in telling us, on the one hand, to follow the Torah, and on the other hand, telling us not to obey it. Which is it? If Paul is inconsistent, then the truth of the Bible is inconsistent, the Scripture is broken, Yeshua is a liar and the Bible is a lie. Which one is it?

There is another answer to this dilemma. Perhaps the mainstream church has misinterpreted Paul in the Book of Galatians and has come to a skewed view in believing that Paul abrogates the Torah in Galatians. We take the position of the inerrancy of Scripture, that it can’t be broken, that Elohim and Yeshua don’t lie, and that Paul wasn’t a duplicitous schizophrenic. Instead of viewing Galatians as an antitorah tirade courtesy of Paul, maybe there is something else going on here that needs to be discovered—the real message of Galatians that in no way contradicts the rest of the Bible.

Galatians Explained

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Welcome to Galatians—A Fun, Though Controversial Book!

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I love the book of Galatians! Why? One reason is this: The more difficult and controversial a biblical book, chapter or passage is, once understood by the light of YHVH’s Spirit, the greater the opportunity for the light of YHVH’s truth to shine through and illuminate the darkness of men’s understanding for His glory! Besides that, I like challenges and understanding the Epistle to the Galatians provides a challenge.

A Quick Overview of the Book of Galatians

Below is a quick overview of the book of Galatians. My explanatory comments are in brackets. 

The main theme of the book of Galatians is that one is saved by the grace of Elohim through faith in Yeshua the Messiah, not by the works of the Torah-law. Here, it’s not Paul’s point to discuss the validity of the Torah in a believer’s life. This he does, for example, in the book of Romans. Rather, in Galatians, he discusses how one is saved: Is it by works (i.e. obedience to the Torah and men’s non-biblical religious doctrines), or by the grace of Elohim?

In chapter one, Paul warns against accepting a “different gospel” and shares his personal testimony.

Chapter two describes Paul’s confrontation with Peter about not having to adhere to Jewish (non-Torah) traditions. He then begins to define what the gospel is by asserting that men are justified (made righteous) before Elohim not by the works of the law, but by faith in Yeshua. [This is because a man can never keep the laws of Elohim well enough to measure up to his high standard of righteousness or perfection. This in no way gives man a pass to violate the laws of Elohim — only that man can’t be saved by the good works of Torah-obedience.] Once a man is saved, Yeshua now lives his righteousness through the man [through the help of the Holy Spirit].

In chapter three, Paul further explains the concept of justification by faith stating that this method of salvation goes back to Abraham who trusted Elohim, and because of that faith YHVH accounted him as righteous. At the same time, if one attempts to be justified by the works of the law, because he can’t keep the whole law perfectly, he will fall under the curse or penalty of the law [which is death. Elsewhere we learn the that sin is the violation of the law (1 John 3:4) and the wages or penalty of sin is death (Gal 3:22; Rom 6:23).]. Paul goes on to explain that all believers in Yeshua [both Jews and non-Jews] are children of Abraham (v. 28, 29), and so the same salvation model applies to them that YHVH established at the time of Abraham. What then is the purpose of the Torah, Paul asks? It is to bring sinners to the cross of Yeshua [who died in our place to take on himself the penalty for our sins]. [This isn’t the only purpose of the Torah, as Paul teaches us elsewhere. This is the only purpose he mentions in Galatians for the sake of this discussion. The Torah’s other purpose — once we are brought to Messiah because of our sin, which the violation of the Torah — is that it shows us how to walk without sinning; namely how to love Elohim and our fellow man.] Paul concludes this chapter by saying that once the Torah has brought us to Yeshua, we’re no longer under penalty phase of the Torah, and this applies to all people, not just the Jews.

Next in chapter four, Paul explains in more detail the glorious gospel message of salvation by grace. Messiah came to redeem us (set us free) from slavery to sin and the world and to give us a spiritual inheritance as sons of Elohim. He then asks a question. After having received the glorious message of salvation by grace, how can one turn to a works-based salvation and to other non-biblical religious doctrines of men? He then answers the question by using an illustration to make his point. He compares the old or former covenant that YHVH made with the Israelites at Mount Sinai with the new covenant through Yeshua. This was prefigured in Abraham’s two sons: Ishmael and Isaac. The first son (Ishmael) was a result of human effort and brought bondage, while the second son (Isaac) was a result of YHVH’s grace and brought freedom. [Similarly, if one seeks to do Elohim’s will through one’s own effort, it will result in spiritual bondage. On the other hand, if one seeks to do Elohim’s will through his grace and the divine empowerment of the Holy Spirit, it will bring freedom from sin (i.e. Torahlessness) and it’s death penalty.]

In chapter five, Paul exposes the false teachers who were bringing “another gospel.” They were teaching that one can’t be saved, born again, justified or redeemed unless one is physically circumcised. [Although this doctrine is nowhere to be found in the Scriptures, it had become a belief in first-century Judaism. This was hindering the spread of the gospel message among uncircumcised non-Jewish peoples to whom Paul had been commissioned.] Again, Paul restates the idea that salvation is by grace through faith in Yeshua, and that if one seeks to be saved by one’s good works including circumcision, then one must keep the entire law [perfectly without sinning, which is an impossibility]. Evidently, this false teaching was causing much division and strife within the church at Galatia, and Paul urges the believers there to fulfill the Torah-law by loving one another. [Yeshua sums up the entire Torah as loving YHVH with everything and one’s neighbor as oneself (Mark 12:29–31).] Paul admonishes believers to walk according to the Spirit of Elohim that is living in them, which will lead them away from sin (Torahlessness) and towards righteousness (Torah-obedience). Walking in accordance to the leading of the Holy Spirit leads us away from Torahlessness (the works of the flesh including murder, lying, stealing, fornication, uncleanness, witchcraft, idolatry, worldliness and other fleshly passions and desires) and towards righteousness (the fruit of the Spirit).

Paul concludes this letter in chapter six by giving further instructions about living as a follower of Yeshua.

 

What was bad about the Old Covenant—what is passing away and being transferred?

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2 Corinthians 3:11, Passing away. This is not a reference to the Torah-law itself, but to the old or former covenant (i.e. the agreement or contract YHVH and Israel made with each other) as it phases into the new or renewed covenant. Yeshua initiated the new covenant at his last supper, but it will be finalized with the two houses of Israel (see Jer 31:31, 33 and Heb 8:8) at his second coming when the two sticks or houses of Israel are reunited (see Ezek 37:15–27) at which time he will finalize the new covenant with a reunited Israel (v. 26; see also Isa 54:10; 55:3; 59:21; Ezek 34:25; Jer 32:40; 50:5; Hos 2:18–23). We are presently in the intermediate phase between the two covenants. To view it differently, Yeshua betrothed himself to his spiritual bride (redeemed Israel, spiritual Israel or the Israel of Elohim, see Gal 6:16) at his last supper, but will marry her at his second coming. The saints who are now in Yeshua are under the new covenant as the betrothed bride of Yeshua, but all Israel will be brought into the new covenant at his second coming at which time he will finalize the covenant that he initiated with his disciples before his death.

Attaining Spiritual Maturity in the New Covenant—On Being a Spiritual Mountain Climber

(This manna from heaven was revealed and downloaded to Natan in the back country of Alaska while sitting, Bible in hand, prayerfully, overlooking Little Port Walter on Baronov Island [75 miles SE of Sitka], and while on a boat in the Pacific Ocean in the Chatham Straights between Baronov and Admiralty islands.)

On Being Spiritual Mountain Climbers

From the time that YHVH revealed himself to the children of Israel while they were enslaved in Egypt, he has been calling his people to be spiritual mountain climbers. He first called the Israelites out of Egypt and up to Mount Sinai, and then up to Mount Zion in Jerusalem. He then called his people to come even higher yet to the upper room on the day of Pentecost, and he is now calling his people to come up even higher to the New Jerusalem that is above us and is “the mother of us all” (Gal 4:26).This highest mountain of YHVH is the ultimate source of our spiritual sustenance, the source of the river of life along which the trees of life are situated (Rev 22:1–2). From this spiritual wellspring comes all divine revelation and ultimately immortal life as children of the Most High. What does it mean to be a spiritual mountain climber?

The beginning of the upward spiritual journey of YHVH’s people is memorialized in the counting of the omer, which starts on First Fruits Day occurring during the Feast of Unleavened Bread and culminates fifty days later with the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost (Heb. Shavuot; Lev 23:4–16). Each new step in this journey is a stepping stone or a launch pad to the next. For the Israelites, the journey started at sea level in the flat-land Nile River delta area of Egypt (a metaphor for this world, Satan and death) and then continued climbing higher and higher until it finally reaches heaven itself—the abode of Elohim. YHVH gave Jacob a similar perspective when he gave him the vision of the ladder to heaven in Genesis 28.

The problem is that most people only climb so far in their spiritual journey and then stop, or they grow weary along the way, or they become comfortably complacent at the level they have thus far attained and never move past that spot. Merely treading water while in the river of life means that one is making no forward movement; they may, in fact, be pulled backwards by the downward current. This is dangerous because while we think we are moving forward, we may actually be going backward! Yeshua warned the Laodicean church about such an attitude of self-assurance and complacency in Revelation chapter three. 

To not move forward spiritually is to stagnate and to die. YHVH wants a people that are on the move, who will obediently follow him wherever he leads, and not stop and park along the way only to construct their religious monuments with their fossilized customs, rituals and traditions. Heaven is a far above the earthly plane, and YHVH wants children who will seek him no matter what, who have a heart to follow him no matter where, and no matter the cost. Although eternal life is a free gift from heaven, it will not be given easily. It costs nothing, but, at the same time, it costs everything! Each of us must be willing to sacrifice his all—to lose his earthly life—to gain eternal life. YHVH refuses to give out his priceless gift of eternal life willy-nilly to anyone and everyone! YHVH requires that his saints be determined, tough and gritty mountain climbers who refuse to give up until that summit is reached. He has no pleasure in those who turn back, or refuse to go on. The older generation of Israelites found this out the hard way while trekking through the wilderness—a symbolic metaphor for this physical life—en route to the Promised Land (a metaphor for eternal life or heaven on earth). Their hearts were sin-hardened and they lacked the faith in YHVH to make it all the way. Thus they perished in the wilderness just short of their goal and ultimate reward (read Heb 3:7–19; 4:1–11). Only those who doggedly overcome the world, the flesh and the devil remaining lovingly loyal and obedient to him will receive the highest reward he has to offer. As Yeshua said,

But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. (Matt 24:13)

The Spirit Versus the a Letter of the Law—The Two Covenants

Let’s now explore what it is to climb the mountains that YHVH has placed before us to ascertain where we are at on the journey and how far we have to go to reach the ultimate summit.

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The Spirit of the Law Versus the Letter

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Which side of the Torah do YOU lean toward? License or legalism? The letter or the spirit? Mercy and grace or judgmentalism? Is our obedience to Torah based on love or self-righteous legalism? Where is the heart of Elohim in this issue? What should be our approach—especially toward others? All too often we want leniency and grace, but are reluctant to show mercy toward others when it comes to Torah-obedience. Is Elohim a harsh judge or a loving Father? What does he want from us? Read on as we explore this issue in an effort to find the heart of Elohim on this matter.

2 Corinthians 3:2–15, Overview of the Letter Vs. the Spirit of the Torah

In this passage, Paul is not teaching against the validity or replacement of the Torah with something else. No! There is nothing wrong with YHVH’s Torah-law. How could there be? It is the Word, mind, will and heart of Elohim. Torah shows us how to love Elohim and our neighbor. It shows us how to be blessed, defines sin, shows us how to walk in the paths of righteousness, leads us to Messiah and the shows us our need for him because of our sin and inability to live up to its high standards of holiness and righteousness. 

These are just a few of the wonderful benefits of  YHVH’S Torah-Word, which I have discussed at length many times elsewhere. The problem with Torah, if you will, is not with Torah itself, but with what sinful and misguided people do with it. The Torah, like money alcohol or guns, is neutral. It is the misuse of these things by sinful people that is evil. For example, money is not evil; however, the love of it is as Scripture clearly states.

The problem with many people in our day who are returning to a more Hebraic and Torah-centric orientation in their spiritual walk is balance or the lack thereof. Too many people go hog-wild over Torah because the mainstream church system which they have exited had deprived them of it, and when they learn about the Torah, they run to it like a flock of starving and half-crazed sheep stampeding from a desert into verdant, lush pasture of grass. They gorge themselves and then get the runs and get all messy. (I know because I grew up on a sheep farm!) Too many people forget about Yeshua and the fact that they cannot even do Torah without him and his Spirit working in them. Sadly, people forget that we’re “under/subject to the law toward Messiah” as Paul was (1 Cor 9:21). Without Messiah, the Torah is the simply a legalistic set of rules, and those who follow it as such are simply a bunch of people trying to earn their own righteousness through their own will power. This cannot be done. The Israelites tried this and failed miserably. Most perished in the wilderness. Why do we think we can do any better? 

Please keep this mind that in 2 Corinthians 3 Paul is largely talking about covenants—both the old and new, which he refers to in verses 6 and in 7 as “the ministration of death,” and which is passing away (v. 11). The Torah itself which remains is still glorious (v. 11). The Torah was merely the terms of the “Old Covenant”, not the covenant itself. Never forget that the “Old Covenant” never promised a person eternal life or ultimate salvation from sin; the New Covenant does. Moreover, there is nothing wrong with the Torah itself, for with it comes many benefits and blessings (if obeyed) and many curses including guilt, shame, condemnation and death because of sin (if disobeyed). 

The problem when one lives a totally Torah-centric live is that it overlooks the necessary power of the Spirit of Elohim to work in a person’s life through a relationship with Yeshua. The problem is the rebelliousness of human nature and hard human heart which refuses to be subject to the laws of Elohim (Heb 8:7–8; Rom 8:7; Jer 17:9). We need help from above to overcome our human natures that are opposed to Elohim’s laws. That is where Yeshua comes into the picture

Moreover, the problem has never been with the Torah, or even the letter of Torah-law per se. How could it be? Torah is the instructions in righteousness from Elohim himself and are a reflection of his very mind, will and heart. There can be nothing wrong with this, since this is pure light and Truth! Now I said “the letter of the law per se.” What did I mean by this? Simply this. If one lives only by the letter of the law, and judges others by the letter, and doesn’t bring in the spirit of law, then how are we all to stand? What if YHVH only judged us by the letter and not the spirit? We would all become instant grease spots yesterday!!! No! Thankfully, his mercy triumphs over his judgment against our violation of his Torah or else we are all gonners! There for his grace go each of us. 

Morevover, if we get perpetually hung up all the time on every jot and tittle of every point of the law, we will become so focused on legalism and judgmentalism that our focus will be on that instead on the love of brethren and the love of Yeshua. We will be so focused on a punctilious letter of the law obedience and judging everyone else who is not living up to our standards that we will fail to be doing the great commission and winning the lost and loving one another. That is the problems with the many people today who are leaving the mainstream Christian church and returning to a more Hebraic, Torah-centered spiritual orientation. Too many Hebraic-minded folks have become so proud of their Torah-obedience that YHVH can no longer use us to advance his kingdom. He hates this kind of self-righteous, Pharisaical pride!

The problems with Torah is humans, which is not a problem with Torah at all. Rather it is deceitful, deceived humans who twist the Torah for their own purposes or who misunderstand its full purpose. Remember what Hebrews 8:8 says? The problem was with them—the Israelites—and their lack of faith and hard hearts, and NOT with the Torah. That’s one reason that YHVH needed to make a new covenant and why the old one is passing away (Heb 8:13). So what is the remedy for the problem of human hard heartedness? As Jeremiah prophesied, YHVH this time will pour out his Spirit and change the hard and disobedient heart of faithlessness and unbelief (Heb 4:1–7) of man and give him a new heart (Heb 8:7–13; Jer 31:31–33). 

Again, this can only happen as Yeshua lives out his righteousness in a person as the Spirit of Elohim changes the human heart. 

Never forget what Paul said elsewhere: we are subject to the Torah through Messiah (1 Cor 9:21). This is the miracle of a transformed heart that not only wants to but is empowered to comply with the Torah. It truly is a miracle that we cannot fully understand or explain. But the fruits of it are evident in a person’s life. These are called the fruit of the Spirit. All the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5 are the fruits or manifestation of Torah obedience out of a heart of love and faith. At the same time, the works of the flesh are the manifestation of Torahlessness which is sin (1 John 3:4), and is the opposite of righteousness, which Torah defines (Ps 119:172). 

So what is the spiritual blindness that Paul refers to in 1 Corinthians 3:14? It is the blindness of a hard and disbelieving heart. It is the blindness of human pride in one’s ability to live up to Torah by one’s own strength. It is pride in thinking that we’re better than the next guy who’s not living up to our Torah standard, whatever that may be. It is blindness based on a letter of the law approach to Torah instead of both a letter AND a spirit of the law approach. And yes, there can be blindness due to the guilt and shame of failing to live up to the high moral and spiritual standards. When we obey Torah out of fear of Elohim instead of love for him, this too is blindness and bondage.

So when returning to a more Torah-centric belief system and lifestyle, let us clearly walk the straight and narrow path not veering too far to the left (or license, grace, of the spirit of the law) or too far to the right (legalism, judgmentalism, self-righteousness or the letter of the law). The heart of our Father in heaven is somewhere in the middle between the two as Yeshua stated:

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. Elohim is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23–24)

 

“All things are lawful,” circumcision, “under the law” and more explained

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1 Corinthians 6

1 Corinthians 6:12–13, All things are lawful. 

Many Christians will casually read this Bible statement by Paul and assume that the Torah-law was done away with. Is this really what Paul is saying here and does such an interpretation line up with the rest of Paul’s writings as well as the truth of the entire Bible? Let’s look at this statement logically and in the larger context of Scripture to see what the truth really is. 

When Paul said that all things are lawful to him, what do you think he meant? Is it now permissible to violate the laws of Elohim and to murder, commit adultery, lie, steal, have sex with animals, practice witchcraft, and we can also add break the Sabbath, eat pork, etc., etc.? Obviously, violating the commands of Elohim wasn’t what he meant here, for doing such is, by biblical definition, sin (1 John 3:4), and those who love Yeshua will not be sinning, but will keeping his commandments (John 14:15, 21). Moreover, it was our sin that put Yeshua on the cross, so why should we mock Yeshua’s death by continuing to practice sin? In fact, prior to 1 Corinthians 6:12, Paul listed a number of sins that will prevent one from entering the kingdom of heaven including drunkenness, sexual immorality, theft and so on. So obviously, breaking the laws of Elohim was not what he meant in verse 12. If Paul is here permitting the eating of unclean meat that the Bible forbids and calls an abomination (Lev 11), then he is also permitting sexual immorality—a sin which he juxtaposes in verse 13 with the eating of certain foods.

REALLY??????? IS THIS WHAT PAUL IS SAYING?

So if Paul wasn’t opposing the biblical dietary laws in verses 12 and 15, what was he really saying? According to David Stern in his Jewish New Testament Commentary, Paul was coming against the sexually libertine attitudes of the saints in Corinth whereby they had permitted the man who was having sexual relations with this stepmother. Moreover, the church was even allowing the sinner to remain in fellowship with the saints there and to even participate in the Passover or Lord’s Supper communion table and to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread (which the removal of sin). Stern goes on to say that the phrase, “All things are lawful to me…Food for the stomach…” is really analogous to the modern phrase, “If it feels good, do it”—a concept which Paul strongly opposes. Beale and Carson concur with Stern on this in their commentary on this verse (Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, p. 713). In verse 15, Paul goes on to make the point that our bodies are the temples of the Set-Apart Spirit of Elohim and that we need to treat them as holy vessels by not engaging in sinful practices (whether sexual immorality or eating unclean meats).

Keener agrees with Stern that Paul was confronting the ungodly and licentious Greek philosophers who would excuse their libertine carnal appetites by saying “I can get away with anything.” Paul, on the other hand, counters this by saying, “Maybe so, but ‘anything’ is not good for you” (The IVP Bible Background Commentary of the NT, pp. 464–465). Keener goes on to say that “‘Food for the stomach and the stomach for food’ was a typical Greek way of arguing by analogy that the body was for sex and sex for the body….That God would do away with both reflected the typical Greek disdain for the doctrine of the resurrection (chap 15), because Greeks believed that one was done with one’s body at death [which is why they reasoned that it was permissible to do whatever you pleased with your body now]. Paul responds to this Greek position with the Old Testament/Jewish perspective that the body is for God and he will resurrect it” (i.e. in v. 14, ibid.).

Paul then goes on to explain why a philosophy that excuses sinful behavior is not acceptable to Elohim or beneficial to the saint.

1 Corinthians 7

1 Corinthians 7:19, Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing. 

The Significance of Circumcision Explained—A Whole Bible Perspective

What is Paul saying here? Is he confused, or does he have a larger principal and perspective in view? Paul’s bottom line in all of his writings is that circumcision is not a salvational requirement. If it were, then, obviously, women could not saved! As we shall see, however, the Scriptures teach that in the future, for those in certain ministry situations, circumcision will be a requirement (Ezek 44:7, 9). To understand the issue, let’s briefly discuss what the Scriptures say about circumcision.

Some will say that circumcision of the heart (Rom 2:29) is a solely “New Testament” concept that happily has replaced physical circumcision. This is not quite true, for YHVH has desired his people to have circumcised hearts from the time of Moses (Deut 10:16; 30:6) and Jeremiah (Jer 4:4). What’s more, YHVH will require the priests who will serve in his millennial temple (an archetypal model of YHVH’s plan of salvation through Yeshua’s death on the cross) to not only be circumcised in the heart, but in the flesh as well (Ezek 44:7). Not only that, but all those who will enter that sanctuary, both Israelite and non-Israelite, must be circumcised physically and spiritually (Ezek 44:9). 

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Romans 1–6: Natan’s Commentary Notes

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This blog posting is lengthy and contains a lot of spiritual meat. Sorry for the major download all at once. This is actually a small fraction of my commentary notes on Romans chapters one through six. I actually have 74 pages of notes on this section of Scripture alone.

During the work week, due to my heavy work schedule, I have little time for ministry, and barely time for my own personal devotions. Since the major ice storm we had back in February, my tree service business has nearly tripled, I have doubled my employees and purchased additional equipment to handle the demand, and we are still majorly backlogged with work. I have been working 10 to 13 hours a day during the week and many hours on Sunday to keep up with it all. Thank Elohim for the Shabbat, or else l, like a mindless fool, I would probably be working then too—literally working myself into an early grave, no doubt! Thank you Yah for the fourth commandment. KEEPING YOUR TORAH-LAWS IS NOT A BURDEN BUT A JOY AND RELIEF! HalleluYah!!!

Sadly, from a few small and petty-minded murmurers and complainers out there among the modern day children of Israel, I am sometimes criticized when I post such a long piece. For those of this childish and ungrateful demeanor I have two things to say: If you don’t like it, switch the channel and go back to eating baby food. And while you’re at it, take a long walk on a short dock! This is not the place for you. Don’t bother to comment. I’ll just delete it!

For the rest of you, YHVH bless and keep you and may he make his face to shine upon you and grant you his glorious shalom! Amein.

Romans 1:1, Paul, a servant. Servant is the Greek word doulos literally meaning “to tie or to bind, a bond servant, a slave, a man of servile condition, one who gives himself up to another’s will, devoted to another to the disregard of one’s own interest.” Of doulos, Strong’s Expanded Concordance says that this word refers to one who was in permanent relation of servitude to another one whose will was completely subject to the will of another… The focus is on the relationship, not on the service. This word also refers to a slave, which was originally the lowest term in the scale of servitude. This word if found 127 in the Testimony of Yeshua and is used numerous times to refer to those whose service is used by Messiah in extending and advancing his cause among men (Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the NT). The disciples of Yeshua applied doulos to themselves with regard to their relationship of service to their Messiah (Ro. 1:1; Gal. 1:10; Phil. 1:1; 2 Tim. 2:24; Tit. 1:1; Jas. 1:1; 2 Pet. 1:1 and of other ministers of the gospel (Col 4:12; 2 Tim 2:24; Jude 1:1) and of all who obey Elohim’s commands who are his true worshippers (e.g. Lk 2:29; Rev 2:20; 7:3; 9:2, 5; 22:3, 6). Do you view yourself as a servant-slave of Yeshua your Master, who purchased or redeemed you with his precious blood from the death penalty hanging over you brought on by your sins?

Romans 1:5, Grace…for obedience.

What Is the Full Definition of the Word Grace?

If one were to ask most Christians what is the meaning of the word grace, they would say something like “free and unmerited pardon.” While this is not an incorrect answer, it is only half of the answer. The other half of the answer will take the typical Christian into spiritual territory where they may not want to do.

Grace is the Greek word charis. The word grace has several subcomponent meanings. It is the removal by Elohim from the individual of guilt caused by sin—the wiping clean of the slate containing a man’s past sins. It is a divine and unmerited favor or pardon of Elohim toward sinful man. 

Grace also indicates favor on the part of the giver (Elohim) and thankfulness on the part of the recipient (man) and is to be distinguished from mercy which is the pardoning or removal of the penalty or consequences of sin. 

Grace removes guilt, mercy removes misery. But grace is also the divine influence or enablement upon the heart of man (see Strong’s Expanded Concordance). But grace is not only unmerited divine favor, but is also the divine enablement or empowerment to walk righteously before Elohim. It is “the merciful kindness by which Elohim, exerting his holy influence upon our souls, turns men to the Messiah, keeps, strengthens, increases them in faith, knowledge affection, and kindles them the ability to exercise righteous virtues (see 2 Cor 1:12; 4:15; 6:1; 12:9; 2 Thess 1:12; Acts 11:23; 13:43; 18:27; Rom 6:14; Gal 5:4; Col 3:16; 1 Cor 15:10) according to Thayer’s Greek -English Lexicon of the NT. 

So in summary, we see that grace is not only the unmerited divine favor that wipes away our past sins, but the divine empowerment or enablementto obey Elohim by walking in a state of righteousness and virtue, so that one does not sin (i.e. not transgress the Torah-laws of Elohim; see 1 John 3:4) thus incurring upon oneself the penalty for or wages of sin (i.e. death) and hence the need, once a gain, for unmerited divine favor or pardon.

Romans 1:6, Called of Yeshua the Messiah.

When It Comes to Salvation, Who Invites Whom?

Many Christian evangelists talk of “choosing to follow Jesus” or “inviting Jesus into your heart” or “making a decision to accept Jesus.” To often, the emphasis is on the person of their own initiative of calling on or making the choice to follow Yeshua. While this idea may not be totally incorrect, it, sadly, places the emphasis on the wrong person, can feed carnal or humanistic pride, takes the focus off of where it should be placed and is largely an unbiblical message. Let us explain.

The word called in the Greek is kletos meaning “an invitation to a banquet, invited (by Elohim by the proclamation of the gospel) to obtain eternal life or salvation in the kingdom of Elohim through Messiah Yeshua.”The writers of the Testimony of Yeshua use this and other similar Greek words to express the idea of a calling going forth from YHVH Elohim to call those to salvation. In fact, the idea of YHVH choosing us (and not us him) is a prominent theme (nearly 50 occurrences) in the apostolic writings. The gospel accounts reference Yeshua speaking of a calling at least several times (e.g. Matt 9:13; 20:16; Mark 2:17; Luke 5:32). Luke in the book of Acts speaks of a divine calling of believers to Yeshua (Acts 2:39) and to believers into the ministry (Acts 13:2; 16:10) as does the Paul in nearly 30 places in his epistles (e.g. Rom 1:7; 8:28; 1 Cor 1:1, 9, 24, 26; 7:15, 17, 20, 24; Gal 1:6, 15; Eph 1:18; 2 Thess 2:12; 2 Tim 1:9). Likewise, Peter makes reference to YHVH callingpeople into his kingdom (1 Pet 1:15; 2:9, 21; 5:10; 2 Pet 1:10) as does Jude (Jude 1:1) and John (Rev 17:14; 19:9). 

This same idea is carried forth in the words chosen, election and elect—words which occur in the Testimony of Yeshua another 46 times. These words derive from the Greek words ekloge and eklectos meaning “picked or called out ones(called out of the world for a place in the kingdom of Elohim).”

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How to Easily Understand the Hard Sayings of Paul

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2 Peter 3:15–16, Paul…hard to understand. If the writings of Paul are confusing as Second Peter 3:15-16 affirms, then why did the Holy Spirit write confusing things through Paul and not through others? 

Why Paul Is Difficult to Understand

Paul was hard to understand in the first century as Peter states in 2 Peter 3:16–17, and he’s hard to understand now in the twenty first century, as we will discuss below. In fact, it might be said that if it was hard for Paul’s contemporaries (those who knew him and ministered with him) to understand him, then, logically, it follows that it will be even much harder for those of us to understand him who live 2000 years later and who didn’t know him or work with him. To the former point, Peter writes, 

And account that the longsuffering of our YHVH is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.  Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.

Again, if Paul was hard to understand in his day, how much more 2000 years later!

For those living and working with Paul, he was hard to understand because of his intellect and education. He was one of the top Jewish scholars of his day with an intellect to match it. You weren’t taught by Gamliel, the grandson of Hillel the Great, the founder of the Hillel School of Phariseeism and considered by some modern Jews to be the greatest sage of the common era, unless you were the top of your class in Judaism! This was the same Paul who was well-travelled, multi-lingual, could debate with the Greek philosophers of Athens, could quote Greek literature from memory and was from a wealthy and prominent family who were Roman citizens because of their wealth and influence. By contrast, most of Yeshua’s other disciples were from the backwoods regions of the Galilee and were common tradesman. Today it would analogous to a logger from Oregon or a fur trapper from Alaska suddenly linking up into a working relationship with a PhD professor in physics or philosophy from Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard or Yale universities. 

Now scroll forward 2000 years. Since then, we have nearly 2000 years of church history with all of its institutionalized traditions, syncretistic belief systems, man-made doctrines, anti-Semitic theologies and so on to have to wade through. The very purveyors of these church traditions are also the same people (the Christian leaders and “scholars”) who are translating our Bibles. This means that they’ll often be translating the biblical text in ways that agree with their best (often anti-Torah) understandings of Scripture. 

It is this Babylonian mixture of truth and error (man made doctrines and traditions of men along with questionable if not faulty Bible translations) out of which most of us have come. We have to somehow weave our way through this tangled religious theological web and mess and figure out what is truth and what is error, what to keep and what to toss out, who is right and who is wrong, what is wheat and what is chaff. This isn’t easy to do especially when we’ve been indoctrinated, even brainwashed by the church to view Paul, the Torah-law and the rest of the Bible in a certain way through the lenses of those who have taught us their viewpoints be they right or wrong. One’s attempt to separate the precious from the vile and the holy from the polluted promises, justifiably so, to be a daunting and frightening proposition. That’s why the majority of people will prefer to stay in the comfort zones of their churches and man made traditions, rather than to step out into the unknown and unexplored wilderness of being a truth seeker, and, like a modern-day archeologist, to dig down to the bedrock of biblical truth. To step out of the boat of the church system means that, like Peter, you have to have a higher measure of faith than those who will remain safely and comfortably in the boat of their religious traditions. It means that one has to keep their eyes on Yeshua and follow his voice, or else sink into the spiritual watery depths of spiritual confusion. It means that you have to role up your sleeves and get to work, and put on your rubber muck boots and slog through the muddy dung in the barnyard of men’s religious traditions, some of which are good and many of which are vile, to get to the solid high ground of biblical Truth.

Unlocking the Mystery of Understanding Paul

Now let’s discuss Paul specifically to unlock the mystery of how to understand him. This is not a complicated task if done in a logical way. The way NOT to do it is to cherry pick Paul’s difficult-to-understand scriptural passages out of the larger contest of Scripture and then to explain them one-by-one. To attempt to understand Paul in this manner becomes an impossible knot to untie—especially in light of how many Christian scholars have translated his hard sayings through the grid of their faulty understanding and biases. 

Rather, the best way to understand Paul is to step back and to view his writings from the larger context of Scripture—to see the whole forest instead of merely focusing on the individual trees. For example, Paul told the saints in Corinth to imitate him as he imitated Messiah Yeshua (1 Cor 11:1). By the way, Paul’s statement here lines up with John’s instructions to all the saints in his first general epistle to do the same (1 John 2:6). If we’re to imitate Yeshua, then we must, logically, ask ourselves what our Master did, so that we can imitate him as Paul (and John) instructs. For sure Yeshua followed the Torah-law. If not, then he was a sinner, for we read in Scripture that “sin is the violation of the Torah-law” (1 John 3:4), that sin is unrighteousness (1 John 5:17) and that YHVH’s Torah-law defines what righteousness is (Ps 119:172). On the contrary, we know that Yeshua kept the Torah, for he was without sin, for if he had sinned, he wouldn’t been our perfect, sin-free Savior or Redeemer. He kept the Torah in all points and never violated a single command, which would have been sin (Heb 4:15; 2 Cor 5:21; 1 Pet 2:22; 1 John 3:5). Not only did Yeshua obey the Torah, but he clearly upheld its validity again and again (e.g. Matt 5:17–21; John 14:15, 21), and he commissioned his disciples to carry his instructions in this regard forward to the whole earth (Matt 28:20, 18–20 for context). So according to Paul, this is what he imitated, and what he expected the saints of his day (and us) to imitate.

Next, we read in numerous places that Paul spoke favorably of the Torah law. 

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