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  • From: "John Brand" <jbrand AT gvsd.mb.ca>
  • To: Corpus-Paul <corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Corpus-Paul] Galatians 2:16: Exploring the Relationshipbetween Faith and Works
  • Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2004 14:57:07 -0500

> John wrote:
>
> >. . . I cannot see Paul
> > saying that they are no longer to employ the law as school master
> > since by the law comes knowledge of sin which, for the prophet
> > Isaiah, is what keeps God from bringing the blessings of the
> > covenant to bear on the nation (Isaiah 59 quoted in Romans 3). There
> > still has to be a fulfilling of the just requirement of the law.

Ian:
> Actually, Paul says explicitly that the law, as paidagwgos, functioned
> only until the coming of Christ, and that after the coming of Christ
> "we" (certainly including himself and other Jewish Christians) were
> released from the care of the paidagwgos (3:24-25). He does see the
> need to "fulfil" the law, but only (as per 5:13-14) through mutual
> love, and he says explicitly in 5:18 that those led by the spirit are
> not under Torah (ouk este hupo nomon). Moreover, in describing the
> Antioch incident, Paul shows no qualms at all about Peter having
> "lived like a gentile and not like a Jew" (. . . ethnikws kai ouchi
> Ioudaikws zhs, 2:14). I see here every indication that Paul understood
> Jews, as well as Gentiles, to move outside the jurisdiction of Torah
> once they became believers in Christ.

John:
Paul does show the superiority of faith over following precepts of Torah
which are
administered by men. However, I would understand that the law still provides
an
essential function for those who have faith viz a vis Torah is used by the
believer to
more fully apprehend the person and nature of Christ to whom he is now
obligated.

I understand the Jew and the Gentile moving outside the jurisdiction of Torah
in the
sense that we see in the Torah, itself, and Paul's quotation of Deuteronomy
30:11ff in
Romans 10:5ff. The law functions as a kind of stepping stone into the
'righteous life'
that God requires. Torah is an embodiment of knowledge and truth (Romans
2:20) but
it does not contain the power to fulfill its demands. For example, Joshua 1:8
talks about
meditating on the 'embodiment of knowledge and truth' viz a vis Torah 'day
and night'
'so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be
prosperous
and successful.' One could also consider the basic argument of Psalm 1: The
tree grows
as a result of its being firmly rooted in Torah; Torah is the conduit through
which the
Spirit of God works in the man who meditates on the law.

This I would argue is what Paul is talking about in Romans 7; that the law
worked in
his mind and he agreed with what the law required but realized that he could
not fulfill
what the law demanded (and what he firmly ascented to in his inner man).
Thus, he
came to place of what is described in Deuteronomy 30:11ff where he felt
helpless.
However, by looking to the spirit of Christ, he was able to have hope that he
could
fulfill the righteous requirement that Torah embodied (Romans 8:4). Thus,
'through the
law, I died to the law in order that I might live for God' (Galatians 2:19).

The idea of a tutor entails teaching one basic principles so that one can act
on those
principles once one has been freed from the tutors influence. It is
interesting that the NT
quotes from Deuteronomy, Psalms and Isaiah more than any other OT writings.
The
Torah, I would forms the basis of the application of the Gospel message for
both the Jew
and the Gentile. Jesus reveals the import of the Torah viz a vis love for God
and one's
neighbor. This basic principle was also apprehended by the Gentile, Socrates
who stated
that the aim of his teaching was that children might honor the gods and their
parents and
value friendship with one another. Yet, both the Jew and the Gentile are
unable to
comprehend the full picture embodied in Christ.

Just briefly, what follows is how I would see this working out in terms of the
deuteronomic theology that forms the basis for prophetic discourse:

God’s presence in the community often constitutes the rationale behind the
justice he has revealed. His palace or temple is central to the community
and becomes
the focal point of all its celebrations. Deuteronomy 10:14ff makes it very
clear that
God does not have to live in the community in this manner: `the heaven and
the heaven
of heavens is Yahweh’s, thy God, the earth also, with all that is therein.”
However, he
has chosen to separate out a people to be his own (v15). And because in his
greatness
he does not show respect of persons (v17) but executes judgment on behalf of
the
fatherless, the widow and the stranger (v18), Israel is, also, to carry out
justice on their
behalf (v19 cf. 24:17 and 27:19). Often the rationale behind the mercy God
expects his
people to show to the dependant in her midst is tied to the mercy he has
shown in
delivering them from the bondage of Egypt (5:15; 10:18; 15:15; 16:12 and
24:18). Her
thankfulness is to be practically demonstrated by her loving care for others.
In this way
all of the law can be summed up in the two great commandments: Love the
Lord, your
God (Deuteronomy 6:5) and Love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18 cf.
Matthew 22:37-40).





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