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  • From: "Harold R. Holmyard III" <hholmyard AT ont.com>
  • To: Corpus-Paul <corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: RE: [Corpus-Paul] Did Paul break the Law?
  • Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 10:20:38 -0600

Title: RE: [Corpus-Paul] Did Paul break the Law?
Dear Dieter,

Many take the preposition UNTIL (eis) in Gal 3:24 as temporal, assuming the idea of a nomos-period that comes to an end with Christ. Since Paul is referring to those who were held prisoners under the nomos before pistis came, and uses the pronoun "we", I suppose we should assume that he has those in mind that were under the law during the timespan from Sinai to Golgatha, i.e. Jews.
 
The temporal view of "until" was introduced in reaction to the Lutheran position that the law was and always is a promoter of Christ (pedagogos hemon eis Christon, "unser Zuchtmeister auf Christum"), in terms of showing the failure of worksrighteousness and encouraging "pure" trust in the grace of God.
 
I would like to hear your comments on the following. Accepting the subjective genitive for pistis Christou, one could argue that the faithfulness of Christ in his submission to the will of God even unto death on a cross,

HH: You must be talking about a subjective genitive in Gal 3:22. That seems doubtful since "the ones who believe" are shown to believe in Christ by the earlier phrase: "in order that the promise by belief in Jesus Christ may be given to those who believe." And PISTIN in 3:23 shows that PISTEWS in 3:22 speaks of the faith of the believers.

 in Paul's view, was the ultimate realisation of the purpose of the nomos. If the nomos taught submission to the will of God, Christ both taught and lived it. Now if the nomos and the Christ in fact have the same purpose, the nomos may be superceded by the Christ but not in contrary but in complementary fashion. The purpose of both the nomos and of Christ is to teach submission to the will of the God with whom "we" have entered into a covenantal relationship, some earlier, some later. The Messianic age of course brings with it new blessings, e.g. Jer 31:33), but again the difference is not law contra grace or works contra faith, but the nomos and Christ accomplishing the same purpose (with Christ being superior to the nomos, in Paul's view). Once  this reading of the schema of Gal 3 is entertained, doesn't that make the discussion of whether "until" is temporary or timeless almost superfluous?

HH: It is not superfluous but a doctrinal issue important to the way people live their lives.  Believers are not under the law, as Galatians itself says:

Gal. 2:19 For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.

Gal. 3:10 ¶ All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written:  "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."

Gal. 4:21 ¶ Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says?
Gal. 4:22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.
Gal. 4:23 His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise.
Gal. 4:24 ¶ These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar.
Gal. 4:25 Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.
Gal. 4:26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.
Gal. 4:27 For it is written:  "Be glad, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have no labor pains; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband."
Gal. 4:28 ¶ Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.

Gal. 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

1Tim. 1:9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
1Tim. 1:10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;

                                        Yours,
                                        Harold Holmyard




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