Now that we have seen what the Scriptures teach regarding the believer and The Law, it would be good to have a look at what the Apostle Paul's relationship to The Law was and whether he kept The Law, as the proponents of Messianic Torah Observance claim he did ("Sha'ul himself did not violate the Torah himself but continued to keep it after coming to trust in Yeshua." David H. Stern. Jewish New Testament Commentary. p. 303), or whether he did not.
First of all Paul was a Pharisee and therefore knew The Law inside out - it could never be claimed that he acted or taught out of ignorance - and second, the Temple at Jerusalem was still standing in Paul's day and therefore it is easier to see how he regarded The Law and especially those commandments, directly connected with the Temple.
According to The Law, which the Jewish believers at Jerusalem understood to be the Law of Moses (Ac. 21:20-21
rather than a 'renewed' Law, all Jewish males were required to be circumcised, to appear before God at the temple three times a year - at the Feast of Unleavened Bread (that is Passover), the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and all Israelites were to tithe (as part of the Levites food), to keep the Sabbath, to observe all of the special days (feast days and new moon festivals) and years (the sabbatical year and the year of Jubilee), and to observe strict dietry laws. These are just a few of the 613 (according to the Rabbis) commandments that make up The Law, and have been chosen as it is relatively easy to see whether Paul, after his coming to faith, continued to keep and teach them.
It must be noted that The Law is a whole and nothing is to be added to it nor taken from it (Devarim / Deuteronomy 13:1 [12:32]),
therefore The Law was either to be accepted as a whole or not at all - one couldn't pick and choose the bits that one wanted; this is why Paul wrote 'Yes, I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.' Gal. 5:3 (circumcision was the outward sign of the acceptance of the Law of Moses).
So did Paul keep The Law? Circumcision: (VaYikra / Leviticus 12:3) - Paul taught that believers were not to be circumcised according to the Law of Moses (1 Cor. 7:18; Gal. 5:3);
Paul did however circumcise Timothy 'because of the Jews who were in those parts; for they all knew that his father was a Greek.' Ac. 16:3, not as under The Law but rather to facilitate being able to be acceptable to the Jews (see Ac. 10:28 and 11:2-3). Tithing: (VaYikra / Leviticus 27:30-32; Devarim / Deuteronomy 14:22-26) - Paul taught about giving according to what one decided and that it was for the bretheren rather than for the Levites:
1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I commanded the assemblies of Galatia, you do likewise.
2 On the first day of the week, let each one of you save, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come.
1 Cor. 16:1-2
Dietry Laws: (VaYikra / Leviticus 11:1-47; Devarim / Deuteronomy 14:3-21) - Paul taught that 'To the pure all things are pure' Titus 1:15, 'that nothing is unclean of itself' Rom. 14:14, that 'Whatever is sold in the butcher shop, eat,' 1 Cor. 10:25 and '...... and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with thanksgiving.' 1 Tim. 4:3-4. It should be noted that for a believing Jew to keep the dietry laws according to Moses, it would exclude him from fellowship with Gentile believers as their food would probably not be kosher and therefore he would not be able to eat what was offered to him (see Ac. 10:28 and 11:2-3). The Sabbath: (Shemot / Exodus 20:8,10; 23:12; 34:21) - Paul taught that 'One man esteems one day as more important. Another esteems every day alike. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind.' Rom. 14:5, and 'Let no man therefore judge you in eating, or in drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day' Col. 2:16. The Passover: (Shemot / Exodus 12:14; VaYikra / Leviticus 23:5-8; Devarim / Deuteronomy 16:1-8) - Paul taught that '...... Messiah, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place.' 1 Cor. 5:7. Since this is so, then there was no need any longer for Jewish believers in Messiah to continue to observe the Passover according to The Law. Paul's actions reflected his teachings: He didn't go up to Jerusalem each year to celebrate the Passover, as was required by The Law; acccording to Gal. 1:18 and 2:1, Paul didn't go up to Jerusalem for three years and then after that it was another fourteen years before he went up again!
We know from Ac. 20:6 that he was in Philippi during one Passover week, Ac. 18:11 that he was in Corinth for a year and six months and Ac. 19:10 in Ephesus for at least two years. Obviously Paul felt no obligation to go up to Jerusalem for the Passover. Not only that but he didn't believe that it was neccessary to keep the other commandments regarding the going up to Jerusalem - for the Feasts of Weeks and of Tabernacles (see Devarim / Deuteronomy 16:16
). How could he possibly be said to keep The Law if he didn't keep the commandment to go up to Jerusalem three times a year?
So then, did he keep The Law? According to his teachings and to his own actions, the answer is no he did not; but some might point to Ac. 21:20-26:
20 They, when they heard it, glorified God. They said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law.
21 They have been informed about you, that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children neither to walk after the customs.
22 What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come.
23 Therefore do what we tell you. We have four men who have a vow on them.
24 Take them, and purify yourself with them, and pay their expenses for them, that they may shave their heads. Then all will know that there is no truth in the things that they have been informed about you, but that you yourself also walk keeping the law.
25 But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written our decision that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from food offered to idols, from blood, from strangled things, and from sexual immorality."
26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day, purified himself and went with them into the temple, declaring the fulfillment of the days of purification, until the offering was offered for every one of them.
Ac. 21:20-26
especially: '.... but that you yourself also walk keeping the law.' v. 24(b) to try to show that he indeed did so. However, as has just been shown, he did not keep The Law; so what occurred in the above passage?
Paul's words are not recorded for us, but that he consented to their suggestion regarding the purification rites in no way shows that he did indeed keep The Law. All that it does show is that he acted in accordance within his own convictions:
'To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain those who are under the law;'
1 Cor. 9:20
Conclusion
It is sad that we have to argue over points of doctrine with fellow believers; but unless truth is taught clearly error will take hold.
It can be understood that Messianic believers want to keep their Jewish roots and culture; the only problem is in how they want to keep it.
We have seen clearly that The Law has been brought to an end and that the New Covenant is now the rule of life for all believers. We must remember though that the New Covenant is Jewish and can, especially for Messianic believers - if they want, be expressed in a Jewish way. However, for a minority of Messianic believers to equate Jewishness primarily with The Law [Torah] is to be very narrow minded: There is so much more to being Jewish - after all there were Jews [previously called Hebrews or Israelites] before The Law and also after The Law.
If a Messianic believer wants to keep parts of The Law, then he is free to do so; only that it would be recognized that it is not obligatory and that he cannot add to his salvation by doing so.
It is perfectly possible for a Messianic Jew to still be a Jew, and recognized as such, without the need to try and manipulate Scripture to show that we are still under, and therefore obligated to, The Law [Torah].
It has not been possible in this short study to examine all the passages and verses in the Scriptures that have been used to promote the idea of Messianic Torah Observance, but hopefully the major ones have been, and adequately enough to disprove this error.
It has also been shown that since The Law, and therefore the Ten Commandments as well, was covenanted to Israel - not to the Gentiles nor to the Church, Gentile Christians can lay no claim to The Law nor any part of it including the Ten Commandments. This means that those who would teach that Christians ought to keep the Sabbath are in error - the Sabbath belongs to Israel [do not read Church] and no one else.
My prayer is that this study will be accepted in the spirit that it was written - that my intention is to cause no ill feeling toward anyone, that only a clear and accurate interpretation of the Scriptures shall bring us closer together in fellowship as we draw nearer to Him.
For those of you that want a more detailed study on the subject then may I suggest "Israelogoy: The Missing Link in Systematic Theology" by Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, published by "Ariel Ministries Press".
