Was Paul a good teacher or a Hypocrite?
Consider these scriptures:
CON (Salvation) PRO (Standard of Living)
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Ephesians 2:15 “by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,” The law (Torah) is Abolished |
Romans 3:31 “Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.” The law (Torah) has been established |
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Romans 7:6 “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.” You have been “discharged from the law” (Torah) |
Romans 7:12 “So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good” The law (Torah) is “holy, just and good” (Note: This statement is in the same chapter) |
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Romans 10:4 “For the Messiah is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” The Messiah is “the end (telos) of the law (Torah)” (Note: “telos” means “goal”. If challenged, quote James 5:11. If applied to “end”, it would have declared God dead) |
Romans 8:3-4 “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did:sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." The just requirements of the law (Torah) are “fulfilled in us” |
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Romans 3:28 “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. The law (Torah) is unnecessary |
1 Corinthians 7:19 “Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.” The law (Torah) is necessary (Note: This can also be found inEphesians 6:2-3 and 1 Timothy 1:8-10) |
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2 Corinthians 3:7 “But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was,” The law (Torah) is the “dispensation of death” |
Romans 3:2 “Great in every respect. First of all that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.” The law (Torah) is part of “the oracles of God” entrusted to the Jews. |
Here is the Summary
| Ephesians 2:15 | The “Law” was Abolished |
| Romans 3:31 | The “Law” was Established |
| Romans 7:6 | We are Discharged from the “Law” |
| Romans 7:12 | The Law is Holy, Just, and Good |
| Romans 10:4 | The end of the ‘Law’ |
| Romans 8:3-4 | The just requirements of the Law is fulfilled in us |
| Romans 3:28 | The ‘Law’ is unnecessary |
| I Corinthians 7:19 | The Law is necessary [also in Ephesians 6:2-3; I Timothy 1:8-10] |
| II Corinthians 3:7 | The Law is ‘The Dispensation of Death’ |
| Romans 3:2 | Part of the ‘Oracles of God’ entrusted to the Jews |
Major Point: ALL of these verses were written to Gentiles, not Jews
“New Revelation must come from Revelation revealed”
Again, I ask the question: Was Paul a good teacher or a Hypocrite?
The answer is “A good teacher”. When you look at the context of these scriptures, you will find the first set talking about salvation and Yeshua. When you realize that there is no Greek word for “Legalism”, “Legalistic”, or “Legalist”, then you know that Paul was teaching that “Yeshua Plus Nothing” = “Salvation”
The second set of context is mentioned AFTER the person received Salvation. There needed to be a “Standard of Conduct”. That Standard was the “Law” (Torah)
The “Letter of the Law” = The Torah stands alone
The “Spirit of the Law” = The Torah engulfed with God’s Grace, through the Messiah