GALATIANS & TORAH

THE TORAH
The Weekly Parsha
The TORAH - Its Place in Scripture
The TORAH & Holiness
The TORAH & Israel
The TORAH & THE LAND
Is the TORAH for believers?
THE ORAL TORAH - Its Origins
THE TORAH & THE NEW COVENANT
The TORAH & Galatians
Understanding TORAH

THE TORAH The Most Misunderstood Epistle of Paul

Who in the Christian world has not heard the statement, “We are not under Law but under Grace” where this is meant to mean that the Law, the Torah (the five Books of Moses) is obsolete and finished. (For a discussion on the Torah please refer to the article 'The Torah and Its place in Scripture'.) This statement is largely based on the understanding arising from the epistles to the Galatians and also Romans 6:14 “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” This denial of Torah is reinforced in Galatians (Gal 3:23, Gal 4:4-5, Gal 4:21, Gal 5:18) with the term 'under law'. Most of Christianity has the belief that Jesus/Yeshua did away with the Law (Torah) and replaced it by grace alone. So yes, we are saved by faith not by works of the Law Sha'ul writes in Galatians 2:16. This gives rise to the 'Law versus Grace' debate as if one has to choose between The Law OR the Grace of God, and not have both in operation simultaneously, Torah AND Grace! The first perspective comes from a very Greek world-view which can be dualistic, whereas the second flows from a Hebraic, Eastern world-view which is more inclusive.

This is what can be referred to as the tyranny of the OR and the genius of the AND! An example of this is where a congregation can be either Evangelical OR Liturgical OR Charismatic OR Social, but the genius of the AND says they can be ALL of these at the same time, AND, AND, AND! So can Law AND Grace be two sides of the same coin with both as applicable as the other?

As implied above there are two primary world-view, the Western world and the Eastern or Hebraic world-view. This is a possible reason why the Bible is given in two languages, Hebrew and Greek. The Western world has very much taken on a Greek-mindset where the individual is more important than the community. Where things are largely black or white, WHERE the tyranny of the OR and rational thought dominates. The Hebrew-mindset is inclusive and open to ambiguity with the genius of the AND operating naturally. This has to be the mind-set of Sha'ul, a Hebrew of Hebrews otherwise called Paul as his Greek name.

Paul – Sha'ul, a Hebrew of Hebrews
The primary reasons the epistle to the Galatians is so misunderstand is that Paul, Sha'ul the author is not understood in his Hebraic background as stated by Peter in 2 Peter 3:16
"Some things in them are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist (as they also do do with the rest of the Scripture) - to their own destruction."

Scholars and Bible teachers have viewed Paul as a Greek and not as Sha'ul, a Hebrew of Hebrews. Sha'ul was born a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of Hebrew; in regards to the Law (Torah), a Pharisee (Phil 3:5). He was brought up as Torah observant and remained Torah observant until his death as indicated in the Acts especially Acts 26 and 28:23. Hence one cannot read Paul's letters with a Greek-mind set even if the letters were written in Greek. Sha'ul gives his credentials as an apostle of Yeshua, The Messiah to the uncircumcised heather (2:7-10) in the beginning of Galatians.

A secondary reason is in the Greek language there is only one word nomos that covers the variety of meanings combined with the lack of any word in the Greek language that means legalism, legalistic, etc is the root reason for this misunderstanding by most Christians and Bible translators.

Confronting Hypocrisy
In this letter to the Galatians, Paul Sha'ul is dealing with those who had come down to Galatia from Jerusalem with another gospel (Galatians 1:6-10). He reacts to this heretical teaching extremely strongly in calling them accursed, anathema in the Greek. What gospel was this and why so strong a reaction? Sha'ul preached the Gospel of salvation through Yeshua and Him only, for both Jew and Gentile. But this false gospel was based on obedience to the Torah and being circumcised before one could be saved. No wonder Sha'ul got so upset. He even publicly tears a strip off the Apostle, Peter in Antioch (2:11) for separating himself from eating with the uncircumcised believers. By this behaviour Peter was siding with the Torah observant Jews who had came from Jerusalem and agreeing with them that the uncircumcised are required to become Torah observant Jews through circumcision to be justified.
Thus replacing faith in Yeshua's death and resurrection with circumcision and so perverting the Gospel. This letter is not about the process of sanctification that follows on from being being saved in which the Torah plays a key part.

The Place of Circumcision
Sha'ul points out in Galatians 2:3 that Titus who was an uncircumcised Greek believer in Yeshua was not required by the Jerusalem leadership (James, Peter and John) to be circumcised. Whereas Timothy whose mother was Jewish, Sha'ul had circumcised in Acts 16:3.
Note that circumcision is the Covenant sign given to Abraham, not Moses in Genesis 17:10-11 This is My covenant that you must keep between Me and you and your seed after you: all your males must be circumcised. You must be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and this will become a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
A key understanding from Scripture is that all believers are to have circumcised hearts where the carnal nature has been crucified. We are being obedient to the Word of God as Yeshua prayed in John for his disciples and especially in 17:17 “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” What is the Word that was in the beginning but Yeshua the Living Torah!

The Root of Misunderstanding
Sha'ul's response in Galatians 2:15 - 16 states, “We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” (KJV)

These verses and those in Romans 6:14 are the most misunderstood verse of Sha'ul's when read with a Greek-mindset. He thought as a Jew but his words are give in the Greek. So the key Greek word nomos commonly translated law is used to cover a variety of meanings such as Torah, the traditions of the Pharisees, common law of the nations, the Law Code or as discussed below legalism, legalistic.

Works of the Law
Only by understanding Sha'ul's background can the correct meaning of this word be determined by the context. In particular the phrase ergon nomou used three times here and in 3:2, 5 and 10 as well as in Romans 3:20, 28, is commonly translated in English versions of the New Testament as “works of the law”. David Stern in his Jewish New Testament Commentary on these verses gives a very strong case that Sha'ul is using this term in a technical sense of 'legalistic observance of the Torah'. The problem with Greek is that there is no word group that corresponds to our 'legalism, legalist or legalistic.' Just as Yeshua came against the Pharisees for their legalistic application of the Torah, placing a heavy yoke on the people, Sha'ul is doing the same in this letter.
We can have one of two attitude to God's instructions; where one has to follow a set of rules and regulations versus one of wanting to be obedient because we love the Lord. Hence Yeshua makes the statement in Matthew 22:38-40 “This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire Torah and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” If we are not motivated by love we become a sounding gong (1 Cor 13:1) and become religious like some of the Pharisees who Yeshua spoke out against. Here we see no difference between what Yeshua preached and what Sha'ul wrote in relation to the Torah. Both were Torah observant Jews as Sha'ul proved in Acts 21:17-26.

Under the Law
Likewise, the term 'upo nomon' translated as 'under law' appears five times in this letter (3:23 4:4-5, 21 5:18). It does not mean simply 'under Torah' in the sense of 'living within its framework' as David Stern points out in his commentary. But rather 'the mindset that results when the Torah is perverted into legalism'. Being 'under the law' hupo nomoun is synonymous with being under the dominion of sin, not Torah.

The Law, Torah
Sadly the us of the word 'law' when translating the Greek word nomos into English especially when referring to the five Books of Moses, the Peutetech gives a wrong impression of what the word Torah actually means in the Hebrew. The Greek word for “law” is νόμος, nómos, derived from νέμω, némō, “to divide,” “distribute,” “apportion,” and generally meant anything established, anything received by usage, a custom, usage, law; in the New Testament a command, law. It can refer not only to the Torah, but man-made law, customs and traditions. So when reading the New Covenant in English one has to discern what is being referred to especially in Sha'ul's epistles.

The word Torah in the Hebrew is derived from the verb yarah to teach, instruct or direct. It has an archery application for 'teaching that hits the mark or target'. For example in Hebrew 'to miss, not hit the mark' is 'chata' which is translated 'sin'. Now consider the Torah as the archery target with Leviticus, the bullseye and the other books as concentric circles around it. Why can I say this book is right at the centre of all Scripture. For one thing, this is the very first book a young Jewish boy will start to learn. The reasons why the book of Leviticus is the bullseye of Scripture are many and will be discussed in another article, but primary it is because it looks at holiness. The key scripture in the whole of Leviticus and alluded to in the New Covenant is “Be holy for I am holy.” (Lev 11:44-45)

In Conclusion
As David Pawson in Unlocking The Bible shows:
Justification is the way to God, Sanctification is walking with God and in His ways!

In Galatians 5:14 – 18, Sha'ul states: For the whole Torah is summed up in this one sentence: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” …. But if you are led by the Spirit, then you are not in subjection to the system that results from perverting the Torah into legalism (ou hupo nomou). (CJSB)