What about Romans?
Chapter four really doesn’t have much to comment on, so let’s move to five. In this one, 119 Ministries covers Romans.
For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. (Romans 2:12-13) Paul is saying here that, although we are saved by grace, the doers of God’s Law are considered righteous before God and will be justified.
119 Ministries. The Pauline Paradox: What Did Paul Teach About the Law of God? (p. 49). 119 Ministries. Kindle Edition.
For some reason, they leave off the next three verses.
For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
So what were the Gentiles doing that was written on their hearts? Following dietary restrictions? Observing Sabbath? Having the feasts? Practicing circumcision? Offering sacrifices to YHWH? Not wearing mixed fabrics?
Nope. Paul must be talking about another aspect of the law. He has that in mind in the next few verses.
17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God 18 and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; 19 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. 24 For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
These are the moral requirements. Not the requirements that would be considered cultic. (Not in the sense of a cult, but in the sense of pertaining to the ritual practices.)
I can’t imagine why 119 Ministries left this out.
They also say one of the first big debates was in Acts 15 asking if you had to be circumcised to be saved.
Then, they would be instructed in Moses’ teaching every Sabbath in the synagogues (Acts 15:21). As the Gentiles listen to the Torah, and as the teachers instruct them, they will eventually want to get circumcised in obedience to the Law of God.
119 Ministries. The Pauline Paradox: What Did Paul Teach About the Law of God? (p. 51). 119 Ministries. Kindle Edition.
First off, that’s not what Acts 15:21 says:
For from the earliest times, Moshe has had in every city those who proclaim him, with his words being read in the synagogues every Shabbat.”
That’s from the Complete Jewish Bible. The early church by and large was not meeting in the synagogues but in the houses of the church members.
Second, no. Just no. There would not be a universe out there where the Greeks would hear the message and come to Jesus and then burst out with excitement, “Hey! I want to be circumcised now!”
Then Paul points to David as another example to show how God’s forgiveness is available for everyone who would put their faith in God (Romans 4:6-8). This forgiveness is for not only the Jews but also the Gentiles. Moreover, since Abraham was made righteous by his faith before he was circumcised, Gentiles likewise are made righteous before getting physically circumcised (Romans 4:9-12). The doctrine that some Jews were pushing in the first century—that Gentiles needed to get circumcised as a prerequisite to becoming part of God’s people—is false.
119 Ministries. The Pauline Paradox: What Did Paul Teach About the Law of God? (p. 54). 119 Ministries. Kindle Edition.
Indeed. Unfornuately, 119 Ministries misses the real point of this. They do say that just a few verses earlier Paul says we uphold the Law of God by faith. What Paul actually says is explained in Romans 4. He shows how it is that Abraham was justified. Not by the Law, but by faith. Therefore, if we want to uphold the Torah, we should see the Torah says that Abraham was justified by faith.
Without the Law, we would not have a clear definition of sin.
119 Ministries. The Pauline Paradox: What Did Paul Teach About the Law of God? (p. 54). 119 Ministries. Kindle Edition.
But this is false entirely. The Old Testament can condemn the Gentiles for their wicked actions even though they do not have the Law. They know right from wrong still. Cain knew it was wrong to kill his brother. Sodom and Gomorrah knew what they were doing was wrong. Joseph’s brothers knew it was wrong to sell him into slavery. It’s not as if Moses came down from the mountain and some Israelites said, “What? Murder is wrong?! We had no idea!”
Next, they bring up Romans 6.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
And say:
Traditionally, Paul’s statement that believers are not “under the law” has been understood to mean that we are free to disregard God’s Law. However, there is a problem with this interpretation—namely, Paul affirms the ongoing authority of the Law throughout Romans. He says we uphold the Law by faith (3:31). The Law is “holy and righteous and good” (7:12), “spiritual” (7:14), and Paul “delights” in it (7:22) and “serves” it (7:25). He says that believers fulfill the Law’s righteous requirements when we walk according to the Spirit (8:4), and that it’s the carnal mind of man, not the spiritual mind, that rebels against the Law (8:7). Therefore, “not under law” simply can’t mean, “freedom to disregard the Law of God.”
119 Ministries. The Pauline Paradox: What Did Paul Teach About the Law of God? (p. 56). 119 Ministries. Kindle Edition.
I will hold off the interpretation of chapter 7 for when we get there, but we have already seen chapter 3 is just a wrong interpretation. So what of 7?
They start it off saying:
For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. (Romans 7:2-3) How does it make sense for Paul to say that believers are now free from obeying God’s Law when his entire analogy here is predicated on the validity of the Torah’s laws concerning marriage?
119 Ministries. The Pauline Paradox: What Did Paul Teach About the Law of God? (p. 59). 119 Ministries. Kindle Edition.
Because that’s the language his Jewish opponents would understand? Just a guess.
So looking back, Paul says the law is spiritual and righteous and good. Indeed. It comes from God. How could it not be? However, part of the problem with chapter 7 is something that 119 Ministries never brings up. Who is speaking here?
Of course, Paul is writing the letter, but is he giving an autobiographical account? If so, then when was Paul alive apart from the Law? That’s what he says in verse 9.
This is what the Complete Jewish Bible says:
I was once alive outside the framework of Torah. But when the commandment really encountered me, sin sprang to life
Paul was raised a Jew all his life. He was never apart from it. If you go back to chapter 5, Paul references Adam. That is a figure that makes sense here. When he was given the commandment of God, sin sprang to life and took advantage of it. Ben Witherington in What’s in the Word? also says that the early Jews thought the sin in the garden was that of coveting.
Romans 8 then is the victorious life of the Christian.
So in the end, 119 Ministries does not understand Romans.
In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)