Pauls View on the Law and Jurisdiction - Research Paper Example

?Contents Contents Introduction 2 Law in the Early Church 2 Pauls View on the Law 3 Pauls View on Righteousness and Law 7 Pauls Views on Law as a Gauge of Morality 8 The Role of the Law in Paul’s Gospel 8 Application of Pauline Epistles to Modern Christians 9 Conclusion 9 In Paul’s letters to the Galatians as well as to Romans, Paul seeks to deviate from the Jewish believe that abiding to the law was equivalent to Salvation he is adamant that salvation is only achieved through faith in Christ. Those who judge others on basis of observation of the law are distorter of the Gospel. To Paul, the law was meant to be temporary and to help believers understand God’s will but not to use it to punish or condemn others while they themselves were depraved the same laws. Permitting law to be above everyone only makes one a slave. According to Paul, salvation cannot be based on one’s ability to keep the law since no one is perfect which could mean all are cursed. The law is supposed to guide but not to enslave or condemn. Pauls warns gentiles that they are accountable and will still face judgement since it is possible to be disobedient even in absence of the laws. He ascertains that the laws will also judge those who commit offences by the laws. The main theme Paul wants to clarify is that salvation from sin is through faith as opposed to the Jewish believes that it was on basis on strict observation of law. 9 Bibliography 10 Paul’s View of the Law as in his Letters to the Galatians and the Romans Introduction The term law has several definitions and denotes a number of things. It is used in reference to norms that guide the conduct of people. It is also a scheme of regulations and guidelines that govern the behaviour of people. Law can also be a description of as set of practices that binds a group of people. Paul’s view on the law and jurisdiction occupies a fundamental position as far as comprehending Pauline’s theology is concerned. His epistles addressed issues facing the Jews especially Judaism. His letter to the Galatians suggests he was writing to a gentile civilization. Pauls views especially in the letters to Galatians is quite hard for many to unravel, this is due to the inconsistent way he explains the law. However, proper consideration of Gal 3:1-14 provides a useful understanding on the exact views of Paul on the law. A reason for this contradictory approach could be that Paul was trying to show the negative features of the law. He was thus cautioning the Galatians against considering observance of law as the only requirement for salvation. Paul mainly uses the term law in reference to Mosaic Law though he at times displays Abrahamic covenant as a form of guidelines that should direct Christians who are not bound to slavery by Judaism. In his letters to both Galatians and Romans, Paul clarifies that circumcision, which was a cherished Jewish tradition is not constituent of gospel of Christ. He asserts that salvation is by Gods grace and not out of our efforts, thus it is for all but not Jews alone as Judaism proposed. This paper focuses on Paul’s outlook on the law as portrayed by his letters to the Galatians and the Romans. Law in the Early Church When Paul wrote these letters, Christianity was novel and foreign to the Jewish civilization that insisted on strict observance of the law. He wrote the letters to address the different churches facing different conditions. To understand Paul’s utterances about law, it is important to have an understanding of the viewpoint of the people he was addressing in his letter. Pauline epistles were written to a society that revered Judaism, which demanded austere compliance to Jewish laws. Such laws include bodily male circumcision as a compulsory requirement for salvation. Those who did not abide were considered gentiles and unrighteous.1 Paul’s efforts to dismantle some of their customs received opposition to an extent that some went following him from church to church to revise his teaching2. Within the same Church were Pharisees who believed in Jesus as the Christ and the means to salvation and believed that observance of the law was an obligation and not a compulsory requirement for salvation. In the society were the lawless gentiles that Paul hoped to convert. The gentiles were unwilling to adopt Jewish laws, which resulted into great criticism from the Jews. Pauls View on the Law In his letters, there is constant comparison of the law, righteousness, and salvation. Paul initially had a Jewish background before conversion to Christianity. He had been a persecutor of Christ’s church. In his writings, Paul considers himself to have been blameless before his conversion in matters pertaining to righteousness. Like the Pharisees, and Jews, he then believed in strict surveillance of the laws3. After conversion, he revolutionized his view and began viewing observance of law as an aid in attaining righteousness and not a symbol of righteousness4. His view about the law seems to have been influenced by the struggles he went through before conversion. Another factor that could have contributed to his disputing the Judaism was the attempt of the Jews to use it to impose limits on gentiles. Such laws as circumcision were used by Jews to segregate gentiles. Paul’s desire was for the gentiles to convert into Christianity thus he felt the laws were blocking the gentiles from adapting Christianity.5 Some scholars view Paul’s arguments as an attestation that law is a bogus path to salvation given that it depends on toil. They argue that Paul’s outlook is that law cannot be fulfilled as one is obliged to work in order to attain salvation, which results to self-righteousness barring reliance in God. Others claim that Paul’s argument is that there are two type of righteousness, one given by God and the other achieved through one’s efforts. However, most agree that Paul prefers passive righteousness that is given by God based on faith6. Others posit that Paul lacked an understanding of law due to the conflicting ways he describes law in the letters to Galatians and Romans. The commentators thus claim Paul must have changed his views on the law between writing Romans and Galatians7. According to him, laws should only provide guidance on what God expects of us. However, for proper interpretation of his views on the law, it is important to assume that he was consistent, which is somehow true on pondering at some consistent statements used in both letters8. At times, he might appear to deviate from what the Judaism advocated for but in other times, he uses deduction from Judaism to explain himself. Paul tends to portray law pessimistically but he still verifies that it is good, sanctified, spiritual, and virtuous. The negative manner in which he portrays law could be attributed to lack of any Greek word, to describe lawfulness. In several instances, Paul seeks to dethrone the endurance of law as the route to salvation9. He considers law as an accuser, looking for any ambiguity to attack and enslaving those who choose to abide to it. According to him, law is for the anarchic and unbelievers but not for the believers. He appears to deviate from Judaism, which focussed much on self-righteousness. According to him, all the law had done was to take away the freedom of its followers and make them not just slaves but also hypocrites. His approach in the letter to the Romans is somehow friendly while that to Galatians openly condemns their act of feigning to be law abiders as that of hypocrisy. Paul dispute that the gentile are not defiant against the law since as much as they did not study it, they had it written in their hearts. He however warns gentiles who may understand but fail to abide to the law that they will be condemned by their standards of knowledge on the commandments. Paul uses the term ho nomos to identify law as entirety of God’s will for Israelites while in other occasions the term is in reference to God’s will for humanity. In other instances, he describes the gentiles as the law, whom he says have the laws written in their hearts. All these descriptions depict that there is a correlation between the Jewish law and law known to all humankind. Pauls understanding is that it is impossible for anyone to keep the law thus it cannot be a means to salvation as there is no one who completely abides to the law. He considers anyone’s endeavour to abide entirely to the laws without Gods grace as disgraceful as it illustrates ones hunt for self-righteousness. He in fact views such attempts as sinful since they depict men’s strive to forget Gods existence. Paul appears to rebuff the law as a means to salvation since no one can tolerate all the law. He consistently advices new gentile converts not to focus more on fulfilling the laws of Moses but to be attentive in realizing and fulfilling the will of God. He asserts that any trial to rely on ones capability to acquire salvation is cursed10. In his attempt to demonstrate how the tendency to abide blindly to the laws was insignificant and sinful, he uses a comparison in the Old Testament. The two sons of Abraham are used in Galatians as an analogy to law and promise. Sarah symbolizes promise and his son Isaac represents Abrahamic covenant, which is the promise. On the other hand, Hagar is a slave and the son Ishmael, born out of slavery signifies Mosaic covenant or the law, which leads to slavery. He cautions the believers against being slaves of the law11. In Romans 7, he uses himself as an example of how attempt to totally abide to the law can lead to sin and makes one a prisoner. He conceives that law binds us just as a wife is bound to his husband all her life. He however concedes that law has already been broken and, we are no longer bound by it but are now liberated. This is also evident in Galatians when he says that Christ has abolished the law by his death and resurrection. He feels law is a bondage that cannot procure any righteousness thus requires liberation12 To some extent, Paul views the law as a problem when he argues that understanding of the law leads to slavery, sin, and eventually death. He feels that God will annihilate all since the much righteousness law demands is unachievable. To him, law enhances sin by pioneering conscious intractable defiance that results in transgression. It is by being sentient of God’s will that we defy and rebel against His laws. According to him, law is there not to correct and guide but to punish and enslave. Law is like a disciplinarian, always awaiting us to make a blunder to discipline us. However, he alleges that law was not initially difficult but sin has seized it and uses it to achieve death13. Pauls View on Righteousness and Law Paul feels that the habit of the Jews associating salvation and righteousness with the law was hypocritical. They were only proclaiming commitment to the law while their actions lacked righteousness. Only God who is righteous but the law is just a means of God communicating with us. He asserts that those who found righteousness before the coming of Christ remain righteous since the rules of salvation have not changed. He therefore challenges the Jews to accept the converted gentiles and consider them as believers14. Paul’s View on Law as a Condition to Salvation Paul avers that obedience to the law cannot act as a criterion to quantify righteousness since no one fully abides to the commandments. He says that if law is used to revile, then all will be condemned. He feels that pretence to be strict abiders of the law is in itself a sin and ignominy to God who gave the law so that we may follow it not because of the promises it offers but because it is good and His will. We should therefore be obliged to study and keep the law not out of the benefits we anticipate but for the sake of understanding it. However, Paul is not apparent on whether obedience of commandment is an indication of devotion for God. Paul out rightly condemns certain parts of the law particularly on circumcision and laws relating to diet. He felt that physical circumcision showed complete devotion to laws as means to salvation. He uses this in defending himself from critism that he blends with the gentiles. Paul strongly opposes the strict observance of the Jewish calendar and diets when he argues that those were earthly particulars that could not be considered prerequisite to salvation15. Pauls Views on Law as a Gauge of Morality In his letter to Galatians, Paul alluded that obedience of laws seized being a measure of moral values. He claims that a true believer is the one who have been salvaged from it since all it does is to enslave. He uses an analogy of a married woman who is set free if the husband dies and can remarry. He feels that in the same way, the law the bound the Romans is dead and they have been set free. The death of Christ led to abolishment of the law. Converting gentiles have no duty to follow the law. He views the law to have died together with Christ, that is, the death of Christ was a means of liberation from the bondage. Paul asserts that the circumcision was a spiritual issue, which meant doing what was right but not just alleging to keep the law16. The Role of the Law in Paul’s Gospel According to Paul, law was meant to enlighten people of their sinfulness. Conforming to it could not be a sign of uprightness given that no one is capable of abiding to the laws utterly. To him, salvation must have been meant for nobody if custody of the laws is what will lead to deliverance. To him law is acceptable but people must not depend on their aptitude to fulfil it since it is unattainable17. Law is for guiding people to enable them identify sinful situations but not condemning sinners since we are all sinners18. However, on understanding the law, we are able to acknowledge our sinfulness and repent hence reunite ourselves with God. Law is supposed to actualize our sinfulness but not to lead us to wickedness. He also argues that law was given to human being to prepare them for the coming of Christ since by accepting it they would admit misdeeds and repent. Another role of Law suggested by Paul in His epistles is that of creating transgressions19. Application of Pauline Epistles to Modern Christians The understanding of Pauline epistles is important and can shape modern Christianity. The controversy especially in Galatia exhibits that there is need for Christians to understand the features of holy ecclesia. Modern Christians should thus not consider themselves righteous than the non-believers as salvation comes from God but not from knowledge of the scriptures20. Conclusion In Paul’s letters to the Galatians as well as to Romans, Paul seeks to deviate from the Jewish believe that abiding to the law was equivalent to Salvation he is adamant that salvation is only achieved through faith in Christ. Those who judge others on basis of observation of the law are distorter of the Gospel. To Paul, the law was meant to be temporary and to help believers understand God’s will but not to use it to punish or condemn others while they themselves were depraved the same laws. Permitting law to be above everyone only makes one a slave. According to Paul, salvation cannot be based on one’s ability to keep the law since no one is perfect which could mean all are cursed. The law is supposed to guide but not to enslave or condemn. Pauls warns gentiles that they are accountable and will still face judgement since it is possible to be disobedient even in absence of the laws. He ascertains that the laws will also judge those who commit offences by the laws. The main theme Paul wants to clarify is that salvation from sin is through faith as opposed to the Jewish believes that it was on basis on strict observation of law. Bibliography Berton, Anthony. The Law of the Spirit: Experience of the Spirit and Displacement of the Law in Romans 8:1-6. Bern: Peter Lang, 2005. Burnett, Gary. Paul and the Salvation of the Individual, Volume 87. Leiden: Brill, 2001. Polhill, John. Paul and his Letters. Toronto: B&H Publishing Group, 1999. Schnelle, Udo. Apostle Paul: His life And Theology. Michigan: Baker Academic, 2005. Schreiner, Thomas R. Is Perfect Obedience to the Law Possible? A Re-Examination of Galatians 3:10. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. 27:2 (1984): 151-160. Schreiner, Thomas. Interpreting the Pauline Epistles. Michigan: Baker Academic, 2011. Thielaman, Frank. From plight to Solution: A Jewish Framework for Understanding Paul’s View of the Law in Galatians and Romans. Leiden: Brill Archive, 1989. Tsang, Sam. From Slaves to Sons: A New Rhetoric Analysis on Paul’s Slave Metaphors in His Letter to Galatians. Bern: Peter Lang, 2005. Read More