This chapter of Romans is twisted so much to suite many false doctrines that the Church teaches. So I am revealing the true context for people to see the Truth. we are not to follow what we think or believe the Scriptures are saying but rather follow what the Scriptures really are saying.
“What then is the advantage of the Yehuḏite (Jew)? Or what is the value of the circumcision? Much in every way! Because firstly indeed, that they were entrusted with the Words of Elohim” (Rom 3:1-2). What Shaul wrote here totally disproves what is called the “replacement theology” that is taught by the Church. You see, the Church teaches that the Jews gave up their right to be called “God’s people”, so that the Church can take their place. This is done so that they can blackmail the population into joining the Church (Christian faith) or else they cannot be saved. This is also where anti-Semitic propaganda comes from, teaching the masses that the Jews killed “Jesus”. This is a very dangerous and evil thought. Shaul makes it very clear that the Jews are truly the chosen people, even until today.
“For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief nullify the trustworthiness of Elohim? Let it not be! But let Elohim be true, and every man a liar, as it has been written, “That You should be declared right in Your words, and prevail in Your judging.”” (Rom 3:3-4). Now the majority of Judaism denies that Yehoshua is the Messiah and they are still waiting for “the Messiah” to come for the first time. There are however, many Jews that believe in Yehoshua as the Messiah, and keep their belief in silence. There are also many Jews who are totally “non-religious” but the majority of the Jews follow after religious traditions, namely, the Talmud and Oral Law, which Shaul refers to as ‘under the law’.
Now what Shaul is saying here is that just because some of the Jews do not believe in the truth, does in no way make the truth false. The Word of YHWH is truth which is the Torah and the prophets. Any man that speaks words of his own, is a liar. But if a man speaks the Word of YHWH, then his words are true.
If anyone lives according to the Torah of YHWH, then that person will not be found guilty in the time of judgment.
“But if our unrighteousness establishes the righteousness of Elohim, what shall we say? Is Elohim unrighteous who is inflicting wrath? I speak as a man. Let it not be! Otherwise how shall Elohim judge the world? For if the truth of Elohim has increased through my lie, to His esteem, why am I also still judged as a sinner? And why not say, “Let us do evil so that the good might come”? – as we are wrongly accused and as some claim that we say. Their judgment is in the right” (Rom 3:5-8). Here is a piece of text that the Church twists to justify their false doctrines. It is a common thought among the Christian faith that it is impossible to keep the Ten Commandments. The problem with that statement is that it is not supported by the Scriptures. One can see this as soon as you start reading the Scriptures and noticing that the whole theme of the Scriptures is to obey the Word of YHWH. Even the Messiah made this clear when he quoted the Scriptures and said, “But He answering, said, “It has been written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of יהוה (YHWH).’ ” (Mat 4:4). And what is the Word of YHWH? It is the Tanakh (Torah and the Prophets) of course.
The teachings of the Church are humanistic teachings and not the teachings or Words of YHWH. In the days of Shaul, the Christian Church had not been founded yet and Shaul had never heard the word Christian or the word Church, which are both from pagan origin.
Shaul was saying that righteousness cannot be established on unrighteousness. You see, Elohim afflicted and still does afflict wrath on unrighteousness. So the question was that if we established righteousness by our unrighteousness, how can Elohim be righteous if he afflicts us? The answer to this is that righteousness is established on righteousness, NOT unrighteousness. We are to live by the spirit and not by our flesh. In other words, we are to die to our unrighteous humanistic flesh so that we can live by the righteous Spirit of Elohim who writes the Torah on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33).
“What then? Are we better than they? Not at all, for we have previously accused both Yehuḏim (Jews) and Gentiles that they are all under sin. As it has been written, “There is none righteous, no, not one! “There is no one who is understanding, there is none who is seeking Elohim. “They all have turned aside, they have together become worthless. There is none who does good, no, not one.” (Rom 3:9-12).
Now here is one of the favorite arguments that the Christian Church uses to justify their sinful way of living. But in order to justify that no one can be righteous by this piece of Shaul’s letter, one must either be twisting Shaul’s writings or just be untaught in the Scriptures. Peter himself said that this would happen, “and reckon the patience of our Master as deliverance, as also our beloved brother Sha’ul wrote to you, according to the wisdom given to him, as also in all his letters, speaking in them concerning these matters, in which some are hard to understand, which those who are untaught and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do also the other Scriptures. You, then, beloved ones, being forewarned, watch, lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the delusion of the lawless” (2 Peter 3:15-17).
What Shaul is saying is that no man is righteous if he lives according to his own instruction. But as soon as we live according to the Instruction of YHWH (the Torah), then we live righteously as the Torah of YHWH is righteous. It is evil to believe that it is impossible to live according to the Torah of YHWH, or that no one has or can achieve this. As soon as you believe that to be true, then you believe the Scriptures to be untrue.
Let me point out a few examples. Noah was righteous and perfect (Gen 6:9, 7:1), Abraham was righteous (Gen 15:6), Yoseph (Joseph), the step father of Yehoshua was righteous (Mat 1:19), Yehochanan (John the Baptist) was righteous (Mark 6:20), the parents of Yehochanan were both righteous and walking in all the Commands of YHWH (Luke 1:5-6), a man called Shim’on was righteous (Luke 2:25) and there are MANY more places in the Scriptures that tell of righteous people walking in the Torah of YHWH. Yehoshua the Son of YHWH said that He did not come for the righteous, but for the sinners to come to repentance (Luke 5:32). Repentance is turning away from sin and following righteousness.
What does it mean to be righteous? “And it is righteousness for us when we guard to do all this command before יהוה (YHWH) our Elohim, as He has commanded us” (Deut 6:25)
Also another important point that Shaul makes is that those who are righteous are no more important than the unrighteous. This is because everyone was unrighteous before repentance and only by the favor of YHWH have the righteous found the truth of righteousness.
“Their throat is an open tomb, with their tongues they have deceived, The poison of adders is under their lips, Whose mouth is filled with cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood, ruin and wretchedness are in their ways, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of Elohim before their eyes.” (Rom 3:13-18). Shaul writes of the human nature of men, explaining that no person is good as long as we do not follow the Instruction of YHWH (His Torah). Notice that everything that Shaul mentions here is 100% against the Torah of YHWH. Naturally, man is not good and reverts to all these evil deeds that are written here. As soon as we start seeking the reign of YHWH and His righteousness, then these evil deeds will be disgusting in our eyes, just as they are disgusting in the eyes of YHWH and we will turn away from them.
“And we know that whatever the Torah says, it says to those who are in the Torah (here the Aramaic Peshitta says, “under the Torah”), so that every mouth might be stopped, and all the world come under judgment before Elohim. Therefore by works of Torah no flesh shall be declared right before Him, for by the Torah is the knowledge of sin” (Rom 3:19-20). Now here is a confusing section for those who are untaught or unstable in the Scriptures. This is also one of the favorite sections that the Church use to justify the false doctrine that they do not have to follow the Word of YHWH anymore. They use it to judge the righteous people who are following the Instruction of YHWH, by calling them legalists, as they are ‘under the Law’. This however is a very evil teaching. The term ‘under the Torah’ refers to being under a religious organization like Rabbinical Judaism and even Christianity, etc. (This fact actually proves that the Christians are the ones who are the legalists!)
Only the mouths of the unrighteous have to be shut as they speak evil things. But if a person speaks the words of Torah, then he does not speak his own words, but rather the Words of YHWH by which we live.
‘Works of the Torah’ means exactly the same as ‘under the Torah’, see commentary on verse 28. No one can be saved through works on their own. The Scriptures also teach that those who do not do the Torah of YHWH will be cast into the fire and will not be granted entrance into the kingdom of YHWH (Rev 22:14). The Torah is the Instruction of YHWH for us that leads us to righteousness.
It is crazy how the Church teaches that we should not sin anymore, and then in the same breath, teaches us that we do not have to obey the Torah of YHWH anymore! Is there a contradiction anywhere that is greater than this? The Torah teaches us how to love YHWH and how to love our neighbor too, it teaches us how to care for our animals and how to farm and care for the land too, it also teaches us how to care for the fatherless, the widow and the poor, it teaches us to stay away from evil and idolatry, it teaches us how to look after our bodies and how to stay healthy (all of which the Church totally ignores). The Torah is also the knowledge of sin! Have you ever thought what this means? It means that if you break any of the instructions of YHWH (the Torah), then it is sin.
“But now, apart from the Torah, a righteousness of Elohim has been revealed, being witnessed by the Torah and the Prophets” (Rom 3:21) Yehoshua qualified as Mashiyach because He fulfilled all Torah and Prophetic requirements, and He became Torah. Torah is written upon the heart by the Ruach haKodesh; the Spirit of Mashiyach is Torah which is the Spirit of Mashiyach, or the Manifestation (Word) of YHWH which became flesh and dwelt among us. Therefore, if we live “in” Yehoshua, we will also follow the Torah. It is evil to posture that Shaul brought Torah down, when in fact Yehoshua and Shaul restored and elevated Torah to be the foundation of a spiritual dialogue with Heaven.
If Yehoshua followed the Torah 100%, and we are to follow in His footsteps, does that mean we also have to follow the Torah? (1 Peter 2:21).
“and the righteousness of Elohim is through belief in יהושע (Yehoshua) Messiah to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the esteem of Elohim,” (Rom 3:22-23). Do the demons also believe (James 2:19)? Is believing in the Messiah and continuing in sin acceptable to the Almighty? Are those who believe in “Jesus” but do not keep the Commands of YHWH the true believers? Let us see, “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to fight with the remnant of her seed, those guarding the commands of Elohim and possessing the witness of יהושע (Yehoshua) Messiah” (Rev 12:17), “Here is the endurance of the set-apart ones, here are those guarding the commands of Elohim and the belief of יהושע (Yehoshua)” (Rev 14:12). One cannot believe in the Messiah and not observe the Torah, it is just impossible.
“What then is the advantage of the Yehuḏite (Jew)? Or what is the value of the circumcision? Much in every way! Because firstly indeed, that they were entrusted with the Words of Elohim” (Rom 3:1-2). What Shaul wrote here totally disproves what is called the “replacement theology” that is taught by the Church. You see, the Church teaches that the Jews gave up their right to be called “God’s people”, so that the Church can take their place. This is done so that they can blackmail the population into joining the Church (Christian faith) or else they cannot be saved. This is also where anti-Semitic propaganda comes from, teaching the masses that the Jews killed “Jesus”. This is a very dangerous and evil thought. Shaul makes it very clear that the Jews are truly the chosen people, even until today.
“For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief nullify the trustworthiness of Elohim? Let it not be! But let Elohim be true, and every man a liar, as it has been written, “That You should be declared right in Your words, and prevail in Your judging.”” (Rom 3:3-4). Now the majority of Judaism denies that Yehoshua is the Messiah and they are still waiting for “the Messiah” to come for the first time. There are however, many Jews that believe in Yehoshua as the Messiah, and keep their belief in silence. There are also many Jews who are totally “non-religious” but the majority of the Jews follow after religious traditions, namely, the Talmud and Oral Law, which Shaul refers to as ‘under the law’.
Now what Shaul is saying here is that just because some of the Jews do not believe in the truth, does in no way make the truth false. The Word of YHWH is truth which is the Torah and the prophets. Any man that speaks words of his own, is a liar. But if a man speaks the Word of YHWH, then his words are true.
If anyone lives according to the Torah of YHWH, then that person will not be found guilty in the time of judgment.
“But if our unrighteousness establishes the righteousness of Elohim, what shall we say? Is Elohim unrighteous who is inflicting wrath? I speak as a man. Let it not be! Otherwise how shall Elohim judge the world? For if the truth of Elohim has increased through my lie, to His esteem, why am I also still judged as a sinner? And why not say, “Let us do evil so that the good might come”? – as we are wrongly accused and as some claim that we say. Their judgment is in the right” (Rom 3:5-8). Here is a piece of text that the Church twists to justify their false doctrines. It is a common thought among the Christian faith that it is impossible to keep the Ten Commandments. The problem with that statement is that it is not supported by the Scriptures. One can see this as soon as you start reading the Scriptures and noticing that the whole theme of the Scriptures is to obey the Word of YHWH. Even the Messiah made this clear when he quoted the Scriptures and said, “But He answering, said, “It has been written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of יהוה (YHWH).’ ” (Mat 4:4). And what is the Word of YHWH? It is the Tanakh (Torah and the Prophets) of course.
The teachings of the Church are humanistic teachings and not the teachings or Words of YHWH. In the days of Shaul, the Christian Church had not been founded yet and Shaul had never heard the word Christian or the word Church, which are both from pagan origin.
Shaul was saying that righteousness cannot be established on unrighteousness. You see, Elohim afflicted and still does afflict wrath on unrighteousness. So the question was that if we established righteousness by our unrighteousness, how can Elohim be righteous if he afflicts us? The answer to this is that righteousness is established on righteousness, NOT unrighteousness. We are to live by the spirit and not by our flesh. In other words, we are to die to our unrighteous humanistic flesh so that we can live by the righteous Spirit of Elohim who writes the Torah on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33).
“What then? Are we better than they? Not at all, for we have previously accused both Yehuḏim (Jews) and Gentiles that they are all under sin. As it has been written, “There is none righteous, no, not one! “There is no one who is understanding, there is none who is seeking Elohim. “They all have turned aside, they have together become worthless. There is none who does good, no, not one.” (Rom 3:9-12).
Now here is one of the favorite arguments that the Christian Church uses to justify their sinful way of living. But in order to justify that no one can be righteous by this piece of Shaul’s letter, one must either be twisting Shaul’s writings or just be untaught in the Scriptures. Peter himself said that this would happen, “and reckon the patience of our Master as deliverance, as also our beloved brother Sha’ul wrote to you, according to the wisdom given to him, as also in all his letters, speaking in them concerning these matters, in which some are hard to understand, which those who are untaught and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do also the other Scriptures. You, then, beloved ones, being forewarned, watch, lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the delusion of the lawless” (2 Peter 3:15-17).
What Shaul is saying is that no man is righteous if he lives according to his own instruction. But as soon as we live according to the Instruction of YHWH (the Torah), then we live righteously as the Torah of YHWH is righteous. It is evil to believe that it is impossible to live according to the Torah of YHWH, or that no one has or can achieve this. As soon as you believe that to be true, then you believe the Scriptures to be untrue.
Let me point out a few examples. Noah was righteous and perfect (Gen 6:9, 7:1), Abraham was righteous (Gen 15:6), Yoseph (Joseph), the step father of Yehoshua was righteous (Mat 1:19), Yehochanan (John the Baptist) was righteous (Mark 6:20), the parents of Yehochanan were both righteous and walking in all the Commands of YHWH (Luke 1:5-6), a man called Shim’on was righteous (Luke 2:25) and there are MANY more places in the Scriptures that tell of righteous people walking in the Torah of YHWH. Yehoshua the Son of YHWH said that He did not come for the righteous, but for the sinners to come to repentance (Luke 5:32). Repentance is turning away from sin and following righteousness.
What does it mean to be righteous? “And it is righteousness for us when we guard to do all this command before יהוה (YHWH) our Elohim, as He has commanded us” (Deut 6:25)
Also another important point that Shaul makes is that those who are righteous are no more important than the unrighteous. This is because everyone was unrighteous before repentance and only by the favor of YHWH have the righteous found the truth of righteousness.
“Their throat is an open tomb, with their tongues they have deceived, The poison of adders is under their lips, Whose mouth is filled with cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood, ruin and wretchedness are in their ways, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of Elohim before their eyes.” (Rom 3:13-18). Shaul writes of the human nature of men, explaining that no person is good as long as we do not follow the Instruction of YHWH (His Torah). Notice that everything that Shaul mentions here is 100% against the Torah of YHWH. Naturally, man is not good and reverts to all these evil deeds that are written here. As soon as we start seeking the reign of YHWH and His righteousness, then these evil deeds will be disgusting in our eyes, just as they are disgusting in the eyes of YHWH and we will turn away from them.
“And we know that whatever the Torah says, it says to those who are in the Torah (here the Aramaic Peshitta says, “under the Torah”), so that every mouth might be stopped, and all the world come under judgment before Elohim. Therefore by works of Torah no flesh shall be declared right before Him, for by the Torah is the knowledge of sin” (Rom 3:19-20). Now here is a confusing section for those who are untaught or unstable in the Scriptures. This is also one of the favorite sections that the Church use to justify the false doctrine that they do not have to follow the Word of YHWH anymore. They use it to judge the righteous people who are following the Instruction of YHWH, by calling them legalists, as they are ‘under the Law’. This however is a very evil teaching. The term ‘under the Torah’ refers to being under a religious organization like Rabbinical Judaism and even Christianity, etc. (This fact actually proves that the Christians are the ones who are the legalists!)
Only the mouths of the unrighteous have to be shut as they speak evil things. But if a person speaks the words of Torah, then he does not speak his own words, but rather the Words of YHWH by which we live.
‘Works of the Torah’ means exactly the same as ‘under the Torah’, see commentary on verse 28. No one can be saved through works on their own. The Scriptures also teach that those who do not do the Torah of YHWH will be cast into the fire and will not be granted entrance into the kingdom of YHWH (Rev 22:14). The Torah is the Instruction of YHWH for us that leads us to righteousness.
It is crazy how the Church teaches that we should not sin anymore, and then in the same breath, teaches us that we do not have to obey the Torah of YHWH anymore! Is there a contradiction anywhere that is greater than this? The Torah teaches us how to love YHWH and how to love our neighbor too, it teaches us how to care for our animals and how to farm and care for the land too, it also teaches us how to care for the fatherless, the widow and the poor, it teaches us to stay away from evil and idolatry, it teaches us how to look after our bodies and how to stay healthy (all of which the Church totally ignores). The Torah is also the knowledge of sin! Have you ever thought what this means? It means that if you break any of the instructions of YHWH (the Torah), then it is sin.
“But now, apart from the Torah, a righteousness of Elohim has been revealed, being witnessed by the Torah and the Prophets” (Rom 3:21) Yehoshua qualified as Mashiyach because He fulfilled all Torah and Prophetic requirements, and He became Torah. Torah is written upon the heart by the Ruach haKodesh; the Spirit of Mashiyach is Torah which is the Spirit of Mashiyach, or the Manifestation (Word) of YHWH which became flesh and dwelt among us. Therefore, if we live “in” Yehoshua, we will also follow the Torah. It is evil to posture that Shaul brought Torah down, when in fact Yehoshua and Shaul restored and elevated Torah to be the foundation of a spiritual dialogue with Heaven.
If Yehoshua followed the Torah 100%, and we are to follow in His footsteps, does that mean we also have to follow the Torah? (1 Peter 2:21).
“and the righteousness of Elohim is through belief in יהושע (Yehoshua) Messiah to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the esteem of Elohim,” (Rom 3:22-23). Do the demons also believe (James 2:19)? Is believing in the Messiah and continuing in sin acceptable to the Almighty? Are those who believe in “Jesus” but do not keep the Commands of YHWH the true believers? Let us see, “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to fight with the remnant of her seed, those guarding the commands of Elohim and possessing the witness of יהושע (Yehoshua) Messiah” (Rev 12:17), “Here is the endurance of the set-apart ones, here are those guarding the commands of Elohim and the belief of יהושע (Yehoshua)” (Rev 14:12). One cannot believe in the Messiah and not observe the Torah, it is just impossible.
“being declared right, without paying, by His favour through the redemption which is in Messiah יהושע (Yehoshua), whom Elohim set forth as an atonement (a covering), through belief in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His tolerance Elohim had passed over the sins that had taken place before, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He is righteous and declares righteous the one who has belief in יהושע (Yehoshua)” (Rom 3:24-26). There is a teaching in the Church that because “Jesus’” blood covers sin, we can now ignore the Instruction of YHWH. Notice here that that is the exact opposite to what Shaul is saying. Yes Yehoshua became the Lamb that was sacrificed as a sin offering and that He is the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) who presents His blood to YHWH for the covering of sins. But notice also how it says “for sins that had taken place before”. All the sacrifices that were done from the beginning of time were all representative of the Messiah and that the blood of Yehoshua covered all the sins past, after repentance, from Adam to the death of the Messiah. It in no way means that we are now ‘allowed’ to sin or that anything has changed from the Word of YHWH. Is not the Torah everlasting (Mat 5:18)?
One thing we need to remember is, how can the Almighty declare someone, who continues to disobey His Instruction, to be righteous? That is impossible. The people who have belief in Yehoshua are all Torah observant and are then declared righteous.
“Where, then, is the boasting? It is shut out. By what Torah? Of works? No, but by the Torah of belief” (Rom 3:27). The Pharisees taught that new believers needed to immediately adhere to all the laws of the Torah, then afterward find belief, however, the Good News teaches otherwise, we first need to believe and have faith, then the Torah will be written on our hearts and we will desire to learn and do the whole Torah of YHWH. We see this when James proclaimed that new believers need not be circumcised immediately in Acts 15 as they needed to believe first and find that out as they study the Torah for themselves. New believers did however need to immediately refrain from certain things, “Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the gentiles who are turning to Elohim, but that we write to them to abstain from the defilements of idols, and from whoring, and from what is strangled, and from blood” (Act 15:19-20). Sadly there is no Christian church that teaches or even abstains from any of these things written in Acts 15.
“For we reckon that a man is declared right by belief without works of Torah” (Rom 3:28) The terms “works of Torah” and “under Torah” predate Shaul by hundreds of years. These terms were discovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls (A Sectarian Manifesto 4QMMT:4Q394-399); while originally referring to the ultra religious halakha of the Essenes, the same principles apply to the Pharisees’ halakha. These two phrases are also mentioned in Romans 6:14, 15, 9:32, 1 Corinthians 9:20, 21, Galatians 2:16, 3:2, 5, 10, 23, 4:4, 5, 21, 5:18. “Under Torah” refers to the orthodox/traditional interpretation and observance of Torah. Religious halakha is clearly NOT what Yehoshua or Shaul followed in their observance of Torah. The Renewed Covenant promise in Jeremiah 31:33 is to write the Torah of YHWH upon the hearts of His people, not the “Torah of men.” The idiomatic expression “works of Torah” provides insight to those of a “traditional” Jewish upbringing. Shaul references Jews at the beginning of this chapter; in verse 19 he states “Now we know” referring to those who understand Torah and halakha.
One thing we need to remember is, how can the Almighty declare someone, who continues to disobey His Instruction, to be righteous? That is impossible. The people who have belief in Yehoshua are all Torah observant and are then declared righteous.
“Where, then, is the boasting? It is shut out. By what Torah? Of works? No, but by the Torah of belief” (Rom 3:27). The Pharisees taught that new believers needed to immediately adhere to all the laws of the Torah, then afterward find belief, however, the Good News teaches otherwise, we first need to believe and have faith, then the Torah will be written on our hearts and we will desire to learn and do the whole Torah of YHWH. We see this when James proclaimed that new believers need not be circumcised immediately in Acts 15 as they needed to believe first and find that out as they study the Torah for themselves. New believers did however need to immediately refrain from certain things, “Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the gentiles who are turning to Elohim, but that we write to them to abstain from the defilements of idols, and from whoring, and from what is strangled, and from blood” (Act 15:19-20). Sadly there is no Christian church that teaches or even abstains from any of these things written in Acts 15.
“For we reckon that a man is declared right by belief without works of Torah” (Rom 3:28) The terms “works of Torah” and “under Torah” predate Shaul by hundreds of years. These terms were discovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls (A Sectarian Manifesto 4QMMT:4Q394-399); while originally referring to the ultra religious halakha of the Essenes, the same principles apply to the Pharisees’ halakha. These two phrases are also mentioned in Romans 6:14, 15, 9:32, 1 Corinthians 9:20, 21, Galatians 2:16, 3:2, 5, 10, 23, 4:4, 5, 21, 5:18. “Under Torah” refers to the orthodox/traditional interpretation and observance of Torah. Religious halakha is clearly NOT what Yehoshua or Shaul followed in their observance of Torah. The Renewed Covenant promise in Jeremiah 31:33 is to write the Torah of YHWH upon the hearts of His people, not the “Torah of men.” The idiomatic expression “works of Torah” provides insight to those of a “traditional” Jewish upbringing. Shaul references Jews at the beginning of this chapter; in verse 19 he states “Now we know” referring to those who understand Torah and halakha.
“Or is He the Elohim of the Yehuḏim (Jews) only, and not also of the gentiles? Yea, of the gentiles also, since it is one Elohim who shall declare right the circumcised by belief and the uncircumcised through belief” (Rom 3:29-30). Once again we see that Shaul is speaking of the Jews and Gentiles when referring to the circumcision and the uncircumcision respectively. Gentile believers (wild olive) can be engrafted into the true belief (good olive) and hence, YHWH is the Elohim of the Jews and the Gentile believers too. Shaul did not in any way teach that Gentile believers need not be circumcised in the flesh as required in the Torah, but rather that they need to believe before blindly doing Commands without belief.
“Do we then nullify the Torah through the belief (faith)? Let it not be! On the contrary, we establish the Torah” (Rom 3:31) As we can see here, faith or belief does not in anyway nullify the Torah, in fact, we cannot have faith or belief without the observance of the Torah. On the other side, the observance of Torah without faith or belief is also not possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment