Was Paul A False Apostle??? Part 3

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Last week we took a look at the following two charges against Rabbi Shaul, Paul, and came to some important conclusions…

The two charges we examined were….

Paul was  a negator of the Torah………

he cursed others Gal.1:8-9

he called others fools Gal. 3:1

Revisiting last weeks conclusion…

In conclusion what can we say up to this point…

Translators many times render the same greek/hebrew word as a variety of different western words, many times they will render several different greek/hebrew words as the same western word, so we can readily see that when we are trying to get the correct sense, connotation, mechanics,  word picture, word action, overall influence within a verse, whatever you desire to call it, it is of paramount importance that we become proficient using the simple tool called a concordance (strong's, young's) to first locate the word of concern in the original language and then use the simple tool called the englishman's concordance to find the other verses where the same original language word is used.   By doing this simple procedure we are developing what is called the concordant meaning of the word…

Of course if you have electronic study aids you simply have to mash the correct button…

And finally in closing can we not say  five cannot equal nine in one verse and then equal forty in the next verse…..  must it not always equal five???…

Revisiting the charges against Paul…..

 

·        Paul does not pass the test of Deuteronomy…..

 

·        Paul was  a negator of the Torah………

 

·                 he cursed others Gal.1:8-9

 

·                 he called others fools Gal. 3:1

 

·                 he was a boaster IICor.11:16

 

·                 he condemned others Gal. 2:11

 

·                 he preached abolition of the law Eph. 2:14-16 Col. 2:14

 

·                 he preached that the law was a ministry of deathIICor. 3:6-17

 

·        Paul contradicts the messiah

 

·        he taught that eating meat sacrificed to idols was okay and therefore was termed a false prophet like unto Baalam by Yeshua himself….. Rev.2:14, ICor.8:3-14, ICor. 10:19-29, Rom.10:19-29

 

 

·        Paul was the Benjamite wolf of Gen.49

 

 

·                    he preached abolition of the law Eph. 2:14-16 Col. 2:14……

 

·                    he preached that the law was a ministry of death IICor. 3:6-17……

 

 

Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

 

 

Col 2:14  Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

 

 

2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

2Co 3:7  But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:

2Co 3:8  How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?

2Co 3:9  For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.

2Co 3:10  For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.

2Co 3:11  For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.

2Co 3:12  Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:

2Co 3:13  And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:

2Co 3:14  But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which veil is done away in Christ.

2Co 3:15  But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart.

2Co 3:16  Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away.

2Co 3:17  Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

 

 

Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law( νόμος  nom'-os) of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; (KJV)

 

Eph 2:15  He did away with the law( νόμος  nom'-os) of the commandments in regulations, so that He might create in Himself one new man(HCSB)

 

Eph 2:15  in His flesh causing to cease the enmity, the Law( νόμος  nom'-os) of the commandments in decrees, that He might in Himself create the two into one new man, making peace,(LITV)

 

Yikes, is it looking bad for Rabbi Shaul, Paul again???………..

 

νόμος  nom'-os

From a primary word νέμω nemō (to parcel out, especially food or grazing to animals); law (through the idea of prescriptive usage), generally (regulation), specifically (of Moses [including the volume]; also of the Gospel), or figuratively (a principle): - law.

 

Holy smokes Roy, with a word whose primary meaning is to parcel out, it may not be a real keen idea to assume Paul was a big liar on the assumption that he was specifically refrencing the Torah of Moshe. Sounds like we could wind up with a mess in the pasture, huh Roy??…..

 

Last week we saw the importance of determining the concordant meaning of a word and how to do that.This weeks important tool to learn to use is………..

 

 

     C

        O

           N

              T

                E

                   X

                      T

 

 

Context = a noun

                from latin,contextus= to weave

 

Then to take something out of context carries the connotation of breaking the weave…….

 

 

This weeks study aim will be  to help us learn how to use the concordant meaning of words and phrases to get a grip on context……

 

As we have said repeatedly in the past, It is of paramount importance for us to understand simply what is happening in our verse………

 

Getting a grip on context or the surrounding weave…..

 

 

Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

 

 

Col 2:14  Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

 

Yikes…..sounds more and more like the inditment and not the law itself

 

Could the nomos in Eph.2:15 be something besides the law of Moshe???…..

 

Lets use the concordant method and see if Rabbi Shaul used nomos to refere to other than the law of Moshe……..

 

Rom7:2……but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law( νόμος  nom'-os) of her husband.

 

Rom 7:5  For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law( νόμος  nom'-os), did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.

 

Rom 7:21  I find then a law( νόμος  nom'-os), that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

 

Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law( νόμος  nom'-os) of God after the inward man:

 

Rom 7:23  But I see another law( νόμος  nom'-os) in my members, warring against the law( νόμος  nom'-os) of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law( νόμος  nom'-os) of sin which is in my members.

 

Rom 8:2  For the law( νόμος  nom'-os) of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law( νόμος  nom'-os) of sin and death.

 

 

 

Holy smokes Roy it looks like Rabbi Shaul could possibly have  been accused of being a big liar because his accusers didn’t have a grip on a fairly simple word in Koine greek….

 

Remember Strongs Concordance told us that the primary meaning of nomos  was in the sense of a prescriptive action thus the relation of parceling out pasture land in the primary word….

 

The primary word in Nomos did not refer to The Torah of Moshe………

 

What were the things that Rabbu Shaul did teach about the Torah?????

 

2Ti 3:15  And that from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

2Ti 3:16  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

 

Rabbi Shaul clearly states that the "Original Covenant" Scriptures can make a “Refreshed Covenant believer"wise for salvation," and that the same "Original Covenant" Scriptures were to be the basis for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness (i.e., how to live a holy life)…..

 

The apostles were able to plant new congregations on solid foundations using the Original Covenant alone….

 

The Torah Has Many Functions/Purposes…

 

In Rom.10:4 Rabbi Shaul teaches that Torah leads us to Messiah……..

 

In Rom7:7 Rabbi Shaul teaches that Torah defines sin………..

 

 

In Rom.5:20 Rabbi Shaul teaches that Torah causes sin to abound, increase, proliferate in certain individuals…..

 

 

Romans 5:20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound……

 

Romans 7:5 … the sinful passions which were aroused by the law

 

Romans 7:8 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire………

 

Romans 7:8 …For apart from the law sin was dead

 

Romans 7:9 … but when the commandment came, sin revived…

 

Romans 7:10 And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.

 

Romans 7:11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment…

 

Romans 7:13 But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good…

 

 

Romans 7:13 … so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.

 

Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh…    

 

Now back to our starting query…….

 

 

Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

 

Holy dilemmas Roy….. Im not so sure I’m ready to call Rabbi Shaul a big fat liar just because I read one verse…….

 

Should it not be evident that the enmity that caused the dividing wall that Rabbi Shaul was addressing in Eph.2:14 is a nomos other than the Torah???……..

 

Just a casual perusal of these verses clearly shows us that the nomos Rabbi Shaul is referring to in Eph.2:14 is the nomos of sin and death which caused the enmity to begin with???……..

 

Can we now see that the context surrounding a verse is as impotant as anything we can pursue in trying to understand a passage of cripture?????…….

 

Remember that taking a verse out of context is as reckless as removing a thread from a complete weave and declare that the entire weave can be mastered from a single thread…..

 

Do you agree at this juncture with those who accuse Paul that he preached the abolition of the Torah???…….

 

So Far the tools we have defined and used are:     concordant meaning

            Context

 

Relate the Hebrew Word  hsk Kaw-saw