I wonder if Sha'ul (Paul) ever realised how often, and positively erroneously, his name would be used and mentioned through the course of Church History to defend diverse and contrary theological meanings and opinions? His writings cause him to oscillate between the extremes of almost being supreme, or at the very least equal to Messiah Yeshua Himself by being granted by most theologians the authority to change the very Covenant of Yeshua made with Israel, a Covenant which Yeshua Himself did not ever change or violate in essence; and then skidding across to the opposite extreme being attributed with the characteristics of a liar and a cheat (characteristics attributed to hasatan himself); and in between these poles he is furthermore labeled as a coward who is trying to appease his Jewish Apostolic brothers, at the same time is gifted with the symptoms of a psychotic. Not bad for a writer of the Inspired Word who was supposed to have been instructed by the Messiah Himself.
The Epistle which I believe most theologians hold up as a thesis to substantiate their take of Sha'ul's theology is Galatians and the central theme being found in chapter 3 verse 13 "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,....." - this now means we can eat as we wish (no more Leviticus 11), worship as and when we wish (no more Sabbath – every day is Sabbath), do not have to keep the Jewish festivals of Leviticus 23, are absolved from the curses (and by default receive the blessings) of Leviticus 26; do not have to walk as our Messiah walked, need not pick up our cross (stake) and carry it to follow Messiah (A Messiah who was after all a Jew from the House of David Who walked in Covenant as laid out by Moses and received from YHWH), we need not show our love by obeying His commandments (John 14:15,21: 15:10)!
With this approach no wonder there was friction and division between the emerging Christian Church and the existing Judaic system.
I believe of course that what Sha'ul was saying in His Epistles was that we are not saved by works of the Law, whether they be of Covenant Law, Levitical Law, Oral Law, Traditional Laws any laws – BUT Sha'ul was saying that we are saved by re-birth in and through the Messiah ONLY and then, and only then, keeping the Covenant Laws codified at Mt Sinai and recorded by Moses (Moshe) are applicable as a righteous and pleasing lifestyle to YHWH. An aside here, I further believe that the Word gives us evidence to show that the Mt Sinai Covenant was around from Creation, and was codified (recorded) at Sinai.
But back to Sha’ul; the Religious Jewish leaders of his day would only accept induction or grafting into the House of Israel of an inductee after said inductee had undergone a ceremonial ritual including circumcision and mikvah (baptism). This applied Jewish ceremonial practice obviously makes the completed and perfect works carried out by the Lamb of Elohim not sufficient for entry into the House of Israel or for qualification and receipt of the promises made to Abraham by YHWH regarding physical re-born Israel and those grafted in through Messiah. To this ritual practice, which Sha’ul as Saul of Tarsus vehemently adhered to prior to his Damascus road experience, the re-born Sha'ul screams out a resounding NO, our acceptance of the Free Will offering made by Yeshua on the stake is all that is required for our being freceived into the Family of YHWH, and then, and only then, do the House Rules / Marriage Covenant (TORAH) come into effect.
If we could look at this scenario plausibly it may become more clear what I am trying to explain here: - In an attempt to be adopted by my next door neighbour or to receive some form of favour from my neighbour, favour only reserved for his family members, I proceed to mimic his way of life, eat as he eats etc. etc; but I never enter into a truly loving relationship with him or comply with the conditions as stipulated by my neighbour for adoption, we all know the chances of me being favourably accepted and adopted by him and brought into his family are basically nil – so this is what Sha’ul by implication poses : - Will living my "adopted" lifestyle make me family of my next door neighbour? To which he again answers - NO IT WILL NOT! But on the other hand should I comply with what my next door neighbour requires from me to make me eligible for adoption, he can then adopt me AND I NOW start to live out his lifestyle and home rules and now they benefit me and make me a blessing to my new family and when I do err and/or make a mistake my new father forgives me and instructs me in exactly how he wants me to live out his house rules (GRACE) and thereby a deeper and more meaningful relationship develops between the father and I, his adopted son – thus my adopted father’s house rules are now becoming second nature – I am living by them - they are being written on my heart!
Let's have a quick look at another of Sha'ul's letters, Ephesians: This Epistle in general and chapter 5 in particular speak of the marriage between a husband and wife here on earth being a copy or a visual representation of the heavenly marriage between Messiah and His Bride (sorry I see no marriage between same genders being condoned or allowed here, or anywhere else in the Word for that matter). Let’s strip this down a little shall we? Firstly, if the allegory used above (adoption by the neighbour) is used here we, I believe, are presented with the following situation:
1. If we have not been born again no matter what we do through works will not make the earthly marriage acceptable to YHWH or make us or it part of His Family unit.
2. However should we be born again through Messiah Yeshua, He and He alone qualifies us for a marriage, He and He alone condones and makes an earthly marriage legally binding for eternity – THAT IS TO SAY THAT:
2.1. NO contractual arrangements;
2.2. NO religious ceremonies (which are not ordained or instructed in the Word and which often cause people to use the Name of YHWH Elohim in vain as they do not have Covenant status - WHETHER THEY HAVE BEEN BAPTISED AS INFANTS OR NOT!);
2.3. NO, definitely NO State Legislation, which in many countries now reduces the Biblically mandated, creation instituted marriage to the same status as a same-sex/gender marriage/union will add to the validity of the marriage (as with the Marriage of the Lamb)
HOWEVER by placing the marriage under Church/ State/ Civil sanction places such marriage under the law which has been applied to said marriage and said marriage no longer is of YHWH! YHWH will never share His Glory with anybody and neither will He allow His works to be mixed with anything not of Him.
So what am I saying? The Church Fathers of yesteryear, and their congregants of today continually accuse the Jews of Sha'ul's time of placing the people under the law - a statement which I do not wholly believe is without merit when being applied to the Pharisees and Scribes of the day, but is not applicable, or in any way attributable to any of the Scripture writers, especially Sha'ul - however this is an entirely separate subject for another day.
The Scribes, Pharisees et el built fences around the Torah in an effort to try and protect It (Torah) from being broken and prevent the people from breaking It (Torah) - thus the birth of the Oral Torah (which Messiah spoke against). Instead of allowing the Hebrews to came into a circumcised heart relationship with YHWH, where each person through Covenant is answerable to Elohim him/herself (Deut 10:12-22; Deut 30) they (Scribes etc) tried to shepherd and force the Assembly the way they thought was best for them by Oral Traditions thereby adding too and taking away from the Word (The Word being Yeshua in His Glory). Has the same not happened today with the Denominations and the Marriage Ceremonies they (The Church) have instituted? Are they not guilty of building up walls (oral traditions and laws) instead of letting the Assembly (born again people – The temple of YHWH; A Generation of priests a royal priesthood - 1 Pet 2:9) enter into a courtship relationship through and with Messiah Yeshua and then portray it through their own earthly marriages as directed by to the Ruach (Spirit) according to the dictates of the Royal Law (Torah) James 2:8? Have we not today mixed the marriage of YHWH with the State and then even more seditiously made the State (or our Religious Customs) more important than the Word and thereby made the Word of Elohim to no avail - Mark 7:6-13.
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