Messianic Congregation Shema Yisrael Article Did the Torah Die on the Cross?

Congregation Shema Yisrael

Articles

Back to the Articles Page

Download this article as a PDF

Our Liberty in Messiah...Did the Torah Die on the Cross?

by James Pyles

This article is the second part of my documenting my personal study of the book of Galatians using material produced by Tim Hegg for TorahResource.com. While this article does stand alone, it will make more sense of you first read Our Liberty in Messiah...Freedom from the Torah?. The central theme of these articles is the relationship between the Torah (Law) and the grace of Christ (Messiah). Are they in opposition or in agreement? Are the Law and Grace mutually exclusive, or different threads woven into the same fabric? Let's find out.

Galatians 2:20

"I have been crucified with Messiah; and it is no longer I who live, but Messiah lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me".

According to Hegg, Paul's description of his dying with Messiah describes a one-to-one transfer similar to the Temple system of sacrifice where the Priest or the person bringing a sin-offering would put their hands on the head of the animal, to transfer their sins before the sacrifice.

Leviticus 8:14

"He brought forward the sin-offering bull; Aaron and his sons leaned their hands upon the head of the sin-offering bull."

In the sense that an innocent animal could receive the sins of men to make atonement, how much more will the death of the innocent, sinless man atone for our sins? This is part of what Paul is saying, relative to the relationship between Paul's (and our) dying and living with the Messiah.

The Greek verb used for "crucified" is the perfect tense, implying something that did happen in the past but continues into the present. Jesus has paid the price for my sins completely...all of them...and my life continued to be redeemed as I continue to live.

In other words, my old self died and is still dead...never to come alive again. It's not the Torah that died and was replaced, it was my old, sinful self. In fact, I'm still dead. The person who is alive in me is Messiah. This doesn't mean that Paul got a personality transplant from Yeshua and that he "became" Yeshua, but that his nature and character had been transformed and was continuing to be transformed as he became more like his ideal.

"Christ in me" is a Pauline theme we can see in:

Think about the nature of discipleship and imitation. In a number of my Shabbat teachings, I describe the discipleship process or dynamic. Disciples are, in part, people who embrace the teachings of a master by attempting to imitate the master and live out their lives in as close an approximation to that master's example as they can. When talking about our being disciples of our "Master" Yeshua, we too look at his example and strive every day to become more and more like him in every thought, word, and action. If we have truly died to ourselves and live in Him; and He in us, then we should look more and more like Him in our lives. Ask yourself this: am I becoming more "Christ-like"? Do people around me notice the difference in my attitude and behavior? (For more on this subject, see Go and Make Disciples of All Nations).

Still, we live life "in the flesh" as Paul says. It's a life in a fallen world, and while we are not slaves to our sin nature as we were before that nature died with Messiah, nevertheless, that nature exists within us. See Genesis 4:6-7:

"And Hashem said to Cain, 'Why are you annoyed, and why has your countenance fallen? Surely, if you improve yourself, you will be forgiven. But if you do not improve yourself, sin rests at the door. Its desire is toward you, yet you can conquer it'."

The "in the flesh" could also be Paul referring to the nature of being Jewish (ethnic origin) as opposed to the nature of Gentile believers. Paul encourages Jewish believers to maintain their Jewish identities in 1 Corinthians 7:18-20.

Was somebody already circumcised when he was called? Then he should not try to remove the marks of his circumcision. Was someone uncircumcised when he was called? He shouldn't undergo the b'rit milah. Being circumcised means nothing, and being uncircumcised means nothing; what does mean something is keeping God's commandments (Torah). Each person should remain in the condition he was in when he was called.

The common denominator between the Jewish and Gentile believers was and is the one that the Torah itself points to...the Messiah. So that it is appropriate and good to study Torah, not for the sake of Torah, but for the sake of Messiah, who is the ultimate author of our salvation, and by whom we have the right to call ourselves sons and daughters of God. (See John 1:12) Paul is right in saying that the Torah saves no one. Only the Messiah is Savior. Ignoring or discarding Torah is still a mistake, because how we learn about Messiah and how we learn to conform our lives to His life begins in Torah.

Paul said "I live by faith in the Son of God". This is both the goal of Torah and our goal. Yet faith is taught in Torah. Without the example of Abraham Avinu, we don't know what faith really is.

Genesis 15:6

"And he trusted in Hashem, and He reckoned it to him as righteousness"

When Paul says "He who loved me", he could well be drawing from both the love of the Messiah for him (Paul) and for all of us as well as the love of God for the world.

John 3:16

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only and unique Son, so that everyone who trusts in Him may have eternal life, instead of being utterly destroyed".

Since Yeshua repeatedly said "The Father and I are One" and "I do nothing but what I see the Father doing", it seems more than reasonable to say that the Father's love for us is the same as the Son's love for us. We can see that love in the following:

The Father and the Son's love ultimately met in Luke 22:42

"Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, let not my will but yours be done."

We see the same love from a different perspective in Hebrews 12:2:

"...looking away to the Initiator and Completer of that trusting, Yeshua...who, in exchange for obtaining the joy set before him, endured execution on the stake as a criminal, scorning the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God."

Galatians 2:21

"I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Torah, then Messiah died needlessly."

This is not nullifying the Torah, but continuing to make the point that the Torah doesn't provide salvation, only Messiah saves. It doesn't mean we throw out Torah to accept Messiah. Remember, we study and embrace Torah as the ultimate "pointer" to Messiah and "map" or "guidebook" to living a life as Yeshua did and does. As Paul says, this does not nullify the grace of God.

However, Paul is saying that if we elevate Torah to a position where we believe it provides salvation, then we make it as if Messiah died for no reason. If we act like we have Torah, who needs Messiah, we fall into the snare of the "false brethren" who sought to trap the Gentile believers. As previously said, it's Messiah that's the common, connecting thread between Jewish and Gentile believers, not Torah. Having said that, Torah is studied by both groups, but only as a means of studying Messiah...not as an end unto itself.

If the "influencers" could convince the Gentile believers that they had to convert to become true members of the covenant, then it would be a nullification of the grace of God. Paul is not nullifying that grace and is stating that both Jews and Gentiles can and should retain their ethnic characteristics, since being one or the other doesn't bring them closer to God.

Galatians 3:28-29

"...there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor freeman, neither male nor female; for in union with Messiah Yeshua, you are all one. Also, if you belong to the Messiah, you are seed of Abraham and heirs according to the promise."

Of course, Paul is not advocating the obliteration of ethnic, class, or gender differences, but rather, stating that those differences don't matter in terms of believers being receivers of the covenant promises. Gentiles don't have to become Jews to become full members of the covenant anymore then women should become men (a ridiculous notion in Paul's day; though in some circles in our century, there are people who sadly think it's a good idea...like I said, we live in a fallen world).

Taking a look at the phrase, "...for if righteousness comes through the Torah", what does Paul mean by "righteousness"? The Greek word Paul uses is "dikaiosune". The Lxx uses the same word to translate the Hebrew word "zedekah". We see zedekah occurring in the following passages in the Tanakh.

We see the concept of righteousness applied both to the nature and character of God and to the people of God. God is always righteous and His people are to be made righteous, not because it's in our character to be so, but through the righteousness of the one who died for us. Without God seeking us and without the Messiah, no one would desire righteousness on their own, nor be able to achieve it on their own. Yet Paul's commentary on Abraham is quoted in Galatians

Galatians 3:6:

"Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness" (quoting Genesis 15:6)

Galatians 3:21:

"Is the Torah then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a Torah had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on Torah."

Paul himself states that Torah is not contrary to the covenant promises of God. Torah is not inconsistent with grace...it is the definer of sin and the pointer to God's grace, as embodied in Messiah.

This small article isn't meant to be an exhaustive analysis of the Book of Galatians. As I mentioned in my previous article, Tim Hegg has done a very fine job in his work, "A Study of Galatians" and there is no way I could possibly improve upon it. I only present this bit of my own writing to introduce you to the "radical" idea that neither Paul nor Yeshua had anything against the Torah of God. I also want to suggest that Galatians is not a club to be used to hit on Torah-observant communities but rather, a confirmation of everything God has caused to be written about Himself and about our relationship with Him.

To find the complete "A Study of Galatians" and many other illuminating works by Tim Hegg, go to TorahResource.com.

 

Back to the Top

Back to the Articles Page