Chapter 3
V1-2 for all the anti-circumcision, anti-Torah contemporary Christians who misinterpret Paul’s somewhat difficult teachings due to spiritual immaturity cf 2 Pet 3:15-18, Paul by the Holy Spirit never ceases throughout his epistles to clear any perceived ambiguity in his writings. These 2 verses more than ever categorically state that the abolition of circumcision is not the intended point to be made, but rather its role in Torah-keeping is being clarified as being part of a whole, and certainly NOT the be all and end all, as the self-righteous, somewhat ethnically bigoted Jews were claiming was mandatory for salvation.
Circumcision does indeed profit a believer, but it does not guarantee salvation, just as much as justification by faith does not guarantee eternal salvation, as righteous works in spirit and in truth must accompany such. Following Messiah is a journey throughout one’s WHOLE life, which must end on a high note lest you lose hope for salvation at the end despite having spent most of your life following Yeshua wholeheartedly. Hence why Paul expresses that he lived the Christian walk in fear and trembling lest he should lose that hope of salvation in his last days! Our conscription into Christianity is no joke, and unfortunately the greater part of Christendom smugly lives in a false sense of security, erroneously convinced that they are guaranteed a free pass into eternal life cf 1 Cor 9:26-27 also 2Pet 2:20-22.
V3-4 Refusing to believe in the will of YHVH, despite having been presented with truth and been made a custodian of this truth, does not nullify the effect of Truth itself. If your pastor preaches against Torah truth and leads many astray, do not follow the crowd, as the truth remains relevant whether you like it or not. If circumcised Jews therefore, because of their unbelief in Yeshua as Messiah, is a reason for you refusing to become circumcised too in accordance with the Abrahamic covenant and Torah requirement, it does not change the fact that circumcision ultimately will be necessary for that Christian who has come to the understanding of its role! Satan is very patient in his beguilement, and preys on immature Christians who remain spoon-fed by preachers of equally Bible-truth ineptitude.
V4 on judgement day your false preacher shall not be present as an advocate for your spiritual ineptitude, and apathy to seek scriptural truth. Let every man be a liar in everything you read or hear, inclusive of this teaching until you personally study scripture yourself to prove that it is in line with Elohim’s truth, for despite my benevolent intentions to share what I believe to be scriptural truth, you dear listener cannot rely on me wholeheartedly as you do not know me, and I certainly am not your Saviour. Take the time to study scripture more than anything you have ever studied in your life. I cry out to all worldly scholars be they physicians, aeronautical space engineers, professors of various disciplines to please study Bible many times more than you have your heavenly-deficient worldly literature. Worldly knowledge shall not save you on judgement day.
V5-8 Paul, having been a great scholar at the feet and tutorship of the revered Pharisee Gamaliel, and having grown up in Tarsus, which was a hub of scholarly abandon, used a lot of intrapersonal dialogue and wordplay to get his point across. He would artfully argue with himself in his endeavours to snuff out false beliefs, hence the reader of his writings would need to avoid losing track of his thought processes and read the whole section of dialogue in order to avoid falling into the trap of creating heretical doctrines out of the passage.
Unfortunately, Christendom has fallen into this trap from the age of the church fathers to this very day, whereby sections of Paul’s writings are hand-picked and taken out of context, ultimately to justify one’s own viewpoint to back up carnal pleasures which oppose Torah and the will of Elohim.
V5 Speaking as a man and not in spirit leads us to arrive at seemingly sensible conclusions from a worldly perspective, yet spiritually dangerous and detrimental to one’s relationship with Elohim. Most agnostics/atheists regurgitate the argument that if Elohim is love and knows the beginning from the end, then why allow Satan to get away with his evil and not destroy him and start afresh. Great debates are held to disprove Elohim’s existence, yet nature and the order of it clearly screams out His existence, but arrogant rebellious worldly philosophy greatly keeps them blinded to their own destruction. Paul asks why is Elohim punishing us if our unrighteousness makes Him distinct from us and hence makes Him look good. Sounds logical yet is foolish as it shows no respect for Elohim and a desire to be unrighteous.
V6 Paul then counters this with a passionate ‘Elohim forbid’, if He ignores our unrighteousness then how is justice ever going to be met?
V7 Like a schizophrenic with voices in his head Paul then counters with the thought, ‘but my dark sin is actually magnifying the radiance of Elohim’s light, which surely is a good thing for Him right?’ ‘So why punish me for making you look better’ is the question. It is seemingly logical, but how can we have the audacity to ridicule Elohim. It would be like wilfully murdering people the same way as we cull animals for population control, as a basis for one’s desire to do so without judicial recompense.
V8 Apparently false reports of this nature were being made of Paul.
V9-10 Returning to the notion of the circumcised Jews’ self-aggrandizement over Gentiles based on a circumcised foreskin alone, irrespective of their wanton breaking of the rest of Torah, Paul reminds them that they are no better than the so-called accursed heathen as ALL are under sin and are deserving of eternal destruction
11-18 Paul then quotes Ps 14:1-3; 53:1-3; 5:9; 140:3; 10:7; Pro 1:16; Isa 59:7 and Ps 36:1 which are all relating to behaviour of the Jews and Israel in general, rendering them as wicked and possibly more so than the Gentile nations.
V19-20 v19 clearly states that the purpose of the law is to expose us for what we are i.e. hopelessly sinful. There is no other way of identifying our sins but by the yardstick of the law. It baffles me how most of society, churches included, is happy to observe literally millions of man-made laws, some of which are immoral and anti-Elohim e.g. tolerance of homosexuality and abortion and gender reassignment, yet despise the concept of observing 613 Laws, which in our current day are limited to some 200 Laws, as the temple is not present!
V21-24 Our deeds of trying to justify ourselves, outside of Holy Spirit power of Yeshua, even following Torah (as the Jews felt they did especially the Pharisees) are futile as ALL have sinned. Only the righteousness of Elohim (v21) is outside the confines of Torah as He is incapable of sinning and hence does not need Torah to expose Him of it. The righteousness of Elohim is further defined by Paul in v21 and 22 as the very personage of Yeshua, who is witnessed/proclaimed by Torah and the prophets i.e. the whole Tanakh/OT. Those who believe in Yeshua irrespective of their ethnic background are justified outside the confines of the Torah.
But Paul is not abolishing Torah. He is only elucidating one of many steps in the walk of faith, which starts at belief in Yeshua in order for the justifying power that He gives to wipe out your sins, which were paid for by His blood. This redemption is totally free to anyone who believes. Belief is the first step. Observance of Torah in spirit follows once the new man is educated in Torah and its need to be observed. The cart of Torah is unfortunately being forced upon new Gentile converts, before the horse of belief in Yeshua as our justifier first. This is unfortunately tarnishing the image of Messianic, Hebraic roots movements, resulting in them being described as Judaizers or legalistic.
Satan has them sussed out and as with any new revelation of truth brought to light in Christendom, be it healing ministries, deliverance ministries, gifts of the Spirit, etc, Satan immediately presents a counterfeit version with varying degrees of tainting inversely proportional to the level of truth one has. So, for instance a novice is subjected to outright heresy as he is too blind to know the difference, whereas a spiritually mature Christian is subjected to less detectable heresy i.e. presented with a doctrine that is say 95% truth but 5% lie.
V25-28 Very important to note that Elohim the Father set Yeshua with the task of being the propitiation of our sins. Hence why Yeshua repeatedly stated that it was not His will but that of the Father that He came here to do. We must never forget to pray to the Father, and not only to Yeshua the Son (as most of Christendom do, except when they recite the Lord’s prayer) and thank Him for that marvellous work which He set forth His Son to accomplish for us. Also note that remission of sins that are PAST is by the Holy Spirit reiterated in Paul’s passage.
Once you are converted and living in covenant fellowship with Elohim, I very much doubt that premeditated or predetermined future sins will be forgiven cf Heb 6:5-6. The cleansing of past sins only comes through faith in the BLOOD of Yeshua the Justifier. This free act of mercy and grace is due to the forbearance of Elohim the Father, meaning that He was never obliged to create a means for our sins to be forgiven.
V26 Elohim declared and continues to declare His Son (referred to as righteousness), in order that He may justify those who believe in His Son.
V27 Hence why our deeds no matter how good can never erase our sins for salvation to be accomplished. How can we possibly boast then when such great mercy is bestowed upon us-it is pure arrogance and foolishness to boast instead of crying with tears of relief and joy. Despite a law of works being ever present, it is not what redeems us from sin but rather the law of faith. This law of faith unfortunately is being misconstrued in Christendom as the agent for the abolition of law of works. Paul never ever mentioned such. Why be redeemed by faith then decide to ignore good works thereafter?! Again, the horse of faith needs to be placed before the cart of deeds in order for there to be a truth-based continuum in your Christian journey.
v28-DOES not justify abolition of Torah and certainly is not the context of the narrative. It is great twisting of scripture or lack of understanding that leads to such conclusions. Paul simply stated that justification is brought about by faith in Yeshua, not our self-intended desire to be justified by following Torah. Once we are justified however, Paul shall clearly illustrate that Torah-keeping is then necessary to remain in this state of justification, but done so in spirit and in truth. Torah-keeping attempted by our own means will always fail. It requires Yeshua’s Spirit in our hearts and minds in the department of our souls to be of any profit to us.
V29 This section of the letter, Paul reminds the reader, applies to both Jew and Gentile. Now would Paul be telling the Jews to discard Torah? I think not! We must not forget that the Roman ecclesia would have had diasporic Jews in it also reading this letter.
V30-31 These verses clarify Paul’s teachings on Torah/the Law. The circumcised i.e. the Israelites who were cognizant of Torah, could not be justified by their attempts to uphold Torah, as we all invariably sin and hence deserve the curse of Torah to be set in motion. The uncircumcised i.e. Gentiles ignorant of Torah (through lack of evangelism of the gospel truth at the time), seemed helpless. Yeshua’s life, death and resurrection served as a pivotal turning point in mankind’s history and existence. The Tanakh (law and prophets) were His witness. Faith in Yeshua JUSTIFIES both parties:
1. The already Torah observing Jew is justified of his deeds BY Faith in Yeshua the Justifier
2. The Torah-ignorant/less Gentile is justified THROUGH faith in Yeshua the Justifier, in order to be in the same favoured position of the Israelite UNTO Torah observance, to enter and remain in covenant relationship with YHVH
The terms BY faith and THROUGH faith are carefully chosen by Paul in spirit and is in unison with the operation of the Holy Spirit in these 2 separate camps of Jew and Gentile. A thorough study of the book of Acts reveals that Torah-observing, circumcised Jews had hands laid upon them for the manifestation of Holy Spirit power, which was expressed primarily by speaking in new tongues BY faith in Yeshua the Justifier. Uncircumcised Gentiles on the other hand strangely enough did not require laying on of hands for manifestation of the Holy Spirit, expressed by tongue-speaking as it was THROUGH faith in Yeshua the Justifier.
V31 is VERY, VERY important in blowing out of the water all proponents of Torah abolition. Straight from the horse’s mouth we are told that Elohim forbid any interpretation of this narrative of Ch 3 to even dare suggest that faith makes void the Torah. Rather faith by leading us to be justified, gives us the opportunity to be indwelt by Holy Spirit power from on high, to destroy our carnal nature, and live as a new man in spirit and in truth with the Torah firmly established in our hearts and our minds Hallelujah!