Implications of Paul's Message: The teaching of a first century Jewish Rabbi and his revelation about Torah Part I

Understanding Paul requires one look at first century Judaism. The reason is, that Jesus, his immediate disciples, and the Apostle Paul were all Jews, steeped in first century Judaism. More than that, Paul was a very learned Rabbi, who the New Testament explains studied under the Rabbi Gamaliel. Gamaliel was a famous rabbi who was the grandson of the one of the most influential rabbis of the first century, Rabbi Hillel. Therefore Paul has to be understood within the framework of first century Judaism. One of the flaws of modern evangelical Christianity is that Paul is thought of in terms of Greek thought rather than Judaism.

While it is true that Paul was schooled in Greek, it is not true that he thought in Greek terms. He said in Philippians that he was a Hebrew's Hebrew. My reason for bringing this up is to examine what Paul undoubtedly meant when he used the Greek word nomos/law. He did not mean the ten commandments, nor did he mean the food/kosher laws. He would have mean the Torah. He would have meant the first five books of the Old Testament, or as it was referred to in Hebrew, the Tanakh.

To add perspective, Paul used the term nomos 144 times in 103 verses in his writings. That is a lot of emphasis on nomos, and I have concluded that each use referred to the Torah. With this in mind, let's look at Romans 10:4. I am using the CSB (Christian Standard Bible) formerly the HCSB, the H standing for Holman. Rom 10:4  "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes," I want to point out a couple of things. One is that you can substitute Torah for law, and two, he states that Christ is the END of the Torah for righteousness. I want to emphasize that he does not say the end of the Torah but rather, the end of the Torah for righteousness.

This eliminates the idea that the only law that ended was the dietary laws. Let's take a minute to examine the word end. The Greek word used is telos. Let me provide the definition at this point. τέλος telos tel'-os
From a primary word τέλλω tellō (to set out for a definite point or goal); properly the point aimed at as a limit, that is, (by implication) the conclusion of an act or state (termination [literally, figuratively or indefinitely], result [immediate, ultimate or prophetic], purpose); specifically an impost or levy (as paid): - + continual, custom, end (-ing), finally, uttermost. 

When you look at the above definition; Paul states quite clearly that "Christ is the termination of the Torah for righteousness." It is important to see what lead Paul to write the above sentence.  Rom 10:1-3 CSB  Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God concerning them is for their salvation.  (2)  I can testify about them that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.  (3)  Since they are ignorant of the righteousness of God and attempted to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness. How were they trying to establish their own righteousness? The answer is obviously simple. They were trying to establish their own righteousness by reading, memorizing, and doing the Torah. In other words, they were trying to live up to the 632 laws found in the Torah. In fact, Paul states in Philippians chapter three that when it comes to the righteousness of the Torah, he was blameless. He goes on to say that he counts that all rubbish to be found in Jesus having a righteousness that comes by faith.

The point of this post is two fold. First and foremost it is to establish that Paul meant Torah when he referred to nomos/law. However beyond that, it is actually impossible that he meant only the food laws or the sacrificial law. No, he indeed meant the Torah, the five books of Moses including what evangelical Christianity deems the moral law.  And therefore, Paul clearly meant that Christ was the termination of the Torah for righteousness. We will explore the ramifications of this in future posts. Suffice it to say that imputed righteousness, imputed for faith in God's declaration will produce the mind set that supernaturally will result in transformation.... more to come on this.