02b. Decrypting Paul: Proselyte Conversion: “Works of Law” (Part One: Understanding the Background)

<p>In my opinion as one who embraces both Yeshua as Messiah as well as the Torah of Moshe as a practical guidebook for everyday living, I believe historically, the book of Galatians has misled Christian commentators due largely to the technical discussions of biblical topics ranging from circumcision, to the Torah, to freedom in Christ. Rav Sha'ul (a.k.a. Paul or Saul) uses quite a number of technical phrases and words in this letter and these terms, when removed from their original 1st century Judaic context, will have the tendency to form the impetus for many and varied Christian interpretations that end up teaching concepts nearly quite the opposite of their original purpose. I am not so bold as to imagine as one author that I have uncovered total truth on the matter. Rather, what I am attempting to do is challenge us as students of God’s Word to take a very scientific approach, if you will, to understanding how Paul’s original readers would have interacted with this letter, and exactly what course of action the author Paul was expecting them to take as a result of reading and implementing his letter. This means putting aside our preconceived Jewish and Christian biases and letting Galatians—indeed the entire Word of God—speak for itself. We all see through glasses tainted by bias, and I am no different. But how different would the text become if we could borrow the glasses of the Apostle Paul for a few weeks while we poured through his letter concept by concept? By God’s grace, this study is going to attempt to do just that.</p>

Religion & Spirituality

Christianity

In my opinion as one who embraces both Yeshua as Messiah as well as the Torah of Moshe as a practical guidebook for everyday living, I believe historically, the book of Galatians has misled Christian commentators due largely to the technical discussions of biblical topics ranging from circumcision, to the Torah, to freedom in Christ. Rav Sha'ul (a.k.a. Paul or Saul) uses quite a number of technical phrases and words in this letter and these terms, when removed from their original 1st century Judaic context, will have the tendency to form the impetus for many and varied Christian interpretations that end up teaching concepts nearly quite the opposite of their original purpose. I am not so bold as to imagine as one author that I have uncovered total truth on the matter. Rather, what I am attempting to do is challenge us as students of God’s Word to take a very scientific approach, if you will, to understanding how Paul’s original readers would have interacted with this letter, and exactly what course of action the author Paul was expecting them to take as a result of reading and implementing his letter. This means putting aside our preconceived Jewish and Christian biases and letting Galatians—indeed the entire Word of God—speak for itself. We all see through glasses tainted by bias, and I am no different. But how different would the text become if we could borrow the glasses of the Apostle Paul for a few weeks while we poured through his letter concept by concept? By God’s grace, this study is going to attempt to do just that.

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02b. Decrypting Paul: Proselyte Conversion: “Works of Law” (Part One: Understanding the Background)

02b. Decrypting Paul: Proselyte Conversion: “Works of Law” (Part One: Understanding the Background)