Who Is Weak?
Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. Romans 14:1
Weak – If I called you “weak in faith” in Rome in the first century, who would you be? That’s a rather odd question, but it is crucial to understanding what Paul is actually saying. The Greek word astheneo (weak) could mean sick or impotent or feeble, but it also means powerless or without strength (the literal meaning). The question is this: who does Paul consider powerless and without strength? Everything about Romans depends on the answer. There are four possibilities. The weak are 1) Jewish Messianic believers, 2) Gentile Messianic believers, 3) Jews who do not believe Yeshua is the Messiah or 4) Gentiles who have no relationship to the faith.
Following Luther (who followed some of the early church fathers), most Christian theologians have chosen number 1. With this assumption, it appears as though Paul is instructing Gentile Messianic believers to be tolerant of their Jewish brothers and sisters, leading them toward a “stronger” faith that will allow them to put away their Jewish customs like Sabbath and diet. According to this interpretation, “weak in faith” means they “fail to trust God completely and without qualification” (J. D. Dunn) because they still believe they need to live Torah-obedient lives rather than lives free from the Law. “When these interpreters of Romans assume that Paul is speaking of the ‘weak’ as Christians, they inescapably stumble into the concomitant assumption that their weakness is evidence of a lack of maturity . . . to believe in God free from pre-Christian encumbrances of Torah and Jewish customs.”[1] But this view flies in the face of everything Paul says about the Torah. In fact, it flies in the face of Paul’s instruction to the “strong” not to judge the “weak,” for the very fact that the weak could be viewed as less mature is precisely the judgment Paul exhorts his readers to avoid. Something is drastically wrong with this assumption.
Mark Nanos convincingly argues that the “weak” in Romans are not believers in the Messiah. They are those Jews who have not yet embraced the truth about Yeshua. They are Torah-observant (which is why they maintain dietary laws and Sabbath) but they have not yet been convinced that Yeshua is God’s anointed. Therefore, Paul instructs Gentile Messianic believers (the strong) to live in such a way that they cause no offense to their as-yet-unconvinced Jewish brothers and sisters. In other words, while it is possible that Gentile believers in the Messiah could claim they do not have to live according to Torah (since they are not Jews), Paul tells them to do so anyway because when they do, they will demonstrate the humility necessary to convince their Jewish colleagues that they really have embraced Yeshua as the Messiah and they really are part of the people of God. This is Luther (and most Christian believers) turned upside-down. Paul is telling us to live according to Jewish practices in order that Jews might be convinced of our sincerity in the faith and recognize Yeshua is their Messiah too.
Everything we know about Paul and his view of Torah confirms that Nanos is correct. We have it backwards. We are trying to convince Jews to become Christians by living in ways that deny everything they know about God and His Torah. We think Jews need to be “converted” to Christianity. We have bought Luther’s line. But Paul is arguing just the opposite. Why wouldn’t he? He is a Torah-observant Jew who desperately wants his Jewish brothers to see who Yeshua is – the Jewish Messiah. So Paul asks Gentiles to live like Jews in order that they too might see the truth.
Now we can understand why Paul says, “Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died” (Romans 5:15). In other words, practice the dietary regulations of Torah so that your not-yet-convinced Jewish brothers will not reject your claims about Yeshua. The “strong” (those who know Yeshua as the Messiah) are responsible for the salvation of the “weak” (those who have yet to accept Yeshua as the Messiah) by the way that they live. Is pork tenderloin worth driving a man or woman away from the Lord?
Topical Index: weak, astheneo, Mark Nanos, Luther, J. D. Dunn, diet, Romans 14:1
[1] Mark Nanos, The Mystery of Romans: The Jewish Context of Paul’s Letter, p. 44.
NOTE: For those who found all the typos is yesterday’s “Provoked to Jealousy” article, I apologize. I have posted a revised copy to the web site. Too much hurry.
Wow. Thanks so much for posting this Skip – as lucid as could be wished for – and such a powerful message! It makes interpreting Paul’s letters so much easier when seen from this perspective. You also noted in another recent post that we (ie mainstream Christian theology) “have it the wrong way round” – ie we Gentiles need to become Jews in effect (ie observe Torah) – not vice versa! Well said – and this article helps us to understand that.
Are you taking the FFOZ line that Torah is optional for non-jews but a good thing if they want to keep it? Are you saying that they don’t have to keep it but should do so in order to win Jews?
No, I have not taken that view. It is the view of Nanos in his argument. But I have not made up my mind on this, so in the meanwhile, I believe the correct stance is to embrace Torah as fully as possible. After all, it is the list of acts of love.
I like what Tim Hegg of TorahResource (who, as I am sure you know, is strongly opposed to the recent and sad ‘Divine Invitation’ turn by FFOZ) says on the matter…
Tim and his wife have natural children of their own and have also adopted two girls into their family. He, quite rightly, raises the adopted girls in exactly the same way as his natural children both giving them the exact same benefits and also placing the exact same expectation upon them. In other words, no distinction is made and therefore the girls feel that they are totally a part of the family just as the natural born children do.
He points out how wrong and cruel it would be to say to the girls that he has a different expectation of them than his natural children i.e that the natural children are expected to fully comply with the household rules but they, as adopted children, can basically choose – they can obey the rules if they wish but basically they can take them or leave them. They would inevitably feel like second-class citizens in the family.
One Creator (YHVH), One Saviour (Yeshua HaMeshiach), One Kingdom and Family (Israel), One Privilege and Responsibilty for all (Torah)!
A great reply!
Good morning Mr. Bevakasha,
Thanks for sharing Tim Hegg’s beautiful insight. I do have a quick question. What does the acronym FFOZ stand for? Thanks and many blessings to you!
First Fruits of Zion
So was Yeshua just Torah observant to win His own people over or was He fully Torah observant in the fullest spiritual and physical sense because it was truly Life-giving and would bring one more fully into alignment with God’s nature?
Did He go to the Cross then, because for some reason, our sins required some kind of sacrifice that only He could atone for outside of Torah?
Torah observance is God’s way of living. It ALSO has the benefit of being a sign to those who wish to believe. We keep Torah because we wish to express our love to the Father. He uses that in order to bring others to Him. It’s a nice combination.
Jesus summed up the aim of Torah. Love God with everything, and your neighbor as yourself. Loving up and loving out or loving vertical and loving horizontial. This covers the spectrum of walking with God and each other.
These Gentile believers were to convince their unconvinced Jewish friends about the Messiah through the loving actions of keeping Torah. Makes great sense to me!
We’re on the same page. I was just being a good “Jew” by so-called answering a question with a question. By living out Torah, one fulfills all things that pertain to L’Chaim (Life). Torah is not just a set of rules (Greco-Roman mindset) but it’s a way of thinking and being that pervades how we approach and attend to our relationship with God and man. By doing so, we become more at-one with HaShem and all is good. We grow in favor with God and man. Oy for Joy.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of G-d. (Romans 10.17) Yeshua said unto the Pharisee’ (the “rule-keepers” of His day, right down to the tiniest detail of tithing the leaves of a mint plant, something that has weighted heavily upon my own very “religious”, rule-keeping self. It is as if He is speaking directly to me this very day. “(Carl) But Jesus answered them, “You (Carl, you Dr. Moen, you Dr. K,you Mr. Pharisee, you Mr. Saducee,) are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. (Matthew 22.29) We all are wrong because we do not know (eido or ginsosko?) the scriptures which are the power of G-d. Sola scriptura- “scripture only.” “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17.17)
My question is this to all who read these words. Is the Bible the word of G-d? Is the Bible authoritative? Does the word of G-d contain the will of G-d? Does the word of G-d contain the will of G-d? Is Jesus (the) Christ the incarnate, (now living) word of YHWH? He said of Himself- “I am the Truth.” Shall we reject what this man said and “cling” to our religiousity, our power, our authority, our perceived intelligence, our traditions- whatever makes us feel good about ourselves, whatever causes us to see ourselves as above another? Should we listen and obey (yes,shema) His words? When He speaks does He speak as a man or does He speak as G-d would speak. Did YHWH enter our humanity as a man through the portals of a virgin’s womb? Has this ever been done before? No. So what do we do now? This man is (shudder)- different. We cannot fit Him into our religious (moldy) mold now can we? He just doesn’t fit it with our (tranditional) idea of righteous. Luther indeed. It is not Luther we need to be worrying about- it is Lucifer- the gorgeous messenger of falsehood. What is true and what is false? G-d’s book is true. The law of the LORD (yes, Torah) is perfect. Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of G-d. Was (is) Jesus, G-d? Are His words “authoritative?” Are His words true? Are they reliable?
Does He (always) speak truth? Yes?- The why, tell me why, o please tell me why He is rejected (by Jew and Gentile alike) as the Perfect, Redeeming Lamb of G-d which has by his finished and final work on Calvary’s cross taken away the sin of the world (in totality) and here we are today worried about whether black is brown or gray. “Looking unto Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of our (our) faith. Salvation (deliverance if you prefer) is to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (would you like a scriptural reference for this?) Have you read His book? Do you know, do you know the scriptures? (All of them-from Genesis 1:1 through maps) “Every word of G-d is pure.” The Torah, the Haftarah, the Tanach, the B’rit Chadashah. If you are interesting in halakhah (or the way of walking) then look unto Jesus who said of Himself (are we listening?) I AM the Way. Walk as He walked my Jewish friend. Walk as He walked Gentile believer. We (together) have collectively been given a gift. One of many. We (now) have the mind of the Messiah. (1 Corinthians 2.16)
“Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the Messiah’s congregations send their greetings to you. I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put snares alongside the teaching in which you have been trained – keep away from them. For men like these are not serving our Lord the Messiah but their own belly; by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the innocent. For everyone has heard about your obedience; therefore I rejoice over you. However, I want you to be wise concerning good, but innocent concerning evil. And God, the source of shalom, will soon crush the Adversary under your feet. The grace of our Lord Yeshua be with you.” (Romans 16)
False teachers? Those who cause divisions? Smooth talk and flattery? Oh? What do we do now? We can we go? To whom shall we turn? Who can we trust? Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of G-d. Without faith it is impossible to please Him. Sola scriptura- “scripture only”. “What saith the scriptures?” (We) do err, not knowing the scriptures nor the power of G-d.
“Judge me, God, and plead my cause against a faithless nation. Rescue me from those who deceive and from those who are unjust. For you are the G-d of my strength; why have you thrust me aside? Why must I go about mourning, under pressure by the enemy? Send out your light and your truth; let them be my guide; let them lead me to your holy mountain, to the places where you live. Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and delight; I will praise you on the lyre, God, my God. My soul, why are you so downcast? Why are you groaning inside me? Hope in God, since I will praise Him again for being my Savior and God.” It is written. Amen.
Good things, when short, are twice as good. John Wayne.
Actually ’twas not John Wayne, ’twas Baltasar Gracian.
Thank you, Skip, and fellow “At God’s Table” readers,
This subject just keeps coming up over and over again, doesn’t it? I guess we just don’t get it yet! In light of all of this, how are we (believers, both Jew and Gentile) to interpret the way that Peter addresses this issue in Acts 15:19, 20 and again in Acts 15:28, 29 when he suggests “that we should not trouble the gentiles who are turning to God” and “to lay upon them no greater burden than things necessary” to abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality, if you keep yourselves from these things, you will do well.” I appreciate Skip’s comments to “embrace Torah as fully as possible” but then does that mean that my way of embracing Torah may be different from my brother’s way of embracing Torah? Does this become an individual calling on how each believer is to respond, or is there something more here that we have not yet been able to understand? Just sitting here pondering over all of this, as this passage came up this morning in my chronological reading of the scriptures so I was touched to open up Today’s Word and hear the same subject being discussed. Our God is truly an Awesome God. May we ever grow in His Truth! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the community!
Linda K. Morales
Kelvin and Linda Morales
Bayamon, Puerto Rico
I don’t think embracing the Torah as fully as possible leaves the door open for personal evaluation. The 613 are the 613. The question is not how I wish to exegete the 613. The question is how fully I apply each of the 613 to my life. The standard is not up for debate. The only debate is about my application of the standard. Let me give an example. I teach all over the world. God has called me to this and when I teach i am honoring that calling. There are times when I must travel on Sabbath in order to meet the obligations of teaching. For quite some time, this bother me and I struggled with it. Then I talked to my dear friend Bob, who calmly said, “If you are doing what God calls you to do, and you cannot avoid this travel, then do what God calls you to do.” This is like the words of Yeshua about the donkey in the ditch. There are hierarchies within Torah. I am not free to excuse myself to make it convenient for me, but I am free to do what matters more under the circumstances.
Hi Linda,
If you will read further to Acts 15:21 you will find a possible clue. Many Torah observant people believe the following statement indicates that the Gentiles were to learn Torah and become observant over time. Abstaining from the three prohibitions allowed them to enter a Jewish synagog on Sabbath to learn Torah.
Act 15:21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.
Excellent! Staying with the flow of the text and reading the passage in its entirety is a must. Thanks!
Skip Moen
November 22, 2010 at 10:00 am
“I am not using this as an “either/or” choice. Why can’t we understand Yeshua and the apostles, Paul and the New Testament from the perspective of 2nd temple? Obviously, many first century believers did. What prevents us from taking their point of view, other than the Christian teaching to the contrary?”
Hi Skip, thank you for your response. In response to your response to me yesterday: I’m not In favor of either or here as well. From my studies, the Jews, primarily from the tribes of Judah, Levi, and Benjamin, of the 2nd temple period were steeped in Babylonian mysticism. First, all Israel never could get rid of their pagan leanings, that’s why they were dispersed to Assyeria and Babylon. Therefore, Babylon mysticism came naturally to them. I believe your studies of the Mindsets of the 2nd temple period are vitally important to us. Thank you for your dutiful labors, we are blessed. My point is this, in my opinion, we need to go back further in history under the guidance of the Ruach ha Kosesh to
discern YHVH’s path. I know you have done excellent studies on Genesis and so forth but I believe we must beware of our genetic and environmental leanings toward the errors of our fathers.
Reply
Thanks Skip for the response on the acronym FFOZ!
Shalom Brian,
I hope this is OK with you, Skip but for Brian’s information (and anybody else who might be interested), I have pasted a link below to a September 2009 newsletter on Tim Hegg’s TorahResource web-site where he provides a response to the FFOZ turn on the issue of non-Jewish followers of Yeshua observing Torah. From this there is a 24-page essay you can download. Tim is very scholarly, clear and firm yet is always gracious. I hope it will prove useful.
http://www.torahresource.com/Newsletter/Sept09Newsletter.html
Tim has also just held a large conference on the matter, the fruits of which will no doubt soon be made known.
Shalom in Yeshua,
Ken
Thanks Ken, I know this work and just forgot to post it up myself.
Thanks, Skip and Robin,
for your responses to my comments on embracing Torah in relation to my questions regarding Acts 15. Both my husband and I are on this journey together and it is groups such as the community of Today’s Word that provoke us to honest study and reflection of the Holy Scriptures. May we continue to encourage one another to more and more fall in love with Messiah as we study His Word and learn how He would have us live. May our hearts desire be to follow Him in all Truth and may we be led by Ruach HaKodesh to make any necessary changes.
This passage always has confused me. I do appreciate your explanation Skip but a question still remains. Assuming the strong are Gentile Messianic believers, in V2 is Paul saying they believe thye can eat unclean meats? In the same way in V5&6 are the strong the ones who don’t keep the day?
Mark Nanos argues that the Gentile believers could begin claiming that since they were not Jews before they believed, and did not have to become Jews after they believed, then the Mosaic code does not apply to them (which would be true for salvation – as it is also true of Jews for salvation), but Paul says, “Don’t you see what kind of damage you will do if you continue on that path. Your spiritual arrogance over the free exercise of grace will alter your understanding of God’s greater purpose in how you now choose to live. If you continue in this way, you will offend the very ones that we are trying most desperately to encourage to accept Yeshua as the Jewish Messiah. So put away your arrogance, which is unfounded, and live according to Torah in order to demonstrate the truth of the claim that you follow the Jewish Messiah.”