Graceland (1)
And it shall come to pass, if you carefully listen to my commandments which I command you today, . . . Deuteronomy 11:13
Carefully Listen To – Rabbi Joshua ben Karha said, “Why does the section, Hear, O Israel (Deut 6:4-9) precede the [section] and it shall come to pass if ye shall harken [diligently to my commandments]? – so that a man may first take upon him the yoke of the kingdom of heaven and afterward take upon him the yoke of the commandments.”[1] What does the rabbi mean? He means that grace always precedes commitment to Torah. Every Jew knew that God chose before God commanded. Every Jew knew that keeping the commandments was a voluntary obligation taken after God’s rescue from bondage. No Jew ever believed that being Torah-observant “saved” someone. God acts first. Torah observance comes later. It is grace, always grace, in God’s land.
If Jewish rabbis knew that faith comes first and works come second, and if Jewish rabbis knew that obedience is an expression of devotion to the God who already saved us, then why is there such an artificial battle between “law” and grace? James makes it very clear that both are necessary. Paul says that grace and works go hand-in-hand. But somewhere along the line Christians began thinking that law was opposed to grace. Where did all that begin? You can’t find it in the rabbis’ writings and you can’t find it in the Hebrew Scripture. Who started this debate?
The answer is Augustine. When Augustine converted from paganism to Christianity in the 4th century, he read Paul’s words in Romans 7 as if they described the normal process of conversion. In fact, he saw his own life in those words. As a result, he thought Paul was speaking autobiographically, contrasting the man who wished to do what is right with the man who was under the power of sin and could not do what was right. In other words, Augustine saw “sinful nature” hidden in this text – a sinful nature that was condemned under the law and set free under grace. Law became the enemy, existing only to make us more aware of our plight. Grace became the rescuer, setting us free from the awful verdict of the law. For Augustine, law stood in opposition to grace. To be free meant to be free of the law.
Augustine set the stage for nearly 1800 years. Luther followed him. So did Calvin. As a result, Christianity today is the product of Augustine’s conversion experience, not the teachings of Jewish rabbis like Paul, Peter and John. Christians today read the Bible interpreted by Augustine, a neo-Platonist pagan convert. Even Jewish rabbis who don’t embrace the Messiah know better.
If the “law and grace” dichotomy is the product of extra-biblical influence, what other Christian doctrines are also the result of men who did not write our Bible? Do you think baptism might be an issue? Or atonement? Or forgiveness? Or salvation? We need a much better historical awareness, don’t we?
Topical Index: Augustine, law, grace, Deuteronomy 11:13, Rabbi Joshua b. Karha
[1] Berakoth 2.2
Wow! This is transforming! Thanks, Skip, for helping us to think Biblically, ‘Hebraicly’, through the eyeballs of the Author!
Tonight at the Bible study in Psalms, Amy asked if we were going to pursue the other topics mentioned here. They were left up in the air so that all of you can think about them on your own – and search the Scriptures to see what you discover about them from a Hebraic point of view. We will come back to them – eventually. But in the meanwhile, enjoy the journey.
“Augustine saw “sinful nature” hidden in this text – a sinful nature that was condemned under the law and set free under grace.”
Whenever I think of St. Augustine, I think of St Paul and I hear Bob Dylan’s lyrics, “I dreamed I saw St. Augustine,” playing in my head:
“I dreamed I saw St. Augustine
Alive, with fiery breath
And I dreamed I was amongst the ones that put him out to death
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rOEQtuEIcU
Defining moments for me:
– seeing Bob Dylan in Santa Monica (1966)
– reading Augustine’s Confessions (1967)
– listening to Dylan’s John Wesley Harding album (JWH) (1968)
Thank God someone is finally putting the brakes on the religious perversions of St. Augustine. I can’t believe how much damage he has done to innocent believers with his so-called Christian dogma.
Bill Cummins
Gal 3:24 “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster [to bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”
Gal 5:2 “Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.”
Bill Cummins: :the religious perversions of St. Augustine”
In defense of Augustine, he was heavily influenced by Paul.
If Augustine misread Paul, I can certainly sympathize with him, because on the surface the two statements by Paul above seem to endorse an opposition between Jews and Christians.
Isn’t faith a verb? Circumcision a rule? Paul seems to be saying “we” are different than Jews.
Paul seems to be saying faith/belief in Christ justifies us. And circumcision isn’t necessary.
Yes, he does SEEM to be saying that there is a difference. But —- Paul is writing to Gentiles. Paul is Torah observant. Paul is arguing against legalists. Paul would never contradict the Torah (and claims that he never did). Paul isn’t writing in English. Augustine was influenced by his Platonic understanding of Paul. Augustine was influenced by his own anti-Semitism.
On the finer points of the Greek text and Paul’s implicit Torah-observance, please see Pamela Eisenbaun, Paul Was Not A Christian or listen to Rabbi Bob Gorelik’s series on The Covenant.
Ultimately, the Christian faith has drawn a distinction between Christian and Jew. This is truly unfortunate since in the first century the distinction was between pagan and Messianic Jew. In order to read what these early Jewish believers are saying, we need to step back into the distinctions they experienced instead of reading the text as if it were written for our world. There is a great deal more to be said on this topic, but we have been saying it for a long time now (as a search of Today’s Word will show). The best discussion that I have produced so far is the audio download on the letter to the Galatians – 20 hours of word by word analysis of Paul’s argument against the legalists. I encourage you to listen to it.
Gal 5:2 “Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.”
Hi Skip,
I agree with your points:
“Paul is writing to Gentiles. Paul is Torah observant. Paul is arguing against legalists. Paul would never contradict the Torah (and claims that he never did).”
But my translation he states:
Gal 3:24 The Law is to be our guardian UNTIL
Gal 3:25 the Christ came and we could be justified by faith. Now that the time has come
Gal 3:26 we are no longer under that guardian, and you are, all of you, sons of God,
Gal 2:27 though faith in Jesus Christ
My point is that without a Rabbinical scholar or professional philosopher walking us through this stuff, it would be very easy to conclude that “circumcision” is not required for salvation and that we Sons of God are “no longer under that guardian,” the Law.
it is not law. it is not grace. it is both. it is not “Jew” it is not “Gentile”, it is both. It is not “male”- it is not “female”- it is both. It is not “Old” Testament (covenant)/ it is not “New” Testament- it is both. If “any man” (any man) be “in Christ”, he (or she) is a new creation. We are (all) one “in Christ Jesus. “Till we all come to the unity of our faith. ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM. It is not “either-or” it is both.
Rewind history – go back- further still and take a closer look at Ruth. She was a Moabite. A “half-breed'”- “neither Jew nor Greek (Gentile)”. She was however the bride of Boaz- her kinsman-redeemeer.
We is Ruth y’all. This is who we are today. (Together) we are the bride of our Kinsman-Redeemer- (our Boaz) the LORD Jesus (who is the) Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One.
I must be blind in one eye and can’t see out of the other, but I just do not “get it!” What is all the fuss about “law and grace?” Do they compete with each other? – or do they complete each other? Are we (in Adam-unredeemed humanity) complete without our Ezer? -the Ruach Hakodesh- G-d’s holy breath?
The commandment is a lamp and the law is light. Light is that which reveals (or exposes). My dentist uses a “bright light” to examine my teeth. It “helps” him/her to see the condition of my tooth. (Since I’m from Tennessee- I only have one.. -just kiddin’..-I’ve been told that’s how you know the “toothbrush” was invented in Tennessee.
G-d’s law is “the holy light.” “Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.” (Psalm 43:3) How can we know G-d apart from His revealed truth contained within a Book written by fallible men who were inspired by the infallible G-d? Every word of G-d is pure. Is there anybody “smarter than a fifth grader” who can translate these words for me. I (mistakingly?) thought I read- EVERY word of G-d is pure. All of them? Old Testament and New? It’s all good? (well… hello..) -You done went and got me wagging my head now..
Is G-d “knowable?” I read somewhere ( yes, amazingly -it was from G-d’s book).. “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings being made conformable to His death.” “That I may know Him..” Is this possible? – Do you know my Jesus? Do you know my Friend? Have you heard He loves you and that He will “abide” till the end? I wonder if St. Augustine ever read these words.. “it is written.” Or if he ever was able to sing this wonderful song:
When all Thy mercies, O my God,
My rising soul surveys,
Transported with the view I’m lost
In wonder, love, and praise.
Unnumbered comforts to my soul
Thy tender care bestowed
Before my infant heart could know
From whom those comforts flowed.
Praise G-d from whom all blessings flow- praise Him all creatures here below.. praise Him above you heavenly hosts.- Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. (these three “agree” in ONE)
Law and grace do not “compete” with one another- they “complete” one another. It’s not “either/or”, it’s both. Without G-d’s holy light “we walk in darkness, and know not the truth.” How can I know G-d’s will or G-d’s way, or G-d’s wisdom apart from His book? No can do. – It’s “all” good my friend. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by “_________.” Did G-d say that?
Carl, you wrote;
Amen, brother, Amen! I remember a quote I heard from Professor James Torrance: “The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed; the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed”. The “new” does not replace the “old” – it is commentary on it. It complements, explains, reveals – never replaces.
Blessings!
PS, Carl, I hope you don’t mind if I quote you on that statement…very profound!
Hi Carl and Rodney,
I agree, but isn’t there a big difference between the Jewish and Christian views of grace?
Somehow I always get the impression that for Christians believing in Jesus is the most important thing.
That if I believe, I will be saved, be blessed, receive the grace of God.
But, as I understand it, in the Hebrew worldview we can’t earn grace or salvation.
Maybe I’m completely confused this morning, but didn’t God give us 613 commandments to worry about.
We own these “rules” and are expected to implement them to the best of our ability; that is our job.
Doesn’t God own the grace giving and salvation; isn’t that his business to worry about?
Better late than never is a good line in this instance! 🙂
Sadly Augustine was enabled because the church had already split from its Biblical Hebraic roots!
The issue of Yeshua bringing the covenant into fulfillment …. bringing the fullness of GRACE is exactly what was revealed …. “The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of ELOHIM is preached, and every man presseth into it.”
Yes there was grace … always …. (Abraham, Noach, etc.). Yet there was never the fullness of grace in the form of Ruach HaKodesh as a result of Yeshua’s glorification. The B’rit Chadasha delivers the circumcision of the heart in and through Yeshua by the power of Ruach HaKodesh. As Sha’ul declares … “Do we then make void the law through faith? ELOHIM forbid: yea, we establish the law.”
Clearly we can not “establish the law” by removing it from the equation. Acting in a manner that is against what is good and holy … against what ELOHIM demands … is most certainly the wisdom (folly) of men … despite the fact that men who uphold this folly will steadfastly witness to their guidance by Ruach HaKodesh!
And so we see the meaning of wolves in sheep’s clothing!
“Yes there was grace … always …. (Abraham, Noach, etc.). Yet there was never the fullness of grace in the form of Ruach HaKodesh as a result of Yeshua’s glorification.”
Hi Drew,
Good to hear from you!
Just for the sake of discussion, I’m wondering how Yeshua could improve upon Yahweh’s gift of grace?
Wasn’t everything about God as good as it gets from day one?
And I’ll go out on a limb here and say that Paul seems to have opened the “door” in Western Civilization and paved the way to a new sense of subjectivity.
On the one hand, this subjectivity included a new, mystical, sense of connectivity to God in Jesus.
And on the other, it created a sense of guilt about sexuality that does not seem to me to be inherent in the Hebrew worldview.
This sense of guilt about sexuality seems very pronounced in Paul when directed at the Pagans, and seems to have resonated very strongly with Augustine; transforming his spiritual vision for better and for worse.
Of course, a professional philosopher/theologian might argue that my interpretation does not have a very firm factual foundation 🙂
Shalom Michael,
Sha’ul’s new sense of subjectivity as you call it would seem to be the in dwelling of Ruach HaKodesh resulting in Torah being circumcised upon the heart …. (hence the connection between the giving of Torah and Ruach HaKodesh within the mystical nature of the Mo’ed of Shavu’ot).
If however the in dwelling of ELOHIM (a result of Yeshua’s Glorification) equates to believers deciding for themselves what is subjectively good … or bad … then what good results in having ELOHIM dwell within us? Clearly a believer choosing sin over obedience is not being led by Ruach HaKodesh. Heaven Forbid … as Paul declares!
The two comments you make are directly related (IMO). Grace is not improved upon … the measure of grace is improved upon. This new measure of grace is this new connectivity with ELOHIM! Prior to Yeshua, ELOHIM appeared to men in the tabernacle … in the temple! After Yeshua’s glorification ELOHIM now resides within people … we have become the tabernacle. We no longer travel to ELOHIM’s presence … we bring ELOHIM’s presence with us! This presence can be maintained because the outpouring of grace through Mashiach Yeshua is such that He continually intercedes as our eternal High Priest. With such awesome intercession/covering, Ruach HaKodesh can remain where impurity would not have allowed this prior to Yeshua. Or at least as long as one is walking the path!
1 John – 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Yeshua Mashiach the righteous: 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 2:5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of Elohim perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. 2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
So ultimately my brother ELOHIM does not change … but assuredly the “measure” of grace bestowed upon mankind as a result of Yeshua’s most precious blood offering has indeed changed. And please let us not try and split apart Yeshua from ELOHIM … there is no separation … only “echad”!
So often folks want to make the B’rit Chadasha out to be something completely different from the eternal covenant. It is not completely different but it surely is improved. The B’rit Chadasha is a change in terms and conditions by ELOHIM allowing us to actually let HIM deliver both sides of the agreement. Not for any other reason than ELOHIM purposed to do just this when HE did this!
But this was not good enough for the Gentile church was it? We needed a new covenant, a new chosen people, a new religion and ultimately even a new ELOHIM! The historical record supporting this declaration is quite sufficient.
B’rachot
This new measure of grace is this new connectivity with ELOHIM! Prior to Yeshua, ELOHIM appeared to men in the tabernacle … in the temple! After Yeshua’s glorification ELOHIM now resides within people … we have become the tabernacle. We no longer travel to ELOHIM’s presence … we bring ELOHIM’s presence with us!
Hi Drew,
I had not thought in those terms before.
But your point definitely makes sense to me now 🙂