Galatians - Pt 2

Recap of Pt 1

This is a recap of the prior message.

Paul is dealing with a serious doctrinal issue where some unknown persons are convincing the non Jewish Galatian community that they must become Jewish to be saved.

For Paul it is a Gospel issue because covenant membership is not based on pedigree, but it is based on promise.

A gentile’s committment to Messiah Yeshua is enough for inclusion into the covenant and Paul rejects the idea that one must become Jewish to be saved.

We looked at the historical context to answer the question - How does one become Jewish?

It is by conversion. One converts to become Jewish through a process not based in Scripture but based on the prevailing opinions, traditions and taboos.

The culmination of this conversion process is circumcision. We looked at the use of the word Circumcision in Galatians and saw that it becomes a boundary marker between two groups of people - Jews are the circumcision - and uncircumcision stands for gentiles.

For one to cross over to the other gorup, they converted, and so either got circumcised to become Jewish or they undid their circumcsion to become Gentile.

We concluded that Paul is not simply dealing with the commandment of circumcision in his context, he is dealing with a broader social issue where circumcsion is the final step in a conversion process to become Jewish.

So be careful that you don’t think Paul is against cirucmcision, he isn’t. He’s against a converion process that incorproated circumcision as the capstone act of inclusion.

We saw that in the letter to the Galatians There were troublers that were saying ‘if you want to be saved you need more than allegiance to Yeshua, you need to be in our group by becoming a Jew’.

Why would they say this? Because for them, only Israel can be saved. This was an early rabbinic teaching that ‘All Israel have a place in the world to come’.

They really beelived in Grace - they believed in a lot of grace - God was gracious. BUT - God is gracious to Israel, not the pagan nations. If you want grace you need to be in Israel - that is where grace is found.

So, it stood to reason, that if you wanted into the covenant, you need to become a Jew to get into Israel.

Paul was against that and therefore emphasizes one gets into the covenants of Israel not by conversion to become a Jew, but by faith in messiah Yeshua. For Paul, simply being a Jew isn’t a ticket to rightesouness in God’s eyes.

When reading Paul always remember the main issue he is dealing with - Jews and Gentiles as both saved equally in messiah Yeshua by faith identity, not saved by group identity.

So - the issue wasn’t law vs grace and it also wasn’t keeping the law vs not keeping the law.

Today we will look closer at Paul’s use of the Torah (law), the verses that cause confusion, and try to make sense of it all in the proper background context that we have set.

The Law in the 1st Century.

Paul is often misunderstood, particularly Paul’s stance and view toward the Torah.

There are a few reasons for this, but one of the main reasons is due to a lack of understanding of the historical context.

What is understood by the word ‘Law’?

Back then in the 1st Century, ‘the Torah’ or ‘the Law’ (nomos) didn’t always mean just the written Law of Moses. There is good evidence that the interpretations—the rulings and traditions of earlier the Sages—was treated as having authority alongside, and sometimes even above, the Written Torah.

So when the Apostolic Scriptures mention ‘Law,’ we can’t assume it always refers only to the Books of Moses. It could mean both the Written Torah as well as the traditional teachings together, depending on the context.

The prevailing view was that the Oral traditions and interpretations gave the proper manner in which the Written Torah was to be obeyed.

We see this today as well. If you say you want to study Torah to a hasidic jewish group they don’t just think about the 5 books of Moses, they think about all the rabbinic rulings and commentary that go along with it.

Or if you drive you carry your bag outside of the eruv (community boundary), you are considered to be doing a form of work. This is an interpretation and traditional fence build around the written Torah, for the Torah itself doesn’t say this.

This is particularly important to keep in mind when we get the prhase ‘the Works of the Law’.

Not Whether To Keep, But How To Keep the Law.

It is important to recognize that for us, our question today is usually whether we should keep the Law.

That wasn’t their question.

Their quesiton was how should we keep the Law. None of the main groups debated whether or not the law should be kept like we do in our Christian circles.

Their quesiton was one of ‘halachah’ - the walking out of the commandments in every day life.

What’s the point? The point is all the discussion and debate in the Apostolic Scriptures - gospels, Acts, Paul’s epistles - all relate to how to keep the Torah not whether to keep it.

And for many the in Paul’s day their big issue related to - how do we relate to these God-fearing Yeshua-believing gentiles?

Paul’s comments about Law in Galatians that appear to be negative toward it are usually misunderstood.

Paul was not against practicing the law’s commandments.

Paul wanted to establish the correct use of the Law. It was a matter of how to keep it.

Paul took issue with the misuse of the law - and much of his negativity is toward misuse of the law as we will see throughout Galatians.

This of cousre aligns with Yeshua - he was against the misuse of the Law.

And what often happened then and now, is that the actual commandment and misguided societal norms of how to keep it, become so intertwined it is difficult to separate it.

We see this of cousre with Peter.

You might recall we saw in Acts 10 in the story of Cornelieus, Peter thought he was unable to eat or visit with Gentiles, but the Torah of cousre never said such a thing. Peter was shown by the Lord that he was not supposed to call any gentile whom the Lord had cleansed, unclean.

This issuse surfaces as well in the letter to the Galatians where Peter and the others separate themselves from the beliving non jews.

Understanding “Works of the Law” in Galatians and the Qumran Context

This background is essential for interpreting the often misunderstood phrase “works of the law.” In Galatians 2:16 Paul writes that “no flesh will be justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Messiah.” What does he mean by this?

Does he mean no one will be right before God based purely on keeping the commandments? While that is certainly true and Paul says that elswehre, in this context he means something much more specific.

In simple terms, Paul is saying:

God does not approve someone—Jew or Gentile—simply because they belong to a group that insists, “The only way to be right with God is by following our version of the Torah and being part of us.” Belonging to an ethnic group does not guarantee God’s favor.

The “works of the law” were essentially a man made dividing line: they marked who was considered righteous and who was considered a sinner.

Put another way, The phrase refers to following specific rules or practices that define membership in a particular “righteous” group and separate outsiders as sinners. It’s about using the Law as a boundary marker, not merely obeying God.

We now know this from historical evidence.

4QMMT and the Qumran Understanding

What / Who is Qumran:

They called themselves the Yachad (unity, united group).

The Qumran community (c. 250 BCE–70 CE)

they are priests who live mainly out in the desert that believe the way things are being run by the other priests are not proper. They are strict in their observance and their interpretation is the correct interpretation, if you ask them.

They believe they are holy, in the holy camp. No dogs allowed in the camp, they beleived Angels dwelled among them.

They live under authority according to a ranking system. Priest, overseer, general membership.

And they carry out communal life together - eathing, praying, studying. Quorum of ten men.

A quorum of ten requires a preist present and study of the Torah must happen day and night.

Strict procedures govern meetings: lower-ranked members must wait their turn to speak, and only with permission. New members go through a multi-year initiation process before sharing in communal meals or property, with examinations of their understanding and works.

Discipline is enforced through exclusion from meals, reduced rations, and penalties for rebellion, lying, or speaking the divine Name improperly.

had many sectarian writings and viewed Pharisees and Sadducees as sinners because they did not follow the Qumran interpretation of the Torah. In this community, the works of the law defined the criteria for distinguishing between the righteous (in the qumran community) and sinners (those outside).

In 1947, the Dead Sea Scrolls revealed this phrase outside the Bible for the first time, in a fragment called 4QMMT (“Maseket Ma’asei haTorah” – “Some of the Works of the Torah”). This proves that the phrase was not a Pauline invention; it was already in use in Second Temple Judaism.

In Qumran, the works of the law did not mean general moral behavior. Instead, it referred to specific halakhic rulings that defined the community’s identity and boundaries.

The letter intensifies and expands the actual biblical written requirements. And then these halakhic requirements become mandatory.

It lists detailed rulings using the phrase “we have determined,” covering topics such as:

Purity laws

Treatment of lepers

Rules about animals in the camp

Rules regarding liquids, and more - an example about their ‘work of the law’. If there was a pot of water, and a lizard died in the water, now the water is unclean in the pot. That is according to the Bible. But suppose there was another pure pot of water. The Qumran community held that if you poured that pure pot of water into the unclean pot, that creates a ‘single’ body of water and therefore the clean pot of water becomes unclean.

The conclusion: adherence to these rulings these ‘works of the law’ was required to be accepted into the “righteous” Qumran group.

Here is an example of the fragment where they were writing to outsiders, another Jewish group, perhaps candidates who were thinking of joining the group.

Now, we have written to you 3  (C27) some of the works of the Law, those which we determined would be beneficial for you and your people, because we have seen that 4  (C28) you possess insight and knowledge of the Law. Understand all these things and beseech Him to set

5  (C29) your counsel straight and so keep you away from evil thoughts and the counsel of Belial. 6  (C30) Then you shall rejoice at the end time when you find the essence of our words to be true.

7  (C31) And it will be reckoned to you as righteousness, in that you have done what is right and good before Him, to your own benefit 8  (C32) and to that of Israel. 

Example: 1QS (Rule of the Community)

Gradual Initiation:

Year 1: New member examined, taught the rules, but excluded from pure meals and communal property.

Year 2: Further examination; only then allowed into full fellowship—eating, property-sharing, and participation in counsel.

After Year 2: Fully ranked among the brothers, with voice in legal and scriptural deliberations.

Here is a quote to get a flavour:

1QS6: …If anyone of Israel volunteers  14  for enrollment in the party of the Yahad, the man appointed as leader of the general membership shall examine him regarding his understanding and works. If he has the potential for instruction, he is to begin initiation  15  into the Covenant, returning to the truth and repenting of all perversity. He shall be made to understand all the basic precepts of the Yahad. Subsequently in the process, he must stand before the general membership and the whole chapter shall interrogate him 

16  about his particulars. According to the decision of the society of the general membership, he shall either proceed or depart. If he does proceed in joining the party of the Yahad, he must not touch the pure food  17  of the general membership before they have examined him as to his spiritual fitness and works, and not before a full year has passed. Further, he must not yet admix his property with that of the general membership. 

18  When he has passed a full year in the Yahad, the general membership shall inquire into the details of his understanding and works of the Law. If it be ordained,  19  in the opinion of the priests and the majority of the men of their Covenant, then he shall be initiated further into the secret teaching of the Yahad. They shall also take steps to incorporate his property, putting it under the authority of the 

20  Overseer together with that of the general membership, and keeping an account of it—but it shall not yet be disbursed along with that of the general membership. The initiate is not to touch the drink of the general membership prior to  21  passing a second year among the men of the Yahad. 

A few things to notice here:

Entry is on the basis of conformity to the teachings of the Torah as interpreted by the group.

Examination of the candidate’s ‘Works of the law’ is used as the basis for entry.

Notice the distance to table fellowship (eating and drinking) - that takes years of proof for full membership.

Notice the mixture of property - it is not all at once, but it takes time for full incoproration.

Paul’s Concern

Paul’s critique in Galatians is against this type of boundary-marking halakhah, not the Torah itself. The issue is groups claiming exclusive access to God’s favor and requiring conformity to man-made rules for inclusion to obtain right standing before God.

Righteousness is found in faith through the Messiah, not in group membership or rule-keeping.

Paul later draws on Genesis 15:6, noting that Abraham was declared righteous through faith, before circumcision or Torah as we know it became a way of life. Circumcision was a seal of his righteousness, not the source of it.

Bottom line: Paul’s objection is not to the Torah or its commands, but to using certain laws as ritual or social boundaries to determine who is “in” and who is “out” in God’s eyes. True righteousness comes through faith in the Messiah, not human-imposed boundaries.

Re-reading Galatians 2

Galatians 2:11–21 NASB95

11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. 13 The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews? 15 “We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles; 16 nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified. 17 “But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be! 18 “For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 “For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. 20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 21 “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

Some of this we have already touched on in our recap of pt 1. We can see the issues I mentioned happening here.

Paul is rebuking Peter for his hypocrisy. If Peter as Jew was eating with the gentiles when the other jewish groups or factions said shouldn’t be, then how is it he can require the gentiles to obey the wider Jewish society when Peter himself doesn’t obey even as a Jew himself!

Remember back to Acts 10 with cornelius - we learn that according to the Jewish circles Peter was part of, a Jew was not supposed to be eating / associating with gentiles.

Vs 15 Paul says ‘we are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles.’

I take this to mean that Paul even as Jews Peter and Paul and all the others recognized their need for something more than ‘the works of the law’ - they needed faith in Yeshua.

And if even Jews needed faith in Yeshua to be right with God, why would the gentiles first need to become part of Jewish society to be right with God?

Vs 16. The general thrust of Paul’s point is made at the end of vs 16: ‘since by the works fo the law no flesh will be justified’. No flesh - Jewish or Gentile. Once again the main point is clear, one is right with God on no other basis other than a true allegience to the Son of God, Yeshua.

vs 17 - but if seeking to be found in Messiah we are found to be sinners. Who would find them sinners? This refers to the accusers and the groups putting pressure based on the wider social norms.

These pressures would be coming against the Jewish believers for ‘associating’ with the Gentile believers - the Jewish believers that did this would effectively be said to have joined the sinners.

Paul’s point is that if being united in Messiah causes proximity to the gentile believers, and if one agrees that such a person is now grouped in the sinner category, then it means the work of Messiah has led to people being into a sinner group rather than into a righteous group!

Hence he says ‘May it never be’! μὴ γένοιτο - very strong language

vs 18 - If Paul and Peter and others started to act that way again, they are essentially putting the message of law-related group identity to be right with God vs. the Gospel message of faith identity which would make them truly transgressors.

You see, Separating from Gentiles on the basis of socio-ethnic grounds was, in some measure, to diminish the work of Yeshua as the sole means through which sins could be forgiven and righteousness accredited by God. Once again, Paul brings the debate to focus on the most important factor—the Gospel.

The language of building / tearing down. This same point may have been made in Ephesians 2.13-16 where the context is on the topic of the Jew and Gentile relationship.

Ephesians 2:13–16 NASB95

13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, 15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.

The word ‘ordinances’ is the greek word dogma - when this word is used in the Scriptures it refers to authorititaive decisions made by men and rulers.

Paul refers to the dividing wall - which probably in some way alludes to the Soreg.

“No foreigner is to enter within the balustrade and the embankment around the sanctuary. Whoever is caught will have himself to blame for his ensuing death."

Again - the issue isn’t the Law that God gave, it is the misuse of the Law that causes the divide between Jew and Gentile. This is what Messiah destroyed when it was proven that both groups need faith to be right with God.

But Paul puts the truth forward in Vs 19 Paul says Gal 2.19

Galatians 2:19 NASB95

19 “For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.

What does Paul mean?

Does he mean that when he became an Anglican Christian he no longer has to do that burdensome old testament law? Of course not. That is not the context of the letter to the Galatians nor the context to this immediate passage.

Paul means that at the moment he recognized that he was a sinner and believed in Yeshua for his rightesouness, the law, including its halachic interpretation by the sages and teachers, no longer had the same power over his status before God.

When Paul died the law and man’s halakhic interpretations no longer condemned him - why? Because it doesn’t condemn the dead, it only condmens the living. And Paul now is like a dead man in the flesh, and instead, the Messiah lives in and through him.

Paul sums up in Galatians in vs 21.

Galatians 2:21 NASB95

21 “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”