Stop Using Paul as Your Excuse

Nearly every person who has ever mocked, bashed, belittled, or accused people of being legalists or Judaizers for trying to pursue observance of the Torah has pointed at Paul and said, "Paul said this. Paul said that. Paul contradicted himself. Paul rejected the Torah. Paul blah, blah, blah..."

Paul has become both the favorite scapegoat and punching bag of those who say they believe in Yeshua but don't need to—or don't want to—actually change their worldly lifestyle or actions. If they want permission to violate a biblical commandment, they simply quote something Paul wrote out of the actual context in which he wrote it, and shazam, it's no longer a sin for believers to be concerned with.

They quote Ephesians 2:8-9:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves—it is the gift of God. It is not based on deeds, so that no one may boast.

They then say, "Paul said I'm saved by G-D's grace and not by my works, so my actions don't matter."

Or they say, "I don't have to be concerned about keeping the commandments because of what Paul said in Galatians 2:16.”

Galatians 2:16: Yet we know that a person is set right not by deeds based on Torah, but rather through putting trust in Messiah Yeshua. So even we have put our trust in Messiah Yeshua, in order that we might be set right based on trust in Messiah and not by deeds based on Torah—because no human will be justified by deeds based on Torah.

Some will boldly proclaim what Paul said in Romans 3:26-28:

Through God's forbearance, He demonstrates His righteousness at the present time—that He Himself is just and also the justifier of the one who puts his trust in Yeshua. Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. By what principle? Of works? No, but by the principle of faith. For we consider a person to be set right apart from Torah observance.

They conclude that the Torah's commandments were invalidated because we are now set right by faith apart from Torah observance.

Others go even further by saying that not only do we not have to follow or keep the commandments, but that we shouldn't even try to do so because doing so will cause us to be cursed.

They base this on what Paul wrote in Galatians 3:10:

For all who rely on the deeds of Torah are under a curse—for the Scriptures say, 'Cursed is everyone who does not keep doing everything written in the scroll of the Torah.”

The problem with all of the above is that it is the result of cherry-picking from Paul's letters in order to validate a preconceived position rather than engaging in a comprehensive reading of Paul's writings in the New Testament. While the verses quoted above are indeed from Paul's letters and are absolutely Scripture, those who use only those particular verses to determine a believer's responsibility toward the Torah, without including and considering the other things Paul said about the Torah, are like trying to make water with only the "H" and leaving out the "O."

If the above verses are the "H," then the following verses are the "O." While it is true that Paul wrote every verse quoted above, he also wrote Romans 3:31:

Do we then nullify the Torah through faithfulness? May it never be! On the contrary, we uphold the Torah.

He also wrote Romans 7:12:

So then, the Torah is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

And Romans 7:22:

For I delight in the Torah of God with respect to the inner man,

Or consider 1 Corinthians 7:19:

Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing—but keeping God's commandments matters.

While it might seem that Paul contradicts himself in his letters, the truth is that he neither contradicts himself nor invalidates the Torah in his writings. In order to understand Paul, one must not only read what he wrote but also understand who he was writing to. Paul's audience consisted of four different groups of people: Jews who believed in Yeshua, Jews who did not yet believe in Yeshua, Gentiles who believed in Yeshua, and Gentiles who did not yet believe in Yeshua. Beyond understanding that he was writing to one or more of those groups in each of his letters, we also need to recognize that even among the two groups of believers, people were at different stages of faith and spiritual maturity.

This is why Peter wrote what he did in 2 Peter 3:15-16:

Bear in mind that the patience of our Lord means salvation—just as our dearly loved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom given to him. He speaks about these matters in all of his letters. Some things in them are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist (as they also do with the rest of the Scriptures)—to their own destruction.

Peter understood what too many people fail to consider when reading Paul: if you don't identify Paul's intended audience in each chapter and verse of his letters, you will find him difficult to understand.

For instance, Paul says in Galatians 5:6:

For in Messiah Yeshua, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any meaning—but only trust and faithfulness expressing itself through love.

But he also says in Romans 3:1-2:

Then what is the advantage of being Jewish? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? Much in every way. First of all, they were entrusted with the sayings of God.

Paul wasn't confused or contradicting himself. He was speaking to two different groups of people concerning two different issues related to circumcision. In Galatians, he is telling believers that Gentiles do not need to be circumcised in order to be saved and, for that matter, circumcision does not save Jews either. In Romans, however, Paul is affirming the continued covenant relationship between G-D and the Jewish people based upon the Abrahamic Covenant.

In the same way, Paul establishes that we are redeemed only by and through the atonement provided by the sacrificial death of Yeshua. But because we have been redeemed through Yeshua, we also have a responsibility to live in obedience to G-D. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 7:19:

Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing—but keeping God's commandments matters.

So please stop using Paul's writings out of context to give yourself permission to violate G-D's commandments, because that isn't why Paul wrote his letters. In fact, every one of Paul's epistles was written to correct believers in the communities to whom he was writing because they were involved in sinful and unbiblical behavior—or, to put it another way, because they were violating the commandments of G-D.