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Paul, the Law and the Jewish people

‘Paul, the law and the Jewish people’ is a title of a book written by E.P Sanders. It

focuses on the Apostles view of the law and his relations with fellow Jews.

Paul the apostle spread the message of salvation to the Gentiles, which he received in a

revelation from Jesus Christ the Messiah. He emphasized the importance of salvation to all

believers of Christianity. He pointed out that salvation is available to everyone equally in God’s

eyes and that faith is the universal basis of anyone who wants to receive salvation. Paul strives to

outline the understanding that it is not the works of the law, which qualify people to receive

salvation- while at the same time not condemning the Jewish way of life. However, he is of the

idea that distinctions between Jews and Gentiles in matters like circumcision and the Sabbath

need to forgotten. Sanders looks at the apostle's messages with an in depth perspective, Paul

speaks out against how Jewish privilege is being misused as a justification for the Jews to receive

salvation; he gives emphasis to the point that Faith in God is the ultimate requirement for

salvation. This forms the basis of his critique to the law and not the legalism of Judaism. Paul

taught that faith in The Lord Jesus, in itself is the only entry into the kingdom of God.
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“Gentiles were to be brought into the people of God without being required to accept

the law of Moses, but by faith in Christ alone, and it was his mission to bring them in,”

writes Sanders. The Law is therefore not an Entrance requirement into the Kingdom of God.

There was an evident predicament in the post-‘early church’ period among believers

because of Paul’s teachings. The Jews found it hard to accept the viewpoint that the works of the

law did not serve the purpose of justifying them but their personal faith in God. Paul himself as a

Jew faced the dilemma, he knew God gave the law but the revelation of Christ to him indicated

that simply following it did not imply righteousness and conviction at heart. He came to

understand that God was after righteousness and holiness in his people, which one can achieve

only by having faith in God. Paul so wondered upon the purpose of the Law but latter gained the

understanding that God gave the law but justification of persons is by the faith they have in God,

in Christ Jesus other than performing the works of the Law. Sanders in his book connotes that

there exists a resolution in the epistles- mostly Galatians and Romans, that shows how the Law

fails to be in part of Gods plan after the coming of Jesus. He states that "the ultimate purpose of

God's action was to prepare for salvation; the law was given in order to increase the trespass,

with the intent that grace would ultimately reign" (p 70). The first chapters in the book of

Romans shine some negative light to the Law. They depict the Law serves purposes of increasing

trespasses and hence condemning of people, like giving way to sin. However, later in the book of

Romans, in Chapter 7, Paul gives a different perspective again. He acknowledges that God gave

the law, which developed a connection to sin. He goes further to say that the law is good and is

unto life though powers not of God used to bring about circumstances not of His will. Sin caused

people to lack the ability to meet the conditions of the Law. It uses the Law to serve its purpose

in the lives of God’s people. “Thus, there is an alteration in Paul's view of the relationship
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between sin and God's intention, and between God's will and the law. These changes seem to be

required by the new role given to sin: it is now an active agent which employs the law against the

purpose of God." (Sanders. 1983). It is this wrongful purpose of the good Law that God sent His

only Son that whoever chooses to believe in Him (have Faith in Him) shall be saved. The Law,

according to Paul served the purpose of enslaving people in sin so God could ultimately save

them equally.

Paul the apostle made assertions about the fulfillment of the law in the lives of believers.

In The book of Romans, Paul indicated that humans in flesh are unable to obey the law but those

full of the Spirit of God Fulfill the law. He points that Christians are not under the Law yet they

fulfill it by exercising righteousness by the power of having faith in Christ Jesus. He summarizes

how Christians should behave in different places in the epistles. He calls on believers to love

their neighbors, bear each other’s burdens, and observe the fruits of righteousness and of the

spirit like love and joy among others. He gives solid instructions about conduct of believers

touching areas like sexual immorality. He warns against a list of vices that believers especially

the Gentile converts ought to avoid. He goes ahead to unsympathetically condemn the worship of

idols among believers, which is illustrated in the Law in similar terms. Sanders shows Paul had

the opinion of being filled with the Spirit of God by faith automatically guides the life of a

believer, hence he did not emphasize on a system of acts and did not exclusively derive from

commandments of the bible.

Paul was against the Jewish ways that advocated for Works of the law as a way of having

a good relationship with God. He continued to advocate for Works of righteousness all through

the epistles. However, he did not make literal distinctions as to the binding aspects if the Law.

Nevertheless, the apostle Paul talked about circumcision as a mandatory Law for Abraham’s
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ancestors; he maintained that those who are Christ’s are sons of Abraham. He called for

circumcision of the Spirit since physical circumcision matters not. He further stated that the

physical food that people eat and the days they plan their duties should be for individuals to

decide. He implied that being in Christ is the ultimate obligation of all believers.

Still, Paul advocated for Gentile Converts to act in the better ways of the Jews as

instructed in the Law and not their customary ways that permitted acts like homosexuality. It is

clear therefore that he bore ethical views of the Jews. Good behavior is obligatory for those

granted entry and who exhibit their faith in God while bad or incorrect behavior leads to

punishment followed by restoration, even if during judgment. Paul’s accounts of the Law

seemingly have different perspectives. They have connections with either sin or promise, as a

way of life or of salvation, as of those in Spirit or as of those living in flesh, as a form of

obedience to the will of God in faith or as a meant to be self-righteous. Even though he objects to

mere adhering to the Law, he is not against the intention to gain merit from the works. Paul

points out in Romans that the law is faulty in that it does not allow those living in the flesh to

fulfill it. It offers life to those in the Spirit but death to those in the flesh. Sanders gives another

profound perspective. He argues that “If the basic thing ‘wrong’ with the law is that humans

are unable to fulfill it, there is no reason to have those in the Spirit, who have been given

the ability, fulfill only part of it. In the Spirit one should certainly be able to obey the laws

governing circumcision, food, and days. If, however, what is basically wrong with the law

is that it does not provide entry to the people of God for Gentile as well as Jew (which has

been provided by faith in Christ), it is easily understandable why Paul ruled out, or held to

be optional, those three parts of the law.”

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Paul saw the old and previously celebrated Mosaic dispensation of no consequence

compared to the dispensation in Christ Jesus. Characteristics of Judaism behaviors are

maintained but new thinking ways are evident in Christianity. Some of Paul’s teachings brought

misunderstanding and controversy between the religions. For instance, he seemed to proclaim

that obeying the Law could never result in righteousness and that Christians were free from it.

He also seemed to claim that the Law leads to spiritual death of believers. Explanations to this

asserted that it is either not possible to fulfill or it results in boasting. Still, God’s will, which is

after the righteousness of his people, is not achievable by merely following the Law, for it is only

Christ Jesus who can make possible the knowing of God’s will and the Spirit who can enable the

people to fulfill it. Paul wrote in Romans 8; 3-4 that God sent His Son for the purpose that

Christians “would fulfill the requirements of the Law,” the Law that brings life to those in the

Spirit.

Paul had an atypical relationship with his fellow Jews but served a comprehensible

mandate during his occupation as an apostle. Sanders says “The single dearest statement,

which explains a lot not only about Paul but also about the early Christian movement, is

Rom. 15:16: ‘... to be a minister of Christ Jesus unto the Gentiles, serving the Gospel of God

as a priest, in order that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, hallowed by the

Holy Spirit’." He played a very important role in the rise of Christianity, a different religion from

Judaism. Paul’s views were mostly Jewish and he seemingly did not set out to break with

Judaism, save for denying the doctrine of election of the Jewish as the chosen people of God. He

is in no doubt about Abraham’s heritage and perceives the Church as ‘The True Israel’. In

addition, his teachings break with Judaism where he advocates that it is Faith in Jesus and not the

works of the Law that qualify one to enter the Kingdom of God. He further emphasized on the
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equality of both Jews and Gentiles. Through a revelation made to him by Jesus Christ, Paul

understood that it was through works of righteousness that God intended to save the world. His

denial of the major pillars of Judaism makes the church Universal. He insist that God intends to

show mercy to all believers via the platform of the church where no one can be granted entry

without personal Faith in God.

Christ Jesus who is not just the Messiah for Jews but he is Lord and savior of all universe

came to Paul in a revelation, He called him to become an apostle to the Gentiles. Therefore,

salvation by Christ’s name is for both the Gentile and the Jews. In addition, it is not by the Law

and with no regard of someone's core attitudes, instead it is by faith in Christ Jesus. Indeed Paul

believed Jesus was the Messiah and that He had died and resurrected to save the whole world.

His mates in Galatia also accepted Jesus as the Messiah but did not hold that this meant doing

away with the Law. They believed that if the Gentiles should accept Jesus, they had to

circumcise and follow the Law too.

The major problem that Paul and other founders of Christianity argued about was the

determination of if having faith eliminated the significance of the Law. Paul strongly held the

view that given that fulfillment of the Law cannot be achieved wholly, righteousness is only

by faith. A novel covenantal nomism was later developed.

It would not be wrong to say that Christianity was a following for Apostle Paul. He

indeed contributed largely to its growth and development. All the same, it achieved its own

distinctiveness by following the track seen in E. Sanders’ book.

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Works Cited:

E. P. Sanders. Paul, the Law, and the Jewish People. Fortress Press. 1983. Print