The Finished Word

We are acquitted before God through the faith of Jesus Christ, and not from the works of the Law – Romans 3:21-26. Having demonstrated that all men violate God’s revealed will, the Apostle Paul concludes that no man or woman is acquitted from the penalty of sin from the works and rituals required by the Law of Moses. Instead, we are declared innocent through the faith or faithfulness of Jesus Christ.

In Romans, references to justification from works have a specific category of works in view, the works required by the Mosaic Law . Sin is the Great Leveler that places everyone in the same predicament: Bondage now, death and wrath later. No one is exempt from the penalty of sin. Death waits for all of us. However, what did Paul mean when he referred to ‘works’ in his discussions about our justification? Good deeds and human efforts, or something more specific?

As promessas da Bíblia hebraica são cumpridas no Filho de Deus e Messias de Israel, Jesus de Nazaré . As promessas de Deus encontram seu cumprimento em Jesus, O Sim e o Amém de Deus.. Os mistérios anteriormente “ ocultos ” são revelados na vida e nas palavras de Cristo, e especialmente através de sua morte, ressurreição e exaltação. Jesus é o Messias em quem toda sombra e tipo prefigurado na Bíblia hebraica encontra sua substância.

Paul presents the points of agreement and disagreement with his Judaizing opponents in Galatia – Galatians 2:15-21. What identifies the people of God and determines membership in His covenant community is Christ, especially the Messiah who has been revealed on the Cross. Jews and Gentiles are justified through Jesus and his death, and nothing else !

With the new era inaugurated by Jesus, circumcision is no longer the required sign of membership in the covenant community . Circumcision is an obstacle to any claim that disciples of Jesus are required to keep the regulations of the Mosaic Law. In the  Book of Genesis , circumcision was the entrance rite of the covenant with Abraham, the identifying sign of the covenant. Moreover, it is mandatory under the Law given through Moses at Mount Sinai. Therefore, if circumcision is no longer required for membership in the covenant, then the jurisdiction of the Law has changed .

The promises of the Hebrew Bible are fulfilled in the Son of God and Messiah of Israel, Jesus of Nazareth . The promises of God find their fulfillment in Jesus, their “ Yea! ” and “ Amen! ” The mysteries previously “ hidden ” are revealed in Christ’s life and words, and especially through his Death, Resurrection, and Exaltation. Jesus is the Messiah in whom all the shadows and types prefigured in the Hebrew Bible find their substance.

Fulfillment  is a key theme in the  Gospel of Matthew . With the arrival of the Messiah, the time of fulfillment began. What were the implications for the Law of Moses? In his ‘ Sermon on the Mount ’, Jesus provides clear answers. He did not come to settle the interpretive disputes between competing Jewish sects over the details of the Law but to  FULFILL  the “ Law and the Prophets .”

Jesus summons us to become “ perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect ,” yet how can we emulate the perfect righteousness of God? His explanation is clear – By performing acts of mercy for others,  especially our enemies . Self-sacrificial love is the heart of the Gospel and the essential nature of the merciful God. Was Jesus not the Messiah who submitted to an unjust death on our behalf when we were yet the “ enemies of God ”?

In Galatians , the Apostle Paul compares the Mosaic Law to a “ pedagogue ” in its supervision of Israel “ until the seed came .” That “ Seed ” was Jesus. In Greco-Roman society, the “pedagogue” was usually a slave with custodial and disciplinary authority over an underage child until he reached maturity. The minority status of the child and the authority of the custodian over him were both temporary.

In his Letter to the Galatians , Paul addressed a growing danger. Certain “ men from Jerusalem ” were claiming that Gentiles must keep the deeds of the Mosaic Law to “ complete ” their faith, or at least, some of them. They were “ compelling Gentiles to Judaize ” by adopting circumcision, calendrical observances, and perhaps the Levitical dietary restrictions. Paul would have none of it.

Paul argued that adopting the rite of circumcision would constitute regression to something rudimentary, and an earlier stage in the redemptive history of God’s people. If Gentile believers did so, they would be obligated to keep the whole Law, and they could easily find themselves “ severed from Christ ” - (Galatians 5:1-4).

In responding to claims that Gentiles must be circumcised, Paul appealed to the common experience of the Spirit received by the Galatians. Did they receive the gift due to a “ hearing of faith ” or “ from the works of the Law? ” Having begun in the Spirit, why did they now seek the “ completion ” of their faith based on “ flesh ” by submitting to circumcision?

The life, words, and deeds of Jesus echo key events from the History of Israel. He brings the things God began in the past to their intended fulfillment. He is the  Greater Lawgiver  foreshadowed in the story of the Exodus from Egypt. By presenting parallels between Moses and Jesus, the  Gospel of Matthew  prepares us for the teachings of Christ, especially as represented in his ‘ Sermon on the Mount ’.

Religious leaders from Jerusalem began to object to the looseness of Jesus to their Sabbath traditions, but he used the opportunity to show that the “ Son of Man ” is “ Lord ” even over that day. God did cease His creative activities on the seventh day, but its formal establishment as a regulated day on which no work was to be done did not occur until the  Torah  was given through Moses at Mount Sinai (“ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy ”).

The key issue in Galatia is whether Gentiles must be circumcised and keep some, at least, of the deeds required by the Torah .  Paul’s letter to the Galatians is his response to a controversy in the churches of Galatia. The issue is the status of Gentile believers. Must they conform to Jewish practices and submit to the regulation of the Mosaic Law, especially the rite of circumcision?