November 14, 2013

From Jim McGuiggan... Romans 3.31 and Establishing the Torah


Romans 3.31 and Establishing the Torah

Romans 3:31: “Do we nullify the Torah by faith? Not at all! We establish it.”
What leads him to ask and answer the question?
Paul will say that possessing the Torah is a two-edged sword that could cut Israel.
     
He will say God’s faithfulness in the Messiah is for all nations and not just Jews.
He will say God’s righteousness in the Messiah is independent of the Torah. He will say
 
The Torah itself had all along been saying that.
He will say that to view the Torah as exclusivist and not to view it through Jesus generated         
unhealthy  boasting and nationalism.
He will say the right way to view the Torah is from the perspective of faith in Jesus and that
would make it a “Torah of faith”—a Jesus-interpreted Torah.
He will say that viewing it in the way he offers it is to give it its true place
in the unfolding of God’s purpose.
Paul has told “the people of the Torah” (Israel) that having the Torah (and all that that entails) doesn’t matter if the Torah isn’t faithfully observed. It means nothing and guarantees nothing and in fact it is the Torah that the people of the Torah needed to fear in light of their unfaithfulness as a nation (2:8-9 with 3:9-19 as his development). By the time Paul is done in chapter 2 a Jew would want to know, “Where’s the advantage in being a Jew and having the oracles of God?”
Then in 3:21-26 he proclaims that God’s hoped-for faithfulness is revealed “now” and culminates in Jesus, independent of the Torah (3:21) and for the blessing of believing non-Jews as well as Jews. What’s more, he claims the Torah had all along borne witness to this development (3:21).
Then he claims that viewing the Torah in an exclusivist way (and not as part of God’s larger purpose that includes the entire human family) generates unhealthy boasting and undermines the truth of the Shema (3:27-30). He insists that the Torah must be viewed from the perspective of Jesus and if it is viewed that way it makes unhealthy boasting impossible. If the Torah is looked at as a Torah that finds its end in Jesus to bless the entire human family it is “a Torah of faith” (3:27—ignore the NIV, and note Romans 10:4).
A Jew might be forgiven if he thought, “He has undermined the Torah. I no longer recognize it as the Torah given to Israel by God through Moses.” Israel knew that God had elected them and no other nation and that one of the markers was his gift of the Torah (Nehemiah 9:5-14 and Romans 9:4 illustrate) It was by its very nature exclusivist. Now they’ve been told that the Torah was meant to benefit non-Jewish believers in Jesus completely independent of the Torah. Paul’s entire treatment of the Torah up to this point triggers the question and answer of 3:31.
James Dunn wryly noted that C.H. Dodd “again” thought he understood Paul’s logic better than Paul. Dodd said Paul should have had the courage to answer “yes” to his own question, “Do we nullify the Torah by faith?” But to an Israel always keen to establish its own righteousness (see Romans 9:30—10:3; again, ignore the NIV in 10:3 which speaks of a righteousness “that comes from” God when “that comes from” is nowhere in the Greek text)—to a nation always keen to establish its own righteousness (right relationship with God) Paul says the Torah was to find its termination in Jesus by finding its goal in Jesus (“telos” as both termination and goal—10:4).
Paul claims that his understanding of the Torah is the right way to see the Torah and give it its rightful place in God’s unfolding drama. The NJB on 3:31 offers, “Are we saying that the Law has been made pointless by faith? Out of the question; we are placing the Law on its true footing.”
So Paul has “explained” the Torah in such a way that it looks like the nation God gave it to might as well not have gotten it. So, what’s next? Abraham? Did having Abraham as their father mean nothing as well?

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