9.13.25 ~ A Life of Blessing

Good morning!

This week's Torah portion, Ki Tavo/when you come in, contains one of two lists in Scripture on how to live a life of blessing...diligently obey the Commandments of God (Deut. 28:1)

“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. (Deut. 28:1)

The Apostle Paul echoes the same sentiment in Romans 2:13

For it is not merely the hearers of Torah/the law whom God considers righteous; rather, it is the doers of what Torah /the law says who will be made righteous in God’s sight. (Rom. 2:13)

How do we reconcile that with Gaatians 3:11,12?

But that no one is justified by the law/Torah in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith. Yet the lawTorah is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them. (Gal. 3:11,12)

Sometimes, "methinks" the Bible can be confusing and contradictory? How does this reconcile with James 2:24?

“You see that a person is declared righteous because of actions and not because of faith alone”  (James 2:24)

Our confusion is less with the text and more with the history of our education on the texts. "Let me 'splain', said Ricky Ricardo to Lucy...When Martin Luther, the great reformation preacher, confronted his own life, the Scriptures in which he was trained, and the then-current practices of the Roman Catholic Church concerning the sale of indulgences (mortal and venial sins), he reacted.  When asked at one time why he was so vehement in his attack upon the Pope and the church, his reply was along the lines that God always sent the thunder before he sent the gentle rain. And Luther was aware he was no gentle raindrop that could be pushed aside by anyone when he was convicted from the Scriptures alone. Like a modern day Charlie Kirk, he wasn't going to be deterred by some 'pushback'. So Luther, in his rejection of the then-current idea that man could contribute to his own salvation by buying indulgences, or even doing any other good work, put two words together that have framed the meaning of the Protestant Reformation since that time. Luther was convinced that there is nothing that man could do that would, in effect, earn him frequent flyer points which he might use if not for the whole journey into heaven, at least part of the way on his own efforts; which directly opposes our verse for this morning (Deut. 28:1). He said, "We are justified by faith ALONE".  And when he turned to Romans 3:28 and found the word “alone” was not there, he added it into his original German translation of Paul's letter.  Later it was removed for the obvious reason that it wasn’t in the Greek text. Oops! "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law/Torah" (Rom. 3:28)

Unfortunately, by the time the purposeful error was corrected the damage had been done.  For when Luther argued for “faith alone” he was immediately confronted with the words of James, “you are justified by your works.”  For Luther, this amounted to a contradiction in Scripture and his solution to this perceived contradiction was to suggest that the letter of James did not belong in the canon of Scripture, a rather convenient solution; ironically, within many evangelical circles this argument still holds true. 

What are we to do, then, with the idea of “justified by faith alone?”  Enquiring minds want to know :-) After all, the only time in Scripture that the words “faith alone” appear together are in the phrase written by James, but then these two words are used negatively: you are not saved by “faith alone" (James 2:24)

if justification is by “faith alone” then duty and obligation to Torah take a backseat position in the life of the follower of the Messiah, rather than the front-seat position and, consequently, the eternal and unchanging Word of God has eliminated the means by which amazing blessing flows into a covenant believer's life (Deut. 28:2-14).

Let's dig a little deeper. 

Paul says in Romans 3:27,29, Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. (Rom. 3:27-28)

Keep  in mind, unless Paul is schizophrenic (roses are red, violets are blue, I'm schizophrenic and so am I :-),  remember, he has already stated that doing what Torah says is not just a good idea, but the whole concept of justification is wrapped up in the idea.  Just as James also wrote.

Here in Romans 3:27 he says, “No boasting” he proclaims, loudly and clearly.  No boasting because it is excluded.  On what basis?  By a law of “works,” one that can apparently be used as if they earned us some position with the Lord  No, no, no, he says.  Can’t do that.  That would allow boasting, and there is no boasting allowed here.  As he wrote to the Ephesians, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast? (Eph. 2:8-9)

To avoid boasting, Paul has given two interpretations of Torah – one of works, the other of faith.  And it is the Torah of faith that excludes boasting.  Consider the way in which he strings the word “faith” together (Rom. 3:27,28).  Did he have two different ideas of the word “faith” in mind?  If so, he forgot to tell his readers he had shifted gear in the space of just a few words.  Paul, however, never appears to be that lazy with his words or the ideas he was attempting to convey.  “The Torah of faith” and “justified by faith.”  That’s how he framed his presentation of justification.

But now you see that Sha’ul did not use the word “alone.”  He didn’t need to.  In his view, faith is not “alone.”  Torah- keeping is the absolutely essential part of justification, without which there is no justification before God.  In case his readers missed his point, Paul backs it up with, “Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law” (Rom 3:31).

The idea of “faith alone” is unfortunately the mantra of those who deny Torah.  Luther was right to disagree with indulgences; he was wrong in the way he explained justification that does not allow boasting.  If he had stuck with Paul and not tried to add the word “alone” where it did not belong, people today would have one less excuse for putting Torah aside and, as a people of God, we might be at the head of the nations, the head and not the tail (Deut. 28:2, 13).

Shabbat shalom!

Alan

Last night's zoom call: A covenant of obedience leads to a life of blessing beyond our wildest dreams!