A Verse-by-Verse Examination of Galatians
“O senseless Galatians! Who has put you under a spell, not to obey the truth—before whose eyes Yahoshuah Messiah was clearly portrayed among you as impaled?” (3:1).
I wonder how many Christians would enjoy my letters if I started out by calling them foolish, stupid, or senseless. Leaving that aside, for now, though, Paul feels they have been brainwashed to not obey the truth. Yet, what is truth?
“Your righteousness is righteousness forever, and Your Torah is truth.” (Psalms 119:142).
“You are near, O Yahoweh, and all Your commands are truth.” (Psalms 119:151).
“The sum of Your Word is truth, and all Your righteous right-rulings are forever.” (Psalms 119:160).
“This only I wish to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by works of Torah, or by the hearing of belief? Are you so senseless? Having begun in the Spirit, do you now end in the flesh? Have you suffered so much in vain—if indeed in vain? Is He, then, Who is supplying the Spirit to you and working miracles among you, doing it by works of Torah, or by hearing of belief?” (3:2-5).
Paul starts off wishing, wishing he could learn just one thing. Just one. Then he asks five questions right in a row. Paul is mad. I do the same thing when I get mad sometimes. Yet, his questions deserve a look, and answers. I’m going to ask myself these questions.
Did I receive the Spirit by works of Torah, or by the hearing of belief?
A long time ago, I did not know Him at all, and yet He gave me the Spirit to guide me in all things, including obedience to Torah. I didn’t earn it, but nor will I trample the gift. By honoring my parents I am not seeking salvation, I already have it by faith in Yahoshuah, but if I do not seek to live as He did, then how little faith do I have, if any at all? Next question.
Are you so senseless?
Sometimes I wonder about this. I mess up and then I feel bad, but I bounce back up because I am indeed forgiven. Yet, some feel Paul’s attitude here leaves a lot to be desired. Or at least that’s what they’d say to me if I said the same thing. Indeed, honey will attract more bees than vinegar, but is honey all we need? I’ll get to this in a bit. Next question.
Having begun in the Spirit, do I now end in the flesh?
The Spirit leads me to walk as the Messiah walks, not to gratify the sinful nature. If I leave Torah, or a portion of the way He walks, then I will begin a painful journey of walking in the flesh, which is not of the Spirit, not knowing what is for me and what is not. Next question.
Have I suffered so much in vain—if indeed in vain?
No. Not in vain, for some will hear, even if most hear only as they are told to wish. Let our toil produce for His glory. Next question.
Is He, then, Who is supplying the Spirit to me and working miracles among me, doing it by works of Torah, or by hearing of belief?
Now this is an odd question. If He, Messiah, broke Torah, then He would not even be the Messiah. He would not have the Spirit to give. I think the question implies, “Is the Spirit in you, and are miracles being done, because of your doing Torah, or because of your faith in what you hear?” Therein, I say faith. As I have said before, a double-edged Sword, many single-edged minded people are too afraid to see.
The gentiles, who turned their lives over to Yahoweh, did not receive the Holy Spirit because they had been keeping all the Torah. They received the Holy Spirit because they repented and accepted Yahoshuah the Messiah. Yet, this was very difficult for Jews to accept. It was ingrained in their culture that a gentile couldn’t just come to Yahoweh in one day, and so they fought this new idea as many Christians will fight the idea of loving obedience. Their idea of conversion was a long and detailed process in which the seeker was fully taught the law, and ultimately circumcised, to become Jewish and thus be saved. However, gentiles received Yahoweh’s Spirit because their sins were forgiven, and a beautiful inward change had begun, not ended. They desired to walk the way the Saviour walked. They weren’t perfect, but they sought Perfection’s ways.
Some compare Paul to the Messiah, and some treat his words as an overriding of the Messiah’s, just as many Pharisees consider their words above those of Moses, so much so that they think they are from Moses. Yet, is Paul being like the Messiah in attitude? The Messiah said, “Serpents, brood of adders! How would you escape the judgment of Gehenna?” (Matthew 23:33). Some see this as harsh, but it isn’t. The Pharisees were so careful to not become unclean that they added regulations to make certain they were never unclean; from baptizing their pots (John 2:6), to even never eating without ritually cleaning their hands first (Matthew 15:1-2). The Messiah called them unclean, yet, in the Hebrew Matthew, the Messiah continues by saying, “if you do not turn in repentance.” No matter how clean they thought they were, salvation is not from mere men observing laws. Even the brief moment of pride in Moses caused him to not yet enter the Promise Land. Only by Yahoshuah could the people enter, and only by Yahoshuah did Moses indeed enter in (Matthew 17:3).
Considering this, perhaps Paul is emulating the Messiah. Were the Galatians becoming prideful in alleged knowledge, or arrogant in their own works? Had they become as serpents and vipers in need of repentance from pride? This may well be.
Please read: Acts 10:45-47, Deuteronomy 10:16, and Malachi 3:6.
Side note: Tahor, usually translated as “clean,” means that which is useful or acceptable for being the image of Yahoweh. Tamei, usually translated as “unclean,” means that which is useless for being the image of Yahoweh. Unclean means you are not in the image of the Most High. The word unclean could also be fittingly read as, “unholy” and clean could be read and understood most easily in the term, “set-apart.”
“It is unclean for you.”
“It is unholy for you.”
“It is not set-apart for you.”
“Be ye, therefore, clean, as I am clean.”
“Be ye, therefore, holy, as I am holy.”
“Be ye, therefore, set-apart, as I am set-apart.”
If the Messiah had called the Pharisees any unclean animal, it would have sounded bad. Herd of pigs. Group of crabs. You get the idea. As I have mentioned already to you in For the Love of Animals, according to a scroll written by Barnabus, there is some truth to this. A pig is associated with being a glutton for instance, and the vulture is a nasty bird who feeds on the elderly. Being called a lamb doesn’t sound all that bad. The idea is to keep your mind clean, and not unclean, or unholy. “For I am Yahoweh your Elohim, and you shall set yourselves apart. And you shall be set-apart, for I am set-apart. And do not defile yourselves with any creeping creature that creeps on the earth. For I am Yahoweh Who is bringing you up out of the land of Mitsrayim, to be your Elohim. And you shall be set-apart, for I am set-apart.” (Leviticus 11:44-45).
“Even so Abraham, ‘did believe Elohim, and it was reckoned unto him as righteousness.’ Know, then, that those who are of belief are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, having foreseen that Elohim would declare right the nations by belief, announced the Good News to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘All the nations shall be blessed in you,’ so that those who are of belief are blessed with Abraham, the believer.” (3:6-9).
All nations shall be blessed in your seed, in Yahoshuah the Messiah. Even the ones who do not believe will be blessed because your children will be known for their love.
Scripture? In Matthew 22:29 we see the Messiah never calls His Word the Old Testament, but rather the Scriptures. During Paul’s time, very few of the letters or Gospels had been written, and they were centuries away from being canonized. What Scriptures could Galatians 3:8 be talking about? Right. The Torah and the Prophets.
“‘I know that you are the seed of Abraham, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.’ They answered and said to Him, ‘Abraham is our father.’ Yahoshuah said to them, ‘If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.’” (John 8:37-39). What were the works of Abraham? Many, but in short: he, “obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My Torah.” And this was done in faith!
“And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” (Genesis 22:18).
Abraham believed in Yahoweh enough to have works, and it was considered righteousness. What were some of the works of Abraham? He was even willing to offer his own son unto Yahoweh! What of us? Are we even willing to offer the foreskin?
…
Some of the Gentiles were starting to believe they were not saved unless they were circumcised, and thus considered a child of Abraham by false brothers. Many men rest all their faith and hope in being children of Abraham. “and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as father.’ For I say to you that Elohim is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.” (Matthew 3:9). One of those stones is I, as well as all the ones who forfeit their former way, by giving their heart of stone to the Master, so that He will replace it with a heart of flesh. Abraham spent much of his life not being circumcised in flesh, yet Yahoweh accepted him as his heart was. Though it is clear that while Yahoweh was gracious He still had Abraham circumcised in flesh, in His time.
Please read Ezekiel 11:19-20 and 36:26-27.
“For as many as are of works of Torah are under the curse, for it has been written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all that has been written in the book of the Torah, to do them.’ And that no one is declared right by Torah before Elohim is clear, for ‘The righteous shall live by belief.’ And the Torah is not of belief, but ‘The man who does them shall live by them.’” (3:10-12).
Here is where a good many people fall. Galatians: chapter three. People tell their friends who are beginning to walk as the Messiah walked to read this chapter more than anything else. They feel it teaches to abstain from the path of the Saviour. I am going into this study with the mindset that if Paul speaks against the Torah, then so be it. I do not care. It will be on his head, not mine, in teaching others to walk differently than the Messiah. But is Paul teaching this? A question that we must be as careful as possible to answer correctly. Let’s look.
First, what is the curse? Is it being faithful to your spouse? Honoring your parents? Some may feel it is, but I assure you by my very life, it is not. The curse, as I said earlier, is that even a tiny sin will keep us from the perfection required for eternal life. Yahoshuah is the perfection, and it is by belief in Him that we are saved. The curse is the death that disobedience brings—not the Commandment. As a child, I am freed from eternal punishment if I disobey; however, if I chose to disobey I will be known as a brat at best. Find me one parent who wants their children to be disobedient. Even vile people, the lowest of the low, do not desire disobedience. Why? Because obedience shows love, and there is none alive who does not desire love from their children.
The Torah is indeed righteous, but without our action therein, not just belief, it just sits there. In order for Torah to become alive in us we must have the Word Who became flesh in our hearts, guiding us in the keeping of the Torah. Those who do not have a sincere belief in Messiah will not do them, and nor shall they live by Him. For it is proclaimed, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all that has been written in the book of the Torah, to do them.” Do you wish to be cursed? The curse’s effect is eternal death. It is not having Messiah in your heart.
“‘Cursed is he who does not establish the Words of this Torah.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’” (Deuteronomy 27:26).
Does this Scripture, which Paul quotes, say those who keep Torah are under a curse? … No. Yahoweh proclaims those who do not keep Torah are under a curse. He is not confused, nor has man beguiled Him into changing.
So a few are relying on their obedience to Yahoweh’s Teaching to save them, does this mean the Torah is no good? Absolutely not! Just because some people hope that one breakfast will make them get by the whole year does not mean we ought never have breakfast. Not in my house!
Those who teach salvation by doing works alone are under a curse, because they have broken the Torah they are relying on to save them, by their pride. Moses, one of the most, if not the most humble man who ever lived, had just a tiny spec in comparison to this log of pride. No human can be perfect by perfectly keeping Torah, and this is why all men need the Mighty Right Hand of Yahoweh. Any other claim to righteousness is pure pride / hopelessness.
“See, he whose being is not upright in him is puffed up. But the righteous one lives by his steadfastness.” (Habakkuk 2:4). Just because a person is proud does not mean he has anything to be proud in. So what would a Berean see in this text? “And you shall guard My laws and My right-rulings, which a man does and lives by them. I am Yahoweh.” (Leviticus 18:5). My Rabbi did them all, therefore, I am justified because of Yahoshuah. Hence, I have nothing to be proud about; only humbled and thankful for what the Messiah has freely given to those who would take His scarred hand.
“but Yisra’el following after the Torah of righteousness, has not arrived at the Torah of righteousness. Why? Because it was not of belief, but as by works of Torah. For they stumbled at the Stone of stumbling. As it has been written, ‘See, I lay in Tsiyon a Stone of stumbling and a Rock that makes for falling, and everyone who is believing on Him shall not be put to shame.’” (Romans 9:31-33). Because they sought not by faith the Law of righteousness.
I looked, and I did not see Paul say anything about not loving the Creator, or for us to disobey a single commandment. Perhaps it is further on in Galatians chapter three. So let’s hasten on.
“Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Torah, having become a curse for us—for it has been written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs upon a tree.’—in order that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the nations in Messiah Yahoshuah, to receive the promise of the Spirit through belief.
Brothers, as a man I say it: a covenant, even though it is man’s, yet if it is confirmed, no one sets it aside, or adds to it. But the promises were spoken to Abraham, and to his Seed. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of One, ‘And to your Seed,’ Who is Messiah.
Now this I say, Torah, that came four hundred and thirty years later, does not annul a covenant previously confirmed by Elohim in Messiah, so as to do away with the promise. For if the inheritance is by Torah, it is no longer by promise, but Elohim gave it to Abraham through a promise. Why, then, the Torah? It was added because of transgressions, until the Seed should come to Whom the promise was made. And it was ordained through messengers in the hand of a Mediator.” (3:13-19).
It is sad to see some men live a life as if just a few misunderstood verses from one book could overrule all others. Are the Scriptures a house divided against itself? “Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Torah,” again, the curse is not the keeping of the Sabbath. He didn’t die up on a cross to rid you of taking rest. The curse of Torah was death and separation from the Saviour. He paid that. He paid that price in full. Do not trample under foot the Blood of Messiah by making His sacrifice your license to commit sin and teach others that it’s okay to do so. Paul clearly didn’t.
Paul makes a statement showing his feelings concerning the covenant of Yahoweh’s Word from beginning to end, which abolishes the “progressive revelation” idea. Even if it’s a covenant of man, it stands and is not changed. Those who believe the lie of dispensations tell me to read this. They ought to read this! It changes not! It stands! And that is just the contract of man. Consider the worth then of Yahoweh’s, the Maker of man! Whose Son died upon a tree though He had no sin to pay for, and so, He paid for me. He is my Salvation, my Redeemer, and never would the new heart He put in me desire any other way but His.
Galatians does not show dispensation. Look at 1 John, 2 Thessalonians, and Revelation, and hear the warnings of becoming Lawless! But did Paul continue teaching the Jews and gentiles that they must uphold the written Torah of Moses? Who cares what others say, including myself! What do the Scriptures say!
Paul believed in the Prophets (Zechariah 8:16), and the words of the Writings (Psalms 4:4) in Ephesians 4:25 so much that he did what they said.
Paul is recorded observing the Sabbath every time it arose, totaling 84 times, in the book of Acts.
Paul kept Passover in 1 Corinthians 5:8 and thought it good we do so, too.
Paul kept Shavuot in Acts 20:16.
In 1 Timothy 1:8-11 Paul called the Torah, “sound teaching.”
In 2 Timothy 2:15 Paul called the Torah the, “Word of Truth.”
In Romans 16:25-27 Paul called the prophets, “Scripture,” and said that it was able to lead the gentiles into obedience and trusting faith in Yahoweh.
In 1 Corinthians 14:21 Paul called the writings of the prophet Isaiah, the “Torah,” and he accepted the prophet’s instruction.
Abraham was chosen by Yahoweh to receive the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of faith, so that he might be the father of all who were like him before, uncircumcised. Paul speaks of a Seed of Abraham and to his Seed were the promises made. He doesn’t say, “seeds” (Genesis 22:18). That Seed is Yahoshuah, through Whom all the nations are blessed. The Promise is through the Promise Keeper. The Covenant is through the Covenant Keeper. No matter how you look at it.
Now, rather than a condition unattainable, we have the gift of salvation through the gift of faith in Yahoshuah, Whom we show love to by allowing His teachings to overflow from our hearts into our actions. This is indeed His glory and does not nullify the promise of Yahoweh Almighty! “So that the Torah truly is set-apart, and the command set-apart, and righteous, and good.” (Romans 7:12). I have freedom in the Scriptures, not from the Scriptures.
If everyone were required to keep the whole Torah to have righteousness imputed to him or her, then no one would be saved. If there were no Torah, then there would be no transgression, and no honest yearning or need for a Saviour. Laws were added, because of disobedience, to Yahoweh’s desire. Yet, if we walk in His desire, then we will not walk in opposition to Torah, in opposition to Yahoshuah’s footsteps.
The Good News that was preached to Abraham, the promise that resides in the Torah of Yahoweh, can never be nullified. The Promise of the Messiah! The Good News is our Saviour! We are saved by Him! What wonderful news! More than hearing a war is over, or the arrival of a newborn son or daughter, is the Good News of Messiah! I can live for Him, and not in fear of death, for death’s sting is gone. HalleluYah!
According to other books, such as Romans, those who thought circumcision must be done in order for salvation used the accounting of Abraham quite often. Thus Paul, and others, have to explain the accounting quite often. Circumcision was the sign of a covenant, and if you broke that covenant you were cast off. Cast off has little meaning to most, but, “cast off,” was the foreskin that was removed and cast off. The term circumcision did not only mean the medical act. It was a way of saying, “One who has cast off the pagan world.” Therefore, many modern Christians, by definition, have uncircumcised hearts, and the heart is the first matter which needs attending too.
Paul’s words here are deep. Unless we apply wisdom and Spirit, we will never understand them. Let us not knowingly call ourselves unstable; rather, let us dig deeper than the fluffy feel good interpretations of many worldly churches.
Please read: Deuteronomy 21:22-23, Acts 10.
“The Mediator, however, is not of one, but Elohim is one. Is the Torah then against the promises of Elohim? Let it not be! For if a law had been given that was able to make alive, truly righteousness would have been by Torah. But the Scripture has shut up all mankind under sin, that the promise by belief in Yahoshuah Messiah might be given to those who believe.” (3:20-22).
We can understand Galatians so long as we don’t let Galatians override what Paul said to test his letters with: the Torah, Prophets, the Good News, and his other letters. That is backwards from what most people do, whereby disregarding the entire Bible, all for a misunderstood Galatians. But if you’ve read this far, then I hope and pray it is because you truly want to live, as the Messiah desired you to live, in blessings.
Looking at the myriad of texts and translations it is no easy chore to understand this. The first sentence could be used in the agenda of many a person, if they add one word, or put a comma here, or a period there. Some texts have fewer than ten words while others have fifteen. Which do I use? I used the one that flowed the best. I, sadly, can do no better. I would cheerfully die for the original texts. But I doubt the underlying truth contained therein would change at all.
To understand this sentence, one must understand that the Messiah came not just for a certain tribe, but for all people; also, that Yahoweh can only be reached by His Son’s perfection. “Yahoshuah answered him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he shall guard My Word. And My Father shall love him, and We shall come to him and make Our stay with him.’” (John 14:23).
“Is the Torah then against the promises of Elohim? Let it not be!” Okay. I want to know how then it is necessary for me to read this chapter to see the alleged folly of something like tithing or keeping Sabbath. He just said it is not against the promise.
According to His Word, all have sinned, but the promise, which cannot be made void by His Torah, comes to those who believe in the Messiah by belief. Did you notice the belief and believe in the last sentence I wrote, and the last sentence Paul wrote up above? Read them again. We can only truly believe in Messiah if we have belief in the Torah, for if you do not believe that prophet you cannot believe Yahoshuah. And remember, belief is not just head knowledge. It’s action as well.
“Was not Abraham our father declared right by works when he offered Yitshaq his son on the altar? Do you see that the belief was working with his works, and by the works the belief was perfected? And the Scripture was filled which says, ‘Abraham believed Elohim, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness.’ And he was called, ‘Elohim’s friend.’ You see, then, that a man is declared right by works, and not by belief alone. In the same way, was not Rahab the whore also declared right by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so also the belief is dead without the works.” (James 2:21-26).
“For not the hearers of the Torah are righteous in the sight of Elohim, but the doers of the law shall be declared right..” (Romans 2:13).
But what do we do when there seems to be a contradiction?
“Therefore by works of Torah no flesh shall be declared right before Him, for by the Torah is the knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:20).
Is Romans 2:13 and 3:20 contradictory? Does this somehow nullify the previous Good News? No! Walking in righteousness doesn’t make you completely righteous, as there must be forgiveness for past sins. Therefore, we have no choice but to rely on Yahoweh to be saved. Which is fine by me.
“And certain men came down from Yehudah and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised, according to the practice of Mosheh, you are unable to be saved.’” (Acts 15:1).
Some believed you couldn’t be saved except by being circumcised. Yet, this is to proclaim the need of something other than Yahoweh’s righteousness, the offering up of His Son, to be saved. Trust me, you can do no better than He. (Remember: sometimes when people say, “according to Moses,” what they are saying is not according to Moses, but according to what they claim to be from Moses. This is the same as some churches claiming the Holy Spirit said something, when He most certainly has spoken just the opposite in the Scriptures.)
Over and over and over again, Paul plainly states that trying to be saved by keeping the Torah is useless as there is only One Who has ever kept the Torah perfectly! Yahoweh’s standard is perfection. He alone is Perfection! You would have to do more than Torah to be saved on your own. Why does Paul stress this over and over again? The people of that day thought they could earn salvation. Pride. Today, though, people feel they can trample Salvation with disobedience. Willful ignorance. Neither is the path Yahoweh has drawn for us.
“But before belief came, we were being guarded under Torah, having been shut up for the belief being about to be revealed. Therefore the Torah became our trainer unto Messiah, in order to be declared right by belief. And after belief has come, we are no longer under a trainer. For you are all sons of Elohim through belief in Messiah Yahoshuah.” (3:23-26).
“But before belief came,” —What? Before Adam was made, or Abraham, or Moses, or David, or Jeremiah? That cannot be what he meant. There was just as much belief during their time as now. Belief in the Messiah was universal amongst the Jews. This has to do with how Paul used to be: believing in the written Torah, but not the Torah Manifested, in the Messiah, Who guarded us.
“The Torah became our trainer unto Messiah.” Okay. Let’s stop right there. I think we just found gold! Ever wonder why there are so many different denominations? Wonder no more. Many jumped into belief but had no training, and, by misuse of this letter, they rejected training altogether. The Torah trains us to love, and if the Spirit is truly in us, then we will indeed be guided into Torah obedience. Many have no trainer unto Messiah! They have rejected Him.
Now let’s take a step back and look at this. Consider a person who wanted to become a Buddhist. They jumped right into it and became a Buddhist, but never walked as their text says to walk, and they rejected living as Buddha did. Would this person be a Buddhist? No! Does a person who rejects training unto Messiah as a way of life even know Him? No! They don’t even know how He lived, nor do they desire to live in the same manner. Many have rejected their trainer, and claimed they’ve passed the bar in collage, without ever going to class. One must be under the trainer to, “be declared right by belief.”
“After belief has come, we are no longer under a trainer,” Consider learning a language. At first (not never, but at first) for a few years even, you will need a guidebook to help you with words and sentences. Indeed, you could never stop using these words and still be speaking that language. However, after many years this “guidebook” will be in your head so well you will be speaking that language like it was your own … because now it is. Though, even after decades, we’ll still need to look up new words and learn very much more better grammars. This is the same truth.
Many will never know the language of Scripture and have it as a way of life because they knowingly twist these words into their own destruction. Paul said this very well. He said it in a way that those with a child like faith, and a seeking heart, would grasp it, while fools who wanted to make the words say as they please, could easily do so.
The tutor (trainer) brings us to the realization that we have sinned, so that we can turn to Yahoshuah, for salvation, and to the Torah, to show us how to live. So, once trained, we are not under the Law, but under grace. Wait! Stop. Don’t forget what you have learned before, for a sentence after. Remember, the later cannot nullify the former. “For sin shall not rule over you, for you are not under the law but under favour. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under Torah but under favour? Let it not be! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves servants for obedience, you are servants of the one whom you obey, whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness?” (Romans 6:14-16).
“For circumcision indeed profits if you practice the Torah, but if you are a transgressor of the Torah, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.” (Romans 2:25).
If we continue to sin, or break His Torah, we will once again need the Torah to tutor us back to Yahoshuah. The master plan of salvation has been distorted by those who reject the path of Yahoshuah and all His disciples, the Path of Torah. For forgiveness of breaking Torah, Yahoshuah had to die, not to remove His way to live! Without the Law, how can anyone feel the need of a Saviour, as sin is not utterly sinful? Nor know how He walked, thus being able to walk after Him. This is a major reason why Christianity is on such a massive decline, and why it is almost impossible for many Christians to minister to others.
“The Torah of Yahoweh is perfect, bringing back the being; the witness of Yahoweh is trustworthy, making wise the simple; the orders of Yahoweh are straight, rejoicing the heart; the command of Yahoweh is clear, enlightening the eyes; the fear of Yahoweh is clean, standing forever; the right-rulings of Yahoweh are true, they are righteous altogether, more desirable than gold, than much fine gold; and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.” (Psalms 19:7-10).
Adopted sons are sons indeed to the most loving of all: Yahoweh! He welcomes those who diligently seek Him. We are adopted sons but we are still His as He made us. We simply went to Satan’s ways of breaking Yahoweh’s Desire. Now that we have been bought at a price, should we do the will of our former father, Satan? Or should we behave, as Abraham’s Seed forever will?
“See, I have set before you today life and good, and death and evil,” (Deuteronomy 30:15).
The Torah leads you to Messiah; the Messiah leads you to Torah. This is the Tutor of Two edges.
Note: Keep in the back of your mind that this said sons, and made no mention of daughters. There is a reason to this and I’ll explain it later on.
“For as many of you as were immersed into Messiah have put on Messiah.” (3:27).
Baptism is a picture of dieing and rising with the Messiah—a second birth—a key component in accepting Him into your heart. With the lack of this very simple step I doubt very seriously much of a journey has yet been made, and definitely not a long enough journey to be circumcised yet. To be saved? Yes. To be circumcised? No.
This verse tells me who has, “put on Messiah,” and who has not, “put on Messiah.” Which simply means to have accepted Him enough to be like Him.
“There is not Yehudite nor Greek, there is not slave nor free, there is not male and female, for you are all one in Messiah Yahoshuah. And if you are of Messiah, then you are seed of Abraham, and heirs according to promise.” (3:28-29).
Galatians 3:28 may be the most abused verse in the entire Bible. This passage does not mean I no longer have identity, or for that matter my gender. It means Yahoweh does not show partiality. He will judge a woman the same as a man, inasmuch He will not judge a gentile any differently than He will a Jew. So if it’s a sin for a Jew, then it is a sin for a Greek. If Yahoweh says He will punish those who hate Abraham, then He wasn’t excluding those of the Fluffy Christian Church, the very ones who will not worship in festival or in praise because the Jews act like the Messiah, while they do not.
If you are of Messiah (3:29), then you are a seed of Abraham. What does every seed of Abraham call themselves? Jew. And before you say, “There is neither Jew nor Greek,” if you haven’t already, remember that while it doesn’t matter what you call yourself just yet, as long as the title, “seeker of Yahoweh,” isn’t offensive, this is a matter of Judgment. I will delve more into this a little later on, but for now, here is what Yahoweh says:
“And not with you alone I am making this covenant and this oath, but with him who stands here with us today before Yahoweh our Elohim, as well as with him who is not here with us today. For you know how we dwelt in the land of Mitsrayim and how we passed through the nations which you passed through, and you saw their abominations and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were with them, lest there should be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe, whose heart turns away today from Yahoweh our Elohim, to go and serve the mighty ones of these nations, lest there should be among you a root bearing bitterness or wormwood. And it shall be, when he hears the words of this curse, that he should bless himself in his heart, saying, ‘I have peace though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart,’ in order to add drunkenness to thirst. Yahoweh would not forgive him, but rather, the displeasure of Yahoweh and His jealousy shall burn against that man, and every curse that is written in this book shall settle on him, and Yahoweh shall blot out his name from under the heavens. And Yahoweh shall separate him for evil, out of all the tribes of Yisra’el, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this Book of the Torah.” (Deuteronomy 29:14-21).
“They went on to draw a similar opposition between the universal religion of Jesus and the Christian, particularity of the religion of Paul. Combining these two emphases, Jefferson thus made Jesus into, ‘the greatest of all the reformers of the depraved religion of His own country,’ but Paul into the, ‘First corruptor of the doctrines of Jesus.’” -Thomas Jefferson’s Gospel
No, mister former president, that’s close, but not quite right. We are the twisters of what has been twisted. We need a fresh and honest look at Paul, and only then we will see him for who he truly was: just a man who loved the Messiah and kept the Torah; a man who valued this message to us more than his own life.
I am beginning to firmly believe Paul is not against the Teachings of Yahoweh. Something that, to be honest, I did not firmly believe when starting this study. I feel I have also found the main reasons why people misunderstand this letter. They view Paul completely differently from everyone else in Scripture. In addition, it is such a common thought that Paul is against the Torah, that it becomes easy to read lawlessness into his letters. Yet, if we view Paul as what Paul called himself, just a man, and we look at this from the view point of Paul, a Hebrew Jew who kept the Torah, then with this, and prayerful understanding from above, we will comprehend the inward battle of Paul. An inward battle we all face. The teachings of the world and the doctrines of men, or the teachings of the Saviour, the Manifested Word, called Torah?
Be Blessed and be a Blessing
Shalom
-Valentine Thalken Billingsley
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Additional Scripture References:
Genesis to Revelations
