Galatians and Torah, the short version

Peter said that Paul's writings are difficult to understand and easily distorted by those who don't already have a solid Scriptural education. He called them ignorant, unstable, and lawless. (2 Peter 3:15-17) Keep that in mind whenever Paul seems to be clear and straightforward. Verify what he wrote against what the rest of Scripture says.

The controversy that Paul battled throughout his ministry was never about whether the Torah was good or worth keeping. He claimed to have kept the Law his whole life. The controversy was always about the definition of Torah, its purpose, and how it should be taught.

Is God's Torah defined only by the five books of Moses? Does it also include oral traditions? Does it include all of the Jewish traditions as well as the complete set of all Sanhedrin rulings? Can a person be "saved" by obedience? Can a gentile convert be allowed into fellowship without being fully converted to Judaism, including having been circumcised? Or can gentile converts ignore Torah altogether? These were the questions over which Paul argued with the "party of the circumcision". (Acts 15)

The Letter to the Galatians wasn't written to Jews; it was written to formerly pagan gentiles. When Paul talks about them returning to slavery under "weak and worthless elementary principles of the world", he can't possibly be talking about God's Law. (Galatians 4:9) They weren't keeping the Law before, so how could they return to it? And how could he justify calling God's Law weak, worthless, or worldly, when the Bible says the opposite literally hundreds of times? (See Psalm 119 for a number of examples.) The Galatians were keeping the laws of false gods and of men before they met Paul, things that are truly weak, worthless, and worldly, so it seems logical that these are the things Paul meant.

The voluminous traditions of the scribes and Pharisees, the rules for ritual conversion to Judaism (although it wasn't called that at the time), the circumcision of grown men, extra-Biblical fasts and feasts...all of these things are the laws of men, not of God. Paul never taught against the Law of God, but he incessantly taught against the anti-God laws of men.

He also taught that obedience to God's Law was not necessary for salvation, and the Jerusalem Council clearly agreed with him. (Acts 15 and 21) The law can't do anything for a faithless sinner except to point out and prove his sin. That's a useful function, but it's not where the Torah truly shines. Although Paul taught that obedience to Torah was never a requirement of salvation, all of his teachings were founded on Torah. Every instruction he gave to the gentile congregations was based on the five books of Moses. He called Torah good, just, and holy.

In claiming that salvation was by faith and not by strict obedience to rules, whether God's or man's, he didn't nullify the Law, but he established it. (Romans 3) We, whose hope is in Yeshua rather than in ourselves or some mere prophet, establish God's Law as the light it was intended to be by walking it out in our lives. Not instantly or as a prerequisite for salvation, but learning it gradually, working out out our salvation through study, prayer, and by every day walking a little closer to God's standards with full faith in His mercy to forgive our inevitable missteps.

Fear God and keep His commandments, for this remains the whole duty of a righteous man. (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

See also The Multifacted Law of God, Does Acts 15 Say We Can Ignore God's Law?, and Choosing to Sit in a Prison of Your Own Making.

Messianic, Emphasis on "Messy"

Messianic Jews, and especially Torah-observant former gentiles (aka Messianic Christians, Hebraic Christians, Hebrew Roots, Messianic Believers, Netzarim, and a thousand variations of these), have taken a bold step in rejecting many things that they were wrongly taught as children by parents, churches, and schools. It's a hard and admirable thing to have done.

Unfortunately, once you decide that one long-held belief is based on a lie, it's easier to suspect other beliefs of the same faulty foundations. Far too easy. Here's how it often goes:

His name wasn't Jesus? The Sabbath wasn't changed to Sunday? The Torah wasn't thrown out? Hmm. What if everything else I was taught is wrong too!?

• Should this or that book be thrown out of the Bible?
• Should this or that book be added to the Bible?
• Should I be calling Paul "Shaul"?
• The word "god" was once used as a generic title for all supernatural beings. It still is! Maybe I should stop using it.
• I'm named for a pagan god. Should I change my name?
• The days of the week are named for pagan gods. Should I use those names?
• A month is sorta-kinda four weeks. What if the month changed and it used to be exactly four weeks and the first day of the month is supposed to always fall on the first day of the week and the Sabbath should always be on the 7th day of the month! (pant, pant, pant...)
• Was God's name replaced with "LORD" in the Bible as part of a conspiracy to keep us from knowing His name?
• The word "lord" is used to translate the word "ba'al". Is "lord" pagan?
• Are the Jews really Jews?
• Where did the ten northern tribes really go?
• Is the Pope the antichrist?
• The letter J is only 600 years old. Are all names starting with "J" based on a lie?
• What if His name isn't even Yeshua? Maybe it's Yehoshua or Yahshua or Yehusha or Yeshayashahushawayahoheyushua?
• Should we use the word "Bible" since it's an English transliteration of a Greek transliteration of an Egyptian place that was named for a pagan god?
• Is the earth really flat and all the governments, pilots, sailors, and scientists lying to us about the earth being round so that we will lose faith in God...I mean the Lord...I mean Jehovah...I mean YHVH. No, I don't know how that would make me question my faith, but someone told me it should, so...

This is completely insane! Messianics are jumping wholesale off the Cliff of Paranoid Delusions. STOP it! 

Just because something at some time was used by pagans doesn't make it pagan. The English language derives from an older language used exclusively by pagans. Are you going to stop speaking in English? What are you going to replace it with? Hebrew, which was also used extensively by pagans and is still used in Kabbalistic "magic"? Get a grip on yourselves. Have a drink. Take a pill if you have to. (Pharmakeia, I know. Can you hear my eyes rolling all the way across the country?)

Listen, unless you're a linguist, don't get too caught up in theological gymnastics that rely on obscure lingusitic theories that no linguist in the world could even verify, let alone agree with.

The letter J isn't evil. It's just a letter, and like all other letters used in English, it evolved from an older Latin letter, which evolved from a Greek or Etruscan letter, which came from Phoenician or Hebrew. Languages change over time. There's no conspiracy. It's not sinister. It's just people.

If your latest theory relies on centuries of coordinated, air-tight conspiracy by a large number of people, I absolutely, unquestionably guarantee you, that your theory is wrong. There is ZERO possibility that there is a conspiracy to hide that the Earth is actually flat. You cannot possibly believe such a thing without suffering from a serious mental or spiritual disorder. I'm not exaggerating. I'm not kidding. Get on your knees and get help right now.

Please.

For the sake of the example you are setting in the world, for the sake of the Kingdom... relax and have a little faith.

A Chiasm in Psalm 12 that Reveals the Master of All

From our low perspective it appears that the godly are disappearing from the earth, that the wicked are winning everywhere, but God has a much broader view than we do. He can see over the mountains and into the deepest valleys. He will guard the righteous forever, no matter how numerous the wicked might be. He has said He will, and He keeps His promises. After all, who is master over us all?

What Does It Mean To Be Holy?

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." (1 Peter 1:14-16)

Where is that written “You shall be holy, for I am holy?”

That would be right here:

"Every swarming thing that swarms on the ground is detestable; it shall not be eaten. Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, any swarming thing that swarms on the ground, you shall not eat, for they are detestable. You shall not make yourselves detestable with any swarming thing that swarms, and you shall not defile yourselves with them, and become unclean through them. For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground.” (Leviticus 11:41-44)