Reading Romans 21 without taking into account Paul's message in II Co 9:19-23 and his letter to the Galatians is to misapply the actions of Acts 21 and to see "patterned authority" where none exists.
Jd
-----Original Message-----
From: David Miller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: TruthTalk@mail.innglory.org
Sent: Sat, 5 Nov 2005 22:46:19 -0500
Subject: Re: [TruthTalk] Torah & Jewish traditions
Oh, Gary, please stop being so selective in your reading. In regards to sin, the Jew has no advantage because all (both Jew and Gentile) are under sin, but Paul clearly says several verses prior to this that there are many ways in which the Jew has the advantage, first and foremost is the fact that the oracles of God were first given to them. That gives them a BIG advantage, but it does not make them any less a sinner.
Again, I point out, that Paul told Gentiles not to get circumcised. Where in all of Scripture did Paul instruct any Jews to not get circumcised? The false accusers were the ones who accused Paul of telling Jews to stop observing the Torah (see Acts 21:21). You are reading Paul's writings and twisting them the same way the Judaizers did, and misrepresenting Paul's position. Please read Acts 21 for details.
Peace be with you.
David Miller.
David Miller.
----- Original Message -----From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]Sent: Friday, November 04, 2005 12:28 PMSubject: Re: [TruthTalk] Torah & Jewish traditionsOn Thu, 3 Nov 2005 19:23:08 -0500 "David Miller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>I think from [the Ap. Paul's] perspective, the freedom to keep Torah as a Jew was viewed as advantageouswhich is far removed from the NT perspective, e.g.:Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised...What shall we conclude then? Are [Jews/'we'] any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin..As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.""Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.""The poison of vipers is on their lips.""Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.""Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.""There is no fear of God before their eyes."Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. (Romans 3)--Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.
Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.
You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value.The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. (Gal 5)