Paul UPHELD the Authority of the Old Testament Writings

Brother R. Michel Lankford

Today’s Question:

“Why Do You Believe that Paul the Apostle was NOT Teaching AGAINST Obeying the Old Testament Law? It seems pretty clear that Paul was teaching that.”

Part Two

Please remember that I am answering this question in a series of podcasts instead of a single podcast episode, because the answer would be too long otherwise.  This is the 2nd episode in the teaching series dedicated to answering this question.

A Quick Review…

• The first reason that we know that Paul was not teaching against keeping the Old Testament of written Scripture, is because Paul directly said that he WAS NOT teaching against the Law and the Prophets.  He made six clear statements in the book of Acts to that effect, (Acts 24:14–16; Acts 25:7–10; Acts 28:17-21).
• Modern Christians desperately want to believe that Paul was teaching that we should not obey God’s Commandments anymore because we’re under Grace through Christ; because they routinely teach today that the Grace of God means we’re allowed to do things that God says we’re not allowed to do.  The big problem is that Paul openly said he was not teaching what people claim he was teaching.

  Reviewing What Paul SAID

(Acts 24:14–16; Acts 25:7-10; Acts 28:17-21)

• Paul clearly said that he served the God of Isaac Abraham and Jacob,
• Paul clearly said that he believed EVERYTHING, and that he was in ACCORDANCE with the Law and the Prophets.
• Paul said that he always did his best to maintain a clear conscience before God and before man.
• Paul said that he had committed no offense against the Law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Cesar.
• Paul said that he had done no wrong to the Jews.
• Paul said that he had done nothing against the customs of the Jewish fathers.

This is what Paul testified about what he believed, how he lived, what he practiced, and what he preached.  In order for the six statements to be the truth, there is NO CHANCE, that Paul could have been teaching, ‘Reject the Law’ ‘Don’t obey the Law’ ‘Do the opposite of what God’s Law teaches people to do in the Torah and in the prophets, because you are under grace.’ IF that’s truly what Paul was teaching, then all six of the statements that Paul made here are a lie by necessity.  If Paul was truly teaching against obeying the Commandments, when he clearly said he was not teaching that, then Paul was lying, when he said that he believed and practiced according to the Law and the Prophets.  If Paul were a liar, he would not even be saved, (Revelation 21:8), let alone an apostle, which if that were the case, then nothing Paul said regarding the Law would be valid in any event.  I believe that Paul was telling the truth.  I believe that Paul was and is a legitimate apostle of YHWH, and of the Messiah.  I believe that Paul told the truth when he clearly said that he was not teaching against the Law and the Prophets.  Since Paul told the truth, when he said he was not teaching against the Law and the Prophets. That also means by necessity, that Paul WAS NOT teaching what modern Christians believe Paul was teaching when they misread, misinterpret, and misapply Paul’s writings today.

If you happen to miss the teaching and you want further details, by all means go and find out more here:

Paul Said He Was NOT Teaching Against the Law

The Second Reason… Paul UPHELD the ‘Old Testament’

Paul AFFIRMS the authority of the Old Testament (e.g. Rom. 15:4-6; 1 Cor. 10; 2 Tim. 3:12-17)

The second reason that we know that Paul was not teaching against obeying the Commandments of Written Scripture, is because Paul specifically upheld the Authority of the Old Testament Writings.  What is even more important is that Paul upheld the authority of the Old Testament Scriptures, even as he was writing to gentile congregations.  We see examples of this in his letters to the Romans and to the Corinthians.  That is significant.

As It Is Written: “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:4–6 NASB95)

• Remember that the book of Romans was written about 57A.D.  That puts it about 24 years AFTER Messiah died and rose again.
• Remember, Paul was writing this to believers in Rome.  These were not predominantly Jewish believers who came to faith in Messiah.  They were probably a mixed congregation; having some believers who came from a Hebrew background, but also having other believers who were gentile-born.
• Paul clearly said that whatever was written in earlier times, (AKA the Old Testament), was written for OUR instruction.  Notice that Paul DID NOT say, what was written in earlier times, the Old Testament, was written for me and my people because I have a Jewish background.  On the contrary, Paul clearly said that what was written in earlier times was written for OUR instruction; meaning that the Old Testament was written for both his instruction and THEIRS.  The Old Testament was written for OUR instruction.
• It is also noteworthy that the Torah (the first five books of Scripture), which we now often refer to as “The Law,” are often referred to by many Hebrew writers as “the book of Instruction.” It is interesting that Paul said that what was written in earlier times was written for OUR INSTRUCTION
• ISSUE: So, modern Christianity has a serious problem.  Paul clearly, wrote to a predominantly gentile-born congregation that the Old Testament was written for OUR instruction; but then SUPPOSEDLY Paul is going to turn right around and teach, AGAINST learning from and obeying those same Instructions?!  This is the way that most modern Christians are applying Scripture today: “Yeah, what was written in earlier times, (the Old Testament), was written for OUR Instruction; but since you are saved by Grace, and not by your works, then you should totally reject and disregard, and ignore the things that were written for our instruction.  You should totally do the OPPOSITE of what the Old Testament Instructions teaches people to do, because you are going to be saved by Grace and not by your works of obedience.  Modern Christianity makes ZERO sense at all.  After all, was not Paul, “Under Grace,” when he wrote Romans 15?  Of course, he was.  Nevertheless, even under grace, he still upheld the authority of the Old Testament.
  • Paul DID NOT say ‘Reject and ignore God’s Instructions now, because you are saved by Grace and not by works.’
  • Paul DID NOT say ‘Don’t obey God’s Instructions now because you are saved by Grace.’
  • Paul DID NOT say ‘Disobey God on purpose. Do the OPPOSITE of What God’s Commandments and Instructions, tells people to do, because disobeying what God said to do proves that you are walking in God’s Grace through Christ. Disobeying God on purpose shows that you are trusting Christ, and not trusting in your own obedience to save you.” Paul did not teach any of that garbage.
  • In fact, Paul just taught the OPPOSITE of those rebellious ideas, right here in Romans 15:4–6.

Paul Uses Torah to Teach the Corinthians

As It Is Written: “For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. (1 Corinthians 10:1–6 NASB95)

• Here Paul is using Torah to teach the Corinthians to learn from the mistakes and disobedience that Israel committed, and NOT to repeat them.
  • Do not be idolaters…  Paul is referring to the golden calf incident in the wilderness, (Exodus 32:1–10).
  • Do not live immorally… Paul is referring to the incident described in (Numbers chapter 25).  God executed 23,000 people that day.  He wasn’t happy.
  • Do not test the Lord… Paul is referring to the incident described in (Numbers chapter 21).  They grumbled against God.  They tested God’s Patience, and God sent them a plague of serpents.
  • Do not grumble… Paul is referring to the incident described in (Numbers chapters 16-17).
• Then in 1 Corinthians 10:11, Paul REPEATS the same advice:

As It Is Written: “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. (1 Corinthians 10:11–12 NASB95)

• AGAIN, Paul clearly said that the Old Testament, and the examples contained therein were written for OUR Instruction.  This is now the second time that Paul is using Torah to train a gentile congregation; this time in Corinth.
• I challenge you to think rationally and logically for a moment.  Was Israel punished by God in the wilderness when they OBEYED God, or were they punished when they DISOBEYED God?  Was Israel punished by God when they earnestly tried to do what God told them to do, or were they punished by God when they disregarded what God said, and chose to do what they preferred instead?  If you are using the brains that God gave you, then you know the answer.  Clearly, Israel was punished severely when they disregarded and disobeyed God’s Instructions.
• Since Paul is clearly instructing the Corinthians NOT TO REPEAT Israel’s disobediences in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, that also means that Paul could not possibly be saying, ‘Reject God’s Commandments.’ ‘Do the opposite of what God says to do because you’re under Grace.  Disobey God on purpose now because obeying God doesn’t save you.  Paul could not have been teaching those ideas.  He just told the Corinthians NOT to REPEAT the disobediences of Israel.  Paul was not and could not have been teaching that disobeying God’s Commandments is now Grace.  Paul just taught the OPPOSITE of that idea right here.

Paul UPHELD the Torah to Timothy

As It Is Written: “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:12–17 NASB95)

• Note that Paul wrote this letter to his student Timothy in about 65 A.D.  Now, that is about 32 years AFTER Jesus died and was resurrected from the dead.  So, by traditional counting that means that we are a minimum of 32 years into the so called, “Age of Grace.”
• Did Paul say, ‘Hey Timothy, reject God’s Law now because you are saved by Grace and not by obeying God.’ So, disregard everything you learned in the Old Testament?  On the contrary, Paul specifically told Timothy to CONTINUE obeying and doing the Scriptures that he had learned since childhood.
• Did Paul say, ‘Hey Timothy, ‘Don’t obey God’s Law now because you are saved by Grace?’ On the contrary, Paul specifically told Timothy to CONTINUE obeying and doing the Scriptures that he had learned since childhood.
• Did Paul say, ‘Hey Timothy, ‘Disobey God on purpose. Do the OPPOSITE of What God’s Commandments and Instructions, tells people to do, because disobeying what God said to do proves that you are walking in God’s Grace through Christ. Disobeying God on purpose shows that you are trusting Christ, and not trusting in your own obedience to save you? On the contrary, Paul specifically told Timothy to CONTINUE obeying and doing the Scriptures that he had learned since childhood.
• Christians, you must face up to it. Paul specifically told Timothy to CONTINUE obeying and doing the Scriptures that he had learned since childhood.  Paul told Timothy to CONTINUE doing the Old Testament.  The Old Testament is the ONLY “Scriptures” that Timothy would have had access to at the time.  The so-called New Testament was not even completed until 35 years AFTER this letter was written.  The New Testament was not even compiled, let alone widely distributed until after 300 A.D.  So, when Paul instructed Timothy to CONTINUE in the Sacred Scriptures, Paul was clearly telling Timothy to CONTINUE applying the books of Genesis to Malachi.  Paul told Timothy to CONTINUE doing the Old Testament, just as he had learned to do it since childhood.  Paul did not say to Timothy, stop doing the Old Testament.  You do not need it anymore.  Paul said the exact OPPOSITE of that idea, right here.  If the Old Testament is considered OBSOLETE in the age of grace, as most Christians misunderstand today, then WHY is Paul clearly telling Timothy to CONTINUE honoring the Old Testament Scriptures, just as he had done since childhood?
• Notice that Paul said that the Sacred Writings, (referring primarily to the Old Testament), was able to make us wise onto Salvation, through faith, which is in Messiah.
• Notice that Paul clearly said that ALL Scripture is inspired by God, (God Breathed), and ALL Scripture is valid.  Paul DID NOT say, SOME Scripture is profitable, but others you should ignore.  Paul specifically said that ALL Scripture is profitable.  I am sorry, but the Old Testament IS STILL Scripture, and Paul specifically told Timothy that the Old Testament IS profitable…
  • Paul clearly told Timothy that ALL Scripture IS profitable for reproof.  This refers to using all Scripture as evidence to establish the truth of a concept or position.
  • Paul clearly told Timothy that ALL Scripture IS profitable for correction.  The word literally means to restore someone to an upright state of good character.
  • Paul clearly told Timothy that ALL Scripture IS profitable for training in righteousness.  That means that ALL Scripture IS profitable, to train us in how to walk righteously before God.
  • Paul clearly told Timothy that we needed to use ALL of Scripture in order to be thoroughly equipped for every good work. That means even by Paul’s own definition, that we cannot be equipped for every good work that God wants us to do without paying attention to the Commandments of the Old Testament
• Scripture can either be profitable or it can be abolished, done away with, and made obsolete, but both of those realities cannot live in the same space at the same time.  If ALL Scripture is still profitable to accomplish these purposes, as Paul said that it is, then part of Scripture cannot be OBSOLETE or be done away with or abolished.  If part of the Scripture is now obsolete and done away with, then it CANNOT correctly be said that ALL Scripture is profitable to accomplish the purposes that Paul declared that it is still profitable for.

Closing Review

Why do I say that Paul was not teaching against obeying God’s Law, and Instructions? 

• I believe that way because, Paul made no less than SIX testimony statements in the book of Acts, where he openly declared that he was NOT teaching against the Law.  Therefore, Christians must be drawing an incorrect conclusion, when they claim that Paul, was supposedly teaching against obeying the Old Testament of written Scripture, especially since Paul himself proclaimed that he was not doing that (Acts 24:14–16; Acts 25:7-10; Acts 28:17-21).
• In today’s podcast episode, we discussed the fact that Paul clearly UPHELD the authority and the validity of the Old Testament Scriptures.
  • Romans 15:4-6: Paul told the church of Rome that what was written before hand, (the Old Testament was written for OUR Instruction.  Paul did not tell them to ignore and to disregard the Old Testament.  On the contrary, Paul makes the OPPOSITE declaration right here.
  • 1 Corinthians 10:1– 6,11-12: Paul told the church at Corinth that what was written in the Old Testament was clearly written as a warning and an example to us, so that we would not crave evil things, and we would not disobey God the way that Israel did in the wilderness.  Now, if the Old Testament has been done away with, or it’s been abolished, or it’s been nailed to the cross, so that it does not matter whether we obey its standards and precepts anymore, (as most Christians now believe); then why is Paul teaching Torah principles and precepts to gentile-born congregations in Rome and in Corinth?
  • 2 Timothy 3:12-17: Paul told his protégé Timothy to CONTINUE doing the Scriptures that he had known since childhood.  There was no New Testament compiled or distributed when Timothy was a child.  The only Scriptures that Timothy could have known since childhood would be the books of Genesis to Malachi, (the Old Testament).  Notice that Paul did NOT tell Timothy, stop doing those things.  He didn’t say, Timothy, stop doing what you learned in the Old Testament.  That’s done away with and abolished, now that you are in Christ.  He did not say that.  He specifically told Timothy to CONTINUE doing the Scriptures that he had learned since he was a child.
  • 2 Timothy 3:16-17 Paul clearly said that ALL Scripture is God breathed or inspired by God and profitable for Doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, and thoroughly equipped for every good work.  If the Old Testament Instructions and Commandments have been abolished, done away with and nailed to the cross, so that God’s Commandments are now obsolete, then by definition, only PART of Scripture is still profitable, and NOT ALL of Scripture would be profitable like Paul said that it is.

I do thank you for your kind attention.

Next Time…

Paul specifically SAID that not subjecting ourselves to God’s Law, is part of the SINFUL nature. Therefore, he could NOT be advocating, “Don’t obey God’s Commandments anymore.”

Brother R. Michel Lankford