Subject: What day is the Sabbath day? |
Bible Note: Kalos, In fact, the Law of righteousness (Torah) is based on faith, as David Stern points out in his Jewish New Testament Commentary’s note on the conjunctive "But" in Romans 10:5-6: “For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness. But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: "DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, 'WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?' (that is, to bring Christ down), or 'WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)." Stern translates "Moreover" in place of "But", explaining that “But”, "...flows out of the Christian theology which mistakenly minimizes the importance of Mosaic Law. This, in turn, is the fruit of the Church’s effort during the 2nd through 6th centuries of the Common Era to eliminate, hide or finesse the Jewishness of Christianity… It is crucial, therefore, to insist that vv. 6-8 do not present the righteousness based on faith in the Messiah Yeshua as DIFFERENT (emphasis mine) from the righteousness based on the TORAH, but as the SAME—the same righteousness based on the same trust and leading to the same eternal life.” “But” implies contrast (“I love you, BUT you don’t love me”), whereas “moreover” amplifies what precedes it (“I love you, AND I will love you always.”). Paul means to say that there is not one righteousness based on the Law (Torah) and another, separate righteousness based on faith, but that they are both based on the same faith which leads to, and ends in, Jesus Christ. As you know, Stern is a Messianic Jew for whom “…the goal at which the Torah aims is the Messiah, who offers righteousness for everyone who trusts.” (Rom 10:4, Complete Jewish Bible) For Stern, and in keeping with your post, the Law remains critical in the NT, because it has always required faith, the same kind of faith we require to “believe in Him whom He has sent.” (John 6:29) It’s through the grace of God in Christ Jesus that we are enabled to do the Moral Law. Colin |