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POSTED 11 MAY, 2009
What Are
"Works of the Law"?
by
J.K. McKee
editor@tnnonline.net
I remember the first time I ever heard the possibility that “works
of the Law” in the Pauline Epistles could be
anything other than just keeping the
Mosaic Torah. I disregarded it immediately. Why?
Because I heard this from someone, who read an
article, whose author had read an article in a
theological journal, an article that had likely
been misinterpreted and misrepresented. Like the
game of telephone—one person gave a message, and
then it had been passed down to four or five
people—sounding nothing like what had originally
been said by the Biblical scholar who made the
original proposal. Hearing things fourth or
fifth-hand can make it pretty easy to disregard
what has been said, especially if the person
passing on the information is not a part of the
theological conversation, who is able to go to the source, seeing what was
originally proposed, and engage on any kind of
reasonable level.
Anyone who enters into Pauline theology today will easily encounter
the fact that there are scholars and exegetes
who think that the clause “works of law” or
ergōn nomou (ergwn
nomou)—appearing
first in Galatians (2:16[3x]; 3:2, 5, 10), and
then appearing again in Romans (3:20,
28)—actually does designate something other than
“works required by the Mosaic Law,” or at least
something a bit more specific than just
“observing the law” (NIV) in general . These
proposals, though, have been met with a great
deal of criticism, and even some hostility, by
those of particular theological traditions.
Alternatives to the customary meaning of “works
of law” have been proposed more frequently, as
New Testament theologians, over the past fifty
years or so, have had greater access to ancient
Jewish literature and resources, and this
information has had to be considered in their
exegesis. Their thoughts, suggestions, and
conclusions are just now late in this decade being
discussed by normal lay people in the
evangelical Church.
Does the Apostle Paul use ergōn nomou as a polemic against
Jewish observance of the Torah, against a kind
of salvation-by-works doctrine? Or does he use
it in reference to something like ancient
halachic matters that affected a faith
community, which should have been welcoming of
non-Jewish Believers in the Messiah, but were
not?
Today’s Messianic movement has grown in leaps and bounds
significantly because Believers want to know
more about the First Century place and setting
of the Apostolic Scriptures. While this has
certainly affected much of how we view the
teaching style of Yeshua the Messiah as a First
Century rabbi, it has unfortunately not affected
as much of how we view the Pauline letters. The
Pauline letters are a part of the Bible that too
many of us do not deal with, either because we
just do not know what to do with them,
or
because entering into the world of contemporary
Pauline scholarship is too much of a minefield
and a hassle for us to do. Too few of our
congregational leaders and teachers are aware of
the considerable progress that has been made in
the past few decades within Pauline theology,
and how it opens up parts of Galatians and
Romans—that have traditionally been interpreted
as being anti-Torah—to really not be anti-Torah
at all. They include, rather, specific critiques
of practices and attitudes that impeded the work
of the gospel among the nations in the First
Century.
In this article, we will discuss some of the various proposals made
regarding “works of the Law,” and see how they
play out. Are “works of the Law” just observing
the Mosaic Torah? Are “works of the Law” some
kind of legalism? Or, are “works of the Law” the
identity barriers set by an ancient sect of
Judaism? How might knowing about these things
bring greater clarity to passages in Galatians
and Romans? What kind of contemporary
application might help us to be a vibrant
Messianic faith community, which can positively
impact society at large?
End of sample excerpt.
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J.K. McKee
(B.A., University of Oklahoma; M.A., Asbury
Theological Seminary) is the editor of TNN
Online (www.tnnonline.net) and is a Messianic
apologist.
He is a 2009 recipient of the Zondervan
Biblical Languages Award for Greek.
He
is author of
numerous books, dealing with a wide range of
topics that are important for today’s
Messianic Believers. He has also written many articles on
theological issues,
and is presently focusing his attention on Messianic commentaries
of various books of the Bible.
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