PAUL AND THE LAW
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Samuele Bacchiocchi, Ph. D.,
Professor of Theology and Church History,
Andrews University


Note: Several messages have been recently posted on the law and the
Sabbath.I decided to contribute to the discussion that has been going on,
by posting two brief excerpt from my latest book on GOD'S FESTIVALS. In
the first I address the question of "Paul and the Law" and in the second
of "Paul and the Holy Days."


	To defend the abrogation view of the Old Testament law, in
general, and of the Holy Days, in particular, appeal is made to Paul's
comments regarding the law and the Holy Days. I examined this subject at
great length in two of my Sabbath books.8 Interested readers are referred
to these studies. In this context I limit myself to a few basic
observations regarding Paul's attitude toward the law, in general, and the
Holy Days, in particular.
	Recent studies show that Paul has a "double concept" of the law,
"sometimes saying that it is good and has been fulfilled in Christ and
sometimes that it is bad and has been abolished in Christ."9 In Ephesians
2:15, Paul speaks of the law as having been "abolished" by Christ, while
in Romans 3:31 he explains that justification by faith in Jesus Christ
does not overthrow the law but "establishes" it. In Romans 7:6, he states
that "now we are discharged from the law," while a few verses later he
writes that "the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and
good" (7:12).
	In Romans 10:4, Paul writes that "Christ is the end of the law," 
while in 8:3-4, he explains that Christ came "in the likeness of sinful
flesh . . . in order that the just requirements of the law might be
fulfilled in us." Paul maintains in Romans 3:28 that "a man is justified
by faith apart from works of the law"; yet in 1 Corinthians 7:19, he
states that "neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision,
but keeping the commandments of God." In 2 Corinthians 3:7 Paul designates
the law as "the dispensation of death" while in Romans 3:2, he views it
as part of the "oracles of God" entrusted to the Jews.
	How can Paul view the law both as "abolished" (Eph 2:15) and
"established" (Rom 3:31), unnecessary (Rom 3:28) and necessary (1 Cor
7:19; Eph 6:2, 3; 1 Tim 1:8-10)? A popular explanation says that Paul's
negative statements refer to the Mosaic, ceremonial law, while the
positive ones refer to the moral law of the Ten Commandments. Such an
explanation, however, is based on an arbitrary distinction between moral
and ceremonial laws which cannot be found in Paul's writings.
	The correct explanation is to be found in the different contexts
in which Paul speaks of the law. When he speaks of the law in the context
of salvation (justification-right standing before God), he clearly affirms
that law-keeping is of no avail (Rom 3:20). But when Paul speaks of the
law in the context of Christian conduct (sanctification-right living
before God), he maintains the value and validity of God's law (Rom 7:12;
13:8-10; 1 Cor 7:19). 
	Central to Paul's understanding of the law is the Cross of Christ.
>From this perspective, he both negates and affirms the law. Negatively,
the apostle repudiates the law as the basis of justification: "If
justification were through the law, then Christ died to no purpose" (Gal
2:21). Positively, Paul teaches that the law is "spiritual, good, holy,
just" (Rom 7:12, 14, 16; 1 Tim 1:8), because it exposes sin and reveals
God's ethical standards. Thus, he states, Christ came "in order that the
just requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us" through the dynamic
power of His Spirit (Rom 8:4). 
	The failure to distinguish in Paul's writing between his moral and
soteriological usages of the law has led many to fallaciously conclude
that Paul is an antinomian who rejected the value and validity of the law
as a whole. Such a view is totally unwarranted, because Paul rejects the
law as a method of salvation but upholds it as a moral standard of
Christian conduct. 

This excerpt is take from pp. 87 to 89 of my book GOD'S FESTIVALS IN
SCRIPTURE AND HISTORY. 

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Christian regards

Samuele Bacchiocchi, Ph. D.,
Professor of Theology and Church History
Andrews University
4990 Appian Way
Berrien Springs, MI 49103
samuele@andrews.edu