-----Original Message-----
From: David Miller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thu, 3 Nov 2005 16:18:34 -0500
Subject: Re: [TruthTalk] Torah & Jewish traditions
David Miller wrote:
>> Maybe it is you who do not understand what this
>> New Testament Pharisee meant when he said,
>> "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness"
>> (Romans 10:4).
John wrote:
> What do you have in mind?
Well, you had started out by writing:
> The church was never "right" based on its
> collective understanding of the Message.
Yet, apostle Paul wrote that the church of the living God is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15).
>> Maybe it is you who do not understand what this
>> New Testament Pharisee meant when he said,
>> "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness"
>> (Romans 10:4).
John wrote:
> What do you have in mind?
Well, you had started out by writing:
> The church was never "right" based on its
> collective understanding of the Message.
Yet, apostle Paul wrote that the church of the living God is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15).
It is such because it is the asseembly of the true and living God. The truth, in the assemblage, dwells in God. This is not a statement by Paul that the "church" is, therefore righteous or right acting. I mean, most of leters were written for the purpose of dealing with some misunderstanding. If I made a list, it would seem quite large.
If the church was never "right" in its collective understanding, then where is the truth to be found after Christ ascended?
You know the answer to this question. I am not sure why you are disagreeing, here.
My perspective is that the truth continues on earth, found in the body of Christ. Hence, 1 Cor. 12 argues that Christ is not like the mute idols which the Corinthians had previously followed, but rather Christ has the power of speech, and it is through the members of his body (his church, the collective of saints in a local community).
Sound to me like you are saying that the truth exists in the true and living God (in Christ) !! I agree.
You speak of the understanding that "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness" as being something that would cause Jews to stop keeping their feast days and sabbath observances.
If Christ is the end of the law, the purpose of the these feast days and sabbath obervances is gone. I am complete in Christ. I need no other liturgy.
Yet, the very man who wrote this statement was, in fact, an observant Pharisee who continued to keep all of these things.
If we take the Christian Paul away from his very purpose of living as expressed in I Cor 9:19-23, we will misunderstand his actions in regards to the Law and miss the point of the perfect "law of liberty."
Therefore, it seems to me that your perspective of the meaning of this phrase is at odds with the author of the statement. I would suggest that the word "end" here must have the same connotation as when Jesus said, "I am the Alpha and Omega." It does not mean extinction or termination of the law, but rather refers to the fulfillment of the goal. It carries a meaning more analogous to how we speak of the "end of man," referring not to man's termination or removal, but rather to his ultimate purpose and fulfillment in life, his reason for existing.
"Telos" is the word translated "end" in Romans 10:4. The word always means "end of a state [of being] or an action," end or termination.
