Oh, Gary, please stop being so selective in your reading. In regards
to sin, the Jew has no advantage because all (both Jew and Gentile) are under
sin, but Paul clearly says several verses prior to this that there are many ways
in which the Jew has the advantage, first and foremost is the fact that the
oracles of God were first given to them. That gives them a BIG advantage,
but it does not make them any less a sinner.
Again, I point out, that Paul told Gentiles not to get circumcised.
Where in all of Scripture did Paul instruct any Jews to not get
circumcised? The false accusers were the ones who accused
Paul of telling Jews to stop observing the Torah (see Acts 21:21).
You are reading Paul's writings and twisting them the same way the Judaizers
did, and misrepresenting Paul's position. Please read Acts 21 for
details.
Peace be with you.
David Miller.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, November 04, 2005 12:28
PM
Subject: Re: [TruthTalk] Torah &
Jewish traditions
On Thu, 3 Nov 2005 19:23:08 -0500 "David Miller" <
[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>I
think from [the Ap. Paul's] perspective, the freedom to keep Torah as a Jew
was viewed as advantageous
which is far
removed from the NT perspective, e.g.:
Circumcision has value if you observe
the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been
circumcised...
What shall we conclude then?
Are [Jews/'we'] any better? Not at all! We have
already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin..
As it is written: "There is no one
righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks
God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no
one who does good, not even one."
"Their throats are open graves; their
tongues practice deceit."
"The poison of vipers is on their
lips."
"Their mouths are full of cursing and
bitterness."
"Their feet are swift to shed blood;
ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not
know."
"There is no fear of God before their
eyes."
Now we know that whatever the law says,
it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced
and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared
righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become
conscious of sin. (Romans 3)
--
Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that
if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at
all.
Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he
is obligated to obey the whole law.
You who are trying to be justified by
law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
But
by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we
hope.
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any
value.
The only thing that counts is faith
expressing itself through love. (Gal 5)
