Jesus' Words Only

Paul Taught Gentiles' Law Obedience Puts You Under A Curse.

 

Paul's doctrine in Galatians is clear:  Gentiles who try to obey Torah damn themselves, and are cursed. Elsewhere, we prove that this was a common Pharisee doctrine. Gentiles who read the Law would be put to death by the Pharisees. For the startling proof, see Paul Taught Pharisee Doctrine Gentiles are Damned if they Try to Follow Law by Reading the Law. See also What Did Jesus Mean By Saying the Pharisees Did not Teach God's Mercy.  We also prove there that Jesus in Mathew 5:17-19 intended to condemn this teaching by the Pharisees.

 

Paul Terrorizes Galatians Who Follow the Law

In Galatians, Paul bemoans Galatian Christians who wish to 

keep sabbath as provided in the Ten Commandments -- a

command specifically applicable to all Gentiles in community

with Israel. See Deut. 5:12-15 ("sojourner within thy

gates"); Lev. 25:6 ("sojourner settling with thee"); Exo

23:12 (sojourner). 

Paul then says "anathema" -- cursed -- are those who wish to

be just / justified by keeping such parts of the Law, i.e.,

sabbath, etc. For otherwise, Paul argues, they will have to keep

"all" of the Law, and not selected parts. (Gal. 1:6-12; Gal. 2:14-

16 (cursed if not continue in all points of law); Gal. 3:9-

12 (under a curse, misquoting Deuteronomy, as explained at

this link), Gal. 3:21.  

(Paul thereby misrepresented the Law was all or nothing

for a Gentile, rather than tell Gentiles they were a

discreet category called sojourners in the Law which  

had a few provisions which they had to abide by. See

The Law Applicable to Gentiles.)

 

As Bart Ehrman, a professor on the New Testament, explains:

“Paul is absolutely clear [in Galatians] that he thinks non-Jews are not to do these things [i.e., keep Sabbath, holidays, etc.] once they believe in Christ. In fact, in his most vitriolic letter, the one to the Galatians, he lays a curse on anyone who thinks that Gentiles who come to believe in Jesus should engage in such practices. (1:8-9; 2:15-16; 3:10-14.” (Bart D. Ehrman, Peter, Paul & Mary Magalene (2006) at 117.)

 

Hence, Paul curses those Gentile Christians who obey Sabbath for a Biblically-valid reason (i.e., Exodus 20:6 - mercy to those who love YHWH and obey commandments of YHWH).

Paul extends the same curse implicitly to Jews by saying that anyone who believes one is justified before God by "keeping the law" is actually lost if they did so.  Gal. 2:15-16 ("no one" is justified by keeping the law.). Thus, implicitly Paul is saying Moses himself was a false prophet for in Deut 6:24-25 KJV Moses said:

"[YHWH] commanded us to observe all these statutes...Then it will be righteousness [i.e., justification] for us if we are careful to observe all these commandments...."

 

Paul's views are particularly ironic that Gentiles are

supposedly cursed by obeying Sabbath and being

circumcised when in very narrow circumstances the Law

required circumcision (e.g., for a gentile to enter the 

Temple if he chose to enter which was optional) so as to

be righteous and continue as salvation-worthy in God's

eyes. 

It is especially noteworthy that Paul emphasizes 

dissuading Sabbath observance among Gentiles by

laying a curse on  Gentiles when their attitude is to keep

a right standing with God mandated in Deut 6:24-25 

quoted above. The irony is because Paul claims Gentiles

are the focus of Paul's ministries. Yet Paul appears unaware of

the verses on the promised new covenant, and the

conditions for the entry of Gentiles into it.

The promise in Isaiah 56 of salvation to Gentiles ("my

salvation is about to come", 56:1) through God's

suffering servant in Isaiah 53 (whom was obviously

Jesus) was predicated on two things: "keep the Sabbath

from profaning it and keep his hand from doing evil."

(Isaiah 56:2) or "who keep My Sabbaths, and choose

things that please Me, and take hold of my covenant."

(Isaiah 56:4,6). The word covenant means the ten commandments,

such as in the Ark of the Covenant, i.e., the box holding the tablets of

the Ten Commandments. Yahweh clearly adds in Isaiah 56:7 the aim:

"For my House, a House of Prayer, is called for all peoples." (Isaiah

56:7.)

This passage of Isaiah 56:6-7 identially appears in the Dead Sea Scrolls 125 BC. See link to PDF of page 363 of Abegg's DSS Bible. 

 

We should mention that Jesus partially quotes this passage in Matthew 21:13: "It is written," he said to them, "'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it 'a den of robbers.'"

 

Paul's so-called 'gospel' thereby eviscerated one of the

key conditions of salvation for Gentiles -- the weekly 

time out from work -- despite Paul claiming he had the

correct path of salvation for them. Oh what man cannot

be led to believe!  

In the same vein, Paul says to the Galatian Christians

about those who obeyed God's commands as Christians

to stay in God's grace: "You have been severed from

 Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by Law; you

have fallen from grace." (Gal. 5:4 NASB.)  

So Paul acknowledges he is talking about true Gentile

Christians. They are severed from Christ by obeying

Sabbath rest as a condition of salvation as expressed by

God in Exodus 20:6 KJV. That verse says God grants

"mercy to those who love me and obey my

commandments."

Thus Paul teaches you are saved by faith alone, but 

become damned by obeying one of God’s commands

in the Ten Commandments if motivated to satisfy the

requirement in Exodus 20:6— part of the Ten

Commandments too. Paul is talking about the Sabbath

command in context -- a command that was specifically

extended in the Law to Gentiles aka  foreigners /

sojourners who dwelled among the sons of Israel.

  

And again on the parallel topic of circumcision (which

the Law necessitated a Gentile have done only if they

wished to enter the Temple at Jerusalem per Ezekiel 44:9

or wished to participate in passover per Exodus 12:49),

Paul says in the same context:

"Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let

yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no

value to you at all." (Gal. 5:2 NIV.)

Or as the KJV says, "Christ will profit you nothing." (Gal. 5:2 KJV.)   

 

Thus, even a Gentile Christian who wanted to be

circumcised solely to enter the temple to avoid being

damned by defiling the Temple's holiness standard,  Paul

says would actually lose their salvation for such clear

sin-avoidance. Hence, Paul warned a Gentile Christian

would be eternally separated from Christ by that act of

obedience to a  command  that the Law said a

Gentile must follow if they wanted to enter the

Temple at Jerusalem and pray.   

 

Paul's statement is clearly a ludicrous principle -- you are supposedly damned for obeying a principle which the Law said you must obey so as not to  be damned. How absurd! 

NOTE: This was adapted from What Did Jesus Mean by Mercy that the Pharisees Did Not Teach?