Paul shares a key message with the first believers in Corinth about what the Law of Moses can and cannot do. Sosthanes, the leader in the Corinthian synagogue, feels the pressure intensify from his own people.
…
Acts 18:7-17; Matthew 22:36-40; Romans 3:19-20
Across the street and some distance away, two men stand to observe the five men seated at a table in front of Titius’ home. One of the men spits. He looks back and forth between the five laughing in the courtyard and the dormant synagogue next door. He shakes his head and spits again. “This isn’t right.” He grumps with disdain, as he looks back at the empty synagogue. “It’s like he’s fishing in a barrel.”
“Can you even hear what he’s saying?” The other man asks. “I’m not able to make anything out.”
“No.” The first man replies. “But look at them. Isn’t it obvious this charlatan is teaching them about his false messiah, right in front of us? He’s mocking us and every family in our synagogue, and he’s doing it from a doorstep away. Don’t you see it?”
The other man nods. “No, you’re right.” He agrees. “I just didn’t want to believe it at first. Then again, they could just be having a pleasant conversation.” He strains to listen in and wonders. “I want to know what he’s teaching them.”
“Okay.” The first man affirms. He starts walking across the street.
“Wait, what are you doing?” The other man asks with surprise.
The first man turns back and coldy replies. “I want to hear what he’s teaching them too.”
…
Laughter ensues, as Aquila cracks a joke at the table.
Paul smiles and quips, “Who let this guy in?”
“Who let this guy in?” Aquila mimics.
The table laughs again.
“Hey,” Paul counters. “You’d better play nice… or I’m telling your wife.”
Aquila cowers in fear, as he pretends to bite his nails.
“Oh, she’ll take you out, tentmaker.” Paul says with a laugh.
As the laughter continues, another at the table becomes distracted. He looks out across the street to see two men slowly moving closer to them. “I think they’re here for us.”
Paul looks around and asks, “Who is?”
The man points out the men encroaching from a hundred feet away and says, “Them.”
“Hmm.” Paul smirks. “Maybe they’ll join us. Let’s get back to it gentlemen. Where were we?”
“Sacrificial offerings.” Says another.
Some of the men at the table continue to cautiously stare over at the men nearby.
“Right, thank you.” Paul acknowledges. He then becomes focused once more. “Let me ask the looming question here. How does the blood of a goat or a bull bring about expiation?”
The men fall quiet for a moment.
“The Law of Moses clearly communicates that it does.” One of the men finally offers as a matter of fact. “Aaron must take some of the blood of the bull, dip his finger in it, and sprinkle it on the east side of the atonement cover. Seven times, he must sprinkle blood with his finger in front of the cover.” The man recites.
“Yes… He does.” Paul responds, as he goes on to finish the recitation from the Law. “Then Aaron, or descendant of Aaron, must slaughter the first goat as a sin offering, and do the same as he did with the bull.” Paul then shakes his head as he continues. “Yes, that speaks into the details of how God wanted Israel to worship him. But, it doesn’t address the ‘why’. What is God trying to accomplish here?”
“Appeasement.” Another man offers. “This is an offering for Israel’s atonement.”
“Appeasement… Atonement… for what?” Paul asks.
“For sin.” The man abruptly answers, wondering why his teacher is addressing the obvious.
“So…” Paul reasons. “God is appeased when an atoning sacrifice accounts for the wrongdoing?”
“Yes.” One of the men simply replies. “This is pretty basic stuff.”
“For how long?” Paul asks.
Puzzled by the relevance of this question, the man waves his hands and says, “Until the following year, and depending on the offering, until the next time sin is committed and another sacrifice is needed.”
“Hmmmm.” Paul wonders aloud. “Don’t you find it odd that God would need to have us schedule out atonement offerings for each year?”
The man raises his hand and begins to speak but catches himself and says nothing.
Paul smiles at this and continues: “It’s almost like God knew in advance that Israel would repeatedly blunder and fail him. But, I digress. Sacrificial covering… atonement… has been made for sin over and over and over, meaning God has had to be appeased over and over and over. Doesn’t this reveal to us that Israel has a problem with sinning… over and over and over?”
The men nod.
“And…” Letting the moment linger, Paul finally asks. “…this makes God happy?
The men say nothing.
“Here all along I thought it was obedience that makes God happy. That righteous living makes God happy.” Paul opines. “Now, you’re telling me that sacrificial offerings do the trick?”
After a lull of silence, one of the men shares. “No, no, no. The offerings are a provision that God has made available for times when we fall short in our obedience.”
“Do you remember when King Saul failed to kill off the Amalekites as God commanded?” Paul asks. “The Amalekites gave Israel a rough go of it when they were coming out from Egypt. God instructed Samuel the Prophet to tell King Saul to settle accounts and take no prisoners. Saul carried out the Lord’s command… to a point. When the attack was on, King Saul noticed the quality of the Amalekite livestock, and he took the best animals back with them from the raid. He even brought the Amalekite king back with them. Kind of like a souvenir… Or maybe Saul had the idea that he would send him back to rule the Amalekites as a puppet king and collect ongoing tribute.”
Paul wonders about this for a moment then continues: “Anyway, when things settled down, he then tried to convince Samuel that he did everything in line with what God commanded. ‘What of the livestock? Why do I hear the bleating of sheep?’ Samuel asked. ‘Why did you bring them back with you?’ ‘Oh, those were for the sacrificial offerings that would satisfy God in worship.’ Or, so Saul claimed. Seeing through his deception, Samuel wasn’t amused, so he asked, ‘What is more pleasing to the Lord… your burnt offerings? Your sacrifices? Or, your obedience to his voice?’ Samuel, then and there, declared that Saul’s Kingship would come to an end and his descendents would never rule again.”
Paul slowly looks around at the men and comments. “‘Rebellion against the Lord is no better than witchcraft, and stubbornness is no different than idol worship.’ Sounds like a conundrum doesn’t it?”
Aquila stares across the table, as he tries to unravel Paul’s puzzling implications. “I’m sorry… what is? I’m not getting the whole picture here.”
Paul shrugs and says, “That in order to make God happy, you need to be completely obedient as the Law requires. Yet, you can’t fully live up to the Law in deed or in motive. Furthermore, God doesn’t seem to appreciate the sacrificial offerings in the way we might think. While a temporary provision for our disobedient behavior, these sacrificial offerings we make are by no means a substitute for the obedience God demands. Like I said… It’s quite the conundrum. It’s like the Law tells us what God expects, but it doesn’t have the power to make us obey. Instead… the Law only shows us how disobedient we really are.
…
“His teachings violate the Law of Moses.” The man says while trying to keep his cool.
Sosthanes looks up from where he and five others are seated and asks, “How so? What is he saying against Moses?”
Carefully choosing his words, the man then says, “That righteousness doesn’t come from the Law. That the Law should not be obeyed.”
“He said that?” Sosthanes asks.
The man nods as he makes eye contact with the others and replies, “Those were his exact words.”
“What further proof do we need, Sosthanes?” One of the men bursts out with rage. “He’s not only trying to undermine our synagogue, he’s set on destroying our entire way of living.”
Another man seated at the table looks Sosthanes directly in the eyes and asks: “What are we going to do about this?”
Feeling the weight of stares coming from the men seated around him, Sosthanes takes a beat then wonders aloud. “Gentlemen… this can get resolved quickly enough.” He says. “I’ve recently heard from the other synagogues that this man has visited before coming here to Corinth. We do what they have done in Thessalonica and Alexandria. We take it up with the Romans and have them deal with him.”
Suddenly slapping the table in front of him, another raises his voice in protest. “No! We take things up with the Romans, and it will come back to bite us in the butt, much like it did in Alexandria and Rome. The Jews were removed from Rome altogether, remember? We’ve fed and housed a number of the refugees that have fled here to Corinth because of it. No, we do this without the Romans knowing about it.”
“Do what?” Sosthanes asks with new concern.
The other men look knowingly at one another and wonder who will share the news.
Feeling ever the odd man out, Sosthanes asks with a steady voice. “What are you doing?”
Placing his hands on Sosthanes’ arms, the man sitting next to him speaks endearingly. “Sosthanes, our brother. Chaim is right. We take this up with the Romans, and we invite a whole new level of oppression. Look around you in this city, my friend. Many Jewish refugees have just arrived here in Corinth because Claudius forced them out of Rome. That should tell us enough of what happens when the Romans get involved.”
“He’s right.” Another chimes in. “You take it up with the Romans, and you invite us to become the next target for their capricious discrimination.” He looks around at the others and says, “We have no choice but to do this another way.”
Not liking where this discussion is headed, Sosthanes furrows his brow and asks, “What are you suggesting?”
“It’s better for you not to know.” Chaim responds cooly.
The others nod.
Sosthanes shoots up from his chair and shakes his head in disgust. “You’re asking me to just go along with you without knowing what you’re doing? Who do you think I am that I would agree to any underhanded dealings here? We have proper channels in place for a reason, and I will not sink to ‘back alley’ tactics to rid us of our problem.”
“Sosthanes.” Another says softly and places his hand on Sosthanes arm to sit him back down. “Do not force our hands here. Let us do what needs to be done.”
Shoving the man’s arm away and refusing to sit, Sosthanes replies: “You’re the ones forcing my hand by asking me to turn a blind eye to whatever shenanigans you’re up to. What… are you hiring mercenaries?”
The men say nothing.
Sosthanes eyes grow wide. “I was kidding… But, that’s exactly what you’re doing, isn’t it. You’re going the way of Rome and contracting out killers? No! No! No!” Sosthanes responds. “This makes us no different than the sovereign thugs who oppress us. We will grab the heretic, and we will drag him in front of the Romans who will do exactly what we need them to do. I will not sit idly by and let you commit outright evil before the Lord. The last thing I need to weigh on my conscience is to turn a blind eye to your conspiring to murder.”
…
We’re going to stop here for today:
Paul has ramped up his teaching efforts and Sosthanes is being pressured to a whole new level to do something about it.
What do you do when justice doesn’t seem to work in your favor? In the case of the zealous friends of Sosthanes, it means they were willing to put the law into their own hands and would stop at nothing, even if it meant committing a terrible evil before the Lord. Not a fan of that plan, Sosthanes refused to go in that direction. Sosthanes would not agree to the Mafia style hit on this outspoken troublemaker named Paul. Instead, he insisted upon taking up his concern through the proper channel of the Romans who, in his estimation, would deal with this problem child.
Worlds are colliding: Here we have Paul who is committed to bringing the long-awaited fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan to his own people, the Jews. Yet, for the most part, his own people are fully rejecting this idea of Jesus as Messiah, and they see Paul as nothing more than a destroyer of the Law and their faith. Meanwhile, we have the Romans, who have established their own rule of Law throughout the known world which has been, in some instances, unfriendly to the Jews and Mosaic Law.
Some of the more zealous Jews have violated their own principles in an effort to kill Paul, yet Sosthanes refuses to budge and go down that road. What does Sosthanes do about this? We’ll have to wait until the next episode to find out.
Even some of the early church leaders, such as James the Just, saw Paul as someone who was fairly cavalier in his attitude towards the Law. It’s easy to make that assumptive leap when your culture insists upon following the Law of God and you see one of your own not upholding it to the “Nth” degree.
When Paul arrived in Jerusalem after his third mission trip, he shared all of the great things God had done among the Gentiles during his time away. While the elders in the church in Jerusalem were excited to hear this news, they were also quite worried about having Paul in their city. James the Just warned Paul about how he was being perceived around Jerusalem as one who dismisses the importance of the Law (Acts 21:17-26). James told Paul to fall in line with the necessary rituals when he was going about his business in Jerusalem. That way, those who would be carefully observing Paul would give a nod of approval and no longer place him under the microscope.
Why was Paul so unconcerned with carrying out the Law? Why did James and the elders in Jerusalem feel the need to give Paul such a warning when he returned to the mother church?
Later in his writings, Paul spent much time addressing both the Galatian and Roman believers, many of whom were either Jewish or Jewish converts, about the role and purpose behind the Law of Moses. The majority of believers that made up the Jerusalem church were Jewish families who lived in a culture that highly valued the Law of Moses as the authority for everyday life. They had the Jerusalem temple right in their backyard, and they themselves still routinely followed the Law, as it was the Law of the land. In fact, the closer one traveled to Jerusalem, the more Jewish the church felt. Even some five hundred miles away, many of the church members in Roman Galatia struggled to distinguish between following the Law and living by the Spirit.
As you may have already guessed, I’m bringing up one of the biggest issues facing the New Testament church in the first century. As followers of Jesus, what do we do with the Law of Moses? Furthermore, what’s the difference between living by the Law and living by the Spirit?
Writing to the regional churches, Paul’s aim was to help believers understand what living a life by faith in a supernatural God is really about. Yes, Paul shares the importance of the Law, but he also is vigilant to share the limitations of the Law. The Law is good… but it isn’t enough.
Yes, God demands complete obedience. Yes, God understands that humanity prefers to act independently of him in a spirit of rebelliousness–which is likely the main reason why God gave Israel the Law in the first place. Yes, God gave the Law to help humanity see the need to change its rebellious nature.
Yes, God gave the Law to curb the abusive behavior of humanity and to help us learn of what He expects from us. Yes, God gave provisions for substitutionary sacrificial offerings to help humanity see the need to make amends when acting out in rebellious ways. Instead of us being offered as sacrifices, God made certain animals available to be sacrificed in our place. What a provision! God went to precise lengths to set up proper sacrificial worship practices.
But… it wasn’t enough to change the hearts of humanity. The Law is good… but it isn’t enough. That said, God gave the Law with all of its intended purposes and sacrificial provisions to show Israel its need for a God-sized solution. With everything God had done to establish Israel and the Law that would govern her, something much greater was still needed.
Israel was incomplete. Even though God’s people were able to see the need for changed hearts, they couldn’t sustain it. The Law is good… but it isn’t enough. Why? Because, Israel, trying as hard as she could, could never fully obey God. For that matter, neither could the rest of humanity. So, God hinted at a solution, a new covenant would be in the works, where a one of a kind sacrificial offering would intervene as a permanent substitute for humanity, despite all of its rebelliousness, all the while fully satisfying God Himself. Whereas, the Law couldn’t empower even God’s own people to fully obey it, God needed to intervene with a supernatural empowerment, a Spirit of God empowerment… Only then, would the human heart undergo the needed change.
The very fact that sacrificial worship was set up in the first place is a helpful indicator that God was up to something. If God wasn’t going to be pleased with the sacrificial offerings of goats and bulls as a means to atone for humanity’s rebelliousness, why even have it in the first place? Why go to all that trouble of providing the Torah and its very specific guidelines for worship? Why redeem Israel out of Egypt in the first place? Why create an entirely new nation of people that God would call his own? If there was nothing more than what was already in place as required by Mosaic Law, then Israel, and the rest of humanity for that matter, would be left as incomplete and without hope. It would be as if God was saying. “Yeah, I did what I could for my people, but they let me down, so I think I’ll go do something else.”
But…
God did not give up on Israel or humanity. In fact, this was a part of God’s promised plan all along. This is why Paul is going to great lengths to share what God is up to and why he is willing to put up just about anything the Romans and Jews alike could throw at him. God is not finished! That’s the message Paul is trying to communicate. In fact, God has done something huge to change humanity in a way that the Law was never capable of doing. The Law is good… but it isn’t enough.
While we won’t be able to work through each and every passage pertaining to the value as well as the insufficiency of the Law, we can at least get a glimpse of how Paul explains the importance of the Law as well as its primary weakness.
The Law is good…
The Law clearly communicates about what is good, and it is a reflection of God’s nature as the source of all things good. The Law upholds the importance of worshiping God alone, the creator of all things, as well as the fair treatment of fellow human beings. Love God, love others. When asked about the most important aspect of the Law, Jesus responds:
“Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”
Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
— Matthew 22:36-40
Love God, love others. The Law is also good in how it condemns the behaviors of those who rebel against God and treat others unfairly.
Paul builds his case in Romans 2 and 3 against those who say they uphold the Law of Moses. He explains how nobody is truly able to carry it out. Nobody is completely altruistic, where they think nothing of themselves and completely devote themselves to serving God and others. So, he summarizes this in Romans 3:19-20:
Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.
— Romans 3:19-20
We cannot uphold the Law, so God rightfully condemns us for the rebellious people that we really are. The Law is good but only in the way it shows us how messed up humanity is.
The Law is good… but it isn’t enough. If God was aiming to be pleased by the behavior of humanity, a huge intervention would be needed–something far greater than what the Law could possibly bring about. Something God-sized. Something supernatural. And this brings us back to the very message Paul is making here to the Corinthians.
Well, we’ll need to wrap things up for today. May you be inspired to learn more about what God’s bigger role-out plan was–the unfolding of God’s ultimate mystery of what He would do to help a highly rebellious humanity come to love both God and others. With that, let’s move forward… together.