Sha’ul wrote that the Torah is not laid for the righteous, then called himself the foremost of sinners six verses later. Which of his two sentences have you been quoting?
Sha'ul thought he was following the Torah when he persecuted the followers of Yeshua. In doing so, he was NOT following the Law lawfully and therefore needed the Law.
The Law had never changed (Exodus 20) and still has not changed. There are those 'happy ones' (Psalm 1) who do live by the Law and therefore do not need It since they do not stray. But Sha'ul strayed from It by wanting to enforce the statutes of the Law violently (effectively usurping God's role of judge by misinterpreting It ("they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm" 1 Tim 1:7).
Paul considered himself (Sha'ul) the greatest of sinners because he did not understand the Law despite knowing the letter of It and because Yeshua ha Massiach appeared to him changing him into Paul who "with a pure heart and a good conscience ... and holding onto faith" walked in the Law (Exodus 20).
Sha'ul, reborn in the Spirit as Paul speaks to Timothy and to us acknowledging his sin and his change through God's mercy. At no point is he contradicting himself or the Law as he used to before Christ intervened in his life.
As Sha'ul, he did not follow the Spirit of the Law but Its letter. As Paul he walked in the Spirit and no longer needed the Law.
"But now we have been released from the law, having died to what confined us, so that we serve in the new way of the Ruach and not in the old way of the letter." Romans 7:6
Question. How did following the Law in the spirit make it alright to eat food that had been sacrificed to idols? After all, food that was devoted to Athena or Zeus was like the Lord’s Supper. Food that is dedicated to a spiritual power is considered to be part of that power (Christ’s blood, flesh etc). Is it fine to take into our bodies the flesh of Zeus?
Or is the physical world meaningless as Plato taught, and there are no such things as demons anyway so it doesn’t matter?
I'm just a student. I cannot confidently answer that question at present.
How can we be born again? That looks like a Nicodemus type of question.
I suspect those foods are still not Kosher or lawful but no one will stop you from eating them.
I recall Naaman who got cleansed of a skin disease by immersing himself in the Jordan river 7 times asking the prophet Elisha for pardon when he (Naaman) accompanied his master, the king of Aram, into the temple of Rimmon and the king leaned on his arm, and he was expected to bow to that God and Elisha granting him pardon.
I'll give it a try anyway...😅
According to 1 Corinthians 8, it seems to me that eating such food does not really matter because those gods/idols are not God since there is only one God.
However, in the same way you do not want your children to learn your bad habits, it's important not to set such an example for others.
"10 For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? 11 So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12 When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall."
So, as I understand it, for those under the Law, because of not having received the Spirit, the example of what is to live in the Spirit is the right/law-fulfilling approach, because doing otherwise - as seen by them - if you eat idols' food you are accepting other gods (and therefore breaking the 1st instruction from God - Exodus 20) and your behaviour contradicts your preaching even though you know there is no other God and "food does not bring us near to God, we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do." (Verse 8)
I think it follows on from the general rule of the 2nd greatest instruction we received from Yeshua: Do unto others ... Love your neighbour as yourself, etc.
how one makes sure that he/she is not following the letter of the law today? There are multitudes today who are following old Sha’ul and continue to operate like him. That is why we have so many man-made sects within christendom! I do not think everyone understands this biblically like you do!
Here's my homework Sergio:
Sha'ul thought he was following the Torah when he persecuted the followers of Yeshua. In doing so, he was NOT following the Law lawfully and therefore needed the Law.
The Law had never changed (Exodus 20) and still has not changed. There are those 'happy ones' (Psalm 1) who do live by the Law and therefore do not need It since they do not stray. But Sha'ul strayed from It by wanting to enforce the statutes of the Law violently (effectively usurping God's role of judge by misinterpreting It ("they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm" 1 Tim 1:7).
Paul considered himself (Sha'ul) the greatest of sinners because he did not understand the Law despite knowing the letter of It and because Yeshua ha Massiach appeared to him changing him into Paul who "with a pure heart and a good conscience ... and holding onto faith" walked in the Law (Exodus 20).
Sha'ul, reborn in the Spirit as Paul speaks to Timothy and to us acknowledging his sin and his change through God's mercy. At no point is he contradicting himself or the Law as he used to before Christ intervened in his life.
As Sha'ul, he did not follow the Spirit of the Law but Its letter. As Paul he walked in the Spirit and no longer needed the Law.
"But now we have been released from the law, having died to what confined us, so that we serve in the new way of the Ruach and not in the old way of the letter." Romans 7:6
Am I reading this right?
Amen, amen amen!! 👊
Excellent take on it. 100%.
Question. How did following the Law in the spirit make it alright to eat food that had been sacrificed to idols? After all, food that was devoted to Athena or Zeus was like the Lord’s Supper. Food that is dedicated to a spiritual power is considered to be part of that power (Christ’s blood, flesh etc). Is it fine to take into our bodies the flesh of Zeus?
Or is the physical world meaningless as Plato taught, and there are no such things as demons anyway so it doesn’t matter?
If it doesn’t matter why does the Law forbid it?
I'm just a student. I cannot confidently answer that question at present.
How can we be born again? That looks like a Nicodemus type of question.
I suspect those foods are still not Kosher or lawful but no one will stop you from eating them.
I recall Naaman who got cleansed of a skin disease by immersing himself in the Jordan river 7 times asking the prophet Elisha for pardon when he (Naaman) accompanied his master, the king of Aram, into the temple of Rimmon and the king leaned on his arm, and he was expected to bow to that God and Elisha granting him pardon.
I'll give it a try anyway...😅
According to 1 Corinthians 8, it seems to me that eating such food does not really matter because those gods/idols are not God since there is only one God.
However, in the same way you do not want your children to learn your bad habits, it's important not to set such an example for others.
"10 For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? 11 So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12 When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall."
So, as I understand it, for those under the Law, because of not having received the Spirit, the example of what is to live in the Spirit is the right/law-fulfilling approach, because doing otherwise - as seen by them - if you eat idols' food you are accepting other gods (and therefore breaking the 1st instruction from God - Exodus 20) and your behaviour contradicts your preaching even though you know there is no other God and "food does not bring us near to God, we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do." (Verse 8)
I think it follows on from the general rule of the 2nd greatest instruction we received from Yeshua: Do unto others ... Love your neighbour as yourself, etc.
how one makes sure that he/she is not following the letter of the law today? There are multitudes today who are following old Sha’ul and continue to operate like him. That is why we have so many man-made sects within christendom! I do not think everyone understands this biblically like you do!