Paul and Jesus

As a Jew Paul had accepted the basic pillars of Judaism—one Creator God, Israel as the chosen people, and the Torah divinely revealed to Moses—as well as the place of Gentile God-fearers in God’s plan. He says, “I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers” (Galatians 1:14). He lived strictly as a Pharisee and he says that when it came to the Torah and its observance he was “blameless” (Philippians 3:5–6). Paul would have valued the various markers of Israelite distinction and identity, setting the Jews apart from the nations, whether by circumcision, dietary laws, observance of Sabbaths and festivals, or laws of ritual purity.

Once Paul received his revelation from Christ, accepting Jesus as cosmic Lord, exalted to the right hand of God, everything changed. Paul refers to his former life as a Jew as “rubbish” compared to the new status of being in Christ (Philippians 3:8). His core beliefs were not merely modified, updated, or amplified: they were wholly recast in the light of what he calls the “mystery” of the gospel he had received.

In Paul’s new vision of things, a non-Jew, in order to be “saved” from God’s judgment, must turn from idols to the one God and also bow the knee in worship to Jesus as Lord—something Jews would be forbidden to do. In the Amida, the central Jewish prayer that dates back to pre-Christian times, one bows the knee three times at the mention of God’s holiness.⁸ The prophet Isaiah had said that in the time to come “every knee would bow, and every tongue confess” that Yahweh is God and there is no other (Isaiah 45:23). Paul amends that very text to say that every knee would bow and every tongue would confess Jesus as Lord—to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10–11). This single move, in which a human being is considered equal to God and thus worthy of worship, separates Paul’s version of Christianity from Judaism and effectively creates a new “religion” separate from most mainstream Judaism.⁹ But Paul goes much further.

Paul denigrates the Jewish people as “Israel according to the flesh,” broken off the tree of Israel, cut off from God, and dying like cast off branches on the ground, because of their unbelief in Jesus as Lord and Christ. They are now replaced by a new and true Israel—according to the Spirit. Finally, Paul says that the Torah of Moses was never intended to be permanent; it was given through the mediation of angels, not directly by God, and having served its temporary purpose in leading both Jews and Gentiles to Christ, it has been superseded. Here are a few samples of his clear declarations on these points:

The One God

We know that an idol has no real existence, and that there is no God but one. For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords,” yet for us there is one God, the Father . . . and one Lord, Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 8:4–6)

You turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:9b–10)

The Chosen Nation Israel

For we are the true circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and put no confidence in the flesh. (Philippians 3:3)

For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. (Galatians 6:15)

The Torah of Moses

For Christ is the end of the Torah, that everyone who has faith may be justified. (Romans 10:4)

Now before faith came, we were confined under the Torah, kept under restraint until faith should be revealed. So the Torah was our custodian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian. (Galatians 3:23–25)

Paul’s statements in these three areas not only separate him from the various forms of Judaism of his day; they also serve to exclude Jews, who do not bow the knee to Jesus as Lord, from the “new Israel” that Paul believes God is creating through one’s union with the Christ-Spirit. Simply put, the implication of what Paul teaches is no less than the demise of Judaism.