Yves Perriard: The Law in the New Testament - Good, Bad, or Misunderstood?

Read the transcript below, or watch the teaching's video by Yves Perriard.

Did you know that there are more than 230 references in the new testament regarding the law? This is not a small concept. In fact it is one of the most debated and repeated theme in all the letters of Paul.
So when you think of the law, what first comes to your mind? Something good? Something bad? Or something not really clear because you are not even sure what it is?

Let me first define how the apostle Paul used the term. By law I mean the compilation of all the moral laws and decrees found in the first five books of Moses, what we usually call the Torah. But to a larger extend it is everything that is contained in the Old Testament, particularly when it concerns biblical feasts, customs and anything that is still applied in the Jewish world today.
So how does the Bible view the law? Of course the old testament presents the Torah as being the very best thing that ever happened to Israel.
For instance it says in Deuteronomy 4:8 -

“And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?"

But the verse that summarizes it all is Psalm 19:7 -

"The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul."‬‬‬‬

Now what does the New Testament say?
Well it says that:

The law is good, holy, righteous, wise, true and spiritual.
Let me show you a few of the corresponding verses:
1 Timothy 1:8 -

"We know that the law is good if one uses it properly."

Romans 7:12 -

"So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good."

Romans‬ chapter 2:20 -

"In the law is the embodiment of knowledge and truth."

Romans 7:14 -

“The law is spiritual”

And now you have all heard of 2nd Timothy chapter 3:16-17 where it says that all Scriptures equip us for every good work.
And of course you immediately think that it is the whole Bible. Let's stop just for a second, the New Testament didn't even exist back then.
When Paul meant all scriptures, he could only mean one thing and one thing alone: The Tanakh, the Torah, the Law.
In other words, read this verse differently:

"The Torah, (that is the law), equips us for every good work."

Let us see another verse where the New Testament says that the the law fits our deepest human aspiration to practice what is right:
Romans‬ 7:22 -

"For in my inner being I delight in God's law."

The New Testament says that the law is perfect because it's ultimate expression is in love:
Galatians 5:14 -

"For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Finally, the New Testament says that the law is not abolished but perfectly exemplified in Christ:
Romans 10:4 -

"Christ is the culmination of the law”

In the light of everything positive Paul wrote about the law, we should not be surprised that he lived out the law to its fullest. Look with me at the following examples

In Acts 17:2 we see that he kept the Shabbat and therefore attended the synagogue service as it was his regular habit.

In 1 Cor. 5:8 he observed the Passover feast, and this is why he called the believers in Corinth to all celebrate it! (Yes, read it yourself in context, Paul said "let us keep the feast!")

In Acts 20:6 we see that Paul celebrated the feast of unleavened bread.

In Acts 20:16 we see that he made every effort to go to Jerusalem in order to celebrate Shavuot because this was a specific command addressed to all Jews to celebrate Pentecost/ Shavuot in Jerusalem.

In 1 Cor. 16:8 when it was not even possible to celebrate Pentecost in Jerusalem he did it in Corinth.

In Acts 27:9 we might even see that Paul kept Yom Kippur!

In Acts 16:3 he circumcised Timothy because of the Jews around.

In Acts 18 and 21 he did the Nazirite vows two times, which was not drinking wine and cutting his hair.

In Acts 21 he underwent 7 days of purification rituals and even paid for the vows of others, which was a very expensive act of devotion to the Temple.

In Acts 21 he did everything to prove that he was following the Law because some people had doubts about it.

All the examples I just gave should be enough to show you that Paul lived strictly according to the law!

In fact he repeated this at least 6 times in the book of Acts that he had never done anything wrong against the Jewish law, against Jewish customs or against the Temple. (Acts 22:3+12 / 23:6 / 24:14 / 25:8 / 26:22 and 28:17).

He was so blameless in the way he lived his Jewish lifestyle that when he appeared before the Sanhedrin in Acts 23 he could confidently declare that until that very day he had fulfilled his duty before God in all good conscience! If that was not the case, he could have never dared to make such a bold claim to people who were looking for every possible way to accuse him.

In other words, Paul kept on living like a Jew even after he believed in Jesus. The same can be said of every other Jewish believer in the first century. Just look with me at Acts 21:20

“Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.”

This Jewish influence permeated the whole culture and DNA of the early church. Unfortunately, we know from history that as the Non-Jews grew in numbers and power they did the very thing that Paul had warned them against: Unfortunately they became arrogant towards the Jews and progressively they cut themselves from their original Jewish roots. But they did not just systematically eliminate every possible trace of Jewish influence, which they replaced with pagan influences, they did the absolutely unthinkable: They even became openly hostile to the Jews.

Today after 2000 years of mutual rejection, God has done his own unthinkable: Jews are coming back to their land, and many are finding their Messiah. As a result more and more Christians are learning from them and they are making this startling discovery that we can view the law positively. It is my hope that you too will embark on this journey and be enriched in your own faith.