By Brother R. Michel Lankford
 |
| Paul Teaching in the Synagogues |
Whether modern
Christians want to face up to it or not, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 creates a number of
HUGE dilemmas for modern-day traditional Christianity.
ISSUE: You have to ask yourself if you REALLY BELIEVE the, "New
Testament."
FACT: Paul the
apostle of Grace wrote these words more than 20 years AFTER the death and the
resurrection of the Messiah.
FACT: When Paul the
apostle wrote these words, there was NO such thing as the, "New Testament.”
We did not have a compiled New Testament until AFTER A.D. 300.
FACT: That
means that when Paul the apostle referred to, "The SCRIPTURES," Paul
could ONLY be referring to the Old Testament; [Genesis through Malachi],
because in Paul's day, that is all the SCRIPTURE that they had.
Now either Paul was telling the truth in 2 Timothy
3:16-17, or he was not. Either Paul was
telling the truth when he said that ALL Scripture IS God-Breathed, or Paul was
wrong.
FACT:
YHWH's Laws, Commandments, and the Instructions in the Torah, [Genesis through
Deuteronomy]; it IS part of Scripture. Therefore, the Torah of YHWH, IS, STILL
profitable for doctrine and teaching. The Torah of Yahweh is STILL profitable
to reprove and to correct us. The Torah of Yahweh is STILL profitable to
instruct us in righteousness before YHWH Almighty God.
FACT: IF
you claim that the Torah of YHWH is no longer valid and no longer profitable to
instruct us how to be righteous before YHWH Almighty God, then you are saying
that Paul was WRONG in 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
IF on the other hand, Paul was RIGHT and he told the TRUTH in 2 Timothy
3:16-17, then the Torah IS STILL PROFITABLE to train me in Righteousness before
YHWH, and the Torah COULD NOT have been abolished and done away with at the
cross.
Something can either remain profitable to train me in righteousness, or
something can be done away with, abolished, made null and void, and it becomes
useless and unnecessary; but something cannot
BOTH, be rendered meaningless and abolished, and still remain useful and
profitable to train me in righteousness and equip me for every good work, at
the same time. So which is it?
FACT: According
to Paul, in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, ALL Scripture, [which INCLUDES Torah], IS still profitable
for doctrine and teaching, for reproving and for correcting, and for
instructing us on how to be righteous before YHWH Almighty God; and according
to Paul himself, part of Torah’s PURPOSE is to CAUSE us to be perfected, and
thoroughly equipped for every good work.
This again creates another serious dilemma for the modern Christian:
FACT: If you decide that no, the Torah was done away with and
abolished at the cross, then once again you are saying the Paul was WRONG, and we
don’t really need ALL of Scripture to make us complete and thoroughly equipped
and thoroughly furnished to every good work. So if we don’t need the Torah to
make us complete and to thoroughly equip us for every good work, then once
again you are saying that Paul was WRONG in 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
That concept
creates another huge dilemma in and of itself. If Paul was saying that the Torah
was invalidated at the cross, then that would mean that Paul CONTRADICTED himself
here in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. IF the Torah of YHWH was done away with at the
cross, that means that Paul got THIS WRONG in 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
That idea begs
another HUGE question. IF the Torah of YHWH has in fact been abolished at the
cross, then it is no longer valid to instruct me on how to be righteous before
YHWH. That would mean that the Torah can no longer perfect me or equip me for
every good work, as Paul said
that it could. So IF Paul was wrong in what he said about Torah in 2 Timothy
3:16-17; then WHAT ELSE did Paul get WRONG? If Paul is wrong about Torah in 2
Timothy 3:16-17, then WHERE ELSE did Paul miss the boat? If he missed once
here, then he can miss again, right?
DILEMMA If Paul was WRONG in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, then Paul would also be a
FALSE teacher by definition, and this would mean that NONE of those other Pauline
doctrines which APPEAR to say that the Torah has been abolished could be valid
or reliable either.
IF on the
other hand, you decide that the apostle Paul was RIGHT and CORRECT in 2 Timothy
3:16-17, then the Torah of YHWH CANNOT be abolished at the cross, because
according to Paul, we still NEED Torah to form good doctrine, to teach us, to
correct and reprove us, to instruct us and how to be righteous before YHWH, and
to perfect us, to complete us, and to make us thoroughly equipped for every
good work.
FACT: If you AGREE with Paul in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, then Paul clearly
said that believers CANNOT be THOROUGHLY EQUIPPED for every good work WITHOUT basing
their doctrine on Torah, along with all the other Scriptures.
According to
Paul, in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, we still need to base our doctrine and instructions
on the Torah, and without it we CANNOT be thoroughly equipped for every good
work. That creates a HUGE dilemma for modern Christian theology, whether they
like it or not.
I believe that
Paul was CORRECT and telling the TRUTH in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. I believe that the
Torah of YHWH IS STILL PROFITABLE for all the functions that Paul describes,
but that CLEARLY means that modern Christians have MISUNDERSTOOD and
MISINTERPRETED Paul’s teachings when it APPEARS that Paul was teaching AGAINST the
Torah of YHWH. Paul was NOT teaching AGAINST Torah, as it sometimes APPEARS
that he was teaching, according to the traditional Christian; because that
would FORCE too many other things that Paul said to become FALSE, IF the
traditional understanding of Paul’s doctrines were in fact correct.
Shalom,
Brother R
Michel Lankford.
