How common is the replacement theme in Paul in regards to Law and what does he replace it with?
1. The Motif of Substitution
In NT theology replacement is a way of relating the Old and New Testament, often associated with the fourth gospel
- Jesus is new Moses
- Exacts a new Exodus
- Eclipses great Jewish feasts and institutions
- Replaces temple
- ultimate Passover sacrifice
Hebrews also stands out in this regard as it compares Jesus with sacrifice and priesthood.
But what about the replacement motif in Paul's thought with respect to the law?
2. The Christ-Torah Antithesis
One thing that didn't change for Paul after Damascus was 'Christ' and 'Torah' were mutually exclusive categories.
Gal 2:19-20 “For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me”
Phil 3:4b-8 “If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ”
If once the law held a central place for Paul the Jew, for Paul the Christian that place is occupied by Christ. But why is he so opposed to the Law of Moses (the law as Law).
Gal 2:21 If righteousness came though the law, Christ died for no purpose.
The concern is to get through the law so comprehensively, what place does a holy life play? Doesn't living with the law make you lawless? Doesn't it make you an outlaw? Doesn't repudiation of the law leave license? E.g. Rom 6.
3. Law of Moses Substitutes
- Gal 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ (τὸν νόμον τοῦ Χριστοῦ)"
- Rom 3:27–28 “Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith (νόμου πίστεως). For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.”
- Rom 8:1 “For there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (νόμος τοῦ πνεύματος τῆς ζωῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ) has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”
- 1 Cor 9:21-22 "To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) (ἔννομος Χριστοῦ) that I might win those outside the law."
These phrases seem to be coined in contrast to or connection with the Law of Moses
Paul wants to impress Christ, Spirit and Faith on his hearers and he does so in this way.
Does Law of Christ = Law of Moses reconfigured?
Does Law of Christ = Rules of Christ
Does Law of Christ = Example of Christ
When Paul uses these phrases he has the same thing in mind all along.
Gal 6 - Paul does have a place for Christ's teaching in Paul's letters, but not prominent enough to be labelled 'the law of Christ'. Thus doesn't equal rules of Christ.
Earlier in 1 Cor 9 Paul says at some point we'll all be under Christ. There is sense in which we aren't under law and sense in which we are. It's about which law we're under.
In Rom 3, Law of faith is not another reference to Law of Moses as already held opposed in Romans 3:21-26, 28. Paul instead is contrasting two different laws. Law of works is Law of Moses characterised by doing, thus the contrast is between works and faith. The second phrase then is something like "The Rule of Faith".
Rom 8:1 In verse three Paul says Law couldn't justify us, so not simple rephrasing of Law of Moses. The Law of the Spirit is referring to saving work of Christ through the Spirit.
4. Fulfilling the Law
Paul says Christians fulfill the law, but it's not as simple as that.
Gal 5:13–14 “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful natured; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled (πεπλήρωται) in keeping this one command: “’Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Rom 8:3–4 “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled (πληρωθῇ) in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
Rom 13:8–9 “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled (πεπλήρωκεν) the law. The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Notice that it is not laws, but the entire law that is fulfilled. Paul absolves us of that, but is not lawlessness but by walking in love we fulfill the law. It is not though an imperative, do this and you WILL fulfill the law (i.e. bringing in law through the back door).
Jews say do, keep, obey, the law, but rarely say fulfill the law (one occurrence at present). But is taken to mean obey lawS rather than as Paul saying the fulfill law (singular).
Is the perfect tense significant? Rom 13 Rather than "has fulfilled", instead better translated "The one loving the other fulfills the law". That is imperfective aspect. As for heightened proximity, the use of the perfect draws attention.
5. Walk in Newness of Life
"How to walk and please God" (1 Thess 4:1) is typical question for Jews to ask. The OT answer was "walk according to the law" (Lev 18:4; 26:3; 1 Kings 6:12; 2 Kings 10:31; 2 Chron. 6:16; Neh. 10:29-30; Jer. 44:23; Ezek. 5:6-7; 11:12; Pss. 77:10; 89:30; 119:1)
Paul never says that believers in Christ are to walk according to the law. Instead, as replacement he says to walk;
- not as the Gentiles do (1 Cor 3:3; 2 Cor 10:2; Eph 4:17),
- nor in idleness (1 Thess 4:12), or as enemies of the gospel (Phil 3:18);
- according to or by the Spirit (Rom 8:4; Gal 5:16),
- apostolic example (Phil 3:17), apostolic teaching (2 Thess 3:6) and the truth of the gospel (Gal. 2:14);
- in Christ (Col 2:6), in love (Rom 14:15; Eph 5:2), in newness of resurrection life (Rom 6:4) and in good works (Eph 2:10);
- as in the day (Rom 13:13), as children of light (Eph 5:15);
- by faith (2 Cor 5:7);
- wisely (Eph 5:15; Col 4:5).
6. The Language of Newness
Implies a contrast with oldness, and sometimes this is explicit.
7. "Circumcision is Nothing" Complements
“Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God” (1 Cor 7:19)
Not restatement of the moral law, and the best evidence for it is other two uses;
“In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Gal 5:6); “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation” (Gal 6:15).
8. In Paul's Own Words
The theme of replacement. What does Paul replace under the law with?
Under the law of Christ, under the law of faith and the law of the Spirit. Having died to the law, Christ lives in us and we live by faith in the Son of God. Above all else, including righteousness under the law, we value knowing Christ Jesus our Lord. We don’t keep the law, but fulfill the law in Christ and through love. We don’t seek to walk according to the law, but according to the truth of the gospel, in Christ, in newness of resurrection life, by faith, in the light and in step with the Spirit. Instead of the oldness of the letter, we participate in newness of life, the new life of the Spirit, and the one new humanity. What counts is not the law, but faith expressing itself through love, the new creation and keeping the commandments of God.
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