Paul or Jesus: They Can’t Both Be Right Can They?

In 1948, a Bedouin shepherd boy threw a rock into a cave in the Dead Sea Valley of Israel. He heard the shattering of pottery, and went to explore. This boy found the most significant archaeological discovery in history: the Dead Sea Scrolls. Most Christians have heard of these scrolls and the Scripture within them. But a little discussed set of fragments may have finally solved one of the greatest contradictions between Paul and Jesus found in the New Testament. I’ll prove it to you in less than 10 minutes.

Who’s the Heretic?

The traditional definition of the “works of the Law” is that these are the commandments found in the Torah. The Apostle Paul doesn’t like the “works of the Law,” and Jesus contradicts this in the Sermon on the Mount. He said that teaching others to keep even the smallest part of the Law makes that person great in the Kingdom of God.

Here’s the big problem: if we follow the teaching of Paul and all of the implications of it, we’re disobeying the clear teaching of Jesus. You know, the Messiah; the Savior of the World; God in the flesh. But you can’t ignore Paul’s teaching, either.

A Family To Bless the Nations

YHWH looked down on Babel and saw pride. Arrogance. Depravity. Corruption. Together, the humans were seeking to build a tower to the heavens. He couldn’t allow this. So, he divided them by confusing their languages. Tribes formed that became city-states. Eventually, they would grow into nations and empires.

But more was happening behind the veil – in the heavenly realm. He gave these nations over to other fallen supernatural beings, who were worshipped as the “gods.” Humanity would be allowed to divide and war with each other for supremacy and power.

A Covenant Sign

If you stop at the end of Genesis 11, it feels like all hope is lost. The Flood was a failure. YHWH tied His own hands by promising never to destroy humanity in the same way again. But, humanity became just as evil within only a few generations. It’s over. Until we turn the page…

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household to the land that I will show you. Then I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, so that you will exemplify divine blessing. I will bless those who bless you, but the one who treats you lightly I must curse, so that all the families of the earth may receive blessing through you.” (Genesis 12:1-3 NET)

Not Just For the Jews

Just as YHWH had given a symbol for His covenant-promise with humanity after the Great Flood, He instituted a symbol with Abraham and his descendants. Every male would be circumcised. This outward act set this nation apart.

But interestingly, Abraham, and later Israel as a nation, didn’t limit circumcision to only their physical descendants. Anyone who wanted to be a part of the Chosen People of God, could become circumcised and welcomed as a full member of the nation along with the rest of their family.

Miqsat Ma‘ase Ha-Torah

What’s this got to do with the “works of the Law?” In 1948, a shepherd boy discovered a repository of ancient Hebrew religious texts in the Dead Sea region of Israel. These manuscripts dated back to the time of Jesus and well before. Many were Scripture. Others, however, were community guidelines for a Jewish religious sect called the Essenes. In these guidelines a phrase was found that described the actions and requirements necessary to be included in this community. They were labeled with the words: “Miqsat Ma‘ase Ha-Torah.” Translated into English, the phrase means “Works of the Law.” 

This discovery shocked the world of biblical scholarship. Up until this moment, the phrase had never been found outside of Christian writings. It was previously believed that Paul coined the phrase to describe anything related to keeping the Torah. It’s first found in Galatians 2:

We are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified. (Galatians 2:15-16 NET)

The Works of the Law

Now, the Dead Seas Scrolls showed that these “works of the Law” were very specific. These regulations are almost exclusively about what makes the community “clean” or “unclean.” Some of the issues addressed are marriage between members and Gentile converts, marriage between priests and women from non-priestly families and other similar questions. According to this sect, “works of the Law” were regulations about who could be included in the community, and who could not.

Unlocking the Letter to the Galatians

This fits PERFECTLY with Paul’s letter to the Galatians. These churches were made up of Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus. Paul had learned that a group of Jewish Believers had come to these churches teaching the traditional Jewish position that the Gentiles could become full members of Israel through the final act of conversion – circumcision. Paul defines this position as the “works of the Law.” These were the requirements for bringing these Gentiles into the community. And this teaching really ticked Paul off. It put an emphasis on religious and ethnic inclusion, rather than the grace of God. It separated God’s people into the “in” group, and the “out” group. And Paul believed this was wrong. But is it?

The “Mystery” of Christ

Circumcision is the sign of the covenant made with Abraham. It was passed down to his son, Isaac, and then to Isaac’s son, Jacob. Jacob became Israel, and his sons the Twelve Tribes. These are the people of God. To be a part of God’s people – this nation – you had to be circumcised (if you were male) or a part of the family of a circumcised male. This was the rule. But Paul later wrote to another church in Ephesus, and explained that hidden in the Hebrew Scriptures was a mystery that has now been fully revealed:

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I wrote before briefly. When reading this, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ (which was not disclosed to people in former generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit), namely, that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 3:1-6 NET)

Earlier in this same letter, Paul described what he believed had happened:

One New Man

Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh—who are called “uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed on the body by human hands— that you were at that time without the Messiah, alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, the one who made both groups into one and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility, when he nullified in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man out of two, thus making peace, and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed.  (Ephesians 2:11-16 NET)

This is the mystery: all of humanity – by the grace of God alone – has an invitation to become a part of the Kingdom of God. This is unmerited. It is beyond comprehension. And it is not reserved for any single ethnicity or race.