The New Perspective on Paul and Christian Zionism

 

A friend of mine, who is also a fellow Baptist pastor, sent me this video and asked me what my thoughts were on the New Perspective on Paul. So, I decided to make this today's blog. Here are my thoughts on that interview and on the new perspective in general.

I think the best way I can answer this question is by looking at a case study. So, we are going to look at the book of Galatians.

What is Galatians about? If you ask the average evangelical what the crux of the book of Galatians is, if they are reasonably well read in the Bible, they will say that in Galatians Paul is arguing that we are saved by faith, not by works. They may even point to this key passage in Galatians 2, “16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:16-17). This is the core passage that many would point to when highlighting the message of the book of Galatians.  

The preaching on this theme will also be very simple. Nothing you do of your own effort can save you, because no amount of effort or works can save you. You can only be saved, or declared righteous, in God’s sight by faith. This message accounts for how the so-called Old Perspective would handle this book. And this point is 100% true. None of our works can save us, we can only be saved by trusting in Jesus Christ. The problem is not with this message, the issue is that this is not what the book of Galatians is about. This teaching is simply one of the threads in the book through which Paul is making a different argument.  

Paul’s core argument is focused on who are the people of God. Or who are the real children of Abraham and the beneficiaries of the promises made by God to Abraham? He is specifically addressing this point: are people made part of God’s covenant people through faith, or through becoming Jews,

“1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith” (Gal. 3:1-9).

Paul is not so much responding to those preaching faith + works, though his message does apply to that issue. He is responding to those saying faith + becoming a Jew is necessary to being a child of Abraham. So, when he refers to “works of the law” in Galatians he specifically means either the works of the Old Covenant like circumcision and all that goes with that. Or he means this plus the traditions of the elders, which the Pharisees believed were as authoritative as the Torah. Either way, he is rejecting the idea that you must submit to the law and become Jewish to be truly part of the people of God,

“11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” (Gal. 2:11-14).

Paul challenged Peter because he defaulted to the first century Jewish behaviour of separating himself from the Gentiles, especially while eating. Even though he should have known better than this. Peter knew better because God had poured the Holy Spirit out on Gentiles that Jewish and Gentiles believers were all made full citizens of the same people of God,

“11 And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. 12 And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man's house. 13 And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; 14 he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ 15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?” 18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:11-18)

Peter was acting against what he knew the implications of the gospel to be, so Paul had to rebuke him and remind him what they were. 

In Galatians, Paul is actually arguing against the false idea that there are two people’s of God, and only those who submit themselves unto the law can become part of the elite crowd, the Jewish believing crowd. Paul says that the truth is actually the opposite, if you seek to be more righteous by submitting to the law, and making others submit to the law, you are cut off from Christ,

“1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. 2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love” (Gal. 5:1-6).

Paul obviously does not mean that circumcised people cannot be saved, because he is circumcised himself. He tells us this in Philippians 3, even though it might be a little bit of over sharing. What he means here is that if you think there are two peoples of God, Israel and Gentiles, and you think that to be truly righteous in God’s sight that you must become like the Jews and submit to their law, then you have severed yourself from Christ. Because righteousness does not come through the law, it can only come through faith in Jesus.

The Jews are not closer to God than Gentiles, because Abraham, who was a Gentile originally, was justified by his faith, not his circumcision or the law, “just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?” (Gal. 3:6).

So, Paul’s overarching argument is not that we are saved by faith not works, that is one of his subpoints. His overarching argument is that there is one people of God, and the marker of who these people are is faith in Christ,

“23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave[p] nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise” (Gal. 3:23-29).

This is the crux of his argument, that all who have faith in Christ are the real descendants of Abraham. Your flesh counts for nothing in this equation. Only faith does.

This is where the New Perspective helps us, because it emphasizes the Jewish nature of the works of the law. Something which is key for understanding Paul’s argument in Galatians.

Many who hold to the so-called Old Perspective have so over-emphasized the message that Galatians is about how we are saved by faith not works, that many Christians have forgotten what the book is actually about. Calvin and Luther did not make that mistake, you will see this if you read them. But some who have come after them have, particularly in the highly individualized modern west.

This is why so many bad exegetes and preachers argue that Galatians 3:28 means women can be pastors. This is a complete butchering of Paul’s point, but it is a common mistake. Paul is not speaking about equality in Galatians, he is speaking about access to the covenant family, he is seeking to correct the Galatians on the issue of who the real people of God are. His argument is that the flesh counts for nothing, only faith in Jesus does. This is a core theme in all of Paul’s writings, and in his preaching in Acts as well.

The Christians who assert that there are two distinct and co-terminus peoples of God, the Church and Israel, would in large numbers hold to the teaching that salvation is about faith not works. But they have so been drilled by the message that this is what Galatians is about, that they have missed that this book actually rebukes the idea of two people’s of God explicitly. That is core thrust of Paul’s argument. They even miss what Paul says at the end of the letter while sowing up his point,

“14 But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16 And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God” (Gal. 6:14-16).

The phrase “upon them, and upon the Israel of God” is used by some to distinguish the church from Israel. But the Greek word for “and” is “kai” and can be translated “even”, and is often used in the sense of emphasis. So, Paul is actually saying, “peace and mercy be upon them, even upon the Israel of God.” He is seeking to emphasize that God offers peace to his people, as Psalm 29:11 says, “11 May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!” And who are the people of God? As he has argued, only those who have faith in Jesus.

In fact, in the verse previous to the mention of the “Israel of God” Paul has said circumcision counts for nothing, nor does uncircumcision, only being made new in Christ does. This fits with his message all the way through Galatians that there is one people of God and it is only the people of faith. If he now distinguishes between two peoples of God, he contradicts himself. Thankfully, the Greek does not have to be read this way.

Paul’s whole message in Galatians is focused on rebuking those who think they are better because they are Jewish and submit to the law, in other words, the Pharisees and others like them. This is an important message and can apply to any self-righteous people in the church today who think their works make them better than anyone else. But the initial application in Galatians is about there being one people of God, declared righteous in God’s sight and it is not the doers of the Torah but the believers in Jesus.

The early Church knew this. Luther and Calvin knew this. But an overemphasis on Galatians being about individualistic faith and salvation has caused people to forget this in large measure. Galatians is about who are the real community of God’s people, and the answer is only those who believe. This has both individual and social implications, the social ones being that physical Israel is no more the real people of God, than Greece, Rome or Moldova. Whereas anyone who comes from any of these places and more can be made part of Israel through faith in Jesus. The New Perspective on Paul helps us remember these communal applications, and to hone in on who are the real people of God. This is something the early church spent much of its time debating about, hence this is why scholars can see some connections between the New Perspective on Paul and the Early Church Fathers.