WHAT TO DO WITH TORAH

Scot McKnight is having a good discussion on Torah: Do we follow Torah?

I have commented over there (modified below) and will put some more here, but the Ephesians 'theology of the church' paper due next Wednesday must have priority. I will be writing a theology of the Pentateuch for Sailhamer's class and will post a 'reader's digest' version.

John H. Sailhamer makes the case that the Torah was written so that people would trust God, not so that they would obey the law. If that is the case, then we who follow Jesus and trust him are indeed following Torah. If he is heading in the right direction (and I believe he is), then how we as Christians interact with Torah, changes dramatically.

According to Eph 2:15, the commands of the regulations have been rendered inoperative. It does not say, nor can it be supported from the NT, that Torah (meaning the five books of Moses) is of no use to Christians. This is especially true if Moses’ point is that the law was added due to the transgression (this is Sailhamer’s take; see also Gal 3:19).