show the passage, because for the most part, it was how he was raised. He later called it all poop in philippians 3.
in my reply, which is wordy but short, you'll find links which take you to a parsed interlinear new testament with the relevant passages in pdf format (so you can see I am not lying)...
The story begins to unfold in Acts 21 when Paul is accused of bringing a Gentile into the temple courts... something which at that time would have breached the halakhic legal rulings. Paul disputed this series of events. Here is how it works out in practice...
The events above are detailed in Acts 21v27-29.
He is charged initially with bringing a Gentile into the courts (v29)
He gets arrested by the Romans to avoid a riot... (v32-33)
He is then accused of being the revolutionary known as 'TheEgyptian' - whoever he was... all I know is he lost his head in the end (v38)
Paul is about to be flogged and so he uses his 'i'm a roman' get our of flogging free card (22v25)
Paul's first response to his orthodoxy as a Jew is quite cryptic and highly likely that most people do not even pick up on it. it says,
My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day. (23v1)
Paul is struck on the face and bad-mouths the High Priest. He then apologises for his behaviour on the basis that he did not know who it was. This says much about Paul's attitude to the Torah's commandments, as it says,
Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is ritten: Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people. (Acts 23v5)...
Paul is not stupid, he knows its a mixed audience and divides them along party line. He says in the present tense,
My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead. (Acts 23v6). Use the interlinear and see that he does indeed in this passage refer to himself as a present tense Pharisee, unless of course he deliberately perjured himself.
Paul once more affirms his observance as a Jew when he replies,
I admit that I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, and I have the same hope in God as these people themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and all people. (Acts 24v13-16)
If Paul no longer believed in things like the validity of the food laws and circumcision for Jewish believers, he has once again perjured himself as he stated, everything in accordance with the Law and written in the Prophets.
he once again explains his reason for being in Jerusalem...
1. to bring gifts for the poor (specifically the Evyonim - the poor ones - those of James) - (Gal. 2v10)
2. to offer sacrifices.
3. I was ceremonially clean.
The first one causes no issue, but the last two open a substantial can of worms. To present offerings/sacrifices. So much for Jesus ending the temple worship system for believers.
As to being ceremonially clean... if all things are permissible, then he would not be defiled anyway, would he. He would only be ceremonially clean if he went through the Torah's ritual cleansing procedures. Again a sign of his observance.
Paul was now placed under house arrest rather than his current incarcaration. (24v23)
The provincial ruler changed and a fresh appeal was made to try Paul...
The charges were brought out again and Paul replied,
I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law or against the temple or against Caesar. (25v8). Paul had done nothing in contravention of the Jewish Law. This either means he stopped sinning or alternatively, if he did sin, he used the Torah's prescribed methods to resolve himself.
Paul now, knowing he would not get a fair trial appealed directly to the Caesar. (25v11-12)
Paul once more gives a strange turn of Phrase in the Greek, he states that he lived as a Pharisee. On first glances you would think that he was referring purely to his past when you read it in English, however in Greek, it is both the aorist (a verb without a tense) and in the active form.
In other words I lived (aorist) and live (active) as a Pharisee. Perfectly in line with his earlier comment. (Acts 26v5)
Paul explains how he was sent to the Gentiles to tell them to repent and show their repentance with a changed life... (Acts 26v20)
Paul is now shipped off for Rome (Acts 27v1-2). The journey was effectively a disaster, but one good thing did come out of it...
Paul said,
My brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our ancestors (Acts 28v17). If Paul had deliberately broken the Torah, he has just perjured himself. If he has not continued to practise his Jewish faith as a Pharisee keeping the oral/traditional rules, he has just perjured himself.
I say it is time to allow the traditional blinkers to come off and re-read the book of Acts and the letters of Paul, the Torah observant Jew. Pharisee from birth to grave and slave of Messiah.
Steve
