The apostle Paul: Zealous for the law, but not traditions

Many "christians" use the book of Galatians to try and prove the apostle Paul was speaking against Yahweh's instructions and try and make a case that we are no longer to follow the Torah (or Law - better translated as instructions)  They use verses such as Galatians 1:13-16 to claim Paul was speaking against Yahweh's instructions - His Torah.

Galatians 1
13  For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:
14  And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.
15  But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace,
16  To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:

Paul was speaking against the TRADITIONS, not the law just like "christians" celebrate christmas and easter and claim it is "worship of God" or "celebrating Jesus' birthday and resurrection".  The holidays of christmas and easter have NOTHING to do with True Christianity just like the traditions Paul was keeping had NOTHING to do with worship of Yahweh or following Messiah Yeshua.  Notice Paul did NOT say that he was following Torah and  that was wrong - he said he was in the JEWS RELIGION and following TRADITION.  Torah is not tradition, it is Yahweh's instruction and is, like Yahweh, the 'same yesterday, today, and forever'.

Messiah Yeshua also spoke against TRADITION of the rabbis.  Since Yeshua NEVER sinned and sin is violation of Torah, He never spoke against the Torah but spoke against the traditions that the rabbis had added to their religion.  Yeshua said the pharisees were violating the law by their TRADITIONS.  This is the very same thing that "christians" are doing when they celebrate pagan holidays that are actually worshiping other [false] "gods" and when "christians" claim that "sunday is the christian Sabbath" where there is no such thing in scripture.

Matthew15:3  But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?

1 John 3:4  Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

Many "christians" believe that "sunday is the christian sabbath" simply because the catholic church told them it was.  They use the reasoning that Paul spoke until midnight sunday and they congregation had a church service all day long because of this verse:

Acts 20:7  And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.

1)  The day starts at sundown so this was saturday night after the TRUE Sabbath ended
2) Until 135 AD (because of the bar Kokhba revolt) the believing Jews and gentiles met with the unbelieving Jews in the synagogues to worship Yahweh and learn Torah

Acts 13
13 Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.
14 But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down.
15 And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.

Acts 15
19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:
20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.

3) sunday morning worship did not start until centuries later
4) the work week was six days with Sabbath being the only day off.  The work week and school week today in Israel is 5-1/2 days long (they end the day early on friday to prepare for Shabbat - the Sabbath)
5) After the Sabbath, the disciples met to have a meal to fellowship after having learned Torah in the synogogue in the morning and learning about Yeshua after the synagogue service ended.

When the apostle Paul taught in Berea, it was before he wrote any of the letters which became part of the new testament.  The only scripture Paul's teachings were compared with was the Torah, the prophets,  and the rest of the writings of the old testament,

Acts 17
10  And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
11  These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
12  Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.

Yeshua never broke Torah (which is what sin is) otherwise He would not have been qualified to be Messiah.  The apostle Paul never taught against Torah otherwise he would not have been a true apostle and the Bereans would have rejected him.

When Paul returned to Jerusalem, James told him there was a controversy in that the believing Jews who were ZEALOUS FOR THE LAW believed Paul had been speaking against the law.  James said he knew that Paul had not violated the law and asked him to show the believers in Jerusalem that he was still keeping the law.  NOTE:  it was IMPORTANT to James that Paul show that he was not a law breaker.  Obviously James was teaching the believers in Jerusalem that they were to obey the law!  Also note, this included sacrifices - obviously not sin sacrifices but those of purification and other vows (such as the Nazarite vow)

Acts 21
18  And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present.
19  And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.
20  And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:
21  And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.
22  What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come.
23  Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;
24  Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.
25  As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.
26  Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them.

People love to twist Paul because, like Peter said, he is hard to understand.  Peter said those who twist the words of Paul fall from the error of the lawless.  

2 Peter 3
14  Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.
15  And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him,
16  as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.
17  You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.

If anything Paul said contradicted Messiah Yeshua, then Paul would be false so if a person  believes Paul said we no longer had to obey the Torah (the law) and Messiah Yeshua said we do - then that person is claiming Paul's words have a higher authority than the Messiah they claim to follow and are claiming Yeshua is not their Messiah but Paul is since that is the voice they are listening to.  The apostle Paul is a true apostle and most people do not understand him.  Most of "christianity" has made the Paul of their own imagination and is the "messiah" they are following.  Many of the  christians who now claim to follow Torah also do not understand Paul so they claim he is a false apostle.  This false assumption of Paul places 90% of the new testament into question which discredits the entire new testament cannon of scripture.

Those who claim to follow Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) need to obey what He said and follow HIM.  If something in the bible seems to contradict Torah which Yeshua never violated or spoke against (if He had spoken against it, it would have been rebellion against Yahweh) then the troublesome passage needs to be studied to see the true meaning of it.

1 John 3:4  Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

Matthew 7
21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. ^G458

Strong's number G458 iniquity (transliterated as anomia)   :
anomia
1) the condition of without law
     a) because ignorant of it
     b) because of violating it
2) contempt and violation of law, iniquity, wickedness

John14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

John14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

John15:10  If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

1 John 2
3  And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
4  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

1 John 5
2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

Revelation 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

What is a Judaizer?

Many people parrot what they hear without examining to see if what they are parroting has any element of truth to it.  This is especially true on religious matters: "december 25 is Jesus' birthday", "Jesus cleansed it" (meaning it is acceptable to eat what He said not to) and "Jesus nailed it [The Law] to the cross" and they claim those who teach the importance of following Torah (The Law) are "Judaizers".

Both Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) and the apostle Paul taught we were to obey the Torah but not the traditions of men that are attached to the laws.

Paul wrote most of the New Testament.  When he was in ministry, the ONLY bible that existed was the Old Testament.  It was not until many decades / centuries later.  The first New Testament canon (books of the Bible recognized by any Christian church as genuine and inspired) was not put together until 170AD and was not finalized until about 400AD.  When the Berean's compared Paul's teachings with scripture, the scripture they compared it to was the Old Testament --- and his teachings did not contradict Torah otherwise they would have rejected him as false:

Acts 17
10  And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
11  These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
12  Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.

Messiah said we are to obey Yahweh which clearly means obey Torah:

John14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

John14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

John15:10  If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

1 John 5
2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

Revelation 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus

In fact, Messiah said He will reject those who do not obey Torah even if they "do things for Him":

Matthew 7
21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. ^G458

Strong's number G458 iniquity (transliterated as anomia) is  :
anomia
1) the condition of without law
     a) because ignorant of it
     b) because of violating it
2) contempt and violation of law, iniquity, wickedness

So it is clear that we are to obey Torah so what is a Judaizer that Paul warns about?  Both Messiah Yeshua and Paul explain what Judaizing is - only most people do not study for their selves and only parrot what their ignorant or false teachers teach.  Many "teachers" only parrot what they have been taught which was probably parroted from another "teacher".  In other words, much of what is called Christianity is TRADITION - people parroting what they were taught handed down for generations.

Yeshua did not say the Pharisees were wrong for obeying Torah.  What Messiah said was  they were wrong for hanging traditions on the law that they expected people to obey (when they them selves were not obeying them)   Messiah said we were to EXCEED the righteousness of the Pharisees:

Matthew 15
8  This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
9  But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men

Matthew 5
17  Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
19  Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20  For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

There is a vast difference between Mosaiac Judaism and talmudic / rabbinic Judaism even in the time of Yeshua.  Mosaic Judaism follows Torah that was from the beginning of the world and given again to Moses on Mt. Sinai.  Talmudic /rabbinic Judaism is what most people consider to be "real" Judaism is a false religion that is based on Torah PLUS traditions just like false Christianity such as catholicism is based on the bible PLUS traditions. 

Talmudic / rabbinic Judaism  adds so much onto the law, it has become a burden.  For example, in Orthodox Jewish homes, they have three sets of dishes: one for meat meals, one for milk meals, one for Passover.  They also have two refrigerators and two dish washers: one each for meat, one for milk because the rabbis took the Torah commandment to not boil a kid in its mothers milk (which was a pagan fertility tradition) to mean you could not eat meat and milk together - not even turkey (turkeys do not give milk) and milk products.  There are so many traditions and "fences" put around this one Torah rule they have made it to mean something the law never said.   They ignore the fact that Abraham fed Yeshua and the angels with Him meat and milk together and King David fed his people meat and milk together.

The apostle Paul made a clear distinction between obeying Torah and following the TRADITIONS of his fathers.

Galatians 1
13  For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:
14  And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.

If you read and study scripture and trust Yahweh to show you His truth,  He will show you the error of so many teachers and you can see for yourself that the judaizers were those who re-interpret Torah and hang traditions on the law that Yahweh never commanded.  The same can be said about what is called "christianity" today:  how many people bow down to idols, use worship objects, celebrate pagan holidays, eat what Yahweh calls an abomination, violate the Sabbath, and do things all in the name of Yeshua that He said not to?   The very same rebellion that happened in Ancient Israel is happening in the church today and false talmudic / rabbinic Judaism continues on.  Yeshua says the road is narrow and FEW find it - too many would rather follow traditions of their fathers instead of finding out what Messiah Yeshua wants us to do:

Matthew 7
13  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
15  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.