The relationship between Jesus, the Torah, and the theology of St. Paul has long been one of the most contested issues in Christian history. While Jesus of Nazareth consistently affirmed the enduring validity of the Torah, significant evidence suggests that Paul moved in a radically different direction—one that effectively dismantled the Torah’s authority for believers. Though Paul never openly declared the Law of Moses to be evil, his theology systematically displaced it, rendering it obsolete in practice. When read critically, Paul’s writings reveal not a continuation of Jesus’ Torah-centered teaching, but a decisive break from it.
Jesus’ Torah-Centered Mission
Jesus’ position regarding the Torah is explicit and difficult to reconcile with later Pauline theology. In Matthew 5:17–19, Jesus declares that he did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets and warns that anyone who relaxes even the least commandment will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven. He affirms full Torah observance and intensifies its demands, shifting obedience from mere external compliance to internal faithfulness.
Jesus lived and taught as a Torah-observant Jew. He kept the festivals, respected dietary laws, and instructed others to obey Moses (Matthew 23:1–3). Even when he challenged certain interpretations, he never challenged the Torah’s authority itself. For Jesus, the Law was permanent, divinely given, and central to covenant life.
Paul’s Radical Reframing of the Law
Paul, however, reframes the Torah in ways that go far beyond reinterpretation. His letters repeatedly argue that the Law is no longer binding for those “in Christ.” In Galatians 2:19, Paul states bluntly: “For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.” This is not the language of fulfillment but of termination. One cannot “die” to something that still governs one’s life.
Paul’s most aggressive rhetoric appears in Galatians, where he describes the Law as a “curse” (Galatians 3:10), a temporary guardian, and something believers must not return to. He goes so far as to accuse those who promote circumcision—one of the Torah’s foundational commandments—of severing themselves from Christ (Galatians 5:2–4). This stance directly contradicts Jesus, who was circumcised, never opposed circumcision, and affirmed the Law’s smallest commandments.
The Law as a Failed System
Paul portrays the Torah not merely as limited, but as incapable of producing righteousness. In Romans 7, he describes the Law as entangled with sin and death, claiming that it actually provokes sinful desire. While Paul insists the Law is “holy,” his argument effectively renders it dysfunctional. If the Torah increases sin, brings death, and enslaves humanity, its practical value collapses.
Moreover, Paul asserts that believers are “not under the Law but under grace” (Romans 6:14). This statement marks a decisive theological shift. Jesus never taught that grace replaced Torah; instead, he taught obedience within grace. Paul, by contrast, constructs a binary opposition in which Torah and grace cannot coexist as governing principles.
Faith Replacing Obedience
Central to Paul’s theology is justification by faith apart from “works of the Law.” While often defended as a critique of legalism, Paul’s language goes further. In Romans 3:28, he states that a person is justified “apart from works prescribed by the Law.” The Torah, once the defining marker of covenant faithfulness, is now excluded from the process of righteousness altogether.
Jesus, however, consistently links obedience to eternal life. When asked how to inherit eternal life, he responds by affirming the commandments (Matthew 19:17). He never teaches that faith replaces obedience to Torah. Paul’s theology shifts the axis of covenant life away from Torah observance and toward belief in Christ’s death and resurrection—an emphasis largely absent from Jesus’ own teaching.
The End of Torah Identity
Paul’s mission to the Gentiles accelerates this break. He actively resists requiring Gentile believers to adopt Torah practices, arguing that circumcision, dietary laws, and sacred calendars are not only unnecessary but spiritually dangerous. In Colossians 2:14, Paul claims that the legal code was “nailed to the cross,” a metaphor suggesting total annulment.
This language cannot be reconciled with Jesus’ insistence that the Law would endure “until heaven and earth pass away.” Paul effectively universalizes a non-Torah-based faith, transforming a Jewish messianic movement into a Law-free religion. In doing so, he removes the Torah as the lived framework of obedience for both Jews and Gentiles in Christ.
From Fulfillment to Replacement
While Paul occasionally uses the language of “fulfillment,” his practical conclusions amount to replacement theology. The Spirit replaces the Law. Faith replaces obedience. Christ replaces Torah as the center of covenant life. Even love, which Paul calls the “fulfillment of the Law,” functions not as obedience to Torah commandments but as an abstract ethical principle detached from concrete mitzvot.
Jesus’ fulfillment of the Law meant embodying it and teaching it more deeply. Paul’s fulfillment means rendering it unnecessary.
Conclusion
St. Paul did not simply reinterpret the Torah in light of Jesus; he dismantled its authority. Though he maintained rhetorical respect for the Law’s divine origin, his theology neutralized its binding force, portraying it as temporary, dangerous, and obsolete. In contrast, Jesus affirmed the Torah’s permanence and warned against relaxing even its smallest commands.
The tension between Jesus and Paul is not superficial but structural. Jesus stood firmly within Israel’s Torah tradition, calling his followers to deeper faithfulness. Paul stepped outside that framework, constructing a new theological system in which Torah observance was no longer central—or even permissible. Whether one views this as divine revelation or theological innovation, it is clear that Paul’s vision represents not the upholding of the Torah, but its effective eradication.
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