Paul is difficult to Understand

One thing that amazes me is the fact that so many claiming Christians either don’t read their Bibles enough to know, or they simply disregard the warning Peter makes about Paul in reference to the Law of God. For me, I always tend to force all scripture to bend to the words of Yeshua (Jesus), this includes everything Paul had to say. In doing this, I find it much easier to understand what Peter’s warning was all about. The following is my understanding of the warning Peter gives based on multiple scriptures to back up this understanding.

2 Peter 3:14-17

Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position.

This verse seems to be overlooked or intentionally ignored all too often. I would like to take the time to really break down what Peter is talking about here. I believe this is vital to really understanding our place within Christianity. If Paul truly is difficult to take at his own word, does that mean we cannot simply take the words he wrote at simple face value? Why is he so difficult to understand? What is it that Paul says that makes him difficult to understand?

The first thing we see from Peter is him telling believers to be diligent and to be found by God “without spot and blameless.” Starting there, let’s search through the scriptures to find other areas using the same terminology.

Job 11:13-15

“If you would prepare your heart, And stretch out your hands toward Him; If iniquity were in your hand, and you put it far away And would not let wickedness dwell in your tents; Then surely you could lift up your face without spot; Yes, you could be steadfast, and not fear;

Notice Job mentions preparing your heart and follows it up by saying get rid of your iniquity. The word used here for iniquity is the Hebrew Strong's H205 - 'aven. Its meaning is evil, or wickedness. Simply understood as sin. So to boil this down, Job is saying to be without spot, is to be without sin, and to be without sin means to get rid of wickedness in your life. Now, let’s jump to an example in the New Testament.

1 Peter 1:17-19

And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

This comes from the 1 letter Peter wrote. He says the Father judges according to each man’s work. He goes on to say that we, as believers, were not redeemed with corruptible things, but were redeemed from aimless works we received by traditions of men, our biological fathers, or parents. Then He compares Jesus to the lamb without spot. We all know Jesus kept the Law of God perfectly which is what made Him perfect, or without spot. This seamlessly agrees with the account from Job.

Now, we will check out “blameless.”

Deuteronomy 18:9-13

“When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God.

God, when giving commandments says do not learn the abominations of the people in these nations He is sending them. These abominations are sins. He gives a list of these things which are all things we should still not be doing today.

2 Samuel 22:22-24

For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all His judgments were before me; And as for His statutes, I did not depart from them. I was also blameless before Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity.

Keeping the ways of God, not departing from Him, meaning abiding by all His judgments and statutes is what made Samuel blameless before Him. Samuel did not commit iniquity, again meaning he was not committing sin.

Luke 1:6

And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

Not only is Luke saying walking in all the commandments of the Lord made Zacharias and Elizibeth were blameless, but also righteous. Therefore, we can conclude from both the Old and New Testaments in order to be considered without spot and blameless means we should be keeping the Laws God gave.

Now Peter goes on to say, Paul is “hard to understand”. So, what does he mean by this? Peter follows this up by saying it is the “untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction”. And he says the very same people who do this also twist the rest of scripture. Peter knew Paul, and warned us that in order to understand Paul we would have to know what Paul knew. Or at the very least, understand that Paul knew the Old Testament better than just about everyone else on earth. Today, many teachers of the Word read Paul’s words and claim we no longer need to keep the Law of God. However, that teaching directly contradicts what Peter is saying. Remember, to be without spot and blameless is to follow the Law of God. Furthermore, Peter warns, “be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless”. It is the people teaching against keeping the Law who twist Paul’s words. It is the Pharisees who teach the traditions of men who also claim Paul teaches against the commandments of God.

There is no reason to believe Paul taught against the Law of God. If we were cautioned specifically that Paul is difficult to understand and then warned to not be carried away with those who do not keep the Law. Remember these words from the mouth of God Himself.

Psalm 89:34

My covenant I will not break, Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.

If God will not break His covenant and will not alter any of the word He spoke, according to God Himself, why do we think He has? Why do we give Paul the authority to alter the word of God? The simple fact is, He hasn’t and Paul doesn’t have that authority either. This is why Paul is difficult to understand. He argues against the law of sin, and the laws based on the traditions of men, all while arguing in favor of keeping the Law God gave. There is nothing in the Law of God that should be considered hard to keep, or immoral. Some teach believers only need to keep the ten commandments, but then also say we really only need to keep nine of the ten. Others say we need only keep the “moral” law, when in fact there is no such mention of a “moral” law throughout the entire scripture. It is simply a made up term to pick and choose what laws they want to follow.

The majority of the Law of God is kept by the majority of Believers unknowingly to them. There are only a few laws that most believers refuse to keep and actually argue against keeping. Unfortunately, this list is growing as we approach the last days.

So, the first thing we must understand about Paul is that he was the most passionate Jew when it came to studying scripture, specifically what we refer to as the Old Testament Law. That is because there was no such thing as a new testament in the time of Paul. Saul/Paul studied under Gamaliel. Paul is difficult to understand because he has a higher level of scriptural intelligence than most men. He basically had a doctorate in Scriptural Law of God.

Acts 22:3

I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today.

Gamaliel was one of the high priests and even plays a role in the Bible. Historians say he was held in great renown as one of the most intelligent men in terms of the Law of God. That being said, Paul too would have to be one of the most intelligent men in terms of the Law of God. I believe this is precisely why it was Paul chosen to go among the gentile nations with the good news.

The second reason Paul is difficult to understand is because of his usage of the word Law. Paul speaks of eight different laws.

1) The Law of God (Romans 3:31; 7:22-25; 8:7)

2) The Law of Sin (Romans 7:23-25)

3) The Law of Sin and Death (Romans 8:2)

4) The Law of the Spirit of Life (Romans 8:2)

5) The Law of Faith (Romans 3:27)

6) The Law of Righteousness (Romans 9:31)

7) The Law of Christ (1 Corinthians 9:21)

8) The Oral Traditional Laws of men (Colossians 2:8)

Due to all these different laws, it should be clear why Peter says Paul is difficult to understand on issues concerning the Law of God.

Paul himself actually kept the Torah found in the Old Testament. We also know that when Paul and Silas were in Berea the Jews there did their due diligence to hold Paul accountable for every word he said. They scoured the scriptures daily in order to ensure everything Paul taught lined up with the Old Testament writings of the Law and Prophets.

Acts 17:10-11

Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.

If Paul would have been teaching against the Law of God, these Jews would have called him out on it. They would not have accepted what he had to say and would not have protected him. It would have been their duty to stone him for blasphemy, according to Deuteronomy 13.

Deuteronomy 13:1-5

“If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst.

We know the Jews held themselves to the standard of killing anyone who disagreed with them and taught blasphemy, so why did this not happen with Paul if he was teaching against the keeping of the Torah? The simple answer is, he wasn’t, and he never did. Paul believed the keeping of Torah was important and that is why he kept it himself.

Acts 17:2-3

Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.”

Acts 18:4

And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.

Acts 24:14

But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets.

Romans 3:31

Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.

The Greek word used here for “establish” is Strong's G2476 – histēmi and it has a few interesting definitions.

1.       to cause a person or a thing to keep his or its place

2.       to stand, be kept intact (of family, a kingdom), to escape in safety

3.       to uphold or sustain the authority or force of anything

Acts 28:23

So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening.

So, we can see, Paul kept Sabbath, believed everything from the Law and Prophets, states we should keep the Law, and taught about Jesus from the Law and the Prophets. There is absolutely no reason to believe Paul ever taught anyone not to keep and follow the Law of God.