Faith in the Old Testament

The idea of faith is threaded throughout the OT.

The OT concept of faith is broader than the commonly held idea of faith. The commonly held idea is a a mental or cognitive assent to a belief.

The Hebrew word for "Emunah" is often better translated as Faithfulness of which the majority definition of "faith" is but a subset.

Thus in Hebraic thought, if you have faith, you act a certain way. And if you acted in a certain way, you are exhibiting faith.

This doesn't mean that the Hebraic view eliminated the cognitive assent since the idea of having the law written on your heart is clearly an allusion to an inward state, which should result in outward obedience.

Thus there is no clash between Paul and James regarding faith and works. They are both likely to be dealing with the corruption of the idea of emunah by an over-emphasis of the Greek understanding of faith.

E P Sanders argues that the widely held idea that 1st Century Rabbinic Judaism is based on a false premise of justification by works is incorrect. If true, then we have made a misjudgement that has far reaching consequences on our understanding of Pauline thought.

Instead of viewing Paul as the Hellenised Jew who reformed Judaism by recasting the mode by which justification is achieved, how would we view Paul's writings if we thought of him merely as a Rabbi who believed his Messiah had come?

Torah is "Law"?

Not even Jews consider the Pentateuch to be merely a system of pejorative laws like Westerners do in the sense of a Roman or English Common Law system. It is certainly one aspect of it but to consider the text in only this light would be to take a very narrow view.

They call it Halakah which derives its meaning from the same root as verb "to walk." Thus a more balanced perspective is to see the Pentateuch as God teaching humankind how it should "walk."

This should have particular meaning for Christians since an early name for the sect was "The Way."

Spirit vs Law?

Does the Spirit obviate the Law?  If a truly mature believer was completely led by the Holy Spirit would the Law become an artefact?

If the Law is a part of Torah, and if Jesus is the Torah made flesh, and if Jesus, the Holy Spirit and God the Father are one in the Trinity then if any of these three are present anywhere, then there will be Law. Law is an inalienable manifestation of God's nature.

The subject of what place the law has in Christianity has been the subject of much debate. The Law was given to teach us how we should live. It is manifested in the Scriptures which according to John, became flesh. Jesus therefore embodies or in some may consists of the Law. To reject the Law at any level, is a rejection of Jesus. Law is a part of God and therefore Law is a part of the fabric of creation. Law and Spirit do not operate in the absence of the other. Since they are different manifestations of the same God, how can they? The Spirit acts as an enabling agent to obey the Law. One can flout the Law by arguing for a spirit-led life excluding any reference to the Law but such a life cannot disobey it without negative consequence nor impunity.

Christians have underestimated the power of sin to disorientate them from God's ways and so Christians have mistakenly put aside the Law leaving themselves in an exile of ignorance.