Convenience and the easy route…Why do religions misinterpret Paul’s teachings?
The biggest reason many people misinterpret Paul is that they ignore the warning given by Simon Peter. Peter said that Paul wrote with wisdom, but that some of his writings are hard to understand, and that the unlearned and unstable twist them to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:15–16). Paul never taught that YAHUAH’s Torah was abolished. He taught that we are saved by grace through faith, not by earning salvation through works, while still affirming obedience to YAHUAH’s commandments. Peter’s warning reminds us to interpret Paul in harmony with the Torah and the teachings of YAHUSHA, not as a contradiction to them.
TEACHING: "RIGHTLY HANDLING PAUL"
How to Read Paul Without Twisting Him 2 Timothy 2:15, 2 Peter 3:15-16
INTRODUCTION: WHY THIS MATTERS Brothers and sisters, we are living in a time where many are “always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth” [2 Tim 3:7].
One of the biggest areas of confusion in the Body today is Paul. Some say Paul taught against the Law. Others say Paul taught obedience. Who’s right?
Peter already warned us 2000 years ago: 2 Peter 3:15-16 “...just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him... Some things in them are hard to understand, which the unlearned and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures".
The danger is real. Twisting Scripture leads to destruction. But the solution is also in Scripture: “rightly handling the word of truth” [2 Tim 2:15].
Goal of this teaching: To show that Paul, Peter, James, John, and YAHUSHA all preach the same Gospel.
Grace saves us. The Spirit empowers us. Obedience proves it.
If we get Paul right, we won’t fall for legalism on one side or lawlessness on the other.
1. FOUNDATION: PETER'S WARNING — DON’T TWIST PAUL
3 reasons people twist Paul:
1. Unlearned — They skip Torah, Prophets, and Gospels. But Paul quoted them 100+ times. “I believe everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets” [Acts 24:14]. You can’t understand Paul without his Bible.
2. Unstable — They want convenience. “Grace means I don’t have to obey” [Rom 6:15]. But grace actually trains us [Titus 2:11-12].
3. Isolated Reading — They pull 1 verse and ignore context. “Scripture interprets Scripture.”
The Anchor Rule: If your reading of Paul makes him contradict YAHUSHA in Matthew 5:17-18 “I have not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it”, then you have twisted Paul.
2. THE 4 "PROBLEM PASSAGES" — WHAT WAS REALLY SET ASIDE?
Whenever someone says “Paul abolished the Law” they use one of these 4. Let’s let Scripture interpret Scripture.
A. COLOSSIANS 2:16-17 — THE SHADOW AND THE SUBSTANCE False charge: “Paul said stop keeping Sabbath and feasts.” Context: Gnostic teachers were judging believers and adding man-made rules [Col 2:8, 20-23 “Do not handle, do not taste”]. Paul’s point: “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you... These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to CHRIST.” He’s not saying the shadow is evil. He’s saying don’t worship the shadow when you have the Substance. Paul himself kept the Passover [Acts 20:6] and taught on the Sabbath [Acts 17:2]. Takeaway: CHRIST fulfills the feasts and Sabbath. He doesn’t erase them.
B. EPHESIANS 2:15 — THE DIVIDING WALL False charge: “YAHUSHA nailed the 10 Commandments to the cross.” Context: “...by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man” [v.15]. The “dividing wall of hostility” [v.14] was between Jew and Gentile. Oral traditions that said Gentiles were unclean and had to become Jews to be saved.
Paul’s point: YAHUSHA abolished the hostility and separation, not the moral Law. Proof: Eph 6:2 “Honor your father and mother” and Eph 4:25-28 he quotes the 8th and 9th commandments.
Takeaway: The wall is down. The standard of holiness remains.
C. HEBREWS 8:13 — THE OBSOLETE COVENANT False charge: “The whole Old Testament is done away with.” Context: “In speaking of a new covenant, He makes the first one obsolete.” What became obsolete? The Old Covenant administration: Levitical priesthood and animal sacrifices that could not take away sin [Heb 10:1-4].
Heb 7:12 “when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well.” The law of priests changed.
What replaced it? The New Covenant: “I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts” [Heb 8:10, Jer 31:33].
Takeaway: How we approach GOD changed. The character of GOD in the Law did not. “JESUS CHRIST is the same yesterday and today and forever” [Heb 13:8].
D. ACTS 15 — THE JERUSALEM COUNCIL False charge: “James only gave Gentiles 4 rules, so Torah doesn’t apply to them.” Context: “Unless you are circumcised... you cannot be saved” [Acts 15:1]. This was legalism. Peter: “We will be saved through the grace of the LORD JESUS, just as they will” [v.11].
James’ ruling: Abstain from idols, sexual immorality, strangled, blood [v.19-20]. Why only 4? “For... Moses is read every Sabbath in the synagogues” [v.21]. This was step 1 of discipleship. Come learn the rest each week.
Proof: Paul still condemned sexual sin [1 Cor 5:1] and idolatry [1 Cor 10:14]. Years later James told Paul to prove he walked in observance of the Law [Acts 21:24].
Takeaway: Obedience flows FROM salvation, not to earn it.
3. THE GOLDEN THREAD: GRACE → SPIRIT → OBEDIENCE
Lay Romans 6-8 and Galatians 3-5 over these 4 passages and you see one story.
ROMANS 8:4 “... so that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Grace saves us FROM the penalty. The Spirit empowers us TO live it out.
GALATIANS 3:24-25 “The law was our guardian until CHRIST came... But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.” The tutor brought us to CHRIST. Now we walk by the Spirit and “faith working through love” [Gal 5:6]. “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” [Gal 5:14].
The Biblical Order:
1. Grace: “by grace you have been saved through faith” [Eph 2:8]
2. New Birth: “I will give you a new heart and a new spirit” [Ezek 36:26]
3. Spirit: “Walk by the Spirit” [Gal 5:16]
4. Obedience: “created in CHRIST JESUS for good works” [Eph 2:10]
5. Love: This is the fulfillment of the Law [Rom 13:10]
4. THE FINAL TEST: DOES IT LOOK LIKE YAHUSHA?
John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” 1 John 2:4 “Whoever says ‘I know Him’ but does not keep His commandments is a liar.” 1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of GOD, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.”
Why not burdensome? “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” [2 Peter 1:3].
3 Roads:
- Legalism: “Do more to be loved.”
- Lawlessness: “You don’t have to do anything.”
- The Gospel: “You are loved, so you get to obey.”
Paul, Peter, James, John, and YAHUSHA all agree.
CONCLUSION: CHOOSE THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE
Joshua 24:15 “...choose this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
We are not called to pick and choose which Scriptures we like.
“All Scripture is breathed out by GOD and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of GOD may be complete” [2 Tim 3:16-17].
Twisting Paul to fit convenience is dangerous because the Word is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword” [Heb 4:12]. It’s meant to shape us, not for us to shape it.
Let’s remember:
1. Salvation: By grace through faith, not by works [Eph 2:8-9]
2. Purpose: Created FOR good works [Eph 2:10]
3. Power: The Spirit writes the Law on our hearts [Jer 31:33, Ezek 36:27]
4. Proof: We walk in obedience because we love Him [John 14:15]
The same grace that saves us is the same grace that teaches us “to renounce ungodliness and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives” [Titus 2:11-12].
May we be found “unspotted and at peace” [2 Pet 3:14] when He returns.
CLOSING PRAYER FOR DISCERNMENT
“ABBA FATHER, guard us from twisting Your Word for convenience. Give us wisdom like Solomon to discern, boldness like Paul to speak truth, and love like YAHUSHA to walk it out. Write Your Torah on our hearts. Lead us by Your Spirit into all truth. Let our lives be living letters that show the world grace leads to holiness. Keep us from the ditch of legalism and the ditch of lawlessness. Narrowly walk us. In the mighty name of YAHUSHA our Messiah, Amen.”
