Paul and the Law

Preaching's Preacher's Guide to the Best Bible Reference "For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God" (1 Cor 7:19).The apostle Paul's relationship to the Law of Moses is notoriously complex and much studied. Difficulties begin with questions of definition (of the extent of Paul's corpus and the meanings of "the law") and are exacerbated by numerous problems of interpretation of the key texts. Major positions are entrenched, yet none of them seems to know what to do with all the pieces of the puzzle.Inextricably linked to Paul's view of the law is his teaching concerning salvation history, Israel, the church, anthropology, ethics and eschatology. Understanding "Paul and the law" is critical to the study of the New Testament, because it touches on the perennial question of the relationship between the grace of God in the gift of salvation and the demand of God in the call for holy living. Misunderstanding can lead to distortions of one or both.This New Studies in Biblical Theology volume is something of a breakthrough, bringing neglected evidence to the discussion and asking different questions of the material, while also building on the work of others. Brian Rosner argues that Paul undertakes a polemical re-evaluation of the Law of Moses, which involves not only its repudiation as law-covenant and its replacement by other things, but also its wholehearted re-appropriation as prophecy (with reference to the gospel) and as wisdom (for Christian living).Addressing key issues in biblical theology, the works comprising New Studies in Biblical Theology are creative attempts to help Christians better understand their Bibles. The NSBT series is edited by D. A. Carson, aiming to simultaneously instruct and to edify, to interact with current scholarship and to point the way ahead.

"Rosner has proposed an exegetically-detailed and hermeneutically-sensitive way of addressing Paul's teaching on the law. He has done so with admirable clarity. Paul and the Law, in fact, is a model of how a book should be written.--Guy Waters, Reformation 21, December 2013, "Rosner's book is insightful, and thus, recommended. Those interested in the topic of Paul's use of the Law would do well to consult Rosner's book and take D. A. Carson's instruction to read it slowly."--Michael J. Vlach, The Master's Seminary Journal, Spring 2015, "Rosner's volume is a valuable introduction to the issue of Paul and the law and provides a helpful entrance to the discussion."--A. Chadwick Thornhill, Neotestamentica 49, no. 1 (2015)

Brian S. Rosner is Principal, Ridley Melbourne Mission and Ministry College. He was previously lecturer at Moore Theological College, Sydney, and the University of Aberdeen. He is coauthor of The First Letter to the Corinthians (PNTC); coeditor of the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, The Trials of Theology, Exploring Exodus and Paul as Missionary; editor of The Wisdom of the Cross; and author of Beyond Greed, Greed as Idolatry and Paul, Scripture and Ethics.