Thoughts about Scriptural Authority: Paul, the Law, and the ELCA

By: John Page

Recent events in the ELCA[1] have piqued more interest than usual in what this Church actually teaches, revealing the latest manifestation of a contentious question as old as the Christian Church itself.  The question is largely asked in terms of the authority of canonical Scripture, and how it functions as “the authoritative source and norm of [the church’s] proclamation, faith, and life”[2], but it really centers on the role that law in Scripture ought to play in the life and practice of Christians.  Anyone who has read the Acts of the Apostles or Paul’s Letter to the Galatians knows that we Christians have been here before.  And in these two canonical books, the first century church provides us with an apostolic model for both understanding the current contention and for resolving it.  They also describe a model which is antithetical to the apostles’ teachings, and which effectively subverts the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Paul and the Christian Pharisees: Council of Jerusalem

In Acts 15, we are told that some individuals from the church in Jerusalem paid a visit to the church in Antioch in Syria, and insisted that the Gentile Christians must be circumcised according to the law of Moses in order to be saved.  This ignited dissension within the church, with Paul and Barnabas at odds with the Jerusalem visitors.  To resolve the matter, the Christians in Antioch dispatched Paul, Barnabas, and some others to Jerusalem to discuss it with the apostles and elders there.

On their way to Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas visited churches in Phoenicia and Samaria, reporting the conversion of Gentiles and bringing “great joy to all the believers” (Acts 15:3).  Similarly, when they arrived in Jerusalem and had been welcomed by the church there, including the apostles and elders, Paul and Barnabas reported to them all that God had done with them concerning the Gentiles.  But, as occurred in Antioch, “some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, “It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses.” (Acts 15:5)

The leaders of the church in Jerusalem met together to consider all this, and after some debate, Peter stood and declared,

"My brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the Gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers.  And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us.  Now therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?  On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will." (Acts 15:6-11)

Then, the whole assembly listened to Paul and Barnabas tell of “the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles.” (Acts 15:12)  When they had finished, James, the brother of Jesus and perhaps one of the most influential members of the church in Jerusalem, affirmed the witness of Peter, Paul, and Barnabas, concerning the Gentiles, and acknowledged that the prophets themselves had anticipated the inclusion of Gentiles among God’s people.  To resolve the present dispute, James proposes something of a compromise, which would allow the Gentiles to forgo circumcision, but otherwise abide by a “lite” version of the law of Moses.  The leaders in Jerusalem composed a letter to Antioch which assured the Christians in Antioch that the Jerusalem leaders were not complicit with the earlier visitors who had initiated the dissension, and that the Jerusalem leaders only required that the Gentiles abstain from anything that had been sacrificed to idols and from fornication. (Acts 15:23-29)  The letter was well received in Antioch.

It seemed the crisis had been resolved, though Paul’s letter to the Galatians indicates the dissension between Christian Gentiles and Christian Pharisees[3] persisted after the Council of Jerusalem.  Before moving on to the epistles, though, consider how Peter, Paul, Barnabas, and the leaders in Jerusalem regard the authority of Scripture in their discernment.  The Scripture, in their case, refers to the Law and the Prophets, what we generally regard as the Old Testament.  The Christian Pharisees rightly observe that the law - that is Scripture - requires that God’s people be circumcised, and every Jew, including Peter, Paul, and Barnabas, would know this.  The Scripture is clear on this point.

Yet, Peter, Paul, and Barnabas insist that this point of Scripture – this clear command from God - may be set aside, so as not to burden Gentile converts.  Shall we assume that these three had little or no regard for the authority of Scripture?  That would be unlikely.

What I notice is the methodology these three employ to interpret and apply Scripture.  Specifically, they appeal to empirical evidence of the Holy Spirit active in the lives of Gentile converts, and they let the evidence of the Holy Spirit inform their understanding of Scripture.  The evidence is not just “private revelations” or personal interpretation; on their way to Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas make a point of inviting the churches of Phoenicia and Samaria to discern for themselves what God has done among the Gentiles, without the benefit of circumcision!  They invite the Jerusalem church to do the same.  Peter also appeals to the empirical evidence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of uncircumcised Gentiles in his speech before the Council of Jerusalem, referring to his earlier experience with Cornelius and the Gentiles in Caesarea (Acts 10:44-48).  Their methodology stands in contrast to that of the Christian Pharisees, who require an uncritical interpretation and application of the law in Scripture, without regard to anything the Holy Spirit may be doing – and especially if the Holy Spirit is doing something new and unexpected when judged against the law.

Paul and the Galatians

Even a casual reading of Paul’s letter to the Galatians reveals how very frustrated – even exasperated – Paul was with those who continued to insist on an uncritical application of the law in the life of a believer as a condition for justification before God.  He begins with a brief greeting, followed immediately by an indictment against the Galatian Christians: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel” (Gal 1:6).  Paul is of course the one who called them in the grace of Christ, and he reminds them of his bona fides by reciting his own abridged autobiography, with particular emphasis on his divine charge to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles.[4]  But, what is the “different gospel” – which is no gospel at all – to which Paul refers?

It is abundantly clear throughout this letter, that obedience to the law as a requirement for justification before God is a “different gospel” [5] from the gospel Paul first proclaimed to the Galatians.  According to Paul, this is the true gospel:

“… we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.  And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.” (Gal 2:16)

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.” (Gal 2:19b-21)

As in Acts, the Holy Spirit figures prominently in Paul’s understanding of what God is doing.  Notably, obedience to the law has nothing to do with receiving the Holy Spirit, which for both Peter and Paul, confirms God’s justification of the believer (Acts 10:44-47; Acts 15:8-9).  Paul is emphatic that the believers received the Holy Spirit by believing the gospel of Jesus Christ, and living “by faith in the Son of God” (Gal 3:2-5).  So significant is this point for Paul, that he writes:

“Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed.  Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith.  But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.  As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.  And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.” [6] (Gal 3:23-29)

Paul even goes so far as to state that those who rely on works of the law are under a curse (Gal 3:10).  If we depend on the law for our justification, we are bound to the entire law; we don’t get to be selective about it, choosing to do “this” while disregarding “that”.  And the futility of keeping the entire law dooms us (Gal 4:2-4).  Instead, Paul insists that it is through the Holy Spirit, by faith, that we are assured of justification before God (Gal 4:5).

If we have no law to bind us, what governs our conduct?  If Christ has freed us from the law by faith, what is the practical consequence of that freedom?  Paul argues that we have received Christ’s own freedom; believers have been made God’s children, and “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts” (Gal 4:6).  If this is true – if the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, dwells in us – then Christ possesses our lives.  As a duck will act like a duck, and a horse like a horse, so Christ will act as Christ – so those possessed by Christ will act as Christ.  And to act as Christ is to share God’s love with the whole world, and in so doing, perfectly accomplish the law’s purpose without its curse.  “For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Gal 5:14)

Before concluding his letter, Paul contrasts the “works of the flesh” with the “fruit of the Spirit” (Gal 5:16 – 6:10), listing specific examples of each.[7]  The examples are by no means exhaustive, and they are also not “new” laws; Paul is not replacing the Law of Moses with the Law of Paul.  His entire argument in this letter is adamantly opposed to Christian enslavement to doing works of law – any law! – as the basis for justification before God.  Christ will act as Christ, and so will Christians when the Spirit of Christ is in us.  Paul’s lists illustrate the point that we know what is – and is not – loving to our neighbor.  And we ought to know better than to mock the Spirit of Christ that dwells in us by indulging ourselves at our neighbors’ expense.

The Apostolic Model of St. Paul

In both Acts and Galatians, observable evidence of the Holy Spirit at work in believers’ lives is ample proof for Paul (as well as Peter and Barnabas) that believers are justified before God.  Examples of that observable evidence include “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23), as well as “extolling God” (Acts 10:46).  Absent from these examples is “obedience to the law”.  In fact, Paul could not be clearer that those who require obedience to the law – even one commandment of law – for one’s justification, are themselves under a curse (Gal. 3:10). 

Using words like “curse”, “slavery”, “turning to a different gospel”, and “false believers”, Paul refuses any compromise that concedes that obedience to the law has any salvific consequences for believers.  To do so would imply that Christ died for nothing (Gal. 2:21).  Paul even rejects a partial submission to the law as acceptable, putting him at odds not only with the Christian Pharisees, but with James and the leaders of the Jerusalem church, who proposed a kind of “lite” law for Gentile Christians.[8]  If believers maintain that they are bound by any part of the law, they are subject to the entire law – and are therefore doomed (Gal. 5:2-6).

Having been justified by faith, Paul admonishes believers to live by the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us.  This is extraordinary counsel – and terrifying to some.  The reassuring do’s and don’ts of the law are gone, leaving us in the perilous wilderness without a tried and true survival handbook.  Instead, we’ve been handed a compass called the Holy Spirit, and told to make our way with confidence.  What kind of insane God are we dealing with?  (Think of the grumbling Israelites in the wilderness of Sinai.)

But Paul insists we know how to read this compass; the Spirit dwells in the believer, and by that Spirit our faith comes alive in our actions.  We will find a depth of understanding and courage that no survival handbook – the collected wisdom and witness of others who’ve gone before us – could ever provide by itself.  We will have come to understand what lies at the heart of the handbook – the truth which those who’ve gone before were always trying to reveal, however imperfect their witness or our comprehension may have been – by trusting the compass of the Holy Spirit to guide us.  Terrifying stuff!  But, it is the way of faith; the Way of Jesus.

And the Way of Jesus bears fruit – the fruit of the Spirit.  Paul believed that the fruit of the Spirit was as obvious to believers as was works of flesh (Gal. 5:19-26).  Paul was convinced that when we live by the Spirit, we will know how to love our neighbor as ourselves, and perfectly fulfill the law in a way that obedience to the law could never do (Gal. 5:13-15). 

Paul’s treatment of the law reveals more broadly his approach to Scripture, and what the authority of Scripture meant to him in practice.  He insisted that the Holy Spirit must inform our understanding of Scripture, implicitly and explicitly rejecting the spiritless practices of the Christian Pharisees.  The Holy Spirit reveals God’s will in the lives of those in whom the Spirit dwells, and in ways that are broadly visible to believers – not just in personal or esoteric visions.  Believers know the Spirit is at work by the fruit of the Spirit, and the fruit of the Spirit always reveals God’s love for the world, and our love for our neighbor.

Paul and the ELCA

It seems to me that the current dissension in the ELCA – concerning changes to Ministry Policies and, to some extent, adoption of the social statement Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust – follows a pattern not at all unlike that of the dissension between the Christian Pharisees and Paul et al. in the first century.  One party insists that the ELCA is abandoning the ancient witness and authority of Scripture by altering long-held beliefs and practices vis-à-vis same-gender relationships and intimacy.  An opposing party insists we take into account the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of gay and lesbian believers, and like Paul, let the Spirit of Christ inform our understanding of Scripture and our practice.  The ELCA’s 2009 Assembly attempted a solution similar to that of the Council of Jerusalem, by adopting changes that would fully accept gay and lesbian believers in the life and work of the church (and without putting God to the test by trying to constrain whom the Holy Spirit calls to faith and service), while simultaneously accommodating those whose bound consciences require obedience to the law (through a “local option” mechanism, details of which have yet to be developed and announced).

In the first century, the Christian Pharisees were not satisfied with the Jerusalem compromise, and continued their efforts to require Gentile believers to submit to the law.  We see the same development today, with organized efforts to actively attack the Assembly and the ELCA with rhetorical excess and financial retaliation, while aggressively working to force submission to the law throughout the Church. [9]  Evidence of the Holy Spirit at work in the lives of gay and lesbian believers has been dismissed as either irrelevant to the question of what the law requires, or as nothing more than evidence of this world’s evil infecting the Church – a risky suggestion, given Jesus’ warning to those who accuse the Holy Spirit of doing evil. (Matthew 12:24-32; Mark 3:22-30)

But, the apostle Paul’s gospel of Jesus Christ also resonates in the Church today.  Apostolic Christians believe in the Holy Spirit as more than a cognitive principle, but as the living Spirit of Christ dwelling in believers as much today as in any other century.  That Spirit sets us free from bondage to the law, and opens our eyes to perceive what lies at the heart of the law.  When we live by the Spirit of Christ, the fruit of the Spirit will follow.  And we will know the fruit of the Spirit because it will reveal our love for all people, as God loves all people.  The Holy Spirit will inform our understanding of the law and the prophets – our understanding of the Scripture.

Key to Paul’s argument is examples of the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers.  He appealed to evidence available for all to see, and invited the Christians in Phoenicia, Samaria, Jerusalem, and Galatia to look and discern the evidence of Christ’s Spirit in their fellow believers and in themselves.  The fruit of the Spirit will be obvious to believers.  We are invited to do the same[10], and those of us who have experienced the ministries of pastors in same-gender relationships have seen in them ample evidence of the Holy Spirit at work in extolling God, in offering Christ’s love and peace to all people, and in demonstrating patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, despite the pain inflicted upon them by others’ contempt, false accusations, and outright persecution.

And where the Christian Pharisees saw – and see – doom and gloom, apostolic Christians saw – and see – the Holy Spirit and mission opportunities in abundance.

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[1] Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

[2] CONSTITUTIONS, BYLAWS, AND CONTINUING RESOLUTIONS of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, §2.03.

[3] In Acts, Paul’s adversaries are referred to as Pharisees; in Galatians, Paul refers to them as the “circumcision sect”.  It’s unclear whether they are the same “party”, but they clearly maintain identical positions with regard to obedience to the law.  Throughout my paper, “Christian Pharisees” refers generally to those who maintain the same position as those with whom Paul contended in Antioch and Jerusalem.

[4] Arguably, Paul’s recollection of events is not exactly identical to Luke’s recollection in Acts.  But, common experience suggests that it is not unusual for two people to remember events, and their significance, differently.

[5] In contemporary intra-Christian polemics, it’s not unusual for one party to accuse the other of “turning to a different gospel” as a cheap rhetorical maneuver.  But, it’s important to note that Paul is referring specifically to the false teaching that one is justified before God by works of law, as opposed to justification by faith.

[6] Being “Abraham’s offspring”, and therefore heirs to God’s promise to Abraham, was (and is) a significant concern to Christians, which is why obedience to the law was (and is) such a troubling issue in the church. 

[7] Beware the temptation to apply pagan Greek dualism (“form” vs. “substance”) to Paul’s contrast between “works of the flesh” and “fruit of the Spirit”.  Paul is not speaking of an ontological dualism between flesh and spirit in the human person, which is a pagan idea.  Paul is contrasting behavior that is unloving or destructive of our relationships with one another in Christ (works of the flesh), with behavior that is loving toward others and embodies Jesus’ own presence (fruit of the Spirit).

[8] Personally, I sympathize with James’ predicament, and I appreciate his efforts to find a way for Jewish and Gentile Christians to live in harmony with one another in the church.  The Jerusalem Council’s compromise seems to have been a practical solution providing a kind of “local option”, but it failed under continued pressure from Christian Pharisees to require circumcision of Gentile believers, which in turn produced Paul’s rigorous theological argument against Christian “enslavement” to the law.

[9] These efforts have been largely coordinated by an organization called Lutheran Coalition for Renewal (Lutheran CORE).  Their homepage provides access to information regarding their purpose and efforts: http://www.lutherancore.org/.

[10] In 2007 and 2009, the organization Goodsoil (http://www.goodsoil.org/) published devotional booklets which featured devotions by, and biographies about, gay and lesbian Christian leaders in, or associated with, the ELCA.  The booklets are titled A Place Within My Walls (http://www.lcna.org/lcna_news/2007_cwa_apwmw/a_place_within_my_walls.htm) and One Table, Many Blessings (http://www.goodsoil.org/2009DevotionalBooklet.pdf).  The biographies in these booklets invite all believers to see and discern evidence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of gay and lesbian Christians.