A Torah Verse By Verse Commentary Of Paul's Epistles by Re'tzon Ha'El - HTML preview

Chapter 1

V1 This is a typical introduction by Paul whereby he confirms authorization of his apostleship by Elohim the Father, and Yeshua the Son. It was never his will but that of the Father and Yeshua the Son cf Acts 9:6,15-16. Note that the role of saviour is not restricted to Yeshua the Son but is also of the Father cf Isa 43:11; 45:21; Tit 1:3; Jude 1:25. This confirms the triune nature of the Elohim-head of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who are three separate entities constituting the oneness (which in Hebrew is echad) of YHVH cf the shema of Deut 6:4-5. Also note the words ‘which is’ are not found in the original manuscript, and hence should read ‘and Master Yeshua the Messiah our elpis/hope, expectation of good. Yeshua died for a degenerate world in order to give hope of eternal life unto those who would believe in Him to be afforded salvation by our Heavenly Father in the afterlife cf Tit 1:2; Col 1:27.

V2 cf Acts 16:1-3. Timothy Greek for ‘Honouring Elohim’ was Paul’s protege, who was of great reputation amongst the early believers. As mentioned in all my previous commentaries, peace can only be preceded, and be a culmination of grace and mercy poured out on a repentant soul, surrendered unto Elohim the Father and Yeshua the Son. Charis/grace is loving kindness or favour from Elohim. Eleos/mercy is kindness or goodwill towards the miserable and afflicted, joined with a desire to help them. Both grace and mercy are only afforded to the repentant, surrendered soul.

V3 Timothy was to ensure that the Ephesian ecclesia was to abstain from teaching a doctrine of another nature Greek heterodidaskaleo. The gospel of Messiah has never changed, and has remained true to Torah and shall forever do so cf Matt 5:17-19. It is unfortunate that this exhortation has been largely ignored for close to 2 millennia by the churches that succeeded the first century ecclesia, being furthest from the truth in our contemporary churches of today. 

V4 The muthos/fiction, falsehood or fables referred to were Jewish falsehoods as further specified in Tit 1:14. These were cunningly devised by the Jewish leaders who preached a false gospel based on the works of man as a means to salvation cf 2 Pet 1:16; Gal 3:1-3. These false traditions of men of the Pharisees and Sadducees brought great conflict between themselves and Yeshua cf Mk 7:5-9. Tit 3:9 elucidates these genealogies so mentioned, as pertaining to their use in misinterpreting the Torah, of which the pharisaic Jews were expert at. These fables and endless genealogies which had no biblical backing, yet were being taught in the ecclesia, were simply promoting unnecessary quarrels and strifes at the expense of the pure word which was so simple to comprehend, and without ambiguity.

V5 cf Jn 15:12 Paul then ties this thought of fables and genealogies with the commandments of Elohim i.e. the Torah, whereby he repeats Yeshua’s teaching that the teleo/end goal of Torah is agape/brotherly love. This type of love is in a social or moral sense i.e. assent of the will as a matter of principle or duty and propriety such as love for thine enemies or of thy brother whom you do not know. The word love is used loosely in the world, and even criminals claim to love one another, as the adulterous and homosexuals. This kind of so-called love is unacceptable to Elohim as it is not from a pure heart.

A katharos/pure, clean heart is one that is holy, such holiness being found in following the commandments of Elohim i.e. the Torah cf Jn 14:15; 15:10. In Leviticus the word katharos in the Septuagint LXX Bible is also used in all cases to refer to pure or clean e.g. Leviticus 13:6. It is hence a Torah-based cleanliness of the heart that is referred to. Only the pure in heart shall see Elohim cf Matt 5:8. The suneidesis/conscience is the soul as distinguishing between what is morally good and bad, prompting to do the former and shun the latter, commending one, condemning the other. One’s faith must also be anupokritos/sincere. The churches of today are bedevilled by an insincere love from impure, immoral, Torah-hating hearts, devoid of a conscience cf 2 Tim 3:1-5.

V6 -7 Indeed Christianity in our time has become so unattractive and off-putting to would-be converts, due to those entrusted with preaching in the pulpit having deviated so far from truth, that their utterances are nothing short of mataiologia/empty talk. Verse 7 is a pivotal verse in nullifying the claims that Paul preached and taught the abolition of Torah. He is in this verse reproaching those false teachers who desire to teach Torah, yet are bereft of its truth nor of the know-how. Rather this most crucial ministry in Christendom should be left for those who understand and do Torah cf Tit 1:10-11, Matt 23:16-24, Rom 2:19-21. Additionally, it is dangerous to desire the ministry of teaching if one does not understand that which they teach, and in so doing lead the flock of Yeshua astray, as this piles coals of judgement upon oneself cf Jm 3:1.

V8 This again is irrefutable proof that Paul never preached against Torah. Otherwise why call the law good? The law if abided brings life, if broken brings death. It is not the Torah which is faulty. It is carnal man who through sin, succumbs to the curses written in Torah, resulting in Torah acting against him i.e. being bad for him. A spiritual man on the other hand has the law written in his heart, and does not breach it, resulting in him experiencing the blessings that come with it cf Rom 7:5-14; 8:2; Eze 36:27. 

V9 -10 The nomos/Torah blessings and curses are outlined clearly and in great detail in Deut chapters 27 and 28. It is imperative to read YHVH’s advice to His people in Deut 30:10-20. The curses of Torah apply to Paul’s inexhaustible list of the anomos/Torah breakers, lawless given here of which are all listed in the Torah, further confirming that Paul was never pro abolition of Torah:

a. Murderers of fathers and mothers cf Exo 21:15

b. Manslayers cf Exo 20:13; Gen 9:6

c. Whoremongers cf Lev 19:29

d. Homosexuals,sodomites cf Lev 20:13

e. Menstealers cf Exo 21:16; Deut 24:7

f. Liars cf Lev 6:2-4; 19:11

g. Perjured persons cf Lev 19:12; Exo 20:7

YHVH cannot force us to be obedient. True unbiased, unselfish love has the special quality of allowing free will. Equally this love is fair in that it is within the parameters of righteousness. It is hence impossible for love to be immune from judging wickedness. Love is therefore rightly portrayed as the fulfilment of Torah cf Rom 13:8-10. This is what Yeshua personifies and He explicitly stated this in Matt 5:17-18.

Dikaios translated righteous man in v9 is Greek for righteous, observing divine laws, in a wide sense, upright, righteous, virtuous, keeping the commands of Elohim. It is a complete fallacy to claim that Paul’s writings taught against such divine truth. He states the importance of observing the Torah ad nauseum in his epistles. The Greek arsenokoites, translated ‘for them that defile themselves with mankind’ is better translated as one who lies with a male as with a female, sodomite, homosexual. I must reiterate that man cannot keep the Torah of his own volition. Only surrendering ones will and having complete faith in Yeshua haMashiach may allow one to be led by the Holy Spirit unto true Torah observance.

This is achieved through renewal of the mind. It is imperative that one undergoes a new birth, whereby the carnal nature is destroyed in water baptism (full immersion), and replaced by the spiritual nature of Yeshua via His Holy Spirit cf Rom 7:4-6,22-25; 12:1-2.

V11-12 This, we have already seen was ordained in Acts 9:6,15-16. Note that for one to be counted faithful by Yeshua, it is imperative to firstly receive His mercy, which is reserved for those of a meek disposition cf 1 Cor 7:25; Psa 25:9. The end goal is inheritance of the earth cf Matt 5:5.

V13 cf Acts 22:4; 26:9-11. YHVH Elohim will forgive sins of ignorance but will not be so generous with deliberate known acts of wickedness performed by those who have known the truth of the gospel and choose to live in disclosed sin cf Heb 6:4-6; 10:26-29; 2 Pet 2:20-22; Matt 5:13; Jn 15:6. Paul had a zeal for Elohim in his previous life as a Pharisee, but through ignorance did not know Yeshua nor believe that He is the Son of Elohim. For this reason, grace and mercy was afforded him cf Lk 23:34. Once He knew the gospel truth, he lived his new spiritual life with fear and trembling, as he was aware of the consequences of deliberate acts of sins hereafter cf Phil 2:12.

V14 YHVH’s grace is overflowing in immeasurable abundance, but can only be released to those who have faith in, and love Yeshua the Messiah, our Saviour, and mediating eternal High Priest cf Heb 4:12-16. Yeshua is the only way, truth and the life cf Jn 14:6. Paul, unlike many did not put this grace to waste but exhibited lifelong appreciation cf 1 Cor 15:9-10.

V15 Yeshua our door to the Father and the Good Shepherd, did not come into the world to save the righteous, but the lost sheep of Israel. Other sheep from the Gentile world have since had the opportunity to also partake in this faith in Yeshua unto salvation, which grafts them into the sheepfold of Israel too cf Matt 15:24; Jn 10:1,7-11,15-16. Even a decrepit sinner such as Paul qualified for faith in Yeshua unto the grace of the Father, leading to true observance of Torah led by the Holy Spirit. Also, cf Lk 19:10.

V16 By Yeshua not only forgiving, but also choosing so vile a sinner as Paul to be arguably his greatest apostle of his time, our Lord and Saviour demonstrated that no matter how pathetic a sinner one may perceive themselves as being, His love is so ineffable and his patience so enduring that He offers eternal life to that soul which surrenders itself wholeheartedly to him, and to that broken spirit and contrite heart cf Ps 51:17;Isa 57:15. 

V17 Only praise and worship can usher forth from the once degenerate soul destined for the lake of fire, to have been undeservedly redeemed, justified and sanctified through faith in the Son of the Most High, omnipotent, omniscient YHVH Elohim hallelujah!

V18 The charge referred to is that of v3-4. Timothy had been given a gift through prophecy and laying on of hands by the elders of the ecclesia cf 4:14. In Paul’s absence he was to use this gift of the Holy Spirit of apostleship to excel in spiritual warfare against the forces of evil that were to inevitably confront him cf Eph 6:11-12. A good minister of Elohim does not waste time arguing over fables and genealogies, nor major on defeating physical human opponents in long-winded arguments.

Rather he should focus on the spiritual battle of winning souls through sound doctrine, even seeking the souls of the very opponents who are deceived by the unseen forces of evil. Preaching of irrevocable gospel truth and showing genuine concern for the spiritual state of the human opponent supersede idle vain arguments. By so doing the faith of the weaker congregants is protected from such false ministers of the gospel.

V19 It is impossible to prevail in spiritual combat, regardless of how knowledgeable one may be, if they do not have faith in Yeshua and a conscience free of sin. These are the elementary requirements for a believer to approach the battlefield with any hope of victory. One does not need to be a theologian nor a leader of the presbytery in order to partake of the battle. These prerequisites given by Paul are sufficient to deem a spiritual Christian warrior ready for battle.

V20 Hymenaeus was a blasphemer who profaned Elohim, and preached empty words which led the ecclesia astray cf 2 Tim 2:17. Alexander was a coppersmith, who in Acts 19:33 seemed to have been an ally of Paul’s yet by 2 Tim 4:14 had become a mortal enemy. Both these characters had started out faithful, yet due to throwing in the towel, lost faith in Yeshua, and ultimately the hordes of Satan’s demonic minions entered their hearts and caused them to blaspheme Elohim. We need to be very wary of the strength and tenacity of Satan’s forces if we let our guard down. That guard being continuous, unbroken faith in Yeshua through a good conscience. This needs to be lifelong. Hence why many are called but few make it into the kingdom of heaven cf Matt 7:13-14. By delivering these apostate believers unto Satan, Paul was yielding their carnal nature unto Satan, in the hope that the spirit which belongs to Elohim might be saved in the day of judgement cf 1 Cor 5:5