Is a Law You Need Not Obey Still Law?

Was the Apostle Paul Torah-observant — not just before the Damascus road, but throughout his apostleship to the nations? Brad East stakes out a thesis drawn from Messianic Judaism and the Paul Within Judaism school: that Acts 21 should be read straight, that James is telling the truth about Paul, and that Genesis 12 and 17 still bind Jewish believers. Derek Rishmawy and Alastair Roberts push back hard, working through Galatians 2, 1 Corinthians 9, and the question of whether the law's force after Christ is divine command or Hookerian adiaphora — with the future of Jewish identity in the church in view.

—

Get the free ebook Spiritual Formation for the Family at http://mereorthodoxy.com/family.

Mere Fidelity is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and is listener-supported. If you would like to support this work, become a Mere Orthodoxy Member today at http://mereorthodoxy.com/membership.

Get 30% of the Baker Book of the Month, Keeping Kids Christian: Recovering A Biblical Vision For Lifelong Discipleship, by going to: http://bakerbookhouse.com/pages/mere-fidelity

Apply for fall 2026 admission to Beeson Divinity School's MDiv (or M.Div., your choice) and be considered for a full-tuition scholarship: https://bit.ly/beesonscholarships

—

• 00:00 - Welcome and the Disclaimer
• 01:00 - The Thesis: Paul Remained Torah-Observant
• 01:34 - Messianic Judaism and Paul Within Judaism
• 04:29 - Acts 21: Is Paul Lying or Walking the Law?
• 08:04 - Alastair's First Move: Affirming, Not Practicing
• 10:33 - A Law You Need Not Obey Is Not a Law
• 12:17 - Law as Covenant vs. Law as Instruction
• 15:34 - Circumcision as the Test Case
• 16:13 - Adiaphora, Hooker, and Binding Authority
• 17:40 - 1 Corinthians 9 Enters the Conversation
• 18:08 - The Halakhic Question: Should Elders Discipline?
• 21:11 - Acts 15 and Internally Differentiated Norms
• 23:13 - Alastair on Existing Authorities and Custom
• 26:36 - The Canonical Vision: Revelation 7
• 29:50 - Adiaphora's Sociological Problem
• 33:22 - Galatians 2: What Was Peter Doing?
• 38:18 - Permission vs. Prohibition
• 41:04 - Why Reduce Genesis 12–17 to Local Custom?
• 44:02 - Baptism, Circumcision, and Covenant Signs
• 47:55 - Does God Want Jews in the World?
• 50:10 - Providence and the Future Conversion
• 56:42 - One Body in Christ and the Complementarian Parallel
• 57:08 - Reinterpreting "Under the Law"
• 1:01:18 - Difference Without Division
• 1:04:13 - The Empirical Problem for Both Views
• 1:07:51 - Reading Our Situation Back into Paul
• 1:10:46 - Closing