Recently, I sat through a sermon on Galatians 4:8-20

The pastor, a guest speaker at this particular church, made a remark when he got to verse 12 which left me baffled. In paraphrasing, he said:"Paul became a Jew to the Jews upholding Torah, and to the Gentiles he became a Gentile. He sat down with them and ate pork if need be."

From a Messianic (Jew/Gentile) perspective, this leaves me concerned. This pastor's interpretation of Scripture not only is a misreading of the text, but also a misinterpretation of Paul, Messiah, and the New Testament (B'rit Chadashah) in general.

Such a doctrine is often based on the assumption that not only the dietary instructions of God's everlasting Torah^[1] are abolished, but the whole of God's Law was 'nailed to the cross'. This directly contradicts Scripture and Messiah Yeshua.

Let us have a closer look at this passage.

The Fundamental Error: Misunderstanding "Becoming Like"

The assumption that Paul—a Jew and former Pharisee—sat down with (Messianic) Gentiles and ate pork (or therefore anything unkosher) seems to be based on a misunderstanding of Paul's statement in verse 12.

In a parallel passage (1 Corinthians 9:19-23^[2]), Paul says, "I have become all things to all people." This might add to the confusion of what Paul (Sh'aul) really means in Galatians as both passages echo a similar sentiment. However, Paul's principle of "becoming all things to all people" never involved violating God's eternal Torah.

David Stern in his "Jewish New Testament Commentary" explains:

What Paul Meant by "Becoming":

Paul's methodology was about cultural accommodation where Biblical law allowed for it. He never advocated for the abolishing of the Torah, not even for Gentiles. Sh'aul worked in the framework of God's divine Law and Commandments (Torah, Mitzvot)

For example:

• To the Jews, he lived as a Pharisee, observed feasts in Jerusalem, took Nazirite vows (Acts 18:18^[3], 21:24^[4]), and circumcised Timothy (a Jew) to avoid unnecessary offense (Acts 16:3^[5]).

• Paul at no point in time during his ministry stopped being Torah-observant. Thus upholding the teachings of Messiah Yeshua^[6].

• To the Gentiles, he did not live as a Jew, meaning he did not impose Jewish cultural distinctives that were not biblically required for salvation (e.g., he did not require Gentiles to become circumcised or follow rabbinic traditions to be saved). He fellowshipped with them freely. 👉 We see this reflected in the decision of the Jerusalem Council regarding Gentiles who are turning to God^[7].

What Paul Did NOT Mean:

He absolutely did not mean he would violate God's commandments to "win" someone. Or to teach Gentiles that even the lightest of God's commandments would be loosened. He would have contradicted Messiah^[8]. Paul himself says to 'withdraw from such' who does not teach according to the sound doctrines of Yeshua Messiah in 1 Timothy^[9].

The idea of Paul eating pork (an animal Scripture calls "unclean" and an "abomination") is unthinkable based on the historical record:

1. Paul consistently identified as a Pharisee (Acts 23:6^[10]).
2. He declared he had not sinned against the Torah (Acts 25:8^[11]).
3. He taught Gentiles to avoid idolatry and sexual immorality, which were part of the Apostolic Decree in Acts 15—a decree based on the laws for Gentiles living among Israel in Leviticus 17-18.

The Correct Context of Galatians 4:8-20

This passage is not about Paul compromising Torah, or abolishing God's Law & Commandments, as Religion today might proclaim. Rather, it is a passionate, emotional plea from a spiritual father to his children who are being spiritually deceived.

v. 8-11: The Problem:

The Gentiles formerly served pagan gods ("those which by nature are not gods"). Now, after knowing and turning to (i.e. Repentance) the true and living God of Israel, they are turning to a new form of slavery: observing the "weak and worthless elemental things."

This refers not to God's Torah, but to legalism—the system of believing that following a set of rules (in this case, the Jewish calendar as a means of earning righteousness) justifies them before God. Paul is horrified that they are trading one slave master (pagan idolatry) for another (religious legalism).

The Problem: Legalistic application of the Law for salvation

Salvation comes through faith in Messiah Yeshua by grace only. Paul seems to be in emergency mode writing to his beloved children to not fall into the trap of becoming Proselytes^[12].

Paul is not arguing against the Torah (God's Instructions to His chosen people for living a holy life), but against a legalistic application of rules and regulations. Note that anybody who converts to Judaism is bound by the totality of torah including the oral torah, i.e. traditions.

Messianic believers are not bound by any man-made tradition. This is exactly the point of Messiah Yeshua's ministry as we can see in many occasions such as Mark 7^[13].

Paul, therefore, is in alignment with Yeshua's teachings of a deeper spiritual application of God's Torah for believers. He (Sh'aul) does not abrogate or abolish the Torah or the Prophets.

v. 10: Days, months, seasons and years

Although it is easy to read this passage as referring to the Jewish calendar, there remains the possibility that it can also be read as referring to Pagan calendars. Thereby, the Messianic Gentiles would fall back into observing their 'calendar' periods instead of putting their faith in Messiah. This would tie in with verse 8 where it refers to Gentiles who "did not know God". We would suggest that Messianic Jews did indeed know the God of Israel already as opposed to pagan Gentiles.

v. 12-20: The Appeal:

Paul's appeal—"Become as I am, for I also have become as you are"—is the crux of the misunderstanding.

• "Become as I am" means: 'Become free in Messiah from the slavery of trying to earn righteousness through law-keeping, just as I am free.'
• For I also have become as you are" means: 'I, a Jew, did not hold you to the standard of Jewish cultural/rabbinic traditions to be saved. I treated you as Gentiles who are saved by grace through faith, not as converts to Judaism.'

This reading comes full circle to the main issue at the churches in Galatia: Salvation through conversion to Judaism apart from faith in Messiah. Paul goes to great lengths to explain that nobody can buy their salvation through acts or deeds.

However, it should be said that Paul in other places (e.g. Romans) makes a clear argument for obedience to God and His instructions (Torah/Law) not for salvation but because believers were saved and have received the Holy Spirit who empowers believers with the 'Want to' and the 'Able to' obey.

The Messianic Response: Paul did not eat pork...

From a Messianic viewpoint, the sermon in question is a classic example of Replacement Theology and antinomianism (being against the law).

Amongst other things, it:

Misrepresents Paul:

It creates a false Paul who is against the Torah, when in reality, Paul upheld the Torah (Romans 3:31^[14], 7:12^[15]) and taught against lawlessness (anomia - Greek for "without law").

Invalidates God's Standard of Holiness:

It treats God's (dietary) laws as arbitrary and meaningless, rather than as enduring instructions for a holy people (1 Peter 1:16^[16]).

Creates a Contradiction:

If Paul ate pork, he would be in direct violation of the Jerusalem Council's decree in Acts 15, which commanded Gentiles to "abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled"—a direct reference to the laws of kashrut (dietary rules) for fellowship. It makes no sense that he would enforce this on Gentiles while violating it himself.

Conclusion

The teaching that Paul ate unclean food to identify with Gentiles is a hermeneutical error that stems from a bias against the ongoing validity of God's Torah for believers.

It ignores the historical context of Paul's life and the consistent biblical witness of his behaviour.

Paul's message in Galatians is a powerful defence of justification by faith alone, not a license to violate God's instructions on holy living.

He was fighting the idea that Gentiles must become Jewish through circumcision and legalism to be saved, not the idea that God's people should live according to YHWH definition of what is good and clean.

Let us guard against teachings that misrepresent the apostles and lower God's standard of holiness for our lives.

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Cross References

• Everlasting Torah

Footnotes