“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
The Basket Case Chronicles #100
“And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; to them that are without the law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law” (1 Cor. 9:20-21).
Paul here states his practice of cultural accommodation, both with Jews and with Gentiles. When ministering to Jews, when ministering to those “under the law,” he fit himself to their condition. To the Gentiles, who lived outside the restrictions of Torah, Paul lived that way himself, so as not to put any unnecessary obstacle between the Jews and Christ, or between the Gentiles and Christ. In other word, he didn’t bring a BLT to the synagogue lunch, and he didn’t turn down a BLT at the country club.
This should not be read as lawlessness, but rather submission to a higher law, the law of Christ. The Torah was from God originally, but now that the building was up, it was time for the scaffolding to come down. Paul living lawfully before God, under the law of Christ, should be seen here as the building. A rejection of temporary scaffolding is not a rejection of the building, particularly when his task was that of gathering living stones for the building from the Jewish and Gentile quarries both.