Romans 10:4 Messiah is the end of the ΝΟΜΟΣ (norm) for ΔΙΚΑΙΟΣΥΝΗ (justice).

I would like to discuss the following article:

The True Gospel vs. The Mystery of Lawlessness

Daniel Gregg

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The "mystery of iniquity" is referred to in 2Thess. 2:7. In that passage the Greek word ανομιας is used. It means "lawlessness", being derived from the term νομος with a prefix meaning "no" or "without", α-. Paul calls it a "mystery" or a "secret". Revelation 17:5 calls the woman that rides on the beast "Mystery, Babylon the Great, The Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth" and encourages Christians to "Come out of her, my people ..." (Rev. 18:4). False Christianity is Mystery Babylon, either denying people the Scriptures or perverting the Scripture, and mixing it with paganism, idolatry, and pagan philosophies. The admonition to "Come out" implies that this is where the majority of God's people are trapped. So we must come out of the false system.

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At the heart of the mystery of iniquity are the false translations of Scriptures promoted by Church tradition regarding the gospel of Yeshua. Therefore, I will take a few passages and show how the true gospel which is clearly taught in them has been turned into the mystery of iniquity. Let's start with Romans 10:4, "For Messiah is the end of the norm for justice to everyone who faithfully trusts" (DLT: torahtimes.org). This is the literal and original sense in Koine Greek. The three key Greek words, "norm", "justice" and "faithfully trusts" have been reverted to their correct and original Greek senses in order to correct the perversion of the Babylonian Church.

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If we can understand what the "norm for justice" is, then we will get Paul's teaching of the gospel. The "norm for justice" is that the sinner should die for their own sin. For the "norm" is that which usually applies. The "norm" is the customary case of the matter. Most people are sinners. Most sinners do not repent or trust in Messiah, therefore, the norm for divine justice is that they must pay their own penalty for sin. But now Paul says Yeshua is the "end of the norm for justice", because now He gives us an extraordinary form of justice which is not according to the norm. In this case, Messiah pays the penalty for the sinner, on the sinner's behalf, so that the sinner is saved, and does not have to die. This justice that is not according to the norm is substitutionary atonement, where the sacrifice pays the penalty for the sinner.

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At the end of the verse Paul puts the condition forth for receiving this extraordinary justice. It is for "everyone who faithfully trusts". The term "faithfully trusts" (πιστευω) is not just a passive "believe". It is a trusting commitment to God with "implication of total commitment to the one who is trusted" (BDAG, 3rd edition, pg. 817). Of course it includes believing the good news, but it is not complete without the implied commitment to repentance and doing what is right in God's sight. For Yeshua did not just say to "believe" the good news. He also said to "repent". Furthermore, he will say of those who think repentance is optional and chose the option not to repent, "I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work lawlessness" (Matthew 7:23).

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This view of the good news is totally and utterly evangelical in the original sense of the term. However, the evangelical world is divided down the middle on it. Some teach that "repent" only means to "believe" while others teach that true faith requires repentance, i.e. to turn away from sin. I only point this out to show that my explanation is totally within Christian tradition, even if some people may not agree with the side of the tradition that I hold to, which is supported by the original languages and the context of the gospels.

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Now let us examine how the mystery of lawlessness turned this beautiful text in Greek that Paul wrote into an iniquitous diatribe against God's Torah. First the term νομος was misunderstood by non-Greeks, or by Greek speaking Gnostics to mean the Torah and Prophets. However, they really had no excuse, since the word means a "custom" or "norm" of some kind. The second step was to misunderstand the Greek term δικαιοσυνη to mean moral righteousness rather than God's "justice" of action in punishing sin. The English term "righteousness" is especially grievous since it actually excludes the notion of "justice" which the Romance languages still have, (cf. Spanish, 'justicia' or French, 'justice'). Finally, the verb for "faithfully trust" was long ago reduced to "believe", so much so that Pastors have to keep reminding pew warmers that it does not just mean "believe", but implies commitment too. The end result then is exactly what the otherworld wants nominal Christians to believe, "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes". The gospel is totally destroyed in that translation, mutated into the mystery of lawlessness. And they are nominal Christians that take it to heart and who think it is the gospel. The term "nominal" is derived from νομος. They indeed are under the norm, because they have missed the good news.

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Here are a few words of advice. Before listening to the dozens of mistranslated texts that can be quoted to confuse this issue, rest assured that they can all be dealt with as deftly as I have shown Romans 10:4 to teach the true gospel. If people do not like the translation ""For Messiah is the end of the norm for justice to everyone who faithfully trusts", then they ought to at least admit that it is a clear teaching of the gospel, unless of course, they believe in some other gospel that is not based squarely on the paid penalty by Messiah. And they they ought to justify their disagreement by demonstrating that said meanings do not exist in Greek for νομος, δικαιοσυνη, or πιστευω, or by showing that said meanings are rare and unlikely. What I have said also fits the total context of Scripture. If they go quoting their mistranslations produced by corporations or committees with clear links to the tradition of Mystery Babylon, then I say they are just engaging in circular reasoning.

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I know that most Messianic believers understand that mistranslations have played a big part in the rejection of Torah. Seminary Greek or Hebrew does not prepare one to challenge the iniquitous translations. It only helps one defend the status quo. So again, that sort of education is largely circular reasoning again. In any case, what non-Messianics ought to realize is that even those of us who are not experts in language have had the Holy Spirit telling us for years that something is wrong with those anti-Torah texts.

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