I have experienced firsthand the tremendous amount of brain washing that occurs at Christian Churches who try their darnedest to get you to view the Law of God as a negative thing that no longer applies to the modern believer “in Christ” today.
In a nutshell, here is what they teach.
-The Law was ONLY given to Israel, so ONLY Israel is obligated to obey it.
-Yeshua’s sacrifice on the cross effectively does away with the need to obey the Law. In other words, before Christ came, the Jews relied on the Law for salvation.
-If you attempt to obey the Law, you are spitting on God’s Grace which He provided through His son’s death on the cross.
There’s a heck of a lot more (like the doctrine from hell “Trinity” belief) but what I said above is without a doubt the top three foundational false teachings Christianity has been promoting for centuries now concerning the Law.
Let’s quickly deal with these false teachings one-by-one.
FIRST, concerning the idea that the Law was only given to Israel, actually they’re right!
The Law was only given to Israel.
However, what they fail to point out is that all those who by faith attach themselves to the Jewish Messiah ARE GRAFTED INTO ISRAEL (Paul’s Olive Tree analogy explains this well).
Contrary to what the church and many Messianic groups teach, God doesn’t have one set of principles for gentile believers and another set of principles for Jewish believers.
Notice I said “principles” and NOT “commandments“.
Because depending on your status within Israel, there may be some commandments that don’t apply to you.
This makes perfect sense.
If you’re a female, there are only certain commands that apply to you…
…and if you’re a male, there are only certain commands that apply to you.
A perfect example are the laws of adultery which according to Torah ONLY APPLY TO WOMEN.
Again, if you think I’m BS-ing, below is a direct quote from the official Orthodox Union site.
“A married man and a single girl, while still impermissible, is not an adulterous relationship.”
(Taken from…https://www.ou.org/torah/mitzvot/taryag/mitzvah35/)
Also, there are a ton of laws that apply to Levite Priests that did NOT apply to the common Israelite citizen.
However, having said that, the emphatic position of the Torah is “The same law applies both to the native-born and to the foreigner residing among you”–Exodus 12:49 (I’m well aware that this verse doesn’t apply to ALL the laws in the Torah, so hold your breath before you start unleashing a barrage of criticism towards me.).
SECOND, the idea that Yeshua’s sacrifice did away with the Law and that before Christ the Jews relied on the Law for Salvation is just point blank false.
Read these verses and tell me if Yeshua did away with the Law.
“Don’t think that I have come to abolish
the Torah or the Prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Yes indeed!
I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away,
not so much as a yud or a stroke
will pass from the Torah —
not until everything that
must happen has happened.”
-Matthew 5:17-18
Not only did Yeshua tell us he didn’t abolish the Law but he gave us a surefire sign of what would happen if God’s Law was to ever pass away.
He said the heavens and the earth would pass away and the last time I checked that just hasn’t happened yet.
Next, the idea that before Christ the Jews relied on the Law for their salvation simply doesn’t make any sense because the truth is God saved them from bondage FIRST and then AFTERWARDS gave them the Law which they were to obey out of gratitude for ALREADY being saved.
Let me ask you this.
After you came to faith in Yeshua, did you stop eating food?
You still eat food you say?
Why man?
Because eating food doesn’t bring you salvation.
Now you’re probably thinking that what I just said doesn’t make any sense…
AND THAT’S MY POINT.
Because the argument that you have to either choose faith in Yeshua or Torah obedience for salvation doesn’t make any sense.
The Bible doesn’t pit faith in Yeshua against Torah obedience to achieve salvation.
We’re talking apples and oranges here.
Faith in Yeshua and Torah obedience actually WORK TOGETHER!!!
In fact, Yeshua demonstrated that he was the most Torah obedient man on the planet.
Heck if you want to “do as Jesus does” as the common refrain goes, then obey Torah man.
FIRST you are saved (just as God first saved Israel from bondage in Egypt)…
…AND THEN AFTERWARDS…
…you are expected to do good works out of gratitude for your salvation…
…and be a light for others.
How do you be a light?
By obeying God’s commands man!!!
How else?!
Heck, there are tons of NT verses that substantiate the importance of obeying God’s commands and not to just have faith.
Just because Yeshua said he was the Bread of Life doesn’t mean that as saved believers we no longer have to eat food.
Or just because the Law is now “written on our hearts” doesn’t mean we no longer have to study the written word, does it?
Quite the contrary, it is precisely because we have attached ourselves to the Jewish Messiah by faith that WE OBEY THOSE VERY RULES AND COMMANDS that guide us on how to live a redeemed life that reflects God’s character and is pleasing to Him.
Finally, the idea that you’re spitting on God’s grace if you attempt to obey the Law is again based on a false “choose this or that” presupposition in order to achieve salvation.
I swear I don’t know how many times I gotta say this.
The Torah or the Law was NEVER CONSIDERED TO BE A VEHICLE FOR SALVATION!!!
And the purpose of the Torah as the Christians say wasn’t to educate us on some impossible to keep standard so we would come to the realization of how helpless our condition is and then in that helplessness turn to “Christ for Salvation” (to use typical church lingo).
It would be totally hypocritical for a God of Love to command us to do something we are incapable of doing.
So…for the 20 billionth time already, the Law is NOT a vehicle for salvation!
It was never designed to be a vehicle for salvation!
It is a guide for those who are ALREADY saved and are ALREADY members of the Kingdom.
The Law is NOT for unbelievers.
FIRST you are saved, then you obey God’s commands out of gratitude.
That is the true Biblical pattern established when God rescued Israel from bondage in Egypt.
Good work. Shalom yyy
Thank you Abraham!