One of the biggest misunderstandings gentiles have concerning the Mosaic Law is mistakenly connecting Torah-observance to salvation.
As ridiculous as this sounds, trust me when I say this.
I speak from my own first-hand experience of attending quite a few Christian churches in my time.
A good majority of Christians harbor the false assumption that in the Old Testament times the Hebrews strove to obey the Law in order to be saved.
For some reason they seem to overlook the fact that God by His Grace saved Israel from Egypt FIRST and then AFTERWARDS gave them His Torah (teachings).
Nowhere in the Bible will you find God presenting the Torah as a vehicle to the Hebrews that they had to obey in order to be saved.
The TORAH was NEVER designed to save mankind.
The Apostle Paul also made this point clear.
Only faith in Yeshua can save us, NOT Torah obedience.
These are two separate issues.
Got it?
Obedience to the Lord’s Torah commands and receiving salvation via faith in Yeshua ARE. TWO. SEPARATE. ISSUES.
Faith in Yeshua does not cancel out Torah obedience.
And Torah obedience does not cancel out our faith in Yeshua.
The Lord wants salvation for us AND he wants our obedience.
Not one or the other.
Got it?
I know no matter how many times I try to explain this, I’m still gonna get a bunch of retarded comments saying “but Paul said Jesus has freed us from the curse of the Law blah, blah, blah”.
Look if you’re a Christian, let me ask you this?
Do you believe the life you lead AFTER coming to faith in Christ should be different than the life you led BEFORE coming to Christ?
Of course your life should be different AFTER coming to faith in Christ, right?
It should be characterized by obedience to His holy commands.
The exact same message is in the Torah.
Just as God saved the Jews FIRST and then AFTERWARDS gave them His Torah in order to live a holy life, so it is with the modern Gentile believer.
After coming to faith, you are expected to walk in obedience to the Lord by obeying His commands.
And ALL of the Lord’s commands are holy.
None of this pick and choose nonsense, or this 2-menu retarded-ness where only Jews are obligated to obey certain commands but gentile believers are free to disobey them.
Or thinking that we only have to obey the “moral” laws and principles (I don’t even know the meaning of this, all the Lord’s commands by definition are moral and holy).
So let’s get this straight once and for all.
The purpose of the Torah is so we can learn what it means to be obedient to the Lord.
The purpose of Yeshua is to save us.
These are two separate things but BOTH are necessary in order to have a COMPLETE walk with YHVH our God.
So understand when I promote Torah-observance, I am not promoting it as a means to salvation.
Some people mistakenly assume that I’m telling them they’re gonna go to hell if they eat pork or don’t observe the Biblical feasts.
I’m not saying you’re gonna go to hell, but now that you have been saved, don’t you have even more reason to be obedient to the one who saved you?
Or to quote Paul, “should we sin more just so we can obtain more grace?! Heaven forbid!”
Also, the Scriptures do seem to imply that if you’re life is not characterized by obedience to the Lord’s commands, it could be a sign that you are following another false spirit or may not have really been born again.
There are many parts in the New Testament showing that the earliest believers earnestly obeyed the Torah.
The early born-again believers viewed Torah observance as a natural outcome of their faith in Yeshua.
And of course, because Yeshua is the TORAH made flesh.
I can testify that after I was born again, it was the Spirit that led me to embrace the Lord’s Torah, as it has done for thousands of other gentile believers worldwide.
Faith in Yeshua and the Torah are LINKED, COMPLEMENTARY AND CANNOT BE SEPARATED.
If you claim to be a follower of Israel’s Messiah, yet are not led to obey His commands, I have to ask you, which “spirit” are you following?
You might want to test that spirit for many false spirits have gone out into the world.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“But this I admit to you, that according to the Way
which they call a sect I do serve the God of our fathers,
believing everything that is in accordance with the Law,
and that is written in the Prophets.”
-Acts 24:14
“I have committed no offense
either against the Law of the Jews
or against the temple or against Caesar.”
-Acts 25:8
Christ came to confirm the law and the prophets . If he said we would live by them isn’t that grace unto salvation ?
In a sense, yes. But our salvation comes first, and then our obedience. Our actions are an expression of our faith.
Dear Rich Have you defined the meaning of the word, “Saved”. When I re-started my spiritual journey with God I was told to leave behind all I was taught by men and allow the text by the Holy Spirit to define its self. I thought Saved meant God was delivering me from hell, but all the verses point to a deliverance from the consequences of sinning. And this is inline with what you are teaching. I did a through search of the word Saved. I was surprised at what I found because it lead me back to the 10 Words. The rich young ruler asks Jesus what he must do to be Saved. Jesus asks him if he is following the 10C. I thought that was strange. Why would Jesus point the young man to the 10C? Jesus’ entire message was taught from the 10C. Obedience to the 10C Saves us. Surprised me! Saved from what? Answer, all the curses from not following them. Deuteronomy 28:1-14. You are right about obedience. But Salvation means to be delivered from the consequences of sinning here and now. Salvation in Jesus is really a different subject which has to do with Adams rebellion. As usual see if what I’m writing is in the text? I don’t mind.
Well said. Salvation is the freedom from sin because the Torah has returned to its proper place, where it was In The Beginning: inside us, as established by Yeshua’s Spirit, sealed by His blood.
Amen Nicole!
Well said.
I get hammered a lot when I stress obedience is required. We get “saved” by repenting and turning our faith toward and into Messiah THEN as a consequence of that faith the spirit indwells us and gives us the desire to obey, not because we want to be saved, we already are, but to show our love, gratitude, loyalty, devotion to the one who saved us. If we become citizens of the Kingdom, then as any good citizen we obey the Kingdom laws.
Well put Terry! Couldn’t have said it better myself. Shalom!
Terry – Well put, although I take minor exception with the word “required.” Although technically a true statement, the sentiment behind doing something because it is a “requirement” implies a sense of intrinsic negativity. Note the difference between, “I get to serve the Lord today!” and “I have to serve the Lord today!”
While both are equally valid, I believe God wants that heart of gladness. (“Serve the Lord with gladness” Ps 100:2; also see the “cheerful giver” in 2 Cor 9) And indeed, it should be our natural reaction, our joy, and our privilege to serve the Lord every day – as you said, not to BE saved, but because we ARE saved.
The best I’ve heard the faith/works (i.e. necessity of obedience) debate put was in a sermon by David Platt. He says this, “The basis, means, and evidence of our salvation are all ultimately involved in judgment before God. Now, you stand before God, in heaven, and to use that age-old question, ‘Why should you be allowed to enter?’ And your answer is, ‘Because Christ has paid the price for my sins… The only basis I have to come in is Him. Simply to the cross I cling.’ This is the basis and the means. And in the background is a life that absolutely confirms this as a reality… The background isn’t the basis by which I come, absolutely not, that’s Christ. It’s not, ‘Oh, I did this and this and this.’ No, it’s faith. But there’s fruit of that faith, like James talks about, to prove that this was not just words, but real faith.”
I’ll agree, obedience is a necessity (even a requirement), but I often have to remind myself that my obedience should be a genuine outpouring of my joy based on upon the completely undeserved grace bestowed upon me. HE first loved me, therefore I…obey. Shalom, brother!
I need some clarification. I am a gentile believer In Christ but have been blessed in my spirit by your teachings on Leviticus. However this section has certainly cause some head scratching on my part. What I think your saying is that all believers, Jews and Gentiles, must gave heed to the Torah and walk in obedience to it or they are walking in disobedience to the Lord. But in Acts 15 at the Jerusalem Council there were some, apparently Pharisee believers, and was said of them, “But some of the believers who were of the religious group called “separated ones” were insistent, saying, “We must continue the custom of circumcision and require that the people keep the law of Moses.”
From what you wrote above I am thinking you would have agreed with them. Correct me if I am wrong. But the final decision according to James was “For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements.” None of those four requirements had any thing to do with the Levitical sacrifices that were still going on at that time. So why would you think anyone who does not obey the Levitical laws would be following a spirit other than the Holy Spirit?