N21-4: The Gentile Church Is WRONG In Saying The Torah Promotes A Works-Based Method Of Salvation

While going through our studies of Exodus and Leviticus, there is ONE REALLY KEY POINT I’m hoping you didn’t overlook.

This key point is the complete opposite of what the gentile church has mistakenly taught and promoted over the centuries.

What point am I taking about?

Here it is:

RITUAL MINUS REPENTANCE MEANS NOTHING IN GOD’S JUSTICE SYSTEM!

When you read the Torah carefully, you will find God saying over and over and over again that it is the condition of one’s heart that is most important.

The Levitical rituals for atonement and purification in and of themselves meant nothing!

They weren’t magic, as if all you had to do was say a few magic words, sacrifice an animal and then PRESTO, you were forgiven.

No, the rituals didn’t work that way.

They were all about OBEDIENCE AND TRUST.

Ritual minus a heartfelt confession and humble spirit was NOT accepted by God.

It was seen as a mechanical act of self-righteousness and thus was ineffectual.

This is something I feel very strongly about, so I want to make this as clear as possible.

Among the ancient Hebrews, the belief that mere robot-like obedience to the Law resulted in a good relationship with HASHEM did NOT exist.

Let me rephrase that another way so there is absolutely no misunderstanding.

The “works-righteousness” concept the gentile church has attributed to the Old Testament and the Jews was NOT the normal belief system in ancient Israel.

In addition, the primary motivation behind why the Law was obeyed was to please God and NOT because one yearned to “be saved” or “go to heaven” someday.

I’m not denying there may have been a small minority of Israelites who held to such a distorted understanding of the Torah.

Some of them may have treated the Levitical rituals as an an automatic forgiveness vending machine that didn’t require heartfelt repentance.

But as I just said, they were the minority.

The mainstream followers of HASHEM certainly did not believe that way.

The idea (which has become universal in the gentile church) that the Old Testament was all about a works-based method of attaining salvation that did not require faith which was later replaced by a faith-based method of salvation in the New Testament is PATENTLY FALSE NOR IS IT TAUGHT IN THE TORAH OR ANYWHERE ELSE IN SCRIPTURE INCLUDING THE NEW TESTAMENT.

Another important point you need to understand is that the definition of salvation from the ancient Hebrew perspective differs radically from so-called modern gentile believers in Yeshua today.

For the Hebrew, salvation means that Israel will become a world power and that the instructions and laws of HASHEM (the very teachings we have been studying) will eventually become the universal standard for all mankind to follow.

In other words, for the Israelite, salvation was similar to what happened when God rescued Israel from Egypt.

Salvation entails being rescued from gentile oppressors in order to establish a Kingdom of God whose center will be in Jerusalem.

There was never this idea then or now that Israel attempted to obey the Law so they could go to heaven as the gentile church falsely believes and teaches.

The Israelites obeyed and even now obey the Law because they loved God.

That was their primary motivation because for them, the best thing to do with the very brief time they had on this planet was to please God before their life ended.

There really wasn’t any thought of some kind of eternal reward awaiting them in the heaven.

Because of this distorted way Christians view the Torah and the Jews, the church has falsely accused an entire people of religious folly and legalism THAT ISN’T EVEN TAUGHT IN THE SCRIPTURES.

But that’s not the worst of it.

Due to harboring this false view, the gentile church also falsely accuses the Old Testament (sorry for using the term “Old” Testament but for purposes of this discussion, it makes things convenient) of establishing legalism!

Ultimately, do you know what this means?!

The church is accusing God Himself, the very Author of the Word, of establishing legalism.

Some will make the excuse that it was only for a time.

This idea is called Dispensationalism.

But even that teaching comes straight from the Gates of Hell.

The result of this falsehood has produced the following tragic results.

First, it has marginalized those very people who wrote down and have protected the Holy Word of God for centuries to the present time (heck I wouldn’t even have the pleasure of writing this blog if it wasn’t for the Jews!  Bless this people!).

Second, it has caused anti-semitism and led to the cruel persecution of the very race that has produced the one you call your savior, who ironically happened to not only be an ethnic Jew but was also one of the most pro-Israel and Torah-observant individuals who ever walked the face of the planet.

Finally, it has created a vicious enmity between the church and the Jewish people.

Actually, this is quite similar to the enmity between Israel and Edom (Jacob and Esau) we recently read about in Numbers 20.

Where there should have been brotherhood has tragically turned out to be the opposite.

This is NOT the one body of both Jewish and gentile believers that Paul envisioned.