You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you. (Devarim / Deuteronomy 4:2; ESV)
Misunderstandings among New Covenant believers about the Torah stem partly from a lack of awareness over the issues the New Covenant writers were dealing with. New Covenant believers, especially of the Protestant variety, see Torah through the eyes of the controversy that took place over the doctrine of salvation during medieval times. In those days it had became common to think that in order to be accepted by God one had to accumulate a certain number of merits. The New Covenant teaching that faith in the death and resurrection of Yeshua was sufficient for salvation had been lost. It seems that many of the creeds and theology established during the Reformation was a response to this and other unbiblical teachings.
Looking at the New Covenant references to the Torah (English: the Law / Greek: nomos), there appears to be very clear statements against an approach to God that includes the accumulation of merits. When reading these statements, one would almost think that the New Covenant writers were purposely and directly criticizing medieval thinking. The biblical contrast of justification by works vs. justification by faith is certainly relevant to that discussion. If I understand this aspect of the Reformation correctly, the prevelant thinking at that time had been that even though a person was part of God's family through faith in the Messiah, they still needed to be good in terms of their moral and religious deeds to be fully accepted by God. The Reformers, rightly based on Scripture, demonstrated that acceptance by God could never be established on the basis of our own efforts, but solely upon the merits of Messiah alone.
Statements about Torah in the Book of Acts, Paul's letters, and the Book of Hebrews clearly demonstrate justification by faith alone. But what has contributed to current misunderstandings is that these statements are not concerned about the accumulation of merits. It is common today to hear people explain our need for God in terms of our not being good enough. We explain how the Torah is God's standard, given to show us that all human beings fail to meet that standard. As a result we are all under God's condemnation and can only be forgiven through faith in the Messiah. All this is true. But the realization of our failure to live up to the Torah's demands is only one aspect of the Torah's function. Most of the negative Torah statements in the New Covenant writings aren't concerned with this problem. Adherents of the Torah in the first century - as well as many in contemporary Jewish circles - were not concerned about being good enough to be accepted by God. Those who wanted to impose Torah upon non-Jewish followers of Yeshua were not doing so that these Gentiles might become good enough. It was that they thought that possession and observance of Torah itself was what merited God's acceptance.
For those not used to this concept, you may need to pause and take a deep breath at this point. The New Covenant writers when speaking about Torah confronted the wrong notion in their day that living a life of Torah was the key to acceptance and intimacy with God. The gift of God's revelation to the Jewish people became something like an idol. Instead of being the people of God, we became the people of Torah.
It is true that this is not the only aspect of the Torah being addressed by the New Covenant writers. According to Jeremiah's prophesy (Jeremiah 31:31-33), there are significant differences between the Old and New Covenants. One of those differences is the internalization of Torah, not the doing away with Torah all together. Any teaching that implies that Torah is completely done away with is a misunderstanding of the intent of the New Covenant writers. Note that this is not to say that Torah as the Sinai Covenant is still in force. That is made clear both by Jeremiah and the New Covenant writers.
Torah is God's direction or teaching for our lives. Torah is the revelation of God and his revelation of how we are to relate to him. But it is not our understanding of this that puts us in good stead with God. That only happens through trusting in his Son, Yeshua. As we trust in him, we will also hunger for his Word - his Torah - for guidance in life.
6 comments:
Thank you for another helpful study and comment with regard to the Torah. I share your concern about any view of salvation through Jesus Christ that would cause Messiah's followers (i.e., Christian adherents) to downgrade the Torah -- or any portion of the Old Covenant.
It seems to me that the issue goes back before medieval times to Paul's letters (principally Galatians) and the writer to the Hebrews. In my own circles, I see well-meaning but untaught believers who are so eager to revel in God's grace as revealed in Christ the Messiah that they confuse "legalism" with the Old Covenant written word of God and thus call the law of God "useless" when, in fact, it is holy and good and, with all the written word of God, will never pass away. Please continue to teach and exhort from this perspective. I am trying to do the same.
This could be a transformational perspective, but I think we need to hear/read more about this. Can you elaborate with more reference to specific texts and circumstances.
Pastor Scott
As I have already mentioned, the New Covenant Scriptures refers to "Torah" in various ways. The negative statements have to do with an unbiblical rabbinic approach to Torah that certain supposed followers of Yeshua were trying to impose upon non-Jewish believers. Also, Torah as the Sinai Covenant had been broken by the Jewish people years before Yeshua's coming. God's response to this is the New Covenant, not a repaired Old Covenant. The New Covenant system is different from the Old Covenant system in several ways, including
• The doing away of the sacrificial system because of the perfect sacrifice of the Messiah and his functioning as Cohen Hagadol (High Priest) over the house of God
• The forgiveness of sins
• The gift of the Holy Spirit
• The gathering of all peoples, Jews and Gentiles, into one holy people of God.
But this radical change in how Jews and Gentiles can relate to God does not do away with Torah in every sense of the word. Torah is the ways of God. In order to live out the life of faith he calls us to, we need to know his ways, his Torah.
Here are some references in the New Covenant Scriptures which reflect this understanding of Torah. Where the word "law" appears, we can substitute "Torah".
"Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith." (Romans 3:27)
"So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members." (Romans 7:21-23)
Also, Paul appeals to Torah in 1 Corinthians 9:8, 9; 14: 21, 34. Galatians 6:2 speaks of the "Torah of the Messiah".
In 1 Timothy 1:8, 9, we read that the Torah still speaks against evil. How could it do that there is no longer any Torah?
According to James 1:25, the Torah still instructs us.
"According to James 1:25, the Torah still instructs us."
James, Peter, John and all the Apostles, including Paul were yet keeping Torah for israel, and the temple, and the systems remained and would would be for one generation, and then thankfully that which was "waxing old DID vanish away" with the complete and final destruction of israel.
Only The NEW Covenant remained!
And it is quite clear that The GOOD News for the heathen did not require them to keep torah naturally for that which was of The Father of ALL was engrafted on the flehly tables of their heart. Life for all heathen believers, who were translated into The Kingdom of Elohims dear Son, was of The Spirit!
And with the destruction of the earthly natural kingdom the old vanished away indeed and Truth!
Reply to ElderChild. If I understand you correctly, I think it is far fetched to claim that James' reference to the Torah still instructing us is just for the generation preceding the destruction of the Temple in the year 70. There is no sense in James' writing to give an impression that what he writes in temporary. Note Paul's positive references to "Torah".
As for your reference to "the destruction of Israel", please see my paper that demonstrates the New Testament's clear affirmation of not only the preservation of Israel, but it's future hope in keeping with the promises of the Tenach.
Thankyou for your scriptural teaching. I agree that we are saved by grace but Christian conduct IS required of those who would be christian. This would mean that, although our salvation is by grace (since we could never live up to Jesus' example), our lives are livrd in harmony with Jesus' example. Faith means that we believe that God wants what's best for us and we do our UTMOST to follow His rules! We do not accrue "points" for doing so for if we lose our faith we die unsaved but oue faith requires that we do "good". I've seen too many who call themseves "christian" but are misled into thinking that as long as they acknowledge Jesus as savior their conduct can be like that of the world. Many fail to underatand that satan is the father of the lie and that ALL lies serve him no matter how well intentioned.
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