Misunderstandings and misconceptions about the “the Law” can seriously hamper your relationship with God!

SOME FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Misunderstandings and misconceptions about the “the Law” can seriously hamper your relationship with God!

FOLKS, after 27 years of being a Messianic believer,  I’m so weary of having my Torah walk challenged by those who adhere to only the last fourth of the Bible which has erroneously been dubbed as the “New Testament,” as if the “old” (the first three-quarters of the Bible, containing the ORIGINAL words of God in those first five Books called “Torah”) are somehow no longer valid, because “Jesus” supposedly came to bring a “new religion” and abolish everything his Father ever commanded!

It gets old, having the same old hackneyed lines crammed down my throat about how “Jesus Christ is the only way to God!” and “The Law was just for the Jews,” and “it was abolished at the cross because nobody could keep it perfectly.”

SO HERE’S MY RESPONSE: While those worn-out phrases are nerve-wracking, it might surprise you that those particular statements are both true AND false!

Please read the following explanations:

POINT ONE: YES, MESSIAH YESHUA (whom Christians call Jesus) IS THE ONLY WAY TO THE FATHER! However, Yeshua (whose given Hebrew name means “Yahweh is Salvation” or “Yahweh saves”) did not come to bring a “new religion” called “Christianity.” He came to earth to represent Yahweh-Elohim (his Father), to teach us how to properly obey and worship the Father, and how to treat each other; and to ultimately offer his life for the purpose of becoming our Redeemer so that we could have eternal life.

POINT TWO: We must remember that the Bible tells us we are all ONE in Messiah (Galatians 3:28), and as such, there are no separate rules for His “natural” or “adopted” children, when it comes to certain “forever” commands. Not to mention, nothing says we have to keep "all 613 commands" (let alone, “perfectly”) as MOST of them were directed at the Levite cohens (priests); some were only for men; some only for women; and some were only for a certain time frame.) However, some were meant to last FOREVER - and those are the ones that believers must pay attention to.  For instance:

(1) Eating only “clean foods” (the “unclean” animals, birds and fish didn’t automatically become “clean” just because Jesus died!).

(2) Keeping the commanded Seventh Day Sabbath – which sets us apart from the rest of the world. It’s our weekly “date” with God!

(3) Keeping the seven commanded Biblical Feasts (all of which foreshadow Yeshua!)  They are our yearly “dates” with God, spread out throughout the year, in part, to continue our ongoing relationship with Him.

(4) Keeping in Ten Commandments (which, by the way, come straight from the “Old Testament” people insist doesn’t pertain to them, because it’s supposedly “only for the Jews”) which outline, in no uncertain terms exactly what is expected of God’s people.  Tithing comes straight out of the “Old Testament” – so why do pastors still ask for tithes?

POINT THREE: Yahweh Himself reiterated several times that ALL who accepted Him as their God were to do as His people did, which was to obey His Torah (Divine Instructions in Righteousness).

Leviticus 24: 22 You are to apply the same standard of judgment to the foreigner as to the citizen, because I am ADONAI your God."

Numbers 9: 14 If a foreigner is staying with you and wants to observe Pesach for ADONAI, he is to do it according to the regulations and rules of Pesach- you are to have the same law for the foreigner as for the citizen of the land.'"

And check out this passage wherein Yahweh says FOUR TIMES in a row that ALL are to obey His Divine Instructions!

Numbers 15: 13 "'Everyone who is native-born must do these things in this way when he brings an offering made by fire as an aroma pleasing to the LORD. 14 For the generations to come, whenever an alien or anyone else living among you presents an offering made by fire as an aroma pleasing to the LORD, he must do exactly as you do. 15 The community is to have the same rules for you and for the alien living among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the alien shall be the same before the LORD: 16 The same laws and regulations will apply both to you and to the alien living among you.'"

Deuteronomy 31: 11 when all Isra'el have come to appear in the presence of ADONAI at the place he will choose, you are to read this Torah before all Isra'el, so that they can hear it. 12 Assemble the people-the men, the women, the little ones and the foreigners (which includes ANYONE who wishes to believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) you have in your towns -so that they can hear, learn, fear ADONAI your God and take care to obey all the words of this Torah…

SO YES - belief in the shed blood of Yeshua is definitely the ONLY door or portal through which we have access to the Father – but as you can see from the few passages above, there’s more to belonging to God than just “believing” in His Messiah. The whole Bible tells us so:

John 14: 6 Yeshua answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

UNFORTUNATELY, MANY FAIL TO BOTHER WITH THE “OLD TESTAMENT”; consequently missing the point that ALL who accept Yahweh as their God and Yeshua as His Divine Messiah, are to OBEY His Divine Instructions, without which we would have NO blueprint for moral, holy living! What makes you think Yeshua abolished that, when Yahweh sent him specifically to do everything His Father told him to do? 

Deuteronomy 18: 15 "ADONAI will raise up for you a prophet like me from among yourselves, from your own kinsmen. You are to pay attention to him, 16 just as when you were assembled at Horev and requested ADONAI your God, 'Don't let me hear the voice of ADONAI my God any more, or let me see this great fire ever again; if I do, I will die!' 17 On that occasion ADONAI said to me, 'They are right in what they are saying. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kinsmen. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I order him. (CJB)

Yeshua Himself said He came to do HIS FATHER's will; not His own!

John 6: 35. Y'shua said to them, I am the Bread of Life. Whoever comes to me will not hunger. And whoever believes in me will not ever thirst. 36. But I have said to you that you have seen me, and you do not believe. 37. All who my Father has given to me will come, and whoever comes not to me I will cast outside! 38. For I came down from heaven,[1] not to do my will, but to do the will of Him who sent me. 39. And this is His will, that of Him who sent me, that all that He has given to me I do not lose even one. 40. For this is the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in Him, will have life that is eternal. And I will raise him up on the last day. (Aramaic English New Testament)

[1] As in the context of Miltha (the Word) or the "Manifestation" or the "Will of" YHWH coming down from heaven to do the Will of YHWH upon earth; his Spirit is of YHWH but his nephesh (soul) and body are human and temporal. This shows that Yeshua was NOT in charge; HIS FATHER WAS!

Yeshua came to proclaim the Kingdom of YHWH and to do everything His Father commanded. He tore down the fences of man's legalism. Neither He nor His Apostles ever advocated against Torah!

Does this mean we have to convert to Judaism or become Orthodox Jews, dressing in black suits and hats and perform all the traditions?

NO! What this means is that you should READ and STUDY the Torah (first five Books of the Bible that contain ALL of YHWH's original, Divine Instructions); along with the REST of the Bible in order to get the "big picture"; and begin to recognize that

1 John 2: 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in him. 6 He who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walked. (CJB)

How did he walk? By Torah! Y'shua didn't make up new rules. He kept Torah and expected US to follow suit. You can only know the him through the law and the testimony! Revelation reveals this:

Revelation 12: 17 "The dragon was infuriated over the woman and went off to fight the rest of her children, those who obey God's commands and bear witness to Yeshua." (CJB)

Revelation 14: 12 "This is when perseverance is needed on the part of God's people, those who observe his commands and exercise Yeshua's faithfulness." (CJB)

Please note, the above scriptures don't mention the "Ten Commandments". They simply refer to "the Commands" or "the Commandments" depending on which Bible version you use....God warns us in Proverbs 4:2 - "I give you good instruction: Do not forsake my Torah."

Here's more...

"And by this we know that we love the children of Elohim, when we love Elohim and follow his commandments. For this is the love of Elohim, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not burdensome. Because, whoever is born of Elohim overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith" (1 John 5:2-4).

And Paul said:

"Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we ESTABLISH the Law" (Romans 3:31).

In closing: Nobody said we had to "follow the law perfectly." But Torah commandments still stand for ALL who have accepted the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (Remember, in Messiah there is no Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or free. We are all equal, and ultimately, there is no difference between is "natural" and "adopted" children...

If the above explanation hasn’t given you enough food for thought, then please read two of my short blog posts designed to explain further: https://blog.therefinersfire.org/2024/10/if-youve-broken-one-commandment-youre.html and https://blog.therefinersfire.org/2022/01/please-read-this-if-you-dont-believe.html