I spent thirty plus years in the mainstream church, being taught that the Old Testament law is done away with.
“Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and He fulfilled the law so we don’t have to…
‘The Law’ is a curse and a burden.  It is extreme legalism.
Placing ourselves back under the law is an insult to His sacrifice.”

I believed these ideas for decades.
But then, I was “called” to study scripture for myself.
When I started looking at scripture in detail, including studying the Greek and Hebrew, I found ideas contrary to popular doctrine.

Let’s take a quick look at obedience today.
I’ll keep this short.

Is the story of Abraham and Isaac the most extreme example of obedience in the bible? Abraham waited his whole life to be blessed with a son by Sarah.  And what does Yahuah do?  He turns right around and says to sacrifice him as a burnt offering.
Wow.
How can anyone obey in this situation?
What about the promises of his seed becoming a great nation?
What about the promises of his seed being as the stars in the sky, if only you were able to count them?
This can’t be right.
Did Abraham argue the point?  Did Abraham choose to not obey, taking matters into his own hands, so that the promises might be fulfilled?
No, he did not.
He did exactly as Yahuah had instructed, and he did so without delay.
Why?
Because He had faith. It did not matter that he might not understand. It did not matter that he might not agree.
He had faith that Yahuah had a plan, or had a solution.
He had faith that the promises would be fulfilled, even in his obedience that seemed to defy those promises.
Abraham did obey, and Yahuah provided a solution.

But is this the most extreme example of obedience in scripture?
Absolutely not.

We all know that Yeshua Messiah died a horrible death, so that we might be saved. He paid the wages of sin, which are death, without ever having committed sin, so that he could overcome death.
It is easy to just read these words, the story of his death, and not truly appreciate what He went through.  I spent much of my life knowing this story, but thinking, “Of course He did this for us.  It was God’s plan…”
I discounted this incredible sacrifice.  I made it words on a page, instead of an actual experience that our Savior went through on our behalf, on my behalf.

But look at Matthew 26:39
And going forward a little, He fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I desire, but as You desire.”

Messiah did not want this experience.
We see that He prayed again in verse 42.
Again He went away, a second time, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is impossible for this to pass unless I drink it, let Your desire be done.”
And He prayed the same, yet a third time, in verse 44.
And He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.
We learn in Luke that Messiah was so stressed, blood come from his pores, and dripped mixed with His sweat.
Luke 22:44
And being in agony, He was praying more earnestly. And His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
This was no easy matter for our Savior.

Abraham was willing to sacrifice his seed, his beloved son, the heir to the promise, simply because Yahuah told him to.
Yeshua Messiah was willing to obey to the point of death, because it was the Father’s will.

Are we too good for obedience?
Are we above and beyond obedience?
Are we better than Abraham?
Are we better than Messiah?

No, we are not.
Should we obey the instructions for living, given in the Torah?

Yeshua Messiah tells us this:
John 14:15
“If you love Me, you shall keep My commands.”

Yeshua Messiah tells us this as well:
Revelation 22:14
“Blessed are those doing His commands, so that the authority shall be theirs unto the tree of life, and to enter through the gates into the city.

And this…
Matthew 19:16-17
16And see, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good shall I do to have everlasting life?”
17And He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except One – Elohim. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commands.”

I could list scripture after scripture, direct quote of Messiah after direct quote…  Yeshua Messiah tells us over and over again to keep the commands, and very often clarifies that we are to keep the commands of the Father, not just some undefined New Testament commands.
But why should we?
Pastors across the nation and around the world tell us we don’t have to, and many even go so far as to say not to.
I say we should keep the commands because Messiah tells us to.
I say I should keep the commands because I am no better than Abraham, and I am certainly no better than Messiah!!!
I say we should keep the commands because Yeshua Messiah said that is how we are to show our love for Him.

Just a bit of follow-up:

Absolutely, we need grace.
We need forgiveness.
For all have sinned, for all have fallen short of the glory of God.
Salvation is a gift, so that no man should boast.
Keeping the commands has nothing to do with being forgiven.
Keeping the commands has everything to do with listening to the voice of our Savior, and doing as He says.
For legalism? No.
We obey because Messiah told us that is how He will know if we love Him.
John 14:15 
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
John 14:21
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.
John 15:10
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

All direct quotes of Messiah.
From the Revelation of Messiah:
Rev 14:12, defining who are the elect, whom shall be saved:
Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

And a direct quote of Messiah in His Revelation, telling us who will be in His kingdom:
Rev 22:14
Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. 

None of these are my ideas…
All of these are direct quotes of Messiah.
Does Messiah say anything about those who do not keep His commands? Here is another direct quote of our Messiah:

Matthew 7:23
And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

If we don’t show Him that we love Him, in the way He has commanded, then why would He know us?
He tells us Himself that He will not know us, if we do not love Him as He said to…

This has nothing to do with “works based salvation”.
It has everything to do with hearing His voice and following it.

John 10:27-28
27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.