My fellow Torah observant friends seem to understand and like my blog posts here. However, my mainstream Christian friends don’t seem to understand where I’m coming from.
I certainly understand this, having spent over thirty years in the mainstream Christian culture…
As soon as anyone mentions “keeping the law” of the Old Testament, mainstreamers get uncomfortable, and sometimes defensive. They put up a shield. Not all, but in general, they seem to think there is something harmful about the Old Testament Law. The idea of keeping the commandments causes some to get hostile!!
So, with that in mind, am I a legalistic freak?
I will answer with a simple no.
I do not keep the commands of the Old Testament in order to ‘achieve’ salvation.
It is not possible for us to earn salvation, as salvation is a precious gift that comes by faith.
Ephesian 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves—it is the gift of Yahuah. 9 It is not based on deeds, so that no one may boast.
1Timothy 1:9
He has saved us and called us with a holy calling—not because of our deeds but because of His own purpose and grace.
Mark 10:27 (speaking of being saved)
27 Looking at them, Yeshua said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God!”
Acts 4:12 (in reference to Yeshua Messiah)
12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved!”
Psalm 62:2-3
My soul, wait in stillness, only for Elohim—
from Him comes my salvation.
3 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress—I will never be moved.
I could list many, many more scriptures that refer to our salvation.
No need, though.
Salvation is a gift from the One we worship, follow, and serve.
It is not something we can do for ourselves, no matter how much effort we might make.
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of Yahuah is eternal life in Yeshua Messiah our Lord.
Messiah overcame the wages of sin, which are death. He died without having committed sin in order to do so, even though He was not deserving of this fate. He did so on our behalf, as we are not capable of overcoming the wages of sin.
I believe and love the gospel message. I believe in, love, and follow Yeshuah Messiah, our Savior.
So why then, after thirty plus years of church, have I decided to part ways with ‘the church’ and follow the commands of the Torah?
“Because you are a legalistic freak, right?”
Well, no, that is not why.
It is quite simple, really. This is a direct quote of Messiah:
Luke 6:46-49
46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? 47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. 49 But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
This direct quote of Messiah indicates that we must do something.
He who does something [the things that He says to do] will have a strong foundation that will not fall.
Those who do not do something [the things that He says to do] will suffer much ruin.
But how do we define “what we must do”?
This is where things get tricky.
We can walk into any church in the land and ask this question of church leaders.
Typically, we learn from them what they think we should do.
Not what we must do, but what we should do.
They typically will throw in some (not all) of the ten commandments, along with some man-made traditions like not dancing, or not drinking alcohol, not playing music, that women can’t wear pants, etc. Various denominations will have a slightly different list of things, rules, guidelines…
But are their lists required behavior, or are they merely suggested?
Is everything on their list of scripture, or made up by men?
I guess you’d have to check out 40,000 plus denominations to figure that out. I’m not going to… Instead, I’d like to look to scripture.
Most pastors will say we should avoid sin.
What is sin, according to scripture?
1John 3:4 [ESV]
4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.
1John 3:4 [TLV]
4 Everyone practicing sin also practices lawlessness—indeed, sin is lawlessness.
1John 3:4 [NKJV]
4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.
1John 3:4 [CJB]
Everyone who keeps sinning is violating Torah — indeed, sin is violation of Torah.
The New Testament defines “sin” as a violation of the law.
I’ve heard many Christians state that they are “Just Sinners Saved By Grace.” Yes, we are sinners saved by grace, but these people use this statement to justify remaining in sin. Why give up sin when we can just claim to be a sinner, and claim that we are saved by grace?
The grace just keeps coming, right?
Never ending, free-refills, take-all-you-want grace, right?
Well, I’d suggest reading Hebrews 10:26-31, which addresses the issue of continued sin:
26 For if we keep on sinning willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but only a terrifying expectation of judgment and a fury of fire about to devour the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the Torah of Moses dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severe do you think the punishment will be for the one who has trampled Ben-Elohim [Son of God] underfoot, and has regarded as unholy the blood of the covenant by which he was made holy, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know the One who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “Elohim will judge His people.” 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Scripture clearly tells us that continued, willful sin will result in “a terrifying expectation of judgment” [that’s not good] and “a fury of fire” [also not good!!]. This bit of scripture tells us that if we willfully continue to sin, that “there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.”
Do you understand the significance of this warning?
If we learn the truth of the gospel, but continue in sin, our Savior will no longer be our Savior!! He will still be Messiah, but for those who continue in willful sin, He becomes Judge and not Savior. His sacrifice no longer remains for us.
This is BAD!! I can’t convey in words how serious this is. This warning should shake you to your core. This should cause you to investigate, self-evaluate, to repent, and to pray!
If this bit of scripture does not cause you to stop in your tracks, and take stock of your behaviors and habits, then I don’t know what will.
If you find yourself claiming to be “just a sinner saved by grace” you may want to consider this warning in Hebrews. You may want to consider repenting of whatever sin you allow to remain in your life.
Am I saying this bit of scripture requires us to be perfect?
No, I am not saying that.
We have an intercessor for sin:
1John 2:1-2
My children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Intercessor with the Father—the righteous Messiah Yeshua. 2 He is the atonement for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world.
Ahhhh…. back to the warm fuzzy stuff.
Much better, right?
Well, not so fast.
Let’s continue reading 1John 2:3-6
3 Now we know that we have come to know Him by this—if we keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God is truly made perfect. We know that we are in Him by this— 6 whoever claims to abide in Him must walk just as He walked.
OK, we are beginning to get to some scripture that explains why I keep the commandments…
This little “test” in 1John Chapter 2 tells us whether we know Messiah or not. It doesn’t matter if we “think” we know Him. It doesn’t matter if we “claim” to know Him. What matters is if we can pass this test.
It says we must keep the commandments, otherwise, we are just a liar and do not know Him.
This part is particularly revealing m — and still part of ‘the test’:
“We know that we are in Him by this— 6 whoever claims to abide in Him must walk just as He walked.”
This verse, which is scripture inspired by God, tells us that we know we are in Messiah if we walk just as He walked.
Not if we walk a little bit like Him, but JUST as He walked.
What does that look like?
Well, He put the Father’s will before His own will.
He kept and honored the biblical Sabbath.
He kept the dietary laws, eating only clean foods and avoiding unclean foods.
He kept the Torah instructions, without fail (although we may not do so perfectly, we are to try).
He called out false teaching, without candy coating anything.
He observed the moedim [appointed times] set apart by Yahuah to be holy and sanctified. What does this mean? He celebrated the feast days given to us in Torah [Pesach, Feast of Unleavened Breads, First Fruits, Shavuot, Feast of Trumpets, Yom Kippur-Atonement, and Sukkot, Feast of Tabernacles] , instead of celebrating man-made holidays, many of which are established of pagan origins. [Christmas, Easter, Halloween, etc].
Messiah loved the Father and loved His neighbor.
Messiah set about accomplishing the will of the Father. Always.
These things are what Messiah did. To walk as He walked, we would do the same things, which our churches have not taught to us. In fact, churches often teach us NOT to do these things. How does that happen?
Should ‘walking just as He walked’ be a mystery to us.
Should it be difficult for us to figure out how to do this?
Actually, it is quite simple. Scripture makes it very easy for us.
Messiah Himself told us what to do:
John 14:15
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
John 14:21
“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one 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. “
“Really, Jesus wants us to keep the commandments? That isn’t what my pastor told me. That isn’t what my church teaches.”
Are you going to listen to your Messiah, the only One who can save you for all eternity?
Or are you going to listen to a guy who says the things he was taught in college, things taught to him by other men?
“Well, he does have a nice, fancy, framed diploma on the wall in his office. It looks pretty official and authoritative… I’ll bet that diploma cost close to $100,000 with all that goes into it…”
Well, how much authority does SCRIPTURE say your pastor has?
Matthew 28:18
And Yeshua came up to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.
Well, if ALL authority is given to Messiah, then that leaves none for your pastor, right?
Don’t get me wrong… There is nothing wrong with men teaching the Word to others. However, if what they are teachings defies the very things that came out of Yeshua Messiah’s mouth, then you have to choose whom you will follow:
“But as for me and my household, we will worship Elohim!”
“But why would you think the ‘commands’ mentioned by Messiah are the Old Testament commands?”
Well, let’s take a look at who the book of Revelation considers to be the saved, the elect, the saints, those of the kingdom:
Revelation 14:12
“Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”
Hmmm, can’t get around that now, can we? That is pretty specific. The commandments of God.
Messiah also let’s us know who will be in His kingdom, in Revelation 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.
Is there anywhere else where Messiah says to keep the commandments?
Matthew 5:18
For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
In this verse, Messiah tells us that not a single penstroke of the law (Torah) will change until heaven and earth pass away, when all is fulfilled.
Continuing on in Matthew 5:20 —
Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Messiah tells us we should not break the commandments, nor teach others to.
And he encourages us to keep the commands, and to teach others to do so.
“Yes, but my pastor says we are saved by faith, and that works are legalism.”
Well that’s just great for your pastor. Has he ever read the book of James? Faith without works is dead. Are you going to follow your pastor, or are you going to follow Messiah [I believe we already asked this question up above, right?]
“Well, I asked my pastor about these things, and he said there is no way that millions upon millions of people throughout numerous generations have all gotten this wrong.”
I looked in scripture where it says to do what everyone else has done if you want to be saved. I couldn’t find that part…
I found this instead, telling us not to do what everyone else is doing, another direct quote of Messiah:
Matthew 7:13-15
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
“My pastor says the law has been done away with… He said Messiah fulfilled it so I don’t have to.”
Again, that’s just great for your pastor, if that is what he chooses to believe and live out. He will one day take a knee before Messiah and account for his actions.
But what about you?
Earlier in this post, we looked at the test of us knowing Him in 1John Chapter 2. Did Messiah ever say anything about knowing us?
Yes, He did.
Matthew 7:21-23
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Did you catch that?
“I never knew you.”
Is that what you want Messiah to tell you one day?
How does something like this happen?
“depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”
If ignoring and rejecting the law causes Messiah to not know us, then why do churches teach us to ignore and reject the law of Torah?
That is a great question. Thankfully, scripture answers it for us:
Jeremiah 16:19
19 O Lord, my strength and my fortress,
My refuge in the day of affliction,
The Gentiles shall come to You
From the ends of the earth and say,
“Surely our fathers have inherited lies,
Worthlessness and unprofitable things.”
20 Will a man make gods for himself,
Which are not gods?
“Yeah, but that’s old. Is there anything in the New Testament that tells us such things?”
[If you are thinking this, please go back up to the top of this study and begin again. Practically every scripture I’ve quoted is from the New Testament].
The mainstream doctrine that teaches the Torah, the Old Testament Law, is fulfilled and done away with, is developed using what [choose one]:
1. The direct quotes of Messiah
2. The direct quotes of God
3. Things written by the Prophets
4. The writings of Paul
If you are not sure of the answer, go ask some of these questions to your church leaders. I promise you they will not be able to support church doctrine and the things they believe and teach with the words of Messiah, the words of God, or the words of the Prophets. They will support their doctrine using the writings of Paul. If you don’t believe me, try it!!!
“Are you saying that Paul was not an Apostle? Are you saying that Paul was a false teacher?”
No, that is not what I am saying. Paul was called into service on the road to Damascus. He was spiritually blind [and was stricken blind supernaturally], but then he was healed. He became spiritually sighted, and he became a great Apostle and teacher.
“If that’s the case, then how can pastors use Paul’s writings to create false doctrine?”
That is a great question. Can you believe we are warned in scripture to NOT do this?
2Peter 3:14-17
14 Therefore, loved ones, while you are looking for these things, make every effort to be found in shalom (peace), spotless and blameless before Him. 15 Bear in mind that the patience of our Lord means salvation—just as our dearly loved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom given to him. 16 He speaks about these matters in all of his letters. Some things in them are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist (as they also do with the rest of the Scriptures)—to their own destruction.
17 Since you already know all this, loved ones, be on your guard so that you are not led astray by the error of the lawless and lose your sure footing.
Yes, there it is. We are told that some of Paul’s writings are difficult to understand. We are told NOT to twist them, along with the rest of the scriptures.
Doing so will result in our destruction!!
And just in case we weren’t quite sure, Peter reiterates in verse 17.
He says not to loose our sure footing by following who? The lawless.
Following the lawless will result in our destruction.
Not good, eh? And who are the lawless?
Anyone who teaches we are not to obey the commandments of God, the Torah, the Law. Which more than likely includes your pastor. [Refer back to Matthew 5:20 where Messiah says to keep the commandments and to not break them, and to teach the same].
“Yes, but I’ve been taught to respect my pastor. He is the expert. He is the educated religious leader. He knows more than me.”
Did Messiah speak to the educated religious leaders of His time?
Did He show them respect because of their education and position within the church? Or did Messiah call them out for false teaching?
He called them hypocrites.
He called them a pit of vipers.
He called them white washed tombs (pretty on the outside, dead on the inside).
He told them they were going to hell.
He told them that the people they taught are going to hell, because of the things they taught!!
Don’t believe me?
Read Matthew 23. All of it.
You’ll notice this direct quote of Messiah says to pick up your cross and follow Him. It does not say to follow your pastor:
Matthew 16:24-25
24 Then Yeshua Messiah said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
John 10:27
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”
Messiah says that those who are His hear His voice, that He knows them, and that they follow Him.
Are you mistakenly following the things you’ve been taught all of your life, instead of following the things that Messiah said?
I know the things I’m showing you here are not in line with what we’ve always been taught. I had to let go of what I thought I knew.
Why was I willing to do so?
Because I want to know my Savior.
The one in scripture, not the one that is falsely taught in our churches.
Again, if this statement is shocking and unbelievable, refer to Jeremiah 16 again:
Jeremiah 16:19
19 O Lord, my strength and my fortress,
My refuge in the day of affliction,
The Gentiles shall come to You
From the ends of the earth and say,
“Surely our fathers have inherited lies,
Worthlessness and unprofitable things.”
20 Will a man make gods for himself,
Which are not gods?
What is the result of these generations of lies?
Man will make up their own gods, except they are not gods.
In other words, the Jesus that did away with the Law is a made up god and does not exist.
The Messiah described in scripture is the real deal.
In direct quotes, many of which I have listed in this teaching, He tells us to keep the Torah commandments.
Are you going to follow your pastor’s made up god, or are you going to follow the Messiah described in scripture.
The made up god cannot save you, as Jeremiah states, for he is not a god.
There is but one who can save you.
John 14:6
6 Yeshua said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life! No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Do you know Him?
Do you hear His voice?
Do you follow what He says to do?
Or do you reject Him in favor of what your pastor teaches?
So, to answer the question…
Am I a legalistic freak?
No.
I do not obey to be legalistic.
I do not obey to try to earn salvation.
I simply obey the commandments because Messiah told me to.
He says that is how He will know if we love Him.
I think we want Him to know that, right?
John 14:15
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
John 14:21
“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one 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. “
If we don’t do it, He says He will not know who we are.
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’