What role does the Torah play for Christians today?
Part 1
In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been exploring the Hebrew or Jewish Roots of Christianity lately. In large part, this is because I reject the idea of “supersessionism,” sometimes called “replacement theology” which is essentially the idea that Christianity has replaced Judaism as the way in which people must come to and/or understand God and/or that Christians have replaced the Jews as the apple of God’s eye. If anything, I believe the correct view is to say that as Christians, gentile followers of Jesus/Yeshua or the way, is that we are spiritual Israel. We are wild branches that have been grafted in. We are NOT the “natural olive tree” (Israel) and to think otherwise is not only wrong, it is foolish. Remember, God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is an everlasting covenant! What part of that word “everlasting” is so difficult for folks to understand?
I also believe that many of our “Christian traditions” today are actually rooted in paganism. For example, let’s look at the celebration of Christmas on December the 25th. We have no proof that He was born on that day and no commandment from God to celebrate His birth. Interestingly, that day just so happens to coincide with the pagan celebration of the rebirth of the indomitable sun. It’s the day of the year following the winter solstice when the sun can be noticed to rise a little earlier and set a little later each day. Further, many of our Christmas traditions such as the hanging of mistletoe, erecting and decorating trees, Yule logs and even caroling are based largely upon European “pagan” traditions that took place during this time of year. But let me be clear, my being against practicing or taking part in those traditions does not mean that I am against celebrating the birth of our savior on that or any other day of the year.
Easter is another “Christian Holiday” that brings with it traditions that are arguably pagan in origin. Just what do colored eggs, chocolate covered bunny rabbits and a ham dinner have to do with the death burial and resurrection of our Lord? If you said absolutely nothing, go to the head of the class. If anything, I just so happen to believe that we might be better off if we followed the Jewish calendar a little more closely here and celebrated Passover instead! After all, it was during the Passover that Jesus/Yeshua became our Passover Lamb and was crucified for our sins. At a minimum, we’d at least get the day right. This doesn’t mean I think we all need to convert to Judaism. That question was answered back in the 15th Chapter of the Book of Acts. I only think we need to better understand the Jewish roots of our faith. In case you didn’t know it, here’s the dirty little secret many people don’t like to talk about openly. Jesus was A Jew.
Christmas and Easter are just two examples where I think it can be argued that the Catholic “Institutional” Church added both teachings and traditions to the Christian faith that we were never told to do. Arguably, they did this not so much to evangelize, but to grow their power and influence over the people and the lands they occupied! Why is that important? Well, in Deuteronomy 4:2 we are told that we must not add nor subtract from the scriptures! This is one of the 613 Mitzvot from the “Torah,” Law of Moses, that God commanded the Children of Israel to obey. Making matters worse for some folks is that in Matthew 5:18 we are told by no less an authority than Jesus/Yeshua himself that (paraphrased) “till heaven and earth pass away, the law will not pass away until all has been fulfilled.” Has heaven or earth passed away? No, ergo, the Torah is still with us.
But some will say, “What about Jesus/Yeshua? Didn’t he fulfill all? Well, He certainly fulfilled much during His first coming, but I think one can argue that there’s still much more yet to be accomplished and that will take place when he comes around for Round Two! So, IMHO, the Torah is still a fundamental part of our faith! It's not been done away with and it's not to be ignored! There is a role for the Torah in the life of a Christian. So, what is it?
In a nutshell, I’ll attempt to explain the Torah to those who haven’t heard and/or may not know that it’s still with us but would like to know more this way. When Moses came down that mountain with the two tablets carved by the finger of God/Yehovah/Yahweh they contained Ten Commandments. But here’s the cool part. The Ten Commandments can be summed up by the Greatest Commandment and the Second which is like unto it.
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
~ Mark 12:29-31 ESV
Now as a refresher, here are the actual Ten Commandments for you to review. But as you review, think of them in this way. The first four commandments tell us how we can love God with all our heart, with all our soul, all our minds and with all our strength. The final six tell us how we can love our neighbors as ourselves. Even better still, they aren’t all that burdensome.
Ten Commandments Amplified Bible Classic Edition (Exodus 20:1-17)
I. Exodus 20:1-3
Then God spoke all these words:
I am the Lord your God, Who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before or besides Me.
II Exodus 20:V 4-6
You shall not make yourself any graven image [to worship it] or any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; You shall not bow down yourself to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, But showing mercy and steadfast love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
III Exodus 20:V 7
You shall not use or repeat the name of the Lord your God in vain [that is, lightly or frivolously, in false affirmations or profanely]; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
IV Exodus 20:V8-11
[Earnestly] remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy (withdrawn from common employment and dedicated to God). Six days you shall labor and do all your work, But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, your daughter, your manservant, your maidservant, your domestic animals, or the sojourner within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it [set it apart for His purposes].
V Exodus 20:12
Regard (treat with honor, due obedience, and courtesy) your father and mother, that your days may be long in the land the Lord your God gives you.
VI Exodus 20:13
You shall not commit murder.
VII Exodus 20:14
You shall not commit adultery.
VIII Exodus 20:15
You shall not steal.
IX Exodus 20:16
You shall not witness falsely against your neighbor.
X Exodus 20:17
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.
Okay now, that explains the Two Greatest and the Big Ten. But, what about all those other 613? Well, not trying to be frivolous, but at the same time trying to simplify it, just as the Big Ten amplifies the Two Greatest, the 613 were given because the almighty knew that the Children of Israel would find at least 613 “What-if’s or What about’s” that he’d have to answer before the people were allowed to enter into the promised land. Put simply, the 613 clarify the Big Ten and the Two Greatest!
Now it can also be argued that many of those 613 apply to specific peoples and for specific purposes and specific locations. That means there are some Mitzvot that apply only to the Levite priests and Temple worship, some apply only to women, others only to men and others still that apply only to those living in the land. So, even if the Torah is still in full effect, there are caveats. But even better still, if you are truly one of his, now, thanks to the New Covenant, if you are truly born again of the spirit, the Torah is now written on your heart. If you are one of his sheep, the Holy Spirit (Ruach Kodesh) will convict you when you are in violation. As James 4:17 puts it, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” Even so, a good way to avoid trouble in the first place is to learn them for yourself, particularly, the moral codes.
Finally and in closing, I believe that one of the big reasons why Jesus/Yeshua had so much trouble with the Pharisees and Sadducees at his first coming was the result of the things they added to or took away from the Torah. Remember Deuteronomy 4:2? Talmudic Judaism added to the Torah so many extra-biblical restrictions as a result of their Rabbinical teachings and traditions that following them to the letter became nigh on impossible for all but the most educated to do it and even then, they knew how to work around them when they couldn’t stay true to the letter of the law. This gave them power over the rest of the laity, something I believe that God never intended. Similarly, all of the legalism today’s Christianity has added to “The Way,” in addition to all of the pagan rooted traditions previously mentioned makes me wonder if Jesus/Yeshua will be just as wroth with Christians at his next coming as he was with the “keepers of the law” (Pharisees and Sadducees) at his first.
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”
~ Luke 6:46-49 ESV
“On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
Matthew 7:22-23 ESV
IDK about you but, the one thing I don’t want to hear on the day I meet my maker to be judged is that last line from the Matthew passage above. The Torah is a guide to the mind of God. If we truly love Him, we will want to obey Him the same way a child wants to obey their parents. So, my advice on this matter is to stick to the Two Greatest and the Big Ten and when that day finally comes, you’re probably going to hear “Well Done Good and Faithful Servant!”
IMHO, it’s time to get back to the basics and obey the one we claim as Lord, but we need to do it in the spirit of love. Obeying the Torah is not about being a “goodie-two-shoes” or working your way into heaven, it’s about obeying The Father because we love him! We have NOT replaced Israel as the apple of God’s eye, we are kinsmen in spirit. Salvation is of the Jews and we should love them even if they reject or hate us.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Romans 1:16-17 ESV
My Two-Yen worth.