The same people who hold up the Bible and say that we should “always obey every page of this book,” are the same people who also say that “we are under no obligation to obey the Law” contained within that very same book. Yet, if we take an honest look at these statements, it is obvious that they are in complete opposition to one another.
Every time someone within the church takes this stand, they use church doctrine or teachings of men as their source, rather than Scripture. There is, therefore, a spirit of confusion running amok among believers today. We are all taught that we should obey the entire Bible at the same time that we are told that 78% of the book, in the form of the Old Testament, is only for “the Jews,” or no longer valid, or “done away.”
Scripture tells us there is a veil that keeps man from seeing the truth. False teachings are the threads that weave this veil. Unless we are willing to accept that some of what we have been taught is not Scriptural and diligently re-examine it in light of the truth of Scripture, we will continue in confusion and veiled ignorance. When we are willing to have the veil ripped away, the light of truth is so beautifully brilliant it's almost blinding.
Please, let me assure you that the Law has not been done away, or abolished, or set aside. It will remain until heaven and earth pass away—Matt. 5:18
Yahweh says that if we love Him, we will obey Him—Deut. 5:10, John 14:15. Yet, sadly, we do not love Him as HE defines love. We get all warm, fuzzy, and weepy during praise songs and call it loving Him, but He said obedience was the sign of love. 1John 2:4 says, "If we claim to know Him and don't obey His commandments we're liars and the truth is not in us." I do not believe that there is a single Christian that would not swear to know and love their Creator / Savior, yet, essentially, He says, “If you're not obeying Me, you’re not only lying to Me, you’re lying to yourself.”
Do we, as a church body, really think we can continue to say we love Him and walk in disobedience to His entire Word, which includes His precious Law? Do we really think we're getting away with anything? Are we willing to stand in the judgment and say, "I love you—really I do, not the way You wanted it, but...."
We may like to think we are such sincere worshipers, yet Yahshua says the Father seeks those "who worship in spirit and in truth,” John 4:23. Messiah says in John 17:17 "Your Word is truth." And Ps. 119:142, 151 says, "Your Law is truth, and All Your commandments are truth." If we are taught to walk in truth, then we should walk in obedience to the truth which Scripture tells us is The Law of Yahweh. To be taught to walk in love and truth, yet not walk according to the Law is in direct opposition to the written Word of Yahweh.
Messiah says in Rev. 3:17, that we are pitiful, poor, blind, and naked and don't even know it—how right He is! But He has been calling us to repentance since the beginning of time, since He came in the flesh, and continues to call us today. He is patient, waiting for us to come to repentance, which means to return to the Law—the Torah of Moses. All it takes is one step of obedience in His Law and you'll see the floodgates of truth revealed to you. It's almost as though that's all He's waiting for. He will not reveal it to those He knows will only mock it and comb through it looking for non-existent loopholes so they can say, "Aha! I don't have to obey."
When we pray for truth with a heart that truly desires truth, and a willingness to love and obey, He removes the veil and shines His truth on us. Notice who the secret things are revealed to in Deut 29:29—“The secret things belong to Yahweh, our Elohim, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may do all the words of this Law.” They are revealed to those who will actually do all the words of the Law.
It is amazing to see how obvious support for the Law of Yahweh becomes throughout all of the New Testament when we are looking for it. The Law aka Torah is everywhere! The New Testament has over 500 references to the Law. That's a lot of references to something that we are told no longer holds any validity for our lives today, isn't it? And Messiah, Himself, quotes from it more than anyone. He even says, "If you don't believe Moses you won't believe Me." He's basing the entire body of proof that He is the long awaited Messiah on Moses' shoulders! Why then would He supposedly abolish his own evidence? Obviously, He didn't.
There is more written about the Messiah, the end-times, and the coming judgment/tribulation in the Old Testament (also known as the Tanach, Torah, or Law and prophets), than there is in the New Testament. Most of the references regarding judgment speak of people who refuse to obey the Law. How disturbing, then, for the church to teach believers that they should not keep the Law. To do so is only bringing judgment down on them. Even Messiah said in Matt. 5:19 that whoever annulled the commandments and taught others to do so would be least in the Kingdom. That is a harsh judgment that few pastors seem to heed.
When Stephen was stoned, his martyrdom came at the hands of false witnesses who gave false testimony, saying that Stephen spoke against the Law (Acts 6:11). If they had to get false witnesses, that tells us that their witness was not true—Stephen never spoke against the Law! Here we have a post-crucifixion disciple who never taught against Torah. They had to get false witnesses to declare falsely that he did. And they stoned him to death based on those false witnesses—And we are still throwing those same stones at him today by claiming that any follower of Messiah would ever speak against the Law of Moses.
The same can be said of the Apostle Paul. Acts 21:20 tells us he was "ardent for the Torah / Law." Vs. 24 says he "walked orderly, keeping the Law." In verse 27, Jews from Asia said that Paul "speaks against our people, and the Law, and the Holy Place." But Paul defended himself to the people in Acts 22:3, saying, "I am a Jew...instructed according to the exactness of the Law and ardent for Elohim." In Acts 23:6 he says, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee, son of a Pharisee." He does not say he 'was' a Pharisee, he 'is' one.
In Acts 24:14 he proclaims, "I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the Elohim of my fathers, believing ALL that has been written in the Law and the Prophets." Acts 25:7 says men tried to bring heavy charges against Paul but "they were unable to prove them" because they weren’t true. In Acts 25:8, in Paul’s last defense, he said, "Neither against the Law of the Jews, the Holy Place, or Caesar did I commit any sin."
Paul says later that he's endured many stripes and imprisonment and stonings for his faith. He is obviously not a coward who would go before all these people lying about his life, or being a hypocrite about his faith. If he says he never spoke or taught against the Law, then he never spoke or taught against the Law. Yet the Church continues to defame a dead man who cannot defend himself against the false accusations still being cast on him, today, every time a preacher says, "Paul says we're not to keep the Law."
People who try to defend breaking the Law often quote Paul as someone who taught against the Law, but Yahshua was always quoting the Law and calling us to repent and obey it. We know that Paul never contradicted the Messiah in his teachings and, in fact, even considered himself an imitator of Messiah, who Himself lived the Law perfectly. So there is a contradiction here. But even if it were possible that Paul spoke against the Law, who should we believe? Paul or Messiah? At some point, we need to see Paul and Stephen and even Messiah for who they really are: keepers of the Law/Torah. As long as we teach, or even think, that any of them spoke against the precious, righteous, holy Law of Yahweh, we are guilty of standing before them with stones in our hands, falsely condemning innocent men.
To believe that Yahshua would oppose keeping the Law would be to believe that He is in opposition to Himself, for He is the Giver of the Law, the Word / Law made flesh, the goal of the Law—the perfect Law Keeper. And we should be as imitators of Him.
Some say that when Messiah died on the cross He changed everything. But how could that be? It would be as though one day He's saying, "If you love Me you'll obey My commandments, but I'm dying on the cross tomorrow and you won't have to obey the commandments after that.” That doesn't make sense, considering that He came to be a living example and teacher of all that we are to do and be in our lives for all future generations. At His ascension (Matt. 28, 19-20) Messiah said, “Go into the world, making disciples…teaching men to obey all that I have commanded you.” So did he revoke the Law somewhere between making that statement and His ascension to heaven? Of course not. Nor did He teach any other commandments than those given in the Law/Torah. All of Messiah’s commandments and teachings were the same as those spoken by The Father through Moses and the prophets, for Messiah said in John 8:28 “I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.”
Even when Yahshua said in John 13:34, “A new commandment I give unto you,” the commandment itself to ‘love one another’ was not new (Lev. 19:34)—what was new was the part He added that said, “…as I have loved you,” which was, as we know, a self-sacrificing love. John writes in 2John 5 that this commandment to ‘love one another’ is not new, but one we have had ‘from the beginning.’ So, again, we see Messiah did not abolish the Law, on the contrary, He lived out for us the full meaning of what it means to truly live by the Law of Yahweh as an example for us to follow.
In 1 Sam. 15:29, we are told that Yahweh never lies or changes His mind, yet pastors teach believers that He did when they teach that all the Laws and statutes of the Old Testament are invalid and "done away." Messiah said Himself that He didn't come to do away with one single jot or tittle of the Law or prophets. In fact, He said, "Don't think that I came to do away with the Law” Therefore, it's a direct commandment from the mouth of Messiah that we are not to even THINK it, much less teach it! As soon as we entertain the thought that He came to do away with any of the Law we are in sin, for He commanded us not to think it!
The Law was given to all people who desire to be one with the people of Yahweh. Eccl. 12:11 tells us that the commandments apply to ALL mankind. And Numbers 15:15-16 say there is only one ordinance for the Yahweh’s people and for the stranger who desires to dwell with them…one ordinance, one Law, forever throughout our generations. "All mankind" includes us. "Forever" includes today. The Law / Torah of Yahweh is surely—thankfully—for us, today, and as valid as the day He declared it from Mt. Sinai, so yes, as believers in Messiah, we should still keep the Law.
“Oh, that they had such a heart in them to fear Me, and to keep My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their children forever.” Deut. 5:29
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