Torah or Not Torah, That is the Question
Recently I was filling out a form in which I was asked for my view on the role of the Torah in the life of a believer. Outstanding question! All followers of Messiah should ask themselves that question. There is a very important answer to be found to it.
The Torah consists of the first five books of the Bible and is foundational to understanding all that follows, from Joshua to Revelation.
We understand, of course, that Torah does not play the role of providing a way of salvation. (A way that is within our reach as fallen humanity anyway.) The clear teaching of Scripture is that we are saved by faith and not by acts of righteousness:
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV)
But many forget to keep reading. And the next verse provides us with a clue regarding the place of Torah for we who have been saved by grace through faith:
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10 KJV)
We are not saved by works, but we are saved to do works. Good works are not an add-on to our faith. They are the inheritance, or birthright, of our faith as new creations. That is one of the greatest promises to those of us under the New Covenant:
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith YHWH, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Jeremiah 31:33 KJV (Unmasked))
And, also speaking about that New Covenant:
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. (Ezekiel 36:26-27 KJV)
In light of all that, the answer I provided on the previously mentioned form went along these lines of thought:
The Torah is YHWH’s gift of instruction in righteousness to His people.
We need YHWH’s instruction in righteousness in order to respond to His call for us to be holy. The Torah also provides us with foundational instruction to help us follow Yeshua’s instruction to seek first (ie. make our top priority) YHWH’s kingdom and His righteousness in our lives.
Upon the foundation of our faith in the redeeming work (sacrificial death on the cross) of Yeshua and the grace of forgiveness from our Father we are freed from the bondage of sin and made alive to Messiah. That life in Messiah is the “building” we put on the foundation of our salvation.
The role of the Torah, for those in YHWH’s kingdom, is to be the “cornerstone” from which we make all reference to what we do after salvation, lining up and keeping straight the lives we build in the name of Yeshua.
Perhaps that wasn’t worded in a theologically elegant way. (It was, after all, a form seeking brief background information.) But it would serve as an adequate working understanding of the role of Torah in the life of a believer to get started.
That was my answer. But what is really important to your life is how you would answer it. It is an important question to ask oneself and meditate on while engaging in daily Bible reading and prayer.
So then, what is your view on the role of Torah in the life of a believer?
Abba, Father, please help us to mory fully understand, day by day, your Torah and help us to apply our living to your Word in accordance to your Spirit’s leading. We ask this in Yeshua’s name. Amen.
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Copyright 2010 Jim Zboran. All rights reserved.
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January 19th, 2010 at 5:01 AM
Blessings Jim,
And thank you for bringing light on what I believe has been hidden for far to long from believers…. But the Spirit is waking up the people and getting us all ready to receive the TRUTH and walk in it …. You have explained and answered this is in a very helpful way.
As for me the role of Torah in my life, I have been called by His Spirit to observe Torah. No man has given any utterance about this, it was all YHWH.
Knowing it is His will for me as a believer in Messiah. He will lead me on as I grow more in wisdom and hands on how to…
I do believe, one day I come back here and report what YHWH has done with this revelation in my life….
Thank you Jim,
Shalom …..
January 19th, 2010 at 8:44 AM
It is so true that until we settle this question we can be torn this way and that way along the waves of men’s teachings. We really do need to take however the amount of time is needed to be grounded in this question. The adversary does not seem to like us children of salvation being then planted in Torah and instructed as Kings and Priests…. Praise HIs Name forever!
January 19th, 2010 at 7:22 PM
I believe it is the way that God gave His people to walk…It never was for salvation…I adhere to the 10 commandments out of love and I eat clean meat..I believe in the Feasts days and observe them..I also believe the Sabbath ( SAT. ) is the true rest day…The stoning part or the punishment was laid on Jesus…We are to look different than the World..I believe the Law of Moses pointed to Jesus..He is our GOAL!!!I am so thankful for Him….I am still learning….By faith I can stand…I will never be more righteous than I am now…Jesus MADE me clean…But I obey Him out of Love…I dont like when people who observes the Law of Moses acts as if they are better and start talking against true Christianity…They stop saying Cross..It was a cross….I am a Christian…Who is learning how Christianity started…Its rooted in Biblical Judiasm.. Not Rabbinic Judiasm!.Im against all traditions of man..in the Church and Congregation.. (Call no one Rabbi or Father)( Jews call there teachers Rabbi and RC Church they call there’s Father…Both are wrong.).if its focused on doing these things more than dieing to self and following our Lord.I dont think He wants us to play dress up…or play Church..We are the Church….I learn from others..But I study from the KJV…I am learning Hebrew….I follow my Lord…But to my answer…Torah to me is all!!!So yes..Obey..All what is for us as believers in Jesus…Thanks Jim for your friendship!!!:)
January 21st, 2010 at 7:22 PM
Thanks for commenting, Ingrid
I believe you’re right about the Spirit waking many up to the truths of Scripture and the role of Torah in the life of New Covenant believers. Glad to know you’re following His lead and if you make sure you stay close to the Bible and the Spirit each step of the way I’m sure you will have lots of great things to say about that call to follow Yeshua in Torah!
Great to hear from you, Ingrid. You’re a dear friend and sister in Messiah. Thank you for your many encouraging words and testimonies!
Shalom!
January 21st, 2010 at 7:51 PM
Thanks for sharing that keen insight, Kathleen. I loved the words you chose: “settle this question”… “take time”… “as much time as needed”… “grounded”…those are all so important as they give us a solid foundation for our faith.
It’s not like we don’t already know a lot that we should be doing now even as we are praying, reading, studying, reflecting, and listening to the Spirit to understand more. What’s the hurry? We live in eternity now and all questions will be fully answered in due time anyway. What is really urgent us that we apply what we know today to our lives as we seek to know more for tomorrow. When tomorrow comes, we’ll know more and thus be able to do more too!
And it is imperative that we live what we know today, right now, while we seek further understanding. In the doing of what we now know we will find the answers to what we are to do tomorrow: “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. (John 14:21 KJV”
So by diligently, but patiently, seeking understanding while doing what we know to do today, we grow in a rock-solid understanding and practice in our faith. So many rush ahead to absorb so much head-knowledge but leave out the doing, which brings heart-knowledge. They risk becoming the “know-it-all-but-doing-none-of-it” folks we are so familiar with in life. In the end their faith wobbles as flimsily as their practice and all too often topples with little pressure from the Enemy.
Oh well, sermon over. I’m just preaching to the choir here, I know. But you’ve given me a wonderful “soap box” to get on, Kathleen. I love the way you seek and grow in your faith one step at a time. And the insights you bring to the conversation, not to mention the areas of seeking you undertake, are not lightweight by any means! They’re deep because you are patient and diligent in your seeking. You also demonstrate a faith that the answers will come at the end of the search. That’s so refreshing to see!
And you’re right, the Adversary does indeed try (effectively so, for many) to hobble the saints by cutting them off from laying hold of our birthright of a walk set-apart to YHWH. All the more reason to be diligent and patient in our seeking as we walk humbly before YHWH in what we know today.
Many blessings, Kathleen. You also are a dear friend and sister in Messiah and I enjoy our chance to fellowship online! Thanks for stopping in to read and comment
January 21st, 2010 at 8:03 PM
Great to hear from you, Jayne! You are really gaining an understanding in all the seeking you’ve been doing! It sounds like you are making great progress at settling the issues that have been brought before you as you have sought to understand the roots of our faith and what they imply for our faith today. You are really blossoming in a strong and sound walk with Messiah!
It has been great to watch your sincere desire to know and walk with Yeshua, your boldness in speaking your mind, and your diligence in working out the issues that so many try to create. From your words I can sense how blessed you are in your faith. And how blessed I am to fellowship with you online, Jayne! Thanks for sharing all those words of wisdom with us. I know they were hard won through much Bible reading and Spirit seeking–always the best kind! Blessings dear friend and sister in Messiah
January 27th, 2010 at 5:04 PM
I see more every day that we should learn Torah and teach it to others…Im just trying to be at peace with God on this issue…Too much Scriptures are ponting this way..Im sad about where you fit in after you take your stand on Torah..Church on Sunday.then rest on Saturday??So many questions that father will answer..Thanks Jim for the kind words..:) Your sister in Messiah, Jayne
January 27th, 2010 at 9:34 PM
Always great to hear from you, Jayne
There’s no need for a rush to make final decisions when seeking YHWH’s truth. What is necessary is to live up to what we know faithfully today as we seek to know more day by day. In the end, we rely on His grace. You raise a good question. As you seek your answer, you might find an idea or two you can use in an old article I wrote:
http://jimzboran.com/2009/07/15/aint_no_saturday_sabbath_keepin_while_su/
It’s true He’ll answer, but we must seek. That’s why I know you’ll find them, sister! Blessings to you and your family.
February 13th, 2010 at 10:50 PM
I’m still waiting for for one single Messianic Christian to tell me one single law in the Torah that I need to follow that is not covered in the laws of love that Jesus gave.
And I would also like to know why I constantly get the impression from all the many comments from Messianics that their attitude is, “Okay Jesus, thanks for the head start, we’ll take it from here.” As if now that they are born again, there is something else that they are required to do to be right with God.
And there is little to nada mention of who we are in Christ as born again children of God.
All I hear is Torah this and Torah that and isn’t Moses so great and isn’t the law so wonderful.
So basically, why shouldn’t I think you’re not just a bunch of Galatians?
February 14th, 2010 at 12:18 AM
Wow Paul! Okay…
Can’t be done. Yeshua SAID that love covers ALL the Law and the prophets. No matter what part of Torah you look at, as Yeshua said, it involves the love of God. That’s one reason all of Torah is so good. In fact it’s better than good:
You must not talk to the “Messianics” I know. You certainly haven’t talked to me. I’m scratching my head on what you wrote:
You must be getting that impression because you aren’t listening to what is being said. Because I don’t know ANYBODY who believes that. Not saying they’re not out there. Pretty much you can find someone in the world who believes any crazy thing. But the ones I know, and especially who know what their Bible says, don’t even come close to saying what you said. If that’s the impression you’re getting then you aren’t listening. Maybe you just don’t like the message of Scripture:
That’s usually the impression I get from folks who have such knee-jerk reactions to “Messianics.” Not judging you or saying that’s true about you, brother. I’m just sayin’…
Well you obviously don’t read my writing. You do realize that when I say “Messiah,” that’s exactly the same as “Christ” right? I write a whole lot about being born again children of God in Messiah…and how we can act just like our Father.
Could it possibly be because you’re always bringing it up? What’s up with that? You haven’t read anything I’ve written, have you? I recognize your spirit, but I don’t recognize what you’re accusing me of saying.
Umm…maybe because you would be mistaken in doing so?
I appreciate you letting me know what you think brother. Reading between the lines, you’re telling me a whole lot more than you know.
Love you, bro. Blessings to you and your loved ones. No worries. Read your Bible and follow the Spirit and, in Messiah, you’ll be fine. I know I will be.