Torah vs.
Tradition
or
Law vs.
Legalism
Formerly "Under Law"
Blaine Robison, M.A.
29 September 2008; Revised 16 November 2024
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Sources: Bibliographic data for sources cited may be found
at the end of the article. Unless otherwise
indicated Scripture quotations are taken from the NASB Updated Edition (1995). Click here for
Abbreviations of Bible Versions.
Syntax: Unless otherwise noted the meaning of Greek words is from
F.W. Danker, The Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament
(2009), and the meaning of Hebrew words is from The New Brown, Driver, Briggs
Hebrew and English Lexicon (1981), abbreviated as "BDB."
Terminology: In order to emphasize the Jewish nature of the apostolic
canon and its central figure I use the terms Tanakh (Old Testament),
Besekh (New Testament), Yeshua (Jesus), and Messiah
(Christ).
Outline
Terms: Nomos and Torah
Types of Torah
Apostolic Validation
Nature of Legalism
New Covenant Torah
Terms:
Nomos and
Torah
"For sin will not have authority over you, because you are not
under legalism but under grace.” (Romans 6:14 CJB)
There are two related phrases
in Paul's letters commonly misunderstood by Christians: hupo nomon
and ergōn nomou. The first phrase is typically translated "under the
Law." Note the definite article "the" and the capitalization of "Law." Paul
uses this phrase in Romans 6:14-15; 1Corinthians 9:20; Galatians 3:23;
4:4-5, 21; 5:18, but none of the verses in the Greek text include the
definite article. The literal translation of hupo nomon would be
"under law" (Marshall). Note the lower case for "law." The second phrase is
translated "works (or deeds) of the Law," which is found in Romans 3:20, 28;
Galatians 2:16; 3:2, 5, 10. Again, none of passages in the Greek text
contain the definite article and ergōn nomou should be literally
translated "works of law" (Marshall).
Why is the literal
translation important? Paul the Jew and Pharisee is writing to Jewish
and Gentile disciples about matters that pertain to the laws God gave to
Israel through Moses and
salvation through Yeshua the Messiah. His thinking is thoroughly Hebraic. The
Hebrew corollary to the Greek word nomos is torah, but torah does not mean simply
"law" or "laws" as the English word conveys. The noun torah means
"direction," "teaching" or "instruction"
and comes from the root yarah, which means to throw,
to shoot (as in arrows), or to cast (as in lots) (BDB 435f).
In the
Tanakh torah not only
refers to commandments, statutes and ordinances decreed by God and given to
Moses, but also
custom or manners of man, e.g. direction given by priests (Deut 24:8;
33:10).
Torah sets forth the way a person is meant to live in an ethical and moral way
in order to enjoy life to the full and to please God (Lev 18:5; Neh 9:29; Ezek
18:9; 20:11). In normal Jewish usage in the time of Yeshua Torah had a
variety of specific applications. Torah could mean:
● the
commandments, ordinances and statutes given through Moses to the nation of
Israel (Matt 12:5; Luke 2:22-27; John 1:17; 8:5; Jas 2:11); OR
● That plus
the entire Pentateuch, especially when used in combination with "the
Prophets" (Matt 22:40; John 1:45); OR
● That plus
any portion of the Prophets and Writings (Matt 5:18; John 10:34). In this
sense "Law" can be a synonym of "Scripture." (Stern 25)
Pharisees observed traditions
they claimed originated with Moses and regarded as equivalent in authority
as the written Torah (Matt 15:2-6; 19:7-8; 23:2; Luke 6:2-9; 13:10; John
5:10; Acts 15:1). These traditions are often called "oral law," even though
this term never occurs in Scripture. In the Tanakh neither God nor any of
His prophets ever used "Torah" to mean an "oral law." While Yeshua endorsed
and kept traditions acceptable to Pharisees (such as prayer; cf. Matt
23:2-3), he and his apostles constantly emphasized the written Word of God
as the only authority for life, as the numerous instances of "it is written"
or "it was written" in the apostolic writings attest.
In the Besekh nomos primarily
refers to the written instruction given to Moses for Israel. However, two other applications were made
by Yeshua and Paul, indicating a common practice. The first is nomos
(Torah) as a universal principle derived from Scripture. Yeshua spoke of the
"weightier provisions of the Torah: justice and mercy
and faithfulness (Matt 23:23) and said that the two greatest commandments summed
up the entire Torah (Matt 22:36-40). Paul will write later in his letter to the
Romans about
the "law of faith," the "law of my mind," the "law of sin," the "law of the
Spirit" and the "law of righteousness."
The second application is in reference to legalism, for
which there is no word in either Greek or Hebrew. Legalism is the misuse of
Torah as an oppressive system (cf. Matt 23:4; Acts 15:10; Rom 6:14-15; 1Tim 1:8) and this
meaning is intended by Paul's use of the idiomatic expression
ergōn nomou
or "works of law"
(Rom 3:20, 28; Gal 2:16; 3:2, 5, 10). David Stern makes the usage of nomos
as "legalism" plain in his translation of Romans 4:13, 14; 6:14, 15;
1Corinthians 9:20; Galatians 2:21; 3:11, 12, 23; 4:5, 21; 5:4; and Philippians
3:6, 9 (Complete Jewish Bible).
The variety of meaning in the usage of nomos-torah must be considered when
interpreting the teaching of Paul concerning the Law.
(See my commentary on
Romans.) So, proper understanding
of "law" in the Besekh and its relation to the believer's life
requires careful examination of the context wherever the word appears. In
contrast the word "commandment" has no such ambiguity.
Many theologians and Bible
teachers have used the phrase "not under the Law" to assert that the
commandments given to Israel through Moses have no binding authority on Christian life and
the only commands to be obeyed are those stated by Yeshua and the apostles,
while ignoring the fact that all their commands are based on the Torah.
However, salvation by grace is generally assumed to mean that disobedience
to God's commandments will not ultimately endanger one's eternal destiny,
because, after all, everyone sins every day in thought, word and deed. The
natural result of this teaching is that most Christians tend to pick and
choose what commandments they will obey, even those pronounced by Yeshua and
the apostles.
The ethical code of too many
Christians is not unlike the Israelites in the time of the judges in which "everyone
did what was right in his own eyes" (Jdg 17:6; 21:25). Some Christians
wrongly interpret any teaching about obedience to God's commands as
legalism. In the process the authority of God has been minimized. The Lord
God of Israel gave the absolute moral principles, commandments, ordinances
and instructions to Israel through Moses, as David Stern
observes, "in order to help them live a life which would be in their own
best interests as well as holy and pleasing to God" (17).
Moreover,
all that God wills for man to be and do is written in the Tanakh, beginning
with the Torah (Pentateuch). God's admonition to Joshua still rings true
today, "This book of the Torah should not depart from your mouth - you are
to meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything
written in it. For then you will make your ways prosperous and then you will
be successful" (Josh 1:8 TLV). Moreover, the Hebrew prophets made clear that
the Torah would apply to Gentiles:
"It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain
of the house of ADONAI shall be
established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the
hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, 3 and many peoples shall come,
and say: 'Come and let us go up to the mountain of ADONAI, to the house of
the God of Jacob, and He will teach us His ways and we shall walk in His
paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth the Torah, and the word of ADONAI
from Jerusalem." (Isa 2:2-3 BR; cf. Mic 4:2)
In fact, in the new earth
God's calendar will be in force for the entire world: "And it shall come to
pass that from one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all
flesh [mankind] shall come to worship before Me," says ADONAI."
(Isa 66:23 BR). Zechariah prophesied that after the Messiah comes all
nations will observe Sukkot (Feast of Booths) (Zech 14:16-19). These
prophecies would be false if the Torah was only for Jews to obey. Yeshua and
Paul considered the Torah, indeed the entire Tanakh, to be inspired by God
and suitable for training in righteousness (2Tim 3:16). To reject the Torah
is to reject God's Word.
Types of
Torah
Creation Torah
"Beloved, I am writing no new commandment to you but an old
commandment that you had from the beginning." (1Jn 2:7 NASB)
Long before the injunctions
and statutes given to Israel at Sinai "Creation law" established the
institution of marriage, the seven-day week and Sabbath, human government
and basic justice standards. God set forth a variety of commandments and
principles that revealed His expectations of Mankind (Gen 1:26-30; 2:2-3,
18-25; 3:16-19; 4:6-7; 6:3, 18; 9:5-8). Such heinous crimes as murder,
violence, adultery, fornication and idolatry were known to be wrong from the
beginning (Gen 2:17; 4:11f; 6:5ff; 18:20; 20:3; 26:10).
Enoch "walked" with God (Gen
5:24), which implies living in a manner pleasing to God. Noah was considered
a righteous man, which implies a divine standard for him to obey (Gen 6:9).
Abraham was commended for keeping God's commandments (Gen 26:5), which must
have been commonly known. Yeshua and the apostles affirmed Creation Torah as
the basis to make important pronouncements (cf. Matt 19:4-6; Mark 2:27-28;
10:6; Rom 1:18-20; 1Cor 11:8-15; Eph 5:22-33; 1Tim 2:11-15; 4:2-4; 2Th 2:13;
1Jn 2:7).
Covenant Torah
"Now then, if you listen closely to My voice, and keep My
covenant, then you will be My own treasure from among all people, for all
the earth is Mine." (Ex 19:5 TLV)
At Mt. Sinai the nation of
Israel entered into a covenant relationship with God, which was really a
continuation of the covenant God made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. See my
article
The Everlasting Covenants. Like previous covenants the covenant Israel
entered into with God came with expectations of behavior and Israel agreed
to those terms (Ex 19:8). Beginning in Exodus 20 God set forth His most
important lifestyle instructions, the Ten Words, more commonly known as the
Ten Commandments.
The Ten Commandments engraved on the stone tablets
could easily serve as major categories
or titles of law under which all the other commandments may be arranged for
interpretation and application, since each of the Ten Commandments imply
and include a host of other sins and crimes. The Torah commandments
can be divided into three codes: the holiness code, the righteousness code,
and the justice code.
● The holiness code, which
comprises over half of the commandments in the Torah, details requirements
for worship, Sabbath observance, the priesthood, offerings, circumcision,
annual feasts, dietary rules, and distinctive religious customs that mark
Israel as a people "holy to ADONAI."
The first four of the Ten Commandments are the major titles of the holiness
code.
● The righteousness code
includes those commandments that prohibit harmful conduct toward others in
the community or mandate conduct that strengthen the cohesiveness of
families and societal relationships. The last six of the Ten Commandments
are the titles of the righteousness code.
● The justice code provides
for actions to be taken by individuals and the community whenever any of the
commandments were broken (e.g., Ex 22−23).
Some Christian Bible
teachers discount the importance of most of the injunctions in the holiness
code by referring to them as "ceremonial." Scripture never uses this manner
of describing God-given commandments. To call a requirement "ceremonial"
means that it is the customary or preferred way of conducting a ritual. The
Church has developed many ceremonies for its own worship. However, the rules
of the holiness code demanded the strictest obedience on pain of death (Ex
19:5-6; Lev 11:44; Deut 4:40; 30:8). Consider Nadab and Abihu, Israelite
priests who were killed by God for offering "strange fire" in contravention
of the Torah (Lev 10:1-2). No Christian would ever dream of
executing a pastor who deviated from the customary practice of distributing
the Lord's Supper.
God's commandments
are not just Jewish religious values that can be easily dismissed. Even
Gentiles who "sojourned" with Israel were required to obey the same
commandments. (See Ex 12:19, 43-49; 20:10; 23:12; Lev 16:29; 17:8-15;
18:26; 20:2; 22:10, 18-19; 24:16, 22; Num 9:14; 15:14-16, 26-30; 19:10; Deut
5:14; 16:11, 14; 31:12.) An "alien" or "stranger" who sojourned with Israel
was generally regarded as a fellow citizen and enjoyed the same rights and
responsibilities as native Israelites (TWOT 1:156).
God is the only One who has the right to amend or rescind any of
His
commandments.
Apostolic
Validation
"So the Torah is holy; that is, the commandment is holy, just
and good." (Rom 7:12 CJB)
A cursory review of the
Besekh will reveal to any unbiased reader that the relevance and authority
of the Torah is reiterated many times. (See Matt 5:1-48; 15:3; 19:1-9, 17;
22:36, 38, 40; John 14:15, 21; 15:10ff; Rom 3:19-20; 7:7-13; 1Cor 7:19;
14:34; Eph 6:2; 1Th 4:2-8; 1Tim 1:8; 6:13f; Heb 10:16; Jas 1:25; 2:8-9;
4:11-12; 1Pet 1:16; 1Jn 2:3f; 3:22ff; 4:21; 5:2f; 2Jn 1:4-6; Rev 12:17;
14:12.)
Yeshua endeavored to both
explain the intent of Torah commandments and to provide guidance on
application in order to enable obedience (cf. Jer 31:31-33; Matt 5:17; 2Cor
3:3). Moreover, the description of Yeshua as "righteous" and "sinless" is
based on the fact that he lived in obedience to Torah commandments (cf. Matt
5:17-20; 19:17; 22:16; 27:19; Luke 23:47; John 7:18; 8 :29; 2Cor 5:21; Heb
4:15; 1Jn 2:1).
Yeshua and the apostles also
gave commandments. One researcher has calculated 1050 commands in the Besekh
(Dake 313-316). Yet, Yeshua claimed he gave only one new commandment (John
13:34) and he expected his disciples to keep all his commandments (John
14:15, 21; 15:10), which meant that Yeshua is the one who gave the
commandments to Moses.
Yeshua gave the apostles the
authority to "bind and loose," that is to impose obligations and to release
from obligations, thus making their pronouncements binding upon the Body of
Messiah for all time. The apostles used that authority to command obedience
to Torah principles in many moral and practical issues (cf. Matt 16:19; Acts
15:28f; 1Cor 5:3ff; 11:16; 14:37; 2Cor 13:2; Eph 2:19-22; 2Pet 3:15f).
See a full discussion of this subject in my article
The Guidance of Paul.
The attitude expressed in the
Besekh toward the Torah is decidedly positive and supportive. In the Sermon
on the Mount Yeshua categorically denied that he came to rescind, cancel or
nullify the Torah (Matt 5:17)! He then pronounced judgment on anyone who
would annul any of the commandments (Matt 5:19). Many Bible versions either
purposely or inadvertently have Yeshua denying the authority of Torah
commandments in the formula "You have heard it … but I say to you" (Matt
5:21, 27, 33, 38, 43).
Almost all versions translate
the Greek conjunction de with "but," which essentially means "on the
contrary," as if Yeshua were rebutting the specific commandments he quoted
and replacing Torah in general. While the conjunction de is used to
indicate contrast, it is also used as a connecting particle to continue a
thought, "and, also," sometimes with emphasis, "indeed," "moreover"
(Thayer). In reality Yeshua uses the conjunction to introduce an inference
from the commandment.
Yeshua's expectations of his
disciples are in line with the promised empowerment of the New Covenant (Jer
31:31-33; Ezek 11:19-20; 36:27). When he was asked by the rich young ruler
what he had to do to inherit eternal life, Yeshua replied, "keep the
commandments" (Matt 19:17). The fact that Yeshua eventually confronted the
young man about obeying the first commandment in the sense of trusting in
and following Yeshua did not invalidate the expectation to obey the rest of
God's commandments (cf. Matt 19:18-19).
When a Torah scholar asked
the same question Yeshua asked the scholar to determine the answer from the
Torah and when he replied with the two greatest commandments, Yeshua said,
"Do this and you will live" (Luke 10:28; cf. Rom 10:5; Gal 3:12). In similar
fashion, the apostle Paul specifically asserted that the Torah was not
nullified by the atonement through Yeshua (Rom 3:31) and affirmed strongly
that the Torah is holy, righteous, good and spiritual (Rom 7:12, 14).
Moreover, without the Torah there is no standard to define sin (Rom 3:20;
4:15; 7:7).
To say that the Torah has
been revoked or replaced and yet insist that sin is an every day experience
is nonsensical. These two propositions are contradictory. Stating the
Scriptural requirement in a different way, Paul said, "Circumcision is
nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of
the commandments of God" (1Cor 7:19). By circumcision Paul meant the ritual
of Brit Milah associated with the surgery. The ritual was all
important to Pharisees, especially for the admission of proselytes into
Jewish fellowship.
Paul did not mean that the
Torah command to remove the foreskin of Jewish males on the eighth day
should be ignored by Jews (cf. Acts 16:3; 21:20-25). Circumcision is the
sign of the everlasting covenant given to Abraham (Gen 17:9-14). Indeed,
Paul circumcised Timothy to comply with the command (Acts 16:3). Paul could
insist on Gentile believers obeying Torah commandments because Gentiles are
only saved by being grafted into the Olive Tree of Israel (Rom 11:17, 19,
24) and granted citizenship in the commonwealth of Israel (Eph 2:11-22;
3:6). The Ten Commandments then serve as the basic standard for Jewish and
Gentile believer alike (cf. Lev 24:22; Num 9:14; 15:15).
Nature of
Legalism
"Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon
the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been
able to bear?" (Acts 15:10 NASU)
"14 For He Himself is our peace, the One having made both one
and having broken down the fence barrier, the hostility 15 in his flesh,
having annulled the law of rules based on man's opinions [Grk.
dogma], in order that he might create the two in Himself into one new
man, making peace." (Eph 2:14-15 BR)
"13 And you being dead in transgressions and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having
forgiven us all the transgressions, 14 having blotted out the bond of debt
against us consisting of man-made rules [Grk. dogma], which
was adverse to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to
the cross." (Col 2:13-14 BR)
"We know that the Torah is good, provided one uses it in the
way the Torah itself intends." (1Tm 1:8 CJB)
Paul specifically enjoined
Messianic congregations, which included Gentile believers, to obey many
requirements of the Torah. See my article
The Guidance of Paul. Thus, the phrase "not under law" (Gal 5:18) cannot
possibly mean "exempt from obeying God's commandments." Paul was really
concerned with legalism and there is no single Hebrew or Greek word for this
concept. The Greek phrase hupo nomon could then be translated as
"under legalism" and the phrase ergōn nomou translated as "legalistic
observance of Torah commands" as translated in the Complete Jewish Bible.
And, for Paul with his
Pharisee background, "under legalism" would include the numerous man-made
traditions the Pharisees created as fences around the law. Indeed, Paul
makes reference to this understanding of legalism in his letters to Ephesus
and Colossae. Most versions translate the plural form of the word dogma
in the above verses as "ordinances" to imply the many laws given to Israel
at Sinai, especially so-called "ceremonial laws." In Greek culture dogma
meant an opinion or a public decree of an official, such as Caesar (Luke
2:1; Acts 17:7). The Pharisee opinion for keeping the Sabbath included
forbidding 39 categories of work (Shabbath
7:2), most of which had no relation to the stipulation of the
fourth commandment (Ex 20:8-10; Deut 5:12-15).
So, according to Paul what
Yeshua canceled was NOT the Torah, but the legalistic rules invented by the
Pharisees. A good rule of thumb when reading Paul's statements about "law"
is that when Paul seems to speak negatively of the Law, he is talking about
legalism. The failure among Christians to make the distinction between the Scriptural
requirement to avoid legalism but to be obedient to the Torah, or the
commandments, has led to spiritual havoc.
Among Christians the term
"legalism" usually means either doing good works to earn salvation and/or
imposing narrow pietistic rules on believers. In the early decades of the
Yeshua movement circumcision became the focus of legalism. A group of
Messianic Jews known as the Circumcision Party held to a basic theology: (1)
there is no salvation outside Israel (Gen 35:11; Isa 42:6); (2) Brit
Milah (ritual circumcision) is the sign of the covenant people (Gen
17:11); and (3) there is one law for Jew and Gentile (Ex 12:48; Num 15:16).
Therefore, a Gentile believer must become a circumcised proselyte to receive
the benefit of salvation.
The apostle Peter came into
conflict with the circumcision theology twice. The first conflict happened
with Messianic leaders in Jerusalem
after he presented the good news of the Messiah to Cornelius (Acts 11:1-3).
Even though Cornelius had been rewarded for his prayer and almsgiving with
favor to hear the good news (Acts 10:30-31), he understood that forgiveness
of his sins resulted directly from his trusting in Yeshua as his Messiah and
Savior (Acts 10:43). The second time conflict occurred was when the
Circumcision Party insisted that Gentiles had to be circumcised in
accordance with the Jewish custom and ceremony in order to be saved along
with the Jews (Acts 15:1). Peter rebuked the Messianic Pharisees by
describing their regulations as an unbearable yoke (Acts 15:10).
The Circumcision Party failed
to recognize that while the Torah might have required Gentiles to be
circumcised to participate in Passover (Ex 12:48), there was no such
requirement to be saved. The apostles settled the matter by declaring that
salvation is first and foremost the unilateral choice of God to be merciful
and that salvation results from trusting in the atonement provided by Yeshua
(Acts 15:9-11; Rom 5:1). Similarly, Paul emphasized in Ephesians 2:8 that
salvation does not result from legalistic works. The true import of the
phrase "under law" is that living by Pharisee traditions invariably brings
frustration because the curse of the Law will condemn any breach (cf. Rom
3:28-29; 7:6; 2Cor 3:6; Gal 3:10).
As serious as the subject of
grace versus earning salvation is, this was not the only aspect of the
controversy that flared between Yeshua and his Pharisee opponents. The
foundational error in legalism was the unlawful use of the laws God gave to
Israel or using God's Law in a way He never intended, as Paul affirmed to
Timothy (1Tim 1:8). The misuse of the Law, as practiced by certain
Pharisees, was at least fourfold.
The first misuse was the
casuistic application of Torah, i.e., pitting one commandment against
another or elevating lesser commandments over major commandments (Matt
5:19). For example, Yeshua condemned the hypocrisy of rigorous observance of
tithing and Sabbath observance rules while neglecting the "weightier
matters" of the Torah (cf. Matt 12:1-12; 23:23).
The second misuse of the
Torah was treating man-made traditions and rules as equivalent to or having more
authority than the written commandments given to Israel. Neither Yeshua nor
Paul had any dispute with following traditions that had been created to help
foster respect and obedience to Torah (Matt 23:1-3; Acts 16:4; 23:6; Gal
1:14). However, Yeshua strenuously objected to using a tradition to enable
disobedience of core commandments (Matt 15:1-6; 23:14).
The third misuse of the Torah
was treating God's commandments as a wall to separate the righteous from the
sinners (cf. Matt 9:11-13; 23:13). In the parable of the Pharisee and the
tax collector (Luke 18:9-14), the Pharisee congratulates himself on being
better than the worst sinners and the tax collector who was despised for his
association with the hated Romans. In the parable of the Good Samaritan
(Luke 10:29-37), the priest and Levite ignore the needs of an injured man to
maintain ritual purity.
The fourth misuse of the
Torah was parsing the meaning of words in the Torah in order to excuse
selfish decisions and injustice, such as divorcing wives for personal
expedience (Matt 19:3) and classifying healing as work and thereby
condemning Yeshua's ministry on the Sabbath (Matt 12:10).
New Covenant
Torah
"Here, the days are coming," says ADONAI,
"when I will make a new covenant with the house of Isra'el and with the
house of Y'hudah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their
fathers on the day I took them by their hand and brought them out of the
land of Egypt; because they, for their part, violated my covenant, even
though I, for my part, was a husband to them," says ADONAI.
33 "For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Isra'el after
those days," says ADONAI: "I will put
my Torah within them and write it on their hearts; I will be their God, and
they will be my people." (Jer 31:31-33 CJB).
"But now the work Yeshua has been given to do is far superior
to theirs, just as the covenant he mediates is better. For this covenant has
been given as Torah on the basis of better promises." (Heb 8:6 CJB)
We should note that the
promise of the New Covenant first appears in Jeremiah, not the New
Testament. The New Covenant was given to Israel not to the Church. However,
God promised that His covenant people would include the nations (Gen 35:11).
For Yeshua and the apostles the New Covenant was for the Commonwealth of
Israel (Eph 2:2), which includes Gentile believers grafted into the Olive
Tree of Israel (Rom 11:17). By God's instruction the New Covenant was not
given to eliminate the Torah, but to enable obedience to Torah. Rightly
understood the New Covenant is a call to the proper interpretation and
application of Torah.
See my commentary on
Hebrews 8:7-13.
God's fundamental standards
for holy and righteous living did not change with the New Covenant (1Pet
1:16). At the Jerusalem conference the apostles exempted Gentiles from
circumcision of the flesh, but affirmed the authority of God's creation
commandments for obedience (Acts 15:19, 28f) and expected that Gentiles
would learn from written Torah commandments at synagogue services (Acts
15:21). Paul concurs by asserting that after being saved by grace through
trusting in Yeshua's work of atonement the believer is expected to walk in
or live by the "good works" that God "prepared beforehand" (Eph 2:9-10),
namely the righteous requirements of the Torah. This is the same pattern in
Exodus.
God first delivered Israel
from Egyptian bondage and took them through the Red Sea, which Paul likened
to immersion (1Cor 10:1-2), and later at Mt. Sinai presented His covenant of
commandments that would guide life in the future. The apostles and first
century disciples were zealous to live by the Torah (Acts 21:20, 24; Rom
8:4), just like David who found delight and joy in keeping God's
commandments (Ps 119:35, 47; cf. John 8:47; 15:10; Acts 10:14; 21:20; 22:12;
24:14; Rom 2:14f; 1Cor 7:19; 9:20; 11:2; Gal 4:4; 2Th 2:15; 3:6). No wonder
John could say, "His commandments are not burdensome" (1Jn 5:3).
Since the Body of Messiah was
founded on the authority of the prophets (Old Covenant) and the apostles
(New Covenant) (Eph 2:20), God expects to see His standards for ethical
living fulfilled in His children (cf. Rom 8:4). Of course, the fact that
Yeshua established a New Covenant "in his blood" changed a number of
requirements resulting in a New Covenant Torah. Christians often debate the
nature of those changes and not unlike the Jewish debate in Yeshua's time
want to know which commandments are still binding. In general we may say
that the moral and ethical requirements of the Creation Torah and the
Covenant Torah have not been rescinded (Matt 19:17-19; Rom 1:18-28; 13:8-10;
1Cor 5:9-11; Gal 5:19-21).
When
reading through the commandments recorded in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and
Deuteronomy the approach to take is not to automatically assume that each of
the 613 commandments (as enumerated by Maimonides) has been canceled.
Rather ask these questions:
● Is this
commandment mentioned or alluded to by Yeshua or the apostles?
● Did
Yeshua or the apostles affirm this commandment?
● Did
Yeshua or the apostles rescind this commandment?
● Did
Yeshua or the apostles modify this commandment?
● Is this
commandment for Jews only?
● Does this commandment have
universal application?
Many commandments do have
universal application by deducing its justice principle. For example, the
command to install a parapet on a house roof may be specific to the ancient
building code (Deut 22:8), but the issue is worker safety. What should a
homeowner do to insure the safety of anyone performing work on his property?
The command to love's one's neighbor (Lev 19:18) is accompanied by several
practical injunctions that illustrate how the command is fulfilled.
The most significant change
in the holiness code is that the blood of Yeshua replaced the blood of
animals, thereby canceling all individual and corporate animal offerings for
atonement (Heb 9:11f; 10:4). Yeshua also replaced the descendants of Aaron
as high priest (Heb
7:11-28). In addition, many statutes required the presence of the
temple, so the destruction of the Jerusalem temple dramatically changed the
nature of worship (John 4:21-23).
Changes to the justice
code relate primarily to shifting responsibility for handling criminal
matters to the government (Rom 13:1-4). However, civil matters between
believers are still to be handled within the community of faith (Matt
18:15-19; 1Cor 6:1-8), and the principles of justice God established (due
process, impartiality, accountability, responsibility, liability, equity,
and proportionality) remain in force.
See my article
Biblical Justice.
The most
important issue is who will direct my life - God or me? The simple answer of
Scripture echoes from Isaiah 33:22, "ADONAI
is our Lawgiver" (TLV; cf. Matt 7:21; Col 1:9-10). Once the authority issue
is settled, then the believer quickly realizes that help is required to
please God. The Lord promised help, as prophesied by Ezekiel,
"19 Then I will
give them one heart. I will put a new Spirit within them. I will remove the
heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20 so that
they may follow My laws, keep My ordinances and practice them. They will be
My people and I will be their God." (Ezek 11:19-20 TLV)
" I will put My
Ruach within you. Then I will cause you to walk in My laws, so you will keep
My rulings and do them." (Ezek 36:27 TLV).
During his last supper Yeshua
promised the fulfillment of God's plan (John 14:17, 26; 15:26; 16:13;
20:22), and the reality was given on Pentecost (Acts 1:8; 2:1-4). The
testimony of the apostles is that keeping God's commandments is accomplished
by the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:32; Rom 2:29; 7:6; 8:2-5; 1Cor 6:11,
19; 12:3; 2Cor 3:5; Titus 3:5). Being "under grace," then, does not mean
merely receiving God's favor and living as we like, but through the Holy
Spirit receiving His power to be and do as God desires (2Cor 3:4-6; Col
1:9-10).
Works Cited
BDB:
The New Brown, Driver, Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon.
Oxford University Press, 1907. Reprinted by Associated Publishers and
Authors, Inc., 1981.
Barclay:
William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible Series.
Revised Ed., 16 Vols. The Westminster Press, 1975-76.
Dake:
Finnis J. Dake, Dake's Annotated Reference Bible,
(Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, Inc.), New Testament, 313-316, cited
in David Stern, Messianic Judaism: A Modern Movement with an Ancient Past
(Lederer Books, 2007), p. 157.
Marshall: Alfred Marshall, NASB-NIV Parallel New Testament in
Greek and English. The Zondervan Corporation, 1986.
Stern: David Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary. Jewish New
Testament Publications, 1992.
Thayer: Joseph Henry Thayer (1828-1901), Greek-English Lexicon of the New
Testament. Harper Brothers, 1889.
Website HTML 2011 by Biblesoft, Inc.
Online.
TWOT: Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. 2 Vols. ed. R. Laird
Harris. Moody Bible Institute, 1980.
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