Tag Archives: Legalism

What Does the Phrase “Under the Law” Mean?

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This brief teaching is the summation of 40 years of studying what it means to be “under the law.” It’s a hot-button phrase that is repeated often in the Torah-phobic Babylonian church system. Though this article is a little technical at times, reading it will show you how to answer your Christian friends who think you’ve gone off the deep end and fallen from grace with all this Hebrew roots, Torah stuff. Get your Bible out, roll up your  sleeves and let’s go deep… Enjoy! 

An Analysis of the “Under the Law [Torah]” Passages in the Testimony of Yeshua 

Romans 3:19, Now we know that what things soever the law [Torah] says, it says to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before Elohim.

Explanation: The Jews were self confident in their special relationship with YHVH because (a) they were Jews and the seed of Abraham, (b) because YHVH had given them the Torah, and (c) because they were circumcised, yet many had failed to obey the Torah, thus making their outward appearance of righteousness (i.e., their circumcision) a pointless sham. Whether one is uncircumcised or not is immaterial; rather, what matters to YHVH is one’s heart orientation toward him (i.e., is one circumcised in heart or not, Rom 2–3:4). After all, circumcision can’t be a salvation issue, since it’s impossible for one half of humanity to be circumcised, while the entire population (both men and women) can be circumcised in heart!
Paul was being accused of promoting Torahlessness because of his stand that circumcision was not a salvation requirement, and that a Jew who is circumcised, and yet lives a Torahless life is no better than a Gentile sinner. In fact, an uncircumcised Gentile who follows the basics of the Torah that are written in his consciences will be blessed on the day of judgment (Rom 2:14–16).
Paul is attempting to level the spiritual playing field (or to tear down the middle wall of partition) between Jews and Gentiles by showing that a hypocritical, law-touting, circumcised Jew has no standing in righteousness before YHVH, while an uncircumcised Gentile who knows little about the Torah, yet follows the light of truth that he has with his whole heart has righteous standing before YHVH.
The bottom line is that Continue reading →

 

Under the Law Vs. Under the Law Toward Messiah

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1 Corinthians 9:20–22, Under the law. David Stern in his commentary asserts that this term means “under a legalistic perversion of the Torah”; i.e., that Torah here doesn’t mean Torah, but rather a skewed view of Torah as proffered by the Judaizers (i.e., those of the sect of the Pharisees or those who were under their influence who asserted that one needed to be circumcised and to keep the law of Moses in order to be saved, see Acts 15:1, 5).

Under a legalistic or skewed view of the Torah.

Under a legalistic or skewed view of the Torah.

In this passage, those who are “under the law” aren’t the Jews, since Paul already mentions them at the beginning of verse 20, but Gentiles who are living under a false notion that one can be saved by keeping the Torah.

Paul then goes on to describe the next group of Gentiles — “those who are without the Torah” (verse 21).

The third group of Gentiles to which Paul makes reference is “to the weak” (verse 22), who are those who are new to the faith and tend toward a more punctilious or legalistic obedience to the Torah.

In summary, Paul is saying that he’s sensitive to the spiritual paradigm of those to whom he is preaching the gospel, has learned to relate to all people from all backgrounds and, as such, has become all things to all men in an effort to save some.

Paul, at the same time, asserts that he is not “unTorahed” himself, but rather is “under or in subjection to the true Torah (as opposed to a legalistic perversion of the Torah) through his relationship with Yeshua (verse 21). This statement of Paul lines up perfectly with other statements he makes with regard to his pro-Torah beliefs and lifestyle (e.g., Rom 3:31; 7:12,14; Acts 21:24; 4:14; 25:8; 28:17; 1 Cor 7:19).

 

 

True Righteousness Vs. Pseudo or Self-Righteousness

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Romans 10:3, Elohim’s righteousness … their own righteousness.

Imputed Righteousness/Faith in Yeshua Combined with Torah-Obedience Equals True Righteousness

Rom 9:31–33, But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.”

There is a psuedo-righteousness that comes from a perfect and legalistic obedience to the Torah. Theoretically, one could keep all the regulations of Torah, but without a circumcised heart characterized by love and faith, and still miss true righteousness. A letter-of-the-law, works-based or legalistic adherence is the pseudo-righteousness that Yeshua was attacking in the hypocritical religionists of his day. They were self-righteously proud of their works, yet they had missed the heart and the spirt of the Torah. Yeshua called these things — judgment, mercy and faith (i.e, the heart and the spirit of the Torah) — the weightier matters of the Torah (Matt 23:23).

Next we see that true righteousness combines faith in Yeshua the Living Torah with obedience to the Written Torah. Continue reading →

 

Torah’s Higher Highway

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The Jewish Leaders Had Forsaken the Higher Torah

Yeshua blasted the religious leaders of his day not only for not following Torah, but also for omitting the weightier matters of Torah, which are mercy, justice and faith.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. (Matt 23:23)

The Pharisees had a letter-of-the-law righteousness. But Yeshua said that the righteousness of his disciples had to exceed that of the religious Jews of that day (Matt 5:20). Yeshua wasn’t talking about the fine points of a letter-of-the-law Torah-obedience here, for it is doubtful that anyone could have surpassed the punctilious Pharisees in that arena. He must have therefore been talking about something else—something higher and beyond the mere keeping the letter of the law along with all their added legal traditions.

At the same time, sadly, the Jews had inadvertently nullified some of the Torah through their religious traditions (Mark 7:13). The Torah should be viewed as more than just a set of dos and don’ts; we should see it as pointing the way to our Father’s heart. His heart is the higher Torah. To get to YHVH’s heart we must lay aside any religious traditions that nullify the Torah-Word of  YHVH, and then follow the Torah at its purest and highest level. But merely following the letter of the Torah legalistically is not sufficient. There is something beyond that.

The Letter Kills, But the Spirit Makes Alive

The letter of the law kills, but the Spirit of the law brings life. The letter by itself brings bondage and legalism. It can even become burdensome and grievous.

Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. (2 Cor 3:6)

For this is the love of Elohim, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous/heavy or burdensome. (1 John 5:3)

Love, Not Law-Keeping, Is What Attracts

Yeshua told his disciples that men would know they were his not because they kept the Torah scrupulously to the letter, but because they walked in love for one another.

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. (John 13:35)

Paul also taught that love was the greater thing in 1 Corinthians 13. Love is above all knowledge (including Torah), and all prophecy (inspired teaching of Torah).

The Higher Torah Is About Relationship

The higher Torah is this: Continue reading →