The Torah: the Letter Vs. the Spirit & Blessings Vs. Curses

Deuteronomy 28:1–68, Blessings and curses for Torah obedience.

Are the curses for Torah disobedience and the blessings for obedience still applicable in the life of the redeemed believer today, or because “we’re now under grace” are these blessings and curses irrelevant to us? Or, as some preachers teach, Christians now only receive the blessings, and not the curses regardless of whether they violate the Torah or not, since Yeshua took away the curse of the law. What is the answer to this question? The short answer is this: Is the law of gravity still in effect if you jump off a cliff? For a further explanation, see my notes at 2 Cor 3:7.

Justice 19981147

2 Corinthians 3:7, Ministry of death. Is this a reference to the Torah? If so, which aspects? Just previously in verse six, Paul is speaking about the new covenant and the letter bringing death and the spirit bringing life. What is he referring to here? Is the spirit of the Torah-law all that is applicable to the believer today, and not the letter? If so then why did Yeshua in his Sermon on the Mount excoriate the Jews for keeping the letter and not the spirit of the Torah? In fact, he strongly affirmed that his disciples must keep both the letter and the spirit. To keep only the spirit would be tantamount to saying it’s all right to murder as long as you don’t hate the person, commit adultery as you don’t lust in the process, and so on. It is plain to see that his notion is absurd. Yet this is what many Christians believe. We must keep the spirit, but don’t have to keep the letter of the law, and they will use this passage of Scripture to justify their belief. If this is not what Paul Continue reading