Acts 6:13–14, False witnesses…change the customs which Moses delivered to us. Mainstream Christianity has perpetuated this same lie of the false witnesses against Stephen in teaching that Paul taught that the law of Moses is no longer binding upon believers today. This false accusation cost both Stephen and Paul their lives.
John 18:38, What is truth? Pilate asked Messiah Yeshua, the Son of Elohim, a question many inquiring minds have been asking since time immemorial, “What is truth?” (John 18:38). If someone were to ask you this question what would your answer be?
Since the word truth is found some 300 times in the Scriptures it would be safe to assume that YHVH, the Author of the Bible, probably has a definite opinion as to the definition of truth. What is your definition of truth? Does your definition square with his? If not, whose definition is right? The Creator’s or yours? Adam and Eve were confronted with this issue in the Garden of Eden at the tree of knowledge. YHVH gave them some basic truth he expected them to obey, and shortly afterwards the serpent came along questioning that truth. Adam and Eve fell for the serpent’s confusing lies and perversion of truth and men have been confused about the definition of truth ever since.
Even today how many Bible proponents really believe and obey all Continue reading
Genesis 26:5, Because. Based on Paul’s teaching in Romans 4, we see that the Abrahamic Covenant is the model for salvation, which is salvation by grace through faith leading to or resulting in good works or righteousness (Eph 2:8–10).
From this verse, it might appear the Abrahamic Covenant wasn’t a faith-based covenant at all, but a works based on. In other words, Abraham had to do something to attain to be counted righteous or to come into good standing with Elohim — a concept which is commonly referred to as “receiving salvation.”
The fact is that in the Abrahamic Covenant, Abraham only had to have faith and believe in YHVH to be justified or to be considered righteous by Elohim (Gen 15:6). It was on this basis that YHVH granted him “salvation.” But this initial faith on Abraham’s part and the righteousness Elohim attributed to him was but the first step in Abraham’s faith walk. He had to walk out his faith and continue trusting YHVH.
The apostolic writers present the idea that one’s faith is a walk, not a one time event. It’s more than faith. It’s faithfulness to YHVH’s instructions. James clearly states in his epistle Continue reading
Many in the mainstream church have been led to believe that the Torah or law of Moses is the ministry of death and the letter that kills, and now that we’re under grace, we are free from haveing to obey the letter of the law as 2 Corinthians 3:7–17 would seem to suggest. Is this a correct understanding of these verses? What is the truth? This video explains this difficult Bible passage.
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.
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
1 Corinthians 14:21, In the law. Usually the word law (in Gr. nomos and in Heb. torah meaning “teachings, instructions or precepts) in the Scriptures refers to the first five books of Moses, but here Paul uses the term to apply to the writings of Isaiah the prophet. Obviously, Paul had a more expansive view of the law than just to the books of Moses, for here he applies it to the prophets sections of the Tanakh or Old Testament.
Similarly, in the Gospel of John, Yeshua refers to the Psalms (which were contained in the Writings part of the Tanakh) as the law (John 10:34), and Jewish people, like Paul, regarded Isaiah as part of the law as well (John 12:34). What all this means is that Yeshua, Paul and the Jewish people in a general sense viewed the entire Tanakh as the law, or more correctly, the instructions or teaching of YHVH, since the Hebrew word for law (i.e. torah) means exactly this.
What this means to us is that Elohim’s entire word should be viewed as his legal code or instructions to men on how to act. As such, no parts of it can be eliminated, relegated to the past or “done away with.” It is thus important to view the entire Word of Elohim as equally binding and relevant to all people at all times.
Is Paul Affirming or Abolishing the Torah-Law of Moses?
What is the meaning of the phrase “under the law” as used by Paul in some of his epistles? There is much confusion in the church on this subject. Like a drive-by shooter who has only one bullet in his gun, this phrase is often fired in a disparaging manner against the Torah-law of Moses and its advocates by those who believe “the law” has been “done away with” and “is against us,” and thus is no longer binding on Christians. Sadly, in such exchanges, these spiritual drive-by shooters reveal their ignorance about this phrase’s true Hebraic meaning, not to mention its contextual background.
So what is the truth?
In this brief work, we’ll examine every place where the phrase “under the law” is found in the Testimony of Yeshua (the New Testament) including the scriptural context in which it is found. We’ll also discover what spiritual heresies Paul is really warning the first century believers about. The truth will prove both surprising and enlightening.
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.
Simple Explanation: Without delving into the context of the surrounding verses (which we do below) in which Paul uses the phrase “under the law,” let’s just analyze verse 19 by itself. Sometimes the simplest explanations are the best. For Paul, what does this phrase really mean?
When he says “under the law,” is he referring to the Jews who were legally bound to follow the law of Moses (or the Torah), as the mainstream Christian church teaches? If this is the case, then why does he speak about the whole world becoming guilty before Elohim? The whole world wasn’t Jewish, so how could Paul be referring to the whole world being “under the law” as in being obligated to obey the law of Moses? Furthermore, how is it that the whole world is “guilty before Elohim”?
The answer is simple. The whole world, including the Jews, is guilty of breaking the laws of Elohim (e.g., idolatry, violating the Sabbath, murder, adultery, stealing, lying, eating unclean meats, failing to keep YHVH’s holidays, witchcraft, etc.). In other words, the whole world has sinned, for sin is the violation of the Torah (1 John 3:4). Paul states this four verses later in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of Elohim.” All men are guilty before Elohim of sinning. What is YHVH’s punishment for sin? Paul answers that question too in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of Elohim is eternal life in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.”
Therefore, when Paul uses the phrase “under the law” and applies it all humans becoming guilty before Elohim, he is saying that all are under the Elohim’s death penalty for violating the Torah-law of Moses because all have sinned. He is not saying that the Jews are under obligation to keep the Torah, while the rest of the world (i.e., the Gentiles) are free to disregard the Torah, yet this is what the mainstream churches teach.
Going Deeper: When Paul uses the term “under the law” is he referring to those who are keepers of the law (like the Jews were)? Is he further implying that if one isn’t “under the law” one is free to break the law? This is a viewpoint many people in the church have been led to believe that Paul is advocating. Let’s analyze what Paul is really saying here and see it if lines up with what the mainstream churches teach.
First, if Paul is saying that those who aren’t under the law (because they’re under grace instead) are no longer under any obligation to adhere to the law’s tenets, then this means that it’s permissible to violate the law in regards to the Sabbath, the biblical dietary laws, the feasts, idolatry, murder, lying, theft, rape, incest, witchcraft, homosexuality and the like. This line of reasoning crumbles when we realize that from the Bible’s viewpoint, the Torah-law of Elohim is indivisible: it stands or falls as a unit. James says that if one violates one commandment he is guilty of breaking them all (Jas 2:8–10).
Second, if “under the law” means that believers are now free to disregard the Torah, then how do we explain all the scriptures that show us that Paul and the other apostles (and even Yeshua himself) upheld the validity of the Torah as a rule for the saint’s life? (See Matt 5:17–19; John 14:15; Rom 3:31; 6:14, 15; 7:12, 14, 22; Acts 21:24; 24:14; 25:8; 1 Cor 7:19; 1 John 2:3–6; 3:4.) It is evident that Paul can’t, at the same time, be both teaching against and advocating Torah-obedience. This would make Paul into a duplicitous liar and hypocrite, and call into question the validity and divine inspiration of the Scriptures as well. The fact is, the problem isn’t with Paul or the Bible, but with man’s interpretation of YHVH’s Scriptures.
So when we strip away the layers of men’s church doctrines and traditions, what is Paul really saying in Romans 3:19?
Paul is exposing the Jews for being over-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 despite these facts, many Jews Continue reading