Is Obedience to Torah for Today?

Q. My boss and I have been having some discussions ... we have been discussing … the Messianic movement and why they are continuing in Torah observance. ... We discussed the fact that Jesus and His disciples were Jewish and continued in their Jewishness even after accepting Him as Messiah, and that a natural-born Jew should continue in their Jewishness — which I don't think he agreed at all.  Acts 21:15-25, I believe, shows that the Jews are to remain Torah-observant Jews, and that Paul was a Torah-observant Jew, and [that he did] not tell fellow Jews to turn away from Torah. What was the other verse where it talks about the same rules for Gentiles but it adds “because the Torah is taught every Shabbat”? ... He keeps going back to people believing works gets them to heaven; I told him that is not what being a Torah observant Messianic is about.

A. The reason that Messianic Jews continue in Torah observance is that G-d requires it. The only portion of the Torah that has been set aside is that which deals with the ceremonial aspects of temple worship ... impossible to follow now because there is no Temple; but in the future Kingdom ...? That is an area wide open to speculation. For me, this is the simplest line of reasoning to support Torah observance:  

1. When the divisions of Systematic Theology known as Theology Proper (the Doctrine of G-d) and Christology (the Doctrine of Christ) are correctly understood, the conclusion is reached that G-d the Father has never appeared to man at any time, and that all appearances of G-d to man at any time, whether recorded in the Brit Chadasha (“New Testament”) or the Tanakh (“Old Testament”), are the Person of G-d the Son (also known as Theophanies or Christophanies).

2. The Brit Chadasha teaches, without any fear of contradiction, that Yeshua is G-d the Son.

3. Therefore, all appearances of G-d to man at any time are, in fact, appearances of Yeshua, whether before or after His incarnation (physical birth).

Having determined logically that all appearances of G-d in the Bible are appearances of Yeshua, we now turn to the Torah.  

1. The One Who called Himself “I AM” — the One Who appeared to Moshe (Moses) on Mt. Sinai — the “I AM” who wrote the Torah (at least the Decalogue) in stone with His own finger and gave it to Moshe, was Yeshua.

2. The Torah, therefore, is the written record of “the commandments” (mitzvot) of Yeshua.

3. Yeshua said, “If you love Me, keep My mitzvot (commandments)” (John 14:15).

4. Since Yeshua’s mitzvot were given to Moshe at Sinai and recorded as the Torah, then Yeshua instructed us to keep the Torah if we love Him.

Yeshua also said:  

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law [the Torah] until all is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17-18)

“But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.” (Luke 16:17)  

If the above line of reasoning is correct, then the Torah consists of the words of Yeshua, about which He said:  

Matthew 24:35: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”

Mark 8:38: “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

Mark 13:31: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”

Luke 6:47: “Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like:”

Luke 9:26: “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”

Luke 21:33: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”

Luke 24:44: “Now He said to them, ‘These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’”

John 5:47: Show Context “But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

John 14:24: Show Context
“He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me.”

John 15:7: Show Context “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

Since Yeshua used the phrase “My words” to indicate his teaching (the Hebrew word for teaching or instruction is torah), then we can replace the phrase “My words” with “My Torah” in all of the above quotations, and still be accurate both logically and theologically.

I agree with your interpretation of Acts 21:15-21. 

A Jew who is born a Jew is always a Jew, regardless of what he/she believes or does not believe. A Jew doesn't become a Gentile (non-Jew) by embracing Yeshua as the Jewish Messiah any more than a Chinese person who embraces Yeshua as the Jewish Messiah becomes an Anglo-Saxon (non-Chinese). [Look how many Irish-Americans celebrate St. Patrick's Day! I dare you to tell an Irish-American that he/she is no longer Irish!] But that brings us to the sticky question of who is to be Torah observant.

At the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) it was decided that Gentiles who embraced the Jewish Messiah were not required to be circumcised, nor were they required to convert to Judaism in order to be “saved” — but they could [and I believe they were expected to] learn how to follow Torah over time as they participated in the Holy Community, the Synagogue, and the “teaching of Moshe” on every Shabbat. So the question is not whether or not Messianic Jews are required to continue observing Torah (or are exempted from observing Torah), but whether or not all believers (both Jewish and non-Jewish) are obligated to observe Torah (Biblical Torah, not Rabbinic Torah).

1. The Torah is the Word of G-d.

2. All Believers are obligated to observe and follow the Word of G-d.

3. Therefore: All Believers are obligated to observe and follow the Torah of G-d.

Is obedience a condition of salvation? No. Disobedience of any kind is sin, which can be forgiven by G-d's grace!

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of G-d; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. [Most Gentile Christians stop reading at the end of verse 9.] 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which G-d prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them [that is, walk in—perform—the good works, obey the Torah]. (Eph. 2:8-10)

Do we then obey the Torah of G-d in order to be saved? No! Rather, we obey the Torah of G-d because we have been saved and created in Yeshua HaMashiach so that we would be able to do so! We obey His mitzvot [instruction, commandments, or torah] because He asked us to, and because we love Him.

One additional thought on the subject: we are to be His disciples (talmidim).

http://FamilyBible.org/FAQ/Torah.htm
This page last revised on Tuesday, 01 April 2008 01:02 AM