Practical Guide
Little children, let no one lead you astray: The one practicing righteousness is righteous. 1 John 3:7
Astray – Who should you follow? Who should you choose as your leader? How do you know you’re walking with the right person? John has a very simple test. Follow the one who is practicing righteousness.
It seems so obvious, doesn’t it? Who would follow someone who lied, cheated, was abusive and violent or did many reprehensible things? No one. That makes the choice easy, right? Well, not quite. You see, John uses a Hebrew idiom, practicing righteousness, to indicate a way of life. When he writes these words, he has a particular set of behaviors in mind, behaviors that any Jewish reader would have known. The question we need to ask is not, “What ethical behaviors do we include in the idea of righteousness?” No, we need to ask, “What behaviors would John have included in the Jewish expression ‘practicing righteousness’?”
The development of this theme throughout the New Testament makes it abundantly clear that John is in concert with Paul and the Apostles. Practicing righteousness is shorthand for keeping Torah. That means John is looking toward those men and women who fit the description given by James at the Jerusalem council. “These men are zealous for Torah.” They are people who study the words of YHWH in order to conform their lives to His wishes. They make charity a habitual action. They offer themselves in prayer. They shape their lives around the liturgy of the covenant revealed by God. They stand in the prophetic tradition. And they personally embrace God’s intention that Israel be the magnet to draw all nations to Him. Following men and women who display these behaviors is crucial for the individual and the community. Any other choice will result in being led astray.
The Greek word planao means, “to cause to wander, to deceive or cause to err, to seduce into rebellion.” The umbrella of meanings is important. Notice that it is not principally about cognitive error. From a Hebrew perspective, this Greek word describes the action of falling away from God’s instructions, of being seduced into choices that lead away from God’s will. It’s interesting to notice that Paul uses the idea of deception and seduction when he writes about the sin of Adam and Havvah. They didn’t make a mental mistake. They acted in opposition to God’s commandment. John suggests the simple test. If we don’t follow the one who is sticking close to God’s ways, we will be led off the path. We will be seduced or deceived, just as our parents were in the Garden.
Now it’s time to take a closer look. Think of those who lead you. Your submission empowers them. But have you asked if they are practicing righteousness? Would John point to them and say, “Follow that man. He follows Torah.”
Topical Index: practicing righteousness, astray, planao, Torah, 1 John 3:7
Hi Skip,
I have many Messianic Jewish friends and I often attend a Messianic worship group on the Sabbath. I regularly question them about Torah obedience. Some of the responses I’ve gotten are:
1. Yeshua is the end of Law for those who believe.
2. We are now under the Messianic Covenant, however, we are still bound by the WISDOM of the Torah Covenant. In other words, following the law (Torah) is a good and wise way to live life, but not what saves us. When Messiah returns, He will establish yet another covenant.
3. Regarding “amoral” issues, many feel it’s o.k. to adapt to the culture around us. Paul, as an evangelistic strategist, certainly did.
4. Many of them are o.k. with breaking the dietary laws.
5. Also, if there are conflicting absolutes… is it o.k. to break the law? In other words, can we lie to save a person’s life? Yes, they say. (Few, if any, would have trouble with this one.)
My question is… do you have a problem with any of the above? Am I being led astray? Should I encourage them to rethink their positions?
Yes, I have issues with all of the above.
1. Exegesis of passages regarding the “end” (telos) of the law do not take into account the Hebrew meanings. This kind of exegesis already accepts the replacement theology of mainline Christianity. Jesus didn’t speak Greek, and the fact that the gospels are written in Greek does not set aside the Hebrew context. The “end” of the Law in Hebrew is the “filling up” of the Law, that is, a demonstration of its complete observance. Furthermore, Yeshua Himself proclaims that the Torah will not be set aside until heaven and earth pass away. I have written a lot about this.
2. Following Torah NEVER saved anyone. The framework of the answer does not understand the role of grace (from the beginning) or the purpose of Torah (usefulness before God). The “new” covenant (see Jeremiah 31:31) is the “renewed” covenant (that’s what the Hebrew word hadash means. It is not a change in content but a change in delivery.
3. Paul didn’t adapt his Torah code of living to any culture. In fact, his Torah stance usually got him into big trouble in the culture. If Paul was so adaptable, why did they often seek to kill him? The idea that Paul fit into the culture stands in opposition to everything Paul claims about himself and the good news.
4. Hey, the world is OK with breaking the dietary laws. It’s just that God isn’t. But who’s asking Him? Put another shrimp on the barbe. The issue is about the authority of God, not about food. Do we really think that we can decide for ourselves what God wants?
5. There will always be circumstances where conflict occurs, but the problem here is the use of the word “absolutes.” Torah is not a system of fixed absolutes. It is a hierarchy of values. Some are more important than others, like preserving life is more important than ritual worship on the Sabbath. People who do not understand this often debate the obvious conflict of absolute commands, but Yeshua Himself said that the Sabbath was made for man, not the reverse. Lying to save another’s life is NOT a violation of Torah. It is upholding Torah. Lying to save face is a violation of Torah. The issue is how to see Torah. Everywhere in Scripture we see this hierarchy in action.
Hope this helps.
Good afternoon Skip and shalom to all!
Thanks Skip for your teaching on 1 John 3:7. I have missed this precious jewel of a passage. The Apostles were so beautiful and consistant in their teaching. They were truly not reinventing the wheel. It was instead, the renewal of the convenant and reapplying of the Scriptures in a fresh way to a new situation.
In response to your response to Judi, #3- According to Deuteronomy 30:11-14, (which by the way is a glorious passage) it says in verse 14- But the word is very near you, It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. Because the word is already on the heart, how should I understand Jeremiah 31:31?
It seems to me that the renewal here. According to the New Testament and the completed work of Jesus is; that he has dealt with our sin/sins and the consequences of our sin/sins, death. Because of his death and subsequent resurrection, the convenant has been written on our hearts and minds in a fresh and renewed way!
Thanks in advance for your response.
While it is true that the covenant will be written on our hearts in the age of the New Covenant, read the rest of Jeremiah’s description. When the New Covenant comes in its fullness, EVERYONE from king to servant will follow the Lord without compulsion, NO ONE will need to be taught and all will worship Him. So, while the resurrection is the sign (guarantee) of the New Covenant and the beginning of the end, it is not the fulfillment since these things are yet to happen. But they will. We are a foretaste of this coming event. And, by the way, we have to be taught and we don’t all serve with gladness – yet!
“EVERYONE from king to servant will follow the Lord without compulsion, NO ONE will need to be taught and all will worship Him.”
Skip, where does the CROSS fit in here???? Will these people know the LORD without going by way of the Cross of Calvary?
Helen
That is good and thanks bro. Yet, Deuteronomy 30:14 seems to imply that the Torah was already written on the hearts of the people of Israel, and this was before the prophet Jeremiah’s prophecy, and before the Cross and Resurrection.
That passage in Jeremiah is incredible. The prophet Jeremiah and the prophets in general had Holy Spirit vision and it was large! God may we see as you see this world, in Yeshua’s name!
Thanks Skips…very helpful answers and lots for me to chew on.
As a P.S. I didn’t mean to imply you have ever suggested that following the Torah is what saves us. I know you’ve ALWAYS been loud and clear in your teachings lest some fall into that erroneous theology.
All these questions are wonderful and all are answered within the scriptures. Hebrew and Greek (both) will help us to unravel these mysteries and reveal the ONE whose name is above every name, the LORD Jesus (who is the) Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach.
There is a New Covenant, as spoken by Yeshua, “this is the new covenant in my blood.” We cannot and must not skirt around this, but rather fully embrace Him (whose name is above every name) as the Savior of the world. He is, as John the Baptizer announced Him to be- “The Passover Lamb who has taken away the sin of the world. Both Jew and Gentile, He is the Way. In this life and the next we will worship the King of Kings and the LORD of lords, the LORD of glory- Jesus (who is the) Christ.
I’ve wondered for some years now concerning the Passover (which serendipitously “occurs” about the time of the celebration of Resurrection Sunday and even the “timing” of the crucifixion of (the) Christ during the Passover celebration. Why, (I have asked myself), do (some of) the Jewish people reject their own King? What upset the religious leaders of the day enough to plot and plan the crucifixion of Christ? Christ was (and is) so controversial, is he not? lol! -“He came unto His own and His own received Him not, but as many as received Him- to them gave He authority to become the sons (and daughters) of G-d.
The law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. The law is pure and just and holy and clearly defines us (all) as sinners before a just, pure and holy G-d. We (all) are sinners in need of a Savior. (For all have sinned.) Enter Christ, through the portals of a virgin’s womb, Deity veiled in humanity. G-d became a man. “Blown away” by this? No way, you say? No..- “way!” lol! Christ has come, salvation has been not only purchased, but paid for “in full.” Salvation- full, complete and entire in Christ. The promised Messiah has come!
Salvation is a crisis followed by a process. Maybe this is where we become muddled and in need of clarificiation. “He that hath begun a good work in you (salvation) will perform it (sanctification) unto the day of Jesus Christ. Holiness is both imputed and imparted, but once again (lest we forget)- “holiness is not the way to Christ- He is the Way leading us (who follow Him-the only Righteous ONE) to holiness.
And also (lest we forget and are led astray)- it is the blood of Jesus (who is the Christ) that cleanses from sin. For those who are the called according to His purposes, this is not gruesome, this is glorious! I will glory in the cross of Christ. Hallelujah for the cross! Thank you Savior for giving your life for mine. I now fully and freely give back unto you the same life you have redeemed on Calvary’s tree. Because of Calvary, I am today (in Christ) a new creation and am in the process of becoming, yet another tool in the hands of the Carpenter. Glory to His name. What a privilege and joy is ours who now belong to Him.
Thanks, Carl! I know all of this in my heart and from my years of study and living with a man who was a biblical scholar. Why is it, though, so seemingly put aside when Torah is the subject here? Is there belief in this group that Jesus Christ died in vain?? If some of what I read here is true, then yes, He did die in vain. He needn’t have suffered as He did, if all that mankind needs is keeping Torah. And what He taught while incarnated must have been lies.
How could that be, when He Himself said that HE is the TRUTH!!
Hello Mrs. Wolf,
John the Baptist in the book of John said, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. According to Romans 7:7 the Torah reveals sin. 1 Peter 2:24- He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. Ephesians 1:7- In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.
Noah wasn’t saved by Torah, neither was Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and his other brothers. Neither was the people of Israel. Exodus 20:2. In the book of the prophet Malachi God said ” I am the Lord your God and I change not.” As it has been emphatically pointed out, Torah was never meant to save anyone. God and the fullness of who he is, as is expressed through the flesh of the Son of God. He is the only One who can save us from our self, sin, and death.
In Deuteuronomy 30:14 God said, The Torah was already on their hearts And in Jeremiah 31:3 there will be a renewal of the covenant, were the convenant is written on hearts/minds of everyone!
That covenant Has been inaugurated by the life, death, and resurrection of Yeshua. But, as Skip has proclaimed and if I understood what he said, that fulness has not been fully realized…. yet!
Yet, the renewal has begun with those who have come into right relationship with God through Yeshua!
Blessings sister!
My dear sister- the absolute center,compass and circumference of all of scripture is Christ. The master theme of our entire Bible is “behold the Lamb of G-d which taketh away the sin of the world.” Salvation (deliverance) is to the Jew first and also to the Greek. It is we who are the adopted ones- adopted into the covenant blessings of Abraham but in order to do so, we (all) Jew and Greek alike must be regenerated by the new birth or as Yeshua said to Nicodemus (a ruler of the Jews) – “you must be born again.”
Christ did not do away with the Torah but He (Himself) is the Living Word abiding within every twice-born believer. We need this ministry because we need to know the word(s) of YHWH as much or more than our very next breath of air, and that is what Dr. Moen does best- reveal unto us, precept upon precept and line upon line the word(s) of G-d.
For years I went to church not having a clue what I was talking about but bandied about “words” such as righteousness, holiness, justification, faith, etc.. without having a clue of what I was saying but rather picking up on the “church-ese” (a derivative of Chinese no doubt- lol!) of my friends and family.
I have testified on several occasions and I will testify again tonight- I have grown exponentially as a “follower of the Way” because of the excellent meals Chef Moen prepares daily for us from the word(s) of G-d. Elohim Himself declared unto us in Isaiah 55.11: “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” Bottom line- we (desperately) need to know G-d’s book. What I know (I’m finding out), would fill a thimble. Yeshua (again) said to the Pharisees (these guys were no slouches)- you do err, not knowing the scriptures nor the power of G-d.” (Matthew 22.29) What about us? Don’t we spend more time with our nose in the newspaper than we do reading G-d’s word? Yeshua was a praying man. How about us? Have we discovered the delightful blessedness of prayer?
This website is one of my first “pitstops” in the morning. The word(s) of G-d “kick-starts” and sets the tone for the day. And as we (together) learn the instructions of YHWH, and willingly “hear and obey” His words we are daily being conformed and transformed into the image of the Son.
Carl, I didn’t need a sermon! I needed my direct questions replied to directly! You said: “Christ did not do away with the Torah but He (Himself) is the Living Word abiding within every twice-born believer.” I know that Jesus is the Living Word, but if I understand correctly the messages written here, that is NOT what is being presented. As I understand it, what is being presented here is that the words WRITTEN on pages of the Bible…….the first 5 books of the Old Covenant, are to be observed/obeyed by believers…….. Without the cleansing Blood shed on that Cross by the Living Word sent down as sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, the Torah is just another set of rules and laws that could not be kept, apart from the Cross. Now that the Living Word indwells believers by the Spirit, is He not sufficient to lead us in our walk with the Master? I believe He IS!!
Sister Helen I hear what you are saying.
I would have to disagree with you on one point in your comment, “the Torah is just another set of rules and laws that could not be kept.” Torah was given by our beautiful Father and his finger. God said in Deuteronomy 30:11-14, that Torah was not difficult to keep. How can we explain these passages in the Psalms, 1:2- Delighting in his Torah, 119:97-oh how I love your Torah, 119:18-wondrous things out of Torah,119:113,163- also speak of loving Torah. How about Proverbs 7:2- the Torah as the apple of his eye. Also in the book of Joshua, God tells Joshua mediatate on Torah day and night!
These people did not think these were just another set of rules and laws that could not be kept They embraced them as the very words of YHWH, and so should we. Peoples hearts/self, sin/sins, and the consequence of these evils; death. This has always been the issue, as we also see abundantly throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. God’s Torah is the gift of the Father and has never been the issue! These evils; is what Yeshua took upon his shoulders and conquered in his resurrection! We have stepped into that reality, and eagerly awaiting its fulness!
Eagerly waiting for His fulness!
Brian, in your response to “bro.” (I’m not certain who that is : ) ), you said: “Yet, Deuteronomy 30:14 seems to imply that the Torah was already written on the hearts of the people of Israel, and this was before the prophet Jeremiah’s prophecy, and before the Cross and Resurrection.” This seems to me to be saying that the “Cross and Resurrection” were an unnecessary addition.
I looked up several of the references you gave in your replies to me, and I wonder why the first 5 books of the Old Covenant are referred to as “the Word”.
Hi Helen,
“Deuteronomy 30:14 presents a dilemma for us when we try to explain why no one, except for Christ, has been able to live up to the requirements of the law. We are incapable of sinless lives because human nature has been scarred by sin, leaving us spiritually handicapped. God never intended the law to make us righteous, but he uses it to show us our need for Christ (Gal. 3:24) Christ alone gives the new hearts we need to measure up to God’s standards.”
The above is something I read in a commentary. I found it helpful in answering some of the questions from the above blogs. Perhaps you will too.
Hello Helen,
When I said bro, that was meant to be a response to Skip. I must have hit reply to you instead. My apology!
The Torah was never the yoke, why would God our Abba who brought them out of Egypt and gave them his Instructions and Teachings, and not make it applicable and doable? Again look at Deuteronomy 30:11-14.
This is what we find in the Psalms, delight, and love for his teachings/instructions. Why would they delight and love and consider his instructions the apple of their eye if Torah wasn’t livable. Also, why would God tell Joshua to mediatate on it day and night, and if he does not turn from his instructions to the right or to the left, he will have good success, if it wasn’t something he could walk out?
Did that mean that these people never sinned? Of course not, as we see abundantly throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. The Torah/Instructions of the Lord are pure. Yes, and it does reveal the sin of lives and hearts that are not so pure.
Deuteronomy 30:14- But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, SO THAT YOU CAN DO IT. EMPHASIS MINE!
Yet, in Jeremiah 31:33b- I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. Look at the difference here. God said in Deuteronomy- it is in, and then in Jeremiah 31:33- God said I will put, and I will write. (renewed covenant) Jesus came and dealt with the competition in our hearts against Torah, our self, sin/sins, and the consequence of these sin/sins; death. Therefore after he had dealt with these things through his death and resurrection, he will put (I will put) He will write (I will write) the Torah on hearts and minds of those who believe in this Messiah’s work.
Now we can return to God with full assurance, because of the Messiah”s completed work. Yes, we can also embrace Torah/ YHWH words. This is an intimate work of the Ruach Hakodesh. I will put and I will write. The fulness has come, but not yet fully realized. We have to also continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, and continue to allow the work of the Ruach HaKodesh to conform us into the image of Yeshua. Blessings and I hope this helps.
Deut 30:14 does not make the cross or the resurrection unnecessary. In fact, it makes those events even more necessary. Why? Because the sacrificial system allowed forgiveness without punishment only for accidental sins, sins in ignorance. There was no sacrifice for deliberate sin. So some other means of expiation was needed and that means was the sacrifice of the Son. He bore the punishment we deserved and had no way of avoiding. But all of this is independent of the promise of Torah. Salvation does not, and never has, depend on my efforts to keep God’s instructions for living. Salvation is God’s work and His alone. Yeshua offers the required substitution for punishment but God elects to forgive. I have nothing to do with that. But I do have a part to play. After God redeems me, I am asked to fit into His purpose and to do that I must shape my life around His instructions. Don’t ask me why. That isn’t the point. The point is that this is what He asks. So I do it. And all kinds of wonderful and amazing things begin to happen.
Thanks Skip, that is well said. Have a lot I would like to discuss, but not the time. Lord bless!
Hope I didn’t create to much of a mess for you?
Skip, you said: “After God redeems me, I am asked to fit into His purpose and to do that I must shape my life around His instructions. Don’t ask me why. That isn’t the point. The point is that this is what He asks. So I do it.”
Will you give me the Scriptures that teach that?? I have never read those requirements in the New Covenant Scriptures!!! Where does it say that you must “shape your life around His instructions”? I thought that we Christians are to surrender our lives to Him, so that He can mold us into the likeness of His Son! If we get so busy and tied down with attempting to keep laws and regulations, we just may not be in the surrendered position He requires so that He can work in and through us, to accomplish His purposes for our lives.
His people made a mess of trying to follow Him as He required, so He rescued them by making available the saving Grace of His Son. And that “rescue” (the Cross) applies to both Jew and Gentile. We are ONE in Christ Jesus.
Hi Skip,
Just wondering what your thoughts are on the requirement to wear tefillin on the head and arm. Does G-d still want that? Is it for men only, or, both men and women?
Thank you, Judi. It would be so good if just one person on this blog would answer directly the questions I have presented here.
You have been most gracious in replying to me, Judi, but my questions to the others here, remain unanswered.
Helen
Hello Helen, I believe I tried to answer your afternoon blog question last night. Plus I have added some other comments this afternoon.
I had a simply question to Skip regarding Deuteronomy 30:11-14. Hitting your reply; again was an accident.
This is what YHWH said in Deuteronomy, I did not say it. WE are just left with wrestling with God’s word. This is what I delight in doing with the help of the Holy Spirit and dialoging and wrestling with my brothers and sisters. I am in no way saying the Cross and Resurrection is an unnecessary addition.
If I have sounded rude or abrupt I do apologize for that, for that is not my intention. You will have to take up with YHWH Deuteronomy 30:11-14 though. I believe this is a breathtaking view of our Father’s heart. When Jesus said his yoke was easy and his burden light, I summit, he was revealing and presenting in the likeness of his Father heart”s as is revealed in this passage in Deuteronomy!
Please feel free to look over my comments carefully, and please let me know if you do not think I have answered your question. In his shalom, Brian
Brian, you have nothing to apologize for!! But thanks for your graciousness expressed in this post.
You said: “When Jesus said his yoke was easy and his burden light, I summit, he was revealing and presenting in the likeness of his Father heart”s as is revealed in this passage in Deuteronomy!”
Jesus revealed and presented in the likeness of His Father’s heart, during His entire life on earth!! The book of John in the New Testament is filled with proof of that, and many examples of it. Jesus and the Father are One! God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself!! If the instructions contained in the Old Covenant had been sufficient to enable Israel to be what God had intended………to make HIM known to the world………then the Cross need not have been necessary. I wonder what He is thinking when folks for whom Jesus died turn back to what was not sufficient (or rather that His people were not able) to make Him known to the world. His Heart of Love must weep!
Hello Helen, you are there and I am here. Definitely makes it hard communicating what we are trying to say to each other and to others on the blog.
Of course everything Yeshua said and did revealed and presented the likeness of Abba’s heart. Yes, Yeshua and Abba are One. What I was trying to communicate is that Abba’s word in Deuteronomy 30:14, is not a heavy yoke, as is The Master’s yoke in Matthew 11.
Abba and Yeshua are One. Can you hear it in that light? In the book of 1 John it says that G-d’s commands are not grievous.
G-d’s word, instructions, commands, and regulations will not fail, Yeshua said heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Abba’s and Yeshua words are One. Yeshua said ” I only say what my Father’s says, and I only do what my Father does.
Israel failed in their mission, G-d hasn’t. In Israel”s failure G-d has still been made known to the world. His purposes will go forth, he has remembered his covenant to the patriarchs. Yes, we have all failed except One, Yeshua. G-d’s commands =”s all the above we have talked about, is not the issue. Our sin/rebellion and the consequence of that rebellion, death, is what has been dealt with and is the real culprit and issue. Yeshua was the One who completed this task his Abba sent him to do.
So now we can repent/return to G-d and His Messiah and therefore to his Torah. No we will never get this fully right and be the light to the nations that we need to be. Yet, under the direction and power of the Holy breath of G-d we will be a light to the world that they may see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven.
No, we will not one day arrive it get it all right, (we still live with our own stuff and the world’s stuff arround us) That is why we Stop, Look, Listen, and being students of our Master, Rabbi Yeshua and being conformed to his image. WHEN HE ARRIVES THAT IS WHEN ALL WILL BE MADE RIGHT. That day has come in Messiah, but has not been fully realized in our world…… yet! Lord willing, I will try to give my understanding of the second question sometimes tomorrow. Blessings dear Helen.
I have two more questions: what is the definition of LAW, and what is the definition of TORAH?? in the Hebrew language? Are they one and the same?
Helen, as succinctly (and sweetly!) as I know how to say- everytime G-d speaks, we should obey. We should do as He says. G-d says jump- we jump. He says go, we go, etc. (no where in scripture does G-d say jump!- lol!) But He does say, If you love me, keep my commandments.
When our wonderful Bible says to “love the LORD your G-d with all your heart, soul, mind and strength do we see this as a “command” of G-d? Should we “listen and obey” (in Hebrew, “shema”) the word(s) of the LORD? Where would His words be found? Bound in a book: our Bible. From Genesis 1.1 to maps – we should memorize, meditate and live out the word(s) of our Elohim.
Above all we should remember we (who are called by His name) are in a blood covenant relationship with the living G-d who now is. In Him we live and move and have our being. The “Torah”of G-d is much broader than just the first five books of the sixty-six that make up the whole. Every word of G-d is pure. For instance “forsake not the assembling of yourselves together” might make a good example. I ask, “who said this?” Remember, “it is written!” “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together.” Is this a “command” of G-d? We should listen and we should obey- Yes!, G-d said it. G-d speaks, we obey.
In daily living, G-d’s word guides us continually by day and by night. “Husbands, love your wives” our Bible says. Is this the “instruction” of Y’shua? Yes. It is. I, as a husband am “commanded” by Christ to love my wife in the same way He loved the church and gave Himself for it.
One last thing (before I break out into “sermonizing”)- lol! It is written (again)- “Without me, you can do nothing.” How we need to lay hold of this and simply agree with Him, Yes, LORD, without you I cannot even begin to live this life you want me to live.
Am I perfect? No. Do I want to be? Yes. Will G-d help me to live the way He Himself has instructed me to live, “speaking the truth in love?” Yes, He will and yes, He does! Every day, I like the changes He is making in me. I want to be holy. I want to be pure. I want to please Him in all I think, say and do. “Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:” Where does this “love” come from? From Christ Himself, living in me and Christ Himself living in you, the hope (certainty)of glory (beauty!).
“It would be so good if just one person on this blog would answer directly the questions I have presented here.”
“I am asked to fit into His purpose and to do that I must shape my life around His instructions. Don’t ask me why. That isn’t the point. The point is that this is what He asks. So I do it.”
“Will you give me the Scriptures that teach that??”
Hi Helen,
I think Skip gave us a hint when he said “see Jeremiah 31:31.”
Where, a couple of lines later in Jeremiah 31:33, Yahweh says:
“Deep within them I will plant my Law, writing it on their hearts.”
Yahweh says that the House of Israel and Judah “broke the covenant.”
And, by implication, did not follow his instructions (Law).
But Yahweh says he will never leave the House of Israel.
Because Yahweh says that “they shall be my people,” anyway.
Yahweh says that at some point they will “know me” and he will “forgive their iniquity.”
Yahweh says that at that point, he will “never call their sin to mind.”
Because the Law will be “hard coded” in their hearts and they will not sin.
They will obey his Law, like he commanded in the first place 🙂
Shalom Sister Helen,
Pray dear one, for the light to shine here. The questions that arise after all the years of living with the biblical scholar must be frustrating no doubt. In case this is the issue, the answer you are listening for may not be available immediately. But it will come to those who ask and want to know…that is promised. Praise the Eternal One who is worthy!!!
In our pursuit of YHWH, He invites us to struggle through these areas that many others (Jew, Gentile, Christian…) take for granted and seemingly miss the forest for the “trees”, so to speak. Yeshua paid the penalty for the crime, we are guilty of…disobedience…willful, deliberate and prideful rejection of His revealed will. Skip has graciously given firm solid teaching within this. As in the garden, the “original sin” was an act of willful disobedience to the only command given by Father. And so it goes today. The systematic sacrificial system of old pertained to the “innocent”, yet serious transgression of the law. Our Father, in His infinite mercy graciously provided the ultimate sacrifice through the Son, Yeshua. Animals, not having free will, could never have atoned for the willful sin of humanity, only the sinless man, freely giving of Himself, could justify us and for that I will forever be grateful!! I am sure you are also.
The law contains the instruction and justice that Father lovingly set in place for Kingdom living. His is a Kingdom of peace and security, one of perfect order. Without it, we are certainly no more than animals who live solely by instinct rather than a free will commitment to serve and honor the Holy One who created us for His glory. In that respect, we seek to honor Him through obedience. The key to obeying Torah is Christ’s love for Father and then for us; preferring others and taking their needs into consideration over His own preferences. What appears to be going on in the christian “churches” today is more like a sloppy agape, taking the grace of YHWH as a license to live however the spirit within dictates. This spirit within may not be the Spirit of Christ when it slanderously denies the law that He perfectly kept as a desire to please Father rather than to perform according to the dictates of men whose hearts were far from YHWH. And if the servant is not greater than the Master, why do we fight so strongly against the Law? I think it is so ingrained in us that to teach a different view automatically bristles our flesh. At least that is my experience thus far. I have asked Father to reframe my thinking patterns to see the Law as the Constitution of His Kingdom (Rabbi Gorelick). This Kingdom is being built living stone by living stone and the gates of hell will not prevail against it! He is establishing His Kingdom now and is soon to return to rule and reign. Hallelujah!!!!! I cannot see everyone doing their OWN thing in this Kingdom. We will not be cookie cutter creatures, but we will rule according to Torah…the Divine Instruction, the Eternal Word, the Love of YHWH, expressed on tablets.
I do agree that the cross is not discussed as much here in these articles as it is so strongly focused upon in most churches today. But Helen, in light of the totality of the Scriptures, Father seems to stress obedience more so than the cross itself. And after all, when we speak of the cross, are we not speaking of the ultimate obedience to the prophesied/written Word, which is also considered Torah? Of course, without the cross, we would not have had the atoning sacrifice of Christ, however, His death is only part of His life we are to be conformed to. His life before the cross is to be the pattern by which we are also to be conformed to. Jesus lived a sinless life…that means He never transgressed the Law of God. He did not keep it according to the pridefull religious crowd, but Father said; “This is My Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him”. It is what we strive for…not in our own strength, but through the power of the Spirit, and the Spirit does not speak of Himself, but of Christ and Christ only spoke according to the Words of the Father.
I may not have answered your question(s) Helen. I do want to encourage you to continue to ask Him for the answer(s)!! Bless you, dear Sister.
Hello sister Mary, I had just finishing blogging sister Helen and thought that I had lost all that I had written down. SO…………. I clicked out and back in and Praise G-d it was still there. I hope the Father is pleased with what I wrote and my dear sister is encouraged.
Thank you for taking the time to share with Helen, it was a great source of encouragment to me. Be blessed in the Father’s way. P.S. I would have not read yours until tomorrow if I had not thought I had lost what I had just wrote. I was doubly blessed to discover your comments tonight.
Hi Brian, By NO STRETCH of the imagination, do I claim any scholarship of the Scriptures. I am so blessed to have been called by the mercy and grace of YHWH and only know that I love him supremely. I do, however, understand the questions of our Sister, as well as the questions of others who are walking the highway of holiness. These are questions that demand answers since they DO have a direct bearing on who WE are in the Kingdom, and what we DO. So often I thought that whatever I DID was right because I claimed to have been filled with the Holy Spirit. But….in the fullness of time He confronted me in His Word with some of those nagging questions. As we are confronted with the Truth, we are called to give an account to the ultimate question…”Who do YOU say that I am?”, as opposed to who do men say that I am. I want to speak the truth about the Truth. I had been found guilty of the same hypocrisy of the Pharisees, although I THOUGHT I had it down pat. I noticed so much going on around me in the lives of professors who were running for their lives not to come into alignment with the Word, yet claiming all the promises of God. ANOTHER BIG QUESTION: IS ALL “THIS” OK WITH YOU GOD?????? Once YHWH exposed my arrogance, and several of my own questionings, I began seeking Him with an earnest that I had not had, although I had always been zealous for Him. He is yet continuing in the process and I am so very thankful. Bless you dear Brother.
Helen,
“I have two more questions: what is the definition of LAW, and what is the definition of TORAH?? in the Hebrew language? Are they one and the same?”
The word Law, in the English Old Testament, is almost (if not) always used to translate the Hebrew word Torah. In the NT, it is usually the Greek word nomia but nomia in the NT is used to describe a number of different things: the Torah, the Law of Sin and Death or the law of the land. Since we use the one English word Law, we can easily get things out of context and think that every instance of Law in the NT refers to the Torah when that is in fact not the case.
The word Torah comes from the Hebrew root yarah which means to shoot forth as an arrow, to hit the mark or to cast forth as rain. It is also related to moreh – teacher. Torah means “teaching and instructions”. Unfortunately Law (from the latin Lex) has a rather negative connotation – we tend to think of “enforcement” and “punitive action” but that is not the Hebrew sense of the word at all. The word picture of Torah (tav-resh-hey) is “Behold the sign of the Head” (where Head = ruler). In other words, Torah is the sign of Messiah. The Torah is also known in Jewish circles as “the tree of life” – the pages of the scroll are the leaves and the axles on which the scroll is wound are the branches. What does Revelation say about the Tree of Life? “…its leaves are healing for the nations.”
The purpose of the instructions of Torah are (at least) two-fold; to teach us how to draw near to God (the purpose of the lessons taught by the sacrificial system, which all teach us of Messiah) and to teach us how to live in harmony in the community of believers. Jesus, Peter, James, John, Paul – all agreed and all lived Torah-observant lives right to the end. Jesus had to, otherwise He would have been disqualified from being the Messiah. Even John said in his gospel, “I have written all these things to show that Jesus is the Lamb of God” (paraphrased) – to show that he had to show how Jesus lived a perfect, Torah-observant life.
Skip has already (quite correctly) made the point that obedience to God’s teaching and instructions was never about salvation; no-one was ever saved by keeping the instructions in Torah. It has been that way right from the beginning. Even from the life of Abraham we learn the following:
Faith is counted as righteousness
Righteousness has kissed (is intimately associated with) justice
Justice demands sacrifice
Through sacrifice we receive salvation.
This is the doctrine of salvation through faith, taught from Genesis. Note that obedience is nowhere in that list. However, we also learn the following from Abraham;
Obedience brings blessings, disobedience brings curses.
My willingness to live in accordance to God’s teaching and instructions will determine my usefulness in achieving God’s purposes in my life and the lives of those around me (i.e. my usefulness in the Kingdom). It is all about the heart attitude; if I do it out of duty, it is meaningless, but if out of love for my Father (because I want to please Him, just like a child with his or her earthly father) then I am blessed through my obedience. In doing so I also glorify His name and testify to His authority in my life.
There is one other lesson that we learn from Abraham; hospitality leads to intercession (but that is another discussion altogether).
Blessings,
Rodney.
Thank you Abba for the Spirit of truth that abides in every twice-born child of G-d. You have enjoined us to “search the scriptures” and how we enjoy doing so. Thank you for your promise, “if you seek me with all your heart, you will find me.” We (together) praise and bless the name above all names, and in that name we pray. Amen.
“How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity.” “G-d was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.”
Helen, you are correct. We do need to make much of the cross of Christ. Why? It is the blood of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of G-d (and G-d the Son) that (continually) cleanses from all sin. The Torah reveals unto us (all) our sinful condition before a holy G-d, (all have sinned) and our desperate need for a Savior. Rabbi Sha’ul cried out, “Oh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” and I cry with him. “Whosoever shall offend in one point is guilty of all.” Has any among us (except for the ONE) ever lived a perfect life?
I stole a candy bar as a child. I blush to tell it, but it is so. And G-d says in His book, “Thou shalt not steal.” I stole. I did not listen and obey His revealed word, but made the sinful choice to steal. Through the many years I have lived upon this green planet, I can say (much to my shame) this thievery of a candy bar is far from the worse I have ever done. As I read the list of the ten words (ten commandments) -I have broke far more than I have ever kept, therefore making me an official sinner. Sin has been established by the law. G-d said (plainly and clearly) don’t do it. I did it. (Hope I’m not sermonizing!..lol!) Carl is now an official sinner and I (now) stand in need of forgiveness and a Savior.
What can “wash away” my sin? ______. What can make me whole again? ______. Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow, -no other fount I know.._________. For my pardon, this I see, ______. For my cleansing this my plea, ______. Nothing can for sin atone,______. Naught of good that I have done, ______. This is all my hope and peace,______. This is all my righteousness, ______.
Now by this I’ll overcome–______. Now by this I’ll reach my home—______. Glory! Glory! This I sing—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. All my praise for this I bring—Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Yes, oh yes- our focus needs to be centered upon the cross of Christ. The tslav. The execution stake. The veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Where did this take place? Upon His cross. The cross is our unity- we all “enter in” through the torn veil of His flesh. Yeshua has asked us, “remember me.” This is my body, this is my blood- “drink all of it.” Gruesome?- no. Glorious. “Behold, the Lamb of G-d that taketh away the sin of the world.” There is only one thing that separates us (sinful men) from our thrice-holy G-d. That one thing is sin. And there is only one atoning sacrifice to take away our sin. The blood of Jesus (who is the) Christ.
“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I delivered to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures..” (1 Corinthians 15)
I boast not of works or tell of good deeds,
for naught have I done to merit His grace.
All glory and praise shall rest upon Him,
so willing to die in my place.
Dear Brother Carl!
Your “sermon” is one of the loveliest, Truth-filled, sweetest messages I have heard in a very long while!! I thank you with all my heart for sharing it with me!!
As for you who have so lovingly and patiently attempted to answer the questions I had put forth on this blog site, I do thank you also! I still have questions concerning some things that have been written to me, but I will give you all rest from my questionings now.
Php. 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Php.3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord:
9 ¶ And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
10 That I may know Him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death;
Because of Calvary,
Helen