How then can mankind be righteous with God? Or how can anyone who is born of woman be pure? If even the moon has no brightness and the stars are not pure in His sight, Job 25:4-5 NASB Righteous – Before we try to answer Job’s rhetorical question, we need to know the standard he employs. That is the Hebrew term…
If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. Deuteronomy 28:1 NIV Carefully follow – Just how rigid are God’s commandments? How carefully must we follow each and every one? Is there wiggle room or are they absolute…
“You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder; . . .’” Matthew 5:21 NASB You have heard – Judaism rejects Jesus, but not because of his claim to be the Messiah. Judaism rejects Jesus because Jews believe that Jesus rejected Torah. Since Torah is the fundamental and unalterable basis of…
Then God spoke all these words, saying, Exodus 20:1 NASB All these words – kāl dābārim, “all words.” But what is the meaning of “all”? This verse precedes the recitation of the ten commandments. Are just the Ten Commandments included in “all”? What about the rest of God’s words to Moses? Orthodox Rabbinic Judaism has a…
And many peoples will come and say, “Come, let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; so that He may teach us about His ways, and that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go out from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Isaiah…
He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Revelation 22:20 NASB Come – Are you expectantly waiting for the ‘olam ha’ba? You know, the return of the King, the new Millennium, the restoration of God’s purposes. Oh, and don’t forget, the end of all your troubles. Heschel noted that the Christian religion…
Make every effort to present yourself before God as a proven worker who does not need to be ashamed, teaching the message of truth accurately. 2 Timothy 2:15 Make every effort – What is the role of Torah in our quest for righteousness? Is it just a rule book, an instruction manual, or the voice…
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. Galatians 5:16 NASB The desire of the flesh – “We are defined by the way in which we orient ourselves to desire.”[1] Paul wasn’t a Platonist. At times he certainly sounds like he believes in two separate worlds: the…
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also were put to death in regard to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. Romans 7:4 NASB Raised from the dead – Just when we thought we’d finally…
For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under [a]the Law but under grace. Romans 6:14 NASB But – Yesterday we discovered that there is an alternative way of reading this text that preserves Paul’s Jewish orthodoxy. This fact is critically important because it shows us that the Christian assumption that Paul left Judaism and invented…
