The Chameleon Christ
Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever Hebrews 13:8
Same – How many times have you heard someone mention this verse or something similar as a defense for the unchanging teaching of the Word and the unchanging character of our Lord? Christians are quite fond of telling the world that Jesus never changes. Most of the time what we mean is that His mercy, forgiveness and grace remain constant. But there is a logical inconsistency here that defies traditional doctrine. You see, if Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, then He is that same Torah-observant, Jewish rabbi who calls us back to restoration with God within the Hebrew frame of reference. He keeps the Sabbath. He lives according to the revelation to Moses. He walks, talks, prays and eats God’s Word – the Hebrew Scriptures. How can we confidently ignore all His Hebrew worldview and at the same time assert that this verse in Hebrews is foundational to the church? The answer is simple. Most Christians really believe in the chameleon Christ.
The Greek word here is really just a pronoun (autos). With the definite article before it (ho), the meaning is “the same”. We might think of it as “the self same.” In other words, there is no change in identity over time. Literally, the verse reads, “Jesus Christ yesterday and today the self same even to the ages.” Jesus doesn’t change! But our interpretation of Him certainly did, didn’t it? Somewhere along the way, He stopped being a Jewish sage, a rabbi, a man whose theological position was closer to the Pharisees than any other group and the Jewish Messiah. Somehow He became the leader of a new religion called Christianity, a religion that understood the world from a Greek philosophical perspective, that rejected the place of the Law in the life of a believer, that ceased observing the Torah and that claimed that Jesus (a name unknown to the one we call Lord) was closer to our Western European way of life than He was to the Semitic culture of His birth. Nevertheless, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.
The chameleon Bible is certainly flexible. It is able to change colors to fit whatever culture and context is necessary. Don’t like worshipping on the Sabbath? Just issue a papal edict that the Lord’s day has been officially moved. Don’t like being told that homosexuality is sin? Just redefine the Greek word arsenokoites. Want to live according to your own instructions? Just separate law and grace. Want excuses for continuing sinful behavior as a believer? Introduce the idea of the “carnal” Christian. I am sure you could add more to the list. If Yeshua HaMashiach is the same yesterday, today and to the ages, then ignoring what He says, does and commands is virtually blasphemy. Stripped of the culture, He becomes whatever we want Him to be – and nothing substantial at all. This entire passage is about copying His behavior. If you don’t see Him as He is, how will you know what to copy? Reminds me of the Beatles. “Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away. Now it looks as though they’re here to stay. Oh, I believe in yesterday.” How do you want Jesus served to you? On your cultural dinner plate or on His?
Topical Index: culture, yesterday, forever, chameleon, Hebrews 13:8
Hi Skip, I notice you mention keeping the Sabbath. It is my understanding that Jesus is the Sabbath rest, just and Cannan was a picture of the inheritance in Christ. He broke the Sabbath rules often which got him in trouble. Hebrews 3:11; and 4:9-11 speak of a higher Sabbath then a day. I am sure they met on the Sabbath as the Word says they did, but they also lived in the “rest” of the Lord of the Sabbath every other day also, and did not legalize one day as the Sabbath. I agree with the law as His standard that will not change but He is the Lord of the definition of it which is in Him to explain, not in a code of Jewish law. He broke a lot of our definitions of Jewish law in order to explain His own difinition of His Torah.
The Sabbath confuses me, a bit. How far do we take it? No work at all, or is it more of a mindset? Jesus always seemed like somewhat of a rebel to me, in the face of the religious leaders of that day. Like Kay mentioned, I see Jesus saying Sabbath was made for man (Mark 2:27). What does “Keep the Sabbath Holy” really mean?
This one really made me visualize a very “Jewish” Yeshua.
I think you will find, on deeper analysis, that the argument of Yeshua with the “rule-keepers” is about interpretation offered by the rabbis, not with the character and authority of the Word given in Scripture. The common idea that Yeshua “broke” the Sabbath misunderstands the Torah concept of values. Yeshua corrects the legalist by pointing out that the sabbath is part of a bigger hierarchy of values incorporated into the Torah. Life takes precedence over ritual, therefore it is proper to heal a woman on the Sabbath. It does NOT break the Sabbath law. Remember that Yeshua offers us the authorized commentary on the Torah (on all of Scripture). He provides the correct rabbinic commentary in competition with the other rabbinic explanations of his day.
Christian interpretation allegorized comments on “rest” and “sabbath” and stripped them of their obvious context in Jewish culture. This is partly an attempt to remove the Jewish roots. For m ore than 1000 years, Christian apologists allegorized most of the Jewish elements. It was a mistake and often lead to severe anti-semitism. Reinterpreting Sabbath as any day we want to “rest’ in Him follows the same allegory process. If Paul tells us to copy him as he copies Yeshua, does that mean we just allegorize away the parts we don’t like – or did he really mean IMITATE?
You know, it would be simply amazing to take Messiah’s ‘authorized commentary’ on Torah and actually place it IN Torah, like so many of the commentary bibles of today that are full of *apologies* garbage commentary.
Is there such a tome?
“…closer to our Western European way of life than He was to the Semitic culture of His birth.”
Thanks for reaffirming to me my blindness in assuming that my Western European mindset superceded that of the original intent of His neverchanging ways…including and not excluding the ways of the Jewish Torah. H-m-m-m…
OK, Sabbath. First, read Mark Buchanan, “The Rest of God”. Good, solid Christian guy on the meaning of Sabbath today. Second, read “The Sabbath” by Abraham Heschel – good, solid Jewish perspective. Then look again at Exodus and Deuteronomy. Yeshua is Jewish, so we need to understand him in his culture, but we still need to see how his interpretation of Torah-obedience affects us TODAY.
Yes, well, we’re all blind to our own cultural apprehensions, aren’t we? That’s why we need each other.
Here we go again with digging into the Word, thanks for the light on this aspect, I have known for along time that Sabbath was to be kept. Years ago I worshiped with a body that had meeting on Sabbath and I never had a problem with it. Unfortunatly the body I now worship with have never taught on this and they worship in the western mindset. I am not sure if I should approach them with this? I have heard of another local ‘church’ that meets on Saturday evening which in the summer would take place durring the Sabbath. I am under the impression that they meet at that time because they are using a building that another group uses on Sunday. What do you think
Skip I need some guidance.
A fellow traveler,
Jeffrey Curtis
“Before Abraham was, I am.” What a strange thing to say. It makes absolutely no sense at all. That is.. unless you are more than a man. A Jewish sage? A Rabbi? Leave ’em laughing Skip.. that’s hilarious. He wrote the Book!! From stem to stern..He is the Author and Finisher of our faith! His name is Salvation! To the Jew first (yes!!) and also (praise YWYH) to the Greek! Blessed be the NAME. He is not to be placed alongside the great teachers such as Socrates, Gamaliel, Aristotle, apostle Paul, John Doe, etc.. He (alone) is the King of glory- LORD of heaven and of earth. The only wise G-d- Almighty G-d in human flesh. “And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.” Revelation 20:11
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. He has a NAME like no other (remember Isaiah 53?)
I will agree, the mind of Christ is a Hebrew mind but I have to end with this question: Who (then) is this King of glory?
I came back to (hopefully) clarify some remarks and to issue a rapid apology.. yes He was a teacher/ and yes He is The Teacher. As Rick Warren has stated, “it’s not about you” (or him or her) -what’s in it for me is of the Greek mindset. I agree, it’s not about you, it’s not about me, but it is about us! We (together) are the body and bride of Yeshua. This is the Hebrew mindset of community. What caused me to return to these remarks has to do with the Hebrew mindset concerning prayer: (to pray is to become fully human). When we pray for what G-d desires-peace,justice,kindness,truth,mercy,humility,repentance,reconciliation-we’re asking Him to restore order to a disordered world. We become part of the solution. LORD.. “teach us to pray”..
I usually don’t have time to come in here and read anybody else’s comments but I did this evening out of curiousity and would like to share one thought to you, Glory, about what you asked about what is means to keep the Sabbath Holy. I don’t think in ourselves we have the ability to keep any day, or ourselves, or anything, Holy. Only God is Holy, and only He can maintain Holiness. We have to be in Christ to experience Holiness.
Also, I would like to say to you, Carl, that I read your first comment and later was standing in the bathroom brushing my teeth and could not get what you said off my mind as the Lord brought thoughts to mind. He is the Alpha and Omega, and was before time was put in place, by Him, so He has no yesterday or tomorrow but exist always in the ‘now’ in His realm, so what I hear Him saying through that Scripture is in our time terms He is the eternal “I Am” that He identified Himself to Moses as. So He is a permanent, perfect state of being who He is, eternally. Several years back I read a book by Gene Edwards called “The Highest Life Form.” It definitely took the striving out of my life, because he brought out how God began creation with the simplest form of life and worked up to the human, and their was a form of life above that in angel life then God is the Highest life, so to think that a human could be like Him would be like us going down two levels to dog life and the dog thinking that somehow if he read enough about humans and walked on two legs like them, that he could somehow become a human form of life. But he can’t change life forms. No matter how hard he tries to perform it, that is a higher form then he was created, and unless the human could come down into his life form and translate itself to that dogs brain it would never be able to experience human level of mind. God made us as the only creatures designed to contain two life forms, human and God life through His Spirit coming into us to translate the Highest Life form to us, as His children, otherwise we could do nothing to attain, maintain, translate, or relate to the heigth and depth of His mind and love that exist only in His level of Life. For a person who was striving to the end of me, and asking what is enough reading, doing, praying? There is no such thing as me doing enough to measure up to a perfect God. He is the full measure that I must rest in dependence on and follow and He will perform His ‘enough’ “I AM” through me.
Did I get off the subject? That is what happens when you get to thinking about someone that awesome while your brushing your teeth. It gets too long.
O Kay!! We are to think of Him in our rising up, our sitting down, our going out, and our coming in. At all times and in all places (of all places!), from the rising of the sun till the going down of the same.. the LORD’s name is to be praised. I am glad you mentioned this book by Gene Edwards- there is one by him you do not want to miss- I’ll send you a check to cover the cost if you are not blessed by it. Maybe others will testify about it also. The title is “The Divine Romance.” Our Abba sees the end from the beginning. When He first said, “let there be light”, His mind was milleniums “down the road”, “seeing” and knowing you and I. However to return to the “crux” (interesting word) of the matter.. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was G-d. Hear O Israel, the LORD our G-d is one. This “rabbi” was (and is) The Rabbi. I says “I am”, I agree.. “He is..”
Hi Skip: so what you are saying is that observing Saturday as the true Sabbath is the way to go?
and if I’m not doing this, I’m absolutely out of line?………with my Jesus? It all seems so exhausting.
I am just managing to keep going as a divorced older woman who is serving, giving and working because if I don’t work, I will be a burden to others. I have no savings and will have to work well into my 80’s to keep going.
I have gone to Messianic groups, and find them very strange …….somehow, I should be able to learn, fit in, and become part of something I have absolutely no understanding about. I find it all so mind-boggling. What am I supposed to do? Does this mean I am blaspheming if I don’t go to church on a Saturday? This starts becoming crazy-making to me, does it mean I’m not saved? Does it mean that my life has been a lie?
Why are so many healings occurring in the market place as opposed to inside churches? Isn’t that what Jesus did? He did not put one day above another with healing……..it is all confusing.
If I go to hell because I haven’t kept the Sabbath, …then I am totally blind, and why would Jesus
allow me to be deceived if He is love?
It’s all too complicated.
And I probably don’t even know what I’m saying!
Thanks
Brenda
Dear Brenda,
Skip told you there are others like you. Hi! I am one of them so you know we are out here. I empathsize with your situation. There is a time where you don’t feel you fit in either place because you don’t. You are too “mixed” in your thinking. But, just hang in there. When you learn the truth, you can’t go backward, but going forward is painful. But know you are not alone! It is a dangerous place to be when you see the Torah as a guide for salvation. It will steal your joy because it is impossible to keep! and make you like the Pharasees Yeshua scorned which is why Yeshua had to remind them love was the issue. Try to see the Sabbath as a blessing to you. Yeshua wants you to keep it to identify with him, because it tells the world you are His. But also, to really rest as he did. Hang in there sister!
Thanks Carl. I always appreciate your input. Yes, He is The Teacher. Of course, that still means He is the Jewish rabbi, but more than that, one who speaks from His own authority. So, I am glad He provided commentary on the Torah. It certainly helps make it plain.
And it is certainly about the Body.
Dear Brenda,
I can identify so much with your frustration, confusion and pain. Let me offer some consolation. First, it is plainly obvious that God has worked with thousands who were not Torah-observant. After all, you and I are here and we started on the wrong foot out of sheer ignorance. God is first and foremost as God of grace, and I believe that He is merciful always, even to those of us who are confused.
Secondly, Torah-observance is NOT about salvation. That is the mistake of the Judaisers, the legalists. Keeping all the rules is not the way. That only attempts to make me worthy in my own right, and thus try to earn His grace. Paul is pretty clear about this. Grace is GOD’S gift and He gives it as He wills. So, stop thinking that if you don’t keep Sabbath you are doomed. You’re NOT!
Torah-observance is about USEFULNESS to God. The more I keep Torah, the more He is able to use my life as a beacon of difference in the lost world. Of course, He will use whatever I give Him to use, so even if I am not in Torah-obedience on everything, He still uses me. But the objective is to be fully His, and that means to do all that I can to live according to His instructions. BUT, this is never about His grace toward me. It is only about my gratitude toward Him.
I have no doubt that you find Messanic groups strange. The cultural differences are enormous. We have been cut off for centuries so it will take a long time to recover. But you aren’t the only one. There are others who are struggling to recover, who see the pagan elements in the church and who want to be fully His. Find some of them. Many are here on this site. Then, REST in His peace. The Spirit witnesses that you are His. Celebrate what He is doing in your life, even the difficulties, because they are all drawing you closer.
Look. Jesus kept the Torah. He lived in a culture that kept Torah. But keeping Torah is an expression of gratefulness, not a command for earning merit. So, do what you can – all that you can – and ask God to help you do the rest. Then let Him.
You are dear to me, sister. We are fighting the same fight. But He is the one who gives the victory.
Shalom mishpocha,
Skip has done an excellent Job through the years attempting to open up the doors to the past and help believers understand how things were in a Hebraic context. Skip is correct … the cultural differences are indeed enormous between Messianic versus mainstream Christian communities. I know this to be true because I belong to a Messianic community.
So yes we celebrate Shabbat Erev and come back for Shabbat Yom. We celebrate all of the Biblical Festivals on their appointed times. We pray and sing/chant in Hebrew. We believe in discipleship and consistent growth as we each walk along our path. Ultimately we believe that Yeshua was not here to invent a new religion at all. So if most of us agree that The Gentile Church went wayward …. to where would it return? To its roots of course and these roots would be Hebraic.
So naturally we (Messianic Jewish believers) embrace (to the best of our lowly abilitites) the everlasting beauty of Torah which we see as the manifestation of YHVH’s character and His desire for behavior in our own lives. So that we can be (as Skip points out) a beacon to a world going dark and darker. (Please note that Torah is not “imposed”. Torah is embraced individually as the Spirit leads). Torah is the way of Israel and if we are one Israel does it matter if we be Jew or Gentile? One Torah for both home born and foreigner!
I suppose I would seem very strange to most folks … I certainly do seem strange to my friends and family. However at the end of the day this is quite sad indeed. My ways are not my own ways but the ways of Adonai. I personally do not attempt to rationalize or put theological spins around things which are obviously literal. Such as the 7th day of rest and doing none of your normal work and activities.
Torah observance is about usefulness and … it is about obedience and submission. It is about chasing transformation (being urged on by Ruach haKodesh) and not just wishing for it. It is about embracing The Word in all its fullness and glory and then aspiring to be just like it says. To be just like Yeshua … because we love Him. It is about running the race! And we interpret what Torah means for us today in a hebraic communal manner. We study, discuss and pray upon matters. We test interpretations against all of Scripture and we are led in Spirit. We leave philosophy and non-hebraic cultural influences out of the mix. Oh sure …. we fail … I fail …. but we believe Torah is about being kadosh (sepearated for His purposes …. usefulness) and ignoring Torah for us would be unthinkable.
And by the way … we never, ever have all the answers and in some cases we are simply left with exhortations to follow Ruach HaKodesh on an individual basis. Praise YHVH …. because He does have all the answers and He is willing to share what is sought with the proper mind and heart attitude.
Yes, confusion defines it well. I hope you don’t mind these questions and concerns. I’m wondering how much of the text has been translated to take away the Jewish “perspective”. The following confuses me even more. I read our Lords’ words in John chapter 13 saying “… as I said to the Jews … a new commandment I give you .. to Love one another”. Is it inferred that He set a new commandment to the Jews also? I also notice the context here… He’s at the table with who you would call Jews… or Jewish believing disciples. Why would He need to say these words if these men where those who “failed to be chosen by a Jewish Rabbis the first time around… and accepted their second chance by allowing Jesus to be their Rabbi” Forgive me for the rough paraphrase of your thoughts on the issue. I will say on the Law issue that the Psalmist helped pull it together (Psalm 111:9-10) “He has sent redemption to His people; He has ordained His covenant forever; Holy and awesome is His name. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments”
So, is there something fundamental I’m missing in the John text?
Thanks,
Shawn
I think I might have a clue to the confusion in John’s Gospel, though I know that (see below) Skip has already discussed the Hebrew idea of “re-new” as opposed to “new”. And as it turns out, it’s found in John’s First Epistle. Here’s a few excerpts:
“For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another…” (I John 3:11)
(Note that the “old commandment” was to love one another.)
“Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. YET [here’s the important point] I am writing you a new commandment, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.” (I John 2:7-8)
I think that this means the commandment to love one another, which is old, is always new, and that Jesus has re-newed it as the focal point of the law. There is also, I suppose, a good reason why this same commandment is the Second Commandment of Christ. In other words, Jesus re-stated this law to the Jewish community in order to re-new its authority and emphasize its supremacy as one of the most important laws of the “new” age. We can see this in St. John’s emphasis on Love, which fills all of his writing.
well said brother Skip!! We do not pray for victory, we pray from victory. Holiness is not the way to Christ- Christ is the way to holiness. Salvation actually comes in three parts. We are (now) free from the penalty of sin, we are (now) free from the power (dominion) of sin, and one day (hallelujah!) we will be free from the presence of sin.
Carl, thanks for the offer for the book but I have read it and still have it as one of my favorites by him.
Brenda, may I share some more relief for you. I use to be a workaholic for God and He let it die in frustration. He showed me it is not about me working for Him. It is about me fellowshipping with Him as Lord, Head of my life, and best friend which is why He wanted family. Out from that He will be able to do His own work through me by His own life, otherwise it is still sourced in my flesh doing a “good” thing, but not doing it from the source of God Life. That is why He said, “Abide in the vine, for apart from Me you can do nothing,” and He said, “the flesh profits nothing, it is the Spirit that gives life. To be of eternal value it has to be His life doing it, because He is the only perfect Christian. I was always trying to please my earthly Dad who wished I had not been born, and couldn’t ever do it, and my Heavenly Dad, showed me that through Christ I am already pleasing to Him, but I tried every good formula that “good” Christians were told to do and ran myself into exasperation realizing it was me trying to do His work, which always got me looking at me, and grading me, and condemning me, because it would never be enough and there was always more I could have done and didn’t. I found out He wasn’t wanting that at all. He wanted me looking at Him, not me. He wanted me to go back to how it was when I first met Him in the garage which was my escape place from a family that was horribly into distruction at the time. There, as a 15 year old, I just told Him everything, and made up my own songs to Him because I was made fun of at school too, because I wasn’t allowed to wear miniskirts and makeup. So it was a place with Him where I could just be me and no one was grading me, or making me feel bad about me. He began answering everything, and I would cry because I did not believe I could be loved. My Dad freely let me know there was nothing about me that was right, and I was convinced I should be dead. Who can love someone, or use some one that has nothing about them worth loving. I could look in the mirror and tell you everything wrong with everything I said and did and always find something. If I had not met a loving Father at 15 I would have put a bullet through my head by 17, because I was convinced it was impossible for me to be of value enough to be loved. I asked Him into my heart, and told Him I was going to bother Him until He answered me as obvious and real as a best friend. I was desperate for the presence of the Lord, but found I cried everytime I saw His responses and love for me, as though it was a miracle, and I was very aware of Him all day with me. No one was there to preach to me everything a good Christian should do. He, Himself gave me a desire to read His Word and it was like love letters about Him to me, as well as what He used to show me His Words of encouragement and answers to prayers. He didn’t tell me I needed to go to church, but instead sent another 15 year old believer who had an alcoholic mother that she had to go home and drag to bed each day. She had a strong relationship with the Lord and invited me to her youth group and through that I was baptized. The route was always Headed by Him, and He showed up with His own power through my life to do what HE wanted to do for me and through me, NOT my good ideas of what that should look like or be like, UNTIL I got caught up in all the “to do’s” that church organizations expected of a good church person and it led me into perfectionistic striving that killed my joy and desire to be a Christian and I cried before the Lord and confessed I could not be one. He was glad, because He is the only One able to be one and wanted to do it Himself again through me. I had to stop doing everything I expected of me and others did, in order to find out what was really ME doing it and what was really initiated by HIS Spirit. I went back to just being with Him, aware of Him in me as my best friend all day and shared my thoughts as we walked just like friends. He brought back the desire and joy and I learned to stop looking at me, and look at Him as the doer, who is in charge of whatever good there is that will be done. It would be something He put in my heart, and enabled me to do, and He flowed Himself through me as a natural part of living with a best friend, who does His own work better then me, through me each day. Jesus walked with His Father that way while He was here. The gospel of John helped me a lot with it all.
Wow Kay that was so good thanks for sharing some of what you have went through, alot of it is familar. My relationship with the Messiah is different than alot of my friends, but that is ok because He is my strength not them.
thanks again,
Jeff
A sunday school teacher once told me something I never forgot.
New believer: “I am going to do all this FOR Him”
Seasoned believer: ” I am going to do these things WITH Him”
Mature believer: ” I can do nothing. He does everything THROUGH me.”
Your story is beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
Phew! All of this makes my mind spin. LOL
I believe that Skip is correct. The closer we come to Jesus, the more we want to please Him and obey Him. This has given me a new perspective about Saturday and I want to learn more about the Torah.
Thanks again, Skip.
Jay Culotta
Dear Sister Brenda,
Understandably, this is overwhelming. When you have once believed a certain way because you were taught by well-meaning, yet, possibly ignorant people, the shock can bring about feelings of confusion and even despair. But, God is the loving, merciful, graciously kind and faithful lover of your soul and this time in your life is appointed to bring you ever closer to Him. He is calling you by name and He has much to share with you. As He called you out of darkness, He is calling you as deep calls unto deep. “Trust and obey, for there is no other way, to be happy (blessed) in Jesus, than to trust and obey”.
I can recall a time in my life rather recently,and to be quite transparent, I am still there somewhat, the questions I had (and still have) concerning the Scriptures and the disconnect between the state of the institutional framework of what is called “church”, differs greatly from what is detailed in God’s Word to us.I was almost at the point of death…literally. But for God…in His Way, answered my prayer for help and gave me Ephesians 1:3-14 Praying with you that you will continue in the truth that is able to make you free. I’m there with you Sister.
Skip,
Please recommend a version of the Bible to me. I’m wondering which one you use, if you consistently use one version, or do you study from many Bible translations/versions.
Thanks for your input. Thank you for you godly instructions and explanations.
G-d bless you,
Darlene
Skip…thank you for your tender response to Brenda…and to me and all those reading. I am thankful to be among those that are “fighting the same fight” and that as Carl said we pray “from victory” in Jesus name. AMEN
I don’t think you’re missing much – in English. Remember that the gospel you are reading is in Greek and that is a translation of what Yeshua actually said. So, we have to sort of dig back through things to figure out what He probably said in Hebrew that fits the context. Yeshua uses the idea of a “new” covenant and a “new” commandment in the same way that the prophets used the Hebrew word chadash (see Jeremiah 31:31). The meaning is “renew” or “restore”, not brand new. What Jesus is saying is that He is restoring the right interpretation of the commandment. He is offering a renewed insight into God’s original. The Torah is not replaced. It is re-examined and re-established. Yeshua came to restore God’s original which has never changed. How could it? Do you think that God’s character has changed? If the Torah is an expression of God’s character in human instruction so that we can live in accordance with His purposes, do we really think that when Jesus arrived God became someone else? So, now Yeshua tells His disciples how they should renew the old covenant of Moses – by demonstrating love for one another (by the way, that is Leviticus 19:2). In a week or so, I will publish a Today’s Word about the event of freedom and more things will fall into place.
OK, this question comes up a lot. I use the NASB in English, but I am aware that it is has a bias for replacement theology. It is better than the NIV which I consider the “nearly inspired version” because of its theological propaganda (like “sinful nature” for the Greek sarx). I am told the ESV is also good. But the bottom line is this. I go back to the Greek and Hebrew text over and over since I really don’t trust any of the translations. Whenever I see something that just doesn’t smell right, I look at the original.
There are plenty of on-line helps, source books and materials to help you do this to. In fact, in a few days I am going to publish the first “recommended reading” list.
Thanks Skip. I’m was trying to cover all the bases. I’m sure your comments speak to the issue of meeting with fellow believers. I have a friend who recently started reading and listening to your material. I’m concerned that there isn’t clarity for those who could be finding reason to “neglect the assembly”. I see your point how Torah observance helps us to be more useful. It’s something else to keep them away from the accountability and studies a church family has to offer. I think we all would want to obey the Torah – especially as we all know it’s God’s instructions. I’m personally seeking to understand the Law and Grace issue and how this focus of the Jewish perspective of the New Testament applies to it. The implications of every man being almost required to seek this depth of the text is incredible. As you or someone else put it.. it’s like moving an elephant that doesn’t want to move. A friend and I have been discussing the issue and thought of the example of a lead minister in a church who became Torah observant. The sacrifice would be tremendous, but wouldn’t God return his hearts desire for choosing a discerning heart rather than riches or comfort.
Have you read Todd Bennett’s book The Law and Grace. You could start there, plus listen to Bob Gorelik’s audio files called The Covenant. Moving an elephant isn’t easy.
In my ponderings and wonderings about this issue of moving the elephant, it might just be that our obedience is the key. Obedience may contain prophetically declaring the truth, the truth that is congruent with the totality of the gospel. Although we are as completely saved as is possible, the moment we are born from above, the process is arduous as we learn to follow in the footsteps of our Master. But, doesn’t Jesus tell us that we can rest and lighten our load through Him as we follow His ways and obey His commands? All these questions are answered in the person of the LORD Jesus Christ and as we study His life in the proper context, we can see the “newness” of life unfolding. As I look at Him, realizing His life on the earth was lived as a Jew, and through reading more about the Jewish understanding/perspective of life and relationship to God, I am better able to grasp the questions, while submitting these to the Holy Spirit who has been given to us to lead us into all truth, we wait for His direction, before “moving”. Gently, patiently, and expectantly, and actively awaiting our orders.
How does Romans ch 2 relate to this? What about the letter to the Galatians? It appears this has been a source of contention relative to the law as it was given and what applies now. Do you not think the “heart” of the matter comes down to the “new heart” that desires to do good, especially to the one who was good to us FIRST?
Let’s see if we can add a bit to this. Joel is right. Love one another is not a “new” commandment. Since it is firmly placed in the Torah, Jesus cannot be adding it as though it is brand new. He is offering the correct interpretation of the commandment and by doing so, renewing it. So, what is the difference between the original commandment in the Torah and the interpretation that Jesus offers. Only this: Leviticus 19:2 is the only place in the OT where this commandment is given. From an OT perspective, it is rather obscure AND it was interpreted as applying ONLY to those within the household of Israel. In other words, my neighbor never included the Gentiles, the outsiders. Now Jesus shows us that the scope of the original commandment cannot be so exclusively applied. It is for ANYONE who is my neighbor – thus the parable of the Good Samaritan. The commandment by which the world will know that we are followers of Yeshua is not new, but now it will be applied as it was intended to be applied – to all whom God brings into my sphere of influence. This is why John can say that we have heard these things from the beginning. We heard them, all right, but we didn’t understand the scope of their application. It took the Messiah’s authorized commentary to show us that God is not limited in His grace.
So, while this commandment is always existentially new each time we practice it, the theological impact of what Yeshua teaches overturns the common interpretation that the Torah is ONLY for Israel – those descendent from the tribes. Just as Abraham is father to all who believe, so Torah is instruction to all who believe. That’s why it is “renewed”.