(I truly apologize for another long article, I did not intend to make it so long but as I started writing it, I realized that there was so much information on the subject. There is a lot more that I did not put in this article as there is just too much.)
Peter told us that the writings of Paul were hard to understand and that those who were untaught and unstable twist what is said in Paul’s letters to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:15-16). Paul is clearly talking of two laws at times. The Christian faith does not make any differentiation between the two, thus creating many false doctrines.There are only two laws in this world. The one is an everlasting Law that cannot change or be done away with. The other law has been abolished through the death and resurrection of the Mashiyach. Every person on this earth is either doing one or the other, you cannot keep both or not do either, it is impossible. The one law binds and the other sets free.
Let us have a look at which one will never pass away. “For truly, I say to you, till the heaven and the earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall by no means pass from the Torah till all be done” (Mat 5:18). Here the Messiah Himself is saying that the Torah of YHWH has not passed away, not even until the heaven and the earth pass away. So it is very clear to see that Y’shua did not do away or destroy the Torah of YHWH! “The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but My words shall by no means pass away” (Mat 24:35)
It is also very clearly written that we are to adhere to the Torah (Law) of YHWH, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Master, Master,’ shall enter into the reign of the heavens, but he who is doing the desire of My Father in the heavens. Many shall say to Me in that day, ‘Master, Master, have we not prophesied in Your Name, and cast out demons in Your Name, and done many mighty works in Your Name?’ And then I shall declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me, you who work lawlessness!’” (Mat 7:21-23) lawlessness = without the “law” – those who do not do the Torah of YHWH.
“and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. And the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the messengers. As the darnel, then, is gathered and burned in the fire, so it shall be at the end of this age. The Son of Adam shall send out His messengers, and they shall gather out of His reign (The English translations do not have the word “reign”, but “kingdom” which has been taught to mean the “kingdom of Jesus") all the stumbling-blocks, and those doing lawlessness, and shall throw them into the furnace of fire – there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Mat 13:39-42).
“And because of the increase in lawlessness, the love of many shall become cold” (Mat 24:12).
“Blessed are those whose lawlessness’s are forgiven, and whose sins are covered” (Rom 4:7). This last verse once again shows us that sin is lawlessness. Only those who’s lawlessness has been forgiven are blessed. One cannot be forgiven if that person continues in lawlessness. Repentance is a turning away from sin or lawlessness and not returning to it. Only a dog returns to its own vomit (Prov 26:11)
“Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness? And what fellowship has light with darkness?” (2 Cor 6:14). Now this verse makes it very clear that those who are lawless are unbelievers and are referred to as darkness. The Torah is light and those who walk in the Torah of YHWH also walk in light. “Let no one deceive you in any way, because the falling away is to come first, and the man of lawlessness is to be revealed, the son of destruction. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power and signs and wonders of falsehood” (2 Thes 2:3,9). Once again, this verse speaks of the Anti Messiah as being the man of lawlessness which is according to the working of Satan.
Yes you must have guessed by now what the other law is. It is the law of sin, or better known as lawlessness. Y’hoshua set us free from this law when he died on the torture stake and rose again on the third day. Only by following after YHWH and His Son can we be set free from the law of sin. We are to adhere to the Law of YHWH in order to be set free from the law of sin as sin is lawlessness, “Everyone doing sin also does lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4).
“For the saving Gift of Elohim has appeared to all men, instructing us to renounce wickedness and worldly lusts, and to live sensibly, righteously, and reverently in the present age, looking for the blessed expectation and esteemed appearance of the great Elohim and our Saviour יהושע (Y’hoshua) Messiah, who gave Himself for us, to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for Himself a people, His own possession, ardent for good works” (Tit 2:11-14). This verse sums up what is known as the Good News (Gospel) of Y’hoshua the Messiah. He came to redeem us from ALL lawlessness so that we can turn away from worldly lusts and wickedness and live righteously to be His own possession, a clean people. We are also to beware and watch so that we do not be led away from the truth by the delusion of the lawless people who twist the writings of Paul and other Scripture too: “You, then, beloved ones, being forewarned, watch, lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the delusion of the lawless” (2 Peter 3:17) “For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; For not the hearers of the law are just before Elohim, but the doers of the law shall be justified” (Rom 2:12-13). Only the doers of the Torah will be justified? We are not justified by the Torah, but only those that do the Torah can be justified.“Do we then nullify the Torah through the belief? Let it not be! On the contrary, we establish the Torah” (Rom 3:31)
“Blessed are those doing His Commands, so that the authority shall be theirs unto the tree of life, and to enter through the gates into the city” (Rev 22:14). Only those who do the Torah of YHWH may enter into the city through the gates and will have access to the tree of life. The Torah truly does set us free. “For the Torah of the Spirit of the life in Messiah יהושע (Y’hoshua) has set me free from the law of sin and of death” (Rom 8:2).
“And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to fight with the remnant of her seed, those guarding the commands of Elohim and possessing the witness of יהושע (Y’hoshua) Messiah” (Rev 12:17)
“Here is the endurance of the set-apart ones, here are those guarding the commands of Elohim and the belief of יהושע (Y’hoshua)” (Rev 14:12)
Does Paul teach us that we don’t have to keep the Torah of YHWH, or that we must keep it? “Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Torah through the body of Mashiyach, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for Elohim, for while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Torah, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the Torah, for we died with Mashiyach, and we are no longer captive to its power. Now we can really serve Elohim, not in the old way by obeying the letter of the Torah, but in the new way, by the Spirit” (Romans 7:4-6)
The heart of this passage is the phrase, “For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Torah, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.” Sinful passions have always been aroused by Torah. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Chawwah came to know sin only when YHWH said “thou shalt not eat” and then after they sinned they tried to cover up their nakedness. In addition the “new way, by the Spirit” is really the old way, of Abraham (Romans 4:2-16), but it became new because by Y’hoshua’s time the “conventional wisdom” of the Pharisees was anything but wise! The consistent point of Rav Shaul, though, is that Torah is the way sin is defined, and yet, just a few lines later he makes it clear that:
“As a result, Torah is Set Apart; and the Commandment is Set Apart, and righteous and good” (Romans 7:12)
Notice that the “old way” was the Pharisees tradition of obeying the “letter of the Torah,” but this is most certainly not an indictment against Torah! Y’hoshua taught that Torah is good, but we are instructed to look at the intent, heart and Spirit of Torah:
“Woe to you, teachers of the Torah and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices – mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the Torah – justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former” (Matthew 23:23)
“Yet a time is coming, and now has come, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. Elohim is Spirit, and His worshippers must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (Yehochanan (John) 4:23-24)
Now let us look at the other passage where “died to the Torah” appears:
“For when I tried to keep the Torah, I realized I could never earn Elohim’s approval. So I died to the Torah so that I might live for Elohim. I have been nailed to the stake with Mashiyach” (Galatians 2:19)
Shaul realized that he had fallen into the same trap that he now accuses other religious authorities of being in. He gives more details on the method behind that trap here:
“For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism… I was advancing in Judaism beyond the Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers” (Galatians 1:13-14)
Notice Rav Shaul does not mention Torah here, but “the traditions of my fathers” (i.e., the fences built by men around the Torah). Here the ritual became so important that it gave birth to regulations that became erroneously identified as sanctification. Instead, the true justification is in the next line:
“But when Elohim, who set me apart from birth and called me to His favor (grace), was pleased to reveal His Son to me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man” (Galatians 1:12-16)
Once again, it is always the faith behind the rituals that really counts.
Here is some more passages that shows that Paul taught us to live by the Torah of YHWH, “For sin shall not rule over you, for you are not under the law but under favour. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under Torah but under favour? Let it not be! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves servants for obedience, you are servants of the one whom you obey, whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness?” (Rom 6:14-16).
“So that the Torah truly is set-apart, and the command set-apart, and righteous, and good” (Rom 7:12)
If the Law of YHWH has been "nailed to the cross," why does YHWH tell us clearly that when the Mashiyach returns to this Earth to rule, that SAME law will go forth to the rest of the world?
“And many peoples shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of יהוה (YHWH), to the House of the Elohim of Ya’aqob, and let Him teach us His ways, and let us walk in His paths, for out of Tsiyon comes forth the Torah, and the Word of יהוה (YHWH) from Yerushalayim.” (Isa 2:3)
“And many nations shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of יהוה (YHWH), to the House of the Elohim of Ya’aqob, and let Him teach us His ways, and let us walk in His paths. For out of Tsiyon comes forth the Torah, and the word of יהוה (YHWH) from Yerushalayim.” (Mic 4:2)
YHWH repeats this twice by two different people for us and tells us that His Set-Apart Law, which is active today, will continue after Y’hoshua returns, and will go out and be the rule by which the nations are judged and corrected. Today, we would do well to realize that if Y’hoshua’s death truly "did away with YHWH's Laws," then why would they be back, and going out to the physical people and nations after Y’hoshua's return?
YHWH's Law is a reflection of His mind and character, as it is of Mashiyach. We are to be conformed, BY obeying YHWH's LAW, and with YHWH's spirit working in us, into the very image and character of Y’hoshua. The Law of YHWH stands now and will abide forever (in reflection of action and thought) because YHWH abides forever, and YHWH's law simply reflects His mind!
Y’hoshua the Messiah came to be an example for us to live. We are to walk as He walked. Y’hoshua kept the Torah of YHWH perfectly. Should we then also keep the Torah of YHWH? “For to this you were called, because Messiah also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps” (1 Peter 2:21).
“He who possesses My commands and guards them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I shall love him and manifest Myself to him” (John 14:21)
If you do not live according to the Torah of YHWH, then you are living according to the law of sin.
So, which Law do you adhere to? Is it the Law of YHWH unto righteousness, or is it the law of sin that leads to destruction?
I will leave you with a part of this beautiful psalm:
“But the kindness of יהוה (YHWH) Is from everlasting to everlasting Upon those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children, To those who guard His covenant, And to those who remember His orders to do them. יהוה (YHWH) has established His throne in the heavens, And His reign shall rule over all. Bless יהוה, you His messengers, Mighty in power, who do His Word, Listening to the voice of His Word. Bless יהוה (YHWH), all you His hosts, You His servants, who do His pleasure. Bless יהוה (YHWH), all His works, In all places of His rule. Bless (YHWH) יהוה, O my being!” (Psalm 103:17-22)
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