Christians often get confused and equate law (Torah) with salvation. This issue should become clear when we examine two Hebrew words, Law (TORAH) and Jesus (YESHUA). Jesus (YESHUA) means salvation (Matthew 1:21) Law (TORAH) means instruction. When I think of salvation, I think of JESUS (YESHUA). When I think of instruction, (how God wants me to live my faith AFTER I am saved by YESHUA / Jesus) then this is TORAH. The Hebrew word, TORAH (Strongs 8451) comes from the Hebrew word YARAH (Strongs 3384) which means to teach, to point out as aiming the finger. INSTRUCTION is what a father (our heavenly father) gives to his children (those who are saved by faith in Messiah) in living a life which is pleasing to the father. Torah DOES NOT save us but it was given by God to INSTRUCT us how to live our life AFTER we are saved. Yeshua / Jesus was/is the living Torah / Word of God made flesh. When He lived his life on this earth, He INSTRUCTED his followers how they were to live their lives on this earth in a way which would be pleasing to our heavenly father. One of the Messiahs most memorable instruction sessions is called within Christianity, the sermon on the mount. In Matthew 5:16, it is written: Let your light (Psalm 119:33,97,111 ... TEACH (YARAH -- 3384) me, O Lord, the WAY (Strongs 1870 --- (Derek) --- a course of life or mode of action) of your statues and I shall keep it unto the end ... O how I love thy TORAH ... thy word (Torah) is a LAMP (light) unto my feet and a LIGHT unto my path)(Proverbs 6:23 ... For the COMMANDMENT is a LAMP : and the TORAH is LIGHT) so shine before men (by keeping the commandments of God) that they may see you GOOD WORKS and glorify your Father which is in heaven So, Jesus / Yeshua said that keeping the commandments (Torah) of God is LIGHT and GOOD WORKS (not talking about salvation). In Matthew 5:17, Yeshua/Jesus continues by saying: THINK NOT that I have come to destroy the TORAH (a Jewish idiom which means to wrongly interpret and apply the meaning of the Torah to your life) but I have not come to destroy (wrongly interpret and apply to your life) but to fulfill (a Jewish idiom which means to correctly interpret and apply the Torah to your life) ... In John 14:15, Yeshua/Jesus said: If you love, keep my commandments In Revelation 22:12,14 it is written: And behold, I come quickly; and my REWARD is with me, to give every man according as his WORK (good works) shall be .... BLESSED are they that DO his commandments (walks by love and keeps the Torah) that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates of the city Therefore, the first issue is to read the text in context. The context of Galation 3 is HOW is a person saved? The answer is that salvation does not come by TRUSTING in keeping the Torah for your salvation but by the work of the Messiah through his death on the tree. #2) When we interpret this text from a Hebraic mindset, the CURSE of the law was NOT KEEPING the Torah. Messiah redeemed us from the CURSE of NOT KEEPING the Torah (for salvation sake). The greatest commandment of God is given in Deuteronomy 6:3-7 as it is written: HEAR (SHEMA) therefore, Israel and observe to DO it (keep the commandments and statutes of God) that it may be WELL with thee (a blessing) that you might INCREASE MIGHTILY ... Hear (SHEMA), O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord: and you shall love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might. And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thine HEART (the Torah written upon the heart) and you shall TEACH them diligently unto thy children ... Yeshua/Jesus said that these words in Deut 6:4-5 is the GREATEST commandment (Matthew 22:36-38, Mark 12:28-30). So, therefore, Yeshua/Jesus said that the GREATEST commandment is to love God and you show your love to God by keeping his commandments (Deut 6:3-7, John 14:15). In Deuteronomy 28:1-14 is the BLESSING for KEEPING the commandments of God. In Deuteronomy 28:1-2 it is written: And it shall come to pass that if you will HEARKEN (SHEMA) diligently (Deut 6:4-7) unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to DO ALL His commandments which I command you this day that ... all these BLESSINGS shall come on thee and overtake thee ... In Deuteronomy 28:15-68 specifies the CURSES for BREAKING the commandments of God. In Deuteronomy 28:15 it is written: But it shall come to pass, if you shall NOT hearken (SHEMA) unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to DO ALL his commandments and his statutes ... that all these CURSES shall come upon thee and overtake thee ... In Deuteronomy 30:15-19, God reiterates that BLESSINGS will come upon his people for KEEPING His commandments and CURSES for NOT keeping His commandments as it is written: See, I have set before thee this day LIFE and GOOD and DEATH and EVIL. In that I command this this day to LOVE the Lord they God (the greatest commandment ... Matthew 22:36-38, Mark 12:28-30) to walk in his ways (1870 = Derek ... which is a course of life or mode of action) and to KEEP his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest LIVE and MULTIPLY ... BUT if your heart turns away, so that you will NOT HEAR (SHEMA) ... I will DENOUNCE you this day ... I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you LIFE (keeping the Torah and the commandments of God) and DEATH (breaking the Torah and the commandments of God) BLESSING (for keeping) and CURSING (for breaking): therefore CHOOSE LIFE (keeping the Torah and the commandments of God) that both you and your seed may live Therefore, the CURSE was for BREAKING the commandments of God. Teh BLESSING was for KEEPING the commandments of God. But, KEEPING the commandments of God DOES NOT SAVE you in the eyes of God. The Torah POINTS you and sets the standard of God to show your need for the Messiah while at the same time reveals and INSTRUCTS us how to live our lives in a way which is pleasing to God. THE TORAH IS THE TREE OF LIFE In the Garden of Eden, there were two trees. One tree was called the TREE OF LIFE (Genesis 2:9). In Proverbs 3, we see that the TORAH is called a TREE OF LIFE. In Proverbs 3:1,17-18 it is written: My son, forget not my TORAH but let thine heart KEEP my commandments ... her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace. She is a TREE OF LIFE to them that lay hold of her: and happy is every one that retaineth her But one may say, isnt Proverbs 3 also talking about wisdom? In Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-6 it is written: Now therefore HEARKEN (SHEMA) O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgements which I TEACH you for to DO them that you may LIVE ... Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me ... KEEP therefore and DO them: for this is your WISDOM (keeping the Torah/commandments of God) and your understanding in the sight of the nations which shall hear (SHEMA) all these statutes and say, surely this great nation is a WISE and understanding people In Revelation 22:12,14, Jesus/Yeshua says that those who DO his commandments may have right to the TREE OF LIFE In Revelation 22:1-2, there is a pure river of water of life proceeding from the throne of God. And on either side of the river ws the TREE OF LIFE which bare 12 manner of fruits and yielded her fruit every month and the LEAVES of the tree were for the HEALING of the nations. Did you know that the PAGES of the Torah scroll are called LEAVES? In Jeremiah 36:21,23 it is written: So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the ROLL ... and Jehudi READ it in the ears of the king ... And it came to pass when Jehudi had read THREE or FOUR LEAVES ... So, the leaves on the tree of life is a reference to the pages of a Torah scroll. Revelation 22:2 is a quote and reference from Psalm 1:2-3 which describes a person who KEEPS the Torah of God as it is written: But his delight is in the TORAH of the Lord: and in his TORAH does he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a TREE planted by the RIVERS OF WATER, that bringeth forth his FRUIT in his seas and his LEAF also shall not wither and whatsoever he does shall PROSPER Therefore in conclusion in understanding Galations 3:13, we need to understand that Paul is NOT making a new doctrine but he quotes the Jewish scriptures to validate that one is justified (saved) by faith and not by trusting in your own righteousness through the keeping of the Torah/commandments of God. However, by understanding and viewing the scriptures from a Hebraic mindset, the above truth does not negate the roll of the Torah in the life of a believer in Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah because Gods word states over and over and Yeshua/Jesus himself states that the GREATER BLESSING that God will give to His people (apart from salvation) will be unto those who
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 21:54:45 +0000
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