Putting It All Together: Christians and Torah

In the previous four posts, we examined a lot of scriptural passages in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. These passages have added to and enhanced the other understandings about the Law which this blog has explored over the last twelve years. To summarize, then, we have demonstrated that:

1) Torah was addressed to the children of Israel, NOT to anyone else.

2) They were instructed NOT to add to it or take anything away from it.

3) They were instructed to obey ALL of the commandments included in Torah.

4) The Law underscored their uniqueness among the peoples of the earth and marked them as YHWH's.

5) Both the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament portray that legislation as an inseparable whole - an indivisible body of laws.

6) Christ and his apostles were Torah observant Jews, and Jesus of Nazareth came to this earth to completely fulfill the requirements of Torah, which he accomplished on our behalf.

7) Christ identified the Two Greatest Commandments of Torah as encapsulating and fulfilling all of the individual commandments of Torah, including the Ten given at Mount Sinai.

This set of facts allows us to comprehend what happened at the Great Council of Jerusalem, what Paul wrote to the Romans and Galatians about the Law, and why God permitted Jerusalem and the Temple to be destroyed by the Romans. An event that rendered it impossible even for Jews to observe the tenets of Torah as originally written.

Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled the commandments of Torah, including the Two Great Commandments. His righteousness and sacrifice allow us to stand before Almighty God whole and clean. Moreover, if we truly accept what he has done for us (and with the help of the Holy Spirit), Christians will want to love God with their whole hearts and love each other as themselves. Christ's work wrought a change in our nature, and obedience is a consequence of what he did for us. It doesn't save us or earn us anything. HE did all of that and gifted us with a glorious future. Our obedience is merely the evidence that what HE did worked!

Christ and His Apostles Observed the Sabbath and the Holy Days

Yes, Jesus and his apostles observed the Sabbath, Holy Days, and avoided unclean meats.

They were Jews, living under the terms of God's Covenant with the children of Israel. They were also circumcised and never wore clothing made out of blended materials. They observed Temple protocols. They tithed, never entered the Holy of Holies, and presented the appropriate offerings demanded by Torah. They observed the appropriate protocols for bodily discharges, skin diseases, and mildew. They came to Jerusalem and the Temple to observe the three pilgrimage festivals. They didn't round off the corners on their beards or have any tattoos. They also didn't eat rare meat or consume any fat.

The argument that Christians should observe parts of the Law because Christ and his apostles observed them is like saying Americans should abide by the terms of Magna Carta or the Articles of Confederation. No, American citizens are expected to abide by the terms of the United States Constitution - the successor to those other documents and the current standard. Likewise, we would think it absolutely absurd for a group of Americans to observe all laws related to taxation, while simultaneously refusing to obey any traffic laws. We simply don't get to pick and choose which laws we will obey and which ones we'll ignore!

Protestants and Catholics also cherry pick Torah. So, because they do it - it's ok for me to do likewise? Jesus Christ identified Two Great Commandments (Love God and love each other). He said that those two commandments comprehended the whole of Torah and constituted the foundation of God's Law. In other words, in this instance, Christ did the picking. Lonnie didn't pick. The Pope didn't pick. Martin Luther or John Calvin didn't pick! 

Moreover, as was noted in previous posts here, Torah was addressed to the children of Israel - NOT to the world at large! In the most recent post over at As Bereans Did, we read: "Some people say, "Look what the Lord says to us," as they turn to Leviticus. Well, I have some bad news for you. The Lord didn't say that to us. He said that to ancient Israel." Jesus Christ said that he came to fulfill Torah and the Prophets. In other words, THEY POINT TO HIM! That is their value for us. ABD went on to note: "The Old Testament was not written to us; it was written for us. Big difference." 

In the Gospel of John, we are told that Jesus went to Jerusalem during the celebration of the Feast of the Dedication (Feast of Lights, Hanukkah). Does that mean we (Christians) are expected to observe it? Didn't Christ say that we are supposed to follow his example? "That's not what he was talking about!" the Legalists will snap back. "EXACTLY," is my response. 

Christ came to this earth to fulfill God's Law for Jews and Gentiles. He did. He fulfilled it perfectly - as NO other human has EVER been able to duplicate. Moreover, his righteousness/innocence was the perfect cure for our sinfulness/guilt before God. Likewise, his original disciples were ALL Jews - born under the terms of the Old Covenant (Torah). Hence, we would expect to find them observing the commandments of Torah - ALL OF THEM, and we do! Even so, it does NOT follow that we (Gentile Christians) should be doing likewise in 2026! Indeed, a good many things have happened since then: Christ's death, burial, resurrection, and ascension to heaven; the coming of the Holy Spirit and the establishment of the ekklesia; the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple (which I don't believe was happenstance), and the reformation of Judaism.

Thus, we have seen that the argument that Christ and his disciples were Torah observant Jews is completely irrelevant to the notion of a Christian's obligation to that legislation! That's worth repeating - let it sink in: The fact that Christ and his disciples were Torah observant Jews is completely irrelevant to the notion of a Christian's obligation to that legislation!

Christ and His Apostles Also Viewed the Law as An Inseparable Whole

In the previous post, we discussed how the children of Israel were instructed be obey ALL of the commandments of Torah. In this post, we will demonstrate that Christ and his apostles regarded that legislation as an inseparable whole.

Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 7:12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."

Matthew 22:34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Romans 13:8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Galatians 5:34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Galatians 5:14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

James 2:8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

All of the above quotations from The English Standard Version of the Bible.

They Were Told to Obey ALL of It

The Law of the Pentateuch was viewed by YHWH as an INSEPARABLE WHOLE!

Leviticus 20:22 You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out.

Deuteronomy 6:1-2 Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it,  that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long.

Deuteronomy 6:24-25 And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.’

Deuteronomy 11:8 You shall therefore keep the whole commandment that I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and take possession of the land that you are going over to possess

Deuteronomy 11:32 you shall be careful to do all the statutes and the rules that I am setting before you today.

Deuteronomy 28:1 And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.

Deuteronomy 28:15 But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.

Deuteronomy 28:58 If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God

Deuteronomy 31:12 If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God

Deuteronomy 32:45-46 And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, he said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law.

Joshua 23:6 Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left

All quotes from The English Standard Version of the Bible.

The Passage from Torah Which Annihilates Herbert Armstrong's Theology

Herbert Armstrong and his followers have claimed that SOME of the commandments of Torah are still binding on Christians of the New Covenant. More particularly, these folks claim that 1) the Ten Commandments [especially the Sabbath], 2) the biblical festivals, 3) clean and unclean meats, and 4) tithing are still binding on Christians. They excuse Christians from most of the other commandments of Torah which deal with sacrifices and offerings, old covenant rituals, and civic responsibilities. In doing so, they have effectively divided the commandments of Torah into different categories as a vehicle for determining which commandments are still applicable to Christians - a justification for accepting some and rejecting others!

The Armstrong conception of the Law, however, is clearly contradicted by this passage from Torah:

And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. But you who held fast to the Lord your God are all alive today. See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today? (Deuteronomy 4:1-8, ESV)

In this passage, we find:

1) The Law was addressed to Israel

2) They were instructed not to add to it or take anything away from it

3) They were commanded to keep ALL of these commandments when they inhabited the Promised Land

4) This Law would make them unique among the nations of the earth

In other words, this passage of Scripture contradicts the premise that New Testament Christians are obligated to keep SOME of the commandments of Torah.

The Things That Are Really Destroying Our Families

Unfortunately, rather than confront the issues that present the greatest threats to the institution of the family, too many Christians focus on shiny objects - scapegoats as the reasons for the decline of the family in modern society. They point to things like homosexuality, transgenderism, abortion, pornography, and the like as posing the greatest threats to the family and society more generally speaking. This allows folks to blame others for their problems and ignore the serious consequences of their own personal failures.

This state of affairs brings to mind a prophecy which the Apostle Paul is said to have written in his second letter to his young protégé Timothy. He wrote: "For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths." (II Timothy 4:3-4, NLT) Thus, we are reminded that the truth is sometimes uncomfortable or even hurts at times!

In terms of a reality check, I have composed a list of the things which clearly cause the greatest damage to our families (HINT: it is NOT gay parents, drag queens, or transgender athletes):

1. Alcohol and Drug Abuse

2. Domestic Violence (mental and physical)

3. Familial Sexual Perversion (incest/pedophilia/rape)

4. Economic Realities (2 incomes needed, affordable housing, health care, inflation)

5. Divorce and Alienation

6. No Time Allocated for Family Activities (dining, recreation, talking)

7. Ignoring Grand Parents and Extended Family

8. Paternalism/Misogyny

9. Decline in Church Attendance/Religious Belief

10. Computer Games and I Phones (time consumption)

These all are REAL problems which confront families (and too often damage or destroy them) here and around the world. Think about it! How do they compare to those phony ones which the "defenders" of family values usually point to? What do you think?

The ACOG's Have Produced Yet Another Fascist!

A friend recently brought an article written late last year by Bill Lussenheide to my attention. The article, From Madrid to Missoula: When Marxist Chaos Meets Faith and Family – Western Montana News, is a radical statement on the current state of America's Culture Wars. According to Mr. Lussenheide, what happened to Spain in the 1930s represents "a cautionary tale wrapped in tapas and gunpowder" for all of us.

For Bill, the cities of the United States exhibit many parallels to the cities of Spain just before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. He wrote: "The cities were full of Godless and untamed Marxist philosophy, and crazy chaos masquerading as culture. Madrid, Barcelona—urban playgrounds of the left—buzzed with increasingly radical and violent thinking." In Mr. Lussenheide's view, the cities are full of Marxist, atheistic, anarchists; and rural America is full of God-loving, gunslinging folks just brimming over with plain old common sense. In other words, Bill has embraced the ever-popular formula of "us against them."

Indeed, this is a phenomenon that we have seen repeated over and over again in the annals of human history. When more traditional folks feel unsettled and threatened by the pace of change in the society around them, a suitable and plausible scapegoat is sought out and identified as the source of all of society's problems. This allows the bewildered traditionalists something to sink their teeth into and fight against. In short, they become a righteous band whose mission is to save sinful society from its own excesses!

In Bill's reality, Christianity and traditional moral values are under attack by the godless hordes of the Left. In his view, the other side in the Culture Wars is demonic, self-righteous, and intellectually arrogant. In short, any behavior or beliefs that fall outside of what he and his ilk would define as traditional moral values, family, or WASP culture is seen as threatening and/or aggressively undermining what's "normal" and "good."

Mr. Lussenheide solemnly warned his readers that "if history is any guide, the longer the cities and the liberals anywhere insist on rewriting the rules while ignoring the country at large, the closer we get to a Spanish-style reckoning." He went on to warn: "Marxist cities can tweet all they want about inclusivity, spending recklessly and sexual liberation, but when the rural heartland decides the experiment has gone too far, there’s no hashtag to fix that. Spain is a warning, and the U.S. liberal urban elite seem hell-bent on treating it as just a historical, forgotten footnote."

Interestingly, Mr. Lussenheide never mentions the fascist dictatorship which was established under Francisco Franco as a consequence of the Spanish Civil War! Unfortunately, as with too many of the folks who identify with the modern American rightwing led by Donald Trump, Bill wants everyone to believe and act the way that he does. In his America, there is no room for drag queens, transexuals, pointy-headed intellectuals, and "liberal" artists! No, Bill and his supporters want conformity, and they are not bashful about insisting upon it! 

What does all of this have to do with God, Jesus Christ, and Christianity? My answer: "EXACTLY!" Bill and his buddies aren't really interested in any of that. They seek to impose their worldview on folks who do NOT share their worldview. Hint, there is NOTHING Christian or democratic about that!