Yeshua and the Torah… continued
The Torah declares the attributes of Christ
John 5:46-47 “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Yeshua brings truth (the Torah) and grace (the power to keep the Torah), He was not replacing Himself.
(If your bible has a “but” in this verse, it was added by the translators, it’s not in the original Greek)
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Look at how many attributes of Christ are in the Torah:
Ps 19:7-11 The law of יהוה is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of יהוה is sure, making wise the simple; The statutes of יהוה are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of יהוה is pure, enlightening the eyes; The fear of יהוה is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of יהוה are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward.
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Yeshua is the walking talking Torah!
The Torah is the Way is the Truth is the Life is the Light is Holy is Good is Righteous is Perfect is Pure is the Word is Yeshua
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me (i.e. through the way, the truth and the life… the Torah).”
Matt 19:17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life (Yeshua – I am the life), keep the commandments.”
John 14:15 If you love Me, keep My commandments (and then you will become like Me – Christlike).
When we reject the Torah we are rejecting Christ
The Showbread in the tabernacle is both Christ and the Torah at the same time, they are inseparable. Christ is the Word in the flesh, the Torah is the Word in written form. There is no contradiction between them. As the Holy Spirit illuminates the Torah for us, He teaches us how to be Christlike. As we become more Torah observant we become more Yeshua observant.
Ps 119:48 My hands also I will lift up to Your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on Your statutes.
The Psalmist is worshipping the Torah!
We can’t say we’re becoming more Christlike and that we love and obey Yeshua if we we’re not loving and obeying the Torah. It’s a logical impossibility.
By definition, anything we do that is Christlike will be Torah observant/compliant
To suggest that Christ did away with the Torah is to maintain that Christ has done away with Himself, which is a theological absurdity.
This is in no way implying that keeping the law is a means to salvation. It’s the other way around, following Torah is an outcome from being saved. Salvation is only available by grace through faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ. Once we are saved we are commanded to sin no more (i.e. stop transgressing the Torah) and to imitate Christ which means start obeying the Torah as He did. We obey the Torah as a fruit of being saved, not as a means to get saved.
The extent someone is anti-Torah is the extent they are anti-Christ
That is why scripture calls the antichrist the lawless one.
2Thes 2:8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
If you belong to an assembly which teaches the Torah has been done away with, may I suggest you watch the excellent dvd series on Galatians by Avi ben Mordechai before your finalise your position.
https://www.cominghome.co.il/product-page/galatians-video-dvd
Christ has very sobering words for those who reject His Torah and decide to do their own thing:
Matt 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness (sin / transgression of the law / Torahlessness)!’ ”