All Believers Should Obey Torah

Should Gentile Christians Obey the Law?

In this article I will prove beyond a reasonable doubt that every Christian should be obeying the laws of GOD as part of their walk with Christ using mostly what is written in the New Testament with some of what is found in the Old Testament in order to show proper cross references and similarities. Many Christians today believe that the law was done away with on the cross and yet will still hold themselves to a “Moral Law” but there was no separation of the law in regards to Moral or ceremonial laws in the days of the Apostles. Every law is a moral law because it was given by GOD for us to keep. With that said I would like to start in the book of James chapter 4 beginning in verse 11.

               “Speak no evil against others, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge one another, then you are criticizing and judging the Laws of GOD. Your job is to OBEY the laws, not to judge whether or not if it applies to you. GOD alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy.  So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?”

               So we see here that James says it is our duty to obey the laws of GOD and not to decide whether or not they apply to us, just obey them.  Now of course Acts 15 might pop into the mind of the believer. So I want us to go over to Acts 15 and take a look at what is said there. I will have the reader please note that Acts 15 takes place after the book of Galatians was written. Acts 15 deals with the same issue as Galatians does. Galatians is not speaking against the law. It is speaking against the Judaizers who were converts to Judaism and some were Pharisees as we see in Acts 15 verse 5 and they believed that the new believer should be circumcised in order for them to receive salvation. Peter knew this was not the case when he preached the gospel to Cornelius and Paul proved this was not the case with Titus. New believers showed the fruits and gifts of the Spirit without the circumcision of the flesh. With that said let us look at the Apostles decision in Acts 15 picking up in verse 19.

               “My judgement is that we should not make it hard for the gentiles who are turning to GOD. Instead let us write and tell them to abstain from food offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from eating meat from animals who were strangled, and from ingesting blood. For the Law of Moses is preached in Jewish Synagogues in every city on every Sabbath.”

               So first let me explain why they chose the words difficult or as some interpretations put it “Burdensom”. From a young age the Jewish people are learning the law. They begin at age 3 in obeying the laws. By age 13 they receive their Bar/Bat Mitzvah when they are expected to be fully obedient to the laws of GOD. So for ten years they have been learning the laws and traditions and the extra laws to keep themselves from breaking the actual laws of GOD. To throw all of the laws of GOD onto a new believer would be hard for the new believer and if they were then caught breaking the law by a Jew they could be brought to court and made to pay the penalty for breaking the laws of GOD. This was also the reason behind Paul not wanting the gentiles to be circumcised because as long as they remained uncircumcised they would not be seen as converts to Judaism but seen as Gentiles and therefore would not be required to keep the laws according to the Jewish believers. It is not that the law itself is burdensome in fact GOD Himself said it wasn’t. Its that the Apostles wanted them to gradually learn the laws and gave them four laws to start with. These four laws even are laws that only the Jew was required to keep according to what we find in Torah.

               So now lets look at proof from the Bible that the Laws of GOD are not too difficult or a burden. For that we need to start with Deuteronomy chapter 30 picking up in verse 11:

               “These commandments which I command you today is not hidden from you, it is not far off. It is not in heaven that you should say; ‘Who will go up for us that we may hear it and do it?’ It is neither beyond the sea that you should say; ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it here to us that we may hear it and do it? The Word is very close to you, it is in your mouth and in your heart that you may do it.”

               Next I want to point out to you what Paul says regarding the law being difficult, it’s a little different but it is still on subject. Turn in your Bibles with me to 1 Corinthians chapters 10 picking up in verse 13:

               “There are no temptations that have taken you except what is common to everyone, but GOD is faithful, He will not let you suffer temptations beyond your capabilities, but will provide the way of escape so you may bear it.”

               Lastly lets turn in our Bibles to 1^st John chapter 5 picking up in verse 3. If you want to read verses one through four please do but I will only have verse three here as it is the only one that mentions what I am looking for here but 1 through 5 are very good verses in general.

               “Loving GOD means keeping His commandments and His commandments are NOT burdensome.”

               I even run across people who claim that the law is bondage sadly and well that too is contrary to what the Bible says. For this we need to turn in our Bibles to the book of James. James the brother of Christ. Also known as James the Righteous. James chapter 1 picking up in verse 22.

               “Do not just listen to the Word of GOD, you must Do what it says. (remember this I will bring it up later) For anyone who is just a hearer of the Word and does not do it, he is like a man who looks at himself in the mirror then leaves and immediately forgets what he looks like. The one who look intently at the perfect Law which sets you free and if you obey what it says and don’t forget what you heard then GOD will bless you for doing it.”

               Now turn to chapter two and pick up in verse 12. But pay close attention to the verses before if you doubt that the laws being talked about are the laws of GOD found in the Old Testament because James is very clearly talking about the Torah.

               “So what you say or what you do, remember that you will be judged by the law which sets you free.”

               So there you have it the laws of GOD are not too difficult and are not burdensome and definitely not bondage according to what the Word of GOD says and what the Apostles themselves believed. The Church today is so far off from what the Church of GOD used to be in the 1^st Century that it is almost unrecognizable. To Jesus/ Yeshua, sadly I fear it may be unrecognizable. If you don’t believe me open your Bibles again to Matthew chapter 7 picking up in verse 23. Many times when I see a Christian quote this verse they leave off the important part of it. They stop at “I knew you.” I love how the NLT translates this verse;

“But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break GOD’s laws.’ “

I would render it “I will say to them, ‘I don’t recognize you, leave my presence you who break the laws of GOD.’” Other interpretations say workers of lawlessness or iniquity.

Lawlessness and iniquity is breaking the laws of GOD though so I appreciate the NLT for their blunt interpretation. If you don’t believe me I can prove it from the mouth of the Apostles. Lets turn in our Bibles to 1 John again and turn to chapter 3 picking up in verse 4.

“Those who sin break the laws of the GOD, for all sin is contrary to the Laws of GOD.”

Next lets turn to Romans chapter 3 and look at verse 20. I will use the HCSB for this one.

“For no one will be justified in His sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law. “

Now I want to jump to Romans chapter 7 picking up in verse 7 where Paul proves beyond a doubt that sin is breaking the laws of GOD.

“Then am I suggesting that the Laws of GOD are sin? May it never be! In truth, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would not have known that coveting was wrong if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”

So we can clearly see that sin is contrary to the Laws of GOD.

Now you may say, but we live in the age of Grace! We are not under the Law! Dearest Child of GOD, you have allowed wolves to teach you lies and have not studied the WORD fully. You are quoting from scripture that I guarantee you do not know the context of. To begin this context lets start where you are and bring you up to speed with what GOD says in full.  So turn with me if you will to Romans chapter 5 verse 20. I ask that you read it but I will give a run down.

“GOD’s laws were given to that people could see how full of sin they were. The more people sinned GOD’s wonderful grace became more abundant.  Just as sin rules over all mankind and brought death to them, now the wonderful of GOD rules instead, putting us in right standing with GOD resulting in eternal life through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.” Now turn to chapter 6 picking up in verse 1. “Does that mean we can keep living a life of sin so that GOD’s wonderful grace can be more and more abundant? May it never be! Since we have died to sin how can we continue to live in it?” Jump to verse 14 now. “Sin shall no longer have rule over you, you no longer live under the requirements of the law for you are under the freedom of the Grace of GOD. So since the grace of GOD has set us free from the law are we then allowed to go on breaking the laws of GOD? Of course not! Do you not realize by now that you become a slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin which will only lead to your death, or you can choose to obey GOD’s laws which lead to righteous living.

As 2^nd Timothy 3:16 says “All scripture is given by the inspiration of GOD, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of GOD may be perfect, thoroughly furnished to do all good works.” In the first century. These were just letters circulating amongst the churches. They did not consider the letters scriptures until the 3^rd century long after the death of all the apostles. So whenever we see the Apostles talking about scripture we know they were only ever talking about what we find in the Old Testament.

So we see the Torah equips the man of GOD to help him be perfect. Remember Christs words? Be perfect as my Father in Heaven is Perfect? We also find in the NT “Be Holy as He is Holy” “Be pure as He is pure” Paul himself says in Romans 7 verse 12. That the laws of GOD are Holy and its commands are Holy right and good. He said the trouble was not with the law but with our flesh our sinful nature. For the laws of GOD are spiritual and good. Those who say they walk according to the Spirit walk in obedience to the laws of GOD if they don’t they are liars. Or don’t realize what walking in the Spirit means. As proof lets look at 1 John chapter 2 starting in verse 3.

“We can be sure that know Him if we obey His commandments. If someone says “I know GOD” but doesn’t keep the commandments of GOD, they are a liar and are not living in the truth. Those who obey GOD’s Word are the ones who show how much they love Him. That is how we know we are living in Him. Those who claim they live in GOD should live a life similar to the life of Yeshua.”

Yeshua according to the Apostles kept the laws perfectly. He never once sinned. Above when it says that they are not living in the truth we can prove they are not living in the truth because according to GOD, The Torah is the Truth. According to what we find in the Old Testament Torah is the Way the Truth and Life giving and a Light.

Psalms 119:105 Your Word is a lamp for my feet and a light to my path

Psalm 119:160 The main thing about your Word is that it is True and all your just rulings last forever.

Proverbs 6:23 For your commandment is a lamp, your Torah is light and reproofs that discipline are the way to life.

Psalm 119:142 Your righteousness is eternal righteousness, and your Torah is Truth

Deuteronomy 32:46-47 “Take to heart all the words of my testimony against you today so that you can use them in charging your children to be careful to obey the words of this Torah. For it is not a trivial matter for you on the contrary it is your life! Through it you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

These are but a few. Study Psalms 119 to find even more. Now we also saw that Torah is for training up in righteousness in 2^nd Timothy 3:16. It went quite well with Romans 6:16 but lets also look at another place that also touches on what we’ve looked at that I said we will touch on later: Not just being hearers of the Word but being doers. We see this said even in Deuteronomy 30 verse 11. So now lets see Paul use these words. Turn with me in your Bibles to Romans chapter 2 picking up in verse 12.

“When Gentiles break the laws of God they will be destroyed even though they were never given GOD’s written law. The Jews who do have GOD’s law will be judged by that law when they fail to obey it. For the hearers of the law are not righteous before GOD, but those that do the Law will be declared righteous. When Gentiles who do not have the law, instinctively obeys the laws commands, they are a law to themselves even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts. Their consciences affirm this. Their competing thoughts will either accuse of excuse them.”

               So from reading this passage I myself understand that those who do the law and not just hear it. You know again don’t just hear the word as James talked about but obey it do it. I understand that those that do have the law written on their hearts. They have a love for the laws of GOD. To me this is a sign of being in the New Covenant. Now for those that don’t know the New Covenant was first talked about in Jeremiah chapter 31 in verse 31. But I will pick it up from Hebrews 8 verse 8 in keeping with my original statement of keeping this mostly from the NT alone. Hebrews 8:8 and on is direct quote from Jeremiah 31.  I will start in verse 10 though.

               “This New Covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day says The LORD; I will put my laws in their minds and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their GOD and they will be my people.”

               See the law is written on the heart. I will point out to the reader to keep reading though because the New Covenant has not yet taken full effect and verse 11 proves this. We are evangelizing still to this day which proves the New Covenant has not taken full effect.  This also in a way proves that those who don’t want anything to do with obeying the laws of GOD are not in the New Covenant. They are still living in sin and living according to the flesh. For proof lets turn to Romans 8 starting in verse 4;

               “so that the law’s requirement would be accomplished in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to Spirit. For those who live according to flesh think about the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, about the things of the Spirit. For the mind-set of the flesh is death, but the mind-set of the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind-set of the flesh is hostile to GOD because it refuses to submit itself to the Laws of GOD for it is unable to do so.”

               Mind-set of the Spirit is life. The Law is Spiritual and Torah is life remember? You cannot being walking according to the Spirit if you’re not obeying the laws of GOD. Whether you care to admit it or not your lying to yourself and are actually walking according to flesh. If you’re a Christian and doing this you’re abusing the Grace of GOD and profaning the blood of the Covenant. Lets turn to a very hard passage to read for the Christian. Hebrews 10:26-29.

               “Dear friends, If we continue to intentionally sin after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that cover these sins. Only the terrible expectation of GOD’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies. For anyone who refused to Obey the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Think how much worse it will be for those who have trampled on the Son of GOD, and have treated the blood of the Covenant, which made us Holy, as common and unholy. They have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings us GOD’s mercy.”

               Now I would like us to go to the one place where just about every Christian has a verse memorized. John chapter 3. No we aren’t going to be reading 3:16 because you should know what that says already. No I want you to learn to read that verse in its full context. I will pick up in verse 19 as it pertains to this subject. Remember Torah is the Light.

               “The Judgement is based on this truth: GOD’s light came into the world, but the people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear of their sins being exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what GOD wants.”

               Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ. I don’t write this condemn you. I write this to condemn your sinful lifestyle. I want you to put it aside and choose GOD today. I want to see you make GOD the priority in your life. You can only do that by choosing to obey His laws. Those who have taught you that the law was done away with are false prophets. GOD has said from the beginning that if a prophet performing all sorts of miracles comes to you and tells you to stop obeying the laws of GOD is a false prophet and should be killed. Deuteronomy 13:1-5. Yeshua even said those who keep the law and teach others to do the same will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

               Try to remember Paul was accused of teaching against the obedience of the Laws of GOD already in the Bible and he more than proved that was not the case. Acts chapter 21 and 24. Peter warned about the unlearned twisting Paul’s letters to their own destruction and according to what we read in the Word of GOD the only thing that leads to destruction is sin which is breaking the laws of GOD. Becoming obedient to the laws of GOD is part of the salvation Gospel which has been left out due to the amount of wolves in the church and the amount of unqualified teachers setting foot in the pulpit. The blind has been leading the blind for too long. Please if you truly love GOD pick up your Bibles daily and spend a half hour at least a day reading them. From Genesis to Revelation. Learn the whole book. Don’t stop after reading it just once it is something that should be read daily for the rest of your life. It should be read in its entirety once a year.