The Hebrew Roots Movement: So What?
Posted on August 19, 2008 by JGIG
So what if Christians want to keep the Law? What’s wrong with keeping the Sabbath and observing the Feasts? Are those things wrong? The dietary laws, purification rituals . . . after all, we are talking about the Law . . . God’s standard for righteousness here, not some weird pagan ritualistic stuff, right?
I’ve been thinking about this the past few days as I’ve been compiling an HRM glossary (coming soon) and going through (again) the Hebrew Roots Movement doctrine I’ve become familiar with in the past several months, and the question does periodically come to mind, “So what?”
Some of you may be thinking the same thing. What is the big deal about those who want to keep the Law? Simply celebrating the Sabbath and feasts, in my opinion, are fine. There is much to be learned by doing such things. It’s important to know, however, that that’s where the HRM gets its foot in the door of a lot of people’s hearts, because if you’re already doing part of the Law, shouldn’t you be doing it ALL? In and of themselves, celebrating the Sabbath and the Feasts are not a bad thing. But it is important to understand that they are not a required thing. Understanding the completed work of Jesus at the Cross and what the New Covenant is – it’s so important to understand the freedom that was purchased there at so great a cost.
There is this impression put forth in the HRM that the Hebraic model of worship and relationship with God is the be-all and end-all to religious expression. And that it’s not just an expression, but that it is required expression - required of all believers. That Judaism is the root of our Christian faith. That Judaism was never intended by God to be done away with. Folks, relationship between God and man PREDATES Judaism. Jesus - and God’s promises that would be fulfilled through Him - PREDATE the Law!
I found a post regarding the HRM over at “Labarum”, a blog from a decidedly more liturgical point of view. I’m not knocking that, by the way . . . the more I learn about the shenanigans the HRM “leaders” are pulling, the more I’m learning to appreciate liturgy and its original purpose in defining and defending the foundations of biblical truth and doctrine while holding fast to my evangelical moorings. Here’s an excerpt from the Labarum post entitled, “Root of the Problem”:
If we could keep the Law, (which we can’t) scripture tells us how God sees the situation of our attempts at Law keeping in Romans chapters 3 and 4. From Romans 3:
God asks us to believe something just as unlikely as Abraham was asked to believe as we look at our old, dead selves. We are asked to believe that God has the power to do what he has promised – that we believe that it is what He does that puts us in a position of fellowship with Him, not anything of ourselves. God mandates that to be acceptable before Him we must be holy. The Law is that standard against which we must be measured - it is not nullified – it is upheld! The fact remains, however, that we are inherently unable to keep the Law, that standard of holiness.
Jesus met that standard on our behalf! Jesus was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification in the midst of our old, dead inability to meet that standard. When God looks at the repentant believer, He sees holiness because of the justification that HE brought forth for us through the work of Jesus. Though the Law is the standard by which all the measuring is done, it is not the means by which justification comes. Justification comes through the amazing grace and mercy and work of God to meet the standard of the Law on our behalf.
So what about keeping the Law as believers? Is it not really a question of sanctification for the Law keeping believer? Isn’t that the essence of the question I posed above? I won’t pretend to have this all ironed out and nailed down perfectly. And I honestly can see both sides of the issue when it comes to simple Law keeping, barring the heretical doctrines prevalent in the Hebrew Roots Movement today.
But I always have to come back to the Cross.
The priesthood, sacrifices . . . death . . . all were done away with at the Cross. Yes, Jesus kept the Law. Before the Cross. The Cross was the great dividing line in history . . . there was a clear path from death to life, from the sinful state to righteousness, from condemnation to justification. And not once did Jesus or anyone else in the Bible ever say that salvation was attained or maintained by observance of any part of the Law. You can cry “point/counterpoint” all day long when it comes to Paul’s writings . . . but the end result will always consistently be: By faith, not by works we are saved. By the Holy Spirit working on us from the inside out, we are sanctified, not by how well we “keep” the Law.
Works are a natural result of redemption in the believer’s heart. I’ll say it again – it is not by the outward performance of Law keeping that we become sanctified, it is by the completed work of Christ in our hearts that changes us intrinsically – belonging to the essential nature or constitution of a thing - according to the Merriam-Webster definition of intrinsically.
What does that mean? It means that the Holy Spirit changes our nature – we belong to Him – we were purchased with a price – and that the Law keeping that takes place in the life of a believer is a natural fruit-bearing process as we grow in Christ, not of keeping this festival and that law. The fruits that we see in the Church were not designed to be the keeping of the Law . . . those fruits are designed to be seen as God remakes us from the inside out through the working of His Holy Spirit! (Romans 15:14-19, 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17)
I think about the High Priest, the only one who was permitted to go to meet God on behalf of the people in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle/Temple. He had to go through much purification before entering that Holiest place. And even then, there was no guarantee that he would survive the encounter. That’s the Law, folks. Through Christ, however, and His work at the Cross, the Most Holy Place was made available to all, and all have the right to enter who are cleansed (not merely covered) by the Blood of the Lamb.
It is obvious that God DID do away with some very specific, pivotal points in the Law immediately at the sacrifice of Himself at the Cross. More of the Law passed away as time went on. Why was the temple not rebuilt after AD 70? If the early Church felt it so important to the worship of God to maintain the Hebrew point of view, why didn’t they rebuild it? Where are the stories of Christians being thrown to the lions because they were intent on rebuilding the Temple?
Could it be that the early Church recognized that the new Temple was the Church, the Body of Christ, not built with blocks of stone, but with living stones, those being the redeemed people of God, with their Cornerstone being Jesus Christ Himself? Indeed, is this not what Paul was telling the Church in Ephesians 2:11-22?
Have you ever had someone (an unbeliever) come up to you (a believer) and say, “What is it with you, anyway?! Why are you so peaceful all the time?” I have, and it wasn’t because I was wearing tzit tzit or a head covering or turning down unclean foods or preparing for Shabbat. It was because the Holy Spirit is ALIVE in me, and He shows! It is nothing of myself, but the Holy Spirit that is within me. He gets the glory.
What do I do? I submit to Him, I stay in His Word, I pray as the Spirit leads. I love God and I love others as I love myself. And when someone does come up to me and asks me “what’s so different about me?” — out comes the Gospel. How God made a way from death to life, how He loved us so much He sent His Son Jesus, God incarnate, to take the penalty of our inability to keep the Law, and how if we make Him Lord of our lives HE CHANGES US!
The “Go out into all the world and make disciples” command becomes a natural outpouring in the life of the believer. For some believers, that will mean that they will be called to a literal foreign mission field, ministering to people groups in the far corners of the globe. For others, they will have Divine appointments with those they come in contact with in their daily lives. And the Temple of the Lord under the New Covenant is built - living stone by living stone.
If you find yourself leaving the reality that is Christ and what He completed at the Cross, then look out. Look out for those who will say Torah observance is mandatory for every Christian. Look out for those who will lead you through scriptural mazes to bring you to “hidden truth” or “lost doctrine”. Beware of false teachers and prophets that will have your head so wrapped up in “new knowledge” derived from questionable sources and practices that it will be hard to ever see true Grace and Mercy again!
For me the “So what?” boils down to how God views Law keeping through the Blood sacrifice that He personally provided for us. The Grace extended, the suffering endured, the Death, Burial, Resurrection and Ascension . . . those things were accomplished to give us NEW life. The Law was given as instructions to lawless people – people bound by sin. To behave and practice as if we were still bound by our sin when He has removed our sin as far as the east is from the west – well, are we then trampling the Son of God underfoot? Are we treating as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified us? Are we insulting the Spirit of grace?
For more resources regarding the Hebrew Roots/Messianic movements see the Post Index and the Articles Page. General study helps, discernment, and apologetics sites can be found HERE. Make use of the tabs with drop-down menus found at the top of this site – there’s tons of info there, and it’s very navigable.
I’ve been thinking about this the past few days as I’ve been compiling an HRM glossary (coming soon) and going through (again) the Hebrew Roots Movement doctrine I’ve become familiar with in the past several months, and the question does periodically come to mind, “So what?”
Some of you may be thinking the same thing. What is the big deal about those who want to keep the Law? Simply celebrating the Sabbath and feasts, in my opinion, are fine. There is much to be learned by doing such things. It’s important to know, however, that that’s where the HRM gets its foot in the door of a lot of people’s hearts, because if you’re already doing part of the Law, shouldn’t you be doing it ALL? In and of themselves, celebrating the Sabbath and the Feasts are not a bad thing. But it is important to understand that they are not a required thing. Understanding the completed work of Jesus at the Cross and what the New Covenant is – it’s so important to understand the freedom that was purchased there at so great a cost.
There is this impression put forth in the HRM that the Hebraic model of worship and relationship with God is the be-all and end-all to religious expression. And that it’s not just an expression, but that it is required expression - required of all believers. That Judaism is the root of our Christian faith. That Judaism was never intended by God to be done away with. Folks, relationship between God and man PREDATES Judaism. Jesus - and God’s promises that would be fulfilled through Him - PREDATE the Law!
I found a post regarding the HRM over at “Labarum”, a blog from a decidedly more liturgical point of view. I’m not knocking that, by the way . . . the more I learn about the shenanigans the HRM “leaders” are pulling, the more I’m learning to appreciate liturgy and its original purpose in defining and defending the foundations of biblical truth and doctrine while holding fast to my evangelical moorings. Here’s an excerpt from the Labarum post entitled, “Root of the Problem”:
The movement [Hebrew Roots Movement] overall also suffers from a complete misunderstanding of both God’s motivation in choosing Abraham and his sovereignty in choosing the time when the Eternal Word would become incarnate. The choosing of the Jews had far less to do with God’s preference for Hebrew as it did with His rewarding the faith of Abraham.As Christians, we need to understand that those who claim to keep the Law perpetuate practices that Jesus ended when He completed His work at the Cross. For example, Jesus took over and performed with finality the duties of Priest and sacrifice, not just the covering of sins, (as did animal sacrifices) but the erasing of our sins, putting us in a position of justification before God.
It also never occurs to these folks that God in His sovereign will chose a time when the Mediterranean world was under the rule of one state (the Roman Empire) whose engineering feats had made quick travel over long distances possible through its vast network of roads, the highly expressive Greek language was the common tongue for learning, and Hellenistic culture had greatly influenced much of the known world since Alexander the Great.
The Greek language is highly suited for philosophical endeavors whereas Biblical Hebrew was relatively simple by comparison. I do not believe it was a coincidence that God chose a time when the infrastructure, language, and culture of an empire allowed an easy expansion of the faith, the widespread use of a language that allowed its forceful defense, and a rich culture that allowed it to be placed in the context of the fulfillment of all that is good within mankind.
Restricting the faith to some alleged “Hebrew Roots” that define a faith other than what ever existed removes two of the great strengths of Christianity – its universality and its historicity. However sincere its proponents may be, they are assuming Christ has never been able to fully realize His purpose for the Church until they came along. And, to borrow a term from the Jews, that’s chutzpah! [Bolding mine.]
“Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this Priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time He waits for His enemies to be made His footstool, because by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are “the holy ones.” Hebrews 10:11-14Those in the HRM will argue that we need to keep the whole Law (barring sacrifices, though some think that should be brought back as well), because if we love God and want to honor Him we will keep His commandments. Even as redeemed, Holy Spirit filled Christians we cannot keep the Law. Most use Hebrews 10:26-27 as a “you can lose your salvation if you keep on sinning” passage. Law Keepers use it as a “See, if you put yourselves under the Law and obey its edicts, you will not be in danger of losing your salvation.” What about verses 28 and 29, though? Let’s look at it again:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.” 2 Corinthians 5:17-19
“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:26-29)
Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:28-29)Could this be speaking to the believer who goes back to the Law? Could this passage be intended for the Torah observant Christian? Is the Law keeping believer treating as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him and are they insulting the Spirit of Grace?
If we could keep the Law, (which we can’t) scripture tells us how God sees the situation of our attempts at Law keeping in Romans chapters 3 and 4. From Romans 3:
“But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.Now before any Law Keepers say, “See! We aren’t supposed to nullify the law! We’re supposed to uphold it!”, let’s look at Romans 4:
Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.” (Romans 3:21-31)
It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.Abraham faced the fact that his body was as good as dead, and that Sara’s womb was also dead. God asked Abraham to believe the impossible. It was crystal clear to Abraham that in his present state, there was nothing that he could do. He was inherently unable to carry out what God had mandated. God said, “I have made [past tense] you a father of many nations”. Abraham believed that God would do what He said He would do – that God had the power to do what He said He would do, and it was that faith that was credited to him as righteousness. It wasn’t anything that Abraham did, it was what God did. Abraham was “fully persuaded that God had the power to do what He had promised“.
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: ‘I have made you a father of many nations.’ He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why ‘it was credited to him as righteousness.’ The words ‘it was credited to him’ were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. (Romans 4:13-25)
God asks us to believe something just as unlikely as Abraham was asked to believe as we look at our old, dead selves. We are asked to believe that God has the power to do what he has promised – that we believe that it is what He does that puts us in a position of fellowship with Him, not anything of ourselves. God mandates that to be acceptable before Him we must be holy. The Law is that standard against which we must be measured - it is not nullified – it is upheld! The fact remains, however, that we are inherently unable to keep the Law, that standard of holiness.
Jesus met that standard on our behalf! Jesus was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification in the midst of our old, dead inability to meet that standard. When God looks at the repentant believer, He sees holiness because of the justification that HE brought forth for us through the work of Jesus. Though the Law is the standard by which all the measuring is done, it is not the means by which justification comes. Justification comes through the amazing grace and mercy and work of God to meet the standard of the Law on our behalf.
So what about keeping the Law as believers? Is it not really a question of sanctification for the Law keeping believer? Isn’t that the essence of the question I posed above? I won’t pretend to have this all ironed out and nailed down perfectly. And I honestly can see both sides of the issue when it comes to simple Law keeping, barring the heretical doctrines prevalent in the Hebrew Roots Movement today.
But I always have to come back to the Cross.
The priesthood, sacrifices . . . death . . . all were done away with at the Cross. Yes, Jesus kept the Law. Before the Cross. The Cross was the great dividing line in history . . . there was a clear path from death to life, from the sinful state to righteousness, from condemnation to justification. And not once did Jesus or anyone else in the Bible ever say that salvation was attained or maintained by observance of any part of the Law. You can cry “point/counterpoint” all day long when it comes to Paul’s writings . . . but the end result will always consistently be: By faith, not by works we are saved. By the Holy Spirit working on us from the inside out, we are sanctified, not by how well we “keep” the Law.
Works are a natural result of redemption in the believer’s heart. I’ll say it again – it is not by the outward performance of Law keeping that we become sanctified, it is by the completed work of Christ in our hearts that changes us intrinsically – belonging to the essential nature or constitution of a thing - according to the Merriam-Webster definition of intrinsically.
What does that mean? It means that the Holy Spirit changes our nature – we belong to Him – we were purchased with a price – and that the Law keeping that takes place in the life of a believer is a natural fruit-bearing process as we grow in Christ, not of keeping this festival and that law. The fruits that we see in the Church were not designed to be the keeping of the Law . . . those fruits are designed to be seen as God remakes us from the inside out through the working of His Holy Spirit! (Romans 15:14-19, 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17)
I think about the High Priest, the only one who was permitted to go to meet God on behalf of the people in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle/Temple. He had to go through much purification before entering that Holiest place. And even then, there was no guarantee that he would survive the encounter. That’s the Law, folks. Through Christ, however, and His work at the Cross, the Most Holy Place was made available to all, and all have the right to enter who are cleansed (not merely covered) by the Blood of the Lamb.
It is obvious that God DID do away with some very specific, pivotal points in the Law immediately at the sacrifice of Himself at the Cross. More of the Law passed away as time went on. Why was the temple not rebuilt after AD 70? If the early Church felt it so important to the worship of God to maintain the Hebrew point of view, why didn’t they rebuild it? Where are the stories of Christians being thrown to the lions because they were intent on rebuilding the Temple?
Could it be that the early Church recognized that the new Temple was the Church, the Body of Christ, not built with blocks of stone, but with living stones, those being the redeemed people of God, with their Cornerstone being Jesus Christ Himself? Indeed, is this not what Paul was telling the Church in Ephesians 2:11-22?
“Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called ‘uncircumcised’ by those who call themselves ‘the circumcision’ (that done in the body by the hands of men)— remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.If we are not obligated to keep the Law, yet some in the Church are convinced that we are, what a cunningly deceptive way for the Enemy to enslave and immobilize portions of the Church. The idea that the Holy Spirit enables us to keep Torah seems good and right, but the goals of Christ for the Church are so much loftier than for Her to keep Torah! Christianity goes beyond the scope of Law keeping (which focuses on what we do to please God) and makes us dependent on the Holy Spirit for the renewing of our minds and hearts and actions (which focuses on what He does in/through us – Romans 12:1-2, 1 John 1:9, Philippians 3:1-11)! While obedience is required in either scenario, which one do you think results in the writing of the Law on the heart versus the Law which has already been written on stone? Who gets the glory in each scenario?
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.“
Have you ever had someone (an unbeliever) come up to you (a believer) and say, “What is it with you, anyway?! Why are you so peaceful all the time?” I have, and it wasn’t because I was wearing tzit tzit or a head covering or turning down unclean foods or preparing for Shabbat. It was because the Holy Spirit is ALIVE in me, and He shows! It is nothing of myself, but the Holy Spirit that is within me. He gets the glory.
What do I do? I submit to Him, I stay in His Word, I pray as the Spirit leads. I love God and I love others as I love myself. And when someone does come up to me and asks me “what’s so different about me?” — out comes the Gospel. How God made a way from death to life, how He loved us so much He sent His Son Jesus, God incarnate, to take the penalty of our inability to keep the Law, and how if we make Him Lord of our lives HE CHANGES US!
The “Go out into all the world and make disciples” command becomes a natural outpouring in the life of the believer. For some believers, that will mean that they will be called to a literal foreign mission field, ministering to people groups in the far corners of the globe. For others, they will have Divine appointments with those they come in contact with in their daily lives. And the Temple of the Lord under the New Covenant is built - living stone by living stone.
Conclusion
So what? What is the big deal about Law keeping? If keeping the Sabbath is something you feel God has asked you to do out of obedience to Him, do it. To make it Law for everyone, however, is not supported by the New Covenant Scriptures. We have a Sabbath rest in Jesus. If you want to celebrate Feasts to gain a deeper understanding of the pictures they paint of God’s plan of redemption and restoration, I think that’s fine. To do so feeling commanded by Scripture, however, is not supported by New Covenant Scriptures. The Law and it’s Feasts and Holy days were a shadow of things to come. We live in the reality that is Christ! (Colossians 2:17)If you find yourself leaving the reality that is Christ and what He completed at the Cross, then look out. Look out for those who will say Torah observance is mandatory for every Christian. Look out for those who will lead you through scriptural mazes to bring you to “hidden truth” or “lost doctrine”. Beware of false teachers and prophets that will have your head so wrapped up in “new knowledge” derived from questionable sources and practices that it will be hard to ever see true Grace and Mercy again!
For me the “So what?” boils down to how God views Law keeping through the Blood sacrifice that He personally provided for us. The Grace extended, the suffering endured, the Death, Burial, Resurrection and Ascension . . . those things were accomplished to give us NEW life. The Law was given as instructions to lawless people – people bound by sin. To behave and practice as if we were still bound by our sin when He has removed our sin as far as the east is from the west – well, are we then trampling the Son of God underfoot? Are we treating as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified us? Are we insulting the Spirit of grace?
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Other articles of interest:
- How I Became Aware of the Hebrew Roots Movement
- The Law of Christ – Defined and Defended
- Hebrew Roots Movement – Salesmanship 101
- Hebrew Roots Movement – Believers are Grafted Into and Become Israel? Um . . . No.
- Romans 14: Indisputable Matters – Torah or the Gospel?
- Hebrew Roots Movement – The Issue of “Hellenization”
- Is Law Really Law Without Enforcement?
- Hebrew Roots Movement – New Covenant or “Renewed” Covenant?
- Tzit Tzit For the Believer In Christ?
- 12 Undeniable Truths That Drive Law ‘Keepers’ Crazy
- Old Testament Believers and New Testament Christians – From the Articles Page – Addresses the issue of how OT saints were ‘saved’ vs. how NT saints are saved, i.e. what salvation meant and how it was obtained before and after the actual work of Christ on the timeline. It clarifies several points that we see Law keepers bring up in debate over and over again as they misapply the phrase from Scripture, “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” and couple that with the claim that the Church (ekklesia, Body of Christ) also existed in the Old Testament. It did not, and this article clarifies the difference between OT believers and NT Christians. Excellent study. Highly recommended.
For more resources regarding the Hebrew Roots/Messianic movements see the Post Index and the Articles Page. General study helps, discernment, and apologetics sites can be found HERE. Make use of the tabs with drop-down menus found at the top of this site – there’s tons of info there, and it’s very navigable.
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Filed under: "Law Keepers", Belief Sytems, Discernment, Formulas, Grace and Law, Hebraic Roots, Hebrew Roots Movement, Holy Spirit, Legalism, Religion, Sacred Name Movement, Teachable/Unteachable, Torah Tagged: | "Law Keepers", Christianity, Discernment, Formulas, Grace and Law, Hebraic Roots, Hebrew Roots Movement, Holy Spirit, Legalism, Messianic Judaism, MOMYS, Religion, Sacred Name Movement, Teachable/Unteachable, Torah
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Thanks,
Ann
One point that I would differ with you on is that celebrating the feasts to gain better understanding is really opening yourself up to be led into the movement. Perhaps a knee jerk reaction, but if one looks at why those in this movement keep the feasts, it’s because they feel they are being obedient to God by going back to observing the Mosaic Law. Usually celebrating the feasts means relying on a man-made system for instruction on how to do it and that means reaching into Judaism for the answers. Unfortunately, Judaism is completely based on Rabbinic traditions which are held in higher regard that the written Word of God and denies that Jesus is the Messiah. By celebrating the feasts one is getting understanding from a system that is in opposition to those who are believers in Jesus Christ.
Also, in order to celebrate the feasts as God commanded them, one would have to sacrifice an animal for a sin offering. I would think that would put a damper on the celebration right quick :) Personally, I see celebrating the feasts as unnecessary – one can get the full impact of the purpose of the feasts by reading the first five books of the Bible and the NT, especially the book of Hebrews.
I would encourage people to think twice about celebrating the feasts, I feel it would do more harm spiritually than good, as I was once deeply involved in Hebrew Roots. It is a terrible thing to be deceived – I would not recommend “going there” :)
Thanks so much for your series – I believe they are an wonderful tool for understanding the issues and concerns of being affiliated with the Hebrew Roots Movement.
http://www.youtube.com/labarum312
Just click on the link for the playlist for Jesus and Zeus. There are two videos uploaded now. The first is an introuduction and the second looks at the Greek forms of Jesus and Zeus and shows there are no root similarites. The later videos will be on languages and alphabets, the root of the Greek name for Zeus from an Indo-European god Dyeus phter, the derivation of the Greek name for Jesus from the Hebrew Yehoshua and the Aramaic Yeshua, the evolution of the Greek forms into the current English forms, and closing remarks.
In Christ,
Albert McIlhenny
_______________________________________________________________________
We are already commanded to do at least ‘Part of the Law’, by Jesus Himself, and He even says that on the 2 great commandments hang ALL of the Law and Prophets, and
Deut 6:4 and Lev. 19: 18, are where Matthew 22: 37-39, Mark 12: 29-34, Luke 10: 25-37 came from.
In Matthew 5: 18-19 He also says that those who break one of these least commandments will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
D
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
The bottom line is that Jesus did indeed keep Torah, and as the perfect fulfillment of Torah, He would not have led anyone away from keeping Torah as an act of obedience.
Consider this:
Deuteronomy 13 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2013;&version=9;
(This passage is why the Jews wanted to stone Jesus…..but the problem was not that He violated Torah, but that He violated the additions/changes to the Torah.)
1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
***3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
***4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
If Jesus had led people away from Torah, He would not have been the sinless sacrifice that He was.
If Paul led people away from Torah, he needs to be discounted as a false prophet…. based on the Word of God in Deut. 13.
Is 66 and Zech 14 both show Appointed times from Lev. 23 being celebrated in the Millennium….some with severe penalties on the people who refuse to come up to Jerusalem for the feast. Is. 66 also states that when Jesus returns, the people eating pork, and the abomination will be consumed….This is in the future, so I think I would rather be paying attention to what God says is sin and what is not rather than what people say is sin or not, and keep my accounts short with Him.
If Jesus/Yeshua were to be walking on the earth today how many church-goers (regardless of denomination) would recognize Him as a completely Torah Obedient Jew?
Or, perhaps, He would not fit into the various denominational paradigms and rules such as “Don’t drink, don’t dance, don’t chew, and don’t go with girls who do” to name just one?
Aren’t those just as much fence laws as the whole Talmud? Every denomination has their own flavor and version of them; the Catholics, the Baptists, Nazarenes, Non-denominational, Pentecostal etc. I was brought up in a Baptist background, and went to a Baptist rooted college etc. what a relief it was to finally come to terms that my obedient life after salvation was already laid out in Scripture by God Himself, and did not depend on little rule books, or anything other than my Bible itself. Sin is defined in Torah, as is righteous living. I am not in any way saying that this righteous living is the means to salvation….It should grow out of having been saved.
Jesus did not leave Torah in just an outward form, he took it right into the heart when he taught on adultery, and said that if any one look with lust, the adultery had already been committed. I John taught that if someone hates his brother he is a murderer. That goes a WHOLE lot farther into the heart of the matter than the Torah written on stone did, yet it still upholds the Torah as it was written.
In His Service,
D
Mom wrote:
“The bottom line is that Jesus did indeed keep Torah, and as the perfect fulfillment of Torah, He would not have led anyone away from keeping Torah as an act of obedience.”
sheep: That line of thought bothers me a bit. Torah was given to teach people what was right or wrong in God’s eyes. Jesus is God in the flesh, and as God was sinless and incapable of sinning, so why would He need to keep Torah to teach Him sin? What I find puzzling as well, is that the Bible never really states that He needed to keep Torah to be the perfect sacrifice. Although Torah does point to sin, there are a lot of other ways of sinning that are referenced throughout the OT that also point to sin, not covered in Torah.
According to Torah when one sinned, an offering of an animal was sacrificed and blood shed for sins. Knowing that Jesus was perfect would lead one to believe that He did not sacrifice for sin or need to “keep” the Law in order to remain sinless. It’s also interesting to note that the Gospels clearly show Jesus changed the Law. Many times He stated, “you have heard it said ….” and He answers that with, “BUT, I say unto you ….” and then adds something which was not in Torah, nor implied. These are all things that I think about a lot and wonder why the “Jesus kept Torah” is stressed so much as a “doctrine” of sorts.
I agree that Jesus taught people to keep Torah before His death and resurrection, and yet always taught them something fresh and new that they had not heard before. That puzzles me, because if they were keeping Torah, why was it considered “new”? He indicated at the Last Supper that the New Covenant was taking affect in His blood. Hebrews tells us that this caused a change in the Law, and those commandments were carnal [fleshly] and were written on stony tablets. The New Covenant are laws written on our soft and pliable hearts – those laws that Jesus showed us which He called a new commandment. 1 John explains those new commandments simply as belief in Christ, and love for our brothers, reiterating what Jesus had said.
1 John 3:22 And whatever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
24 And he that keeps his commandments dwells in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he stays in us, by the Spirit which he has given us.
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Mom wrote:
“ (This passage is why the Jews wanted to stone Jesus…..but the problem was not that He violated Torah, but that He violated the additions/changes to the Torah.)”
sheep: I believe that the NT shows that the reason the Jews wanted to stone Jesus was because He claimed to be God, not because he disobeyed Torah.
John 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
57 Then said the Jews to him, You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?
58 Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Before Abraham was, I am.
59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the middle of them, and so passed by.
John 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
30 I and my Father are one.
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I showed you from my Father; for which of those works do you stone me?
33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone you not; but for blasphemy; and because that you, being a man, make yourself God.
I am not quite sure what Deut 13 has to do with Jesus keeping Torah in order to be the Sacrifice for sin. The context of the passage is leading one away from the one true God into idolatry.
Deu 13:1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives you a sign or a wonder,
2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spoke to you, saying, Let us go after other gods, which you have not known, and let us serve them;
3 You shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proves you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
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Mom wrote:
If Paul led people away from Torah, he needs to be discounted as a false prophet…. based on the Word of God in Deut. 13.
sheep: Paul said that everything he learned and believed he counted for dung, but for the cross of Christ. I believe he meant the religious system he was under, for it denied Christ, and because of it he persecuted believers. Paul did not keep Torah himself. One of the most important commandments is that men must go up to Jerusalem three times a year for three of the feasts. For two different periods of time, Paul never went up – once for a three year period and again for fourteen years. I have heard some say that he was living too far away for the journey, but in Acts 2, we see that men came from very long distances to attend Pentecost – one of the required feasts, so I think if he wanted to prove that he was Torah observant to new converts he would have gone out of his way to go up to Jerusalem for the required feasts.
Paul did not teach or obey Torah in regard to tithing, and he also taught against circumcision.
I have heard it taught that Paul sacrificed, but there are no texts in the NT that show it.
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Mom wrote:
Is 66 and Zech 14 both show Appointed times from Lev. 23 being celebrated in the Millennium….some with severe penalties on the people who refuse to come up to Jerusalem for the feast. Is. 66 also states that when Jesus returns, the people eating pork, and the abomination will be consumed….This is in the future, so I think I would rather be paying attention to what God says is sin and what is not rather than what people say is sin or not, and keep my accounts short with Him.
sheep: Would you agree that those who do not accept Jesus as Messiah [“go up to the cross”, Jerusalem/Zion is Christ/where He died and our Tabernacle as Emmanuel – God is with us/indwelt by the Holy Spirit] would encounter severe penalties for their unbelief?
The NT teaches that the only thing that sends people to condemnation are those who do not believe in Jesus Christ as the Messiah and do not bear good fruit. As Jesus said, it is not what a man eats that makes him unclean, but what comes out of His heart.
From what you have stated [keeping your accounts short with Him], I am wondering if you do not believe that Jesus paid for all sin?
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Mom wrote:
If Jesus/Yeshua were to be walking on the earth today how many church-goers (regardless of denomination) would recognize Him as a completely Torah Obedient Jew?
sheep: According to the Gospel accounts, people believed He was the Messiah because He fulfilled prophecy by the miracles and the words that He spoke. When Jesus called the disciples, they did not know who He was, yet they followed Him instantly. They did not know if He kept Torah or not. Even the Pharisees did not know who He was and said He was uneducated and unknowledgeable and yet heard Jesus teach “new doctrine”. The is very interesting. The main thing that Jesus taught was love for God and for your neighbor. He called it a new commandment, even though those words are recorded in Torah. And the people were amazed at what He taught.
In Christ,
sheep wrecked
Thank you.
Grace and peace to you as you continue to stand for the Gospel,
-JGIG