TORAH: Abolished, replaced or fulfilled?

As most of you homies know, this is my bent: Grace and Law. Without trying to sound too wordy I happen to believe we Christians have them in nervous tension when we should be recognising the harmony.

For those who don't know, Torah is the first five books of the "OT" and means "law, direction, instruction". You may now go and sit in the corner.

Here's a creative little anecdote which asks of us a question which, at some point in our faith walk, needs answering. I give a very big hat-tip to Judah Himango for his work on this, I happen to think it's brilliant. I've added my own spin in parts.

Imagine you are unfortunate enough to land yourself in front of a religious court, say, approximately similar to the one Yeshua stood in front of. They are accusing you of publically speaking against the Torah and consider this to be a crime warranting a serious punishment.

Firstly, is the accusation true? If so, does it matter? Judah takes it up:

... you think back to all those times you chided your Jewish friends, “God doesn’t care whether we keep that old ugly Law anymore, so don’t worry, share this Easter ham dinner with me.”

You remember the times you told people how Jesus is all about grace, and not at all about law or those people who try to be saved by works. “Nobody can follow the law perfectly, so I’m not even gonna try!” was your old mantra.

Quietly in your mind you concede that, yes, I have spoken against the Torah, but it’s because Jesus abolished it. Paul said so.

You flip over to Acts 6 and 7, remembering the story of Stephen, a man in the same predicament as yourself. You begin to read aloud the 2 millennia-old charges against Stephen...

One foolish Jew from the council responds, “What was Stephen’s defense? How did he justify his speaking against Torah?”

You read on to discover Stephen didn’t actually speak against Torah. To your surprise, Stephen recites the Torah to his accusers, upholding it as righteous, and even chides his accusers for not keeping the Torah.

Whoops.

Regaining your composure, you sheepishly respond, “Stephen’s defense was reciting the Torah and upholding it. He ended his defense by chiding his accusers for disobeying the Torah.

But you see, foolish Jews, I am not like Stephen.”

Embarrassed by your self-prosecution, you search your thoughts and remember the same thing was spoken against Paul. Ah, yes! Paul! A Christian theologian’s favorite apostle! We can show how Paul put the Torah down low and and still defended himself!

You flip over a few pages to show that this same accusation was made against Paul. You read (it) aloud to the court,

A teacher of the Law responds, “What was Paul’s defense? How did he justify his speaking against the Torah?"

You read on to discover Paul didn’t actually speak against the Torah, and to prove it, even took a Nazirite vow in Jerusalem according to the commandment! Shoot, strike two!

You humbly reply, “Paul’s defense was upholding and practicing the Torah in the sight of the whole community.

But you see, teachers of the Law, I am not like Paul.”

Things are looking down for you, but not to worry, you have an ace up your sleeve. “My dear friends, don’t you know your ancestors accused the Christ of the very thing you accuse me? You put me on trail and repeat history. Yet the Christ is the source of all righteousness!”

One of the dear friends responds, “What was Messiah’s defense? How did he justify speaking against the Torah?”

You read on to discover Messiah didn’t actually speak against the Torah. Instead, he rebuked his accusers for missing the important matters of the Torah!

You respond to the court and concede it: “Messiah upheld the Torah and chided the Pharisees for not keeping the important matters of the Torah.

But you see, dear friends, I am not like Messiah.”

I wish I could leave it there to let the effect of that sink in. (Meaningful pause). But obviously there is a little perspective required here. In Matthew 5:18-48 Yeshua gives a detailed, yet seemingly conflicting analysis of our required attitude to the law, commencing with Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven (Matt 5:18).

Yet in Acts 21:25, following Paul's vow, it says As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.

There's a whole study in that one verse, where the "requirements" for Gentile obedience were made distinct from the Jewish ones. We'll do that at a later time if you're all really good. But the point here is that a choice was available to everyone, Jews and Gentiles. It's just that Jews, whether believers in Yeshua or not, simply cannot consider turning their backs on YHWH's law because they are so incredibly attuned to it. They even find delight in it . Read Psalm 119 and pick up the theme. Here's some cherry pickings:

How happy are those...who live by the Torah of Adonai! (v1)
I rejoice in the way of your instruction (v14)
I find delight in your regulations (v16)
...your instructions are my delight (v24)
For I take pleasure in it (v35)
For Your Torah is my delight (v77)

You get the idea. Either the Psalmist was on some suspicious mushrooms or he really got the idea of Torah.

only someone who takes delight in Torah would build a Sukkah in a boat!

I've digressed slightly but I really wanted to demonstrate the reality that YHWH's law is meant for our good, and nothing else. But here's the thing; we are not "under the law" inasmuch as we are not under the judgements and punishments of the law. We are not subject to these. That's what Yeshua dealt with on the cross.

Check out Leviticus 20. I won't dissect it here but it's all about what makes a person "cut off from their people", i.e. YHWH's people. That includes us now. It deals with the worst of idolatry (Lev 20:1-8) important relationships (v9) sexual immorality (v10-21), and those things which make us unclean (v25-26). The punishments are listed. We read them now with the knowledge that we are spared. But we read the admonitions with the knowledge that they are there to set us apart, sanctified and holy (v 26).

This might sound like a cheap analogy, but the calling is not to simply walk around with a WWJD T-shirt on. It's to ask yourself; "what does my life say about the God who I profess?". That's Torah. Yep, there is a lifetime on the study of this issue. So I will be writing more on this, you betcha.


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