claim, that the Torah shows us the need for the gift that Messiah gave. That is one of its functions. And that Old Testament Law is still as capable today, as it was thousands of years ago, of pointing out the need for us to receive Messiah's Gift of Eternal Life. But - and this is a big 'but' - once we discover our need for Messiah's Gift, the requirements to live under continual obedience remain. Salvation is not a ticket to independence and anarchy. The discovery that the Law cannot save us - that is, we cannot be saved by legalism - does not negate or circumvent our need to continue obeying the Law - rather, the Law lets us know that we need to be perfected, that we need to live Yahweh's lifestyle individually and communally as New Covenant or Messianic Israel, because we are a nation as well as a collection of individuals. Yah'shua did not abolish the Law and He did not abolish Israel!
Where Protestantism Has Gone Wrong
I hope that we can see how adding to the Word of Yahweh, however well-intentioned, only leads to trouble. Understand that the concept of a 'free gift' is not Scriptural and with it understand that one of the major assumptions of Protestantism and Evangelicism is, as a result, false. Trusting in Yah'shua may be the most important thing we could ever do once we have accepted His Gift of Eternal Life but that gift is not 'free' in the sense that you are not under any sort of obligations of obedience once you have received it. Entrance to the Kingdom is, as I have told you, free, but the annual membership fee thereafter will cost you everything you have got. Receiving the gift of eternal life does not, moreoever, imply that you can invent your own rules of living or simply trust in your fickle feelings and then say that they are always the 'Spirit' (Ruach), because usually they are not. Yahweh has given you and me His Torah to obey and live exactly as it is written in the Old Testament minus the Levitical Priesthood and system of sacrifices, plus modifications made by the Messiah plus any new commandments Yah'shua has given, making for New Covenant Torah.
Both 'New' and 'Renewed'
No, we are not under the Old Covenant any more, we are under a New one. But - and this is something I have also mentioned to you before - there is a dual sense of both something completely and totally 'new' as well as something that has been 'renewed' or 'refreshed' from of old in the word 'new'. Thus we read:
"Behold, the days are coming, says Yahweh, when I will make a new (Gk. diakethe) covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah" (Heb.8:8, NKJV).
This word diakethe does not mean something new that has never been before - it means to 'renew', 'refresh' or 'replenish'. Thus in English we both have the sense of 'new' as something that has never been before (like a 'new house') as well as something that has been redone (like a 'new car' after it has been to the body shop and had a complete restoration). This has led many Messianics to speak of the New Covenant as the 'Renewed' Covenant, but like the idea of a 'Free Gift' in the New Testament, it is only a half truth. The New Covenant for sure brought a refreshing of the Old (and specifically, the Torah) but it also brought something completely New that had never been before, namely, salvation in Yah'shua the Messiah.
The Torah Landscape for Shaping Relationships
Torah provides the landscape that is to shape our relationships in marriage and with each other. It provides the cultural flow in the pattern of the festivals, new moons and sabbaths, defines the economic structures and correct gender rôles of the two parts of the covenant relationship, and as a result shapes the intimacies of that relationship. Love brings us to the point where we say 'yes' but thereafter - after we have agreed to the Gift - the foundation of the relationship is always Covenant. Upon that Covenant the Echad house is built, which is why the concept of covenant is stressed from Genesis to Revelation. When at times our feelings dry up and we can't seem to sense the eternal life within because of sin or whatever, we will then always fall back on Covenant so that the union does not break apart. It is then that our troth (from which we get we get the word 'bethrothe') - our pledge or vow or fidelity, loyalty and obedience - will always hold us together because Yahweh will always honour that.
Origins of the Authentic Spiritual Life
Together, Covenant, Love, Torah and Ruach make for the dynamic of authentic spiritual life. Whereas romance, sexual attraction, the secular state, the politics of gender relations, global culture and the unfettered carnal nature define modern man's relationship to his spouse and (if he is religious) to his God, a whole different cluster of realities and truth define relationships in the divine sphere. Christians and Messiancs alike need to reprogram their thinking and behaviour accordingly. This has been my consistent message throughout my ministry and it will continue to be so. For we live in a time of great trouble when both religion and marriage are under colossal assault - there will be times when we are so worn down and exhausted we may not be able to feel much of anything or have energy to keep going. Then Covenant, as a fixed and immovable anchor, will come into its own and be seen for the blessing that it is. In a world where everything seems to be governed by the feelings of the moment, Yahweh wishes us to be governed by the covenants of eternity. When we accept them, the Ruach haQodesh seals them. And with that seal - that invisible heavenly imprimatur - you are SAFE AND SECURE! Therefore I urge you to frequently reaffirm your covenants to both Yahweh and your spouses for they are a matter of life and death. No one is eternally saved or a true Christian without them.
Conclusion
I hope that this study today has been helpful to you. Next week we will continue with this series on graces and gifts. Until then, may Yahweh bless you with a new vision and understanding of the Gift which is the Salvation of Messiah and our obligation to obey His Renewed Torah under Covenant in the Ruach. Amen.
Click here for Part 3
Acknowledgements
[1] Frank Houtz, The Free Gift
Endnotes
1
See New Covenant Torah
2
See Sabbath
3
See Rosh Chodesh
4
See Festivals
5
See Kashrut
6
Sexual abstinence during a wife's menstruation and for a fixed period immediately after childbirth.
7
See Might You Be a Satanist Without Knowing It?
8
The husband's torah is not some set of disjunctive rules that contradict Yahweh's Torah. In addition to Yahweh's Torah he must set his own house rules and interpret Torah for his family - that is his stewardship and responsibility.
9
See The Textus Receptus
10
See Amazing Graces and Free Gifts: Part 1 - Unmerited Grace and Merited Favour
11
Ephesians 2:8 worded somewhat like Luther translated this verse in his German translation of Ephesians, "by grace you have been saved through faith only, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God," This was Luther's attempt to refute the doctrine of indulgences taught by the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholics would withhold the sacrament of communion from a wayward member until a time of punishment had been completed. This punishment was considered to pay for the infraction. After the payment, the believer was reinstated into full communion with the rest of the assembly. Since Luther and the Roman Catholics agreed that the sacrament of communion was actually the body of Christ, and without the body of Christ no one could be saved, it could be inferred that the Roman Priests were withholding salvation until a price had been paid by the sinner. Luther did not believe that communion should ever be withheld thus he felt free to add the word 'only' after the word 'faith', to emphasize the lack of need for the indulgences.
Luther was not the only one who inserted the words like 'only' into scriptural text to emphasise a doctrine that was important to him. The creators of the New International Version (NIV) and some other versions have done the same: "Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of BUT one wife..." (1 Tim 3:2, NIV); "A deacon must be the husband of BUT one wife ..." (1 Tim 3:12, NIV); "An elder must be blameless, the husband of BUT one wife..." (Titus 1:6, NIV). The purpose of this insertion was to emphasise the Evangelical monogamy-only belief even though the purpose of all three scriptures is to stipulate that ministers must be married and not to indicate how many wives a minister may or may not have - see What Does It Mean To Be 'The Husband of But One Wife"? and The Husband of But One Wife.
12
Those who believe that the Law or Torah is no longer binding on Christians.
Author: Lev-Tsiyon
Comments from Readers
[1] "I really appreciate the clarity here; tremendously. No pressure. In fact, I would prefer it if you didn't respond to this at all but rather keep up the good work. Your work is admired. May Yah bless you!" (D, USA, 28 October 2009)