Torah, the Eternal Standard

The more I study Torah the more I realize just how much of a sinner I really am. Torah forces you to examine yourself. Torah is the Instruction of the Almighty Creator of the Universe. It is His prescription for life for those who take His Name and presume to be His children. There are different perspectives on Torah from various sects of Judaism and professing Christianity. Some believe it is the standard by which we should examine ourselves as professing believers and some don't. And among those who say Torah is the standard the question becomes, "Which Rabbi is our arbiter of what Torah is telling me to do?" It can get very confusing from a human perspective. But the answer to these questions is imperative for those who profess to follow the Creator, Yahweh.

The apostle Paul said that we should examine ourselves to see if we are of the faith. Apart from Torah self examination is pretty difficult. What standard are we to use to examine ourselves? As professing followers of Jesus - Yeshua Messiah, calling ourselves Christian, what are we to look like, sound like, and behave like? It's important to note to someone who might be seeing someone use the Savior's given name, Yeshua, instead of Jesus, for the first time. Yeshua was born to a Hebrew family. His given name, according to Scripture, is Yeshua, which means Yahweh is Salvation. So I'm not speaking blasphemy in that I call Him Yeshua. His real name is important to the discussion. The name Jesus, is a Greek name that seems to have no meaning that I can find. When the Strong's concordance is referenced concerning the definition of the name Jesus it points us to Yehoshua - Yeshua. His real name is full of meaning and connects Him to His Father and His standard that points to Yeshua and the plan of salvation from Yahweh to all who will accept His free offer of grace. Having said that we are back the question as to what standard are we to use to examine ourselves to see if we are true followers of the Creator of the Universe?

Typically the standard is a relative one depending upon the culture one lives in. We tend to look at our lives in relationship to those who don't profess to know the Creator and determine how we stack up with them. The problem is that those who don't know the Creator cannot be expected to live godly lives. If we compare ourselves to the Hollywood crowd we might come off looking pretty good, compared to their lives of promiscuity, homosexuality, and excess. But is that an appropriate standard. I might add two plus two and say that it is five and the next person may add two plus two and get 12. When I look at his answer versus mine I might be tempted to think I'm better than he is since my answer is closer to the right one. The problem is both he and I are wrong! So how do we compare ourselves to them; and the question still remains, "What standard should we examine ourselves by?"

The next option is that we examine ourselves by the other religions around the world. But the same problem remains as in the standard of comparing ourselves to those in the world who profess no faith in anything. Of course their profession of no faith is really a lie. Their faith is in themselves and what they have decided is right for them. So we really can't examine ourselves relative to these groups either. When our standard is not really a standard but relative to what I think versus what someone else thinks, how can either be a standard. They may look like it and we may insist that ours is the right standard, but how do we know if it is right or not? What do we judge the standard we've chosen for ourselves by, to know if it is the right standard or not? What is next?

The next option is that we examine ourselves in relationship to the other denominations of Christianity or Judaism in the world. Now we get to the groups that closer resemble where we believe we are. Both groups believe there is Torah but both groups have a different perspective on Torah. Most of professing Christianity has a view of Torah that makes it irrelevant in their minds for anyone who professes to follow Jesus. Most believe that Jesus broke Torah. Judaism and her various sects believe one is to follow the teachings set forth by the Rabbis, even when the Rabbi's interpretation does not jive with Torah! Of course this is no different than the various sects of Christianity who likewise believe in the interpretation of her Rabbis; the so called Bible scholars and church fathers! The problem we encounter here is that, once again, we are judging the standard we have raised in our own judgment as to what is acceptable and unacceptable against standard raised by other men and women who have raise their standard in their own judgment as to what is acceptable and unacceptable. This brings us to a frustrating impasse. We will be locked into unending strife over whose standard is right and whose standard is wrong. This has caused a great many wars and deaths over the history of mankind. Well this relative approach does not seem to work. What next!

Well next we begin to compare our walk with the walk of others in our local fellowship - church, or within our family and friends. The problem still exists as it has in all the other options. When each of our family and friends determine what is right and what is wrong for them they are just like us. We tend to skew it to fit our particular lifestyle and or agenda. There are as many different views as to what is acceptable and what is unacceptable as there are people in a particular local church. So this too seems like a frustrating stalemate. The question still remains, what is the standard we should use?

For the professing follower of the Creator of the Universe, either ethnic Jew or Gentile of any other nation in the world, the standard must be the same. Why do I say that? Well it seems simple and logical to me. Think about it now! Whether one be orthodox Jew or professing Christian, each reads the same Scripture of the, so called, Old Testament. Each professes to acknowledge the God of those Scriptures as their God. If, as Scripture tells us, Yahweh does not change, then we must acknowledge that this unchanging God, Yahweh, the Creator of the Universe has an unchanging standard. What is that standard? It is Torah, His gentle loving Instruction to those who belong to Him.

I was born again, from above, as Yeshua says one must be to enter the kingdom of Yahweh, back on November, 23rd 1987. From 1987 until somewhere around 2001 I spent my professing Christian life judging my walk by the world, the other religions of the world, the other sects of Christianity and by those that I said were my brothers and sisters in Jesus. It never worked! My eyes slowly began to open and I began to look at Torah in a new light. I thank Yeshua for not allowing me to stay in a place of uncertainty and relative living. That's why I can say that the more I study Torah the more I realize how much of a sinner I am.

Yes! I am a sinner. The apostle John told us that if we claim we have no sin we are liars and the Truth is not in us! Well I know I'm a sinner. But how do I know that? Torah tells me I am every time I begin to consider lawless thinking and lawless attitudes that result in my lawless deeds. Torah is the Law of Yahweh. John said that sin is lawlessness. In another place we read that sin is the transgression of the Law. Yeshua said that those who practice lawlessness will not enter into His kingdom. There are three witnesses from Scripture. There are many more if you care to take a careful look.

Some Christians will say that the Law of God convicted them of their sin so that they realized they needed a Savior and they came to Jesus to obtain salvation by grace through faith. I believe that is true. Torah convicts us of sin and our need for a Savior - our need for the Passover Lamb of Yahweh that was slain from the foundation of the world, the sacrifice for sin, once for all. We need His blood applied to our hearts and we need His cleansing blood to cleanse us from all unrighteousness - uncleanness. But that is where the application is thought to stop for most who profess to follow Jesus.

Jesus - Yeshua is the Living Word, according to John. At the time of John's writing the only Word was the Holy Scriptures - Torah, the Prophets, and the writings - Psalms, Proverbs, etc. The Torah is the Word of Yahweh and the Prophets taught repentance to Torah, a return to living according to Yahweh's Instruction. That's why Yeshua said that we are not to even think that He came to destroy the Law AND the Prophets! Yeshua linked the Torah and the Prophets together. That presents a problem for the professing follower of Jesus - Yeshua. The professing Christian will tell you the Prophets foretold the coming Messiah - Jesus. It is clear from reading the Prophets that they preached repentance to Torah. Don't take my word for it, go read it for yourself! When Yeshua - Jesus says we are not to even think that He came to destroy the Law or the Prophets, and we say that He did, we have a problem. We find ourselves in opposition - rebellion to the One that we say we will follow anywhere! But how can we follow Him if we don't hear Him or believe what He says?

OK, I know, the word fulfill is thought to mean completed and done away with. But the word (look it up for yourself in the Strong's) means to "fully preach" the Law and the Prophets. Messiah is the fulfillment of the Torah in that He personifies Torah. He is Torah! And Paul says that He did this so that the "righteous requirement of the Law may be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." Now consider this line of thinking. The word for fulfill when Yeshua uses it concerning the Law and the Prophets is the same one that Paul uses in saying that the righteous requirement of the Law might be "fulfilled" in us. Keep tracking with me, I'm going somewhere with this.

OK! If Yeshua is saying that He came to destroy the Torah, again, using the same word which means the same thing in Paul's statement then what does that make Paul's statement mean? Let's look at Paul's statement, from Romans Eight, using the commonly held definition of fulfill. Paul would be made to say, "He (Yeshua) condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the Law might be 'destroyed' in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." Now, I ask you, "How does that work?" Yeshua condemned sin (lawlessness) in the flesh. And He did this so that the righteous requirement would then be destroyed in us? Especially when Paul has already stated that we are set free from sin - lawlessness! And He said, "Shall we continue in sin (lawlessness) that grace may abound? "Certainly not!" was his answer to his rhetorical question. It was as an absurd thought to Paul as it now is to me.

So what is the standard that you use to judge your walk by? If it is by any other standard than Torah it is a relative standard that floats from one man's opinion to another. If Torah convicted us of sin so that we came to Jesus to be set free from sin, and we know that, even though we are born again we still sin, how do we know what sin is apart from the Torah? Paul said if it had not been for Torah he would not have known sin! So who do you judge your walk, whether you are in sin or not? There is only one standard for sin and it is the "plumb line" of Torah. There is not other standard! All others are false standards that lead to a false messiah who cannot save!

The more I study Torah the more I realize I still sin. It grieves me to be shown my sin - lawlessness. I know it grieves my Lord Yeshua. I don't want to be in sin. I want to live by His commandments. And I can, because I am saved by grace through faith. I am His workmanship, created in Yeshua Messiah for good works that He prepared beforehand that I should walk in them. I praise Yeshua for His free gift of grace to set me free from lawlessness and give me the freedom to choose to walk in Torah. The evidence of being born again is to love and embrace the commandments of Yahweh. If you despise His Torah, reject it and say it is outdated and not for you, you had better go back to the Scripture and examine your life relative the Torah that convicted you in the first place. That standard has not changed. If it convicted you the first time, showing you a sinner, it still does!