For a long time now I have heard the debate about keeping the commands of YHWH. Many people claim that we no longer are required to do so for salvation and therefore there is no need to keep them. Others claim that the law was nailed to the cross and we should not bother with it any more. Others still claim the law is a burden and a curse for all those that keep it. Finally, the one I hear most often, the laws are only for, and have always been just for the Jews. In all four instances, these people are professing Christians. I have also heard the other side of the argument that we should keep the laws of God because YHWH commanded us to and these commands were given with the word forever or everlasting. After hearing these arguments for so long, I decided to research what the Bible actually has to say about keeping the commands of the Father and how it pertains to me as a believer.
Who were the original laws for?
The first thing I would like to do is find out who the laws were originally given to, according to the Bible. If we go back to the Torah, where the laws were originally given we can find several instances in which the laws were given, and to whom they were given to. What we find may be of interest to all of us.
Exodus 12:49
One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you
Leviticus 16:29
“This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you.
Leviticus 17:8-14
“Also you shall say to them: ‘Whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, and does not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, to offer it to the Lord, that man shall be cut off from among his people. ‘And whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’ Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘No one among you shall eat blood, nor shall any stranger who dwells among you eat blood.’ “Whatever man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who hunts and catches any animal or bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust; for it is the life of all flesh. Its blood sustains its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘You shall not eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.’
Leviticus 18: 26
Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourned among you:
Numbers 9: 14
And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the Passover unto the Lord; according to the ordinance of the Passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do: ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land.
Numbers 15:15-16
One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourned with you, an ordinance forever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord. One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourned with you.
Numbers 15: 29
Ye shall have one law for him that sinned through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourned among them.
Numbers 19:10
And he that gathered the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourned among them, for a statute forever.
Based on these eight passages, it definitely seems to nullify the idea that the law was given only to the Jews. The law was very obviously given to all of Israel and the non-Israelite that chose to live among them and follow YHWH. I can see this being in direct relation to what we should expect to find further in the researching process. Think about the implications this idea could potentially have on the fact that so many people claim these laws are only for the Jews.
I had a hard time agreeing with that idea before ever taking the time to research this idea due to the fact that the Jews are only one of the twelve tribes of Israel and the law was given to all of Israel. Now that it is obvious that the law was not given only to the Jews, but rather to all Israel and the stranger that chose to live among them and follow the God of Israel, we can move forward with our research.
Was the law a burden?
One of the next
things that I hear people complaining about on a regular basis concerning the
commandments of YHWH is that no man can keep them because they are too
burdensome. I find this very hard to believe and this is one of the biggest reasons
I decided I needed to research this topic myself. I have spent a fair amount of
time looking over the 613 Old Testament laws with the intent of finding a few
that were just out of the question for men to be able to keep. Understanding
that there are quite a few of these laws, from what I have looked over thus
far, I find none that I cannot keep myself, especially if I were trying to
ensure that I would not sin. I used the following site, http://www.jewfaq.org/613.htm, and I
will list a few from this site.
1. To
know that G-d exists (Ex. 20:2; Deut. 5:6)
2. Not
to entertain the idea that there is any god but the Eternal (Ex. 20:3)
3. To
honor the old and the wise (Lev. 19:32)
4. To
learn Torah and to teach it (Deut. 6:7)
5. Not
to add to the commandments of the Torah, whether in the Written Law or in its
interpretation received by tradition (Deut. 13:1)
6. Not
to take away from the commandments of the Torah (Deut. 13:1)
7. That
every person shall write a scroll of the Torah for himself (Deut. 31:19)
8. To
pray to G-d (Ex. 23:25; Deut. 6:13)
9. To
recite grace after meals (Deut. 8:10)
10. Not
to lay down a stone for worship (Lev. 26:1)
11. To
love all human beings who are of the covenant (Lev. 19:18)
12. To
rebuke the sinner (Lev. 19:17)
13. Not
to refrain from maintaining a poor man and giving him what he needs (Deut.
15:7)
14. Not
to indulge in familiarities with relatives, such as kissing, embracing,
winking, skipping, which may lead to incest (Lev. 18:6)
15. Not
to have intercourse with a beast (Lev. 18:23)
Granted I could continue, but I just chose a select few and posted them,
but I did provide the link if you wish to see each of the 613. Much of the
Torah’s Laws are done naturally for many of us. It seems there are a few that
we may struggle with. Some of the Laws may not apply to use, but not because they
are burdensome, but rather because we may not be a farmer, or a Priest, or a
King. Some of them are only for women, others just for men. As for being too
burdensome, the following is what our Bible has to say.
Deuteronomy 30: 10-14
If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
1 John 5:3
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
One can only conclude from this
that the Laws of YHWH are not too burdensome, or too difficult to keep for men,
but rather, men choose not to keep them and claim it is because they are too
hard. It is not the Law that is too hard, but it is the people that were too
stubborn to keep it. When people claim that the Law was too difficult and that
is the reason God changed the law, they seem to miss the fact that it was not
the Law that caused the issue but rather the people were the problem.
Hebrews 8:7-8
For if there had been nothing
wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But
God found fault with the people and said…
Psalm 19:7
The law of YHWH is perfect,
refreshing the soul. The statutes of YHWH are trustworthy, making wise the
simple.
The Curse of the Law
What was the Bible referring to
when it mentions the curse of the law? The book of Galatians mentions that we
are redeemed from the curse of the law, but does that mean the law in itself is
the curse? Some Christians believe this is so. Does this mean that if we are to
attempt to keep the law we are bringing a curse upon ourselves? Other believers
claim this to be true as well. I don’t see it this way and I plan to use the
Bible to prove that the Law was not a curse.
Galatians 3:13
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a
curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”
So what is meant by this verse,
if it does not mean the Law itself is the curse?
Deuteronomy 27: 26
“Cursed is anyone who does not
uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.” Then all the people shall
say, “Amen!”
Joshua 8: 34
Afterward, Joshua read all the
words of the law—the blessings and the curses—just as it is written in the Book
of the Law.
The curse we were redeemed from
was not the law itself, because the law was not the curse, but rather the curse
that comes from not obeying God’s Law. Christ’s death was to redeem believers
when they fail to uphold the entire law, not for believers to completely ignore
these laws. This is what Grace is all about. All
too often I hear believers saying we are free from the law of God. However, I do
not see it that way based on scriptural evidence. We are freed from the curses
of the law, meaning IF we fail to uphold the
commandments, we have Grace to save us from that sin. This is exactly what we
see in 1 John 2:1.
1 John 2: 1
My little children, these things
I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an
Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
1 Corinthians 9: 21
To those not having the law I
became like one not having the law (though
I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those
not having the law.
Colossians 2: 13-14
When you were dead in your sins and in the
uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all
our sins, having canceled the charge of
our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the
cross.
Based
on what the Bible presents, the law does not bring a curse on those that decide
to keep it, but rather the curse fell on those that did not keep the law. Now,
after Christ has set us free from this curse that was the legal obligation
against all that failed to keep that law, we do not fall under the curse. It
was the curse that the law brought against all those that failed to keep it
that was nailed to the cross, not the law itself. We, as believers, are still
supposed to keep this law but doing so with the faith that if we mess up, we
have an advocate to speak up for us on judgement day.
