Tag Archives: torah

Hebrew Roots and Christianity – compatibility?

Religion - Christianity, , , , ,

Is the Hebrew Roots Movement permissible in the New Covenant?

Hebrew Roots is certainly a permissible movement if the participant does not pursue days, diets, traditions, in a manner that “supplements” or “completes” FAITH as the divine, eternal, element of salvation.

If one chooses to consume only kosher meats and observes a Sabbath and festivals and traditions in order to honor Torah…that is beautiful and certainly acceptable in the New Covenant, but in the life of the Christian, there is NO obligation to honor Torah’s edicts, its traditions, its days and diets as these things foreshadowed the Messiah but Messiah has come (Colossians 2:16; Romans 14) and we are free to eat or refrain according to our own conscience via the indwelling Holy Spirit and we’re free to chose whatever day or everyday to honor our Lord; therefore, in the New Covenant, it’s NOT about what we DO but in Whom we believe and the Spirit is our Arbiter of free will and the Christian honors the Spirit though obedience to Him (Galatians 5:16) which results in the production of divine fruit (Galatians 5:22-23) while in Torah, the old sin-nature sought subjugation to Torah Law, an obedience that could NEVER be fully achieved as the Adamic sin-nature had no arbiter but the flesh and a weakened conscience subject to that flesh.

My personal concerns for Hebrew Roots participants,

My primary concern for those who confess Yeshua as Messiah by faith and simultaneously place an emphasis on Torah observance is the inclination of the sin-nature to slip into theological compromise with works and thereby nullify the purity of faith and thereby fall into a state of apostasy and ultimately condemnation.

I have personally witnessed this in the Messianic Jewish converts who struggle having placed one foot in grace through faith in Yeshua while placing the other in Torah in Temple and the Torah as an Icon of worship. I have witnessed this in my own family.

In private, these people are miserable…they are torn…they are divided…they are compromised…they are lost…they have strayed…some become addicted…others are angry and hateful toward Christianity…it is tragic (Galatians 3).

Torah Law and the New Covenant

Religion - Christianity, , , , , , , , ,
Torah Law and the New Covenant…

The Spiritual Law (Romans 2:14-15; Romans 8:2) has been written upon the human heart subsequent Day-6 as Human Kind is created in the spiritual image of Elohim (Genesis 1:26-28) possessing certain divine communicable attributes of Elohim, one such attribute being the Spiritual Law which acts as a bulwark against unrestrained narcissism that would culminate in societal implosion.

Torah Law is but a fragmented, segmented, portion of the comprehensive Spiritual Law and Torah Law was given specifically to Israel for sanctification and eschatological purposes concerning thwarting Israel’s compromise with Baal and Molech which would have negated their eschatological purpose concerning the Messiah, the Gospel, the Great Commission, going forward.

Torah is a bygone covenant of no true relevance in the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:7); with that said, Torah does offers me historical and eschatological knowledge that is very profitable in my walk with the Holy Spirit but other than that, Torah demonstrates through Israel’s failures what NOT TO DO concerning the establishment of righteousness with Elohim (Romans 9-10).

Subjugating the flesh, Adam’s sin nature,

The Christian walks by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16) and the flesh is brought under control through obedience to the Spirit and the production of divine fruit (Galatians 5:2-23), NOT TORAH LAW!

Can New Covenant relationship with God be motivated through a fear of Hell?

Religion - Christianity, , , , , , , , ,
Can New Covenant relationship with Elohim be motivated through a fear of Hell and a perception of Elohim as a God of anger and retribution?

Discussion,

Those who seek to love our Creator and desire intimacy with Him, knowledge of Him, are not motivated by a fear of Hell but a desire to know and honor the One who gave them life and they seek knowledge of the who, what, where, when, why, how, concerning this temporary life constrained by a temporary Realm of Time and physics.

Personally, I was not motivated to honor Elohim in response to fear but in response to Truth that was absorbed during my first thorough reading of the New Testament approximately 33-years ago; in fact, approximately one-half way through the New Testament I looked up from the pages of Scriptures and asked “Where has this (Scriptural Truth) been all my life?” Hell was NOT on the radar or in the thought process…but an all-encompassing love and assurance resonated from the pages of Scripture and I could do NOTHING but respond in the affirmative to the Holy Spirit’s call upon my life…I BELIEVED what I had read and a change of heart immediately manifest!

In my humble opinion,

I don’t think a true intimate relationship with Elohim can manifest with purity and authenticity if FEAR is the motive for that relationship; this truism exists within human nature as well as true love and intimacy cannot exist in an atmosphere of fear or coercion; therefore, the one who sincerely enters into New Covenant relationship with the Father through faith in the Son is one motivated by love and awe and joy in knowing the One who is Causation for life, the Elohim who possesses the knowledge of why we exist, how we exist, our purpose in this life and in the life to come; therefore, it is “divine relationship” initiated through knowledge and love that inspires “New Covenant relationship” and not fear. It is through the mysteries of nature (Romans 1:20) and internalizing the Word of Elohim with a heart willing to receive that initiates New Covenant relationship with the Father; this, by believing what the Father has said concerning the Son, a testimony provided by the Holy Spirit that is responded to in the affirmative out of love, trust, assurance through faith (Romans 10:17).