The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 9:10
The wisdom of God is where truth begins, and the knowledge of the Holy One is revealed. The only way to truth, is to expose the lies and errors. In searching out the wisdom and knowledge of God, the lies and errors will be exposed for what they truly are. If you’ve been trusting in traditional teachings, rather than Scripture then perhaps you should question those very beliefs. The two little words below speak louder than falsities, for they expose the lies and errors that they have perpetuated the lives of believers for over two thousand years.
Why Torah?
To understand this question, you first must know the most important thing a believer in Yeshua (Jesus) must learn: the meaning of the Greek word kainos, and the Hebrew word chadashah.
Why? Because both of these words are translated incorrectly in the Bible wherever a new Covenant (testament) is spoken of (Ezekiel 36:26-27; Jeremiah 31:31; Matthew 26:28, Mark 14:24, Luke 22:20, 1Corinthians 11:25, 2Corinthians 3:6, Hebrews 8:8 & 9:15)––and it is the wrong translation of both these words that has caused all the confusion and false teachings in the grafted-in believing world.
This Hebrew word chadashah, and the Greek word kainos both translate as restore (NOT new), with the Hebrew word giving a little more information: restored to its previous condition.
So then we must look at God’s Covenant in a completely different way. If God’s Covenant was restored to its previous condition, we must look in the Scriptures to see what its previous condition was––and then we will see that this previous condition was the Torah, God’s original Covenant.
God does not change and He did not change. Yeshua restored His Way to His disciples. And His Way is the Torah, His one and only Covenant. Therefore, it is Yeshua (Jesus) and His Torah that we are to follow.
Why did Yeshua Need to Restore His Original Covenant?
Before, during and after the Babylonian exile, the Yisraelites (Israelites) were in very grave sin against God. They not only forgot His Torah, they even began to rewrite it after they did finally rediscover it when they came out of the Babylonian exile––it was no longer understandable to them, and thus the beginning of many changes.
After the Babylonian exile sects were formed, these sects took this rewritten version of the Torah and began to teach it to God’s people. One of these sects were the Parush (Pharisees) and they have survived these past two thousand years. Today’s Jews are yesterday’s Parush (Pharisees). The rewritten Torah is the man-made traditions that Yeshua (Jesus) spoke against, and it evolved into the Jewish Talmud. The Talmud is what the Jewish Rabbis teach today, rather than Scripture (or their own interpretations of Scripture). Judaism was born out of the Talmud, not the Torah.
By the time Yeshua was born, God’s Way was long gone and the priests were no longer teaching the Torah. The Parush (Pharisees) had taken over the task of teaching Torah, therefore they were teaching their own traditions of man to God’s people, not the actual Torah. These traditions of man consist of the many debates and arguments over how to interpret the Scriptures; the results of these debates are what are in the Talmud.
Before He could atone for mankind’s sins, Yeshua needed to reteach as many of His people as would listen to Him. He succeeded in doing just that, and thousands were well on their way to teaching others the Truth by the mid-first century.
The Parush were angry because Yeshua was teaching something completely different than what they were teaching––He was teaching the actual Scriptures, while they were teaching their own added traditions. Because of all these additions, the Parush did not recognize Yeshua as their Messiah.
After three and a half years, God completed His teaching task and became the Last Sacrificial Lamb to atone for all mankind’s sins. He allowed the Parush to betray Him because only the Hebrews could do a sacrifice, and Yeshua was to become that Last Sacrificial Lamb. But Truth be known, no one really killed Him––Yeshua laid down His Own Life for all mankind’s sin.
The first books of the New Testament were Matthew and Mark, and they were not written until about thirty years after Yeshua was on the Earth; and all the other books in the New Testament, written even later, were letters sent to the congregations to correct their teachings of the Torah. Therefore, whenever Yeshua or His disciples spoke of the Scriptures, they were referring to the only Scriptures they knew––the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament).
But is it Torah or Grace?
Torah is a Hebrew word that means God’s Teaching or Instruction (from the root word yara). Among the purposes of this Teaching (straight from God) was to preserve the Hebrews as a people, because they were to be the vehicle through which God would bring His Salvation to all His people on the Earth.
Grace means unmerited favor in English. But in Hebrew, the word is chen (khane), the ancient meaning being a fence that protects life. God's people were surrounded by a fence that protects life––God's grace is that fence.
This fence is what kept the Hebrews separated and protected from the heathen. The word chen (grace) was used first in the Hebrew Scriptures about thirty-seven times, so we know God's grace has always been here––it was a not a new thing that Yeshua brought. God's grace gave His people His Torah, which protected the Hebrews––if they kept His Commandments.
So What is the Difference?
There really is no difference between Grace and Torah. God’s grace is the essence of Torah, and Torah is the expression (or essence) of God’s grace.
Torah is the physical written Teaching of God. Grace is the spiritual (written on our hearts) Teaching of God––which are all the same Teachings that we find in the Torah.
Before God came to the Earth as Yeshua, He gave His Torah to His people in order to protect them. After He came, His Spirit came (and still does come) to live inside each true believer in Him, and because God literally dwells inside us, His Torah is automatically also inside us––because He is the Word that is written on the heart of our spirits. This was done so we could have our Guide with us at all times to keep us walking and living in His Way.
So Grace is Torah and God’s protection. Grace did not take the place of the Torah––God’s grace is the Torah.
Nothing has changed. God still expects us to keep all His Commandments––which we can find in His Torah. Throughout history (and the Bible), God continually warned and reminded His people of His Torah, because they always strayed from it. It is no different today and throughout the last two thousand years. God’s people have always strayed from God’s Torah––including those who call themselves Christians and Messianics.
God’s Teaching will be in us, literally written on our hearts, because He comes to live inside us when we invite Him in. But until the written Torah is taken away (until all things are restored––Revelation 21:5), the spiritual Torah will not take over. We must take this time to learn God’s Teachings, so we can be ready when the sea is no more (the sea in Revelation 21:1 is Torah).
The Good News or Glad Tidings is that God brought His Torah, His true Way of Life back to His people and to all who would come to believe in Him and His Way.
Shaul's (Paul) letters were simply to encourage those congregations that were having trouble learning Torah, constantly straying from God's Word, or straying into the bondage of their past beliefs, or back into the Pharisaic false teachings. Shaul’s words are the exact same words as God's Teaching (Torah). Paul's gospel is Yeshua's Torah, and we will be judged by God's Torah, and nothing else. It is obeying and walking in God's Way (Torah) that will give us victory in life, because it will keep us walking in His Way.
What About Christians?
What this all means for believers in Yeshua (Jesus) today is that there was NEVER a new Covenant. What Yeshua (Jesus) actually came to the Earth to do was to restore His Original Covenant (Torah) to His people (before He could pay for mankind’s sins). Yeshua did NOT bring a new covenant. God’s Covenant was complete since before mankind was ever created.
When one comes to believe in Yeshua (Jesus), then that person is allowed into the protective fence that is God’s Teaching (Torah). So when a heathen becomes a believer in Yeshua (Jesus), he/she comes under the protection of Torah––they become an Ibriy (Hebrew), not a Christian (the word "Christian" was never in the Bible––the Hebrew word behind the English word Christ is Moshiach, actually translated as Messiah in English).
God opened (stretched) the fence of protection that surrounded His people to protect them, and let the heathens inside that fence. Believers today have been included in the restored original Covenant.
Those who do not know Who Jesus really is, do not have any victory in their lives, because they reject God’s Torah. Once they begin to discover what the Truth really is, then their lives will begin to turn around.
Only God’s grace (Torah), can help believers transform their minds (spirits) and lives into Yeshua’s holy people. Yeshua’s grace and Torah will transform those who immerse themselves in His Word, and as they do, they become more and more like Yeshua each day. And Yeshua’s Word is in fact the Torah, not the New Testament.
Updated June 7, 2019
