Faith - Salvation - Grace - Works - Torah

When I am sharing with people about the Torah and that without Torah there is no knowledge of what sin is, it's hard for people to grasp this.

We need to understand that Faith came first with Abraham and the Covenant that G-D made with him. The Torah came 430 years later. Scripture says that Abraham believed G-D and it was credited him as righteousness, but as you will see in this study, works was also involved with his faith. Romans 4:3, Galatians 3:6&9, James 2:23.

People of today hear of someone keeping the Torah Instructions and they mistakenly think that this person is trying to achieve salvation by doing so.. Maybe there are some that are legalistically keeping the Torah, but I assure you.. I am NOT! We are not Saved by walking in the Ways of G-D's Torah instructions. We are only able to obtain Salvation through our belief in The Promise, that is, Yeshua (Jesus) as the Messiah, the Son of our Heavenly Father YHVH. Torah is G-D's Instructions about how HE wants us to live.

Look at the Israelites when they were about to be released or saved from the bondage in Egypt... They heard the Salvation message from Moses, they believed G-D's messenger and had Faith that He would save them from their bondage. They saw the signs and they obeyed G-D when they were told to take the Lamb's blood and put it on their door lintel and posts as a sign to the Destroying Angel to Pass over them and not put their first born to death. Because of this Faith, they were Saved and released from the bondage of Egypt. We also see that coupled with their Faith was Works, for if they had of just said that they believe and G-D's Grace has Saved them, then the Blood would not have been placed on the lintel and doorposts and the Destroying Angel would have visited their house and the 1st born would have died. After their Salvation came, they started their walk with G-D to the Promised Land and then 50 days after they left Egypt G-D gave them HIS Instructions or Laws and made a covenant with them.

These Instructions didn't give them Salvation, they contained the "Word" of G-D, which would instruct them in "Right"eous living.  Our Salvation is has always been and always will be by our Belief or Faith.  Remember, Faith (Emunah) is a verb, it requires action or it is incomplete.

I am not going to re-write the whole story because you can read it in the Bible, but if you read real close, you will see that the problem was not G-D's Torah (Instructions), but the Heart of Man.. Man has always been the problem, not G-D's Laws... And from my observation this point has not changed. Most men's hearts are still as hard as a rock and they are making the same choice as Cain and Baalam.

If you read the story of the woman caught in adultery and presented as a snare to entrap Yeshua,(John 8:3-11) you will see that by the Torah, she was to be put to Death... But, what you don't see is that these accusers were actually breaking the Law.. If they caught her in the act, that means that they also caught the man and the Torah states that the man is to be brought out and put to death also... So, aside from that, Yeshua knew that the accusers where guilty of the same thing that they were accusing her of, so this is why HE says "He who has no sin, let him cast the first stone" and what happens next is a big point that most don't see. He saved her and then told her to go and sin no more. To go and sin no more means go and observe the Torah and do what it says. Notice that Salvation, or Yeshua's saving GRACE (un-merited favor) came first to her, even though she deserved death, He saved her life with Grace first, then gave her the command to follow G-D's Torah and sin no more... What is Sin? The definition is in the Bible and very clear and easy for anyone to understand. 1 John 3:4


How does this apply to us today?

Bondage in Egypt represents our bondage to sin. Without G-D's Torah, we would not know how HE wants us to live and what HE expects out of those that are called by HIS Holy Name. John 1 tells us that Yeshua is the Word.. He is the Torah, brought to Life. Yeshua is the Torah in the Flesh. In all of His teachings while He was on earth, he expounded upon the Torah, he came to show us how to live in Him, the Living Way of the Almighty G-D, His Heavenly Father... Everything that He did was to the Glory of the Father, not himself. Yeshua is G-D's eternal Word and sadly, very few men wanted G-D's Word, instead, their Heart was filled with their tradition and disdain for the Truth. It is exactly the same today, man is blinded by tradition. He is blinded by the deceptive lies of the adversary (ha satan). Man is too busy, Man is too proud, Man is unwilling to change his ways in the Light of the Truth. They are not able to see that because they reject and teach against the Torah, they are rejecting and teaching against Yeshua as the Living Torah, The Word of G-D.. Didn't Yeshua say that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life and that no one can come to the Father, except through Him? If you look at the written Torah really close, you will see that within it's words is G-D's Way that He wants us and expects us to Live our lives for Him and includes the Truths of who HE is and what He has done for us and what He will do for us. It (Torah) also contains Life, because the man who keeps His Ways, will have a Life filled with the Joys of doing the Will of the Father in Heaven. Un-believers cannot see that by rejecting the Torah, they are rejecting G-D's Son, Yeshua. Remember what the name Yeshua means... It means Salvation...

By Keeping the Torah, or at least trying to do so, shows G-D that we Love Him and that we Honor HIM in our actions... He knows our heart's intent and the man or woman that accepts Yeshua as the Son of G-D, and tries to observe the instructions given in the Torah, then HIS Grace or unmerited favor will abound for this person, not because of his works, or efforts, but because of his Heart.. Because of his want to Love the L-RD with not only his heart, but with his actions also. The New or Re-Newed Covenant that G-D made with Isreal happened at Mt. Nebo (Deut. 29), because of their hard heart and the reality that man couldn't or wouldn't keep it, the 1st Covenant was broken, but G-D desired to make New the Covenant and give man the heart to do so. Notice Deut. 29:4; that until this New Covenant is made, man had not been given the heart to know, eyes to see, and the ears to hear.. Notice Deut. 30:6 that G-D will circumcise man's heart, this is part of G-D's Grace, to help us to be able to walk in HIS ways. So here again, we see Faith acted out in Works.. The New Covenant Heart Conversion is also spoke of in Jeremiah 31:33-34; Hebrews 8:10, and Hebrews 10:16. Some say that this was only given to the Jews, however Deut. 29:14-16 says otherwise. Notice the word "nations" in v.16, this is the word "Goy" which is translated into Gentiles. Also notice that the 1st Covenant was also given to not only the Jews (Israelites), but also Gentiles (Goy & Ger)... Exodus 12:38; 12:48-49; Lev. 24:22. So also, the New Covenant was given to both Jew & Gentile...

A good point to make at this time is the fact that when the 1st Covenant was given at Horeb, Moses ratified it with the blood of a young bull (Exodus 24:8), however at the giving of the New Covenant at Nebo, he didn't; because this covenant was ratified by the Shed Blood of Yeshua the Messiah. Some will also say that the Torah is too hard or not known, but in Deut. 30:11-14 it tells us that it is obtainable, within our reach and capacity to do so...

Finally, when you read Hebrews 11, you will see the example of many of G-D's people and how wherever their Faith was, there was also Action or Works... James 2:17-26 sums it up very well "Faith without Works is Dead"... So if we consider the Whole of Scripture, we see multiple examples of Faith, Salvation, Grace, & Works in G-D's Word... Torah...

John