Tag: under the law

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Discussions Torah

Swiss cheese boundaries: Danger of hole-y gates in our house for God (Exodus 35-38)

Swiss cheese boundaries: Danger of hole-y gates in our house for God (Exodus 35-38)

Why is the Tabernacle so special? When you look at this reading as it’s presented, the events of the Torah reading ויקהל Vayaq’hel (“and he assembled,” Exodus 35:1–38:20) are set in the aftermath of the golden calf (Exodus 32). While the Tabernacle architectural and interior design details in this reading make it seem identical to prior Torah readings before the golden calf incident, the key lesson of these passages is that the primary function of the Tabernacle was to establish the presence of HaShem (“The Name,” i.e., the LORD) in the midst of His people.

The LORD has desired to dwell with people since the foundation of the world (Eden), has taken steps to reestablish that relationship. God created is Israel, instructed Israel to build the Tabernacle and sent the Messiah as the Tabernacle made flesh. Then God plans to bring that to ultimate reality (New Jerusalem). God’s desire to dwell with His people has never changed.

A key first lesson of the Tabernacle is its gate, its door. That teaches that something important must change as a person moves in from the realm outside the Presence of God.

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Apostolic Writings Be a Berean series Videos

Video: Mystery of Double-Minded Scriptures on Grace and Law

Be a Berean video series

Here is part 2 of the Be a Berean video study series by Sean Hilton. In this episode, Sean explores dozens of ‪ ‎New Testament‬ verses that seem to say be contradictory on whether the Law (aka the ‪Torah‬) is what believers in ‪‎Yeshua‬ the Messiah‬ (‪Jesus‬ Christ) should be keeping or is “nailed to the cross.” Sean asks those interested in knowing God better whether the Bible is double-minded on grace and the Law.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions

Can one be ‘under grace’ yet obey God’s Torah?

How do we explain to others about being “under grace” and still obey the Torah? Are we “under grace” or “under law”? Paul explains this in his letter to the Romans.

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Discussions Torah

Deuteronomy 30-31: Prelude to the Song of Moshe

A Prelude to the Song of Moses: "God's love is not co-dependent or enabling. He will not enable His children to sin.

Revelation fortells of a time when those who trust completely in God and aren’t fooled by the beast, his image and the number of his name will sing “the song of Moses” and “the song of the Lamb” (Rev. 15:2–4).

We know of the “song of the Lamb” from Revelation 5. There’s the “song of Moshe” in Exodus 15 just after God saves Israel and destroys the Egyptian army in the Red Sea. There’s also another “song” of Moshe in Deuteronomy 32, and understanding it helps us understand apostle Paul’s terms “under [the] law” and “under grace.”

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Apostolic Writings Discussions

Conversion by circumcision vs. by the Spirit (Galatians 5)

Paul’s discussions of circumcision, mainly in Galatians, Philippians and Romans, have been interpreted as being condemnation against the Torah, because the Law calls for circumcision for newborns and those wanting to participate in key parts of worship of God.

However, it must be remembered that circumcision by the first century A.D. had become an “identity marker” separating Jews from non-Jews. Like observance of Shabbat, circumcision was listed among the “works of [the] law” in the Dead Sea Scrolls that defined those separate from the corrupt religious system around the time of the first century. The rite of circumcision could be behind the division between Jewish and “unconverted” non-Jews that Paul dressed down Peter and the Galatian congregations in chapters 2 and 3 of this letter.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions

Mature believers and the Torah: Meaning of ‘Sarah’ and ‘Hagar’ in Galatians 4

Mature believers and the Torah: Meaning of 'Sarah' and 'Hagar' in Galatians 4. 'Jerusalem above is free' vs. 'Present Jerusalem ... is in slavery.'

Galatians 4, with its discussion of freedom from being “under [the] law” and not of the Jerusalem related to the flesh, is often cited by those who argue that observing the Torah is a backward step for believers in Messiah Yeshua. However, considering what Paul already wrote in chapters 1 through 3 and the parallel discussion in Romans 5–7, his point in this chapter is that both Jews and non-Jews are in the same situation without God’s method of salvation, which isn’t God’s Law. Yet God’s goal for humanity long-term is heart-led obedience to His Law.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions

Galatians 1:6-9 — What is the ‘different gospel’ addressed in this letter? A look at Ephesians 2-4

We continue to explore the “gospel” that Paul delivered to the Galatians by reading what is recorded of his messages to those congregations and his parallel explanations in letter to other congregations. Today, we explore Ephesians 2-4 and its discussion of the “new man” and “old man.”