We hear a lot about legalism, but does anyone really know what it means?
The typical answer is that it means obeying the Torah, also called “The Law”, but if we do not follow the law, then we are- by definition- lawless, and didn’t Shaul tell the Thessalonians that God will kill the lawless?
How can I be saved by ignoring the law if God kills those who ignore the law?
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My definition of legalism is that it is a performance-based system for salvation. What that means is that salvation comes not from faith, but from performing the instructions in the Torah, perfectly.
To date, the only human capable of doing that was Yeshua, which is why his sacrifice was accepted by God. And how do we know that it was accepted? Because Yeshua was raised from the dead and is now in the presence of the Lord.
Now here’s the kicker…Yeshua followed the Torah, perfectly, which is why he received salvation.
You see, the Torah is more than just a set of laws and regulations- it is the ultimate User’s Manual for how to live a righteous life, and by doing so be able to receive salvation.
I’ll bet that is confusing a lot of people, but the truth is undeniable- Yeshua lived a “legalistic” life and yet he was saved. But my religion tells me that I can only be saved by faith, and not the Torah. Oy gevalt! Which is it?
It’s both, but don’t fret, folks!
The good news is that you still need to be saved by faith; the bad news is that faith without works (that means obeying the Torah) isn’t enough.
I was raised Jewish, so I haven’t been conditioned to believe that all you need is faith (by the way, most people I talk to don’t have any idea what “having faith” really means). My conditioning, so to speak, was that the Torah has all we need to know in order to live a righteous life, and that we are to be faithful to God, and God, alone. I was also told that the Messiah has not come yet.
Over the past 25+ years, I have come to the understanding that faith is a choice: we choose to believe that God exists, we choose to believe that Yeshua is the Messiah God promised to send, we choose to believe that he lived a righteous life and sacrificed himself so that, by means of his innocent blood that was spilled, we can receive forgiveness of sin.
And after making those choices, we can now choose to live our lives by God’s instructions in the Torah, which includes which Holy Days to celebrate, which foods to eat, and a whole set of business ethics and penal laws that are also in the Torah (didn’t know that, did you?)
OR
we choose to live our lives by man-made tenets and ceremonies, celebrate man-made holidays, and (for the most part) reject pretty much everything that God said to do, which means we also have to pretty much reject how Yeshua lived his life.
Gee, that sounds pretty bad, doesn’t it? I thought legalism was just following the law, and – to be truthful- of course it is! When we follow the law, we are acting legally. DUH!
But, since the New Covenant doesn’t have any laws or commandments in it, by not following the Torah, one is living – by definition- without law.
Time Out: if you are thinking that there is a new commandment in the Gospels, it’s when Yeshua said he was giving a new commandment in John 13:34, that isn’t really new. It’s from Lev. 19:18.
The bad form of legalism is what the Pharisees taught: they said if you would just obey the letter of the law, even if you were faithless, you would be saved. But, in reality, that won’t do it, and we know this because God, himself, said so! He told the people, through more than one prophet, he would reject their sacrifices because their hearts weren’t in it, and also because they didn’t demonstrate real repentance.
Here’s the proper formula, as I see it- you need to make those choices to faithfully believe in God and Messiah Yeshua, and you also need to act faithfully by obeying what God said to do, and reject any religion that tells you to ignore the Torah.
I know this is a hard word for all you “good Christians” out there, especially the ones who have told me I am not saved because I do all that “Jewish” stuff.
Well, surprise! Doing all that Jewish stuff is why Yeshua’s sacrifice was accepted, why he was resurrected, how you can please God and ensure receiving blessings on earth (read Deuteronomy 28), and one more thing… being obedient to the Torah is how you can secure your salvation.
Please remember to subscribe and share these messages with everyone you know, even unbelievers because you never know how fertile the soil will be until you put a seed in it.
That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot, and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!
