Return By Some To A Unified Law of the Torah and Obedience To That Law

Posted : 5 Nov, 2013 06:41 AM

Return By Some To A Unified Law of the Torah and Obedience To That Law



The Pharisees of Acts 21: 20, were said by James to be "all zealous of the law. " What James was talking about is the view that Torah, the Law of Moses, is unified and not divided into a moral and a shadows or ceremonial part. Now there is a rising movement by those in the Messianic Judaism, Hebrew Roots and Sacred Name movements in proclaiming that the Torah is still unified and not divided and that all physical Israel never lost its status as the chosen people.



Acts 21: 17-21 says "And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.

And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present. And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:

And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs."



And in Acts 15: 1, 5 "And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved....But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses." Acts 1: 2 records that Paul and Barnabas "had no small dissension and disputation with them."



Paul teaches in Colossians 2: 16-17 "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." Hebrews 10: 1 says "For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect."



When Paul is teaching in Romans 7 about wanting to obey the law but not being able to (Romans 7: 15), and when he says in Romans 7: 14 that the law is spiritual and in verse 22 that he delights in the law of God in the inner man or inner life, he is not talking about the shadows, the ceremonial law, which man in the state of the natural man (I Corinthians 2: 14) cannot fulfill. He is talking about not being able to obey the moral law which is a manifestation of the righteousness of God. Then he says in Romans 8: 1 that for man who is in Christ, does not walk totally dominated by his flesh - body and mind without spirit - but walks after the Holy Spirit there is no condemnation. The man in Christ, not dominated totally by the flesh and who is led by the Spirit, is saved. This is a transformation from the spiritual condition of the natural man who cannot know the things of the Spirit of God and cannot receive them.



Sin is transgression of the law, and if you make no distinction between the moral and ceremonial part of the law, then transgression of any part of the shadows (Hebrews 10: 1, Colossians 2: 16-17) is sin. This would mean that if the moral part of the law is not seen as being different from the shadows, that to remain uncircumcised is sin. This is clearly going back to the Old Covenant while claiming to have Christ and to be saved by him. It is another Jesus and another Gospel, but even more of an abomination than that done under dispensationalism. Christ is the way, the truth and the life (John 14: 6) and to reject a part of his truth is to reject Christ. I know that it was Paul and not Christ who taught that circumcision was done away with as a requirement of God's people. But the risen Christ is quoted by Paul in Acts 26: 15-17 as saying to him, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee." Christ tells Paul that he will appear to Paul to give him further revelation. Christ made Paul a witness of the things, or doctrines, which Paul is to peach to the Gentiles.



Paul says that circumcision as part of the shadows or the ceremonial law was abolished under the New Covenant (Galatians 5: 2-3). He teaches this in strong language, "Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall prophet you nothing."



In Philippians 3: 2, 5-8 Paul proclaims that "Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision......Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ."



Concision is Strong's Exhaustive Concordance number 2699, katatome, a cutting down (off), mutilation, concision."



Paul says above that he was circumcised, was of the tribe of Benjamin and a Pharisee, but he counts all this as a four letter word. Again, strong words.



http://www.lightofmashiach.org/circumcision.html



Circumcision And Gentiles

By Ellen Kavanaugh, of Messianic Judaism



She quotes Genesis 17:9-14 and then says "So, circumcision isn't given just to the Jewish people but to all of Abraham's descendants. Abraham obeyed G-d and all the males in his household were circumcised.



A common argument is that Gentile believers don't need to be circumcised because they come into G-d's covenant not through Torah or Jewishness, but through Abraham. Yet we've just seen circumcision was the *very sign* of the covenant G-d made with Abraham before Torah was even given. So this argument doesn't excuse Gentile believers from being circumcised."



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messianic_Judaism



"The observance of the kashrut dietary laws is a subject of continued debate among Messianic Jews. Some Messianic believers keep kosher purely for the purposes of evangelism to Jewish people. Most avoid pork and shellfish, but there is disagreement on more strict adherence to kosher dietary laws."



"When conversion is sincerely desired by a gentile Messianic believer, Messianic Jewish halachic standards (including circumcision) are imposed to maintain integrity among the world Messianic Jewish community."



http://jerusalemcouncil.org/articles...e-circumcised/



"Do I need to be circumcised?



Yes, it�s part of keeping the Covenant.



It is a sign of the Covenant, in that it is a sign as to Who the Messiah is, in that he does not come by human effort, and that He is the �seed of the woman� prophesied in Genesis 3:15.



It is also required of all males who wish to eat of the Passover. Yeshua commanded �do this is remembrance of me,� that is, the Passover. Those males who desire to follow his charge concerning Passover, must also submit to the Torah�s requirements for keeping it, which includes circumcision."



"It naturally follows that one who desires to keep the Covenant, is one who will also desire to get circumcised, commit to do the Torah, and even go through a mikvah of conversion!"



"Conversion into all other sects of Judaism require that circumcision come first. HaDerech has no right to change this universally accepted community requirement, and this site does not intend to do so either. We recognize one who is a Jew as one who has been circumcised according to orthodox halakha. This does not mean, however, giving up the belief that Yeshua is the Messiah, and the Word of HaShem, since to do so would be to rebel against HaShem and His Torah, for which the Torah warns we will not be forgiven if we do so."



"We view circumcision as we view any other commandment in the Torah: a standard of obedience to the Messiah who himself was circumcised and commands us to do the same. If ones does not get circumcised, then they are not obeying the Messiah in this regard, and thus not obeying HaShem, and thus have not made true teshuvah � repentance to the Torah; and all are called to repentance!



As a convert from the nations, part of your obligation in keeping the Covenant, if you are a male, is to get circumcised in fulfillment of the commandment regarding circumcision. "



"Jewish Conversion Process". JerusalemCouncil.org. February 10, 2009. Retrieved August 18, 2010. "The process of Jewish Conversion is: 1. Repent by keeping the Covenant (Return to the Torah, get circumcised if male, and commit to the Torah).�2. Believe Yeshua is the Messiah, and that he is coming as the King (Obey everything He commands, which is the Torah).�3. Be immersed in the name of Yeshua, witnessed by others (Go through a mikveh in his name)."



http://web.archive.org/web/200803290...nt/view/18/32/



"Messianic Judaism is indeed a Judaism and not merely a primitive form of Christianity........In fact in many Messianic Jewish synagogues, the majority of people are not Jewish.........



http://christianity.about.com/od/mes...-Practices.htm



"Circumcision - Messianic Jews hold that male believers must be circumcised, since it is a part of keeping the Covenant ."



"Holidays - Holy days observed include those recognized by Judaism: Passover, Sukkot, Yom Kippur, and Rosh Hashanah.



Jesus Christ - Messianic Jews refer to Jesus by his Hebrew name, Yeshua. They accept him as the Messiah promised in the Old Testament, and believe he died an atoning death for the sins of humanity, was raised from the dead and is alive today.



Sabbath - Like traditional Jews, Messianic Jews observe the Sabbath starting at sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday.



Sin - Sin is a transgression against the Torah and is cleansed by the shed blood of Yeshua. "



Most likely those in Messianic Judaism hold to a unified Torah, or Law of Moses, and do not distinguish a moral part of the Law from the shadows (Hebrews 10: 1, Colossians 2: 16-17) or ceremonial Law. So, for them not observing the feast days, the Sabbath or being circumcision is transgression of the Law, which is sin.



"For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect." Hebrews 10: 1



"Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." Colossians 2: 16-17



"Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised." I Corinthians 7: 18



No doubt the Messianic Judaism followers who insist on circumcision mean what is called Periah circumcision which was started by the Rabbis of Talmudic Judaism in about 140 BC. The Old Covenant circumcision, called Bris Milah, was much less painful and traumatic for the newborn child than the radical circumcision practiced by those in Talmudic Judaism after 140 BC. And Periah circumcision is the type practiced by modern medical doctors.



http://www.circumstitions.com/Jewish2.html#rambam



Moses Maimonides (1135-1204), an important leader of Talmudic Judaism, says of circumcision that "Similarly with regard to circumcision, one of the reasons for it is, in my opinion, the wish to bring about a decrease in sexual intercourse and a weakening of the organ in question, so that this activity be diminished.... The bodily pain caused to that member is the real purpose of circumcision. None of the activities necessary for the preservation of the individual is harmed thereby, nor is procreation rendered impossible, but violent concupiscence and lust that goes beyond what is needed are diminished. The fact that circumcision weakens the faculty of sexual excitement and sometimes perhaps diminishes the pleasure is indubitable." Maimonides is not talking about Old Covenant circumcision, but about the more radical Periah type begun by the Rabbis in about 140 A.D.

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