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Yeshua-Observant = Torah-Observant
by Chaia Kravitz
When we focus our lives on Yeshua, we are also focusing on Torah. When my brother Marc Handelsman talks about how we, as Believers, must focus on following Yeshua, I whole-heartedly agree. But when the discussion turns to the belief that we must, at the same time, lose our focus on Torah, my attitude is less enthusiastic. Grace is a wonderful thing. We are saved through grace when we come to faith in Yeshua. Salvation is not accomplished by works, Torah or otherwise. However, after accepting Yeshua, then what? What is a grace-filled life supposed to look like? Because of the intense focus on grace, many believers in churches have missed the point about living a righteous lifestyle before the King. In an eye-opening article published in Christianity Today, "The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience", author Ronald J. Sider discusses statistics that demonstrate the lifestyles of professing believers attending church are more or less the same as those who are not practising Christians. Apparently, the concept of grace has gone too far. You've accepted Yeshua and gotten your one-way ticket into Heaven. The rest is all gravy. You can do whatever you want now, repent, and be forgiven. This is called "greasy grace" (or, less commonly, "sloppy agape") and it is all too common. How did this happen? Why did this happen? Because we have forgotten about Torah. We are saved through grace but then given no direction as to what our lives are supposed to look like. This is why we need Torah. It is a guidemap for righteous living. It's lessons are eternal. By not choosing to ignore three quarters of the Bible, it is indeed possible to be both Yeshua-Observant and Torah-Observant. The believing world would look a lot different today if we did.Chaia Kravitz is the Editor and Webmaster of Messianic Jewish Online. Copyright 2005
- Romans 1:16, NIV |