Romans_ Lawlessness

We continue with our consideration of whether or not Jewish and Gentile believers are to observe the Torah (aka the law). This particular rabbit trail that began in Romans because the Jewish and Gentile believers were judging each other is taking us for the moment out of the book of Romans, but it will bring us right back to it shortly. Thus, I want to still title it as part of the study of Romans.

For our considerations, it might be helpful to look at a few scriptures concerning the commandments of God and a few particular words used concerning the Torah, such as lawlessness, transgression of the law, and right or righteousness:

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your Name, cast out demons in Your Name, and done many wonders in Your Name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!"( Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV) [The King James Version uses the word "iniquity" instead of "lawlessness."]

"And everyone who has this hope in him continues purifying himself, since God is pure. Everyone who keeps sinning is violating Torah – indeed, sin is violation of Torah…children, don't let anyone deceive you – it is the person that keeps on doing what is right who is righteous, just as God is righteous. The person who keeps on sinning is from the Adversary, because from the very beginning the Adversary has kept on sinning….here is how one can distinguish clearly between God's children and those of the Adversary: everyone who does not continue doing what is right is not from God." (1 John 3:3-10 JNT - Jewish New Testament)

In the King james version verse 4 of that same scripture, which is underlined, reads as follows:

"Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." (1 John 3:4 KJV)

"…when we love God, we also do what He commands. For loving God means obeying His commands. Moreover, His commands are not burdensome, because everything which has God as its Father overcomes the world." (I John 5:2b-4 JNT)

"For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?" (2 Corinthians 6:15 NKJV)

If righteousness is obedience, then lawlessness or iniquity or sin is disobedience. The question in modern-day Christianity seems to be: obedience or disobedience to what? And if the answer is NOT the Torah, then we have the bigger problem of each one trying to define, either according to one's own interpretation, or the interpretation of the church one is member of, just what it is we are to be obedient to; we become the judges of what sin is and what sin is not, rather than God being the judge of that.

For example, some churches believe that it is sin to drink alcohol, even though neither the Torah nor anywhere else in scripture ever commands us not to consume alcohol; scripture says only that we are not to become drunk with alcohol. Jesus turned water into wine. Jesus and the disciples shared wine at the Last Supper. Paul encourages Timothy to have a little wine to help with his stomach issues. It is NOT sin to consume alcohol. Yet, depending on the "burdens" that men put on other men as they sit in judgment of them, in some churches consuming alcohol in moderation is SIN. This burden is put upon men using exactly the same principle that the Pharisees used when they put the "hedge laws" into effect: if too much alcohol is bad, then it would be better not to touch alcohol at all. This is a perversion of scripture, and a perversion of the freedom that God has given us; much as Eve did in the garden when she told the serpent that God had told them not to "eat or touch" the fruit of the tree. God never said 'don't touch'; He only said 'don't eat.' Eve was the first to modify one of God's commands; and that is forbidden by God.

Other denominations believe it is sinful to dance, even though the bible is full of scriptures that speak of dancing as a form of worship. Some churches forbid the use of musical instruments, even though David worshiped God with the psaltery and the harp, and Miriam with tambourines.

If God is not allowed to be the One, the Only One, to determine what sin is and what it is not, then we are all wide open for an "anything goes" gospel. If I, for example, can determine that what I did or did not do was the right thing to do simply because "God told me to do it", whether or not a basis for that which was spoken to me can be confirmed by the Word of God as being something God desires of me, then I am a loose cannon in the midst of Christianity. In fact, we have many loose cannons in Christianity as the standard that God laid down for us, the Torah, has been abandoned for the most part by modern-day Christians who have been taught that they do not have to observe God's commands as set forth in the Old Testament. These same folks can operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit ("have we not prophesied in Your Name, cast out demons in Your Name, and done many wonders in Your Name?") thus identifying them as part of the church. This is a very disturbing picture, isn't it? That the "many" that Jesus speaks of whom He will not know are church-goers, saved and operating in the gifts of the Spirit…gifts which are not revocable by God…once He gives them, He does not take them back…no matter the obedience, or lack of, demonstrated by the vessel He uses. I don't believe these folks are going to hell…after all they are saved…but there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, signifying losses of some considerable importance because they deliberately chose to sin after coming to knowledge of their Savior. This disobedience is not unintentional sin or acts of ignorance; these are intentional sins, indicating a choice was given and sin was chosen rather than bringing glory to God. How different this would be in so many lives, if the churches were teaching the Torah; if they were teaching the church members about what sin is and how important it is to continue to avoid it at all costs; if they were teaching the commandments of God…ALL the commandments of God as contained in His Word.

We see that the disciples followed God's Torah explicitly and brought the Gentile converts to the synagogue "on the Sabbath" so that they, too, could begin to learn the Torah (Acts 15).

We, however, have been taught that the Torah was fulfilled by Jesus and no longer necessary to observe. But it has not been fulfilled by Jesus. Jesus "came" to fulfill it, but He is not done. His fulfillment of the Torah has to do with His fulfilling the prophecies symbolized by each of the Feast Days of the Lord, which are divided into spring feasts and fall feasts. While Jesus has fulfilled the spring feasts, He has yet to fulfill the fall feasts. And until He does, not one jot nor one tittle shall pass away (be removed from observance) from the Torah.

We will take a look at all of these feasts and His fulfillment of them in the next posting.

"And you shall enlighten them concerning the laws and the Torah, and show them the way in which they should walk and the work which they do." (Exodus 18:20)

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, not sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the Torah of YHWH, and in His Torah he meditates day and night." (Psalm 1:1-2)

"Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people and I will be their God. But as for those whose hearts follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their deeds on their own heads, says the Lord God [Elohim]." (Ezekiel 11:19-21)