Close examination of the gospels reveals that Yeshua never taught against the letter of the law. Instead, he taught against the abuse of the law in order to maintain man-made traditions or to fulfill evil desires of an unregenerate heart. He also taught us the correct spiritual application of the Torah, which was a sign of the New Covenant, the law written on our hearts. To believe on Yeshua was to love the Father’s righteous Torah the same way our Messiah did, seeing it as full of grace, mercy, and justice.

Matthew 5:17-19 "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."

Luke 16:16-17 "The law and the prophets until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presses into it. And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail."

John 5:45-47 "Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuses you, even Moses, in whom you trust. For had you believed Moses, you would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if you believe not his writing, how shall you believe my words?"

In addition to His clear instructions that He did not come to do away with the law (Torah) but to bring it to its fullest application, Yeshua also wanted His disciples to understand His mission from the foundation of the Tanakh (Old Testament):

Luke 24:25-27, 32, 44-45 "Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself."

"And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?”

“And he said unto them, These are the words which I spoke unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures."

Mark 12:24 "Do you not therefore err, because you know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?"

John 5:39 "Search the scriptures: for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."

John 12:49-50 "For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, He gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that His commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak."

John 14: 21, 23- 24, John 15:10 "He that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him..."If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loves me not keeps not my sayings: and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me...If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love."

John 17:17 "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."

All doctrines or other personal illumination should be measured according to the objective standard of the Scriptures, for it says in Psalm 19:7-10, among other things, that

• The Torah (law) of the Lord is perfect

• The testimony of the Lord is sure

• The precepts of the Lord are right

• The commandments of the Lord are pure

• The fear of the Lord is clean

• The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether

Jeremiah 31:31 "Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law (Torah) in their inward part, and write it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Isaiah 50:7 "Hearken unto me, you that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law (Torah); fear you not the reproach of men, neither be you afraid of their revilings."

2 Timothy 3:16 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." It should be noted that the only Scripture that existed at the time of Paul’s letter to Timothy was the Tanakh (Old Testament).

The last instructions of the Old Testament (Tanakh), and the last book of the New Testament (Brit Hadashah):

Malachi 4:4 "Remember the law (Torah) of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their father, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."

Revelation 12:17 "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."

Revelation 14:12 "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

Revelation 22:14 "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."

All the prophets who prophesied concerning the millennial reign of the Messiah confirm that the precepts and instructions of Torah will be taught and applied during the 1,000-youar reign. If the Torah is now “spiritual” instead of a practical training manual for the believer, then the prophets were false. Since the Scripture is God-breathed, though, we believe the prophets accurately predict a messianic era wherein the righteous commandments of the Torah will be applied in the holy community, who will be taught of Messiah both the letter and spirit of the Torah, just as the New Covenant states in Jeremiah 31:31.

Isaiah 2:2-3 "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come you, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law (Torah), and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."

Zechariah 14:16-19 "And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles."

Concerning the restored Levitical priesthood of the millennial Temple, it says in Ezekiel 44: 23-24:

“They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. In any dispute, the priests are to serve as judges and decide it according to my ordinances. They are to keep my laws (Torah) and my decrees for all my appointed feasts, and they are to keep my Sabbaths holy.”

Yes, Paul did rebuke those who were keeping the law in order to earn salvation, which could only be accomplished through faith in the shed blood of the Passover Lamb, Messiah Yeshua, the Son of the Living God. There were groups who thought that salvation was synonymous with keeping Jewish tradition. Even today there are groups that attempt to factor human works into the salvation equation.

Paul (Sha’ul) pointed out that the covenant of salvation was the same type of covenant as the one made with Abraham. The Heavenly Father made all the promises and accomplished them; all Abraham had to do was accept them through faith. It was all he could do, for he was in a deep sleep when the flaming torch passed between the sacrificed animals.

Our covenant of salvation is the same. Elohim (God) sent His Son Yeshua to be the sacrifice for our sin; all we have to do is believe and have faith to participate in that covenant and be made righteous according to His righteousness. Abraham’s faith, however, resulted in works. It was the outward evidence of an inward change.

The Mosaic, covenant, however, was a covenant given to a community already redeemed. The Torah was not given to a people still mired in slavery to Egypt, which represents sin, the kingdom of satan. The Torah covenant was given to a people redeemed and delivered from sin (Egypt). It was a manual for the redeemed community who needed to learn how to be free and to be trained in His righteousness.

This covenant was not unconditional as was Abraham’s covenant. Instead, this covenant included terms and conditions of obedience, as well as consequences for disobedience. This is how Paul viewed believers in Yeshua, whom he stated had become members of the commonwealth of Israel and had been brought near the covenants once given exclusively to Israel. He rebuked sternly those who tried to reverse the order of our covenant understanding, which would have negated the free gift of salvation in favor of works.

Paul taught acceptance of salvation by faith as Abraham did, and we could do nothing to keep our salvation by our own works. However, as a life manual for the believer, Paul upheld the Torah, not only in word, but in deed. Paul continued to take Nazirite vows, observe the Sabbaths and appointed festivals, and to teach the commandments to the congregations he planted.