The religious world of “ISM’s” …part 1
Antinomianism comes from the Greek meaning lawless. In Christian theology it is a pejorative term for the teaching that Christians are under no obligation to obey the laws of Moses. Antinomianism may be viewed as the polar opposite of legalism, the notion that obedience to a code of religious law is necessary.
A concept that many believers fail to recognize is the use of the word “law” to describe the contents and context of the scriptures. The actual word used in the original Hebrew was “Torah” which meant literally “instructions”. In relating everyday life to a friend of mine I asked “When you send your child out into the world, whether it is to play in the yard, spend a night at friends or go to a civic function, do you give them instructions?”
The obvious answer was “yes” and I followed with, “are there implications if they do not follow those instructions?” Another resounding “yes” to which I finalized my questions with “whether or not they comply, do you still love the child?” A third “yes” soon follows. It is no different with our Heavenly Father, he still loves us, and like Adam, when we sin there are natural and automatic consequences to our actions.
1 John 3:1-4 “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.”
What John is telling us here is to look at the beauty of our relationship to YHVH in the light of his grace and mercy, not only in the sacrifice of Yeshua the Messiah, but too , the fact He has sent us out into the world with instructions for our safety and wellbeing! By our faith we will find blessings and safety in following the instruction the same way that Yeshua followed them.
Matthew 5:18 “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.” According to these words of Yeshua the “law” or instructions from YHVH through the writings of Moses will exist until the end of this earth. Which we all can agree has not yet happened.
For a matter to be considered as pure biblical doctrine, it is an accepted practice, we must find that the scriptures validate this in two or more places. In this example, I am trying to examine the validity of the Torah in the New Testament writings. My first, that of the words of Yeshua, should be enough as He is the author of the Scriptures. Yet, to abide by the practice I will further employ the pen of Paul.
In Romans 3:31 Paul tells us “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” Paul is not establishing a new set of instructions, he is (staō’) {G2476} “continuing” the instructions. Paul is accused of doing away with the Torah in his teachings by some in the faith, for example Acts 21:21 records James explaining his situation to Paul: “…they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs.”
The Epistle of James, in contrast, states that our good works justify before men our faith after salvation and we are to obey the Law of God, that faith without works is death (2:14-26).
The reason Paul is accused of this action is due to his depth of knowledge and understanding of Palestinian Judaism in that era and culture. Hellenization and Rabbinical tyranny had created additional rules and regulations for daily living. The rabbis were the profiteers of religious practices they had established themselves. This is the reason we see Yeshua so enraged at their practices.
Mark 7:5 “Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?” This is not a call for men to rid themselves of debris from their hands, this is the call for their adherence to rabbinical rules of false piety. The response by Yeshua is not one in which I would want to be the recipient!
Mark 7:8, 9, 13 “For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. Making the Word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.”
These are what Paul tells us in Colossians 2:14 “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross”
Returning to the Johns 1st letter we read “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”
In the case of Christianity, the controversy that arises out of the doctrine of grace, the forgiveness of sins, and atonement by faith alone in Jesus Christ; what exactly does that mean?
Romans 3:24-26 “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”
This is the key, the anchor of our faith, that the Messiah is our propitiation. Propitiation is the action of appeasing a God, making one acceptable in status, appearance or worth. It means placating or satisfying the wrath of God, an atoning sacrifice.
Yeshua did not come here to overturn anything other than the cash registers and oppressive directives of the apostate Pharisees. Nor was there any plan to replace what He Himself had given to Moses on Mt. Saini. Realizing the need for humanity to see what the instructions were really supposed to look like YHVH came down and displayed them first hand in the form of Yeshua. John 3:13 “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.”
Berean Breadcrumbs 
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