Torah & Obedience

This Teaching examines sin by asking Scripture to define both what sin is and what it is not. Beginning in Genesis, it presents humanity’s recurring problem as altering Yahovah’s word and placing human judgment above His instruction. It uses Genesis 4 and 1 John 3 to define sin as lawlessness and argues that Yahovah’s ways existed before Sinai. The Teaching then distinguishes Torah violations from religious traditions that may be unwise or unhelpful without necessarily being sin, while also identifying everyday Torah commands that are often overlooked. It follows the struggle between flesh and Spirit through Genesis, Galatians, James, Romans 7 and Romans 8. The final emphasis is that blamelessness is not sinlessness: the Teaching describes it as wholehearted, repentant obedience produced as a believer walks by the Spirit, with Yeshua alone presented as sinless.

This Teaching examines Paul’s phrase ‘walk in the Spirit’ and argues that it describes a practical way of life rather than a mysterious or elite spiritual experience. It connects Paul’s language with the Bible’s longstanding call to walk in Yahovah’s ways, statutes, commandments, truth, and light. Galatians 5 is central: the Teaching distinguishes receiving life from the Spirit from bringing one’s actual conduct into step with the Spirit, contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit, and emphasizes that believers still make real choices about how they live. Romans 8 is then used to connect Spirit-led living with fulfilling the righteous requirement of the law—not as a means of earning salvation, but as the obedient evidence of living faith. The Teaching closes by asking whether the Spirit truly dwells in a person and by distinguishing genuine Spirit-produced obedience from merely behaving religiously.

This Teaching uses Proverbs 26:11 and 2 Peter 2 to warn against returning to patterns, sins, identities, teachings, or systems that a believer has already recognized and left behind. It emphasizes that greater knowledge brings greater responsibility, that Scripture repeatedly focuses on the direction of a person’s walk, and that biblical backsliding is presented as a turning away rather than merely stumbling while resisting sin. The Teaching connects Ezekiel 18, John 2, Ephesians 1, Hebrews 6, Hebrews 10, and 2 Peter 2 to the seriousness of deliberately rejecting truth after receiving understanding. It also distinguishes ongoing struggle and repentance from a settled decision to return to a former way of life, and closes with a warning not to recreate the same man-made religious systems that were previously rejected simply under a Torah-observant label. The final emphasis is to keep moving forward and endure to the end.

This Teaching completes the series examining whether Yeshua’s apostles taught against Torah. It first identifies Peter and James, noting that the James in view is Yeshua’s brother rather than either of the two men named James among the Twelve. It then examines the audiences of 1 Peter and James, with particular attention to the dispersed tribes of Israel. The central section works through Acts 15. The Teaching presents the council’s question as whether Gentiles had to be circumcised and meet requirements of the Law before coming to faith, rather than whether obedience had any continuing place after faith. James’s four immediate instructions – abstaining from idolatry, exual immorality, things strangled, and blood – are traced to Torah, followed by James’s statement that Moses is read in the synagogues every Sabbath. The Teaching then turns to James’s letter: the ‘implanted word,’ the ‘perfect law of liberty,’ and the relationship between faith and works/obedience. Abraham and Rahab are used to show faith expressed through action. The final major section examines Peter’s letters and their use of the Hebrew Scriptures. Peter’s language about sprinkling of blood is connected with Exodus 24; his call to holiness is connected with Leviticus; and his descriptions of a chosen generation, royal priesthood, holy nation, and special people are traced back to Torah and the Prophets. Throughout, the Teaching argues for continuity between the apostolic writings and the Torah, Prophets, and Psalms and emphasizes reading New Testament passages in their Scriptural context.

This teaching answers the foundational question, “What is the Torah?” It explains Torah first as instruction or teaching and identifies it with the five books of Moses—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The teaching presents Torah not merely as a list of rules, but as an expression of God’s character, values, covenant, and way of life. It then traces the role of Torah through the prophets, David, Paul, and Yeshua, arguing that Scripture repeatedly calls God’s people back to His commandments rather than away from them. The teaching closes by distinguishing the written Torah from later rabbinic traditions and urging believers to hold to Scripture rather than traditions that add to or replace God’s commands.