“And see, one came and said to him, “Good Teacher, what good shall I do to have everlasting life?” And he said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except One – Elohim. But if you wish to enter into life, guard the commands” (Mat 19:16-17). Many attempts have been made to explain away Yeshuas direct answer. He did not say “accept me into your heart,” or some similar statement. He made it clear that obedience to Torah was THE key. However we know from both the TaNaCH and the Brit Hadassah that one cannot “earn”their way into heaven by keeping the commandments outside of faith. Yehovah wants us to put our entire trust in Him first, then to learn and walk in His ways. The two are inseparable. The Torah of Yehovah is: Mans Duty: We live in a world in which the Torah of the Most High is given little or no attention. Sad to say that even in the churches Yehovahs Torah is considered by many to be obsolete, a veritable burden and of little practical use to the new-covenant believer. Is this conclusion the truth? And if so, does the Bible teach it? Listen to these words of wisdom by two of the wisest men that ever walked the face of this earth; Solomon son of David and Yeshua son of Yehovah. “Let us hear the conclusion of the entire matter: Fear Elohim and guard His commands, for this applies to all mankind!” Solomon in Ecclesiastes 12:13, “And see, one came and said to him, “Good Teacher, what good shall I do to have everlasting life?” And he said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except One – Elohim. But if you wish to enter into life, guard the commandments” Yeshua in Matthew 19:16-17. In view of such statements let all beware of classifying Yehovahs Torah as being obsolete! The Greatest Commandment: Yes the commandments are important no matter what people may say: In Matthew 22:36-39 we discover this fact. Question: (By one learned in the Torah) “Teacher, which is the great command in the Torah?” Answer: Yeshua said to him: “You shall love Yehovah your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great command.” “And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” What are the true meaning of those two important words fear and love as used in these passages? Fear for Yehovah: English fear: an unpleasant emotion caused by the nearness of danger or expectation of pain, or the reverence or awe felt for Yehovah. Hebrew for fear yare: to fear, revere, be afraid, stand in awe of, honour, respect. Greek for fear is phobos: fear, dread, terror; or reverence for ones husband. When used in connection with ones duty to Yehovah the word fear means primarily to hold Yehovah in reverential awe; to consider Him so great a person that His will must be placed above ones own. To fear Yehovah means to be afraid to the extent of abandoning ones own wishes in favour of His – to walk in His ways. It is an expression, which begins with holy awe, progresses to respectful admiration and matures to reverential love and worship. And mature love always manifests itself in willing obedience. This process begins a chain of benefits. “The fear of Yehovah is the beginning of wisdom, all those doing them have a good understanding” (Ps 111:10); “In the fear of Yehovah is strong trust, and His children have a place of refuge. The fear of Yehovah is a fountain of life, to turn away from the snares of death” (Prov 14:26-27); “Better is a little with the fear of Yehovah, than great treasure with trouble” (Prov 15:16); “The fear of Yehovah leads to life, and he remains satisfied, he is not visited by evil” (Prov 19:23). Love for Yehovah our Elohim: The word love is probably the most misunderstood word in the English language, It means different things to different people. Just say the word love and into a dozen minds will spring a dozen different ideas. Your concept of love will be somewhat different to others. In view of these differences of opinion how can we express our love to Yehovah? What do we have to do? How can we be sure that our love is the type of love the Most High is calling for? These difficult questions were already answered for us in these words: “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome” (1 Jn 5:3); “By this we know that we love the children of God, whenever we love God and keep His commandments” (1 Jn 5:2); “And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, as you heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it” (2 Jn 1:6). We see here that obedience is proof of love; and disobedience is proof that love is absent. Obedience is in fact faith and love in action. The Bible says that obedience is better than praise or sacrifice and that, in the courts of heaven, is the most acceptable testimony a believer can give. “Then Shemu’ĕl said, “Does Yehovah delight in burnt offerings and slaughterings, as in obeying the voice of Yehovah? Look, to obey is better than an offering, to heed is better than the fat of rams” (1 Sam 15:22). In the final analysis we will all be judged, not by how much we possess, not by how much we know or understand or even by how much we praise Yehovah; but by whether we obey Him or not. And though we are justified (cleared of past sins) by the deeds of obedience, (for justification comes by faith) we are nevertheless evaluated, graded and rewarded according to the deeds done in this life. “. . .God will reward each of us for what we have done” (Rom 2:6; CEV). How are we to obey? To what extent is obedience expected of us? ““You shall love Yehovah your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is not just a New Testament concept or command. It is old, and it was, and still is possible to keep; as the following examples will prove: “And you shall love Yehovah your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Dt 6:5), “And I have prepared with all my might . . .” (1 Chron 29:2), “And there was no king like him before him, who turned to Yehovah with all his heart and with all his soul, and with all his might . . .” (2 Kings 23:25), Yehovah does not want the individual become a slave-like robot incapable of individual thought that mechanically does what he is told. Yehovah wants His followers to respect, love and obey Him, with heart and soul. That, according to King Solomon, is the whole duty of mankind: and, as Mashiach said the entrance to life. But hear from the Creator Himself when He says, “And now, if ye really hearken [obey] to My voice, then ye have kept My covenant, and been to Me a peculiar treasure more than all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine” (Ex 19:5; YLT).
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 07:46:20 +0000
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