Can One Be Righteous Before Yahweh Without Doing ALL the Law?
By Isaac Aluochier
[Author's note: The following article is a response to questions raised by a serious student of the Holy Scriptures.]
Did the Master Yah'shuah ever make a distinction between any part of the Law and another? Did he not say that he did not come to abolish the Torah, which includes all the provisions of the Law? Is not this what he taught his disciples and is not this what he taught them to teach all nations? However, when you read Rabbi Shaul's (Paul's) gospel, it teaches something quite different, thereby raising suspicions on the writings attributed to him.
Did not Yah'shuah himself endorse the Perushim halakhah (teaching, legal principles), in that he stated that we should do what the Pharisees teach us to do, but not what they do? So can't our Perushim halakhah be our starting point in ascertaining what practices we ought to abide by?
While your division of the Law might make a lot of sense, is it what Yah'shuah taught? Did he not teach that no dot or iota in the Torah shall pass away? Do not the dot and iota include the laws you appear to be trying to exclude by dividing them into two kinds? Whatever halakhah we adopt, must it not include all the provisions of the Law? Is it not an "all or nothing" concept?
Shalom Brother
Thanks very much for your comments. You raise some very fundamental issues with respect to the correct halakhah that we should adopt. Before I can fully resolve these matters I will need to study further into them. I hope I will have an appropriate answer in the not too distant future.
Author Does Not View Himself As Doing Away With Laws In The Torah
In the meantime I can comment as follows. I have not viewed myself as trying to do away with some of the laws in the Torah. I have viewed myself as endorsing what Yah'shuah said with respect to the validity of ALL of the laws contained in the Torah! Where I think I make a distinction is in the domain of applicability of all of these laws.
For I accept that all of the laws of the Torah are applicable to the land of Yisrael. Nevertheless, some laws do appear to me not to be applicable outside the land of Yisrael. Laws including observing the set feasts of Yahweh. For these feasts must be observed in the place Yahweh has placed his name to dwell, that is Yerushalayim, and not in some other locality. The same applies to the various laws pertaining to the Temple.
Prophecy Confirms Feasts and Sacrifices Will Be Observed During Yah'shuah's Rule
Looking prophetically, during the time of Yah'shuah's rule over Yisrael, we see that the set feasts of Yahweh will be observed in Yerushalayim, and not in some other locality. We see even people of other nations outside Yisrael being required to go to Yerushalayim to observe the feast of booths. Showing that this law has applicability only in the place Yahweh has chosen to place his name, and not elsewhere. We also observe that once the Temple has been constructed, animal sacrifices will be taking place in the Temple area, just as in the past when the Temple stood up. Prophecy therefore confirms Yah'shuah's words of not doing away with any portion of the Law.
Can Yahweh-Fearing People Outside Yisrael Properly Worship Him?
But what happens to the person who fears Yahweh, and desires to do all of his laws, yet is not in the land of Yisrael? Is such a person rendered incapable of properly worshipping Yahweh, seeing that he cannot legally observe some laws which can only legally be observed in the land of Yisrael? Or can such a person still properly worship Yahweh, observing those aspects of Yahweh's law that can be observed outside Yisrael? And if such a person does indeed observe all of Yahweh's laws that can legally be observed outside Yisrael, will he be commended before Yahweh, for having been obedient to Yahweh by observing all of his word that could legally be observed outside Yisrael? Or will he be condemned on account of failing to observe those laws of Yahweh which can legally only be observed in Yisrael?
Daniyel Properly Worshiped Yahweh When Outside Yisrael
Considering that Daniyel was called righteous before Yahweh, yet at the time pertaining to which he was so called righteous he did not observe all of Yahweh's laws, for he did not observe those laws of Yahweh which can legally only be observed at Yerushalayim, as he was in exile in Chaldea, it is clearly seen that one can indeed be righteous before Yahweh without doing all of the laws of the Torah! Thus it is seen that one can be righteous before Yahweh without doing all of laws in the Torah. Thus it is also seen that there are laws in the Torah, such as those which must be observed at Yerushalayim, whose performance do not determine one's righteousness before Yahweh. Therefore it is seen that in the Torah there are two categories of laws, those which performance is essential for righteousness, and those which performance is not essential for righteousness.
Noach Properly Worshiped Yahweh Before Circumcision Command Instituted
Noach was also called righteous before Yahweh. Yet at the time he lived the circumcision law had yet to be issued by Yahweh, and was not applicable to him. It is therefore seen that one can be righteous before Yahweh even though one is not physically circumcised. Thereby showing that observance of physical circumcision is not essential in determining whether one is righteous before Yahweh.
Nevertheless, it is also seen that circumcision was a seal of one having Yahweh as one's Mighty One, as Avraham had Yahweh as his Mighty One. Noach also had Yahweh as his Mighty One. Thus it is seen that the righteous requirement in the covenant of circumcision was that of having Yahweh as one's Mighty One.
A Key For Determining Laws That Contain Yahweh's Righteousness
The circumcision covenant therefore gives us a key in determining which laws in the Torah contain Yahweh's righteous requirement, and which ones do not. For in this covenant the righteous requirement lay in the reason or purpose for the physical action. Therefore, to ascertain Yahweh's righteous requirements in the Torah we should look at the reasons and meanings behind the various laws contained in the Torah.
The Goyim Can Be Righteous Without Doing Laws Not Containing Yahweh's Righteousness
Thus it is seen that there can be those who are not physically circumcised, those not physically descended from Avraham, or those who are not proselyte Yisraelites, who can be righteous before Yahweh. For provided these do the righteous requirements of Yahweh's law as contained in the Torah they will be deemed righteous before Yahweh. For Yahweh shows no partiality. And he also changes not. As this was the case with Noach, so it is with any other human being. Thus the Goyim (Gentiles) can indeed be righteous before Yahweh without necessarily partaking of physical circumcision, or partaking of other laws in the Torah which do not contain Yahweh's righteous requirement.
The Goyim Should Not Be Required To Do Laws Not Containing Yahweh's Righteousness
Also, as Yahweh did not impose the laws of the Torah that do not contain his righteous requirement on the Goyim, so also should no one else! The Goyim should be required to do only those laws of Yahweh that contain his righteous requirement. The laws that do not contain Yahweh's righteous requirement are optional to the Goyim. They may do them if they wish, or even if a requirement is made on them to do them, but their performance of them has no bearing on their being deemed righteous before Yahweh.
Author's Views Coincidental With What Shaul Taught
Now this is basically my understanding of the division of the laws in the Torah into those with a righteous requirement and those without. It is also coincidental with what the apostle Shaul taught.
I fail to perceive a contradiction between this view and that taught by Yah'shuah, that all of the Law continues to be in force. For I do indeed accept the validity of the Law, IN ITS ENTIRETY, both the portions containing Yahweh's righteous requirement and the portions not so containing it, on those to whom it was given, and in the territory in which it was to apply and is applicable.
I also think this is the view Shaul took. For do we not have record in the book of Acts that he did not teach the Yahudim among the Goyim to abandon the Law, notwithstanding the false accusations against him that he so taught them? And to prove that he personally, as an Yisraelite, still upheld to the applicability of those laws on Yisraelites, did he not partake of the purification such as partaken of in the Law. Also, was not he careful to ensure that those of the Goyim who had accompanied him to Yerushalayim but were not circumcised did not enter the Temple with him when he himself went in? For the law of the Temple forbade anyone uncircumcised from entering therein.
Shaul Taught That Law Remained Applicable to the Yahudim
It therefore appears to me that Shaul taught that the Law remained applicable to the Yahudim. Nevertheless, being divided into two portions, one containing Yahweh's righteous requirement and one not so containing it, only those Yahudim who did the portions containing Yahweh's righteous requirement were deemed righteous before Yahweh. Therefore if some Yahudim concentrated on the portion of the law not containing Yahweh's righteous requirement, the portion that other men could see, the portion he termed the "works of the law", yet neglected to observe the portion containing Yahweh's righteous requirement, they were deemed unrighteous before Yahweh. Such as those Yahudim who did not believe in Yah'shuah, yet the Law itself commanded all to both believe in the prophet like Moshe and to do all of Yahweh's words that that prophet like Moshe would speak in Yahweh's name. I therefore fail to perceive a contradiction between what Shaul taught and what Yah'shuah taught.
Author Accepts Shaul As A True Apostle of Yah'shuah
I therefore do not have a problem with the writings that have been credited to Shaul, and I accept him as a true apostle of Yah'shuah the Messiah, the Son of Yahweh. Granted, there may be some mistranslations in rendering his writings from the language he originally wrote in to those spoken today. Nevertheless, his fundamental thesis, even as received in modern day languages, appears sound to me, as it does not contradict Yah'shuah's words, and neither does it contradict the Torah. His understanding of the Law was deeper than that of most. Nevertheless, it still did not contradict the Law or contradict the words spoken by Yah'shuah the Messiah.
Yah'shuah's Endorsement of Perushim Halakhah Not Total
Concerning Yah'shuah endorsing the Perushim's halakhah, it should be noted that his endorsement was not total or complete. For he also did indeed castigate them for adding their own traditions to the Law which had the effect of making void the word of Yahweh, such as in their teaching that had the effect of people giving freewill offerings to the Mighty One at the expense of not assisting their needy parents, thereby dishonouring their parents! The Perushim's halakhah therefore has to be weighed up to determine harmony between it and the Torah. The portions of it that are harmonious with the Torah can be observed, but the ones that contradict the Torah, such as in the example Yah'shuah gave as noted above, should be discarded.
I will add the following with respect to the Goyim. The only portions of the Perushim's halakhah that are required on the Goyim are those founded on Yahweh's righteous requirements. Those founded on other portions of the Torah, the portion not containing Yahweh's righteous requirement, are optional to the Goyim, though binding on the Yahudim. And the portions of the Perushim's halakhah that are not founded on the Torah are legally binding on no one!
Seek Guidance from the Holy Spirit
Therefore, in seeking guidance with respect to which halakhah we should adopt, our reference to the Perushim need be only to the extent that they are in harmony with the Torah. Where they fall short it should not be lost on us that we do indeed have a guide and counsellor, even the Spirit of Truth, by whom we are led into all truth, including knowledge of which halakhah to adopt. Let us therefore draw on Yahweh's Spirit for guidance in determining which halakhah we should adopt.
Shalom
BROTHER ISAAC
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