Common Questions & Answers

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This page addresses common questions and objections surrounding Torah, obedience, New Testament teachings and faith in Messiah. Many of these issues arise from tradition, misunderstandings of legalism, or doctrine inherited from modern teachings rather than from Scripture itself.

This page is especially for those coming from an “old” Christian framework who are re-examining what they have been taught in light of the whole Bible. The aim is clarity and guidance, not controversy.

We ask that you approach these topics with an open heart and a teachable mind; and we remind that the Bible never contradicts itself.

As with all teachings, test everything against Scripture.

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Q: Wasn’t Torah just for the Jews?

Answer: No, and Torah itself tells us who it’s for-

One Torah shall be for the native born and the sojourner who dwells among you.

– Exodus 12:49

Hebrew Ger: “Sojourner” or stranger; not just someone passing through. This is someone who cleaves themselves to the God of the Yisraelites and His ways

Examples of Sojourners:

• Ruth: A Moabite women; these were forbidden for Yisraelites to intermarry with, not because of their blood, but because of their pagan practices. However Ruth cleaves herself to her mother in law Naomi and by extension YHVH with her famous line “Your people shall be my people, your Elohim shall be my Elohim.”(Ruth 1:16)
• Rahab: Not just a Canaanite, but a prostitute who helps Joshua’s men escape Jericho. She has trust and faith in the authority of YHVH and is protected from His wrath, later marrying into the line of Yeshua (Joshua 2; 6:17-25)
• Nebuchadnezzar’s captives: Later, during exile, some foreigners joined Israelite worship. Ezra 9–10 and Nehemiah mention non-Yisraelites who were absorbed

Even Paul shares this sentiment in Ephesians 2:19: “You are no longer xenoi (strangers) and sojourners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.”

Why is this belief held?

The idea that Torah is ‘just for the Jews’ comes much later, first established by Constantine’s Creed, which separated Gentile believers from the law and framed Torah as an ethnic covenant rather than a standard for all followers- an approach that made it easier for Rome to unify its diverse empire under a single, manageable religion.

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Q: Didn’t Paul teach that we’re no longer “under the Law”?

Answer: Paul taught that in Messiah we are no longer under the condemnation of the Law, not that we were free from obedience.

“Do we nullify the Torah through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Torah.”

– Romans 3:31

If Paul believed Torah was abolished:

• Romans 6 would make no sense
• Sin would be undefined
• His warnings against lawlessness would be meaningless

Paul consistently argues that faith restores obedience, not removes it.

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Q: Aren’t we under Grace?

Answer: Yes! Grace is YHVH’s gift and the power that restores us, but it does not redefine sin or excuse it. Grace doesn’t give us a license to live however we want or “feel lead to live”; it empowers us to live in obedience.

Paul anticipates this ideology and states:

Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? May it never be! We who died to sin, how still shall we live in it?

– Romans 6:1-2

Grace frees us from the penalty of sin, but not from the call to righteousness. Those who truly receive grace are transformed, no longer slaves to sin, but alive to obedience and YHVH’s ways.

If grace removed obedience, Paul would not say

Do you not know that what you yield yourselves to as slaves for obedience, you are slaves to what you obey- whether to sin resulting in death or to obedience resulting in righteousness?

— Romans 6:16

• Galatians 1:6-9: warns turning to a different gospel by adding human rules is perverting the message of Messiah

• 2 Corinthians: were misinterpreting grace as a license to sin; 2 Corinthians 11:3-15 specifically warns of being led astray like Eve by the cunning of the enemy and a false Messiah, gospel or Spirit. This is where Paul tells us the devil masquerades as an “angel of light” and his servants as “servants of righteousness”

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Q: Wasn’t Jesus only teaching Torah to the Jews?

Answer: No; Gentiles were everywhere in the Roman Empire, while Orthodox Jews (Not the Diaspora) were a relatively small population concentrated mainly in and around Jerusalem. Yeshua’s teaching focused on Yisrael first, but His message of obedience, righteousness and the kingdom of God was for all who would receive it.

Examples:

• Matthew 5–7 (Sermon on the Mount) Spoken to crowds that included Gentiles, explaining Torah at its deepest heart level.
• Matthew 15:21–28 (The Canaanite woman) Yeshua praises her faith and does not exempt her from obedience- He draws her into covenant faithfulness.
• Matthew 8:5–13 (The Roman centurion) Yeshua commends a Gentile who understands authority and faith rooted in obedience

I have other sheep that are not of this fold; also those I must lead, and they will listen to My voice. So there shall be one flock, one Shepherd.

– John 10:16

Listening to His voice means walking as He walked – in faithful obedience

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Q: Didn’t Acts 15 settle that Torah was a burden to the Gentiles?

Answer: What’s under discussion in Acts 15 is specifically circumcision and Torah as a prerequisite of salvation

Peter says “God, who knows the heart testified to them by giving them His Holy Spirit- just as He did also for us. He made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts through faith. When then do you put God to the test by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciple- which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?” (Acts 15:8-10)

• The “Yoke” was not Torah itself; but Torah combined with all the man-made traditions that the Jews had in place for generations- since exile
• These were fence laws, extra rules about Sabbath, purity, tithing, washing, and how to interpret commandments in daily life; their purpose was to clarify and protect Torah, but became legalistic burdens
• Circumcision was a visible sign of belonging to YHVH’s covenant people; it was not salvation in itself, but a covenantal mark pointing forward to YHVH’s promise to bless the nations(Genesis 18:18, 22:18)– which is now fulfilled in Yeshua as Messiah

As not to overburden the Gentiles with the entire Torah, at first they give them 4 basic commands: Abstain from

• Idolatry (Exodus 20:3–5)
• Sexual immorality (Leviticus 18:6-2, Deuteronomy 22-23)
• meat that is strangled (Leviticus 17:10)
• drinking blood (Leviticus 17:14)

They choose these Torah principles which are practical for Gentiles coming from pagan practices and respectful to Torah obedience while growing their faith. These are beginner instructions. They then add:

For Moses from ancient generations has had in every city those who proclaim him, since he is read in all the synagogues every Sabbath.

– Acts 15:21

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Q: Weren’t Synagogues only for Jews?

Answer: Yes, most synagogues in the Second Temple era were primarily for Jews. However, this wasn’t a Torah law, it was a man-made custom that preserved the Judaic identity

The Temple was specifically the House of YHVH, so there were orderly boundaries;

• Gentiles were restricted from the inner courts because they were not covenant members; they were allowed to observe beyond short wall called the soreg; the wall itself was a rabbinic tradition that developed to enforce separation
• The Holy of Holies was the innermost area of the Temple where non- Levitical Priests could not enter, even covenant members

Synagogues were not enforced by Torah, so their “laws” were rabbinical and cultural:

• Some Pharisees imposed restrictions to preserve ‘ritual purity’
• Other traditions limited seating or peaceful participation for Gentiles
• Yeshua and His disciples often taught in synagogues (Mark 1:21; Luke 4:16-30)

Acts 15:21 emphasizes that teaching Torah to Gentiles was possible and lawful, particularly on the Sabbath.

Acts 18:4 proves the pattern: “And he (Paul) was debating every sabbath in the synagogue, trying to persuade both Jews and Greeks.”

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Q: Didn’t James say if you break one law you break the whole Law?

Answer: James is describing covenant accountability; on the contrary, James 2 explicitly condemns faith without obedience

Whoever keeps the whole Torah yet stumbles in one point has become guilty of all.

– James 2:10

• This passage is about judging the poor and treating them with contempt because of social status; James opens with favoritism as the issue being addressed
• the “one point” in this instance was keeping strict obedience, but forgetting matters of love
• James references Torah- Leviticus 19:18 “Love your neighbor as yourself”
• He’s saying no part is greater or lesser than another

That’s why he also says,

What good is it my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him?

If a brother is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to him “go in peace, keep warm and well fed” but you do not give them what the body needs, what good is that?

So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead.

– James 2:14-17

You see that a man is proved righteous by works, and not by faith alone.

– James 2:24

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Q: Didn’t Jesus say the only commandment is Love now?

Answer: Yeshua didn’t enforce a new commandment that replaced the old ones; He quoted Torah in response to being tested against it

And questioned one of them, one trained in Torah, testing Him, “Teacher, which commandment greatest in Torah?” And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and principle commandment. The second is like it; You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments all the Torah and the prophets hang.”

– Matthew 22:35-40

• Throughout Yeshua’s ministry they were testing Him against the commands in Deuteronomy 12/13- A prophet, or dreamer or teacher could not teach against or add to the commandment; the penalty was instant death by stoning
• So in response, He directly quotes Deuteronomy 6:5 & Leviticus 19:18
• And says all the Torah and prophets hang on them:

The Greek word is kremannymi

• Physically this means to hang, to suspend; to be dependent upon, attached to, or held up by
• Figuratively it means something deriving it’s meaning, authority or existence from something else

So He’s not saying “Just love”; without Torah instruction, love becomes subjective. With Torah, love is actually righteous

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Q: There are 613 commandments- how can anyone keep them all?

Answer: Yes there are technically 613 (give or take by how you count) commands in Torah; however, they are circumstantial; not for every person, not for every day.

• Priestly laws apply to priests
• Temple laws apply when there is a temple
• Agricultural laws apply to landowners
• Judicial laws apply to judges
• Gender-specific laws apply only to men or women

YHVH gave Torah as His standard of Holiness, and expects us to keep it within our own boundaries, to the best of our abilities

This is not impossible now, nor was it ever:

For the commandment this which I command you today not is surpassing for you nor is it far off. Not in heaven is it that you should say “who will ascend into heaven and bring it to us that we may hear it and do it?” Nor beyond the sea is it that you should say, “who will go for us over across the sea and bring it to us that we may hear and do it?” But very near you in your mouth and in your heart so you may do it.

– Deuteronomy 30:11–14

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Q: Isn’t promoting the Law (Torah) Legalism?

Answer: Legalism in Faith is treating Torah obedience as the way to earn Salvation, not as a response to having already been given Salvation

For by grace you are saved, through faith, and this is not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that not anyone may boast.

– Ephesians 2:8-9

Notice the wording:

• Not as a result of works
• in Greek, the word used is “ek” which means from out of, out from among

• Works in Greek is “ergon” which means deeds or actions which as expressed outwardly

So Grace does not come out of anything we can outwardly do; nor did it come out of anything mankind outwardly did:

God demonstrates, however, His love to us that still we being sinners, Christ for us died.

– Romans 5:8

And passed YHVH before him and proclaimed YHVH, “YHVH El merciful, gracious, slow to anger and abounding in goodness and truth.”

– Exodus 34:6

Grace, Love, Holiness- these are Who YHVH is; it is His character- From the beginning.

How do we properly respond to our God who loves us without limit? We “believe”: meaning we trust, we are loyal to His Word and we obey Him out of mutual love and respect for His authority and sacrifice

This post about the true meaning of “Belief” may help shed further light on the subject

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Q: Doesn’t this mean we’re trying to earn our Salvation?

Answer: No- earning salvation means trying to obtain God’s acceptance by your works, but walking in obedience is responding to the salvation and grace He has already given.

Yisrael did not earn deliverance from Egypt.
They were redeemed first- Then Torah was given.

Their obedience did not earn their deliverance. That happened because YHVH is faithful and keeps His promises.

But disobedience affected their covenant standing and blessings.

Likewise for us- disobedience does not “undo” Grace and Salvation- but:

• it disrupts fellowship
• it brings discipline
• it effects reward (1 Corinthians 3:12–15)
• it can harden the heart if persisted in (Hebrews 3:12–14)
• a hardened heart over time results in being cut off from Covenant (Romans 11:20-22)

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Q: Doesn’t being able to lose Salvation make Grace unstable?

Answer: Grace is not unstable, because salvation isn’t something we accidentally “lose,” nor is it something God withdraws after we fail too many times. The issue isn’t how many times we stumble; it’s whether our heart hardens into persistent unfaithfulness. Grace remains steady- but it does not override a will that ultimately refuses it.

“The righteous falls seven times and rises again.”

– Proverbs 24:16

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

– 1 John 1:9

Forgiveness is available to the repentant, not limited by a failure count.

• Confess: “homologeo” meaning to promise, to agree with, to align with
• Repent: “Metonoia” ; a change of mind, a shift in thinking, a conscious decision
• In Acts 3, Yeshua adds “be converted” epistrepho meaning to turn back

Forgiveness comes when we realign, verbally and spiritually, with The Father’s Ways and turn back to them.

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Q: Isn’t Salvation instant?

Answer: Salvation is instant in the sense that we are immediately justified from past sin and brought into Covenant when we trust in Yeshua as our Shepherd; but it is also a lifelong process as The Father works in us to transform our hearts and lives.

Therefore beloved of me, just as always you have obeyed not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence, with fear and trembling work out your own salvation. God indeed is the One working in you both to will and to work, according to His satisfaction.

– Philippians 2:12-13

• Salvation in Greek is “soteria” meaning welfare, prosperity, preservation and deliverance.
• work out is “katergazomai” which means to effect by labors, to achieve, to bring about; to complete

The truth that most don’t want to hear is that Salvation is not complete until we die.

YHVH works through the Spirit inwardly– we live out that working outwardly

• “We have been saved” Ephesians 2:8- Justified through Grace

• “We are being saved” 1 Corinthians 1:18- Sanctification through growth, obedience and cooperation with Spirit

• “We will be saved” Romans 5:9-10 – final glorification and completion; vindication at final Judgement

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Q: If God’s Law is Written On Our Hearts, Why Do We Still Have To Obey?

Answer: In Hebrew the words for heart “Leb” and mind “Qereb” have a different understanding than feeling and thoughts

• Leb– was thought of as the will center of a person, what controlled their intention, reasonings and desires
• Qereb– litterally means “inward parts” and was thought of as the inner man; where moral truth dwells

Behold, the days are coming says YHVH when I will cut with the house of Yisrael and with the house of Judah, a Brit Chadash (New Covenant). Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Mitsrayim (Egypt), which they broke My Covenant thought I was a husband to them, says YHVH.

But this is the Covenant that I will cut with the house of Yisrael after those days: Says YHVH, I will set My Torah in there qereb and on their leb write it. And I will become their Elohim and they shall become My people.

– Jeremiah 31:13-33

• “Chadash” in Hebrew: refers to repairing, freshening or renewing, and restoring
• it’s related to the word “chodesh” which is used for new month, or new moon, as representing a cycle of renewal.
• It doesn’t mean “new” as in a completely new thing; it means restoration, or repair of something which is already in existence.
• The “New Covenant” is the Sinai Covenant renewed because it was broken by man- not a different one because it was flawed.

This means that, rather than Torah being written externally and imposed from outside, it will be written internally and sought from within.

There is no longer external pressure, but internal conviction, empowered by Spirit (Ezekiel 36)

“Written on the heart” means:

• You desire what He desires for you- to be holy
• You seek His ways because you love Him
• Obedience becomes alignment with The Father- not obligation.

It is the difference between being told what to do out of enforcement and wanting to do it out of trust.

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Q: Wouldn’t Spirit Convict Me If I Was Doing Something Wrong?

Answer: Not necessarily; it depends on your heart, and whether or not you are earnestly seeking the truth. Discernment isn’t an automatic download we get when we’re saved; it comes from study:

• 1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural man, however, not accepts the things of the Spirit of God, foolish for to him they are, and not able is he able to understand them, because they are examined spiritually.
• Hebrews 5:14 For the mature however is solid food, for the ones who have their judgment trained by constant practice to distinguish both good and evil.
• Acts 17:11 There now were more noble than those in Thessalonica, who received the word with readiness, every day examining the Scriptures if these things were so.
• 2 Timothy 2:15 Hasten yourself approved to present to God a workman not ashamed, accurately handling the Word of truth (For the topic of “rightly dividing” see here)
• 1 John 4:1 Beloved, not every spirit trust, but test (by proving) the spirits whether of God they are, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
• Romans 12:2 Not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may prove what is the will of God- what is good and acceptable and perfect.

The word Discern itself comes from the Greek “Dokimazo” which means to put to the test, prove, examine; distinguish by testing and approve after testing

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More to come;

Comment your questions and we’ll answer them as best we can!