Living Below the Faith Line

I have previously written that John 10:10 is a dividing line. In that verse, Yeshua says, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (KJV) If you are living below the faith line, you will find an abundance of theft, death, and destruction. On the other hand, if you are living above the faith line, you will have the God kind of life in abundance. What is the God kind of life? It is a life of faith and love. Yeshua said in John 14:15-17: "If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." (KJV) What commandments is Yeshua speaking about? Love is tied to obedience. Yeshua is talking about the Torah. The word "Torah" is made up of the Hebrew letters Tav, Vav, Reyesh and Hey. Tav means cross. Vav means hook or nail. Reyesh means head or man. Hey means what comes from. When placed together, Torah has a word picture of, "What comes from the man nailed to the cross."

This may be a shock to those who believe that the Torah has passed away and of no force and effect. Perhaps Yeshua is teaching His disciples in John, that if you love Him, keep the Torah. This would have made perfect sense to His early followers. After the resurrection and ascension, they continued attending temple services, observed the feasts, and sacrifices. Doctrines such as the Trinity and atoning sacrifice would not be developed for centuries. If we are going to be an obedient people, we need to know what to obey. Yeshua tells us; it is Torah. Now some may argue that Yeshua replaced the Torah with the law of love, i.e. love God and love each other. However, this explanation forgets a rabbinical practice of attempting to reduce the original 613 commandments to as few as possible. This does not mean that the 613 are abolished. Yeshua, and no Torah observant Jew, would ever even suggest the eradication of God's 613 commandments.

To summarize, there is a faith line. Live in faith and obedience, and you will live the abundant life. If you fail to live the obedient life, you will most likely find yourself living on the theft, death, and destruction avenue. Yeshua was a Torah observant Jew. If we are His followers, should not we also make that claim? Don't settle for any thing less than the abundant life. We have previously taught to think the Word, speak the Word, and act on the Word. Today, we have seen what it can mean to act on the Word. Act on what comes from the man nailed to the cross, i.e. the Torah. Note this is not a works based blessing. Instead, it is
obeying what God says about how to live. The Torah contains within it, the blessing. There was an old television show titled, "Father Knows Best." In the same way, our heavenly Father knows best and we should follow His method of living. Yeshua knew that and now so do we.