Believe it or not, there are Christians today who still teach salvation requires both faith in Jesus and observance of the Old Testament Mosaic law. Even though Paul addressed this issue in his letters contained in the New Testament, we still must confront Judaizers in our midst.
The Mosaic law is contained in the Torah—what the Greeks called the Pentateuch and what most Christians know as the first five books of the Bible.
By claiming Jesus never abolished the law of Moses, Torah-observant Christians affirm Matthew 5:17-20. The problem I am addressing here is the extent to which Torah-observant Christians seek to apply the Mosaic law.
Background on Matthew
The events in Matthew occurred about A.D. 30–33. The Gospel of Matthew was written about A.D. 70–80. James and some of Paul’s letters were written before any of the Gospels, between A.D. 50–60.
The Judaizers—Torah-observant Christians in the first century A.D.—were in the background of much of Paul’s letters. This is why Paul writes against these teachings by claiming Jesus has fulfilled the expectations of the Law and the Prophets.
By the time Matthew was written, Paul, the Book of Acts and the letter to the Hebrews already had addressed the Judaizers and the Law.
The Greek word pleroo—translated as “fulfill”—has many definitions, depending on the context. D.A. Carson argues there is evidence from the Old Testament that points to Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law.
“If Jesus fulfills X, it’s because X pointed to Jesus,” Carson said.
As Carson explains, pleroo does not imply for something to remain the same. Otherwise, Jesus did not accomplish anything. There had to be a permanent change. Likewise, Jeremiah 31 prophesied 600 years before Jesus that ‘the covenant’ claimed by the Judaizers would eventually evolve into the ‘New Covenant’ through Jesus’ death and resurrection.
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From hundreds to two
This is why Michael Brown argues, “Both the Prophets and the Writings point back to the Law of Moses.”
The Prophets end with Malachi, which point toward a new prophet mentioned in Malachi 4:5-6—Jesus, who fulfills the Law and the Prophets, Brown adds.
Brown continues his argument against the Judaizers by calculating the number of commands that cannot be fulfilled by the Jews.
“The Torah, according to traditional Judaism, are 613, but in exile without a temple standing, the people can keep 369 out of the 613 commandments. Now if you’ll go through the Torah carefully and look at every commandment having to do with forever, for all time or for all generations, you will see that the Jews are unable to keep about 75 percent of those,” Brown said.
John J. Parsons also claims the tradition of the Jewish Talmud demonstrates all the commands being reduced by the Prophets.
“The Talmud (Makkot 23b-24a) says, ‘Moses gave Israel 613 commandments, David reduced them to 11 (Psalm 15), Isaiah to six (Isaiah 33:15-16), Micah to three (Micha 6:8), Isaiah reduced them again to two (Isaiah 56:1); but it was Habakkuk who gave the one essential commandment: … ‘the righteous, by his trust, shall live’ (Habakkuk 2:4),” Parsons wrote.
These non-Christians declare from the Bible that only by reducing the commands to just one, there would be hope to fulfill the Law.
These reductions of the Law are also seen in Matthew 22:37-40: “Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’”
Understanding ‘fulfill’
Warren Wiersbe uses an acorn analogy in reference to Matthew 5:17: “If I have an acorn, I can destroy it in one of two ways. I can put it on a rock and smash it to bits with a hammer. Or, I can plant it in the ground and let it fulfill itself by becoming an oak tree” (The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament, p. 20).
Wiersbe expands his analogy by claiming: “In either case, the acorn comes to an end. However, the distinction between the two methods is critical. In the case of the Mosaic legal obligations, Jesus did not bring a metaphorical hammer to end them through opposition and destruction. Instead, He came to cultivate the Law and the Prophets into what they were always intended to become.”
Therefore, if Jesus did not fulfill the Law, then every jot and tittle from the greatest to the least of ‘the covenant’ is still active and there is no ‘New Covenant.’
God said, “For the person who obeys them [the law] will live by them” (Leviticus 18:5).
There are numerous New Testament passages by Paul that confirm Jesus fulfilled the Law, yet Torah-observant Christians argue for Jesus’ words rather than Paul’s words. This could be one of the reasons Torah-observant scholars will not write commentaries on Philippians, because Paul’s letter to the Philippian Christians argues against observing Torah.
So, what is the solution? The solution is to be aware of any Christian in your church advocating salvation in Jesus, plus being observant to the Law of Moses.
This is a serious issue infiltrating the church just as it did in Paul’s day when he argued against the Judaizers—who today are called Torah-observant Christians.
Cristian Cervantes is an adjunct lecturer of Biblical and Theological Studies at Baptist University of the Americas and a member of First Baptist Church in San Antonio. The views expressed are those of the author.
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