Discussion #3- The Two Roles of the Torah

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 Romans 7:12  So the Torah is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

#1 – Torah makes sin illegal

Romans 7:12-14  So the Torah is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the Torah is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.

Romans 3:20  For by works of the Torah no human being will be justified in His sight, since through the Torah comes knowledge of sin.

Galatians 3:19  Why then the Torah? It was added because of transgressions …

or

It was added for the sake of defining transgressions …

Romans 7:7-8  What then shall we say? That the Torah is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the Torah, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the Torah had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the Torah, sin lies dead.

 #2 – Torah establishes a standard of righteousness

(& makes me aware of sin)

Romans 7:12  So the Torah is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

James 1:22  But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

2 Timothy 2:15  Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

2 Timothy 3:16-17  All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for (a) teaching, for (b) reproof, for (c) correction, and for (d) training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good work.

Two Roles that Torah cannot fulfill:

Redemption

Relationship

Galatians 2:16-21  Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the Torah but by the faithfulness of Yeshua the Messiah, so we also have believed in Messiah Yeshua, in order to be justified by the faithfulness of Messiah and not by works of the Torah, because by works of the Torah no one will be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Messiah, we too were found to be sinners, is Messiah then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the Torah I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Messiah. It is no longer I who live, but Messiah who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the Torah, then Messiah died for no purpose.

i.e., following the Torah is no substitute for a living relationship with Yeshua.

 Galatians 3:21  Is the Torah then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the Torah.

          1^st       Redemption from Slavery & Death

          2^nd      TORAH

          3rd     Life of Victory & Fruitfulness                                                       

One additional Role of the Torah:

 #3 – Obedience to Torah IS evangelism

When strangers experience the people of God keeping the commandments of God, it is God they experience… When we live our lives according to the Torah’s commandments, we are actually living out a revelation of godliness. – D. Thomas Lancaster

RESOURCES:

 Romans 2:14-15  For when Gentiles, who do not have the Torah, by nature do what the Torah requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the Torah. They show that the work of the Torah is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them…

Philippians 3:6  As to zeal, [I was] a persecutor of the community; as to righteousness under the Torah, blameless.

Galatians 3:17  This is what I mean: the Torah, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void.