Discussion #1 – Problem, Key & Context

Introduction

The Problem and Solution of Galatians

Welcome back everyone to Torah Today Ministries and our new series which I’ve entitled Grappling with Galatians. And instead of this new series being a verse-by-verse, word-by-word study through the six chapters of Galatians, I’ve decided to take a different approach. I did record a series on Galatians probably 15 or 16 years ago when I was the congregational leader of Beth Tikkun Messianic Fellowship, and those teachings — though the audio is not very good — are still there on the website and you are welcome to go there and listen to those.

But I just felt led in this study — which I see going maybe six to eight, not more than ten episodes — to look at some of the big pictures, some of the obstacles, and some of the difficulties that are in the way of our understanding this letter of Paul’s. And it’s pretty straightforward.

Why Galatians Is So Difficult

The reason people have such difficulty with Galatians, I think, is due to the following — there are layers of confusion. One of those layers is translations. And we’ll look into the translation when it gives us some confusion, when it puts some confusion on our path. A quick example: the word “curse” is used — unless I miscounted — about six times in Galatians. But there are different words in the Greek and in the Hebrew that are translated by this one English word “curse.” Understanding what the Greek and the Hebrew have helps us understand what’s being said and it really brings great clarity.

And let me just mention here too: after each of these discussions, I highly recommend that you sit down and read through the entire letter to the Galatians. It’s only six chapters long. Read through it, mark your Bibles, and read it in the context of what we learn in these discussions. And after each discussion, go back and read it again — and see if things don’t start becoming more and more clear and obvious, hopefully to the point you’ll think, “How did I ever misread this book so badly?”

So translations are one of the layers of confusion. Another is a lack of historical and cultural context. When we try to read this letter — which is like one side of a telephone conversation — we only hear what Paul is speaking to the Galatians. We don’t get to hear their questions and the things that they wrote that prompted this letter from Paul. We just hear his side of the conversation. But knowing what the culture and the historical setting was for this helps us to understand this book much more easily. Without that — if we just read the book through a 21st-century Western Christian eyes — the book would be very confusing. So we’ll be bringing some light to the historical and cultural context of Galatians.

Also — and this is a biggie — personal bias. When I talk to people and they find out that I eat kosher and keep the Sabbath and study the Torah and follow the laws the best I can, they invariably say, “Well, haven’t you read Galatians?” And sometimes I feel like saying, “No, what’s that?” But it’s like — yeah, I’ve read Galatians, and it supports my view. But the problem is they’ve read Galatians, but they haven’t read the Galatians that Paul wrote. They’ve read the Galatians that has been filtered through the theology of their denomination, through a bad translation, oftentimes through a clouded historical and cultural view of what was going on. And so what they’re reading is not what was written.

But number four — and I put this in bold — is a lack of a Torah foundation. Without knowing the Torah and having a good grip on what the Torah says and what it is, what it’s for — it is very difficult to understand what Paul is writing in Galatians.

You know, I really believe that Jewish rejection of Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) is based primarily on Christian rejection of the Torah. In Deuteronomy chapter 13, God is very clear: if anyone comes along — if he’s a miracle worker, a prophet, and his signs and wonders are all true and genuine — but if he teaches you to walk away differently from what I’ve written in this Torah, you are to reject him, you are to stone him, you are to put him to death. And the Messiah that the modern Christian church presents to the Jews is a Messiah that the Torah forbids them to embrace. So when my Christian friends ask me, “Why can’t the Jews see that Jesus is the Messiah?” I’ll say, “Because you haven’t studied the book of Galatians.” And it really comes down to that — because one of the reasons that Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) is so misrepresented is because of confusion about this short six-chapter book that Paul wrote.

And by the way — let me mention now — the book of Romans covers the same ground as the book of Galatians. Galatians was written by Paul — it’s short, succinct, and written in the heat of the moment, if you will — whereas Romans is written later, is more thought out, broader, and he just kind of gives the full version of what he was attempting to communicate in Galatians. So when you finish your study of Galatians, you might go and read Romans — it covers pretty much the same material.

The Three Main Things — Problem, Key, Context

Now there are three main things I want to address in this series. The first one is the problem in Galatians — why is Galatians such a problem? The next thing we’ll look at is the key to Galatians. And the third is the context of Galatians. So let’s just dip into each of these here, but we’ll keep revisiting these throughout the series.

Number one — the problem in Galatians. The problem in Galatians is that they were leaving the true gospel for a false one. It was not that they were leaving Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) for the Torah — although that’s how it tends to be expressed when you listen to most Evangelical teaching on Galatians. They weren’t leaving Yeshua for the Torah. They were leaving the true gospel for a false one. And we find this in chapter 1, verse 6:

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him — the Father who called you in the grace of Messiah — and are turning to a different gospel. — Galatians 1:6

So again, they were not turning to the Torah. They were turning to a different gospel. Remember — the Torah was the scriptures that they studied. The Torah is what Paul uses throughout his letter to support what he’s trying to teach them. He’s not teaching against the Torah.

Think about it for a moment: the Torah was God’s original revelation. And we never judge previous revelation in light of new revelation — that’s what cults do. But we judge new revelation in the light of previous revelation. So when the Torah was given, then we judge everything that comes after that in the light of the Torah. So if Paul comes along and teaches against the Torah, we rip Paul out of our Bibles — not the Torah.

But he’s not talking about that. The problem was not that they were leaving Yeshua — they were leaving the gospel, replacing the good news of Messiah for a different good news that really wasn’t all that good. I kind of picture in my mind mountain climbers who are climbing east up a mountain — climbing, climbing, climbing — they get to the top, they reach the goal. But the leader of the expedition says, “Let’s keep on climbing, let’s keep going east.” But what happens is they keep going — and now they’re going downhill, not up. And the Galatians are people who had climbed the mountain, who had come to Messiah. Somebody comes along and says, “Oh no, keep on going, keep on going.” And the more they went on, the more they went away from Messiah.

The second problem — the key to Galatians. The key to Galatians is this: what the Galatians were starting to believe was actually a violation of the Torah itself. In other words, the theology that they were starting to embrace was in conflict with the Torah itself. Paul again was not teaching against the Torah — he was using the Torah to say, “You Galatians — what you’re doing is violating the Torah.” Because it says there in chapter 4, verse 21:

Tell me, you who desire to be under the law — do you not listen to the Torah? Aren’t you listening to what it says? — Galatians 4:21

And let me just right now interject this — which we’ll talk about later — Paul seems to coin this phrase “under the law.” It’s not a phrase you find that often outside of the New Testament scriptures, if at all. But “under the law” is a way for Paul to express the concept of Judaism.

Judaism is a religion. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the most beautiful, oldest, wisest religion there is on the planet. But still, it is nevertheless a religion. And as beautiful and as wise as it is, Judaism cannot save. Judaism is not the solution to your problems or mine. Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) is the answer. Yeshua is the Savior. No religion is the Savior.

But one of the things — the crux of the matter — is this, and we must keep this in mind: Torah does not equal Judaism. This is a confusion that many well-meaning believers fall into — they think the Torah is Judaism. It isn’t. When God gave the Torah to Moses there in the wilderness, and Moses writes it all down — and in Deuteronomy he’s reiterating the histories, essentially singing the history of Israel up to that point, and then he dies — the Torah is complete. But the religion of Judaism still did not exist. The religion of Judaism would come later. It’s based on the Torah, but it brings a lot of extra things in that are not part of the essence of the Torah itself. And this is the thing that happens with all religions.

So we must understand: the Torah does not equal Judaism. Paul was all for the Torah, and he stayed Jewish to the day he died. He called himself a Jew. He observed the Torah and the customs and the traditions. He didn’t change religions. And Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) did not come to start a new one. But we have to understand — it’s the Torah that was spoken from God’s lips. Not the Talmud and not the religion of Judaism — as beautiful and as good as it is. It’s the Torah that came from God. It’s the Torah that is perfect. That’s the Torah that is the light that comes from God, that expresses his heart. Judaism is how man decorated and adorned the Torah with other rituals and traditions — not bad ones, but they’re not the Torah itself.

Torah Is Not Judaism — The Three Statements

And so one of the things Paul was addressing is people who wanted to take on a new religion. And Paul really drew a line here. In Corinthians he talks very succinctly: if you’re born Jewish, don’t seek to stop being Jewish; if you’re born a Gentile, don’t seek to become a Jew and take up Judaism. But whether you are a Gentile coming out of paganism or a practicing Jew in Judaism — what you must do is come to Messiah. That is the goal. He is the goal. He’s the point we must come to. But when we leave him to go to one of these other things — or even to Christianity, and some people can leave Yeshua to take up some Christian denomination, which is kind of weird — anything that draws us away from Yeshua himself is not good.

Let me put it this way:

The Torah is not my feet — but it’s a lamp to my feet that shows me how to walk.

The Torah is not my Father — but it is the instruction my Father has given me to tell me how I’m to live in his family, as a member of his family, adopted into his family. It gives me his family rules about life.

The Torah is not my Savior — but the Torah describes my Savior. It foreshadows him in many ways.

Near the end of the book of Luke, after Yeshua’s (יֵשׁוּעַ) resurrection, he speaks to his disciples, his apostles, and he spoke to them about all the things in the Torah, in the Prophets — the Nevi’im (נְבִיאִים) — and in the Psalms — referring to the Ketuvim (כְּתוּבִים) — the Tanakh: Torah, Nevi’im, Ketuvim (תּוֹרָה נְבִיאִים כְּתוּבִים). He spoke to them from those three parts, which make up the whole Hebrew scriptures — all things pertaining to himself. And then it says he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. Doesn’t sound to me like he’s getting rid of the Torah at all — but he’s opened their minds so they can understand what the Torah is teaching them about him. Okay make sense?

So the Torah is not Judaism. Torah is not your Father, your Savior. It is God’s light and his instruction — to tell us how to live, to tell us about himself, to tell us about Messiah.

Replacing “Torah” with “The Sermon on the Mount”

Now I want us to play a little mind game. We talk to our Evangelical friends — and you may be a member of an Evangelical church — and raise the notion that the Torah has been done away with, that it’s all done away with. And it’s so funny — when my Evangelical friends discover that I keep the Torah the best I can, they always come up with, “Well, the Torah can’t save you — you can’t be saved by keeping the Torah.” It’s like, well, I know that. I’m not saved by paying my taxes, but I’m in a world of hurt if I don’t. And I’m not saved by obeying the traffic laws — but if I don’t obey them, it could cause a lot of damage to me and to others. I’m not saved by the Torah, but there’s a lot of wisdom in obeying it and following it. There’s a lot of blessing that comes to me, and I get to avoid a lot of pain and damage.

But let’s play this little game. So many in Christianity denigrate the Torah — in fact, they even call the Torah a curse, and they derive that partly from the book of Galatians. But none of them say that about following the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount takes up three chapters of Matthew — Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7. And right in the middle of that sermon, by the way, Yeshua says, “Don’t even think I came to set aside the Torah.” But that’s another story.

The Sermon on the Mount comprises the core of everything Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) wanted to teach people so we could follow him. And what he teaches is derived from the Torah. But let’s just stick to the Sermon on the Mount — and here’s the little mind game.

Though many Evangelicals and Christians of a lot of denominations will say, “Oh, you shouldn’t keep the Torah,” they all say, “Oh, you need to follow the Sermon on the Mount.” Well — can the Sermon on the Mount save you? Of course not.

So let’s take some verses from Galatians and replace the word “Torah” with “the sermon” — referring to the Sermon on the Mount. Let’s just play this game:

Galatians 2:16 — Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the sermon, but through faith in Yeshua the Messiah. So we also believed in Messiah Yeshua in order to be justified by faith in the Messiah and not by works of the sermon, because by works of the sermon no one will be justified.

Galatians 2:21 — I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the sermon, the Messiah died for no purpose.

I mean — think about it for a moment. If all Yeshua came to earth to do was to give us this sermon, then why did he need to die and rise from the dead? Because it’s not the sermon that saves us. It’s not the sermon that bears away our sins. It’s Yeshua who does that. So what’s the purpose of the sermon? To help us live like Yeshua, to help us live his ways — actually, to help us live out the Torah in the light of Yeshua.

Galatians 3:2 — Let me ask you only this: did you receive the Spirit by works of the sermon, or by hearing with faith?

Galatians 3:5 — Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the sermon, or by the hearing of faith?

Galatians 3:11 — Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the sermon, for the righteous shall live by faith.

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

Because after all — that’s probably the greatest sermon ever preached in world history. But it still can’t save.

Galatians 5:4 — You are severed from Messiah, you who would be justified by the sermon. You have fallen away from grace.

Now think about this for a moment — this gets right to the heart of Galatians. If you think you can be saved by keeping the instructions of the Sermon on the Mount, then what Yeshua did for us on the cross doesn’t matter. And that’s what Paul is saying here. If you think you can be saved by keeping the commandments of the Torah, then why did Yeshua have to die?

Again — is the Sermon on the Mount good? It’s perfect, it’s wonderful. It’s some of the best instruction ever given by the mouth of man. The Torah is the greatest instruction that was ever written by God’s pen through the hand of Moses. And they have the same purpose — to teach us how to live, to teach us how to relate to God. But neither of them can save us from our sins. Only God can do that, through Messiah. And if we look to the Torah or look to the Sermon on the Mount as a way to be justified, as a way to be saved, then we’ve fallen away from grace — we’re relying on works.

Galatians 5:14 — For the whole sermon is fulfilled in one word: you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

And that is something that Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) does indeed speak about in the Sermon on the Mount.

The Didache (דִּידַכֵּה) — The Teaching

By the way — just this last Shabbat, and this is July of 2023 — last Shabbat I was invited to speak again at Beth Tikkun, where I used to pastor. And they asked me to teach about the apostles’ teaching. So I did a teaching on what is called the Didache (דִּידַכֵּה) — which means “the teaching.” This is an ancient document from the first century, written by the apostles themselves, that had been lost for almost two thousand years — but rediscovered in the late 1800s and translated into English.

And I do a teaching on this because what’s so interesting is that though the church was very excited to find this ancient document — which had been referred to in other ancient writings, but they didn’t have a complete copy — when a complete copy came to light, the Catholics were not too excited about it anymore, because it was not very Catholic. And the Evangelicals and Protestants were not very excited about it either, because it certainly wasn’t very Evangelical or Protestant. What the Didache was — was very Jewish. Yet it was instructions written by the apostles in the first century to tell Gentiles how to fit in to this Jesus movement — how they are to be a part of this community. And what you find in there are instructions about eating, about keeping the commandments, about Sabbath — and it’s pretty fascinating.

As someone who practices Messianic Judaism, I felt completely at home. I love reading the Didache — it helps answer questions for me that I have about how to practice this faith. So I encourage you to read it, and at the end of the notes I put a link so you can go there and print out your own copy of the Didache, and also a link to the teaching I did last Shabbat — so if you want to listen to that, great. But please print out a copy of the Didache — it’s a wonderful document, worth studying in a small group with friends.

The Context of Galatians — Identity

Well, let’s move on to point number three: the context of Galatians. So we’ve discussed a little bit the problem of Galatians, and we’ll continue to do that in the coming weeks — and the key to Galatians, which we’ll continue to talk about — and the context of Galatians, which we will also continue to talk about.

The context of Galatians is this: it’s the issue of identity. In other words — what religion are we? I remember so well when my wife and I and our family began to practice Messianic Judaism — we began to follow the Torah, keep Sabbath, and other things — and a group of friends in our Bible study began to do the same. The question kept coming up: “What do we call ourselves?” My father-in-law — Robin’s dad — kept asking, “What do we call ourselves?” Because he was used to being a Baptist — he realized, “I’m not a Baptist anymore. So what do we call ourselves?” And I dodged the question because I really didn’t have a good answer myself, except — we’re just trying to be a follower of Yeshua. We’re people who love the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We’re trying to follow the truth, to walk in the way. I didn’t really have a title.

But we love to have titles. We love to belong to a group. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But this was the problem in the community in Galatia. They had been pagans, and now they realized they’re not pagans anymore. And they had attached themselves to this Yeshua movement — which they saw as a sect of Judaism — yet they’re Gentiles. They didn’t get circumcised and convert to Judaism. But then, as Paul describes here in the opening of Galatians, some troublemakers came along and said, “Oh, you need to convert to Judaism. Because it’s the Jewish people who are chosen. It’s the Jewish people who are the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It’s with the Jewish people that God has made covenants. And if you don’t convert to Judaism, you’re still outside the camp. You don’t matter.” And this was very upsetting to the people in Galatia — and it was really upsetting when Paul heard what was going on.

We long for an identity. We long to be part of a group. May I suggest that your identity be in Messiah — that you’re in messiah — and the group you’re part of is the Bride of Messiah. To me that is very satisfying, and for me that’s enough. I’m also a part of a group here on earth — people get together, of course it would be wrong of me not to be — but as far as my identity, my identity is in Messiah. And the older I get, the stronger that identity comes to be for me, and the more I identify with that, the more it means.

45,000 Denominations

You know, when I first taught through Galatians 15 or 16 years ago, there were 38,000 different Christian denominations. And as I was preparing this discussion, I wondered if that number had changed. So I went to the website for the Center for the Study of Global Christianity — and now they say there are 45,000 denominations today. Forty-five thousand. In other words, there are 45,000 ways Christians can disagree with each other. And I’m sure that number is going to climb.

It reminds me of when I was a little kid. My parents built a house — I was about three years old — they built a house in a rural area, and we were like the second or third house on this whole long dirt road. Beautiful area, but it was not very populated. And so there was no one else my age to play with except for the Catholic girl down at the end of the road. Her name was Barbara. And so Barb and I would play — she was the only kid my age anywhere around. But here I am — I’m a staunch Baptist. And I’m like six or seven years old. I was a Baptist. I believed that you had to be a Baptist or you were going to hell. And Barbara was Roman Catholic, as was her whole family.

And what’s amazing — I look back — Barbara loved God. And even as little kids, if we lost a toy or something, she’d say, “Well, let’s pray,” and she’d start to pray. And sure enough we would find what we had lost. She had such strong faith in God. But we had a lot of conversations. I keep thinking — if there’s TV in the world to come, then there’s going to be a comedy show that will air weekly called Grant and Barbara Discuss Theology. Because I can only imagine the conversations. I remember some of them, and to think back on them now, it was just so comical.

But in my little Baptist mind, she needed to become a Baptist if she wanted to go to heaven when she died. And it was my mission on earth to save Barbara from going to hell. And as silly as that example may be — it is exactly what was going on in the book of Galatians. “You Gentiles — you’ve accepted Jesus, you want to follow him — and you’ve got to convert to Judaism. You’ve got to become part of the children of the covenant, you have to become part of the chosen people. Because God has made his promises to us. Unless you become one of us, all bets are off — your eternal destiny is pretty wobbly.”

But you see — putting on a cowboy hat doesn’t make you a cowboy. And draping a stethoscope around your neck doesn’t make you a doctor. And converting to Judaism doesn’t necessarily make you closer to God. It will not make you his child. It will not make you a disciple of Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ).

The Heart of Galatians

So —anyways I think this is worth noting: everything Paul wrote in Galatians concerning Judaism could have been written about any Christian denomination. Let me read that again: everything Paul wrote in Galatians concerning Judaism could have been written about any Christian denomination.

Some denominations are more gracious than others, and some religions are not gracious at all. Denominations and religions are like clothing. Some clothing is beautiful and some clothing is gross and exploitive. Some clothing enhances a person’s appearance. And I find that based on how you’re dressed, that can deeply impact how you behave — which is one of the reasons why I would like to see our culture move back to a much more conservative way of dressing. I remember when I was a kid—im really taking a rabbi trail— I remember when I was a kid, back in the 50s — the only place to go shopping was to go to downtown Akron, and Saturdays were shopping day. Downtown Akron would be packed with people who go to shop on Saturdays downtown. There’s no other place to go. Dad would put on his necktie, a white shirt, a suit jacket, wear his hat — and we all dressed up, because we’re going downtown. Something’s been lost when we don’t feel like we owe it to others to look our best. And I’m guilty of this as well. When I taught school for 30 years, there would be certain days the kids were allowed to wear certain things, or there’d be a dress-up day. And invariably the days they were required to dress up for an event, they all behaved completely differently. It’s like when they were dressed in dignity, they behaved with dignity.

Well — going back to religions and denominations — some enhance our dignity and our walk, and others are debilitating to our dignity and our walk. And so we should be careful about just putting on religion, about putting on a denomination. These are externalities. And there’s nothing wrong with externalities, but they are no substitute for reality.

And so Paul in Galatians is saying: changing the outside, converting, putting on a different religion — does not change your walk with God. Your relationship with God is based squarely on one thing alone — and that’s upon what Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) has done for you on the cross, and you yielding your life to him. And anything that pulls you away from that — he says, let it be anathema, let it be accursed. That is the heart and soul of Galatians.

So again — I encourage you: now that this discussion is over, sooner rather than later, open your Bible and read through the letter. You’re going to come to some things that are kind of bumpy — “I don’t understand that” — well, those are the things we’ll discuss in future episodes of this series. But I hope this has been helpful to lay a foundation as we make our way forward through this book.

So until next time, I wish you shalom (שָׁלוֹם). May God bless.

Teaching Material

Hebrew Word Studies

Torah (תּוֹרָה) — “Instruction, teaching, law”; God’s revelation given to Moses at Sinai. Central to understanding Galatians: Paul is not arguing against the Torah — he uses the Torah throughout the letter to make his case. Torah ≠ Judaism. The Torah was complete before the religion of Judaism existed. As stated in this teaching: the Torah is not your feet, but a lamp to your feet; not your Father, but the instruction your Father gave you; not your Savior, but the book that describes your Savior. — Strong’s H8451 · Sefaria: Torah

Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) — “Salvation”; the Messiah, the central figure of the letter to the Galatians. The Galatians were not leaving Yeshua for the Torah — they were leaving Yeshua for a false gospel. Paul’s entire argument is that no religion, no law, no denomination can save — only Yeshua can. — Strong’s H3442

Anathema (אֲנָתֵמָא) — “Accursed, devoted to destruction”; Paul’s word in Galatians 1:8–9 for anything — even an angel — that preaches a different gospel. The Greek word is anathema (ἀνάθεμα); in this teaching it is identified as the heart and soul of Galatians: anything that pulls us away from Yeshua is anathema. — Blue Letter Bible: Greek Anathema G331

Tanakh (תַּנַ”ךְ) — The Hebrew scriptures, acronym for Torah (תּוֹרָה), Nevi’im (נְבִיאִים, “Prophets”), and Ketuvim (כְּתוּבִים, “Writings”). In Luke 24, Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) after his resurrection opened the minds of his disciples to understand all three sections of the Tanakh — all things pertaining to himself. — Sefaria: Tanakh

Nevi’im (נְבִיאִים) — “Prophets”; the second section of the Tanakh. Together with Torah and Ketuvim, forms the complete Hebrew scriptures that Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) expounded to his disciples after the resurrection (Luke 24:44). — Sefaria: Nevi’im

Ketuvim (כְּתוּבִים) — “Writings”; the third section of the Tanakh, including Psalms, Proverbs, and the five Megillot. — Sefaria: Ketuvim

Didache (דִּידַכֵּה) — “The Teaching”; an ancient first-century document written by the apostles to instruct Gentiles how to live within the Yeshua movement. Rediscovered in the late 1800s. Neither Catholic nor Evangelical — deeply Jewish in character. Contains instructions on eating, commandment-keeping, and Sabbath. Referenced as a resource for Messianic practice in this teaching. — Early Christian Writings: The Didache

Shabbat (שַׁבָּת) — “Sabbath, rest”; the seventh-day rest commanded in the Torah. Mentioned in this teaching as one of the practices the speaker keeps — and which prompts the question from others, “Haven’t you read Galatians?” — Strong’s H7676

Shalom (שָׁלוֹם) — “Peace, wholeness, completeness, well-being.” — Strong’s H7965

Scripture References

Open All Scripture in Bible Gateway

• Galatians 1:6 — “You are so quickly deserting him…and turning to a different gospel” — the Galatians were not turning to Torah; they were turning to a false gospel
• Galatians 1:8–9 — “Let him be anathema” — anything, even an angel, that preaches a different gospel; the heart and soul of Galatians
• Galatians 2:16 — “A person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Yeshua the Messiah” — neither Torah nor the Sermon on the Mount can justify
• Galatians 2:21 — “If righteousness were through the law, Messiah died for no purpose” — applied in this teaching to both Torah and the Sermon on the Mount
• Galatians 3:2 — “Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?”
• Galatians 3:5 — “Does he who supplies the Spirit…do so by works of the law or by hearing with faith?”
• Galatians 3:11 — “No one is justified before God by the law, for the righteous shall live by faith”
• Galatians 3:21 — “Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not!”
• Galatians 4:21 — “Tell me, you who desire to be under the law — do you not listen to the Torah?” — Paul uses the Torah to argue against the misuse of the Torah
• Galatians 5:4 — “You are severed from Messiah, you who would be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace.”
• Galatians 5:14 — “The whole law is fulfilled in one word: you shall love your neighbor as yourself”
• Deuteronomy 13:1–5 — The Torah’s test for a true prophet: if he leads you away from the Torah, reject him — the reason Jewish rejection of Yeshua is tied to Christian rejection of Torah
• Luke 24:44–45 — After the resurrection, Yeshua opens the minds of his disciples to understand the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings — all things pertaining to himself
• Matthew 5:17 — “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets” — at the heart of the Sermon on the Mount, referenced in this teaching’s “mind game”
• 1 Corinthians 7:17–20 — “If you were born Jewish, don’t stop being Jewish; if you were born a Gentile, don’t seek to become a Jew” — Paul’s consistent position on religious identity

External References & Further Study

• The Didache — Early Christian Writings — Full English text of the first-century apostolic document referenced in this teaching; instructions to Gentiles on eating, Sabbath, and commandment-keeping
• Deuteronomy 13 — The Test of the Prophet — Sefaria — The Torah’s warning against prophets who lead Israel away from God’s commandments; why Jewish rejection of Yeshua is connected to how he has been presented
• Center for the Study of Global Christianity — The source cited in this teaching for the figure of 45,000 Christian denominations worldwide
• Beth Tikkun Messianic Fellowship — The congregation where this teaching was originally developed 15–16 years ago; referenced in the introduction
• Torah Today Ministries — Home of Grappling with Galatians and other Torah-centered teachings