We know YHWH's (God) commandments. Not only the Ten do we know, but also all 613 of them, or else we should.
We are commanded to hear and obey (shama), but do we? So many of the times believers fall into weakness and only complete half of the command to shama, which is the hear part.
But Paul commands us to do all - Romans 2:13 "(For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. " James actually confirms this in James 1:22 - "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves."
So why do our weaknesses allow us to fail with these commandments and fall into temptation, afterward sinning?
Deuteronomy 30:10-14 says this, "If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. "
What he is saying is that the commandments, are in our heart so that we can do and follow them. They are with us always, not in Heaven, where we cannot reach or across the sea, that we cannot fetch them. The Apostle Paul confirmed this in Romans, though many misunderstand him. He said in Romans 10:5-8, "For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is,the word of faith, which we preach."
He says that they preach the same thing as Moses. Many misunderstand that. They quote the next verse, which states, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved," but fail to recognize the next verse has two parts:
1. Believe unto righteousness.
2. Confess with the mouth.
The Greek word for righteousness here is dikaiosynē, and the best definition for it is: the doctrine concerning the way in which man may attain a state approved of God. But let's let Scripture define it. Righteousness is defined in Romans 10:5 "For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law." Does that mean the Torah brings about righteousness? Nope.
Look at verses 1-4 and I am going to explain them in a whole new light.
1. Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
2. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
3. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
4. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
First of all - in (1.) Paul states He wishes for the Jews to become saved.
In (2.) he states that they have an earnest desire to please YHWH but no knowledge of how to do so.
In (3.) he states that because of their not understanding the righteousness of YHWH they followed what they believed was their own righteousness - what they believed made them righteous - which is the Torah (and it doesn't.)
In (4.) He states (let me put this again), "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. " So is Paul saying that to follow Christ Yeshua that means we are to stop following Torah? God forbid he said in Romans 3:31 "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." Does he contradict himself? Let's see!
The Greek word for end in verse 4 is telos and actually means the end of a goal oriented process, so lets read it as Paul meant. "For Christ is the aim of the goal oriented process of the Torah for righteousness to every one that believeth." So what he is saying is that believing in and obeying the Torah leads us to Christ.
But now, back to my original point... why do we have trouble hearing and obeying YHWH's word?
Yeshua tells us in Matthew 26:41 - "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
Certainly, that is great advice, from the Lord himself, but I think there is more than just prayer to it. Let's see.
1 Timothy 4:7-8 says this, "But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come."
So Paul compares obeying YHWH to exercise. Of course, it is a good idea to exercise our bodies physically, as being healthy always glorifies YHWH, but Paul is saying what good is it to exercise our bodies if we have no godliness, piety towards YHWH. So how do we get that godliness?
It is called spiritual muscle, and we acquire it by facing temptations and obeying what James said, which is to "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
Each time we stand up to temptation, it strengthens our spirit, and with each strengthening of the spirit, which we experience, the bigger our spiritual muscles become, and then it is easier to shama, so start building and flexing those muscles for YHWH!
© Kimberly Padilla, A.A. Religious Studies
August 16, 2009
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