Grafted: Embracing Torah

By Robert Keck

The purpose of this book is to share a simple guide to what the Torah (“to guide or teach”) tells us about living life the way God wishes.

When I began to study my Hebrew roots (I do not believe I am a Jew, though I could be; the ten tribes of the house of Israel never returned from captivity and assimilated into the societies they were taken to. I’m happy to acknowledge that I may only be a “stranger that sojourneth among you” [Exodus 12:49]), I could not find a simple list of things that said, “Do this, eat that”, etc., so I wrote this one.

Jesus admonished the Pharisees for teaching traditions (Talmud) and obscuring the law (Torah) through their religious edicts and practices. God said that His Commandments are not difficult, but over the centuries, Jewish leaders have added to God’s statutes as a way of helping the Jewish people to avoid close proximity with sin. The intentions initially were good, but the practices became a religion unto themselves, and the Jews lost the message of God’s love in the endless procedures and rules proscribed by the Talmud.

Jesus kept the entire law, as did the apostles Paul, Peter, James, Stephen, et al. We err when we teach that Christianity is something new. Neither Jesus nor the apostles ever advocated anything new. They remained committed Hebrews all their days, and to teach otherwise is not only wrong but also calamitous to our Christian walk.

One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the LORD. (Numbers 15:15–16; see also Romans 11:16–27)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: May 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781662444081

Book preview

1

Faith without Works?

⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast.

—Ephesians 2:8–9

But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

—James 2:20

Christianity teaches that Yeshua’s sacrifice freed us from sin and that Yahweh does not see our sins because they are covered by Yeshua’s blood. Once we confess Yeshua as Lord and "believe Yahweh raised him from the dead" (Romans 10:9–10), then we are guaranteed everlasting life. Living a good life afterward is nice but not necessary.

What does it mean to confess someone as Lord? I break down the criteria of confessing and believing at my blog site on WordPress.com.¹ This is not just an utterance of the right words, it is a deliberate commitment.

Joseph Stalin was a seminary student before joining the Communist Party in Russia. He later ruled the Soviet Union and oversaw the deaths of tens of millions of his own citizens as well as financing revolution throughout the world. Christianity teaches that if Uncle Joe (as FDR called him) was born again at some point before his venture into Communism, then he will be with us in paradise.

Christians often cite Galatians 2:16–21:

¹⁶ Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. ¹⁷ But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. ¹⁸ For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. ¹⁹ For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. ²⁰ I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

Or Romans 8:1–4:

¹ There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: ⁴ That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

I agree that salvation is through faith, but works are the evidence of our faith:

¹⁴ What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, ¹⁶ And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? ¹⁷ Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. ¹⁸ Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. ¹⁹ Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. ²⁰ But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? ²¹ Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? ²² Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? ²³ And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. ²⁴ Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. (James 2:14–24; emphasis added)

Paul continued to keep the Law throughout his life and was not shy to let people know: But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets (Acts 24:14).

When we stand before the Judgment Seat (bema), we will be judged least or greatest in the kingdom (or somewhere in between):

¹⁰ But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. ¹¹ For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. ¹² So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. (Romans 14:10–12)

If faith in Christ is all we need, then what is the account we must give to Yeshua? Of course, we will be judged by our actions! And what standard do you think he will use? No doubt the standard that Yeshua followed perfectly. Aren’t we called on to be like Christ? "Be ye followers of me [Paul], even as I also am of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1).

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul admonishes the local church for allowing a man guilty of incest to remain within the body of believers:

¹ It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. ² And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. ³ For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, ⁴ In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁵ To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. (1 Corinthians 5:1–5)

The believers in Corinth knew of the sin, appeared to be ignoring the sin, and thereby acquiesced to the sin. The sinners were emboldened rather than chastised. They should have been counseled to reject their sin as the Word instructs (Matthew 18:15–17).

By neglecting to confront the sin, the community had (through omission) told the sinners that their behavior was acceptable and set an example that others might have followed. When we accept the unacceptable because of community standards or even praise the sinners as being courageous, we reinforce sin and condemn our brothers to destruction rather than redeem them to