Getting Down to the Roots: Do the Old Testament Laws Still Apply To Us Today?
Are you a rule-follower or a rebel?
Sometimes, laws may seem a bit excessive, and even at times, outlandish.
For instance, did you know it’s technically against state law to eavesdrop in Oklahoma? In Reno, Nevada, it’s illegal to sit on a sidewalk. And at one point, Kansas didn’t allow people to put ice cream on cherry pies!
Interestingly enough, looks like the rule-followers are mostly in the majority with this 2020 survey showing that about half of America agrees that the Bible should have some influence on laws of the land.
For as much as modern-day society can openly reject authority, it seems like we can agree that laws are good—they reflect a code of the moral law written in the DNA of all humans.
But what if we lived by every letter of the law?
In the Old Testament, God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments, setting up the foundational precepts for how we are to conduct our lives. Soon after, God wrote the Levitical Law with Moses outlining how the Old Testament Jews were to live their lives prior to Christ’s first arrival on earth.
But recently, there has been a movement looking to recover the lifestyle dictated by the laws found in the Old Testament. This type of movement is called the Hebrew Roots Movement.
Today, we’re going to look at how the Hebrew Roots Movement has threatened to sway our focus on Christ’s ultimate sacrifice on the cross. And we’re going to look at how we can combat this false thinking by tackling what the the law’s true meaning is.
As we track Paul’s epistles, Paul forms an apologists-like case addressing his concerns for the false thinking that was invading the growing church involving how the Law should be treated.
In the opening chapter of Colossians, Paul lays the foundational concepts of what Christians believe and what they have been saved from, and what they should avoid. In chapter 2, Paul introduces us to a problem that the the church of Colossae is facing, a problem that we Christians today still grapple with.
Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
Colossians 2:16-23
What is the Hebrew Roots Movement?
The Hebrew Roots Movement pushes the belief that Old Testament Laws and practices must be still observed by Christians today.
The followers of this movement believe that Christ’s death on the cross did not end the practices and all of Old Testament law’s and traditions must be followed.
A few other cornerstone beliefs of the Hebrew Roots Movement include:
The followers reject the name Jesus and prefer to use the terms “Yeshua” or “Yahweh,” claiming that those are the correct name God wishes for Himself.
The Torah has become and is held as the most important, highly elevated position, overriding the New Testament.
They claim that the New Testament must be interpreted from the perspective of the Old Testament, viewing the New Testament as having drifted away from God’s original intention.
They advocate if a Christian truly seeks after truth and lives a purposeful life for God, they will walk in accordance with the OT laws and ceremonies.
Now, it’s good to note there are variations of extremism within this movement. Some followers state that it is not required for salvation, but the practices are necessary for Christians to walk in obedience to God. Others state it is good to follow the Hebrew Roots practices for tradition’s sake. Yet, others reject the writings of the Apostle Paul.
Essentially, the Hebrew Roots Movement believes that the Old Testament Law, which was originally intended only for Jews, is now equally as binding for Gentiles (those who are not born Jewish).
The belief is founded on the idea that since Jesus and His disciples observed the Torah (or the first five books of the Bible) we, too, as modern-day Christians must walk in observance of the Mosaic Law.
G. Richard Fisher summarizes this alarming philosophy best by saying, “This is not just an academic study to better understand Scripture and its setting but is rather a movement of restoration that claims that the church has moved off its Jewish foundation and must return to a more Jewish way of life to be authentic.
The main danger with the Hebrew Roots Movement is it leads to the belief that faith is not all that is needed for salvation.
Why does it matter?
Paul warns the Colossians of false thinking that intends to dismantle their faith. Like the Colossians, we need to be aware of how the Hebrew Roots Movement has the potential to invade our own faith and trip up our thinking.
Having the correct understanding of what the Law in the Bible is and how we are to respond and treat it will help us evade returning to the burden of the Law and rejecting the ultimate freedom Christ offers through His death on the cross!
1. What is the Old Testament Law?
In Matthew 5:17, Jesus states, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
In John 14:15, Jesus also says,“If you love Me, you will keep my commandments.”
The Hebrew Roots Movement uses these verses to support their case, stating the words, “law” and “commandments” directly refer to the Mosaic Law. However, what we need to see is that the word “law” in Matthew is nomos—which means, “a law or rule producing a state approved of God.”
In the book of Exodus, the first mention of the Law to the nation of Israel was referring to a covenant—a legal agreement between God and the people He chose. The Israelites were required to obey it fully if they were to receive its benefits.
In the Old Testament, God gave the Israelites this Law that was never intended for anyone other than Jews to practice. He set up the hierarchy of the Levitical priests to help enforce these practices for the Jewish people.
2. What is the real purpose of the Law?
The intention behind the Law was to separate the Israelites from other nations, setting them a part for His glory. The Israelites were to do life so differently than the surrounding nations, no one could deny that they were set a part. The stark difference testified to God’s leadership and authority in the nation.
Deuteronomy 14:2 states, “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”
The Law emphasized how special and set apart the nation of Israel was going to be. The ceremonial food laws were to make Israel unique and different from the rest of the world and to show how how to separate and not interact with others.
Christ’s death broke down the barriers that the Law had built up, leaving us New Testament Christians with a different response to the burdensome rules.
3. How should we respond to the Law?
We need to understand that the Levitical Law points to our sin in us but offers no way to atone for that sin.
Jesus clearly and plainly understood His fulfillment of the Law by actively living out the Greatest Commandment as defined in Matthew 22:37-40: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
The commandments we are expected to keep is condensed into the one and only one. For by following the Greatest Commandment, we will naturally be following the Ten Commandments.
The Law can’t change our hearts: it can only show our scathing sin.
What Jesus did on the cross points to our sin and also offers us freedom in Him. Therefore, we are no longer in need of ceremonies to make us in right standing before God.
Galatians 3:10-13 states, “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.”
What the Law couldn’t do, Jesus did.
And not only that! Christ broke down the barrier between Jews & Gentiles so we can all become one in Him!
We no longer need to adhere to these dietary restrictions which were used to make us clean before God for worship. The washing and cleaning were necessary to be sanctified and cleansed for worship at the Temple. But these procedures were shadows of the cleansing work Christ’s death did to our hearts.
Because the Hebrew Roots Movement dismisses Christ’s saving act on the cross, the thinking is on a fast track toward heresy. In Colossians 2:21-23, Paul calls out the idolatry of any individual who thinks abiding by the Law is still necessary for salvation.
Where the Hebrew Roots Movement seeks to bring back over 600 complex lifestyle laws to make God approve of our lives, Christ’s death offers a much easier formula:
Jesus + Nothing = Everything.
Christ did it all! He removed the burden of 613 Old Testament Laws. He removed the curse of the Law. Christ brought us out of the bondage of sin and the merciless law!
May we live uprightly and praise Him endlessly for removing the barriers and the burdens! And may we be resolute not to allow any false thinking infiltrate the hard-won freedom Christ gave us.