As a Messianic rabbi, I am often accused of being legalistic because I choose to keep Sabbath on Saturday, or because I don’t eat certain foods, and sometimes because I choose to celebrate biblical Holy Days, rather than traditional holidays. I have been told that I am “majoring in the minors.” There have been accusations of Judaising. I have been told that my actions diminish the value of the gospel. People have told me that I believe that I have been saved or I am being saved by my works.
I could go on and on about the things that people have said to me, my synagogue members, and nearly every follower of Messianic Judaism, regardless of whether they are Jewish or non-Jewish. So, I thought I would set the record straight once and for all publically, for all to read in my own words: “I don’t believe G-D cares if we keep the commandments.”
That is not to say that I don’t think we should keep the commandments. Nor is it saying that there is no value in keeping the commandments. I just fully and completely believe that G-D doesn’t care if we keep the commandments. Now, I know at this point in this blog I have divided those reading this blog into two distinct groups. Some people who joined the group became happy because of my statement, while others became part of the group of whom I have made others angry through my statement. That was my intent, but my hope is that both groups will continue reading to the end so that both groups will truly understand why I so strongly believe that G-D doesn’t care if we keep the commandments.
First of all, let’s establish that while G-D doesn’t care if we keep the commandments, we believers all do. We may not agree on which commandments we care about, but we all deeply care if we or other believers keep the commandments. For some, the list of commandments we need to keep are long and include things like Sabbath, dietary laws, tithing, etc. For others, the lists are shorter and mostly include laws which are considered moral laws, such as murder, adultery, theft, marriage laws, and abortion. As I said, nearly every person who claims to be a believer in Yeshua truly cares if we keep the commandments.
So, you may then be asking me why it is that if all of the people who claim to believe in Yeshua care if we keep the commandments, why do I believe G-D doesn’t care if we keep the commandments? To answer that question, we must understand that G-D doesn’t care about the commandments. G-D cares about His creation, you and I. He loves us more deeply than any of us could possibly imagine, and His primary concern is that we love Him. The first and greatest commandment was and is, as we read in Deuteronomy 6:5, “Love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” And this truth was reiterated by Yeshua Himself in Matthew 22:37, “And He said to him, ‘“You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.’” Yeshua went on to say what the second most important commandment was in Matthew 22:39, “‘And the second is like it, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”’”
When it comes to what G-D cares about, first and foremost, He cares if we love Him. Second, He cares if we love our neighbor, and our neighbor is every other human He created. John wrote in 1st John 4:20, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar. For the one who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that the one who loves God should also love his brother.”
So, to bring what I am trying to share into complete focus, I don’t believe that G-D cares if we keep the commandments if we don’t love Him and love our neighbor. Keeping the commandments without truly loving G-D is the definition of legalism. Keeping the commandments while hating one’s neighbor is in fact not keeping the commandments at all.
This is why we read in 1 John 5:2, “We know that we love God’s children by this—when we love God and obey His commandments,” which is really a paraphrase of what Yeshua said in John 15:7, “‘If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. 8 In this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be My disciples. 9 Just as the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you. Abide in My love! 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 11 These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and your joy may be full. 12 This is My commandment, that you love one another just as I have loved you.’”
In conclusion, this says exactly what I am saying today, and that is that while I absolutely believe that G-D doesn't care if we keep the commandments, I absolutely believe that G-D cares if we keep the commandments because we love Him and our neighbor.
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