Was The Law To Difficult To Keep?

[Guest]

Acts 15:10

"Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke (the law) on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?"

Deuteronomy 30:11-14

"For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it."

[Guest]

I believe the reference to "a law which is a yoke that even our Fathers were unable to bear" is the same human tradition of the Jewish Fathers that nullified the Torah according to Messiah, which God Himself declared was not hard for Israel to bear. It is this Oral Law which later was transmitted in the Mishnas and Talmuds of the Tiberian and Babylonian Jewish Academies. It was developed during post exilic Rabbinic Judaism to protect the Decalogue and the National Covenant codes, ordinances and regulations from being transgressed. This Jewish Law was denounced by Messiah and His Apostles as uninspired, contrary to the Torah itself and burdensome to the point of invalidating the Decalogue, the Covenant and the possibility of human observance.

So you see, there is no contradiction here, just a paradox easily understood when the historical context is known.


Ken Huffman

[Guest]

I believe the reference to "a law which is a yoke that even our Fathers were unable to bear" is the same human tradition of the Jewish Fathers that nullified the Torah according to Messiah, which God Himself declared was not hard for Israel to bear. It is this Oral Law which later was transmitted in the Mishnas and Talmuds of the Tiberian and Babylonian Jewish Academies. It was developed during post exilic Rabbinic Judaism to protect the Decalogue and the National Covenant codes, ordinances and regulations from being transgressed. This Jewish Law was denounced by Messiah and His Apostles as uninspired, contrary to the Torah itself and burdensome to the point of invalidating the Decalogue, the Covenant and the possibility of human observance.

So you see, there is no contradiction here, just a paradox easily understood when the historical context is known.


Ken Huffman

I don't think I can agree with that. In context it says that some of the believers who belonged to the Pharisees said that the Gentiles must be circumcised and obey the Law of Moses. (Acts 15:5) Luke could have easily stated if they meant their own traditions. Plus, these were believers, not unbelieving Pharisees.

John 5:39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.


It seems they may have had good intentions, but it seems like the point made is that salvation comes by faith in Jesus Christ, and not by outward keeping of the Law.

[Guest]

The point of the issue is whether or not the Torah as given by God is hard to observe, not whether observance is the method of salvation. Salvation is by Grace through the obedience of Faith...this is so in the Noahic, Mosaic and Messianic Covenants. Torah Observance (works of the Law) has never been a means of Salvation, but a fruit of Faith in Grace.
The Jewish authorities searched the Scriptures and sought the Salvation of Israel in them...correct. These Scriptures foretold the coming of their Salvation in Messiah, yet when the hour of their visitation came they did not recognize Him and recieve their intended Salvation. This text does not contradict my assertions either.
Paul stated that those who wished to make Mosaic Jews (Party of the Circumcision) of Gentile Believers before they could become Nazaraeans were not true Believers, but false brethren. Hence your assertion that they were "christian believers" is incorrect. They were Judaizing Pharasees who dressed in Nazaraean clothes...seeking to rob us of our New Liberty in Christ through His New Covenant.
Salvation comes through Grace and not from personal merits based on Torah Observance. Pharasees saw Salvation as merited by perfect Torah Observance......as did the false brethren among the Church who insisted on keeping the Old Covenant in order to receive the New Covenant. The issue with Messiah was the vain Traditions of Men which invalidated the Torah. It was this "Yoke" that was recognized as unbearable by Israel, and it was imposed upon them by their fathers...who were not able to follow it either. The "Yoke" is not the Torah, but the Traditions of Jewish Rabbis and Scribes. Context, context, context. Acts 15:10 does not speak of the Torah, but the issues developed by Pharasaic oral Law imposed upon the Church by false brethren from the Pharasee party. This Judaizer sect within the Church evventually separated from us to become there heretical anti Pauline Ebionim (i.e. Ebionites). Look them up and see.

I realize you disagree, but I do not see from the texts herein used what your disagreement is based upon.
In Messiah,
+Ken .H