We have sometimes heard good folks that say they want the “Abraham kind of faith,” the kind of faith that existed “before the Law was given.” They will sometimes quote, “And he (Abraham) believed in the LORD (YHWH), and He counted it to him for righteousness,” from Genesis 15:6. This verse is again quoted in Romans 4:3 and Galatians 3:6. It is indeed proof of a doctrine which is called “Justification by Faith.” It is 100% scriptural! We have no problem with that. Philippians 3:9 also confirms this doctrine.
However, it is also assumed that this is all that was required of Abraham, and all that is required of us. The assumption is that Torah is no longer relevant to people of faith. Habakkuk 2:4b is often quoted to prove this concept: “The just shall live by his faith.” However, if we live by our faith, shouldn’t this affect how we live our lives? Does this mean we can do whatever we want to do? Of course not! If we truly live by our faith, we are going to be obedient to the precepts of our faith. In much the same way, a child shows respect and love for his parents when he obeys his mom and dad.
Abraham was told that his descendants would be numerous, like the stars of the heavens.(Bereisheet [Genesis]15:5)
When we get to Genesis chapter 17, we discover that Abraham and all the men of his household were circumcised when Abe was 99 years old! It’s no big deal for a baby to get circumcised. We went to one b’rit milah (ritual circumcision) where the baby didn’t even cry! Amazing! It isn’t always that easy. We have been to other circumcisions in which the babies’ cries were quite loud. It can be very uncomfortable. In fact, I got circumcised as a baby, and I couldn’t walk for a full year!
For a man, circumcision is a major ordeal, especially back in the days when the only anesthesia was some kosher wine! And the older the man is, the greater the ordeal! Abraham wasn’t a man who believed in “greasy grace.” That is, he didn’t believe that grace and faith were all that was needed. How many of us fellows would agree to circumcision as an adult without some major, heavy-duty anesthesia? Circumcision was (and is) the sign of the covenant between God and His people.[1]
In Genesis 26:3-5, we read about a commandment and a promise from God, to Isaac, the son of Abraham:
3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for to you, and to your descendants, I will give all these countries, [2] and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father; 4and I will make your seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give to your seed all these countries; and in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; 5because Abraham obeyed me, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
Does this sound like someone who was “before the Law”? Does this sound like someone who was ignorant of God’s commandments? The Hebrew word for “charge” is mishmeret, which means “charge or watch.” The word for “commandments” is mitz-vot. Although Jews today sometimes use the term mitzvot to mean “good deeds,” it literally does mean “commandments,” as it is translated in most Bibles. The word for “statutes” is chukot, which also means “ordin-ances.” Finally, the word that is translated “laws” is tarot, from which we get the word torah. Although “Torah” is commonly translated as “Law,” it more literally means “Instructions.”
It is obvious that Abraham’s faith was demonstrated by his actions. However, I can hear some objections: “Yes, that might be true, but it can’t have anything to do with keeping the commandments such as those given by Moses.” Well, actually… YES, it does! In Deuteronomy 11:1, we read the instructions given by Moses to the Israelites, saying, “Therefore you shall love the LORD (YHWH) your God, and keep His charge, and His statutes, and His judgments, and His commandments, always.” That sounds real close to what YHWH said to Isaac, don’t you think?
I don’t believe for a minute that Abraham was ignorant of God’s instructions. The Sabbath, which is the seventh day of the week, is Shabbat. It was sanctified and blessed in Genesis 2:1-3, long before there were any Jews! The concept of the Sabbath wasn’t an “invention” of Moses! It preceded Moses by about 2500 years! Also, Noah was aware of clean and unclean animals, as we learn in Genesis 7:2. Abraham was aware of what sexual perversion was, as we learn from the accounts of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19.
The primary difference between Genesis 26:5 and Deuteronomy 11:1 is this: In Deuteronomy 11:1, Moses connects loving God with keeping the commandments. Interestingly, Yeshua does the same thing! In Yochanan (John) 14:15, Yeshua said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” Later on, in the same chapter, verse 21, Yeshua said, “He that has My commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves Me; and he that loves Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.”
In 1 John 2:4 & 6, we read, “He that says, ‘I know Him,’ and keeps not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him… He that says he abides in Him ought also to walk, even as He walked.” Pretty harsh words, but I’m just the messenger. If you say that you know Yeshua, but don’t obey His commandments, you are a liar. OUCH! Also, if we abide in Him, we should walk even as He walked. I don’t think this will surprise too many of our readers, but Yeshua never changed religions; He remained a Torah-observant Jew. And if we are His talmidim (disciples), we ought also to walk as He walked. By the way, the “religion” of Yeshua and his disciples was Judaism! I don’t for a minute believe we ought to practice our faith as instructed by the rabbis. We should take instruction from a different Rabbi: Rabbi Yeshua!
Yeshua’s brother Ya’akov[3] wrote, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22You see that faith was working with his works, and by works faith was perfected. 23And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,’ and he was called the Friend of God. 24You see then that by works a man is justified, and not by faith alone.” [4] Then a couple of verses later, we read, “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” Can a dead faith save anyone?
I’m not putting down faith for works, nor am I putting down works in favor of faith. What I am saying is that both are vital. Regretfully, very early on in Christianity, the Christians sought to bring about a larger separation between Christianity and Judaism. Thereafter, the primary emphasis was on faith, creeds, and doctrine. What you believed was much more important than what you did. Those who departed from a “creed” were subjected to trials of heresy.
In Judaism, there was the opposite approach. Jews in response to Christianity also sought to further the division between Jews and Christians. One of the ways of doing this was to put an inordinate emphasis on “works.” What you actually did was far more important than what you believed. A religious Jew is someone who observes the mitzvot (commandments). He could be an atheist, but if he observes the mitzvot, he is considered “religious.” I have a friend who is a Polish Jew. He is also a survivor of the Holocaust. He attends synagogue regularly, eats kosher, observes Shabbat, and lives a Jewishly observant lifestyle. Yet he proclaims to be an atheist! One day I asked him, “Harry, why do you do all these things, and yet you claim to be an atheist?” He responded, “Because I am a Jew.” Interesting answer! And in religious circles, he is accepted as a religious Jew, because he observes the mitzvot.
In Messianic Judaism, we need a proper balance. Both works and faith are important. Neither should be at the expense of the other.
[1] Bereisheet (Genesis) 17:9-14
[2] Also check out Genesis 15:18; 35:12; and Joshua 1:4. The covenant to Abraham, through his descendents Isaac and Jacob, includes all of modern day Israel for all times. May God bless the Arabs, and He has! They have 540 times as much land, plus billions of tons of oil. However, the land of Israel belongs to the Jews.
[3] In our English-language Bibles, he is called “James.” However, in the Greek, he is called “Yakobos,” which would be Ya’akov in Hebrew, or Jacob in Anglicized Hebrew.
By Richard Aharon Chaimberlin.
Source: The Faith of Abraham (petahtikvah.com)
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