In a sense, this chapter might be a continuation of chapter three, which dealt with the purposes for Torah. However, the thrust here primarily concerns the motivations for following Torah, rather than its purposes per se. Hence, there are several reasons why the Torah is to be lived. We have not presented these in order of importance; they are meant to be considered equally. As we do so, a more complete picture will unfold.

One word frequently used to describe much of the content of the Torah is the Hebrew mitzvah. This simply means "commandment." It is something God has told us to do. Donât be frightened by that word "command," as if it is something only for the Tenakh. Although Jewish scholars are quick to assert that there are 613 commandments in the Torah, New Testament scholars have noted that there are over 1,000 such "commandments" in the Brit Hadasha! A commandment is a commandment. After all, what is the difference between celebrating Shavuot and choosing elders to govern your fellowship? Both are commanded.

What does it mean to be Jewish? What does it mean to be part of the physical nation of Israel? Does it mean listening to Klezmer music? Does it mean eating blintzes? These and many other traditions are purely cultural. But the Torah presents a required lifestyle of holiness that is cross-cultural. Whether from Morocco or Brooklyn, Jewish people are bound together by certain practices, such as circumcision and eating kosher. These are taught in the Torah. It is the Torah, then, that gives the descendants of Jacob their identity. Believing in Yeshua only makes that identity complete.

Personally, we like this reason the best because it solves all of the problems for both Jewish and non-Jewish people. If we follow Torah only because it is commanded, it can easily turn into legalism. Let us enter by a different door altogether. Let us enter the arena of Torah through the door of our identity in Messiah, and see where it leads us.

The Scripture teaches us a critical truth. In bringing us to faith in Yeshua, God has made us into completely new people. We are new creations, with the Messiah living in us. Moreover, we are receivers of and participants in the Brit Hadasha. Jeremiah 31 teaches that God promises to write Torah on our hearts when He makes us new. Do not miss the full implications of that. Torah is written on our hearts! Among other things, this means that Torah is part of our basic makeup as believers in Yeshua. The new-creation man or woman, therefore, should only do what comes naturally to him or her. In this case, it means living out what is written in the Word÷all of the Word.

Why do we follow Torah? Because it is who we are as new creations. When we read of the redeemed person as described by the precepts of Torah, we are, in reality, reading a description of who God has made us in the Messiah. Let us return again to the concept of the mirror image referred to in James 1:22-25. Here we learn the importance of being doers of the Word instead of listeners only. The illustration is of a person looking at himself in a mirror, but verse 25 describes that "mirror" as the Torah. (Though translated "law" in nearly every English translation, it is actually Torah.) He who does not do the Word is one who looks at his face in the Torah and immediately forgets what he looks like. In that state, therefore, he does not do the Word. But the person who sees himself in the mirror÷the Torah÷and remembers what he looks like, this is the one who does the Word. When we look into the mirror of the Torah, our reflection is that of a redeemed person as described therein. The individual teachings, in essence, describe what the redeemed one looks like. Because it is Yeshua who has made us new, made us the righteousness of God (II Corinthians 5:21), all that is left for us to do is to choose to walk in that new life÷the righteous life of Yeshua÷the life of Torah.

Therefore, we do not follow Torah as though it were merely a list of doâs and donâts. We follow it because it is written on our hearts. It is who we are as new creations. It comes naturally to us because God has made us into new people! But unless we know what our real spiritual identity is, we canât enter into the whole realm of our new life in Messiah that is available through the Torah.

Donât all believers want to do what the Lord did, and to be like Him? We are quick to practice letting His love flow out from us, and learning to worship and pray as He worshiped and prayed. Rightly so. But what about how Yeshua followed Torah? His life was so characterized by Torah that even as late as the next generation of Jewish believers after Him, He was referred to as "The Torah." Even John 1 describes Yeshua as the Word, a reference to the Torah.

There is one more key to this point which will unlock its importance for us. The key is to remember that Yeshua is in us! We are new creations with the Living Torah inside of us. This truth is so powerful that, when we think about it, the question we should be asking is not "Should we follow the Torah?" but "How do we come to know this Îtreasure in jars of clayâ?" (II Corinthians 4:7)

This is our final and most emotional point. We are speaking here as Jewish people to other Jewish people, believers especially. But we are also making an appeal to non-Jewish believers, who need to be awakened to a major theological tragedy that has been perpetuated for the last 1,800 years.

The anti-Torah theology which so dominates the body of Messiah today, originally taught and practiced in the second century, arose from a distinct anti-Judaism propounded by some of the most influential scholars and leaders in the body of Messiah. And because many theologians in the Body today have swallowed the anti-Torah teachings of the Church fathers, the conclusions they continue to teach and publish naturally reflect the same bias. The believers of our era may not be as anti-Jewish as many of the Church fathers were; nevertheless, many have inherited their anti-Torah, anti-Jewish interpretations of the Brit Hadasha Scriptures.

Many today do not think for themselves or practice honest exegesis of the Brit Hadasha. If they did, they would conclude that the Brit Hadasha, in reality, is very Torah-positive and encourages a Torah lifestyle. And while it is no easy task to change beliefs that have been dearly held for over 1,800 years, change they must÷if for no other reason than to be honest with the Bible.

But there is another reason. We need to ask some very serious questions. What does the prevailing anti-Torah theology saying to the traditional Jewish world? How do they see us? What do they understand of our thinking? Moreover, Jewish believers, what is the message being conveyed to our families and Jewish friends by our attitude toward Torah? Simply stated, we are communicating confusion and error to the people through whom the Word of truth originally came. As a result, on the human level (that is, apart from the elective grace of God) there is very little motivation within the traditional Jewish world to hear the Good News.

Rabbi Benjamin Blech is a prominent teacher at New Yorkâs prestigious Yeshiva University, a major educational institution for the Orthodox Jewish world. In his excellent textbook on basic Judaism, he makes this very poignant criticism of "Christianity" as he understands it:

Blech is saying that by rejecting Torah we have, at best, confused the Jewish people in regard to Godâs revelation in the Scriptures. At worst, we have written them off as a people group. Inasmuch as the Churchâs anti-Torah bias led to the theological (and physical) persecution of the Jewish people, Christian rejection of the Torah has ultimately resulted in Jewish rejection of Yeshua. Judaism has simply written off the Good News of Yeshua as irrelevant. In short, for our people, the Good News has become nothing but the sad and bad news.

The Churchâs anti-Torah theology is a tragic flaw as concerns the Jewish people. Dr. Stern recognizes this when he says,

Our goal in pursuit of Torah will be accomplished when each reader can sing Psalm 19:7-11 along with David. Many believers do sing this song, in reference to the whole Word of God. This is fine. But it should be remembered that when David wrote these words, he was writing about the Torah.