Thank you for your comments.
I agree with you and with David that it is by grace through faith in the shed blood of Yeshua that saves us. I also agree that Torah does not save us, for Torah is not about salvation; it is and has always been about Yahweh’s instructions to us on how to live lives of obedience once we come into salvation.

The word ‘law’ is misunderstood by most christians and hopefully what I share might bring light to this topic.

Moses is our model of how and what to teach our children. Moses followed the pattern given him by seeing the Word of YHVH face to face. These words spoken to Moses were written down for the Bride as her ketubah, the Hebrew word for her marriage covenant. Other Hebrew idioms present the ketubah as “the promise”, “the message”, “the gospel”, “the good news”, “good tidings” and “the word of truth”.

The interpreters of the Brit Chadasha/New Testament put all these expressions together and boiled them down into one word and meaning called nomos (Strongs’ # G3551), translated into English as “law”. Unfortunately this Greek word looks more negative and legalistic than positive.

Whenever we read the word “law” in the Brit Chadasha/New Testament, it is from the Greek rendering nomos that the translators chose to consistently use in the text. As a result, when we read God’s Word today, we do not know whether nomos/law is referring to YHVH’s teaching and instruction and how to receive the blessings of His Word and the moral and ethical code of conduct to walk in His righteous ways, or whether the word is instead referring to the “law of sin and death, that which can cause our flesh to govern us, and which brings about curses in our lives when we walk outside YHVH’s blessings in our thoughts, attitude, speech or physical behavior.

Thirdly, does the word nomos/law instead refer to one of the Five Books of Moses or perhaps all Five Books of Moses? And fourthly, does the word nomos/law in the passage refer to the Ten Commandments? Is it being used to describe the Covenant set up with Abraham, or the Covenant set up with Moses, or both? And if nomos/law refers to the Covenant, which contained our inheritance, identity, blessings and direction for how to receive them, then why would the word nomos/law have a negative connotation when the Word of God and Covenants were to bless us? I could list many more, but the point is: which law was the word nomos used to refer to? Was it the realms that brought blessings, or the realms that brought curses?

Are law and Torah the same? No! The two are separate. In the Brit Chadasha/New Testament they are not distinguished separately but joined under the one word nomos. Nomos was used for both so that you cannot tell which is which, and this brings great confusion to the body of believers today .
Unfortunately anti-Semitism had become very strong by the time the Scriptures were put into affordable print (King James Version), and the word nomos became a part of our heritage.

How did this all come about? Hebrew cannot be translated linguistically, but hopefully the following information will be a blessing and help bring clarity to some scriptures.

The Hebrew Scriptures were interpreted from the original Hebrew meaning. From the 3rd to 2nd century BCE, three major changes took place in the Hebrew culture. Firstly, the Jews began to strictly follow the oral tradition (Talmud) alongside of the Torah, especially in regard to the suppression of the sacred name of YHVH. Secondly, a massive campaign of Greek Hellenization began (started originally by Alexander the Great) with the purpose of uniting the Greek Empire (along with Israel) under one common religious heritage. It was, and still is today, the foundation of the modern day ecumenical movement. And thirdly, the LXX (an acronym that stands for the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures) was commissioned and eventually adopted as Scripture for non-Hebrew speaking Jews.

Greek understanding is more abstract and legalistic in thought, while Hebrew understanding is more conceptual in thought. That there is anything wrong with the Greek language is not what I am saying here, nor is the authority of the Scriptures in question.
Conversely, the point that I am attempting to make is that the Greek understanding may be misguiding for many who are not familiar with Hebrew terms in scripture.

We see examples of the influence of Greek thought in how many have interpreted the following scriptures for years. Firstly, when YHVH delivered the Children of Israel, He did so by His great Power and by showing them lasting impressions, marks, signs and wonders. These words are the background understanding in Hebrew thought to the Greek root word translated as “statutes” in English.

Again, the whole purpose of the Torah, and YHVH’s guidance of the Children of Israel through the Wilderness, was to show them His loving kindness in being their Deliverer and delivering them by His great Power. This is the background understanding in the Hebrew language to the Greek root word translated as “judgments” in Scripture.

Another example is YHVH’s loving teaching and instruction guided the Children of Israel through the Wilderness and enabled them to enter in and posses the land He was giving them. This is the Hebrew thought behind the Greek root word for the English words “commandments, “decrees and “laws” in the Tanakh/Old Testament.

Many were taught that YHVH’s teaching and instruction for LIFE, mistranslated as “nomos/law”, was done away with now that we are under grace in Yeshua. This is not true. The grace in Torah is YHVH’s provision of forgiveness and redemption back to Him through the grace and mercy offered us in Yeshua, a gift that we did not deserve. Yeshua fulfilled the purpose of the law. He is the goal of Torah.

The “law was the shadow like a tutor for our lives, it was never meant to save us. Only Yeshua, the author of the Torah, can save us. Yeshua’s words (at Mount Sinai, His teaching and instruction) will never disappear; they will always be our guide!

Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words (ALL of them from Genesis to Revelation) will never pass away.”

Translating Hebrew into Greek left both people groups blind, veiled and separated for a season from the truth. From a Christian/ Hellenistic background it was hard to “see Torah” in the Brit Chadash/New Testament. Likewise, from a Synagogue/Jewish background, it was hard to “see Messiah” in the Tanakh.

The next time we read the Scriptures, for example Psalm 119, we should try looking at both Greek and Hebrew descriptions and see which interpretation filled King David with passion.

In the Greek rendering it reads that David passionately loved statutes, ordinances, justice, decrees, commandments, judgements and the law. In the Hebrew understanding we see that David loved with passion YHVH’s acts of loving kindness, signs and wonders, teaching and instruction, lasting impressions, influences, and YHVH’s Deliverer, Deliveries and Power. Which rendering was David passionate about and gives us a vision of the Messiah, the greater Torah?

I do not mean to condemn the translations we have available today, but instead bring deeper insight and understanding Hebraically to some Greek/legalistic terms in the Scriptures. The information that I have provided has come from Torah teachers Carl & Julie Parker of Messianic Israel Alliance.

Hope this has been a blessing to you.
Shalom