We Uphold the Law by the Spirit
- 1 John 3:24 -
“YAHshua (Jesus) lives through us, upholding His Father’s laws with great delight. Yes, “The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him and He in him” ”
“… What does YAHveh (the LORD) your God ask of you but to fear YAHveh your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve YAHveh your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe YAHveh’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?” (Deuteronomy 10:12-13) It is not going to be by the letter of the Torah (law), it is going to be by the Spirit. It is not the flesh trying to observe and fulfill the law, but it is faith in YAHshua (Jesus) —His life in us gives us the power, if we choose to obey His Father’s Commandments, to overcome the flesh, the pull of the world, and walk the way He did—as He lives through us, upholding His Father’s laws with great delight. “I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8).
“YAHshua says, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching” ”
YAHveh’s holy law expresses His nature and will for us. If we focus on His great love for us, we understand that He only restricts us from actions and attitudes that ultimately harm us. His Commandments are the only expressed laws of the holy God whom YAHshua said, “I have come to do Your will” (Hebrews 10:9). YAHshua did not come to change His Fathers laws, as we have discussed, He came to uphold and show how to live a sinless life by walking in a manner that upholds the Commandments of His Father. “…The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him and He in him” (1 John 3:24). The Apostle John said, “By this we know that we are in [YAHshua Jesus]: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked” (1John 2:5).
“If you walk in all My ways, I will be a Father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me””
Righteousness is going to judge unrighteousness. The King of Righteousness is going to pour out His judgments on everyone who continually practices breaking His Commandments, thus insulting the Spirit of truth, righteousness, wisdom, grace, mercy, and love. A love that YAHshua says, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching” (John 14:23). The Commandments were given as a standard to live a life of obedience that is holy and pleasing in His sight. Let us beware of self-righteousness and self-justification, spurred by religious error that causes us to nullify YAHveh’s truths for human traditions and doctrines. “If you walk in all My ways, “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me” (2 Corinthians 6:18). YAHshua (Jesus) did not come to do away with the Old Testament teachings, He came to do away with human traditions that had nullified and distorted His Fathers words by replacing them with doctrines and traditions of men. At the close of the age, in His faithfulness, the Spirit of truth is working to remove the hypocrisy and the man-made traditions from us. The New Testament was not yet written when Apostle Paul said, “All Scripture is inspired by YAHveh and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). When Paul was talking about the Scripture, he was talking about Old Testament teachings with the Ten Commandments at its core.
“The same grace by which we are saved continues to help us in our daily walk to stay on the straight and narrow righteous path””
My dear reader, we are not under the Law, halleluYAH! The Law would condemn us for our sins. “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin” (Romans 3:20 NIV). Instead, we are under grace through faith in YAHshua, and we have the deposit of His Spirit in us so that we are not under the crushing condemnation of the Law; but we strongly uphold the Law. “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus (Messiah YAHshua), who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.” (Titus 2:11-14 NIV)
“For this is the love of YAHveh (God), that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome” ”
Contrary to much misunderstanding, the concept of grace is not a license to sin since we are saved by grace. The same grace by which we are saved continues to help us in our daily walk to stay on the straight and narrow righteous path. It gives us the conviction and the power by which we can overcome our sinful inclinations that break the Commandments. As Apostle Paul said, “Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law” (Romans 3:31 NIV). We are empowered by the Spirit of grace to uphold the weightiness of the Law, which becomes not a burden to us, but a delight. “For this is the love of YAHveh (God), that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). Our prayer is for many to call upon YAHveh in this time of coming judgment. His standard remains the same—the Ten Commandments. “Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that YAHveh, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other. So you shall keep … His Commandments which I am giving you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you…” (Deuteronomy 4:39-40). This is a promise to Israel and all joined with Israel in the eternal kingdom, which will be in the New Jerusalem.