As I left my last off script post, I said it was a lead up to this one. You see are called to rightly divide the Word.
2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Do we not find it odd that so many think to do this we must divided the Word where the N.T. starts, and forget the O.T.? I know I do. As many know the N.T. wasn't ever a pipe dream for Paul. He know he was leading follows to an understanding that they had never known before. Yet he lived his life by Torah, as can be seen in many actions we find by him. The keeping of the feast, the way he ended the vow he had taken, and how he help the others to close theirs as well. This list can go on, yet there is no need. After all Paul said in his own words,
Act 25:8 While he answered for himself, Neither against the law of the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I offended any thing at all.
As we should know the law of the Hebrew people is the Torah, and the Pharisees were consernded that Paul may lead some away from that, the Sadducee's were thinking of the Temple services. Yet not one had any thing to back their unfounded accusations.
How many of us think to even look at what the Tanakh has to say about salvation? Not many in my experience. I do find that sad, after all, the word is used more in the Tanakh a little over 50% more than in the N.T.
Oh we do take parts of it for our selves. Like Sin being removed from us as far as the east is from the West.
Psa 103:12As far as the east is from the west,
so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
As for salvation, we find that from Gen. -Rev.
Gen 49:18I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.
170 times we find this word used in the Tanakh. Yet only 45 or so times in the N.T. so can we learn from the Tanakh? Yes we can. oddly salvation both come to the same understanding, it is by faith and no other way. It is for this reason that we have taken up the task of learning what Salvation is in both. True it does lead us down some rather hard topices to understand, and some that when we first started were hard to except.
At one point we like many of you reading this thought that Salvation was not a thing of old, rather something new. Yet When we started to see much of Yeshua said, in the O.T. and followed that with Paul doing the same, we had to ask, WHY? after all all that was nailed to the cross, and removed, for salvation can only come from Jesus right? What we found as we looked was that Yeshua holds the key. Not just to salvation, His name also tells us something. Now I know some will say this is wrong, I am good with that. However as a Rabbi explained it, the name means, HaShem is our salvation. Not being a linguist, I really no foundation to say if it is or isn't. So yes I took him at his word. After all, it is his native language not mine.
As we know, HaShem is no respecter of people. In other words, He doesn't hold one people to a set of laws, and not another. If He did, He would not be just in His judgments on us. Just as today, if a person never speeds, then one day they do, the same law that made it illegal for the one that does so all the time, now condemns them both. If man can do this, (well use to anyway), isn't HaShem a much better and righteous judge?
You see, no matter how many I say, "I don't keep the Law to be saved, I keep it as best I can because I am saved. " Mankind wishes to condemn me for my faith. So I now ask, where is the condemnation in walking in ALL that HaShem said? can any one show that from scripture, and still remain with the context of the Whole of scripture?
Didn't think so.