Beware of the Torah-Keepers

There is a very aggressive movement within Christendom that poses a serious danger to Christians and to the real gospel of Jesus Christ. There are many other heretical movements out there, but this post will focus on just one.

On Social Media, these people can be found pursuing [trolling] believers, teaming up against them, giving “warnings” and relentlessly debating in order to convince as many people as possible of the supposed “truth” of their position, and the requirement that you submit to their "superior understanding" of scripture.

I call this movement the Torah-Keepers [Commandment-Keepers], although they are known by several different descriptions. "Torah" is simply the first five books of the Bible, also known as "the law of Moses".

The Torah-Keepers are a large, growing and dangerous group of people who seek to draw Christians, mostly those who don’t have a solid grounding in scripture, into the belief that they must "keep" the Ten Commandments, as well as the Hebrew dietary restrictions and festivals.

These people insist that they believe in salvation by grace, through faith, but it will become clear as we continue that this claim is not true. Although they pose as believers in salvation by grace through faith, their real focus is almost always on the supposed requirement to “keep” or obey the Ten Commandments… with their major focus being the Fourth Commandment… the keeping of a Seventh-Day [Saturday] Sabbath.

Why is their major focus on keeping the Sabbath? Because they know that nobody will contend or debate with them about the commandments against stealing, adultery, idolatry, etc., but Sabbath-keeping is another matter. Most Christians do not observe, or "keep" that one, or believe it is necessary.

Many of these people also "keep" dietary and other laws, but I will not go into that here.

This post will focus on two simple things. First, the way they misuse and twist scripture, and secondly, how they use supposed biblical threats of judgment against anyone refusing to accept their "teaching".

I will say here that not all Torah-Keepers force their beliefs and practices on others, but very many of them do.

I will offer, in this post:

1. Just One example of how Torah-Keepers mishandle and misuse scripture so they can “prove” the need for you, a New Covenant believer, to "keep" the Ten Commandments.

2. Just One example of how they falsely warn Christians about the grave danger of not accepting and submitting to their demands that you must follow their law-keeping example.

I’m using only one example of each so I can keep this post as brief as possible. You can do your own, further research, if you want to.

Let's begin.

Look at the following passage of scripture. Please read through it carefully, and then we will examine how Torah-keepers wrongly interpret it to serve their purpose of drawing you in.

Matthew 19: 16 Behold, one [rich man] came and said unto him [Jesus], “Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” 17 And he [Jesus] said unto him, “Why do you call me good? There is none good but one, that is, God; but if you will enter into life, keep the commandments.”

18 He [the rich man] said unto him, “Which?” Jesus said, “You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother: and, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

20 The young man said unto him, “All these things have I kept from my youth up: what do I still lack?”

21 Jesus said unto him, “If you will be perfect, go and sell what you have, and give to the poor and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come follow me.”

22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

Commandment-Keepers will focus only on part of the whole passage, one small piece of verse 17, which has Jesus saying, “If you will enter into life, keep the commandments.”

Below is one example of this being done, by a Torah-Keeper who has more than 197,000 followers.

This is a portion of just one verse, used by CCG BRYSON [a Torah-Keeper], to “prove” that we must keep the Ten Commandments in order to have salvation and eternal life.

If you are not already aware of why this is a false proof-text and interpretation, I will explain.

First, the rich man approached Jesus as only a “good Master”... just a human [not divine], “good teacher". Jesus replied, “Why do you call me good? There is none good but one, that is, God.”

Was Jesus denying His divinity? Of course not! He was simply responding to the man on the terms He was approached with, as a “good Master”, not as Emmanuel, “God with us”.

Do Commandment-Keepers examine that part of the passage? Is the non-goodness of Jesus part of their doctrine? If they were consistent, it would be, since both statements are made within the very same verse!

No, they ignore that and focus only on Jesus saying, “If you will enter into life, keep the commandments.”

Second, the rich man said, “What good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?”

He thought that he could gain eternal life by doing something, instead of knowing he needed a Savior. Legalists have always thought like that.

Again, Jesus responds within the framework of the man’s question, saying, “Keep the commandments,” which is impossible, of course, as all of scripture clearly testifies.

The law can only show us our sin, and make us aware of our need for a Savior. That is the purpose of the law. “Keep the commandments” is not a prescription by Jesus for having eternal life! To try and show that it is a prescription for salvation is nothing more than utter deception!

Finally, the rich man, falsely thinking he had actually kept the commandments, as the Torah-Keepers think they do, was told by Jesus, “If you will be perfect, go and sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come follow me.”

Jesus was now placing His finger on the man’s sin of idolatry regarding his wealth and possessions, causing the man to walk away, sorrowfully. Jesus did not try to stop him.

By the way, there are no Commandments that say those with riches must sell everything, give to the poor, and follow anyone. This fact is another problem for the Torah-Keepers' doctrine, since they claim that the law is eternal and does not change.

What I've presented above adds up to an accurate interpretation of the entire Matthew 19 passage, but Torah-Keepers zoom in on just a few words and build a doctrine… “Keep the commandments!” as if Jesus was actually telling the rich man that keeping the commandments would gain him eternal life.

Their use of one part of Matthew 19:17 to "prove" their so-called doctrine is diabolical, and I see this tactic used on a regular basis. They do the same with many other passages, too, but I won't cover them here. One clear example is enough.

Now let’s look at a thread on Twitter which clearly shows a threat to Christians who fail to accept the “doctrine” of the Torah-keepers. Pay close attention to each tweet and then we will examine them as a whole.

So, here is the very clear threat, used by Nolan to scare you into compliance:

If you refuse to keep the Ten Commandments after the truth of commandment-keeping has been revealed to you, by him of course, there remains no more sacrifice for sin. You will be severely punished [I assume this means damnation] because you have counted the blood of the Covenant as an unholy thing.

That is the threat made by people who claim to believe in salvation by grace, through faith, and I have seen this, and other such threats made by numerous Torah-Keepers, although they always say it is not them making threats, it's simply God's word.

Now, what is Hebrews 10:19-31 really about? Please CLICK HERE to read the passage first [it will open in new browser tab].

Now, is that passage about sinning willfully by not keeping the Ten Commandments, as Torah-keepers insist and threaten? OR, is it about Jewish Christians who were wavering in their New Covenant faith, and possibly returning to Judaism because of persecution, thus counting the blood of Christ as an unholy thing?

Within the context of the chapter and the entire book of Hebrews, it is surely about Jewish Christians wavering and possibly departing from the faith. It is not about sinning willfully by not “keeping" the Ten Commandments as these scripture-twisters insist and seek to convince anyone who will listen.

Beware of the Torah-Keepers!

So, brothers and sisters...

Galatians 5: Stand fast therefore in the liberty with which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage [law-keeping]. 2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if you are circumcised [another commansment, which Commandment-keepers do not insist upon], Christ shall profit you nothing. 3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised [depending on obedience to commandments], that he is a debtor to DO the whole law. 4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; you are fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.

Torah-Keepers say they are justified by faith, but being justified by faith in Jesus now enables believers to "keep" the law.

True righteousness comes through a living union with the Lord, Jesus. Branches abiding in the True Vine will bring forth the fruit of His life and nature [see John 15:1-8]. It does not come by keeping the letter of the law. Scripture is crystal clear about this.

In summary, run, don’t walk away from Torah-keepers as fast as possible. To even consider their “doctrine” as true and biblical is a very real danger to you.