It's Time To "Lay Down the Law" - Part 22, Final Installment

This is the final entry for my word study on the word "law" in the B'rit Hadashah. The study has by no means been totally inclusive of all things related to the "law" (Torah) - it has been a simple word study. However, the consensus is that Torah is alive and well and is for us "Christians" as much or more than the Israelites in the desert!

It is my fervent prayer that the "Church" continues to awaken and turn away from its pagan ways. Ephraim is finally coming to its senses, the two sticks are beginning to come together. Will you be a part of it, or will you remain with Babylon?

I love to read James (Ya'a'kov-Jacob). IMO, he is ignored by the Church to their great peril!

Many people have said to me, "Why has God brought all of this hardship on me?" I advise them to go read James, Ch. 1.

Jas 1:12 Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
Jas 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
Jas 1:14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
Jas 1:15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.
Jas 1:16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
Jas 1:17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
Jas 1:18 In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth (Torah), so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.

... Folks, we cause our own problems ...

Jas_1:25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

[Note: How can it be any clearer, folks? One who STUDIES THE PERFECT TORAH AND DOES IT will be blessed!]

...

Jas_2:8 If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF," you are doing well.
Jas_2:9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
Jas_2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
Jas_2:11 For He who said, "DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY," also said, "DO NOT COMMIT MURDER." Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
Jas_2:12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.

[Note: James sounds like Paul here, doesn't he? The "Law" of Sin, and "Sin and Death" comes into play when we break Torah!]

...

Jas_4:11 Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.

[Note: Just so you know, the brethren spoken of here are your fellow Torah believers - not pagan unbelievers.]

Folks, allow me to leave this study with one of my favorite quotes from James:

Jas 2:14 What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?

Jas 2:15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,
Jas 2:16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
Jas 2:17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
Jas 2:18 But someone may well say, "You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works."
Jas 2:19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
Jas 2:20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?
Jas 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
Jas 2:22 You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected;
Jas 2:23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS," and he was called the friend of God.
Jas 2:24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.
Jas 2:25 In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
Jas 2:26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

The Observer