by Rabbi Mordecai Griffin

Is the Torah too hard? That is a common objection to living a Torah-true life. Many people believe that living by the Law is either too difficult or even impossible. It has been taught in theological circles that it is beyond man’s capability to live according to the Law but is that really true? Is it impossible for man to abide by the Law of Moses? Did our heavenly Father give us His Torah (His instructions for righteous living) knowing that it was impossible for us to obey them and then punish us for our disobedience? The theological answer to all of this is NO. It might surprise the reader to know that the biblical answer is no as well!

First, let’s approach the question from a logical point of view. To suggest that HaShem commanded us a Law that we absolutely could not keep is to suggest that God set us up to fail. In fact, this would mean that He commanded us to follow rules which He knew that were beyond our ability as humans and then condemned us to everlasting damnation and hell.  In other words, we are sentenced to life of unbelievable suffering and misery for failing to follow a Divine Law that the Creator gave us knowing full well that we were incapable of observing. Is that what we are supposed to believe? Does that even make sense? Of course not. How can we be punished for failing to be obedient to a standard beyond our capacity? That is not only cruel it is sadistic.

Most believers have been taught that no one can keep the Law which is the principal reason Messiah had to keep it for us (and subsequently deliver us from it). However, this theological belief is filled with problems. First, is the concept developed above. Second, it removes all responsibility from the person and makes sin (which is biblically defined as breaking God’s Law) compulsory. Since one cannot help but sin (break the Law) one must break the Law. Now, sin is no longer a choice which muddies the waters to the rest of the “gospel”. Third, this idea means that we are not really the problem. God is the problem or at least His Law is the problem which is His Word….which is Him. So really, He needs to change, not us, and so He did, by giving us a new Law. So why do we need to be saved again? Using this line of thinking, HaShem needed to save Himself and leave us alone! None of it makes sense.

Let us break down the (il)logic succinctly. HaShem gave us a Law which we broke because we could not keep it. As a result, He damned us to an eternal lake of fire known as hell. He sent the Messiah to grant us the forgiveness based on grace from the Law that we could not keep. We are now “saved” from sin (breaking God’s Law) which we could not help but break. He saved us not only from sin but also from the Law by nailing it to the cross. Therefore, now we are intentionally supposed to disobey the Law (which in breaking we needed salvation in the first place) because attempting to obey the Law now actually threatens our salvation which we gained through HaShem forgiving us of breaking His law. Before we were saved, we disobey the Law and that brought wrath. Now, in “Christ” if we attempt to obey the Law, we lose grace. Make sense? Don’t feel bad if you are confused because any rational person would feel the same.    

Before we explore the scripture let me provide an analogy to illustrate the absurdity of the theological viewpoint above. Imagine a father commanding his five-year-old son to thoroughly clean the house, mow the grass, mop the floor and wash the car all before he gets home from work! Of course, the task assigned would be impossible for the youngster to complete. Imagine further if the father then seriously punished the boy for failing to fulfill his commands. Would it be just punishment? I submit that this father would likely be ostracized as a horrible villain of a parent if not arrested for abuse!  If he were to express his disappointment with his son, would not his complaint be found as a symptom of insanity? Of course it would! Yet, this is the very thing we accuse our heavenly Father of when we propagate this understanding. More sinister is that it removes from us the reality of person accountability and the motive to live a life of righteousness according to the biblical standard. Most rational people would agree that a failure to accept personal responsibility typical yields extraordinary poor character.  In fact, this is the root cause of our presently sick culture.

The reality is that we have all sinned but it is not because we couldn’t help it. We made a conscious choice to sin, encouraged by our sinful nature. Influence, perhaps, by the satan (cursed be he), yet we sinned by choice not by force. We could “help it” but we chose not to. We could follow G-d’s righteous commands, but we decide to follow a different path. We had the power to choose life but instead we chose death (Dt. 30:19). The Torah proclaims the truth to us:

Deuteronomy 30:11-14 

Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

The Torah is not too hard for us, rather our sinful, carnal, unspiritual nature urges us to break the commandments! It urges us but it does not force us. We have a choice to sin or not to sin and sin is biblically defined as breaking the Law of Moses. Even Yochanan the Apostle states this truth in his letter:

“Everyone practicing sin also practices lawlessness—indeed, sin is lawlessness.” 1 Yochanan 3:4  

The word that Yochanan uses for “lawlessness” is anomia the root of which is anomos which literally means “destitute of (the Mosaic) law”, The root of anomos is nomos which was used in the Septuagint for the Hebrew word Torah. Therefore sin is defined disobedience to Torah (the Law of Moses) and that is a choice.

They say that the first step to recovery is to admit that you have a problem and that it is not anyone else’s’ fault. An alcoholic must admit that he is an alcoholic. A drug abuser must admit that he is an abuser. To acknowledge that we have sinned by our own choice, and not because we could not help ourselves, is the first step toward our spiritual victory. The next step is to realize that it is possible, most especially now, with the indwelling of G-d’s Spirit in us, to follow the Torah. Yeshua’s yoke is light and easy and His yoke is the Torah! We should therefore live with the victorious mindset that we are able, through the power of HaShem, to live a life of righteousness! We are no longer slaves to our sinful desires but slaves to the righteous desire of the Torah! The answer for the world is Yeshua centered Judaism!