Q. Wasn’t the Law given to show man he couldn’t keep it?

A. No, the Law was given for man to obey it. For example, why do we have laws in our homes? Do you have rules and regulations for your children to show them they can’t do it? Of course not, the rules are there to maintain order and to teach them how to conduct themselves. How many times has a father or a mother told their children that how they behave reflects upon the family? Do you make rules to show they can’t keep it, then just let them do whatever they want? Well, God doesn’t either. The Torah was given for the same reason. It came in because of the wickedness in man, or transgression (sin). It restores things and keeps our wicked hearts “in check” and from going astray after other gods and philosophies. But people will say the “Law is bondage” and other such things. If God’s word is true, how can that be bondage? He says it sets us free. If truth sets us free than error is bondage. Those that neglect the Torah for man-made religious systems are the ones in bondage and Yeshua came to set us free from all these things. The Torah is God’s instruction book on how to live. It tells us what sin is. Breaking the Sabbath is sin, eating pork is sin, hating our neighbor is sin, working on Yom Kippur is sin and so on. We wouldn’t know that unless God told us. So, if the Law has been “done away with” how do you know what sin is? The scriptures say that the transgression of the Law is sin and that was written by John and it is a New Testament doctrine. On the other hand we are not saved by keeping the Law. We were chosen in Him before the world ever was (Eph 1.4) and we are brought to salvation and born again through the Spirit of God and Yeshua is the author and finisher of all of it. We can’t even come to God unless He draws us to him. While we were yet sinners Yeshua died for us. He draws us to Him and we are forgiven. He has grace and mercy on those He calls and fills us with His Spirit and saves us, keeping the Law has nothing to do with all that. Once we are His the Torah is written on our hearts and we begin to think and act like Him. If you want to know what the Lord is like, read His book. It sets us apart from what the world does. It’s a book about a holy (set apart) life. He said be holy as I am holy, and that is also in the New Testament. The world and false religions have another definition of what holiness is but God tells us. Blasphemy is calling something “holy” when it isn’t or saying something isn’t “holy” when it is. Read the book of Leviticus for a start and you will see what God calls holy. Leviticus 11 tells us what God considers food and to be holy we eat what he says to eat and avoid what he says to avoid. Leviticus 23 tells about the holiness of time and discusses the Sabbath and biblical festivals. If you want to be holy keep the Sabbath, if you don’t want to be holy keep another day. If you want to be holy keep Passover and the festivals, if you don’t want to be holy keep Christmas, Easter, St. Valentines Day, Lent and other man-made traditions that are in direct opposition to the Lord. If you don’t get upset for obeying man’s commandments why do you get upset when someone tells you to obey God’s? That attitude certainly does not come from the Spirit of God so you will have to ask yourself where it comes from. God does not lead you away from his word and to teachers and denominations or religions that go against what He has already told us to do. So, the commandments were not given to show man he couldn’t keep them. There are hundreds of verses that tell us we are to keep them God wouldn’t give us rules that were too hard to do especially when He has given us his Spirit (Deut 30.1-20). People will ask “how do I keep them” and I tell them “one at a time” just like you keep any law. Do we realize how many traffic laws there are? Are the traffic laws given to show us we can’t keep them? Then why do people think that God’s Laws were given for that reason. How do you keep all those traffic laws? We keep them one law at a time and as they apply. If I’m out walking I don’t stop at stop signs or worry about the speed limit because they don’t apply to me at that time. Compare all the laws in our country (criminal, tax, civil, family, state, etc) to the few contained in the scriptures and you will see why Yeshua said His yoke was easy. It’s not that we can’t keep His Laws it’s because we won’t and there is a big difference. And when I sin according to what God calls sin, I confess my sin and don’t try to hide it. Confession is when the words of my mouth are consistent with what He calls sin, to say the same thing He says about it. If I broke the Sabbath I say so. If I hated my neighbor I say so. And I know He is faithful and just to forgive me and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Well, I trust you get the point and I hope this gives you something to think about.