Q. I have been raised in a Baptist home and church,and I am new at the concept of keeping all the Torah ordinances that apply to me and have told many

-of my friends. They accuse me of being "legalistic." Please
explain the difference between being legalistic and
keeping the Torah.
A. When someone says that to me I ask them why they
object to just the so-called "Jewish" commandments.
They can sit and talk about how we should love and be
faithful to our spouses, how we shouldn't worship
idols, lie, cheat or steal. They will agree and praise
God that they don't do those things anymore. They talk
about tithing and quote Leviticus, Deuteronomy and
Malachi. I have heard them tell people that they need
to repent from sin (like not tithing) and then when
they "believe" they tell them they are not "under the
Law" anymore (except for tithing and the giving
parts!). So, the Law applies before they believed but
not after. A very curious theology. But as soon as you
bring up the Sabbath, the biblical festivals and
eating biblically kosher their whole countenance will
change. They get this strained look on their face and
talk about "bondage." They just got done telling
someone about God's commandments and how we should
keep them but when you talk about the Sabbath things
change. It's always the Jewish commandments that get
them. It's obedience if you follow the commandments
they like, but bondage if you follow the Jewish
sounding ones. The truth is, there are no Jewish
commandments, they are all God's commandments. The
fact is, Israel disobeyed them and tried to change
them too. The Sabbath (Saturday) is the Lord's Day,
not Israel's. The food laws are God's laws, the
festivals are God's festivals. There is no difference
between any of them. They are seen as a whole. So,
when someone accuses me of being "legalistic", I tell
them God calls it OBEDIENCE and I leave it at that. I
hope this helps.