08-31-24 To Roeh Israel Abilene
Torah Portion: Deut 11:26 – 16:17 - Re’eh (“see!”)
Haftarah: Isa 54:11 – 55:5
Suggested Acheron K’tuvim: Rom 8:5-9
Under the Law Part 16 - Sanctification
Central question: Once through the door of justification, will you live a life of sanctification?
Today we are in parasha Re’eh. It takes its name from the first word of the passage in both English and Hebre, Re’eh, which is translated, “See”.
Deut 11:26-29
26 "See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:
27 the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the
Lord your God, which I am commanding you today; 28 and
the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the
Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I am
commanding you today, by following other gods which you
have not known.
In this parasha, Moses is expanding on the theme that G-d has been presenting to us for the entire time of our wonderings in the wilderness – Do what G-d says to do, and you will be blessed. Discard G-d’s instructions, and you will not only lack blessing… but you will be cursed.
These instructions to us are somewhat unique to our people. That is because we are known as the “People of G-d.” What we do (or don’t do) doesn’t only reflect upon us, it reflects upon G-d. Our
lives are a witness to the world about who our G-d is, and what His characteristics are. Our lives of sanctification are to stand as a reminder to those around us that there is a G-d, and that He has blessings in store for all those who will join themselves to him, and who will follow His instructions.
And this leads me into the topic I wish to discuss with you today, that of sanctification.
Last week we learned that justification is an event, not a process, and before stepping through that door, we all stand convicted of sin, and are rightly judged to be worthy of death.1
Righteousness, as used in the Scriptures, is defined as the practice of a holy lifestyle, characterized by walking in G-d’s “statutes and ordinances” (Torah) and is the key to eternal life.2
We reaffirmed that the doorway to justification is open to those who by faith accept the substitutionary sacrifice of Yeshua as payment for our violations of Torah, and that those who have entered that doorway are to walk-out their redemption by doing “good works” (masim tovim).3
1 I Cor 6:9-11
2 Ezek 18:4-9, Rom 7:12-13, Mark 2:16 1John 3:2-12, Rev 22:10-13, 1John 1:8-9 3 Eph 2:1-10
We saw that at the end of the age, after the resurrection of the dead, there will be some important things determined at the judgment throne.4
The first is whether your name is written in the Book of Life. If so, then you are removed from the room of judgment, where those whose name is not found there, and who committed evil deeds are given the death sentence.
We learned that even if a person does what appears to be “good deeds”5 without passing through the doorway of justification, or does such deeds with a heart that denies G-d (or glorifies self), those deeds are worthless for blessing, and are actually the same as lawlessness (Torah-less-ness).6
If a person is among the redeemed – those who have walked through the doorway of justification and have not turned back – that person is taken out of the judgment room to the room where rewards are granted in accordance with how he lived in accordance with G-d’s standards.7
4 John 5:24-29, Rev 20:12
5 The Hebrew idiom is “masim tovim”, meaning keeping the instructions of Torah with a proper heart.
6 Mat 6:1, 7:20-23, 23:5
7 Rev 20:12, 11:18, 22:12
“Sanctification” seems to have a number of definitions in the normative Christian church. It seems to be tied closely to a number of interrelated concepts.
1. Set apart, separated, to a specific purpose.
2. The believer’s progression toward perfection after justification.
3. Holiness.8
Let’s look at holiness. Holiness is something we are to achieve. It is not something that is conferred. How are we to achieve it? The Scriptures are replete with examples of holiness, and our part in that process.
G-d tied the concept of holiness to keeping Torah and to being sanctified, all in one sentence.
Lev 22:31-33
31 So you shall keep My commandments, and do them: I am
the Lord. 32 And you shall not profane My holy name, but I
will be sanctified among the sons of Israel: I am the Lord
who sanctifies you, 33 who brought you out from the land of
Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord."
8 The Greek word often translated as "sanctification" is hagiasmos, which means "holiness." The Hebrew word most often translated as “sanctified” is kadosh, which means “holy.”
We are commanded by G-d to be holy and sanctified in many various ways. A few examples may be helpful to illustrate some of them.
He described what is food and what is not food in Leviticus 11:1-41 (commonly known today as the “Kosher laws.”) He concludes these laws with a strong command to us.
Lev 11:44-45
'For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves
therefore, and be holy; for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that
swarm on the earth. 45 'For I am the Lord, who brought you
up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; thus you shall be
holy for I am holy.'"
Lev 20:25-26
25 'You are therefore to make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the
clean; and you shall not make yourselves detestable by
animal or by bird or by anything that creeps on the ground,
which I have separated for you as unclean. 26 'Thus you are
to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I have set you
apart from the peoples to be Mine.
He also applies this same level of strength to the commands He gave us regarding the prohibition against turning to satanic practices, and He once again tied holiness to keeping Torah’s commands which results in sanctification.
Lev 20:6-8
6 'As for the person who turns to mediums and to spiritists, to play the harlot after them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. 7 'You
shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am
the Lord your God. 8 'And you shall keep My statutes and
practice them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you.
G-d also told us that we are to make for ourselves tzitzit on the corners of our garments, and when we see them, we are to be reminded of all His commandments, and to be holy.
Num 15:37-41
37 The Lord also spoke to Moses, saying, 38 "Speak to the
sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for
themselves tassels on the corners of their garments
throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the
tassel of each corner a cord of blue. 39 And it shall be a tassel [Heb. tzitzit] for you to look at and remember all the
commandments of the Lord, so as to do them and not follow
after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you
played the harlot, 40 in order that you may remember to do
all My commandments, and be holy to your God. 41 I am the
Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt
to be your God; I am the Lord your God."
The L-rd applied the concept of holiness to the primary day of His scheduled appointments with us, the Sabbath.
Ex 20:8-11
8 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you
shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any
work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your
female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays
with you. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and
the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and
made it holy.
I would urge the normative Church of today to reexamine these verses and test whether their corporate and individual walk is sanctified. I would ask these questions:
1. Are you following the instructions of G-d found in Leviticus regarding what is food, and what is not food?
2. Are you involved in any version of Satanism, to include
spiritualism, or participating in the Satanic holy day “Halloween?” 3. Are you placing upon the corners of your garments tzitzit?
4. Are you keeping the Sabbath day (Saturday, not Sunday) holy?
5. And in general, are you diligently studying Scripture and bringing into your life all the commandments of G-d – not merely the “Big Ten?”
As I ask these questions, I can hear in my mind the protestation by Christians that they “are not under the law, but under grace.” They believe this means that the Torah is “done away with” and no longer applies to the lives of believers.
That single declaration has been used to contradict the clear teaching from Genesis through Romans, and to create a diametrically opposed theological inconsistency with the teachings of Paul.
Rom 6:15-23
15 What then? Shall we sin9 because we are not under law10
but under grace?11 May it never be! 16 Do you not know that
when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for
obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either
of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in
righteousness?12 17 But thanks be to God that though you
were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to
that form of teaching to which you were committed,13 18 and
having been freed from sin,14 you became slaves of
righteousness.15 19 I am speaking in human terms because of
the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your
9 The definition of “sin” is lawlessness, or the condition of being contrary to Torah’s commandments. 1 John 3:4.
10 “Under Law” is a Hebraic idiom which means “under the rightful condemnation of violation of the Torah which brings us the death sentence.”
11 “Grace” in this context refers to the free gift of Yeshua’s sacrifice which paid for our violations of Torah, and thus we stand before G-d as redeemed and blameless.
12 If we are a “slave” of G-d we obey Him, and our obedience to His instructions (Torah) constitutes righteousness.
13 At the time of this writing, there was no such thing as what the church today calls “the New Testament.” What form of teaching did Paul offer those who came to G-d from among the nations? It had to be Torah observance, in order for his teaching to be consistent with Yeshua’s teaching, as well as the remainder of the Tanach, which Paul himself studied and read.
14 We are “freed from sin” by having the price of our sin paid by the King Himself, and by having the Spirit of G-d assisting us in living a life of holiness.
15 Righteousness is the observance of G-d’s instructions for a holy life as expressed in His Torah.
members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting
in further lawlessness,16 so now present your members as
slaves to righteousness,17 resulting in sanctification.18 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to
righteousness. 21 Therefore what benefit were you then
deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For
the outcome of those things is death. 22 But now having been
freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit,
resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.19 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
If some in the normative Church teach that the “Torah is done away with,” they cannot do so after rightly dividing the word in the passage above. Or they must at least admit that Paul is contradicting his own instructions, elsewhere in the same letter, or elsewhere in his writings.
Then the problem for such a teacher becomes one of deciding whether Paul is a hypocrite, or a liar. For he must be either one or the other if he cannot be consistent even with himself. Regardless of whether Paul is
16 Sin is lawlessness – Torah-less-ness.
17 Being a slave to righteousness means you are committed to live a holy life, consistent with G-d’s commandments.
18 Sanctification is the end result of living a life of righteousness, and being holy to G-d.
19 Eternal life is tied to sanctification. This is consistent with what we see elsewhere, in Ezek 18:4-9, Rom 7:12-13, Mark 2:16 1John 3:2-12, Rev 22:10-13, and 1John 1:8-9.
now a hypocrite or a liar, his writings must now be discarded in their entirety, being found untrustworthy.
I believe firmly that Paul’s writings, when properly interpreted, are indeed very consistent, and do not contradict Yeshua, nor the Tanach, upon which they are based.
I believe those in the body of faith who are rejecting G-d’s Torah – being lawless ones – are becoming in some way aligned with the work of Satan - the ultimate lawless one.
2 Thess 2:1-5
2 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, 2
that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or
be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the
apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes [he opposes G-d and His Torah] and exalts himself above every so-called god or object
of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God,
displaying himself as being God.
Paul urged those in Rome to be obedient to the Torah.
Rom 8:5-9
5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the
Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God,20 for it is not even able to do so; 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
But what of those who are Jewish, who have recognized Yeshua as Redeemer, and who are dealing with the concept of “freedom” as that is presented by Paul?
Paul, in his letter to the congregation at Rome, made it clear that if you claim to be of the family of G-d as a Jew, but you disregard the commands
20 A reference to Torah.
of Torah, then you are not really in the family, regardless of your previous covenantal circumcision.
Rom 2:17-25
17 But if you bear the name "Jew," and rely upon the Law,
and boast in God, 18 and know His will, and approve the
things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law,21 19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 a corrector of the
foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the
embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, 21 you, therefore,
who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who
preach that one should not steal, do you steal? 22 You who
say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit
adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You
who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do
you dishonor God? 24 For "the name of God is
blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you," just as it
is written. 25 For indeed circumcision is of value, if you
21 G-d’s will is clearly presented in Torah.
practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the
Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.22
Paul is here being very clear that a holy lifestyle – consistent with the precepts of Torah – is crucial to our witness in this darkening world. And if a Jewish person violates G-d’s instructions, his witness to the nations brings G-d into disrepute. G-d then considers him to have left the family of faith. In other words, your unholy actions have removed the covenant of circumcision for you, and provides you no benefit in the eyes of G-d.
It has then become meaningless.
I have heard no Christian say that he is unable to keep the laws of the United States. Congress enacts between 200-600 statutes during each of its 118 two-year terms. So, more than 30,000 statutes have been enacted since 1789. Add to that the Code of Federal Regulations which elaborates upon these laws (and add further requirements to them). Add to that the state laws, county laws, and municipal laws.
But I have heard Christians say, “No one can keep the Law.”23 They often despair of being able to follow the “Ten Commandments” faithfully.24
22 One who claims to be a Jew, even with the “sign” of circumcision, but disregards Torah’s instructions, causes the name of G-d to be ridiculed among the nations. And that one loses his status before G-d as a Jew.
23 They say that all the while actually keeping a larger number of the commandments, unawares.
24 Although by their doctrines and actions, they already have reduced these to only 8. The commands regarding the Sabbath and graven images being routinely disregarded or violated.
Some might have heard that there are actually 613 commandments, and this leads them into a total head-shaking rejection of even attempting to keep those. This is compounded by their ignorance of almost all of them.
I wish to quell this despair a bit. Let’s begin by looking into the rules governing the kingdom where Yeshua reigns on Earth.
Ezek 44:23-25
"Moreover, they shall teach My people the difference between
the holy and the profane, and cause them to discern between
the unclean and the clean. 24 "And in a dispute they shall take their stand to judge; they shall judge it according to My
ordinances. They shall also keep My laws and My
statutes25 in all My appointed feasts, and sanctify My
sabbaths.26
The fact that the rules of the kingdom will be the precepts of Torah, and that the priests will judge disputes regarding the Torah tells us that the precepts of Torah are capable of being followed by all people in the kingdom. Otherwise, it would be unfair to judge someone against a standard that cannot be achieved.
25 These are the Hebrew idioms for the various commandments of Torah.
26 This refers to the Sabbath, as well as all the appointed times of the L-rd found in Lev 23.
So, let’s look at those commandments.
There are 613 total commandments in Torah. There are 248 positive commands, and 365 negative ones. Of the 248 positive ones, only 126 can be performed today by anyone. Of the 365 negative ones, only 243 are still applicable today by anyone. Some say there are only 270 commands that are applicable to every grafted-in believer.
Melissa Vaquera has put together a useful pie chart on the
commandments and to whom they apply.
I am providing as an appendix to this teaching a listing of the mitzvot (Commandments in Torah) which all can use to locate and study the various commands found in Torah. It is my hope that the larger body of faith will develop a greater zeal for G-d and His righteousness, and grow in sanctification which leads to life.
The commendation given by Paul to Timothy has value for believers today, if they desire to live a sanctified life of righteousness.
2 Tim 3:14-17
14 You, however, continue in the things you have learned
and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have
learned them; 15 and that from childhood you have known
the sacred writings27 which are able to give you the wisdom
that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.28 16 All Scripture29 is inspired by God and profitable for
teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in
righteousness; 17 that the man of God may be adequate,
equipped for every good work.30
27 The “sacred writings” included Torah (Law), Neveim (Prophets), and at a later time the Ctovim (Writings).
Yeshua referred to the Law and the Prophets in His proclamation in Mat 5:17-21.
28 If you truly understand the Tanach, then you will see Yeshua even before reading the gospels.
29 Remember, there was no such thing as the “New Testament” at the time these words were written. This refers to Torah, at a minimum.
30 Masim tovim, the idiom means keeping Torah’s commands with a proper heart.
