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Observing Mitzvot:

How to Love God and Neighbor

The Torah teaches us to love God and hate sin. In it we are given mitzvot (commandments), first to love God, and second to love our neighbor as ourselves. These are further expanded to ten commandments - five showing how to love God and five showing how to love our neighbor, who is created in the image of God. These ten are further expanded to 613 commandments.

All are under sin (Galatians 3:22), and sin desires to rule over man, but man is commanded to rule over sin (Genesis 4:7). Since sin is the transgression of the Torah (I John 3:4), and whatsoever is not of faith is sin (Romans 14:23), it may be concluded that transgressing the Torah is contrary to acting in faith.

By one man, Adam, sin entered the world, and death by sin (Romans 5:12). We inherited a sinful nature. There is no "Adamic sin", that is sin imputed to us from Adam; it is common but unbiblical teaching that (1) Christ died for Adamic sin of all, (2) baptism covers Adamic sin, and (3) that Christ died for all sins of everyone except the sin of unbelief. In our final redemption, when we receive our resurrection bodies, we will leave behind our inherited nature.

For the present, we are commanded to hide the Torah in our hearts, so that we do not sin against God (Psalm 119:11). In the fulfillment of the Renewed Covenant, God will write the Torah on our hearts, and we will sin no more.

Yeshua was so named because He came to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).Yeshua came to take away the sin of the world - not only Jews (John 1:29).

Sin has no dominion (rule) over the righteous, because they are under grace, not law. That means they cannot be condemned to death by the law because their penalty has been paid. It does not give license to freely transgress the law - sin.

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say to you, Till heaven and earth shall pass away, one jot or one tittle shall by no means pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.  (Matthew 5:17-18)

Whoever shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:19)

Torah and Loving God:

You shall love Yaveh Eloheinu (the Lord your God) with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.

                You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Deuteronomy 6:5 & Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 22:37-39, Mark 12:30-31, Luke 10:27)

                                On these two commandments hang all of the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:40)

                                                If you love Me, keep My commandments. (John 14:15)

Following is a sampling of the 613 commandments of the Torah that have been delineated by Rambam.
    248 are positive, 365 are negative.
    Some apply only to priests, some only to men, some only to women.
    Some are only for certain times, such as on Sabbath, preceding a Festival, or after childbirth.
    Some are only for certain places, such as at home, in the Temple, or in Israel.
This is to indicate how all 613 hang on the ten commandments, which in turn hang on the two greatest.

Note: See complete chart under construction below.

Biblical Categories of Commandments:

1) Mishpatim - Judgments . . . . . . . . . moral and ethical laws.

That the moral and ethical laws apply to today’s followers of Yeshua is seldom questioned. Yeshua himself stressed that hating a brother is sin under the commandment against murder, and lust is covered by the commandment against adultery (Matthew 5).

2) Edot - Ordinances or Witnesses . . . rituals and festivals showing religious truths.

While baptism was taught by John the baptizer and the apostles, it is seldom seen today as the ordinance of the Torah concerning ritual immersions in the mikvah. A detailed explanation is given in the page Mikvah/Baptism.

Yeshua and the apostles also taught concerning the application of festive ordinances to us - even gentiles. For examples, the applicability and messianic nature of Sabbath and Festivals are shown in those pages.

3) Huqqim - Statutes or Decrees . . . . . . commands bonding God and man, having no obvious reason.

The statutes include kosher diet (which cannot all be explained by health reasons), and circumcision.

You shall love Yahweh your God, and keep His charge, and His statutes, and His judgments, and His commandments, always (Deuteronomy 11:1).

Acts 15:20 is commonly used to show that the statutes do not apply to gentile believers, and yet this verse affirms that gentiles should abstain from things strangled and from blood, as prohibited in a dietary statute of Deuteronomy 12:23. The following verse (Acts 15:21) indicates that we should learn the rest at synagogue on the Sabbaths.

613 MITZVOT CATEGORIZED
under the Ten Commandments, by positive and negative, and
by the three Biblical categories (Judgments, Ordinances, and Statutes)

Note: This is part of a long term congregational project, under construction.

First of Ten Commandments - "I AM YAHWEH YOUR GOD"

Second of Ten Commandments - "NO OTHER GODS, NO GRAVEN IMAGES"

© 2003  Beikvot HaMashiach
(Followers of the Messiah)