By Clifford Denton, D. Phil., M.A.
"Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away" (Genesis 5:24).
“By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:5-6).
One of the key issues in the Gentile Church is that of Law versus Grace. It was a key issue in the early church, and it is a key issue today. Even in the early centuries following the death and resurrection of the Lord, Gentiles were not encouraged to follow the Mosaic Law. This is found, for instance, in the writings of Justin Martyr in the second century. By the fourth century there was even a ruling which declared it heretical for both Jewish and Gentile members of the church to keep the Law. In the present day there are diverse opinions and practices, which could even be described as confusion. We are both the inheritors of past traditions and perpetrators of present misunderstandings.
In our work of restoration of the true roots of our faith this will be a key topic, and we need great care in our presentation of the diversity of issues which are related to this theme. A valid comparison is legalism versus grace. This is quite different from Torah versus grace. We must make sure that we understand what these words mean and what the Scriptures say. Paul, in the book of Galatians, for example, is not so much comparing law and grace as flesh versus spirit. When we dig more deeply into these issues, we will discover that every aspect of the flesh life is under bondage to law (including the deceptive outworking of a sort of false grace which gives licence to fleshly desires). The mature perspective of Law and Grace can then lead to a life of freedom within bounds set by the Holy Spirit who writes the Torah (teaching) on our hearts and enables us to live in freedom (and learn to live in freedom) without condemnation and within the bounds set by the Torah. In the letter to the Galatians it is the life of the Spirit that Paul is exhorting us to live, and we must learn to walk in step with the Spirit. This is our high calling, and there is a mature perception of Torah and grace which will lead us to this walk. This walk is a feature which is at the heart of the teaching of both the Old and New Testaments.
It can be argued that the life of the believer is kept by the grace of God but also that the Torah was given through that same grace. Thus in the life of grace, and freedom to worship God, bought by Yeshua through His sacrificial death, the Torah still holds out high and relevant ideals. It is still relevant to the order of society and to the path of holiness of the believer. Torah study brings a check to our flesh life, and also focusses our times of meditation as we are taught by the Holy Spirit. The written Torah bears witness to the Torah written on our hearts. Indeed we rejoice at its principles: principles which lead us to a secure framework of life and lead us to worship our Father in Heaven. We remember the love of God which is at the heart of the Torah.
The important principle of the life of faith comes from this, a principle which is related to the Jewish roots of our faith. It is the over-riding principle of how our lives should be lived in the light of this teaching and to our progress through life one day at a time. The Jews call it Halachah, from the Hebrew verb Halach (to walk). Life is a daily experience with God. Jesus emphasized this (Matthew 6:25-34), and Paul taught about it (Romans 8). In fulfillment of Old Testament teaching, demonstrated in part in the life of the people of Israel, the life of every believer is intended to be a walk with the Spirit of God in the light of Scripture. It is no coincidence that the writer to the Hebrews (chapter 11) reminds us that Enoch’s walk with God was a profound demonstration of a walk of faith and a lesson to us all.
Life for the believer is intended to be a daily exploration, a walk with a living God who enjoys our fellowship. He teaches us as we walk and builds our faith. This is ingrained into the life of the Jews, including religious Jews of the present day. It is intended that they are taught Halachah from childhood and that every part of community life is orientated to this way of thinking. Even though it can result in legalism, the walk is not meant to depend on a legalistic interpretation of Scripture. There is the expectation that a study of Torah will result in practical outworking and a genuine walk with God. Thus this heritage of the Jewish faith is still before us today in the Jewish communities and points back to the origins of our faith. When we establish this way of thinking, then the New Testament is read in a different light.
The writers of the New Testament would have had this way of thinking implicit in what they wrote. It is certainly a walk of faith, and it would be expected that believers in Yeshua would learn to live this life to the full. This principle applies to individuals, to families, to communities and is intended to be applicable to nations. The consequences of this way of thinking are far wider than we might first think, and it is very likely that many of us still have much to learn. Some of us have become very secularized in our approach to life, influenced very much by the gentile cultures, the philosophies of the ages and the insurance policies that we build into our lives.
However, we must be careful not to see this teaching as licence for loose living. The Christian life is a walk on a narrow road and our guidance is from the complementary influences of the written Word (Torah) and the teaching of the Holy Spirit, either directly or through His people with their different ministry gifts. It is interesting that Enoch did not have the facility of a Bible such as we have it and yet he walked with God; therefore, it seems possible to reach a state of close relationship with God that his life demonstrates. However, in the clutter of modern society we thank God that He has given the written Word to us and chooses to help us in our walk through our meditations on its truths.
Our guidance is from the complementary influences of the written Word (Torah) and the teaching of the Holy Spirit
Again, we must assess carefully the kind of guidance we are to seek from the Lord, both as we learn to walk with Him and in the context of the Bible being available to us. Though He will write all the Torah on our hearts and progressively help us to recognize His promptings, this does not come all at once. Many things are clear from Scripture, however, even for the most immature believer, and we do not need a specific revelation to incorporate them into our lifestyle. Scripture teaches us about the laws of God, and, though we need to understand them and their wider and deeper meanings, they have already been revealed to us. We do not need to be told again that they are to be applied to our community and national life. There are some things with which we can simply get on, things which we do not need the Holy Spirit to tell us individually when the Scriptures are available for us to read. A framework for family and community life is already revealed to us in Scripture, and we should seek to apply it without further question. Governments of countries who know God’s laws do not need to be told afresh of the urgency to put a framework of laws on the statute books to reflect God’s own laws. Indeed, our daily walk should already be a disciplined walk with God, with our shoulders back and our head held high when we are, to the large part, walking in His ways.
We do, however, need to ask Him many things as we grow in faith as to how to apply the Scriptures to our daily lives, bringing our families, communities and nations to live by principles of righteousness and justice and truth. We cannot do without Him. Indeed it would be a life of legalism if we did, even with the Bible as our workbook. Furthermore, the situations that we face are too big for us. Our Father in Heaven has created us for fellowship with Him; therefore, we need to learn to walk with God with our Bible in our hands, His Torah on our heart, and in fellowship with the Holy Spirit. This walk with God is as challenging and exciting as it is necessary in our believing communities. The road narrows as we go forward because the high principles of Torah will be revealed and these mark the boundaries of the road. Yet we learn to walk in freedom on this road.
What is the purpose of this freedom? It is for the same purpose that the Hebrews were given freedom when they left Egypt; freedom to worship God. It is interesting that they were given the Torah in the context of their walk through the wilderness. This walk to freedom is also a walk of true fellowship and joy for the believer in Yeshua, and a fulfillment of the Jewish background to our faith.
A walk demands steps. These are steps of faith and steps of discipleship. There are human responsibilities on this walk, for while it is centered in our personal relationship with God, it also in volves family and community relationships as well. It is a walk together with God’s people everywhere, and the fruitfulness of the Holy Spirit is evidence of the walk, in every department of life. It is a full life and a life involving one’s physical feet on the ground as well as one’s spiritual walk. Every part of (a true, godly) life is to be enjoyed. It is different from understanding the theology of a walk with God and standing still; it is an experience with God. One learns about His Sovereignty and our responsibility in ways that no theology book can explain fully. The start of the walk is offering oneself to God through Jesus and letting Him begin to teach. It is, however, a step of faith, not risk, though it is a step of vulnerability and child-like obedience. The call to walk by faith is not an option; it is the call to every believer.
One word of warning is in order in relation to the search for the Jewish roots. True Halachah is reflected in this walk of faith while the Halachah that can be presented in modern-day Judaism is sometimes simply a set of rituals. These rituals do reflect some understanding of Torah but can be simply legalistic. Our heritage is far more than righteousness through ritual application of principles. The walk of faith can involve certain ritual, but ritual itself is not faith. We should not simply walk according to rules. Rules are evident in our walk, but our walk with God will bring life to the rules and display the true rule of God in our lives.
While our walk is centered in our relationship with God, it also involves family and community relationships as well.
One picture, mentioned above in relation to our early walk, is a walk with the Word of God in our hands as we seek to walk in the Spirit of God. However, I would suggest that we will eventually discover that our walk in the Spirit is a walk in the Word, because we will find at the deepest level of our walk that the Word and the Spirit are the same. Test this out as you walk. You will discover that a true walk in the Spirit, the true Halachah, the walk with God that is offered to all believers, brings your will and His will into complete harmony, and the walk is hence completely a walk of freedom because your desire is to only do His will. This is our ultimate goal. Is it any wonder that Enoch just simply walked with God and found himself in heaven?
Dr. Clifford Denton is editor-in-chief of Tishrei, a journal which studies the Jewish roots of Christian faith and their implications for contemporary issues. He and his family live in Gorseinon, Swansea, Wales.
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