No, Obedience Isn’t Legalism

You’ve been burned before.

Religious systems. Controlling leaders. Rules without love.

Now you hear people talking about “Torah Observance,” and your guard goes up.

Is this just another trap?

Let’s clear something up: Obedience to God’s law was never the problem.

The problem is when men twist obedience into bondage.

God’s Law Was Never Abolished

Yahshua (Jesus) didn’t come to erase the law.

He came to live it — and to teach us to do the same.

He magnified the law (Isaiah 42:21). He upheld it — not as a burden, but as a way of life.

The Ten Commandments weren’t nailed to the cross.

They’re the foundation of God’s government, and they will be the law of the land when His Kingdom rules this Earth (Isaiah 2:2–3).

But What About the 613 Laws?

Here’s the truth that’s often misunderstood:

You’re not required to keep all 613 commandments.

Many of them were Levitical, ritual, or civil laws given only to ancient Israel.
Others were temporary shadows pointing to Christ (Hebrews 10:1).
Some are impossible to keep without a temple or a functioning priesthood.

What remains are the moral and spiritual laws — summed up in the Ten Commandments, and expanded by Christ in the New Testament.

That’s why the apostle John could write:

While some Torah-observant groups acknowledge these distinctions, others still try to impose far more than what Christ ever required. The danger isn't in desiring obedience — it’s in forgetting the purpose behind it.

It’s Not About Dressing Up

You don’t need to join a group with ceremonial dress or fluent Hebrew to walk with God. You need to join yourself to God — through repentance, baptism, and a life of faithful obedience.

Real Torah observance is not about returning to Judaism. It’s about returning to God’s way of life. No priesthood. No rituals. No guilt trips.

Just surrender to the government of God — the very gospel Yahshua preached from the beginning (Mark 1:14–15).

But Doesn’t Paul Say the Law Ended?

Some point to verses like Romans 10:4 and Galatians 3:24–25 and claim that Christ ended the law altogether. But that’s a misunderstanding.

The Greek word translated “end” is telos, which doesn’t mean termination — it means goal, purpose, or aim. Christ is the goal of the law. He fulfilled its purpose and showed how to live it in the Spirit.

And Galatians 3? Paul was referring to what he elsewhere calls the added law — temporary statutes (like sacrifices) given because of transgressions (Galatians 3:19) until Christ came. Some understand this as referring to the whole Mosaic system. But in context — and in light of Hebrews 10 — it’s clear that Paul especially had the sacrificial system in view.

That system was never intended to bring righteousness, only to point toward the true Lamb of God.

Paul wasn’t throwing out the Ten Commandments. He was showing that salvation never came through rituals — it comes through Christ. But the law still defines sin (Romans 7:7; 1 John 3:4), and faith doesn’t nullify it — it establishes it.

Grace isn’t a license to disobey. It’s the power to obey from the heart.

Why This Matters for You

The world is a mess because it has rejected God’s law.

Churches preach grace without obedience.

Governments legalize what God forbids.

But a new government is coming — one led by Christ, enforced by the saints, and built on the same law so many now ignore.

When the Kingdom of God arrives, obedience won’t be optional.

It will be the law of the world.

You can start living that way now.

Not to earn salvation — but to prove your loyalty to the King.

The Bottom Line

God still expects obedience. Not perfection. Not ritualism. But faithful, Spirit-led obedience to His commandments.

If you’ve been hurt by man’s religion, don’t run from God’s law. Run from the hypocrisy — and run toward the Kingdom.

That’s where real freedom begins.