Part 1
We asked our followers on social media to send in questions, and you didn’t disappoint! We will take the next few posts to go over the questions and answer them the best way we know how.
We’ll start with this one:
Question:
If the pinnacle of a modern Christ follower is considered being baptized in the Holy Spirit that receives tongues and power, why should that person desire to go back to the Torah? We are taught that being baptized in the Spirit is all you are really lacking.
To answer this question, we first need to know the role Holy Spirit plays in a believer’s life. What is his function? Why is it important to be empowered by Holy Spirit in the first place?
When looking at Ezekiel 36:26-27, God says:
“And I will give you a new heart, and a new Spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”
So right here we see God prophesying about putting Holy Spirit in his people to cause them “to walk in his statutes and obey his rules” under the renewed covenant that comes with Messiah.
Yeshua echoes this in John 14:15-17:
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You will know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
And in verse 26 He says:
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
So we see that Holy Spirit’s role is to bring to remembrance the things Yeshua taught. Which begs the question: What did Yeshua teach?
John 5:19:
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.”
Yeshua and the Father can never be in conflict with each other. Whenever we read the Bible and it seems that Jesus is saying something different than what Adonai laid out in the beginning, then our understanding is the problem, not the Word. The Word of God does not conflict with itself, even though it seems like it to us sometimes. Yeshua only did what he saw his Father doing and obeyed completely.
God laid out very plainly how to worship him, how to love him and how to set yourself apart from others. So, to answer the original question, why would we want to go back to Torah if we have Holy Spirit? Because the entire purpose of Holy Spirit is to remind us of God’s ways. His role is to be a witness to the Word.
Let’s say you’re a new believer and you’ve accepted Yeshua as your Savior and been baptized in Holy Spirit. You even received evidence of that by speaking in tongues. But, now you’re wondering how to hear His voice? How do you know you’re not listening to another spirit?
Holy Spirit will always be a witness to the Word of God.
His function is to remind us of the Word of God and cause us to obey it. It’s why you feel conviction in the first place. It’s Holy Spirit saying, “Hey, God’s Word says ‘this’ so maybe you shouldn’t be doing that.” Conviction is a great thing. It’s how you know you’ve heard Holy Spirit – he will always testify to the written Word. Now, what you do with that conviction is where your free will comes in. He’s there to remind, point, guide and lead you back into covenant relationship with Yahweh but will never force you.
If we don’t know the Word of God, we could mistake Holy Spirit’s voice for the voice of the enemy. Remember, satan knows the Word of God very well (Matthew 4), he just doesn’t walk in it. Just having head knowledge is quite different than obedience to that head knowledge.
Additionally, it was ancient Hebrew custom for a bridegroom and bride to be engaged for a long time. During the engagement, the bridegroom would leave the bride and go prepare a place for the two of them to live, usually this was part of his father’s house because he would help take over the father’s business. He would then leave someone, a helper, to tend to his bride to help her get ready for the wedding day. She wouldn’t know when the wedding was, but usually had a time frame (most researchers say it was about a year). This helper was one of his attendants and would lather the bride in spices and prepare her for marriage: body, mind and spirit. The bridegroom would then come get her with a huge processional and trumpet sounds to take her away to be his bride.
Sound familiar?
The disciples knew exactly what Jesus was saying in John 14: He’s going to prepare a place as the bridegroom and leaving the Helper to help them prepare for his return. This Helper would remind them of His Word, his ways, his commands, his statutes, and his ordinances. He would even empower them with signs, wonders and miracles to bring other people into alignment with himself. Receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit is to help other people know how to walk out their life in accordance with the Word.
Taking it even further, Holy Spirit’s job is to remind us of our own vows we made to the Father when we came into covenant with him by faith. Also known as the Ten Commandments, these vows are a contract. It’s you saying, “I will you love you by honoring these words.” Just like your own marriage, you enter into a binding contract when you are wed. The rest of Torah lists out the way to honor God with your life by being set apart.
“Going back to Torah” isn’t bondage. It’s the original intent of God’s heart. It’s the entire purpose of being empowered by Holy Spirit. When you get married and say your vows to your spouse, are you on that altar because you’re forced or are you there out of love? Not cheating on your spouse isn’t bondage. You don’t cheat because you love him/her. Not being able to murder someone else isn’t bondage. It’s because you love people that you don’t kill them. It’s not hard. Same principle with God. I don’t do certain things because I love Him. I DO do certain things, because I love Him. I GET to do certain things, because I love Him. I WANT to do certain things…because I love Him.
The pinnacle of the Christian walk is not salvation or even being empowered by Holy Spirit, it’s walking out your faith with the help of Holy Spirit to bring you back into alignment with God’s Kingdom principles.
Love God through the example of the Son with the help of the Spirit. The Spirit will show you God’s heart and reiterate his Word.
Lavah Ministries 