Misunderstanding the Intent of the Torah: A Fundamental Armstrongist Mistake

 

The Coming of Grace (Fair Use)

Misunderstanding the Intent of the Torah

A Fundamental Armstrongist Mistake

By Scout

 

When I was a teen, I became aware of Jews and Judaism.  And one of the first things I learned about Jews is that they did not believe in an afterlife.   That was not quite accurate.  But this was the view among some midwestern Protestants.  According to an article in the Jerusalem Post newspaper more than half the Jews in the United States believe there is no heaven or hell.  The same article states, “…with the exception of some kabbalistic texts, there is virtually no mention or description whatsoever of heaven in the Tanach (Bible).”  So, it is no wonder that the afterlife does not get much air time in Judaism. 

In fact, the book of the Bible that some scholars believe was most likely written by Moses, the Book of Deuteronomy, offers no promises concerning a salvation that involves life eternal.  The Torah was never presented as a pathway to a heavenly salvation.  It was offered as the way that the descendants of Israel could live an earthly life of blessing.  Leviticus 18:5 states, “You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.”  It’s all about living by the laws while you’re alive on this earth.  You might have noticed that many of the laws are earthbound.  They involve the seventh day, which food you should eat, what is clean and unclean, how you should treat your slaves – concerns that are not likely to exist in heaven. 

So, it is odd that someone would conclude that the Torah is the pathway to eternal life.  But someone did.  And I have no idea how it happened.  The Pharisees during the time of Christ came to believe somehow that there was a resurrection.  The Sadducees, the priestly caste, the people whom one would believe to be closest to the scripture, did not believe in a resurrection.  And the Pharisees stirred up some dust in the early Christian church over this.  Those Pharisees who professed belief in Christ began to push the idea that circumcision and Torah observance were required for salvation.  

Fast forward to the Twentieth Century.  Herbert Armstrong, Herman Hoeh and Rod Meredith concluded that Torah observance, which did not contain any kind of promise of a wonderful world tomorrow, was a requirement for salvation.   Meredith wrote, “Paul shows right here that God’s law is not abolished — that it is "written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart" (II Cor. 3:3).  God's laws — His commandments, statutes and judgments — are to be in our hearts — we are to live them by the power of God's Spirit.”  (Rod Meredith in “Is Obedience to God Required for Salvation?”)  Hoeh observed that the “statutes and laws magnify the Ten Commandments.”  So, the Torah is just as binding as the Decalogue in Armstrongist doctrine.  In doing this, they were recruiting the Torah to do something that it was never intended to do – be a pathway to salvation as defined by Jesus. 

There is a revealing contrast in John 1:17.   John wrote, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”   And it is grace that leads to salvation as we know from Ephesians 2.  Paul wrote in Galatians 5, “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”   The Armstrong-Hoeh-Meredith model of using the Torah to secure salvation is like trying to use a wet noodle as a crowbar.

 

 

 

"It's not your fault you were born in this generation and will not get eternal life like the rest of us"

 

Are you in danger of being infected by spiritual herpes?

 

More words of wisdom from the Kitchen Bros on returning to the one true Worldwide Church of God. If you have joined any splinter group and fail to return to the true WCG then you are choosing to stay in the bed of harlots and will be infected by spiritual herpes. Who knew!!!!!! 

Is it any wonder that in 2025 Armstrongism continues to reach new levels of absurdity?

So this Bible Study touched on a scripture in Song of Solomon 5:3, of Christ or the King desiring to have those who have separated to repent and come back as His Bride a/k/a the Worldwide Church of God!

But notice, in verse 6, getting ready too late, the King withdrew Himself! He led His future wife to a place of safety in final preparation for their marriage!! He was no longer there to gather the ones who weren’t zealous in getting closer to Him!

But they ended up in that position through separation! That’s how Satan gets ahold of some of us in the Church! He gets them uninterested in God’s Work, gets them separated from those of the Church, and feeds them heresy to keep them away.

So he sent wolves to create a “break”.

Then he used that “break” and creates a solution, namely another church group is formed. Then he says “you can’t return, that church has died!” That is the blinders or strong delusion, that keeps the people attending the new groups.

So the warning to those who have fell victim to Satan’s work, is to spare them as Jewels meant for saving! If they don’t respond soon enough, they will get left behind, and Satan will wage war on them as God says He will. Because he too was also watching them run to the door too late.

So it behooves us to remember, and to get back to being the Worldwide Church of God, and draw close to Jesus Christ! Because yes, it may feel good to stay in that bed of a harlot, but the spiritual herpes will grab you and you won’t make it to Christ in time unless you become ZEALOUS and repent quickly and adjust yourself to run run run to Jesus Christ! For He alone in your savior! He alone is your King! He alone is your husband! There is no other! What are you waiting for dear brethren? We are to be ready for marriage! So Run!