Feb. 21, 2026 Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
The following was sent to me via “Messenger” from my friend, Harlan Wall, in Toronto, Canada, which I found very good. He had seen this Facebook post by Anthony Does (address unknown) and gave his response.
Thus my reposting and my response on this website.
Read and receive understanding.
Ahava and Shalom,
Steve Martin, Love For His People Ministry
Harlan Wall:
That was a pastors post.
So I responded with a long comment ....
With the greatest respect sir (for your efforts & the work you do) I am not sure that your words are entirely correct. I mean, I enjoy the poetic prose very much BUT these sort of epigrams fall short of any sort of scriptural integrity and lose their luster in a hurry.
Sure - there is the veneer of truth but these sort of cute aphorisms lack nuance and don't line up with the structure of reality. When does the Law ever say you cannot make a mistake or that the goal is for humans to be flawless? Ironically, there's actually no word such as Law in the Old Testament. The Hebrew word is Torah, which means teachings or instructions or testimonies.
The other (original) Hebrew word used for law is "mitzvah" - to reduce or limit either of these words to "law" is to miss the whole point and to render them impotent. Oh yes, linguistic impotence is a real issue when it comes to biblical interpretation.
A "mitzvah" is best translated and properly rendered and understood as an "opportunity." It means "cleave to" and comes from the Hebrew root 'tzav' ... that is to say, a mitzvah (translated as law in English Bibles) is an opportunity to cleave to God (not to attain salvation).
The mitzvot are opportunities and invitations to draw close to God. The Torah says over and over again, that the mitzvot (laws) lead to life and are sweet like honey. Read Psalm 119. Moses, David, Solomon and Jesus affirm this emphatically and clearly. Mat. 5:18? What does God say to the children of Israel in the desert? He says "I test/ed you with these mitzvot (commandments) to see what is in your heart."
The purpose was never for humans to be flawless or to never make a mistake. The purpose was the heart; that is to say, the desire of the divine was for "relationship." So, then, to juxtapose the Law with the Gospel and claim that, in some real sense, the "Law demanded our flawless devotion but the Gospel does not" is, at least to some extent, a poetic sleight-of-hand, or what Sammy Davis Jr. might call "the ol' soft shoe." 👞
In truth, the Gospel---at least the one presented and packaged by the mainstream Western Church, demands the same flawless devotion. In fact, in some twist of theological irony, the Gospel seems to demand even more devotion! I don't mean to get up in your face pastor, or to pick your pocket or to undermine your pithy writing but I must be fully self expressed 'cause these sort of oppositional binary black-and-white posts---while creative and catchy---are slogans that dilute the truth and mislead people.
The Gospel absolutely demands flawless devotion; it demands that everybody believe in Jesus and claim Jesus as Lord and surrender their lives in totality. The Gospel might not demand that one follow the "laws" but by golly y'all better be good boys and girls and claim Jesus as your Savior and believe that Jesus was crucified by Pontius Pilot and was crucified and rose from the dead after 3 days.
The Gospel might not demand you "do the right things" but it sure demands you "believe the right things." In fact, the devotion that is demanded by the Gospel is so flawless and unyielding that you need to present your entire body & being as a living sacrifice and your devotion better be 100% flawless or Jesus could easily say "away from me now, for I never knew you!"
* Parenthetically, it's interesting how almost every sermon on that passage leaves out the last part of the verse "get away from me, I never knew you, you do/ers of LAWLESSNESS." What's the opposite of lawlessness???
So, to juxtapose Law vs Grace (gospel) and imply that the Gospel is all about God's devotion and not ours, is simply false. I hope and pray the day comes when people begin to see that the Gospel simply grows out of the Torah and was always in the Torah; that is to say Law & Grace are NOT opposites; nor are they antagonistic to each other.
They go together like back and front; inside and outside; the crest of a wave and the trough. Are not the crest and trough part of the same wave and inseparable?
The Bible is all about a 'process' and a 'relationship' and not a transaction. Law vs Grace huh? Ah, that's just some people talkin' 😏 You can't have one without the other. They work together and belong together. One doesn't need to look far to see the disaster that ensues when Law & Grace (gospel) are pitted against each other and people are asked to choose between the two.
That's like being asked to choose between your own parents! It was always about God's devotion and God's goodness in both the Torah (Law) and the Gospel---and it's all part of one unified whole and one Living Organism ⭐
I do believe in the Gospel but not the one hijacked and repackaged and disseminated by the Western Church.
I apologize copiously for this long novel but maybe somebody might appreciate it🙏 And I know you have an unwavering belief in free speech and an insatiable love for open discussion.
Thanks for listening 😇
* you don't have to agree with me Steve - I just want to give you some context to my approach as a teacher of Jews and Gentiles
Harlen Wall, Toronto, Canada
My response:
Very good Harlen. Christians have been taught that the “Law” is binding, restrictive, “out to get you” like a policeman waiting with his radar gun to catch you speeding as you come over the hill (or through a tunnel as happened to me in PA.) There is no understanding of how the “Law” (Torah) is good for us, but taught as “bad” and “grace” is what we really need to live.
Christians therefore flinch when the “Law” is spoken as if a very bad word. Therefore Torah is never taught as “life giving” but “life taking.”
Again, well explained! I like it.
P.S. Harlan is a Messianic Jew. I am a Christian who loves Torah, Israel, and my Jewish friends, in case you didn’t know by now!
(Photo/caption designed by Leon Swart, Christian Friends of Israel. Not pictured with the original Israel365 article below.)
