Is the Law of Moses Still in Effect? Torah, Grace and What Jesus Fulfilled
The short answer: Pastor Chris teaches that the Torah (God's instruction) and the law of Moses were together at one point, but they are not the same thing. When Yeshua gave His life, He fulfilled the law of Moses: the animal sacrifices, the incense, the Levitical priesthood and temple worship for atonement. He also "redeemed us from the curse of the law" (Galatians 3:13), the condemnation we were under. What remains is God's instruction for righteous living, now written on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33). We are not saved by keeping commandments; we keep them because we are saved and love Him (John 14:15).
One of the most misunderstood truths in the Word
Pastor Chris calls law versus grace one of the most misunderstood and most controversial topics in Scripture, one that has divided the church and caused countless believers to walk outside of God's order without knowing it. He asks pastors and listeners to bring their Bibles and go through it step by step.
He is also clear about the spirit of this teaching: nobody should feel condemned. This is not about condemnation but about relationship. God knows your heart. The more you open your heart to Him and His ways, the more He reveals to you and the more He leads your path. As Yeshua said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15).
Torah means instruction
The confusion often starts with the word itself. In Hebrew, Torah doesn't mean "law" in the legal sense. It means instruction, teaching or guidance, from a loving Father to His children. It is not about earning salvation. It is about walking in relationship, the way a father gives rules to protect and guide his children, not to enslave them.
Pastor Chris uses a simple picture: when you buy a new television, it comes with a manual. You have to follow the instructions to set the language and connect it before it works. Life also came with a manual, and the Torah is that manual. Every action has a reaction; when humanity walked away from God's instructions from the beginning, we stepped into a world full of sin and its consequences.
Fulfilled, not destroyed
"Don't think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn't come to destroy, but to fulfill" (Matthew 5:17). The Greek word is plēroō: to bring to fullness, to carry out, not to terminate. Yeshua lived out God's instruction perfectly and showed how it is done with love, truth and power.
Josh points out the verse people usually skip: "Until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished" (Matthew 5:18). Heaven and earth are still here. And as Pastor Chris adds, the Lord prefers obedience over sacrifice; disobedience only puts more obstacles in our path.
The Torah and the law of Moses
This is the heart of the teaching. At one point the Torah and the law of Moses were together, but they are two separate things. The law of Moses included the sacrificial system: offering animals, burning incense, the Levitical priesthood and sacrificial atonement. Those were shadows pointing to Messiah. When Yeshua became the final atonement, that part was fulfilled in Him and is no longer required. As Pastor Chris says, Yeshua's sacrifice did away with the law of Moses, not the Torah.
Throwing out all of God's instructions because the sacrifices ended would be, in Josh's words, like throwing away the whole Bible because Yeshua fulfilled its prophecies. Pastor Chris asks listeners to write down what still stands and what has been fulfilled:
Still standing: the Ten Commandments; the Sabbath; the feast days of the Bible (not later rabbinic additions); the wisdom behind God's dietary instructions, since everything is permissible but not everything is good for you; and God's principles of justice, honesty and sexual morality.
Fulfilled in Messiah: animal sacrifice (Hebrews 10:10), temple rituals, the Levitical priesthood for atonement, and purification by blood offerings.
The Torah wasn't replaced; it moved from tablets of stone to the tablets of our hearts: "I will put My law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart" (Jeremiah 31:33). We don't obey to get saved; we obey because we are saved.
Redeemed from the curse of the law
Paul writes, "For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who doesn't continue in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them'" (Galatians 3:10). And then the good news: "Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us" (3:13). No one could keep the law perfectly, so under that system everyone stood condemned. Yeshua took that curse on Himself at the cross.
That is what Paul means when he says we are "not under law, but under grace" (Romans 6:14): we are free from the system of condemnation, not free to ignore God. In the very next verse he asks, "Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? May it never be!" (6:15). Grace isn't a license to sin; it is empowerment to walk in truth.
Law without love becomes legalism. Law through love becomes liberty.
What Paul actually taught
Pastor Chris calls Paul, Rabbi Shaul, one of the most misunderstood figures in the Bible because his revelation was so deep in the Spirit. Many believe Paul preached against God's law or started a new religion. But if Paul had taught against the Torah, he would have contradicted both Yeshua and the prophets. Paul himself said, "I worship the God of our fathers, believing all things which are according to the law, and which are written in the prophets" (Acts 24:14).
Paul preached against legalism, not against God's instruction. The Greek word nomos, often translated "law," doesn't always mean the Torah; it can refer to other legal codes, oral traditions or even Roman law. Pastor Chris explains that Paul spoke about two different laws: sometimes the Torah, and sometimes the law of Moses. When Paul writes, "Do we then nullify the law through faith? May it never be! No, we establish the law" (Romans 3:31), he is upholding God's instruction. When he speaks of a law that has ended, he is speaking of the sacrificial system.
Galatians is often read as anti-law, but, as Josh notes, the whole book rebukes people trying to earn salvation through circumcision and rituals. Paul explains the sacrificial system's purpose: "It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise has been made" (Galatians 3:19). The sin offerings were necessary until Messiah's sacrifice. Peter warned that Paul's letters contain "some things that are hard to understand, that the ignorant and unsettled twist" (2 Peter 3:16). We cannot make God accommodate our lifestyle; we accommodate ourselves to His standard of righteousness.
Three kinds of instruction
Pastor Chris breaks the instructions of the Torah into three categories:
Moral laws: eternal commands such as do not steal, do not commit adultery and honor your parents. These never change.
Civil laws: laws that governed Israel as a nation. Some are specific to that context, but they still carry wisdom for our lives.
Ceremonial laws: temple sacrifices, purification rituals and the Levitical priesthood, shadows pointing to Messiah.
When Hebrews says the law has "a shadow of the good to come, not the very image of the things" (Hebrews 10:1), it is speaking of the ceremonial system. That part is complete: "He, when He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God" (10:12). Yeshua became our High Priest and our Passover Lamb. And Yeshua Himself said He would not eat the Passover again "until it is fulfilled in God's Kingdom" (Luke 22:16), so Pastor Chris teaches that the feasts and the Sabbath will still be kept in the millennial reign.
Grace and instruction working together
The modern church often preaches grace versus law, but Pastor Chris teaches grace and God's instruction working together. "The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly, righteously, and godly" (Titus 2:11–12). Grace gives a new heart: "I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes" (Ezekiel 36:26–27).
God's instruction reveals what sin is, and grace gives power over it: "I wouldn't have known sin, except through the law" (Romans 7:7). God is not contradicting Himself across the Bible; He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Hebrews warns against willfully continuing in sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth (Hebrews 10:26–29). Grace doesn't replace the covenant; it seals it.
How the early believers lived
The early believers, including Paul, Peter and James, walked in obedience through the Spirit and under the blood of Yeshua. In Jerusalem there were thousands of Jewish believers, "and they are all zealous for the law" (Acts 21:20). In Acts 15, Gentile believers were given four starting instructions, with the expectation that they would keep learning, "for Moses from generations of old has in every city those who preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath" (Acts 15:21). Paul was bringing the Gentiles into the synagogues, where Jewish believers in Yeshua received them.
That early assembly, Jews and Gentiles worshiping Messiah together, keeping His feasts and honoring the Sabbath, is a prophetic picture of the millennial kingdom. Josh sees it happening again today as people realize they inherited lies and return to the ancient paths: "Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, 'Where is the good way?' and walk in it" (Jeremiah 6:16). For more on how these things were changed in history, see our teaching on Constantine.
Saved by grace, guided by His instruction
Josh sums it up: we are saved by grace, sanctified by the Spirit and guided by the Torah. Not lawlessness, not legalism, but covenant. Pastor Chris warns that the enemy wants a lawless bride, unprepared for what is coming, but Yeshua is returning for a holy one. In the last days the line between truth and error will grow sharper, and the remnant is described as those "who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Yeshua" (Revelation 14:12).
The risen Messiah, who took the curse of the law upon Himself, is coming for a bride who walks in both grace and truth. Get into the Word, understand Paul in his actual context, and embrace both.
Frequently asked questions
Did Jesus abolish the law?
He said He came to fulfill, not destroy (Matthew 5:17–18). His sacrifice fulfilled the law of Moses: the sacrifices, priesthood and temple atonement.
Is the Torah the same as the law of Moses?
Pastor Chris teaches they were together at one point but are distinct: the Torah is God's instruction; the law of Moses includes the sacrificial system that Yeshua fulfilled.
What is the curse of the law?
The condemnation on everyone who fails to keep the law perfectly (Galatians 3:10). Messiah redeemed us from it by becoming a curse for us (3:13).
Do we keep God's commandments to be saved?
No. We are saved by grace and keep His commandments because we love Him (John 14:15).
Take the next step
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