I am having difficulty believing that in 2014 we are still debating the idea Israel is God’s Chosen People and that Israel is God’s elect.  Just the other day, I had a discussion on this very topic and the spector of Replacement Theology raised its ugly head once more.

I have often heard it said we live in a society which is free from the restrictions of religion.  Interestingly, those who take this viewpoint say, we are sufficiently mature and advanced to recognize state and religion are separate entities and therefore there is no need for us to adhere or even reflect upon the laws that come to us from the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament.  Really?  From my observation of the world today, I find very little evidence of this maturity or the ethical/moral advancement which would free us of the need for a higher set of guiding principles.  David’s words to us, in Psalm 15:2-5, ring particularly true today.

How many of us are able to call ourselves blameless?  How many of us dare to say we do not sin?  Indeed, as Yochanan, the Apostle of Love shares with us, in 1 John 1: If we claim not to have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1:8)  Even as we proclaim Messiah and His Grace, through His sacrifice before the creation of the world, as we read in Revelation 13:8, we sin.  And, as we sin, we need the guidance, support and direction of Adonai Elohim’s Life Instructions in our lives to maintain our walk on the narrow path.  My issue, then, why should we follow His life instructions, found in Torah?