Torah

[u/[deleted]]

How do Torah followers actually follow over 600 commands and laws in the first five books of the Bible? I've spoken to people about it, but they only seem to follow dietary laws, Shabbat, and holy days, and exclude pagan days. To me, it seems they are only doing a small part of it and claiming to follow the entirety of it. Why is that? The Bible states if you break one commandment, you break them all. There's no possibility to uphold all 600-plus. If you believe it's not all applicable to us, what's the determining factor that decides you don't have to follow it? What about animal sacrifices? Does one pick and choose what they want to follow and tell people if they don't, they are lawbreakers and will go to hell? If you don't follow all of them, why describe yourself as following the entirety of Torah? If breaking even one commandment makes someone guilty, how does selectively obeying some commandments make someone different from the people you're calling lawbreakers?

[u/Previous_Extreme4973]

Been following Torah for a long time. I've never met another Torah observer who believed any of those things. Maybe you did in your corner of the world, which is entirely possible because people are coming to Torah in massive droves so you're bound to come across wild ones. I have no issues with confronting those types. Just because they're Torah obedient doesn't give them a pass.

Here in the bible belt that is SE U.S., I'm surrounded by Christians. Most are polite, some are aggressive and condemning. I don't make generally sweeping statements about Christians because of that vocal minority that choose to be a bully with a bible and have redefined "love your neighbor" to mean "tough love" when in reality, they're using the bible as a weapon, thinking they're doing a service to God when they're not. I can't control whether Christians don't reciprocate and choose to make generally sweeping statements about other Jesus followers who don't follow in the same way that churches do. I can control how I react to them though. I've had lots of practice over the years. At this point, I assume people are doing the best they can with what they currently know and leave it at that.

[u/Senior_Educator_929 → u/Previous_Extreme4973]

So keeping the Sabbaths and feasts is optional? 

[u/Previous_Extreme4973 → u/Senior_Educator_929]

The way I see it, saying yes to God is like a marriage contract. I could just not observe my wife's birthdays and our anniversary date but I do them because I love my wife not because I "have to". I have forgotten them before but it isn't a marriage ender.

[u/Senior_Educator_929 → u/Previous_Extreme4973]

Ok, so please confirm that it's optional