As has already been mentioned previously in this book, the greater majority of the Christian world today believes that the Law of Elohim was nailed to the Tree of Calvary of Y’shua. Thus, they reason, it no longer needs to be kept.

There are so many blessings like conversion, wisdom, enlightenment, and great joy (see Psalm 19:7-8); including the blessing of spiritual protection (as discussed in last chapter), which are bestowed upon those who follow Christ’s pattern obeying YHWH’s Law. Considering the tremendous benefits of obedience to the Law, it is easy to see a sinister motive behind the idea that it was abolished.

Who would have a motive for removing the Law, the wall of our protection, from Elohim’s people? Who has a vested interest in keeping Christians defenseless against his onslaughts? Satan does, of course! It is said, "All’s fair in love and war." Certainly it gives the devil a great advantage to have removed the wall of our defense. He is a cunning, evil, mastermind; who desires to destroy every soul. As such, what sort of tactics should we expect him to employ? Even to an earthly military commander, it is a well known fact that blowing out your enemies’ defenses makes your attack much more effective.

Not only is the protective wall effectively removed, but also in rejecting it, the written transcript of Elohim’s divine character, Satan has caused his prey to offend their heavenly Protector, so that they step out of the realm of His blessing.

We are in a war zone, here on earth. Make no mistake. Each of us in engaged in a fight, the outcome of which will determine our eternity. No wonder Peter was inspired to warn us with such urgent words:

Actually, Satan does not have the power to tear down the defenses that Elohim has put in place for our protection. The only way he can remove us from this safeguard is to get us to tear it down. What bait could Satan use to get Christians to willingly destroy their greatest defense against him?

In Christ’s day, when the devil came to tempt our Saviour, he often quoted Scripture. But it was a misuse, a twisting of the meaning and message in the text. Christ, whose spiritual perceptions were kept clear through constant communion with the Father and through proper Bible study (His Bible was largely the Torah at that time!) met Satan’s veiled lies with a clear, "It is written…"

Satan has come to the Christian world with the same tactics, twisting Scripture. Through this method, he has enticed Christians to nail the Law to the Tree of Calvary, thus denying ourselves the protection which obedience to it affords us.

Let’s look at the main Scripture Satan has twisted in order to entice Christians to disregard the Law of Elohim. It’s found in Colossians two. Here, Paul wrote about the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary and the results to sinful man.

There are a total of seventy-seven places throughout Scripture (including the New Testament), which specifically tell us to keep the Law or commandments. In addition, there are six texts, which tell us to obey the Law and the commandments. This means that Elohim tells us to walk in full obedience to His Law eighty-three times (See Appendix I) throughout the Scripture. Yet somehow, one text in Colossians is enough for many ignorantly to toss out all the rest.

Amazingly, even Christ’s own words are not enough to convince many, who claim to follow Him, that His Law is eternal. For He said, plainly:

As is mentioned in the preface of this book, taking one or two Scriptures and disregarding all the others on any given subject is how people come up with so many doctrines throughout Christianity today. Using our personal interpretation to determine the meaning of Scripture will lead us into error every time.

The Bible teaches us that we will keep the Law, which will be possible by the help of Elohim (see Matthew 19:16-26). Y’shua told us that we will keep the Law and that all of it would remain in effect unless and until heaven and earth pass. Scripture does not contradict Scripture. When it appears that there is a contradiction, we must pray harder for understanding and diligently search the Word for clarification. One pure and consistent truth will always come from the Word of Elohim and this one truth will be found through a complete harmony of every text on the subject. In light of this, let us re-examine Colossians 2:14.

First, let us consider what we know it does not say. Considering the weight of the other Scriptures, we know that this text is not telling us that the Law of Elohim is nailed to the Tree of Calvary, and thus taken away.

Here, Paul tells us the "handwriting of ordinances that was against us" was taken away and nailed to the tree of Calvary. Is the Law against us? Certainly not! (See Romans 3:31 and Romans 7:7, 12, 13.) We have seen that it is the catalyst needed for repentance, it is the Standard of heaven and it is the transcript of Elohim’s own character. If we believe that the Law is against us, we are really saying that Elohim is against us!

So what handwriting is against us? Many of us have been taught since we were children that a recording angel attends our every step. Lawless acts, along with heaven-inspired ones, are recorded in the book of our life record. Our works are being recorded. Those with evil works, who are also unforgiven and uncleansed, may not taste of eternal life. Talk about being "against us"! There is no worse handwriting anywhere than the condemning record of our own evil deeds!

It was this damning evidence, which would have brought us eternal death that Y’shua’s blood and death on the tree of Calvary has taken "out of the way" (Colossians 2:14).

Praise YHWH! Our sins were nailed to the tree of Calvary. Through His precious blood, they are taken out of the way. The way of life is now unblocked. We are free to pass into eternity with Elohim. Through this Scripture-based explanation, a harmonious whole and complete message appears.

Is the record of our sins the only thing that the Bible says was nailed at Calvary? Actually, our record of sin is not the only thing that was expunged through Christ’s death. There are some parts of the Torah, which modern Christians sometimes refer to as the "ceremonial law," that were ended at Calvary. Let us look at the list of everything that is commonly considered nullified at the Tree of Calvary.

1. The Sacrificial system ended at Calvary.

In the midst of the week, He (Christ) shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease (Daniel 9:27).

"Oblation," according to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance (#4503), means "bloodless offerings." This refers to the offerings like grain, wine, and others. The word "sacrifice" tells us that the animal offerings and blood offerings were also to end. To see a more detailed list of the sacrifices and offerings, which ended at Calvary, read Numbers 28.

We are still to offer sacrifices, but the sacrifice has changed. Now our lives are to be a living sacrifice. (See Romans 12:1.)

2. The Civil Penalties (punishments) for breaking Elohim’s Law were finished at the Tree of Calvary. (See John 8:3-11, Matthew 22:21, and Acts 2:29)

Elohim, Himself, will punish those who break His Law, at the end of the world. (See Revelation 8-21.)

3. The idea that only male Levites could be priests ended at Calvary. Now we are all kings and priests of YHWH. "And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen" (Revelation 1:6).
4. The requirement that every male, who belonged to Elohim, be circumcised was ended. (See Acts 15.)

Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked (Deuteronomy 10:16).

5. The temple services were completed. To signify this, the unseen hand of Elohim tore the temple curtain from top to bottom at the death of Christ (see Matthew 27:51). After Calvary, Elohim wanted to live in His people. We are to be His temple – not a building or structure. (See 1 Corinthians 3:17.)

Throughout the entire Bible, searching diligently from cover to cover, one will not find any other teaching or system that was nailed to the tree of Calvary. In totality, then, the "ceremonial law," which was eradicated in Christ’s death was: the offerings of all blood, grain, wine, and other sacrifices; the civil penalties for breaking the Law; the Levitical priesthood; circumcision; and the temple services.

We will not add to or take away from this list. Only what is specifically stated in the Word of Elohim in sound doctrine.

Clearly, the misconstrual of Colossians 2:14, in nailing the Law to the tree of Calvary, is not Biblical. Just to add fuel to the fire, it seems appropriate to point out, that this teaching contains gaping inconsistencies. When someone who believes the requirements of the Law have been fulfilled in Christ’s death is asked some simple questions, these inconsistencies come out clearly. Perhaps it might first be asked, "So, then, should we be unfaithful in our marriages? Is it now okay to commit adultery?" Mainstream Christians will quickly reply that it is not acceptable to commit adultery after Calvary-, any more than it was before Christ died.

Continuing through the list, commandment by commandment, we find that we should still not kill, not lie, not steal, not covet, and we should still keep Elohim first in our lives (as is commanded in the first two commandments).

As the questions continue about which commandments we should still keep, we find that, in the minds of most Christians, only one commandment has been nailed to the tree of Calvary. Only the fourth commandment, which is about the Seventh day being the Sabbath, is so offensive to the main-stream Christian mindset that it solely is nailed to the tree of Calvary with Paul’s blessing, based on Colossians 2:14. It really seems pretty silly, when painted in this light. Yet, most of the Christian world today believes exactly that. The Law (oops, we really mean – the Seventh-day Sabbath) was "done away with" because of Colossians 2:14. Clearly, this is not a Bible-based approach to truth.

This same faulty logic was being used in Christ’s day. Referring to the way the religious leaders of His day had difficulty accepting the beautiful truths of heaven, while embracing even the most ludicrous error to avoid the truth, Christ said, "Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel" (Matthew 23:24).

Having examined how and why the precious, protecting wall of the Law of Elohim has been removed from so many Christian lives, we are now ready to set about reconstructing it in our own hearts.

Paul talks about the Lawless heart. He knew, as has been explained previously in this book, that the Law of Elohim was the entire Torah. Thus, as he explains the condition of Lawlessness, he cites both commandments and statutes interchangeably. They are listed as equally part of the Law of Elohim. This is especially evident in Galatians 5:16, 19-21.

Here Paul first describes this beautiful constraint, as experienced in the heart of those who are protected through walking in obedience to the Law. He then contrasts this obedient lifestyle with the lawless lifestyle. To illustrate how Paul gives commandments and statutes equal footing as parts of Elohim’s Law, the following verse will be displayed with parenthesis to explain whether that characteristic is referring to a commandment or to a statute (all of which are part of the first five books of the Bible, and are hence all part of the Law).

By mixing the commandments and statutes in this way, Paul is giving a strong hint of the connection between them. They begin to take on the same connected nature of a chain, when we look at the words of Christ.

James extends this deep connection to the entire Law.

As will be shown next, the Law of Elohim does fit together like a perfectly constructed chain. Thus, it makes sense that if one link is broken, the entire chain is broken. Let us examine the great chain of Elohim’s Law. The top of the Law chain consists of the two Great Commandments, and is forged in Matthew 22:37-40. In the words of Christ:

To make this concept clearer, we will display the commandments and statutes, placing them upon these two Great Commandments, to see how they "hang together." The first portion of the commandment chain is suspended upon the first Great Commandment. "Thou shalt love YHWH thy Elohim with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind."

The statutes listed in the previous diagram are by no means comprehensive. There are many more statutes. And they fit under the categories of the Ten Commandments, much like the content of a chapter explains the chapter title.

The first commandment, which hangs upon the great Law: "Thou shalt love YHWH thy Elohim with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind," is "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:3). The theme of this message is that YHWH is to hold first place in the human heart. As the statute texts listed in the above diagram will show, anything that holds a place higher than YHWH becomes a false god: be it people, power, position, influence, riches, time, or any other thing.

The statutes expand the idea of putting YHWH first to include holiness. We will desire to be holy for it pleases Elohim. If He holds first place in our hearts, we will love to do that which pleases Him. In addition, the statutes teach that we will put Him first in our time and our money. Tithe will not be paid at the end of the month, if there happens to be any money left over.

The second commandment is "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in the heaven above or the earth beneath, or the waters under the earth…"(Exodus 20:4-6). The statutes that are suspended from this Commandment are about idolatry. They teach us to be zealous for the worship of YHWH and to teach straight truth causing Satan worship, in all its forms, to be destroyed. In addition, Elohim is displeased when we keep objects in our home that are connected to heathen worship in any way.

The third commandment states, "Thou shalt not take the name of YHWH Elohim in vain…" (Exodus 20:7). Again the statutes shed added light upon this Commandment, completing the teaching of the Law. The statutes, which are associated with this third Commandment, do tell us not to blaspheme Elohim’s holy name. However, they go even deeper by teaching that we should not claim to be Christians unless we are going to live the life. To claim Christ’s name without the living testimony of following His Example is to bring dishonor to Elohim’s sacred name.

The fourth commandment, the last associated directly with our love for Elohim is: "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of YHWH thy Elohim…"(Exodus 20:8-11). The Sabbath portion of the Law has often been referred to as the "heart" of Elohim’s Law. Perhaps this is why, as we will discuss in more detail later, this Commandment and its subsequent statutes, have been more attacked than any other part of the Law.

The statutes associated with the fourth commandment tell us to keep the Seventh-day Sabbath. Furthermore, there are seven feast Sabbaths, which occur annually. The statutes clearly define which days are holy. They also clearly teach us how to observe them. Finally, the statutes teach us that Sabbath-keeping is a sign of sanctification, which Elohim looks for in His people.

By viewing some of the statutes, which are associated with the first four commandments, a picture begins to develop. The statutes work to make Elohim’s will for His people even clearer. As has been previously mentioned, the commandment is a bit like the title of a chapter. The statutes are like the content of the chapter. Together, they create a complete concept. Together, the Law of Elohim is very specific and understandable to the seeking Christian. Together, it is formed into a perfect whole.

This same intertwined relationship between commandments and statutes continues in the remaining six commandments and their subsequent statutes as well. The Great Commandment that suspends the remaining six of the Ten Commandments is, "Love your neighbor as yourself." The following diagram shows the relationship between the second Great Commandment and its subsequent commandments and statutes.

As would be expected from such a heading, the commandments and statutes associated with this portion of Elohim’s Law have to do with human relationships. They encompass personal relationships, business relationships, and family relationships.

The first commandment in this portion of the Law chain is "Honor your parents…"(Exodus 20:12). The underlying concept of the Commandment, which is borne out clearly in the supporting statutes (listed in the diagram above), is respect for the leadership Elohim has placed in our homes, churches, and communities. Through being properly educated in the ways of righteousness, children are to be safeguarded against breaking this law. Consequently, parents and church leaders are instructed in the statutes to be sure children are raised with a love and understanding for the statutes and the principles they contain. It is far less likely that a child will dishonor his parents and people in authority over him if he has been trained to respect them from infancy.

The sixth commandment is "Thou shalt not kill" (Exodus 20:13). Most members of Christian society look at this law and think it is easy. Most of us haven’t taken another human life; therefore, we are all good keepers of commandment six – right? Actually, the statutes go much deeper. They are directed at the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The statutes add a buffer of protection to keep us from breaking the Ten Commandments. Those associated with "Thou shalt not kill," teach that we will be kind to everyone. Harder still, we are to show mercy to our enemies. And finally, we are not to hate, bear grudges, or seek revenge. With these deeper guidelines, all the motivation for murder is completely removed.

Does Elohim really care about the motives of our hearts? After all, it isn’t sin until we act on it, right? This idea suggests a dangerous fallacy. When Christ was here, His teachings made it clear that sin begins in the imagination and fantasy world of our private thoughts. It was He Who gave the statutes to Moses; through the statutes we are forced to deal with our deepest desires and carnality. Christ said:

Because of the deeper message in the Law of Elohim, it is easier to understand how the Bible can truly say, "…all have sinned, and come short of the glory of Elohim" (Romans 3:23). Even the supposed, perfect, never-missed-a-church-service-in-their-life person has had ungodly thoughts. This is why obedience to the Law of Elohim can only be accomplished through heaven’s power.

Continuing our progression through the commandment chain, we find ourselves next at the seventh commandment. "Thou shalt not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14). In this category, the statutes explicitly teach that sexual intimacy is sacred, and it is to be experienced within the bonds of marriage alone. Homosexuality and bestiality are not acceptable in Elohim’s Law. In addition, the statutes further safeguard law keepers by instructing that we will not look upon nudity. This precludes viewing pornography and smutty magazines, which foster impurity.

The eighth commandment states, "Thou shalt not steal" (Exodus 20:15). As we have come to expect, the statutes go right to the heart of the matter. They teach that it is stealing if we have fiscal know-how and use our expertise to take advantage of someone with less money sense.

Commandment number nine is, "Thou shalt not bear false witness" (Exodus 20:16). While this literally means that we will tell the truth, there is more to it than just that. The statutes tell us to speak kindly about each other. This is because Christ’s blood has been shed for every human being. To speak in an unloving manner about someone heaven loves is certainly a false witness. Furthermore, we are to take our oaths seriously. Whatever we swear or promise to do, the statutes teach, that it is sworn to heaven. Thus, every oath becomes a promise we make to Elohim.

The tenth and final commandment is, "Thou shalt not covet…"(Exodus 20:17). This portion of the Law is directed at the heart of human greed. The statutes take us to the opposite of covetousness – generosity. We are to be generous with the poor and the widows. If someone requests a loan, it should be given without expecting it returned.

What a different world this would be if people had all followed the Divine Plan: We would have been protected from hatred and cruelty. We would have been shielded from abuse. We would have kept Elohim first and foremost in our thoughts. We would have been blessed with the atmosphere of heaven here on earth.

Satan has always known that the Law of Elohim was established, not as a burdensome bane to humanity, but as a rich blessing. Is it any wonder that his attack against people has been focused at the holy Law? The walls have been broken down long enough – in fact, far too long! It is time to rebuild Elohim’s wall of protection in our hearts. How is this accomplished? -Through obedience to the Law. Study it, know it, love it and through the power of Elohim, keep it!

• Satan has attacked the Law of Elohim because he wants us to be defenseless against his lies and temptations.
• The Commandments and statutes hang together like one cohesive chain. The statutes clearly define and explain the Commandments.
• The Law of Elohim is not just about what we do. It is about what we think. Our thoughts are to be holy.