Most Torah scholars agree that there are 613 laws in the Torah. Some of us are familiar with the Ten Commandments through the movie, attending church or synagogue. Thou shalt not kill, still or lie and so on…
Well, there was a discussion by the early church leaders regarding the circumcision of Christian believers. Some leaders believed they should be circumcised, and some believers did not think Christians should be circumcised. Therefore, the issue was brought before the apostles and elders in Jerusalem.
After coming together in prayer, the Jerusalem council came to the conclusion that following the entire Torah would be too much of a burden to bear; therefore, the Christians were commanded to follow 4 Christian rules according to Acts 15:28-29.
For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well (Acts 15:28-29).
Let’s do well in life by keeping these Four Christian Laws.
- Keep yourself from food sacrificed to idols.
- Keep yourself from eating and drinking blood.
- Keep yourself from what strangled meat.
- Keep yourself from sexual immorality.
We can actually find the exact explanation of these laws elucidated in the Torah for greater clarification. These four laws for believers are all found in the Acharei Mot torah portion in the book of Leviticus chapters 17 and 18. I find it very interesting that the apostles were led by the Holy Spirit of God to hold Gentile believers in Christ Jesus to four laws that are all in the same Torah portion. I wonder if, perhaps, the Day of Atonement should be a fifth law that Christians should observe or at least consider observing the Day of Atonement since it’s in the Acharei Mot Torah portion, too. For now, do well by following these four laws based on the Torah for Christians to follow, and I’ll see you on the other side.
Love healing hearts, Shirah Chante, Relationship Artist
Listen to “Turn the Tide 1: Laborers and Laws” show on my podcast Teens Draw Near to God, for inspiration on following these four laws.