Nomos and Torah - for Christians?
Nomos and Torah - a way of life
In response to a comment about being "dead to the law," here is a short explanation of our relationship to the law, Nomos in Greek and Torah in Hebrew.
We are dead to the ;aw's penalty if we have been baptized and have repented of our sins or lawless ways.
“Nomos as used in the Greek scriptures is from the Greek νόμος, and it refers, not only to explicit laws, but to all of the normal rules and forms people take for granted in their day to day activities. In this sense it is closer to the use of the term in Plato, than in the more specific sense of the word "law" as a codified set of external rules.”
Nomos is used to translate the Hebrew concept of torah, teaching, that is a way of life. Neither the Greek nor the Hebrew defines the "law" in the modern sense of a codified set of external rules. Rather the torah or nomos is that way of life that one lives in covenant with God. Jesus who identified himself as, the I Am, the Lord God of Israel who gave the teaching (Torah) to his people by inspiring his servants the prophets, has had one teaching from the beginning — to love God and neighbour. This teaching was amplified in commandments, statutes, and judgments and reinforced through scriptural stories as examples for our learning, as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10. What is new in the Greek scriptures is not the commandment, but the fact that Christ came and died to show his love for us, so the newness was in loving 'as Christ loved' with this willingness to be "living sacrifices" in Christ's service.
Christ's teaching, His revealed will are consistent and the commandment that John or Paul writes about that is holy, just, and good, is the same teaching that was given to Moses and all the prophets. Jesus makes this plain when he answers the rich young man and says the law (He enumerates some of the 10 commandments) lead one on a path to eternal life. (Matthew 19:16-20) When John writes of Christ's commandments he makes sure his audience understands it is the same commandment that was given from the beginning, and he clarifies this by giving the examples of Abel and Cain. (1 John 3-5) We serve God not the law. But in our love for our Maker we appreciate and love the teaching (the law) He has given us for our good. As any child we obey the house rules established by our spiritual parent because we know they are for our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. The torah (nomos or teaching of God's way of life), provides a life's path that is in harmony with God's character and nature. It is a way that He delineated from the beginning, the way of the tree of life, that was rejected by man in favour of their living according to their own intellect without divine guidance.
Over time God added instructions in living that were suited to a nation that acknowledged God as their KIng. When the people rebelled against the Creator and His instructions, it was not the law (teaching) that was at fault, rather the people, except for the few, lacked the faith and God's spirit to live in harmony with God and reap the blessings that obedience would have afforded them. Christ came to pour out His spirit so that people could be empowered to follow the teachings and walk with God, something they could not do on their own strength. We can only accomplish God's will when we are walking in harmony and humility with Him and He never walks contrary to His own teaching (law).
Christ, our Creator, also came to save us from the penalty of lawlessness (sin) which is spiritual death. The law was never intended to save us. It can only be a light directing our steps, or the path along which we walk. It can point out the benefits of obedience and the penalties for disobedience. Christ alone saves us through faith in Him. His sacrifice pays for sins (lawbreaking) that are repented of, thus eliminating the penalty, what Paul calls the "bill of indebtedness" and the "law of sin and death" in the lives of those who ask for forgiveness and put their hope in Christ.
Christ's spirit in us through faith writes the law on our hearts so that we might do the good works that give God glory. As James makes clear it is faith coupled with works that perfects us, as we show our faith by our works we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. This process is in total harmony with the teachings of God, his commandments, statutes and judgments. These good works done through the fruit of the spirit can never be contrary to the law of God as Paul says in Galatians 5. Love would never allow us to murder, faithfulness would never allow us to commit adultery.
Our obligation as Christians is whole-hearted obedience to God, loving Him with all our heart, and soul, and mind, as taught in the Torah and later repeated by Christ.(Matthew 22:36) To do this we must put on the mind of Christ and live as He lived. We know He lived a life in harmony with the law (the teaching) as He committed no sin. We also read in the Greek scriptures that the apostles and disciples after Christ's death continued to keep the statutes, including Sabbath and Holy Days. If they had not, where would they have been on Pentecost when the Spirit was poured out upon the believers?
Paul explains in Romans 13 that love is the full expression of the law...and we love our neighbour as ourselves by keeping the letter (no killing, stealing, lying, lusting) and going beyond it to the spiritual intent so that we do not do anything to wrong a neighbour, rather we do those things that will encourage and strengthen others. Yet, this was not radical new teaching rather it was a further reinforcing with Gentile believers of the teaching that had been known from earliest times by those who had the blessing of God's teaching, the Torah, and all the Hebrew scriptures. So Paul emphasizes the teaching in a new context, repeating what was already well known from the Hebrew scriptures, "Love your neighbour as yourself (Leviticus 19:18)"