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Common Questions

What do you mean by the "Hebraic Roots" of Christianity?

Christianity didn’t emerge in a theological vacuum, it grew directly from the soil of first-century Judaism. Yeshua (Jesus), His disciples, and the earliest believers were thoroughly Jewish. They lived within the rhythms of Torah, celebrated the biblical feasts, and understood Scripture through Jewish eyes. The concepts that fill the New Testament; Messiah, kingdom, covenant, righteousness, even “grace”, weren’t new inventions but terms already defined and anticipated within Israel’s story.

Here’s what we’re not saying: that you need to adopt modern Jewish customs, convert to Judaism, or that Christianity is somehow incomplete. We’re simply inviting you to read the Bible in its original context. For centuries, Western Christianity has interpreted Scripture through Greek philosophical lenses that were foreign to its authors. When Paul writes about “law” or Yeshua (Jesus) speaks about “fulfilling” the Torah, they’re using categories their Jewish audience immediately understood, but we’ve often missed.

Think of it this way: if you discovered that a cherished family letter had been translated into your language but key words were mistranslated or culturally misunderstood, wouldn’t you want to read it more accurately? That’s what recovering the Hebraic roots means. We’re not adding burdens or inventing new doctrines. We’re allowing the Bible’s own world to interpret the Bible, discovering depths of meaning we’ve failed to see, when we separated the New Testament from its Jewish foundations. Yeshua (Jesus) didn’t come to replace Israel’s story, He came to bring God’s ancient promises to their beautiful fullness and completion.

Torah is much richer than most people realise, and the common equation “Torah = Ten Commandments” reveals how deeply we’ve been shaped by Western culture and thinking rather than Hebrew thought.

The Hebrew word torah literally means “instruction” or “teaching”, it is God’s guidance for living, not a legal code; as the term law suggests. This is crucial: Torah isn’t primarily about rules; it’s about revelation. It’s how God discloses Himself, His character, His wisdom, and His design for creation.

In its narrowest technical sense, “the Torah” refers to the first five books of the Bible; Genesis to Deuteronomy, also called the Pentateuch or Books of Moses. But notice what’s in those books: creation narratives, family stories, covenantal promises to the patriarchs, the exodus and wilderness journey, worship instructions, civil guidelines, agricultural wisdom, and prophetic promises. It’s a comprehensive vision of life with God, not just the legal code.

In broader Hebrew thought, “Torah” can encompass all of God’s instruction; the entire Tanakh (Old Testament), and even the ongoing process of learning to walk in God’s ways. When Psalm 119 celebrates “Your Torah,” the psalmist is delighting in the divine wisdom that touches every aspect of his life.

This distinction is essential: The Ten Commandments are the core stipulations (or terms) of the Mosaic Covenant; the specific agreement forged at Sinai between God and Israel. But Torah as divine instruction precedes, surrounds, and transcends that covenant. God was teaching Torah (instruction) to Adam and Eve in the Garden. Abraham’s own covenantal promises were based upon his obedience to God’s instructions (Torah) (Genesis 26:5). And the prophets delivered it through their oracles. In this view, creation itself is a form of Torah, revealing God’s nature and order (Romans 1:20). The Mosaic Law is therefore a definitive, covenantal expression of Torah, but it is not the totality of Torah itself.

When we reduce Torah to “the Mosaic Law” and then reduce the Mosaic Law to “basically the Ten Commandments plus some ceremonial stuff,” we’ve collapsed something beautifully vast into something vastly diminished, perhaps more manageable but severely distorted. We’ve taken God’s multifaceted self-revelation and turned it into a checklist.

So what is Torah? It’s God’s self-disclosure through His instruction. It’s how He teaches us who He is and how He intended life to work according to His design. The Mosaic covenant is a crucial expression of Torah, given to Israel at a specific time for specific purposes. But Torah as God’s teaching wisdom is as broad as God’s interaction with humanity, and ultimately, it finds its fullest expression not in a code but in a Person: Yeshua, the Word (even Torah) made flesh; the embodiment of God’s active will, wisdom, and creative word in the world and His ultimate instruction to humanity.

Only if we fundamentally misunderstand what Torah is and ignore the depths of grace revealed in the Tanakh.

The idea that the Tanakh (Old Testament) = ‘law’ and the New Testament = ‘grace’ crumbles when you read the Hebrew Scriptures themselves. Grace (חֵן – chen) is found throughout the Tanakh. Long before Sinai, “Noah found chen in the eyes of the LORD” (Genesis 6:8). Consider the Aaronic blessing; that became a daily proclamation as part of the daily Temple service, “The LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you” (Numbers 6:25).

While chen (grace), the noun, is about the state or quality of favour, the related verb chanah (חנה) reveals the dynamic action that creates this state. At its most basic root meaning; to bend down, to incline, or to encamp, chanah describes the physical action of descending from a higher position to a lower one, or settling in a place. In this light grace isn’t simply the abstract idea of unmerited favour, it’s God, the Almighty One, choosing to come down and dwell with lowly men, to pitch His tent alongside them.

Here’s what we’ve missed: The very covenant at Sinai that gave Torah ‘is’ the epitome of grace. God descending to dwell among His people, establishing His mishkan (dwelling place) in their midst, this is chen in action. The covenant that many view as “law versus grace” is actually grace personified: God settling down to live with redeemed people and revealing how to walk with Him.

And here’s the crucial point: In Hebrew understanding, grace (chen) demands a response. When God extends His favour by dwelling with His people, the recipient has a responsibility; to live faithfully, to act wisely, to walk in covenant relationship with the One who has humbled Himself to camp among them. This is exactly why Torah was given: it provides the instructions for how to respond rightly to God’s grace, how to live in right-standing, in the presence of the One who now abides with you.

Israel’s required response to God’s favour under the Mosaic covenant is exactly the same response required by New Testament believers; faithful living in light of God’s gracious presence. The difference isn’t the requirement; it’s the enabling power. Under the New Covenant, we already have the Torah internalised and hearts that are willing to respond. Now, the Spirit empowers what the old covenant revealed but couldn’t enable.

What Paul opposes isn’t Torah but “works of law” as a means of justification; the futile attempt to earn right standing through human performance. He’s not pitting grace against God’s instruction; he’s pitting faith against works-righteousness. And Yeshua (Jesus) perfectly embodied both grace and Torah. The Torah made flesh who humbled Himself to dwell with man; grace. In Yeshua (Jesus), the two strands; God’s gracious descent (chen) and humanity’s faithful ascent in response (Torah), are woven together in one person. He is both the Giver and the Gift, the Grace and the Gratitude.

Grace and Torah aren’t opposites, they find their perfect unity in Christ.

This question assumes Torah is about earning salvation, but that completely misses its purpose. Even in ancient Israel, God rescued His people from Egypt before giving them Torah at Sinai. The pattern is clear: grace first, then instruction. Salvation has always been by grace through faith. So what’s Torah for?

Think of Torah as God’s wisdom for living in covenant relationship with Him. It’s not a ladder to climb toward God but a love letter revealing who He is and how life works best according to His design. When Paul calls it “holy, righteous, and good,” he’s not describing a salvation mechanism, he’s describing divine wisdom for human flourishing. The Psalms overflow with delight: “Oh how I love your law!” (Psalm 119:97). That’s not legalistic drudgery, that’s joy in knowing God’s heart.

Consider how loving parents guide their children. “Don’t touch the stove” isn’t about earning love or passing a performance test, it’s about protection and thriving. Torah works the same way for God’s covenant people. Grace doesn’t replace God’s wisdom; it empowers us to live by it.

Here’s the beautiful irony: the New Covenant actually promises that God will write His Torah on our hearts through the Spirit (Jeremiah 31:33, Ezekiel 36:27). Far from abolishing Torah, grace restores our capacity to walk in God’s ways, not so we become His children, but because we already are. Studying Torah helps us know the God who saved us and discover the life He designed us to live. Grace and Torah aren’t enemies, they’re dance partners in God’s redemptive plan.

Before we can understand what “fulfil” means, we need to clarify what Yeshua (Jesus) is even talking about. When He says “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them.” (Matthew 5:17, ESV), many Christians hear “the Law” and immediately think “Mosaic Law” or “Ten Commandments.” But that’s not what the phrase means.

“The Law and the Prophets” is a standard Hebrew idiom referring to the entire Tanakh; what Christians call the Old Testament. It’s the complete Hebrew Scriptures: Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy), Nevi’im (the Prophets), and Ketuvim (the Writings). Yeshua (Jesus) isn’t making a narrow statement about legal codes, He’s talking about all of God’s revelation through Israel’s Scriptures. We see this usage throughout the New Testament: Yeshua (Jesus) says “all the Law and the Prophets” hang on the two great commandments (Matthew 22:40). He tells the Emmaus disciples that everything written about Him “in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms” must be fulfilled (Luke 24:44).

So Yeshua (Jesus) is saying: “I haven’t come to abolish Scripture itself; all of God’s revealed Word, but to bring it to its intended fulfilment.” That’s a much bigger claim than “I’m here to end the legal code.”

Now, to the second issue that stems from reading an English word (“fulfil”) through Western legal categories rather than understanding what Yeshua (Jesus) actually meant in His Hebrew context. When we hear “fulfil,” we naturally think “complete and therefore terminate”; like fulfilling a contract ends your obligation, or fulfilling a prophecy means it’s done. So when Yeshua (Jesus) says “I have not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come to fulfil them,” we unconsciously hear “I came to bring them to an end.

But Yeshua (Jesus) immediately clarifies what He means: “Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Matthew 5:18). Then He warns that whoever “annuls” or teaches others to break even the least commandment will be “least in the kingdom of heaven” (v. 19). That’s not the language of someone terminating Scripture, it’s the language of someone establishing it more firmly.

In Hebrew thought, to “fulfil” (מלא – maleh) means to fill something full, to establish it, to bring it to its intended fullness. Yeshua (Jesus) wasn’t ending Torah, He was revealing its full meaning and living it perfectly. Think of it like this: an architectural blueprint is “fulfilled” when the building is constructed according to its design. The building doesn’t abolish the blueprint, it validates it, demonstrates it and brings it to its fullest expression.

Look at what Yeshua (Jesus) does immediately after this statement: He intensifies Torah’s demands. “You’ve heard it said ‘don’t murder’, but I say don’t even harbour anger.” “You’ve heard ‘don’t commit adultery’, but I say don’t lust in your heart.” He’s not lowering the bar or eliminating it, He’s showing that Torah was always about the heart, always more demanding than simple external compliance.
Yeshua (Jesus) fulfilled Torah by living it perfectly, revealing its deepest meaning, and; through His death and resurrection, making it possible for us to walk in it through the Spirit’s power. The New Covenant promise in Jeremiah 31 isn’t “I’ll get rid of my law (Torah)” but “I’ll write my law (Torah) on their hearts.” That’s fulfilment, not termination, but internalisation and empowerment.

The Law and the Prophets; the entire testimony of Scripture, finds its ultimate meaning in Yeshua. He doesn’t replace it; He’s the One it was always pointing toward, the One who makes sense of all of it, the One who brings it to its intended fullness.

This is an important question because there’s often confusion about terminology and approach. Let me distinguish carefully, though I want to be respectful, there are wonderful believers in both movements.

Messianic Judaism typically refers to Jews who recognize Yeshua (Jesus) as Messiah while maintaining their Jewish identity and practices. They’re ethnically and culturally Jewish, often worship in synagogue-style settings, and live Torah-observant lives as Jewish believers. This is beautiful and biblical, Paul himself remained a practicing Jew after encountering Yeshua (Jesus). Messianic Judaism isn’t trying to “become” something, they already are Jewish, following their Jewish Messiah.

The Hebrew Roots Movement is broader and more varied. It seeks to restore early Christian practice by recovering the Torah, the Jewish context of Yeshua (Jesus), and the rhythms of the Hebrew Scriptures (Tanakh); practicing biblical feasts (e.g., Passover, Shavuot), the Sabbath on Saturday, and dietary laws. While offering a corrective emphasis on Scripture’s continuity, its core assumption is that the Mosaic covenant remains largely binding. It often views the New Covenant as a renewal rather than a transformative fulfilment in Christ. This can create an Old Testament focus that risks side-lining the supremacy of Yeshua (Jesus) and the New Covenant work of the Spirit. At its best, it revives biblical depth; at its worst, it drifts into legalism, covenant confusion and even Judaism

Project Gerar seeks a different path, one that bridges rather than replaces. We’re not trying to make non-Jews into Jews or create a new denomination. We’re inviting believers from all backgrounds to understand Scripture in its original Hebrew context without abandoning their identity in Christ or their church tradition. Think of it as an archaeological restoration rather than a religious conversion.

We’re not saying “you must keep Torah to be saved” (that’s legalism) or “Torah is completely obsolete” (that’s dismissing God’s wisdom). We’re saying “Torah reveals God’s character and wisdom, so let’s understand it properly, looking to see how Yeshua (Jesus) fulfilled it and how it still instructs us today.”

Critically, this approach helps us to understand Yeshua (Jesus) not just as God incarnate (though He certainly is), but in His role as the Son of Man (ben Adam); the Last Adam who came to show us what restored humanity looks like. Consider this, if Yeshua (Jesus) came primarily to reveal God to us, then why was His glory veiled in human flesh? Perhaps the answer is that He came to reveal how to walk in covenant with our Father. As humanity 2.0, He is the prototype of what we’re being restored to become. He perfectly embodied Torah to show us what humanity was always intended to be and having walked the path before us, beckons us to come as the Holy Spirit leads the way.

We challenge evangelicals who dismiss the Tanakh (Old Testament) as largely irrelevant or outdated. We also challenge those in Hebrew Roots movements who sometimes make observance the litmus test of faithfulness. Our focus is understanding Scripture accurately, from a first-century Jewish and thoroughly Hebraic context, and then allowing that understanding to transform how we follow Yeshua (Jesus); not by creating new rules for who’s “in” or “out.”

The goal is depth of understanding leading to transformed living, not cultural adoption or tribal identity. We want to help all believers; regardless of their background, to read the Bible as its authors intended and discover the coherent story of God restoring humanity to His original design, from Genesis to Revelation.

The Bible wasn’t written in English by Western theologians, it emerged from an ancient Hebrew culture with its own ways of thinking and communicating truth. The Hebraic mindset is concrete rather than abstract, relational rather than systematic, story-driven rather than propositional. Where Greek philosophy asks “What is the essence of truth?”, Hebrew thought asks “How does truth work in real life? How do you walk it out?”

This matters enormously for interpretation, and I’ll give you a specific example: When we read “fulfil the law” through Western legal thinking, we naturally assume it means “complete and therefore terminate”; like fulfilling a contract ends your obligation. But in Hebrew thought, “fulfil” (מלא – maleh) means “fill full, bring to full expression, establish, uphold.” The same English word, but completely the opposite meaning. Yeshua (Jesus) wasn’t ending Torah; He was demonstrating its full intent.

Or consider “righteousness”; we define it abstractly as moral perfection, a state of being. But the Hebrew tzedakah (צדקה) is active and relational: right relationships with God, others, and creation lived out in daily choices. It’s not a status you achieve; it’s a way you walk.

The Hebraic mindset is also holistic. It doesn’t separate “spiritual” from “physical” the way Greek dualism does. That’s why Torah addresses everything from worship to agriculture to diet, not because God is obsessively controlling, but because He cares about our whole lives, not just our “souls.”

When James writes “faith without works is dead,” he’s not contradicting Paul, he’s speaking from this Hebrew understanding where faith (אמונה – emunah) always meant active faithfulness and not simply intellectual agreement. The supposed contradiction only exists when we force broad Hebrew concepts into rigid, distinct, Greek boxes.

Learning to think Hebraically isn’t about becoming an expert in ancient culture. It’s about learning to hear Scripture the way its first hearers did; letting it speak on its own terms rather than forcing it into our neat little boxes. When we do, the Bible becomes one coherent story instead of a collection of disconnected theological puzzles.

The first generation of believers; the apostles and their immediate disciples, remained Torah-observant Jews who saw Yeshua (Jesus) as the fulfilment, not the abolition, of their Scriptures. The book of Acts shows a community that honoured God’s commandments while recognising that ‘the nations’ didn’t need to become Jews to follow Israel’s Messiah. This wasn’t a contradiction; it was the prophesied restoration: Israel’s light reaching the nations.

But as the gospel spread into the Greco-Roman world and the church became increasingly less Jewish, a disconnect emerged. By the second and third centuries, many church leaders began reading Scripture from a Greek philosophical perspective rather than a Hebrew one, producing alternate interpretations to the apostolic teaching. The shift accelerated after traumatic events like the Bar Kokhba revolt (132-135 AD), when the Roman persecution of Jews intensified. In order to survive this, the church deliberately distanced itself from anything Jewish.

Influential figures like Justin Martyr argued that Torah had been given because of Israel’s “hardness of heart.” Marcion went further, wanting to reject the Tanakh (Old Testament) entirely. By Constantine’s era, councils like Nicaea (325 AD) formalised this separation; Easter was disconnected from Passover, Sunday became the exclusive day of worship, and Torah observance was labelled “Judaizing” heresy.

This wasn’t necessarily intentional heresy, but it was a significant departure from the first-century apostolic practice. And while we might be reluctant to say that the early fathers got Yeshua (Jesus) wrong, not to do so creates problems of its own; as I point out in my book, The Gentile Question. If these post-apostolic developments were Spirit-led and represent God’s intended direction, then Yeshua (Jesus) didn’t give the full revelation to His apostles. It means God’s Word wasn’t complete in Christ and the apostles only had a partial revelation. Taken further, it also means that the church wasn’t actually established on the apostolic foundation but required centuries of development to get it right.

That’s an untenable position if you believe that Yeshua (Jesus) is God’s final Word and that the apostles were entrusted with the full gospel. The more honest assessment is this: well-meaning church fathers, operating in a hostile Roman environment and increasingly disconnected from Jewish thought, made interpretive choices that departed from apostolic teaching.

This doesn’t mean that we reject all church tradition or claim every development was wrong. But it does mean that we should test everything against the apostolic witness, acknowledging that distance from the source often means distortion of the message, not clarification of it.

Yes, Paul wrote exactly that in Galatians 5:18, and it’s one of the most frequently misunderstood verses in the New Testament. The common reading goes: “The Spirit leads me, therefore I don’t need to follow God’s commandments.” But that’s not what Paul means, and the context makes this clear.

First, notice what Paul is contrasting: Spirit versus flesh, not Spirit versus Torah. The entire passage (Galatians 5:16-26) is about the battle between our sinful nature and the Spirit’s power. Paul says, “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (v. 16). The conflict is internal; flesh pulling toward sin, Spirit empowering righteousness, not a conflict between the Spirit and God’s instruction.

Second, understand what “under law” means in Paul’s writings. He’s not talking about being guided by God’s instruction, he’s talking about being under law’s condemnation. Romans 6:14 makes this parallel: “Sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” The contrast isn’t instruction versus freedom, it’s condemnation versus forgiveness. Those “under law” are those trying to achieve righteousness through their own works and therefore condemned by their failure. Those “under grace” are forgiven and empowered by the Spirit to walk in God’s ways.

Look at what Paul says the Spirit actually produces: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). Then he adds this crucial statement: “Against such things there is no law.” He’s not saying the law is irrelevant, he’s saying when you walk in the Spirit, you naturally fulfil what the law requires. The law doesn’t condemn this fruit because this fruit is what the law was always pointing toward.

Romans 8:3-4 makes Paul’s point explicit: God sent His Son “in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” The Spirit doesn’t lead us away from Torah’s righteousness, He empowers us to fulfil it in ways we never could in our own strength.

Think about it logically: Does the Holy Spirit; the Spirit of God who inspired Torah in the first place, now lead believers to ignore or violate what He previously called “holy, righteous, and good” (Romans 7:12)? Does the Spirit contradict Himself? Of course not.

Here’s what Paul is actually saying: If you’re being led by the Spirit, you’re not under law’s condemnation because the Spirit is producing in you the very righteousness the law describes. You’re not trying to earn favour through works (that’s being “under law” in the condemning sense), you’re living out of the grace and power God provides. The Spirit doesn’t abolish God’s standards; He writes them on your heart and gives you power to walk in them.

The problem in Galatia wasn’t that people were following God’s commandments, it was that they were trying to earn salvation through circumcision and Torah observance. Paul’s message: Stop trying to achieve through works what only grace can give. But once grace has saved you, the Spirit leads you into the very righteousness Torah was always describing.

Being led by the Spirit means living in freedom from sin’s dominion and law’s condemnation, not freedom from God’s wisdom and instruction. The Spirit leads us into truth, and God’s Torah is truth. Those aren’t contradictory; they’re complementary.

That’s a completely normal response and honestly, it’s a good sign. It means you’re taking this seriously rather than looking for quick fixes or easy answers. Here’s the encouraging truth: you don’t need to master Hebrew, memorize rabbinic sources, or dramatically change your life overnight. This isn’t about performance or proving anything. Start with simple curiosity.

Begin by reading one Gospel slowly; Matthew is excellent for this, noticing every time Yeshua (Jesus) quotes or references the Tanakh (Old Testament). You’ll be surprised how much is there once you start looking. See how deeply His teaching is rooted in Torah and the Prophets. When you encounter a puzzling verse, especially in Paul’s letters, pause and ask: “What might this have meant to a first-century Jewish audience familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures?”

Choose one biblical feast to explore, Passover is perfect because it transforms how you read the crucifixion narratives. Understanding Pentecost revolutionizes Acts 2. Read the Tanakh (Old Testament) passages that establish these feasts, then see how they form the backdrop for New Testament events. Suddenly, timing that seemed random becomes profoundly intentional.

Here’s what not to do: Don’t let this become a new form of legalism or performance. Don’t feel pressure to start “keeping Torah” before you understand it. Don’t compare yourself to others further along this journey. Most importantly, don’t let this make Yeshua (Jesus) smaller or more distant, every insight should make Him more magnificent, not less.

The goal isn’t mastering information but knowing God more deeply. Start small. Stay curious. Read Scripture asking “What did this mean to them?” before asking “What does this mean to me?” Let the Bible’s own world teach you to read the Bible. This isn’t about adding religious obligations; it’s about discovering the coherent, beautiful story you’ve been part of all along.

And remember: you’re not alone in this. Countless believers are rediscovering these ancient wells, finding that the living water is fresher and deeper than they ever imagined.

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Project Gerar

We believe much of the Hebraic roots and Jewish context that shaped the early Christian faith has been buried under layers of tradition and misinterpretation. We explore the original meaning of Biblical Hebrew words, study Torah as God’s instruction (not law), understand how Sabbath, biblical feasts (moedim), and covenant formed first-century believers. Seeking to remove centuries of accumulation to learn to walk ‘the way’ of the first disciples; following Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah, empowered by the Spirit.

We’re not adding Jewish flavour to Christianity. This is a work of restoration; a return to the ancient paths. The water is still flowing.

Let’s dig together to uncover those wells.

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