Answer
R. L. Solberg from Williamson College coined the term Torahism to sum up what is known as the Hebrew Roots Movement, or Torah-observant Christianity. Basically, Torahists teach that Christians must keep the rules and regulations found in the Torah, or the books of Moses, the first five books of the Bible.
So, Torahism teaches that we need to go back to living under the Mosaic Covenant by keeping the Old Testament civil, ceremonial, and moral laws, along with the feasts. A major defining characteristic of Torahism is the teaching that Christians should keep the Saturday Sabbath and observe food laws. Anyone not keeping such laws, or who celebrates Easter and Christmas, is living in sin. Additionally, Torahists believe that Jesus was the Messiah, but we should not worship Him. Torahism denies the Trinity.
Given their acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah and their denial of the Trinity, Torahism is neither Judaism nor Christianity. Rather, it exists in a midway point between the two. It wants to cling to the tradition of the law, show respect for Jesus, and reject what it sees as the encroachment of pagan philosophy into the church (viz., the idea that Jesus is divine).
Christians preach Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2). We believe Jesus Himself read the Old Testament—the Torah, the Prophets, etc.—through Himself. Jesus presented Himself as the center point and interpretative key to the Old Testament (Luke 24:27). In fact, He spends a lot of time correcting the disciples’ Old Testament interpretations around this fact.
We believe the Old Testament is absolutely the Word of God, but we read it under the new law, the new priesthood, and the New Covenant:
First, we are under the law of Christ, and the Mosaic Law is no longer in effect (Hebrews 7:12). Even Paul, a former Pharisee, says in Galatians 6:15, “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation.” Circumcision was part of the Mosaic Law (Leviticus 12:3), and clearly Paul didn’t see himself under the Law of Moses (1 Corinthians 9:9) but under the “law of Christ” (1 Corinthians 9:21). See also Colossians 2:16–17 and Romans 14:5.
Second, the Levitical priesthood of the Torah is defunct, and “when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also” (Hebrews 7:12). Jesus came from the line of Judah, and He is a priest in the order of Melchizedek (who existed prior to the law) by the power of the resurrection. Jesus “has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life” (Hebrews 7:16). He is now “the guarantor of a better covenant” (verse 22). He is “a high priest [who] truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens” (verse 26).
Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:17, that He came to fulfill the law, counter the claims of Torahism. We are not bound by the regulations of the Torah. The keeping of the law could never make a person right with God: “The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God” (Hebrews 7:18–19).
Third, the Mosaic Covenant served its purpose, which was to bring us to Christ: “The law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24). The law still carries weight as it exposes our sin and imperfection (Romans 2:14) and, like a pendulum, swings us toward our permanent priest (Psalm 110:4) and the mediator of the New Covenant. “Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6, NLT).
Scripture contains many warnings not to dally with the law or seek justification through it. Every such warning is a refutation of Torahism. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).
Our responsibility as followers of Christ is to fulfill the law by “keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Galatians 5:14).