It has been claimed by some that most Christians today naturally keep most of the commands of Torah, whether wittingly or unwittingly, simply by being good followers of Jesus according to their particular church doctrines. This statement is false and is made by people who do not truly know the Torah, but who think that if they say such things loud and long enough, they will be believed. I think they will not, because most people are not that naïve, and simple math is all that is necessary to disprove and discredit their claims:

· There are arguably 613 Commands in the Torah.

· There are about 77 positive commands (thou shalts) which can be kept today.

· There are about 194 negative commands (thou shalt nots) which can be kept today.

· There are about 26 additional commands which can be kept today, contingent upon one living in the land of Yisrael.

This means that, of the 613, only 271 Torah commands can currently be kept by anyone outside the land of Yisrael – which is roughly 44% of the total. If one lives in the land of Yisrael, about 279 commands could currently be kept, which is roughly 49% of the total possible. This is the best that could presently be accomplished by a perfect Tzadik – a fully righteous man who knows the Torah and scrupulously practices it to the best of his or her ability.

I have personally surveyed numerous Christians and Torah-observant believers in Yeshua over a period of two decades regarding their keeping of the commandments of Torah. In these surveys, I went through every one of the commandments, explaining each in its turn to those who did not understand them, and asking each person these six questions:

1. Should you keep this command?

2. Should you not keep this command?

3. Would you keep this command?

4. Would you not keep this command?

5. Do you keep this command?

6. Do you not keep this command?

The results were amazing and eye-opening, and no one could possibly have guessed them. Relatively pious Christians kept (either incidentally or tried to keep) an average of just 43 positive commands and 42 negative commands of the Torah, a total of 85 or about 31% of the possible 271 commands which can possibly be kept today. All of those surveyed acknowledged that this was an ideal number, and that they did not do so well in daily practice. This means that Christians, on average, keep or try to keep only 14% of the total 613 Torah commands.

Messianics and other supposedly Torah-observant believers in Yeshua fared somewhat better in my surveys, keeping (or trying to keep) roughly twice the number of commandments as their Christian counterparts. They averaged about 150 commands which they thought ideally should be kept, which is about 55% of the 271 possible to keep today, or about 24% of the total 613 commands of Torah. These numbers varied somewhat between them, though not significantly, as there is little agreement between supposedly “Torah-observant” groups about what Torah commands are possible to keep and are binding upon believers today, and because different types or groups of people have certain commands which apply only to them (such as priests, farmers, women, lepers…).

So much for the claim that most believers, especially Christians, keep a majority of the commands of Torah “naturally.” If folks are going to make such claims, they should first do the basic math and be certain of what they are saying. If they do not, they undermine their own credibility and potentially mislead people, whether wittingly or unwittingly.

“Man does not live by bread alone, but by EVERY Word that comes from the mouth of YHWH.”

“If you love me, keep my commandments.”

“And by this we know that we know Him, if we guard His commands. The one who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not guard His commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever guards His Word, truly the love of Elohim has been perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. The one who says he stays in Him ought himself also to walk, even as He walked.”

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear Elohim and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For Elohim shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be excellent, or whether it be evil.”