In mainstream Christianity it is common place for pastors and teachers and evangelists and even prophets and apostles to hold a revival and call people to repentance, but repentance to what? They’ll say “repent of your sins”, but most of the time don’t explain what that is. They’ll say to give your life to Jesus, but while they may mention repentance, and maybe they will even teach that it’s a one hundred eighty degree turn around, to turn away from sin, they miss the point.
So then, what is sin? Sin is transgressing, or breaking, the Torah. 1 John 3:4. Every single prophet in the Bible always called people to turn away from sin. That’s step one. Step two is to turn back to Torah. The apostles, while they also taught the message of salvation, also taught that we must turn back to Torah.
1 John 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
1 John 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
With out understanding that repentance is to turn back to God, to obey his Torah, then what are we turning to? Our own concept of what sin is? Our own concept of what righteousness is? We need scripture to define what sin is, which 1 John 3:4 does quite nicely. John, in 1 John 5:3 is actually quoting Deut 30:11. Scripture is replete with verses about us “doing what is right in our own eyes“. Doing what is right, seems right, in our own eyes, is always foolishness.
I know one thing I’ve heard growing up is how that we don’t come with instruction manuals. That’s not entirely accurate. There is an instruction manual, just that few use it. It’s the Torah. It contains all the instructions one needs in order to live life. The problem is that we have grown up with people twisting scripture, even misquoting Jesus/Yeshua and saying that the Torah is done away with. Jesus, in Matt 5:17-19 makes it quite clear that Torah shall remain. In fact, in verse 18 Jesus says that Torah will out last earth. So if you need to verify if Torah is still in effect, just look outside. Do you still see the earth? the sky? Yes? Then Torah is still in effect.
You can’t have repentance with out returning to Torah. Anything else is a waste. Some are starting to wake up and teach that repentance is to return to Torah, but there is still many who don’t. There are even some who are down right hostile to Torah. Arguing with them won’t help. They are blinded. If they are to see, we must pray that their eyes be opened so they can see.
The word repentance is t’shuvah, from the root shuvah, which means to turn around. This article, from Chabad, explains the Jewish concept of t’shuvah. They do, as you might have noticed, base it off of works. Thankfully we have Eph 2:8 where we are saved by God’s approval of Yeshua’s work on the cross that He extends mercy to us, not of our own works, lest we boast in vain. I pray that more would teach repentance as returning to Torah and come to know the saving grace and mercy found because of Yeshua’s work on the cross.
In Yeshua’s service
Torah Rocker 
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