There is no standard set of beliefs in the Hebrew Roots movement because there is no single denomination, seminary or leader to provide consistency. It seems to be practised on a spectrum that varies from group to group, but at a minimum includes requirements to follow the Ten Commandments and celebrate the Jewish feasts. Some followers of this theology also insist on using only the Hebrew names for God and Jesus, following the dietary restrictions of the Torah (e.g. no pork), keeping the Sabbath (and not worshipping on Sunday), refusing to celebrate Easter or Christmas, and wearing Jewish clothing such as Tzitzit belts. There are probably other variations but these are the practices I've encountered.
I will be making some additional posts about some of the details of Hebrew Roots theology, but in this post I want to deal with the one key question:
How Do We Understand the Old Testament in Light of the New Testament?
All of the Hebrew Roots beliefs really reduce down to the single question of how Christians should understand the Old Testament. It is a foundational issue for interpreting the theology of the Bible (i.e. hermeneutics). This is not a new question, as it has been an issue for the church since the New Testament books were being written.For Christians, the foundational interpretive principle is that the Old Testament must be viewed through the lens of the New Testament, and more specifically through the lens of Jesus Christ.
When Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples the night before his crucifixion, he announced a "new covenant in my blood" (Luke 22:20), echoing the promise God made through Jeremiah centuries earlier that a new covenant was coming (Jer. 31:31-34). This new covenant changed everything. It was not a minor tweak or a modification to the old system -- it completed the old system and ushered in something completely different.
Jesus explained that he was not coming to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it (Matt. 5:17). Fulfill means "bring to completion or reality; achieve or realize something desired, promised or predicted." Even though the Law was not abolished, it was completed in Christ.
The Main Problem
This is the main problem with Hebrew Roots theology: it ignores the work of Jesus Christ in fulfilling the old covenant. It demands Christians follow two covenants simultaneously, which is impossible to do. It demonstrates a lack of understanding of the new covenant of Jesus Christ and how radically it changed things. It teaches that the old covenant is "fulfilled" only in the sense that it remains mostly unfulfilled. It fails to understand the reality of grace and instead reverts back to the practice of legalism.More to say on this in coming posts.
