Beliefs 11–15 address several distinct areas of covenant life. First, Believers of the Way United teaches that the Torah is the divine instruction of YHWH and has not been abolished or made irrelevant. It remains the righteous standard by which His people learn obedience, holiness, justice, and faithful living. In that same covenant framework, we honor the seventh-day Sabbath as the sacred rest established by YHWH at creation and upheld throughout Scripture.
These beliefs also include the final judgment, the appointed feasts, and dietary instruction. We reject the idea of hell as eternal conscious torment and understand final punishment as complete destruction after judgment. We also recognize the biblical feasts as the appointed times of YHWH, rich with covenant meaning and prophetic significance. Finally, we affirm the distinction between clean and unclean foods as part of YHWH’s instruction for health, holiness, and obedience. These teachings are not all the same subject, but together they show that faith is meant to be lived in concrete, daily practices before YHWH.
11. THE LAW
The belief that the Torah — the divine instruction of YHWH given through Moses — is not abolished, nailed to the cross, or done away with, but remains the eternal, unchanging standard of righteousness for all who belong to YHWH, fulfilled and upheld by Yeshua the Messiah and binding upon his disciples.
Old Testament
Deuteronomy 4:1-2 — Deuteronomy 4:40 — Deuteronomy 6:1-2 — Deuteronomy 11:1 — Deuteronomy 28:1-2 — Deuteronomy 30:11-14 — Exodus 20:1-17 — Leviticus 18:4-5 — Leviticus 26:3-4 — Numbers 15:40 — Psalm 1:1-2 — Psalm 19:7-9 — Psalm 111:7-8 — Psalm 119:89 — Psalm 119:105 — Psalm 119:142 — Psalm 119:160 — Isaiah 42:21 — Isaiah 51:7 — Malachi 4:4
New Testament
Matthew 5:17-18 — Matthew 5:19 — Matthew 7:23 — Matthew 19:17 — Matthew 22:36-40 — Luke 16:17 — John 14:15 — John 14:21 — Acts 21:24 — Romans 2:13 — Romans 3:31 — Romans 7:12 — Romans 7:14 — Romans 8:4 — Romans 13:8-10 — 1 Corinthians 7:19 — James 1:25 — James 2:10-12 — 1 John 2:3-4 — Revelation 14:12
12. THE SABBATH
The belief that the seventh-day Sabbath — from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset — is not a Jewish invention or a ceremonial ordinance abolished at the cross, but the eternal, holy, and sacred rest ordained by YHWH at creation, commanded in the Decalogue, observed by Yeshua and his disciples, and binding upon all who belong to YHWH to this day.
Old Testament
Genesis 2:1-3 — Exodus 16:23-26 — Exodus 20:8-11 — Exodus 31:13-17 — Exodus 35:2-3 — Leviticus 19:3 — Leviticus 19:30 — Leviticus 23:3 — Leviticus 26:2 — Numbers 15:32-36 — Deuteronomy 5:12-15 — Nehemiah 13:15-22 — Psalm 92:1 — Isaiah 56:2-7 — Isaiah 58:13-14 — Isaiah 66:22-23 — Jeremiah 17:21-27 — Ezekiel 20:12-13 — Ezekiel 20:19-20 — Amos 8:5
New Testament
Matthew 12:8 — Matthew 24:20 — Matthew 28:1 — Mark 1:21 — Mark 2:27-28 — Mark 6:2 — Luke 4:16 — Luke 4:31 — Luke 6:6 — Luke 13:10 — Luke 23:54-56 — Acts 13:14 — Acts 13:42-44 — Acts 16:13 — Acts 17:2 — Acts 18:4 — Hebrews 4:4 — Hebrews 4:9-10 — Colossians 2:16-17 — Revelation 1:10
13. HELL
The belief that hell is not a place of eternal conscious torment where the wicked burn forever in literal fire, but rather the grave — sheol and hades — a state of unconscious death, with the final punishment of the wicked being complete and total destruction — annihilation — in the lake of fire at the final judgment, not eternal conscious suffering.
Old Testament
Psalm 6:5 — Psalm 9:17 — Psalm 16:10 — Psalm 49:14-15 — Psalm 88:3-5 — Psalm 115:17 — Psalm 146:4 — Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 — Ecclesiastes 9:10 — Job 14:13 — Job 17:13-16 — Job 21:13 — Isaiah 38:18 — Isaiah 66:24 — Ezekiel 18:4 — Ezekiel 18:20 — Malachi 4:1-3 — Numbers 16:31-33 — Genesis 3:19 — Proverbs 15:11
New Testament
Matthew 10:28 — Matthew 25:41 — Matthew 25:46 — Mark 9:43-48 — John 3:16 — John 5:28-29 — Acts 2:27 — Acts 2:31 — Romans 6:23 — Romans 9:22 — 1 Corinthians 15:26 — 2 Thessalonians 1:9 — Hebrews 2:14 — James 4:12 — 2 Peter 2:6 — 2 Peter 3:7 — Jude 1:7 — Revelation 20:9 — Revelation 20:14-15 — Revelation 21:8
14. THE BIBLICAL FEASTS
The belief that the seven appointed feasts of YHWH — Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Shavuot, Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot — are not Jewish holidays abolished at the cross or mere shadows with no present application, but are the eternal appointed times — moedim — of YHWH himself, prophetically rich, historically grounded, and perpetually binding upon all who belong to the covenant community of YHWH.
Old Testament
Leviticus 23:1-2 — Leviticus 23:4-5 — Leviticus 23:6-8 — Leviticus 23:9-11 — Leviticus 23:15-17 — Leviticus 23:23-25 — Leviticus 23:26-28 — Leviticus 23:33-36 — Exodus 12:14-17 — Exodus 23:14-17 — Exodus 34:18-23 — Numbers 28:16-17 — Numbers 29:1-2 — Numbers 29:7-8 — Deuteronomy 16:1-3 — Deuteronomy 16:9-10 — Deuteronomy 16:13-15 — Nehemiah 8:13-18 — Zechariah 14:16-19 — Isaiah 66:22-23
New Testament
Matthew 26:17-19 — Matthew 26:26-28 — Mark 14:12-16 — Luke 2:41-42 — Luke 22:7-8 — Luke 22:15-16 — John 2:13 — John 7:2-10 — John 7:37-38 — John 10:22-23 — Acts 2:1-4 — Acts 12:3-4 — Acts 18:21 — Acts 20:6 — Acts 20:16 — Acts 27:9 — 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 — 1 Corinthians 16:8 — Colossians 2:16-17 — Revelation 19:9
15. DIETARY LAW
The belief that the biblical dietary laws outlined in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 — distinguishing between clean and unclean animals — are not ceremonial ordinances abolished at the cross or mere Jewish customs, but are the eternal, unchanging health and holiness instructions of YHWH, binding upon all who belong to his covenant community, rooted in creation, confirmed by the prophets, and upheld by Yeshua and his disciples.
Old Testament
Genesis 7:2-3 — Genesis 9:4 — Leviticus 11:1-3 — Leviticus 11:7-8 — Leviticus 11:9-10 — Leviticus 11:13-19 — Leviticus 11:20-23 — Leviticus 11:41-44 — Leviticus 11:46-47 — Leviticus 17:10-12 — Leviticus 17:14 — Leviticus 20:25-26 — Deuteronomy 14:3-5 — Deuteronomy 14:6-8 — Deuteronomy 14:9-10 — Deuteronomy 14:11-18 — Deuteronomy 14:19-20 — Isaiah 65:2-5 — Isaiah 66:15-17 — Ezekiel 4:14
New Testament
Matthew 5:17-18 — Matthew 15:11 — Matthew 15:17-20 — Mark 7:18-19 — Acts 10:13-15 — Acts 10:28 — Acts 11:8-9 — Acts 15:20 — Acts 15:29 — Acts 21:25 — Romans 14:14 — Romans 14:20-21 — 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 — 1 Corinthians 10:25-27 — 1 Corinthians 10:31 — Colossians 2:16-17 — 1 Timothy 4:1-5 — Titus 1:15 — Hebrews 9:10 — Revelation 18:2
Foundations of the Way is a seven-part teaching series designed to walk readers through the fundamental beliefs of Believers of the Way United. These articles provide a clear introduction before readers explore the full Scripture references and doctrinal statements.