When reading the Torah, understanding the author's message to the reader is critical when grasping the concept of God and his power to save. Without knowing the Torah's residual message, the reader may ascribe inaccurate qualities and powers to the book. These qualities can manifest as the assumption that the Torah presents itself as the gatekeeper for salvation. However, assumptions along these lines are far cries from the truth. God is the arbiter of redemption, not the laws in the Torah. The message of the Torah is that the Lord, not laws under the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants, possesses the ability to return or save humanity from exile.

The first affirmation of God's power to save is present even in the beginning of Genesis, because neither the Abrahamic nor the Mosaic covenants were effected at that time. When Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they were promptly condemned by God and sent into exile. Despite their expulsion from the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were granted tokens of God's hope for humanity's restoration from exile. Prior to their expulsion from Eden, "The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them." (Gen 3:21 NIV) While these coverings can certainly be viewed as perpetual reminders of Adam and Eve's shame of their own nudity due to their fall, it is also a conciliatory gesture. God was in no way obligated to prepare a fallen Adam and Eve for exile in the harsh lands outside of the Garden of Eden, and yet the Lord presented the pair coverings anyway. This act can be viewed as a kind measure; one aimed at inviting a fallen humanity to be returned from exile by living as God lives. As mentioned before, neither the Abrahamic nor the Mosaic covenants were present at this point in Genesis. Because of this, the laws given to Abraham and Israel had no power to offer salvation or return in this case. As such, only God could act to extend the possibility of return.

In Deuteronomy, however, the promise of failure and return definitively assert God as the one with the power to save. With Israel sitting at the edge of Moab, ready to enter the land promised to them by the Abrahamic covenant, Moses gives his final speech. He forecasts Israel's inevitable exile from the land due to their future failure to uphold the Mosaic covenant. However, Moses also stated that if, once exiled, "you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you." (Deut. 30:2-3 NIV) This part of Moses' speech explicitly advocates for following the laws of the Mosaic covenant, but at the same time ascribes to God all the power to return Israel to the Land. Logically speaking, following the laws of the Mosaic covenant technically doesn't save anything. While it is true that by obeying God's laws, the Lord will find favor with the Israelites, it is the Lord Himself who will gather them once again in the Land. As mentioned in the other cases, it is through covenant law that favor is found and righteousness achieved, but through God that salvation is given.

The Torah, throughout its five parts, conveys that the Lord, not the laws as presented by the two covenants, has the power to save. From the Garden of Eden, to the Land itself, God has been portrayed as the only entity with the ability to grant salvation and a return from exile. Though the laws of the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants play a large role in governing human behavior in the Torah, in all cases listed, they play no part in granting salvation. It is crucial to remember that the covenant laws create a scaffold for one to live their life in a righteous a way so as to find favor with the Lord. However, it is of even greater importance to remember that the Lord is the one who passed down those laws as guides to the eternal salvation only He, not laws, can promise.