Review of Part 1: The Torah
The Torah: Yahweh Almighty's Laws Commandments and Instructions in Scripture, (Genesis through Deuteronomy). This is the core foundation of the Bible that Jesus used when He was alive on this earth. Yeshua the Messiah loved Yahweh Almighty's Laws Commandments and Instructions. Honoring the Torah's true meaning and intentions, (which is the truest definition of Loving Yahweh Almighty and doing Yahweh Almighty's will), consumed the Messiah's desires in this life (John 4:34). Yahweh's Torah gives us more specific and more detailed instructions on HOW to love Yahweh Almighty with all our heart, soul mind and strength, and HOW to more perfectly love our neighbor as ourselves.Every Command in Scripture is ultimately there to illustrate how to love Yahweh Almighty or how to love my neighbor more perfectly. Every Law, Commandment, imperative or Instruction throughout all of Scripture is designed to do a few other indispensable things:
Remember the 9 Key Purposes of Yahweh's Torah
· It highlights Abba-YAH's True Character (Leviticus 11:44-45;
Ezekiel 36:25-27; 1 Peter 1:14-16; Ephesians 5:1; Colossians 1:9-12; Psalm
19:7-14; Psalm 119:9; cf. 2 Peter 1:4; Ephesians 2:10).
.
It concretely and definitively identifies
and defines what TRUTH is, and what SOUND DOCTRINE is (Psalm 119:142,144;
Psalm 119:151; Psalm 119:160; Proverbs 4:2).
· It gives YHWH’s static, permanent and unchanging definition of WHAT SIN IS (1 John 3:4; cf. Matthew
7:21-23; Daniel 9:11; Hosea 8:1; Romans 7:7); It also highlights my continuing
NEED for the Redeemer.
· YHWH's Law and Commandments reveals my own heart to me.
(Deuteronomy 8:2-3; Hebrews 4:12-13; James 1:19-25; John 8:34-41; Hebrews
3:13-15). In which ever areas I am not yet able to obey Abba-YAH's
Commandments, then I have a living demonstration that I'm not completely set
free in that area of my life. I can then clearly see that I need healing, renewal
or restoration in that portion of my life.
· YHWH's Law highlights and defines the consequences for continuing in
sin (Deuteronomy 24:16; Ezekiel 18:4; Romans 6:23; Romans 8:5-8).
· YHWH's Law highlights the benefits blessings and rewards of obeying Him (Deuteronomy
4:40; Leviticus 18:5; Psalm 19:7-14; Ezekiel 18:21-23; Joshua 1:7-8; Psalm
1:1-3; 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9),
.
It Gives us a training and a working model and instructions on HOW to
LOVE YHWH, (Deuteronomy 5:29; Deuteronomy 7:9; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 5:3).
18 times throughout the Whole Testament of Scripture loving YHWH the Almighty
Creator is directly linked to KEEPING His Commandments. Truthfully, there is no
getting around it. You simply CANNOT love YHWH the Almighty Creator, unless you
learn and KEEP His Commandments.
.
It gives us training and a
working model and instructions on HOW
to LOVE our Neighbor as ourselves.
In other words, what does it really look like to love your neighbor as
yourself? How does that function in a practical way throughout your day to day
living? If you truly want to love your neighbor as yourself learning and
keeping the Commandments of YHWH gives you the training on how to do that in a
practical way. In fact every single Commandment that you will see in Scripture
will fit into one of two columns. Keeping the commandment is intended to train
you how to love YHWH more perfectly. Or, keeping the commandment is intended to
train you how to love your neighbor as yourself more perfectly.
Implications from Part 1: When we Attack Torah we also Attack the gospel
The Creator's Torah, (Genesis to Deuteronomy), is a key foundation footing to the gospel of Messiah. In short, when we attack, dismantle or discredit or belittle Yahweh's Torah in any way, we are literally attacking the very foundation of the gospel itself, whether or not we realize that this is what we are truly doing.Even the Messiah Himself said that if we truly understood Torah; if we understood the words that Yahweh gave to Moses, we would understand Messiah better (John 5:46). So when we reject Torah, we are openly declaring that we don't truly care if we understand Messiah better or not.
When we attack Torah, we make ourselves least in the Kingdom of Heaven:
When we reject or attack Yahweh's Torah and teach others to reject it, we are making an open declaration that our highest possible aim in life is to be the very least and lowest citizen in the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:19-20). Beloved those are Messiah's words, not mine.
When we attack Torah, we attack apostolic authority:
Messiah Himself said that Yahweh’s Word IS Truth, and Messiah asked the Father to SANCTIFY (to set apart) His disciples, with that SAME truth of Yahweh’s Word (John 17:17; cf. 119:142). Beloved, please think. If Yahweh’s Words and Commandments were made null and void at the cross when Messiah died; if in effect Yahweh’s Laws were killed with Messiah, that would also mean by necessity that the sanctification of the apostles was also done away with at the cross! By definition that would mean that the apostles were set apart and Anointed with the Creator's blessing a few days before Messiah died, and as soon as Messiah died that same Sanctification was removed?! That’s not possible!When we attack Torah, we also attack belief in our own ETERNAL salvation:
When we attack Yahweh's ETERNAL Torah, we also attack the belief in our own eternal salvation at the same time:Yahweh Almighty Said His Sabbaths are FOREVER (Leviticus 16:31).
Yahweh Almighty said His Covenant is FOREVER (1 Chronicles 15:16).
Yahweh Almighty said His Law IS FOREVER (Psalm 119:60)
Yahweh Almighty said that His Word is FOREVER (Isaiah 40:8).
If any of these things can be changed abolished or done away with at the cross, then that's not so much FOREVER is it now? Fact: We depend on the promise of ETERNAL Life and ETRENAL salvation from the SAME YAHWEH ALMIGHTY (Ecclesiastes 12:7; Psalm 146:4 John 3:16-17; John 14:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:17). If these other ETERNAL decrees can be changed, abolished or done away with at the cross, then how can the promise of ETERNAL Life be considered reliable. The Point? We cannot attack the validity of Yahweh Almighty's ETERNAL decrees, without accidently attacking the safety of our own salvation. If one ETERNAL promise can be done away with, then our ETERNAL salvation is not safe either, because all of these were promised by the SAME Creator. If one Eternal decree can be done away with, then the other one is not secure either. That is what is so dangerous about the doctrines of men or taking pieces of Scripture out of their context. When we allow man-made doctrines to replace what Scripture says, we often make doctrinal decisions without fully understanding the full biblical implications to which these men made doctrinal decisions will lead.
When we attack Torah we are openly declaring our hostility against Yahweh Almighty:
Fact: Many people will staunchly hold to the false man-made doctrine that Yahweh's Torah was done away with at the cross, and they will vehemently insist upon this because they will swear up and down that this is what Paul the apostle taught in the New Testament, but that is not what the apostle Paul taught at all. In fact, he outright spoke the opposite of doing away with Yahweh's Law:Paul specifically declared that it was the carnal mind controlled by the sinful nature which does not subject itself to Yahweh's Laws.
Paul specifically said that the carnal mind is set on the sinful nature. It is hostile against Yahweh. It refuses to subject itself to the Law of Yahweh. It cannot subject itself to Yahweh's Law. It cannot please Yahweh, and it leads to DEATH. So refusing to subject ourselves to Yahweh's Commandments is a fruit of the sinfully controlled mind according to Paul, and that is in the New Testament. (Romans 8:5-8). Now this is a passage of Paul's letters that modern-day Christians ignore almost completely; because if they understood the impact of this passage they would understand that there is absolutely no way that Paul was trying to teach the doing away with Yahweh's Commandments at all.
As it is written:
"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight! Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine And valiant men in mixing strong drink, Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right! Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble And dry grass collapses into the flame, So their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as dust; For they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.” (Isaiah 5:20–24, NASB95)
Defending the Gospel’s Foundation: Part Two:
The Prophets: The purpose of the prophets is to speak forth the Word of the living Almighty Yahweh (Deuteronomy 18:18-19; Numbers 12:6; Hosea 12:10). The majority of prophecies have multiple layers of fulfillment. In most cases they have a fulfillment for the specific audience of the people which originally received the message, and there can also be multiple fulfillments well beyond the prophet's physical lifetime.
Through the prophets we gain greater understanding of Yahweh Almighty's Character, His Laws Commandments and Instructions. Through the prophets we receive examples of Yahweh Almighty's correction when His standards are violated. Through the prophets we receive strong calls to repent and turn away from violating Yahweh Almighty's standards, so that Yahweh Almighty would not be required to punish us in his righteousness. Through the prophets we receive the promise of correction, judgment and punishment, if we refuse or fail to repent from what Yahweh Almighty considers to be sin (e.g. Jeremiah; Joel 3). Through the prophets we receive the promise of blessings, honors and rewards when we obey Yahweh Almighty's directions, (e.g. Isaiah 56:1-8).
Through the prophets, we have the writings which reveal the identity and characteristics of the true Messiah. For example, there are more than 400 prophecies concerning the coming Messiah. Jesus (His Hebrew name, Yeshua), fulfills all of them (e.g. Isaiah 7:14; Micah 5:2).
The Fruit of Beasts and Antichrists
Through Yahweh Almighty's prophets we also understand how to spot counterfeits or false prophets and antichrists (e.g. Isaiah 8:20; Deuteronomy 13:1-5; Deuteronomy 18:22; Daniel 7:24-29; cf. Matthew 7:15-20; 1 John 4:1).To simplify the issue, the primary characteristics of false prophets and antichrists which are highlighted by the above verses, can be identified as follows:
· They speak contrary to Yahweh Almighty's Laws Commandments and Instructions.
. They wear out, abuse or misuse Yahweh Almighty's people.
· They seek to twist or change Yahweh Almighty's Laws or Commandments.
. They may mislead people by performing miraculous signs and wonders, while at the same time they teach people to break or violate Yahweh Almighty's Commandments.
· They change or twist Yahweh Almighty's calendar so that people will not honor Yahweh Almighty's Appointed times Festival days, so they seek to change Yahweh's appointed times. If you look at the above verses, you will see that these things are clearly spelled out for us.
The Amos 3:7 Test
Modern-day Christianity regularly teaches that Christ's life, death, and resurrection fulfilled and accomplished Yahweh Almighty's Laws Commandments and Instructions. That part is true.However, it is also commonly taught throughout modern day Christianity, that the result of Jesus fulfilling and accomplishing Yahweh Almighty's Law, supposedly means that the believer now no longer needs to learn, respect, or obey Yahweh Almighty's Laws Commandments and Instructions any longer, because Jesus fulfilled them for us. Some have even gone so far as to openly suggest that the way that we prove that we are not trying to be justified by our own works of obedience to Yahweh Almighty's Law, is to actively break Yahweh Almighty's Law, and to do the direct OPPOSITE of what Yahweh Almighty's laws Commandments and Instructions teaches believers to do, supposedly so that you can demonstrate that you are trusting in Yahweh Almighty's grace, and not your own works to save you. This teaching is incredibly popular and widely accepted throughout modern-day Christendom. The big problem is that this application of grace, is 100% FALSE DOCTRINE, according to every prophet, according to the explicit teachings of Messiah, according to the teachings of every apostle, including Paul the apostle of grace. We will explore this reality further as we continue through this series together.
One key reason why I know that the modern approach to grace is false doctrine is that it violates every test of biblical prophecy, as I have already highlighted in the above references provided. Moreover, the popular approach to the doctrine of grace clearly violates a key prophetic test; the Amos 3:7 test:
As it is written:If the life, the death, the resurrection of Messiah would have caused Yahweh Almighty's Law to become null and void, so that believers would no longer have to learn and obey it, then such a doctrine would have had to have been revealed to the prophets before he did it. If obeying Torah was going to suddenly become obsolete after Messiah's death and resurrection, and if doing the explicit opposite of Torah would suddenly become righteous after one came to believe Messiah, (which is what the fourth century modern Christianity now teaches), that is a huge paradigm shift. It's a huge reversal of everything that Yahweh Almighty had ever done or said before, and if He was going to do such a thing, He would have had to have revealed that monumental change to His servants the prophets before the fact.
"Surely the Lord Yahweh Almighty does nothing Unless He reveals His secret counsel To His servants the prophets.” (Amos 3:7, NASB95)
Another Translation:
"Certainly, the Almighty Lord doesn’t do anything unless he first reveals his secret to his servants the prophets.” (Amos 3:7, GW).
Like it or not, the plain truth is that you can scour the words of every prophet from Moses to Malachi, and you will not find a single word of prophecy which teaches that Yahweh Almighty's Torah; His Laws, Commandments and Instructions will be suspended after Messiah. You will not find a single word of prophecy that teaches that to prove faith in the Lord after Messiah comes, you will now have to do the opposite of Torah. The prophets did not declare any such thing before Messiah came. Messiah himself NEVER taught the suspension of Torah, either before He died, or after He rose. If he had he would've been a false prophet (Isaiah 8:20; Deuteronomy 13:1-5), and despite huge protest to the contrary by modern Babylonian Christianity, a true reading of the apostolic letters clearly shows that the true first century apostles never taught the suspension of Yahweh's Torah either. They understood the Torah to be the foundation of the gospel and they would not destroy it.
One of the biggest problems with modern day Christendom's current approach to grace is that it violates Yahweh Almighty's Law. It violates the prophets. It violates the clear teachings of Messiah. It violates the teachings of every apostle, including some key things which Paul himself clearly taught. Moreover, it fails the Amos 3:7 test. There is Not a single word of prophecy in all the books of Genesis through Malachi that teaches that after Messiah finishes His tasks, the Laws of Yahweh Almighty will be suspended. There is not a single word in all the prophecies throughout Scripture which declares that Yahweh Almighty would reverse His Standards of Righteousness after Messiah, and that to prove one's faith, one would have to disobey and do the opposite of Yahweh Almighty's written Law, in order to be considered righteous by faith. The bottom line is that Yahweh Almighty did not reveal the suspension of His Law to any of the prophets, and since He did not reveal the suspension of His Law to the prophets, then Yahweh Almighty NEVER suspended His Law, no matter what modern-day Christianity has become accustomed to believing. If Yahweh Almighty didn't first reveal it to the prophets, then Yahweh Almighty didn't do it.
As it is written:
"If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3, NKJV).
So let us do our very best to remain true to Yahweh’s Torah, and to the Prophets.
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