Reiterating the seriousness of intentional sinning

Did you know that the committing of deliberate sins disqualifies pastors/leaders …no matter how sorry they are, or how much we have forgiven them?

We've all heard of some congregation leaders who have committed sins of some kind; and, in nearly every case, people were quick to jump on the "it was a mistake and we have forgiven him because we can't judge anyone" bandwagon.

But did you know that is NOT biblical?

First of all, YHWH is the Judge, and His Torah reveals exactly what constitutes sin - which is “transgression of the Torah" (Romans 4:15; 1 John 3:3-6).  YHWH always has, and STILL expects His people to adhere to His Divine Standards for moral, holy living!  There is no "gray area."

Secondly, the "death of Jesus" did NOT absolve us of continued, deliberate sinning.  His death did not give anyone "carte blanche" to do whatever they want and simply expect "the blood of Jesus" to keep covering them AFTER they have accepted YHWH as their ELOHIM, and His Divine Messiah as their Redeemer.

Let's take a look:

Paul was a criminal BEFORE Yeshua opened his spiritual eyes … which is why Paul was forgiven.
Note, I said BEFORE his spiritual eyes were opened ... which means, Paul was forgiven through the blood of Yeshua who died to absolve us of our PAST sins (NOT deliberate, ongoing sins).

Once Paul's eyes were opened, he repented and turned from his previous life of sin.  YHWH knew that, and that is why He caused Paul to become an Apostle.

Now – had Paul become/continued to be an evil murderous lunatic AFTER he was given the Ruach haKodesh (Holy Spirit), that would have been a different story. Instead of being exonerated for his sins, he would then have had to give up his “Apostle” title, because he would no longer have qualified to be any kind of an “Elder” or leader. (Titus 1:5-9, 1 Tim. 3:1-7, 1 Peter 5:1-4).

Truth is, since Yeshua died to forgive our PAST sins (Colossians 2:13-14; Ephesians 1:13-14; Hebrews 10:26, etc.),  then Paul’s intentional PRESENT sins would NOT be covered by “the blood of the Lamb” (because there is no sin sacrifice for continued, deliberate, intentional sins by Believers (Hebrews 10:26).

You see - to take away any of Paul’s PRESENT sins, Yeshua would have to come back and die AGAIN!

It is imperative to remember (because it cannot be reiterated enough) that, unlike the animal sin sacrifices seen in Leviticus which had to be done over and over again - specifically on(Yom Kippur, Yeshua martyred himself once and for all, for our PAST sins. Like those animal sacrifices,  Yeshua’s blood only atoned for what we have done in our PAST, to enable us to be clean enough to enter into YHWH’s Presence in the Holy of Holies, to pledge ourselves to Him.

That is why – when the head of a congregation (i.e., pastors and rabbis) or any of his Elders today (all of whom, as leaders, should KNOW what constitutes sin!) commit deliberate sins (i.e., adultery, intentional murder, stealing, defrauding, etc.), they MUST relinquish their titles …. because they NO LONGER qualify to be “Elders” or “teachers of the Word”...

No matter how wonderful their sermons or teachings are, and no matter how much people have “forgiven” the one who sinned - if they are guilty of, and tainted by, DELIBERATE sin after receiving the Ruach, according to Scripture, they are NO longer qualified to shepherd others, and MUST step down from their posts.

Nowhere in Torah do we see anyone who committed deliberate sins AFTER having been a Torah observant believer in YHWH, being leaders of any kind. YHWH has always expected HIS leaders to be spotless.

Unintentional transgressions – yes - they can be forgiven (i.e., those that Moshe committed, for instance, by hitting the rock instead of talking to it, as instructed (Numbers 20:2-11) ). But NOT those which are devious and intentional after one has accepted the redemptive gift of the Messiah Yeshua.