BELOW IS MY RESPONSE TO A CHRISTIAN PASTOR WHO SENDS TORAH OBSERVANT BELIEVERS IN MESSIAH "friend requests" on Facebook, in his attempts to show them that they have placed themselves "under the law" and are busy “working" to earn their salvation. He has ignored any attempts at actual dialogue, and simply keeps posting things like the ones shown below:
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SO, HERE IS MY PUBLIC RESPONSE:
Brother, you keep preaching that the Torah (Pentateuch – which is our ONLY blueprint for moral, holy living) is evil, while concentrating only on the last fourth of the Bible, as if that is ALL believers need to know. That kind of teaching – according to Scripture - is a HUGE error, leading astray those who truly wish to know the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!
Without the Torah we wouldn’t know what holy, or set apart means. Jews keep Torah, but God doesn't expect only the Jews to be holy, does He? Problem is, their eyes have not yet been opened to the Truth of Messiah Yeshua (His Divine Son whose given Hebrew name “Yeshua” means “YAHWEH is Salvation”).
On the other hand, we have Christians – people such as yourself - refusing Torah, yet “believing in Jesus,” who supposedly came to bring a “new religion” based on nothing but faith and “grace” (as if grace didn’t exist in the “Old Testament!”) and to abolish everything His Father ever commanded, including the keeping of His commanded Seventh Day Sabbath (which is a SIGN between Him and His people - Exodus 31:16-17;and Ezekiel 20:11-12),along with the commanded seven yearly Festivals - ALL of which foreshadow Messiah Yeshua...
WHY would He have sent Yeshua to ABOLISH those things?
BOTTOM LINE IS: NEITHER side is humble enough to admit or recognize that it takes BOTH – Torah AND belief in Yeshua – to live according to God’s Will…
So, let’s take a look at what the “New Testament” actually says about Torah - which Christians erroneously believe means “Law”; while being adamant that those laws are “evil”…
1 John 2: 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in him. 6 He who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walked.(CJB)
How did he walk? By Torah! Y'shua didn't make up new rules. He kept Torah and expected US to follow suit. You can only know the him through the law and the testimony! Take a look:
Revelation 12: 17 "The dragon was infuriated over the woman and went off to fight the rest of her children, those who obey God's commands AND bear witness to Yeshua." (CJB)
Revelation 14: 12 "This is when perseverance is needed on the part of God's people, those who observe his commands AND exercise Yeshua's faithfulness." (CJB)
Please note, the above scriptures don't mention the "Ten Commandments". They simply refer to "the Commands" or "the Commandments" depending on which Bible version you use.
God warns us in Proverbs 4:2 - "I give you good instruction: Do not forsake my Torah." (CJB)
Proverbs 28:9 If a person will not listen to Torah, even his prayer is an abomination. (CJB)
NO ONE is born into "just knowing" Torah – and they certainly don’t have it “written on their hearts” yet, because, if that were the case, ALL of us would be obeying YHWH's Divine Instructions without question, without even having to teach each other.
The truth is, you are no longer a Gentile, once you have accepted the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and His Messiah. You are ONE in Christ! (See Genesis 12 where Abraham became a "Hebrew" – which, in Hebrew, means "to cross over" - when he accepted YHWH as his God, and physically crossed over into the land YHWH commanded. The same is true for you!)
The Torah tells us that myriads of pagan Egyptians followed Moshe/Moses out of Egypt when YHWH liberated His people. They ALL stood at the base of Mt Sinai and saw and heard what went on there, and God even commanded them to do EXACTLY as His people did - See Exodus 12:49, Numbers 15:13-16, Isaiah 56:6, Galatians 3:28 and Romans 10:12-13.
His Word stands forever, which means that NONE of that has changed! If neither YAHWEH nor Yeshua changed or abolished those rules, what makes YOU think you have a right to?
Most Christians have a totally skewed view of BOTH “testaments,” which is a real shame, because Yeshua came NOT to bring a new religion, but to preach the Kingdom and do everything his Father commanded. He NEVER, EVER said he came to bring another religion that allowed people to do whatever they wished...
Please try to remove your preconceived notions, to understand what was written in the following passages:
Luke 4: 43 "But he (Yeshua/Jesus) said, "I must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent." (CJB)
Luke 8: 1. And it happened after these things that Y'shua was going around in the cities and in the villages and was preaching and declaring the Kingdom of Elohim. (AENT)
And here's something that seems to be totally ignored by Christian pastors:
Acts 28: 23 From morning till evening the Apostle Paul explained and declared the Kingdom of God and tried to convince people about Yeshua from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. (CJB)
Having said the above, I leave you with these questions, which every true seeker should sincerely ponder:
1. Do you love God with all your heart, mind and soul?
2. If so, what do you DO to show you love Him?
3. Are you living a holy/set apart life? How do you know?
4. Since most Christians believe that the "Old Testament" was only for the Jews, are only Jews expected to live holy lives? Show scriptural proof that Torah was "only for the Jews."
5. In your own words, explain what "the law" is and what "under the law" means.
6. Find a scripture commanding us to celebrate the Messiah's birth and that this holiday should be called "Christmas."
7. Provide scripture showing the Seventh Day Sabbath was changed to Sunday.
8. Provide scripture to show there are only two commandments.
9. Provide scripture to show why His seven Feasts/Appointed Times wouldn't apply to Christians.
10. Find scripture that says God's Divine Instructions in Righteousness (Torah) were ever negated.
11. Do you adhere to the commands of YHWH/The Father and the teachings of Jesus, or do you constantly quote from the writings of Paul to show that God's Divine Instructions in Righteousness have been abolished?
12. If the law was nailed to the tree/cross, how can it now be in your heart?
You are cordially invited to click on the link to our Christian Questionnaire and check your answers against the BIBLICAL responses on our website.
Once you’ve done that, please ask God to help you decide what to do: to either to remain where you are in your faith, or at least become interested enough to learn about, and to “grow” in Torah, so that you can become knowledgeable enough to make up your mind as to whether accept or reject God’s “whole Bible concept” that joins BOTH the Torah AND belief in YAHWEH’s Divine Messiah who died, in part, to give you the freedom to CHOOSE…
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