I get an enormous amount of negative feedback due to the content of my blog posts.
There are roughly 40,000 Christian denominations in existence today, and pretty much every single one of them disagree with the ideas I present here.
Surprisingly, the majority of the Torah community also disagrees with me.
This is why I am diligent to include bible verses in my studies, often times the direct quotes of Yehova (God) and the direct quotes of Yeshua Messiah (Jesus).
I often pray that one single person — somewhere, anywhere — will be encouraged to follow Yehova wholly and completely because of my efforts.
I don’t need a big crowd. Just one.
That is all I pray for…
I am not trying to develop a following, which is obvious based on my topic of choice.
A mainstream Christian pastor friend told me I’m a heretic and that my ideas are dangerous. And then he unfriended and blocked me on social media. All this, because I quoted Messiah, whom he claims to know and serve.
I sent a list of direct quotes of Messiah to a Torah fellowship leader. I did not include any comments of my own, simply the words of Messiah. They told me to stop, that I had no love in me, and that it felt like I was beating them with a hammer. This was their response to the words of Messiah whom they claim to know and serve.
I’ve been told that I am arrogant, condescending, condemning, critical, hypocritical, and many more accusations I can’t even remember. All because of the message I deliver in this blog.
I do not have the power to condemn others, nor would I want to.
Only Yeshua has the authority to determine the eternal fate of each man and woman upon this earth, throughout all of time. The scriptures tell us He will decide their fate using the words of the Torah.
No, I do not judge or condemn anyone. I simply share some of the difficult ideas in the scriptures, not to be critical of others, but out of love for people who do not know these ideas.
I primarily study the warnings in scripture, and share them with anyone who will listen.
There are lots of ideas in scripture that deliver hope, comfort, warmth, peace, and security.
People love them!! [as they should].
However, there are also many very harsh warnings in scripture, often coming directly from Yehova and Yeshua!! People seem to not know about them, and when I share them, they get angry with me.
Such is life.
I will keep doing this.
Why?
Because there is but one truth in scripture, and this one truth is comprised of both promises and warnings. This one truth is comprised of all the scriptures, from the first page to the last page.
Our truth must be based on the whole of scripture, not just the parts we like the best.
If we sift out the promises and only study those, it leads to the creation of false doctrine.
The consequences of violated warnings in scripture will result in the promises being taken away [or never really granted in the first place].
People need to know this, even if they hate it. Even if they hate me for telling them.
I’m good with being the messenger.
I don’t do this to gain a following or to be liked.
I do this for just one.
Anyone who chooses to follow the words and the ways of Yehova because of my efforts.
OK, now that I’m finished rambling, let’s take a look at an important concept:
Can we develop doctrine from the letters of Paul?
Generally mainstream Christian doctrine includes the idea that the Old Testament Law [the Torah instructions] are done away with, and are no longer applicable.
Many direct quotes of Yehova and Yeshua state the exact opposite.
How is it possible that the bulk of Christianity believe a doctrine that is completely opposite of what God and Jesus tell us?
The letters of Paul, that is how.
Am I saying that Paul defies Yehova and Yeshua?
No, I am not saying that, although there are people in the world who think so.
Paul was called on the road to Damascus to do the work of Yehova, and He accepted this calling.
He is right and true, and he does not defy Yehova or Yeshua.
So what is happening here?
How is it that hundreds of millions, if not billions, of Christians throughout time have believed that Paul’s writings did away with the Old Testament Law?
Before we look any further, let’s take a look at Peter’s final advice to the world.
Going all the way back to the first century church, Peter recognized that Christians were creating false doctrine using the writings of Paul.
Peter warns us about this on his death bed.
When people are on their death bed, they tend to communicate the most important things they know.
They don’t speak of frivolous things. The speak of things that matter the most.
And this is what we get from Peter on his death bed:
2Peter 3:14-17
Final Advice
14 Therefore, loved ones, while you are looking for these things, make every effort to be found in peace, spotless and blameless before Him. 15 Bear in mind that the patience of our Messiah means salvation—just as our dearly loved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom given to him. 16 He speaks about these matters in all of his letters. Some things in them are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist (as they also do with the rest of the Scriptures)—to their own destruction.
17 Since you already know all this, loved ones, be on your guard so that you are not led astray by the error of the lawless and lose your sure footing.
The generation who walked with Yeshua Messiah personally are warning us about using Paul’s letters to create false doctrine.
How serious does Peter take this issue?
Absolutely and very seriously!!
Does Peter tell us this mistake will cause a bit of confusion and everything will be ok in the end?
No.
That is not at all what he tells us.
He says that making this mistake will lead to our destruction.
Uuummmm, that is not good.
He tells us that if we misunderstand Paul’s letters, along with the scriptures (Old Testament is all that existed at the time), that doing so would result in our destruction.
Just in case we missed the importance of his warning, he repeats it again in verse 17. He says that if we follow the ways of the lawless (those who say the Torah instructions are done away with) we will lose our sure footing, being led astray.
This is a big deal.
Fast forward 2000 years and what do we have?
We have 40,000 Christian denominations and countless millions of people violating Peter’s death bed warning.
Let’s review again…
What are the consequences of violating this warning?
Our destruction.
Yeshua Messiah (Jesus) tells us the exact same thing.
Matthew 7:21-23
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Yeshua said this not to atheists, but to people who claim to know Him and serve Him.
Does He accept them and tell them all are welcome into the kingdom of heaven?
No, He does not.
He says He does not know them and rejects them, sending them away.
What is the disqualifier?
They were workers of lawlessness.
Being rejected by Messiah, the only One who can save us, is not good.
As Peter stated, it will result in our destruction.
If you’d like to know more about this idea, please read my other 250 or so blog articles. I go into this in great depth, citing scripture every step of the way.
We have a whole bible with direct quotes of Yehova — which we must believe.
We have many direct quotes of Prophets who are saying Yehova’s words [for example, Jeremiah 1:9 Then Adonai stretched out His hand and touched my mouth and Adonai said to me, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.”].
If the Prophets are speaking Yehova’s words, then we must believe them.
We then have many recorded direct quotes of Yeshua Messiah, which we must believe.
We have recorded statements by Apostles who observed and experienced many things alongside Yeshua, and wrote them down for us. We need to believe their eye-witness accounts.
And then we get a wrench in the gears…
Paul’s letters.
I’m not a Paul basher, as he was called on the road to Damascus to do the work of Yehova.
But still, there are problems to be sorted out.
We cannot build our belief system and our doctrine on quotes of Paul, especially if Yehova, the Prophets, and Yeshua all said something different.
We are being told in Peter’s warning to not use Paul’s letters to change anything in the scriptures.
Part of the problem is this…
Paul’s letters are his responses to various early congregations, typically identified by a region.
There was a second party involved in this ‘conversation’ but we do not have access to the other half of the conversation.
Imagine walking into a room while someone is in the middle of a conversation on the phone.
If we missed part of the conversation and cannot hear the other party, we need to refrain from making assumptions based upon the bits and pieces we do hear.
We especially need to refrain from making assumptions (and creating new doctrine) based on these overheard bits and pieces, especially if what we hear defies the words of Yehova, the Prophets, and Yeshua.
This is exactly what the mainstream churches have done, even though we are warned against it.
There is a consistent theme throughout the scriptures that we are to follow Yehova wholly and completely.
Partial obedience is not accepted, nor is it the target we are aiming for.
For example, Deuteronomy 12:28
Observe and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of Yehova your Elohim.
We are told to obey ALL, not some of His words.
Deuteronomy 5 tells us the same:
32 “Therefore you shall be careful to do as Yehova your Elohim has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 33 You shall walk in all the ways which Yehova your Elohim has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.
Again, ALL and not some.
Yeshua tells us the same thing.
Matthew 28
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
ALL, not some.
Out of the entire Exodus generation, consisting of millions, only two men were allowed to enter the promise land. Joshua and Caleb were allowed to enter because they followed Yehova wholly and completely.
All others perished in the wilderness because of their grumbling, complaining, rebellious attitude, and by following partially instead of wholly and completely.
Here is a direct quote of Yehova concerning this:
Numbers 32:11-13
1 ‘Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, 12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed Yehova.’ 13 So Yehova’s anger was aroused against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of Yehova was gone.
Keep in mind this is Yehova’s chosen people!!
If He has consequences like this for HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE for not following Him completely, then how will the rest of the people of the world fare?
Obeying ALL THAT I HAVE COMMANDED is the standard.
If people have no heart for following wholly and completely, then the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is going to have a problem with it.
Deuteronomy 13:3-6
…for Adonai your God is testing you, to find out whether you love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 5 Adonai your God you will follow and Him you will fear. His commands you will keep, to His voice you will listen, Him you will serve and to Him you will cling. 6 That prophet or dreamer of dreams must be put to death! For he has spoken falsehood against Adonai your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to entice you from the way Adonai your God commanded you to walk. So you will purge the evil from your midst.
Now this is where forgiveness and grace come into play.
We can be washed clean from our sin (disobedience) and be made a new creation in Messiah.
But then, we must follow Him wholly and completely.
If you’d like to know more about this, please read Numbers 15:30-31 and Hebrews 10:26-31.
Numbers 15:30-31
“But the person who sins defiantly, whether native or outsider, reviles Adonai and that person is to be cut off from his people. 31 Because he has despised the word of Adonai and has broken His commandment, that person will certainly be cut off—his guilt will remain on him.”
Hebrews 10:26-31
26 For if we keep on sinning willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but only a terrifying expectation of judgment and a fury of fire about to devour the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the Torah of Moses dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses.29 How much more severe do you think the punishment will be for the one who has trampled Ben-Elohim underfoot, and has regarded as unholy the blood of the covenant by which he was made holy, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know the One who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “Adonai will judge His people.” 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
We do not have forgiveness for continued willful and intentional sin.
We must repent and change.
We must have a heart to obey ALL THAT HE COMMANDED.
If we fail, then grace covers us.
If we do not have a heart to obey ALL THAT HE COMMANDED, then it is considered intentional and willful sin, and no sacrifice remains for it.
What about brand new people coming into the faith?
Must they be perfect, following in ALL immediately?
No, Yehova knows that we need to learn.
In Acts, we see a council was convened to determine how to deal with new converts to the faith. They were to be held accountable to four basic ideas that would differentiate them from pagan religions at the time:
Acts 15:19-20
19 Therefore, I judge not to trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God— 20 but to write to them to abstain from the contamination of idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what is strangled, and from blood.
Is it ok to accept, believe, and practice these four basic things and call it good?
Can we have just a simple “belief” and not learn and grow in our knowledge and behavior?
No, we are given this instruction in the next verse:
Acts 15:21
For Moses from ancient generations has had in every city those who proclaim him, since he is read in all the synagogues every Shabbat.
The expectation for all Gentiles turning to God is that they learn the Torah, reading it weekly, and that they should be hearing this on Shabbat. The expectation is to start with minimal knowledge and obedience, but to learn weekly how to follow Yehova, obeying ALL THAT HE COMMANDED.
Our churches fail to do this.
They have accepted a few simple things (important things), and call it good.
They ignore the remainder of what they are instructed to continue in, to learn, and to live.
Is this ok?
Only Yeshua can decide.
Men do not have the authority to make any decisions on the fate of another.
In the meantime, I will continue to teach people the words of Yehova, the words of the Prophets, and the words of Yeshua, to obey “ALL THAT I HAVE COMMANDED.”
It is up to each individual whether they decide to listen or not.
It is up to Yeshua to decide their fate in regard to these things.
As for Paul’s writings, I will not build doctrine on bits and pieces of an overheard conversation, especially if those bits and pieces do not line up with the words and instructions of the Creator of all things. Peter warned us not to do this, and I will not do it.
I hope this helps explain my thoughts on why I study and share the ideas in this blog.
It is not to criticize others, or to judge them.
It is to share some of the difficult warnings in scripture, so that people who are violating those warnings can make an informed decision.
Is it possible that I am completely wrong about all of this?
I suppose so.
But there are too many scriptures that repeat a consistent message.
If I am wrong about these things, then it is good new for countless millions.
But if I am not wrong, it is important to continue to encourage others to follow Yehova wholly and completely, obeying ALL that He commanded.
That is my goal.