Things change, right?
Everything is always changing.
Nothing stays the same.

It makes sense then, that the Apostle Paul changed everything about biblical doctrine, right?
The Old Testament gave us God’s instructions for living, commonly referred to as the Law.
The prophets had one message:  Always for the people to return to the commandments of Yehova.
Yeshua Messiah (Jesus) also taught that we are to follow the instructions, the commands, of Yehova.
But then…
Paul’s writings changed everything.
The Law didn’t work, so after Messiahs death, burial, resurrection, and ascension Paul was tasked with communicating a new plan for us — a plan that does not include the Law.
Makes sense, right?

This is exactly what they teach in bible college.
This is what they teach in seminary.
And therefore, this is what our churches teach.
And because our churches teach this, that is what our Sunday School teachers present to the small children at church.

Is this good or bad?
I could spend many hours, quoting countless scriptures, to show you this is bad.
But instead, I’m going to keep it simple.

Amos 3:7
New King James Version
Surely the Lord God does nothing,
Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
Tree of Life Version
For the Lord Adonai, will do nothing,
unless He has revealed His counsel
    to His servants the prophets.

If we believe this bit of scripture, then God must have told the prophets that Paul would come along and change everything one day.
Please show me this in scripture, because I cannot find it.
I’ll wait…
But not for very long, because this idea is not in scripture.

But really…
Did Paul change everything?
Or did Paul teach the same thing as Yehova, the Prophets, and Messiah?
We are given a warning about this very idea.
We are told specifically that misunderstanding Paul’s writings will lead to our destruction:

2Peter 3:14-17
¹⁴ Therefore, loved ones, while you are looking for these things, make every effort to be found in shalom, spotless and blameless before Him. ¹⁵ Bear in mind that the patience of our Lord 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.

Peter warns of the following things:
1.  Be found by Yeshua Messiah blameless (that means do not continue in sin)
2.  Paul’s writings are hard to understand
3.  Untaught and unstable people will twist
4.  Resulting in their own destruction
5.  In the same way, they twist the rest of the Scriptures.
And just to reiterate…
In case you missed it…
6.  Since you were warned in advance
7.  Beware!!! Be on your guard!!
8.  Do not be fooled
9.  By those who teach and practice lawlessness
10.  Losing your sure footing

This warning is serious!!
Failing to heed this warning will result in your destruction.
Are you listening?

In case you are not so sure about Peter, would you believe Messiah, if He said this?
Matthew 7:21-23
²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, and drive out demons in Your name, and perform many miracles in Your name?’ ²³ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Get away from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’”

Yeshua Messiah (Jesus) specifically tells us that if we are lawless, He will not know us and will send us away.
Who does get to be included in the kingdom of heaven?
Those who do the will of the Father.
Those who follow the Father’s commandments.
Those who do the Law, and follow His instructions.

But, but, but…
This is all about chronological order.
The things I’ve shown you here are direct quotes from scripture, and they are true.
But…
People still believe Paul changed things after Jesus left.
Are we given any input AFTER Messiah left, and AFTER Paul wrote His letters?

Absolutely.
Yes.

Revelation is the last of the Scriptures chronologically.
It can be trusted, right?
Even if we were to misunderstand anything throughout the Scriptures, the words of Revelation would have the final say, correct?

Revelation 14:12 tells us who the saints are:
Here is the perseverance of the saints—those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Yeshua Messiah.

Revelation 12:17 tells us who the remnant of the church is:
So the dragon became enraged at the woman and went off to make war with the rest of her offspring—those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Yeshua.

And Messiah tells us who will be in His kingdom in Revelation 22:14
Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.

There you have it.
Instructions AFTER Paul’s writings.
So now you have a choice to make.
Will you follow the Scriptures, or will you follow what your church teaches about Paul’s writings (which we are warned against)?

2Timothy 4:3-4
For the time will come when they will not put up with sound instruction, but they will pile up for themselves teachers in keeping with their own desires, to have their ears tickled.  And they will turn away from hearing the truth and wander off to myths.

Is this a big deal?
Are people doing this today?
What if I told you this is more common now than hearing the truth?

I saw this meme on Facebook yesterday, posted there by a friend.
My friend is a good and decent guy.
This discussion is not an attack on my friend.
But is my friend deceived?
Is my friend allowing his ears to be tickled?
Is my friend tickling the ears of others by sharing things like this?

Is there a problem with this meme?
It sounds good, right?
It sounds like a compassionate person is calling out others for harsh religious comments.

But is it the truth?
Or is it false teaching?
We can only know the answer if we know the scriptures.

I left a comment for my friend, and he openly admitted that my comment made him angry.
Here is what I said:
“Men think up phrases like this. It sounds really good and it tickles lots of ears.
But is it truth?
We are told in the ten commandments not to bear false witness.
What if I can prove to you, using only direct quotes of Jesus, that this meme is bearing false witness against Jesus?
Do you know the things Jesus said well enough to know He is in violation of this meme?”

I give my friend a great deal of credit.
He was honest.
He told me this made him mad.
But he did not act out in anger.
Much love for that…

But back to the issue at hand.
Does this meme bear false witness against Messiah?
Let’s go to the scriptures and see.
Please compare these direct quotes of Yeshua Messiah to what this meme is saying:

Matthew 7
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Master, Master,’ shall enter into the reign of the heavens, but he who is doing the desire of My Father in the heavens. “Many shall say to Me in that day, ‘Master, Master, have we not prophesied in Your Name, and cast out demons in Your Name, and done many mighty works in Your Name?’ “And then I shall declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me, you who work lawlessness!’”
We see in this scripture that Yeshua Messiah is going to be drawing some lines.
There are going to be people that claim to follow Him, and yet, He does not know them.
He tells them so, and also tells them to depart from Him.
Messiah puts these people on the wrong side of the line.

What about this in Matthew 5?
This is another direct quote of Messiah:
Matthew 5
“Whoever, then, breaks one of the least of these commands, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the reign of the heavens; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the reign of the heavens.”
Messiah is drawing more lines.
He is drawing lines between the least and the greatest.
There is separation.
There are standards.

What about these three direct quotes of Messiah from the book of John?
John 14:15
“If you love Me, you shall guard My commands.”
John 14:21
“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.”
John 15:10
“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”
What do you see here?
I see Yeshua Messiah, our Savior, drawing more lines.
He is drawing a line between those who love Him and those who do not love Him.
What if you are on the wrong side of that line?
What if He decides you do not love Him?

What about this in Revelation 3?
This is Messiah speaking…
Revelation 3:15-16
“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I would that you were cold or hot. “So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I am going to vomit you out of My mouth.”
What do we have?
More lines.
Who is drawing these lines?
Messiah is.

What about these words from Messiah in Revelation 22:14-15?
¹⁴ Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. ¹⁵ But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.
Is Yeshua Messiah, Jesus, drawing lines here?
Absolutely He is!!
He is drawing a line between those who get access to the Tree of Life, and those who don’t.
He is drawing a line between those who get to enter the City of New Jerusalem, Heaven on Earth, and those who do not get to enter.
He is drawing a line between those who are obedient and those who are not.
He is drawing a line between those who follow sound doctrine, and those who love and practice a lie.

It is not my intention to make anyone mad, especially people I enjoy and call my friends.
As men, we can have great thoughts and ideas, and we can communicate them in blogs and memes or even church sermons.
But what if those great thoughts are erroneous?
What if we lead people astray, even though we are just trying to say nice things?
What if our compassionate thoughts and ideas bear false witness against our Messiah?
What if our memes make Jesus a liar?

It happens.
Maybe not on purpose, but it happens.
How do we fix it?
We go to the scriptures.
We go and read the things that Messiah said.
We learn to know His voice, so that we might follow Him.

Please do not be deceived by clever and well-meaning thoughts.
Test everything.
Check all things against scripture.
Sometimes false teaching looks really pretty and appealing.
It might even tickle your ears.

I realize this post may make some people angry.
I know I already made my friend angry.
That is not my intent.
Just read your bibles and sort it out please, especially if this makes you angry.
Know your Messiah’s words.
Listen to Him.

James 2:10
For whoever keeps the whole Torah but stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.

Wow, what are we supposed to do with this?
This is a bit scary, is it not?
What is James talking about here?
The mainstream churches teach us how to avoid trouble regarding this scripture:

Don’t put yourself back under the law, right?
If you don’t try to do any of the law, then you can’t fail at even one thing.
This is good news. 
As long as we don’t try to obey anything, we won’t be held accountable for anything. Easy-peasy.

Well, we have a problem, though.
Revelation 22:14 says who will be in the kingdom:
Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.

And Revelation 14:12 tells us who the saints are:
Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

And Messiah says this:
John 14:15
 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

And scripture tells us this:
1John 2:3-6
³ Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. ⁴ He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 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.

And John 3:36 tells us this:
“He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

And back to James again…
James 2:26
For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

These verses all seem to be saying we must do something.
We must obey.
So back to the original thought…
What does James mean by this?
For whoever keeps the whole Torah but stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.

He is not telling to avoid putting ourselves under the law.
There are many more scriptures than I’ve listed here that say we are to keep the commands of Yehova.

Here is what James is saying:
We need to follow Yehova completely, not partially.
We are not to obey the Torah for the parts we like, and ignore or reject the parts we don’t like.
I have met countless “Torah observers” who:
-work on the Sabbath
-work on the Appointed Feast Days
-choose not to wear tzitzits
-buy or sell on the Sabbath, causing others to work
-defile their temples
-and on and on and on

James is telling us that we cannot pick and choose what parts of the Torah we are willing to accept.
We must accept all of it or none of it.
We must choose to follow Yehova completely, not partially.
Remember this?
Revelation 3:15-16
¹⁵ I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. Oh, that you were either cold or hot! ¹⁶ So because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spew you out of My mouth.

Is James saying we must be perfect?
Is he saying we can never fail?
No, he is not saying that.
If we choose to follow the words and the ways of Yehova, but fail, then we are forgiven through grace when we repent.
But if we deliberately choose to ignore certain commands, then we have chosen to fail all of it.
Follow completely, not partially.
A partial commitment to Yehova is a failed commitment.

If we choose to reject any of the commands, it results in intentional sin.  What does scripture say about it?
Numbers 15:30-31
³⁰ “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.”

Oohhh, that’s not good…
But no worries. It’s the Old Testament.
No longer applicable, right?
Check out Hebrews 10:26-31.
That’s New Testament.
That’s applicable…
²⁶ For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷ but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. ²⁸ Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” ³¹ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Oh boy…
That’s new and applicable, and still not good for us people-types.
What’s the moral of the story?
Do as Messiah says:
 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

All of them, not just the ones we like.
Amen.

Being rejected by family for keeping Torah is a rough deal…
It happens, though.
What does scripture say about it?

Matthew 10:21-22
²¹ “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against their parents and have them put to death. ²² And you will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end shall be saved. 

Matthew 10:32-39
³² “Therefore whoever acknowledges Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father who is in heaven. ³³ But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
³⁴ “Do not think that I came to bring shalom on the earth; I did not come to bring shalom, but a sword. ³⁵ For I have come to set
‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother, and
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
³⁶ and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.’
³⁷ “He who loves father or mother more than Me isn’t worthy of Me, and he who loves son or daughter more than Me isn’t worthy of Me. ³⁸ And whoever does not take up his cross and follow after Me isn’t worthy of Me. ³⁹ He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

Luke 14:25-27
²⁵ Now great crowds were traveling with Yeshua; and He turned and said to them, ²⁶ “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters—and yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷ Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.

John 15:18-21
¹⁸ “If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. But you are not of the world, since I have chosen you out of the world; therefore the world hates you.
²⁰ “Remember the word I spoke to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
²¹ “But all these things they will do to you for the sake of My name, because they do not know the One who sent Me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin.

It is easy to read our bibles and not really slow down and think about these things.
“These things must apply to other people, because I don’t have this in my life…”

But here’s the thing…
Messiah said these things WILL happen.
He didn’t say these things MIGHT happen.
So what does it mean if these things are not happening, when Messiah says they WILL happen if we follow Him?
This is a serious matter.  It is an emotional and hurtful matter for those who go through persecution by their family.

If it does not happen, is there something wrong with our walk?
I don’t wish this upon anyone…
My goal here is to evaluate some of the things Messiah said.
If we don’t see his statements coming true in our life, good or bad, then what are we missing?

We just had our first experience with this.
Some of our family told us that our religion makes them uncomfortable, and that we are no longer welcome in their lives.
They said we are no longer invited to any of their family activities.
I stated they are always welcome in our lives; they responded and said the feeling is not mutual, and asked that we not ever contact him or his wife.

This is a hard thing to hear.
It is heartbreaking.
But it happens.
I’ve heard other people in Torah speak of this.
But this is our first time to experience it.
It is very sad.

But…
Messiah said this would happen if we follow Him.
If this is not happening, then what is wrong with how we are following?
This situation is bittersweet.
Bitter to be rejected by family.
But sweet to have confirmation that we are following Messiah properly.

I hate it.
But I have trust and faith in Messiah and the things He said.
Will we please men [including our families] or will we please Yeshua Messiah?
Joshua 24:15
…but as for me and my household, we will worship Yehova!

Deuteronomy 4:2
You must not add to the word that I am commanding you or take away from it—in order to keep the commandments of Yehova your Elohim that I am commanding you.

Deuteronomy 13:1
“Whatever I command you, you must take care to do—you are not to add to it or take away from it.”

Revelation 22:18-19
I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to them, Yehova shall add to him the plagues that are written in this book; ¹⁹ and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, Yehova shall take away his share in the Tree of Life and the Holy City, which are written in this book.

Proverbs 30:5-6
⁵ Every word of Yehova is purified.
He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
⁶ Do not add to His words,
or else He will rebuke You and prove you a liar.

How seriously do we take these warnings to neither add to nor take away from the words of Yehova?
No big deal, right?
Actually, it is quite a huge deal.
Did you catch the mention of plagues in Revelation?
Did you catch the part about losing your share in the Tree of Life?

These warnings carry serious consequences.
Your eternity is at stake.
Am I just an alarmist?
Am I just making a mountain out of a molehill?
If scripture says it, then I believe it.
Please do not disregard these warnings.

So what does this mean for us?
How do these warnings impact things we do and say?
Do these warnings matter to our everyday lives?
I’m guessing I could write a whole book on this alone.
But let’s keep it short and simple.

1.  Do not attempt to introduce man-made ideas into scriptural doctrine.  That means no Talmud and no Kabbalah.  It also means giving up your Christian commentaries and devotion books if they are adding to or taking away from the word. Any source of information that adds to scripture, takes away from scripture, or attempts to define doctrine contrary to scripture is to be rejected.

2.  If scripture says it, then we are to believe it and obey.  We do not get to disregard certain things we don’t like, or don’t feel like doing.
We also do not get to introduce new ideas (traditions) not supported by scripture (Christmas and Easter for starters…).

When I began studying scripture in depth several years ago, what I learned caused my wife and me to leave the mainstream church.
We’ve been involved with several “Torah Observant” fellowships, and have left them behind for the same reasons we left the mainstream Christian churches.
We established our own fellowship and hosted it for a year or so.
We disbanded it early this year for the same reasons.

We are to follow Yehova wholly and completely, and we are not to change the word of Yehova.
Subtle ideas and behaviors creep into fellowships and organizations.
We need to guard against such things.
Some of these things crept in long ago.  They’ve been present for so long that no one notices they are violating the warnings stated in scripture. It is the new normal.

What does scripture say about it?
Shall we let the truth evolve over time, to fit our needs? To fit what we’ve been taught?
Nope.
Not unless you like plagues and no access to the Tree of Life.

Please don’t consider this short article as criticism.
Use it as motivation.
Use it as a catalyst to evaluate your ideas and behaviors and habits.
Does all that you believe and do line up with scripture?
Are the resources you utilize adding to or taking away from the Word?

Spend some time evaluating yourself, your thoughts, your ideas, your doctrine, and your fellowship.
Make changes as necessary in order to follow Yehova wholly and completely.
You will catch flack for this…
Men and women will not like it when you do this.
I’ve been called judgmental, unloving, a heretic, that my ideas are dangerous, and on and on and on…

But whom will you please?
Whom will you serve?
“But as for me and my household, we will worship Yehova!“