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  • Answers4Saints | Answers 4 Saints

    Statics say 84% of Americans believe in the divinity of Christ and 74% profess commitment to him yet America continues downward spiritually to correction and morality why has Christianity not worked? Welcome, Fellow Truth Seekers: Start Your Journey Here Please keep in mind TEST EVERYTHING to scripture. If you have found your way to this page, it is highly likely that your spirit has begun to feel a quiet, persistent unsettling. Perhaps you have spent years—or even decades—sitting in mainstream church pews, loving God with all of your heart, yet sensing an invisible disconnect between the raw, unfiltered pages of your Bible and the traditions taught from the pulpit. You are not alone. Across the globe, the Father is whispering a call to return to His ancient paths, and your presence here is not an accident. This website is a sanctuary for those who are ready to lay down human dogmas, step out of traditional conditioning, and align their spiritual mirrors with the eternal, beautiful instructions of the Father—the $Torah$. Here is a map of what you will find on this platform and how to navigate your journey back to pure, uncompromised biblical truth. Step 1: Take the Self-Diagnostic Before you read a single article, we invite you to bypass the traditional defenses of your mind and take an honest, private look into the scriptural mirror. Take The Lawlessness (Anomia) Test App Our interactive, 10-question diagnostic tool is designed to evaluate your everyday theological beliefs and lifestyles against the objective standard of God's written Law. It is completely anonymous and acts as a powerful diagnostic tool to see if your spiritual "hardware" is tuned to the frequency of obedience or the frequency of traditional lawlessness ($anomia$). Step 2: Explore the Deep-Dive Studies Once you have taken the test, your heart may feel a bit unsettled by the gap between traditional church practices and the written Word. This is completely normal. To help you understand the mechanics of what you are experiencing, we have compiled a step-by-step library of theological and psychological resources: The Mirroring Principle of Idolatry: Understand the cosmic law of spiritual gravity: what you revere, you will resemble. Learn how choosing man-made systems over the Father's voice leads to a spiritual sensory shutdown (eyes that cannot see, ears that cannot hear). The Alignment of the Mirror: Discover why physical commandments like the Seventh-day Sabbath ($Shabbat$), biblical dietary boundaries ($Kashrut$), and even physical tassels ($Tzitzit$) are actually divine optical tools designed to keep your mirror pointed at the Creator. The Pauline Filter: Learn how to dismantle the highly selective, traditional lens used to twist the letters of the Apostle Paul into a shield against keeping the Father's commandments. The Mechanics of Conditioning : Are churchgoers "brainwashed"? Read a compassionate, psychological and sociological breakdown of why our loved ones experience intense cognitive dissonance and defensive reactions when confronted with the truth of the $Torah$. The Spirit of the Lawless One : Peer behind the physical world to understand the spiritual warfare of $anomia$, exploring how systematically bypassing the Creator's Law mirrors the original rebellion of the adversary. Step 3: Find a Soft Landing & Restoration Waking up to the reality of traditional conditioning can feel isolating and overwhelming. The social and emotional costs of walking differently than your family, friends, and church community can trigger immense fear. Read "A Loving Warning to a Churchgoer" If you are looking for a gentle, pastoral explanation of what is happening to your heart—or if you need a letter to share with a loved one that explains this spiritual transition without triggering immediate anger—this resource acts as a healing balm. It explains the mechanics of self-diagnosis, shows you the beautiful path of repentance, and lists clear scriptural proofs to help you take your next steps with confidence. A Note of Encouragement for the Road Beloved truth seeker, turning your mirror back toward the Creator's written instructions is a path of restoration, not bondage. Keeping the Father's commandments is how we physically express our love for Him (1 John 5:3). Take your time. Study the scriptures. Question the traditions you inherited. Ask the Father to remove the veil, polish your spiritual mirror, and restore your eyes to see and your ears to hear the glorious light of His eternal truth. Where to begin? We highly recommend taking The Lawlessness Test first, and letting the scriptures speak directly to you. A Loving Warning to a Churchgoer My friend, Scripture warns that the adversary’s primary goal is not to turn you into an atheist, but to subtly steer you onto his own path of anomia—the spirit of lawlessness that teaches God's instructions no longer have authority over your life (1 John 3:4). You can prove this spiritual blindness is operating in your own heart by looking at a simple, physical instruction like the Fourth Commandment: “But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work...” ($Exodus$ $20:10$). The Creator's written Word plainly designates Saturday as His holy day forever, yet when you look at this text, your eyes read "Saturday" while your traditional training forces you to see "Sunday" or to believe the commandment is abolished. This inability to simply accept and obey what is plainly written—substituting it instead with human church traditions—is the exact "sensory shutdown" warned about in the scriptures; it proves that while you may sincerely love God, you are unknowingly walking the path of the original rebel by treating His eternal $Torah$ as optional. This blindness is not an accident; it is the operation of a profound spiritual law: we spiritually conform to the nature of whatever we worship. When you place your ultimate trust and reverence in a church denomination, a human pastor, or a comfortable system of theology that explains away God's Torah, your soul begins to act as a mirror to that system. You inherit the exact sensory shutdown of the man-made traditions you revere—possessing a Bible you cannot see and a Creator's voice you cannot hear. By taking an honest look at your own daily practices versus the written Word, you are holding up a mirror to your soul and performing a vital self-diagnosis. Your own physical actions are proving that your spiritual hardware has been tuned to copy and reflect a lawless human system rather than the glorious, eternal image of the living God. Proof in the Scriptures: Look Up and Study These Verses If your heart is open to the raw, unfiltered truth of the written Word, please take a moment to look up these scriptures in your own Bible: Is the Sabbath truly done away with? $Exodus$ $31:16-17$: “Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever...” Question to ponder: If God declared the Sabbath an eternal sign and a perpetual covenant, by whose authority was it changed or abolished? Does God accept worship that is mixed with human traditions? Mark 7:7-9 (Yeshua's Warning): “Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men... Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.” Question to ponder: Are you honoring Sunday, Christmas, or Easter because the Bible commands them, or because church traditions tell you to? What does God think of prayers from those who reject His Law? Proverbs 28:9: “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law ($Torah$), even his prayer shall be abomination.” Question to ponder: If we ignore His written instructions, can we truly say we are in deep communion with Him? How does the New Testament define our love for God? 1 John 5:3: “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” Question to ponder: If loving God means keeping His physical commandments, why does modern theology teach that those commandments are a "burden" or "bondage"? This test is specifically designed to expose the subtle, traditional rationalizations that people in the church use to reject God's law. It uses the words of the Messiah Himself from Matthew 7:21-23—where He warns that many well-meaning, miracle-working churchgoers will be turned away because they "work lawlessness" (anomia). The 10-Question Diagnostic Review the statements below. Answer honestly based on your current personal beliefs, teachings, and church practices. 1. The Validity of the Law Do you believe or teach that the Law of Moses ($Torah$) has been "abolished," "nailed to the cross," or "done away with" for New Testament believers? [ ] YES [ ] NO 2. The Definition of Holiness Do you believe that under the New Covenant of "grace," physical obedience to the Creator's Old Testament commandments is completely optional or unnecessary? [ ] YES [ ] NO 3. The Sabbath Day Do you treat Sunday as the Sabbath, or believe the Seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday) was changed or abolished, despite God designating it as a "perpetual, everlasting covenant"? [ ] YES [ ] NO 4. Dietary Separation Do you believe that God's dietary boundaries (Leviticus 11) no longer apply, and that you are free to eat pig, shellfish, or other unclean things because "Jesus made all foods clean"? [ ] YES [ ] NO 5. Adopting Pagan Customs Do you celebrate holidays of pagan origin (like Christmas on December 25th or Easter Sunday) under the belief that "it's about the heart" and "God knows what it means to me"? [ ] YES [ ] NO 6. The Pauline Filter Do you use isolated, misunderstood verses from the Apostle Paul’s letters to argue against keeping the direct, physical commandments of the Father and the Messiah? [ ] YES [ ] NO 7. Labeling Obedience as "Legalism" Do you refer to, mock, or warn others against believers who strive to keep the Seventh-day Sabbath, eat clean, or wear $tzitzit$ (tassels) by calling them "legalists," "Pharisees," or "under bondage"? [ ] YES [ ] NO 8. Dismissing the Feast Days Do you believe that God’s annual Appointed Times ($Moedim$ in Leviticus 23) were "only for the Jews" and have no prophetic value or application for the Church today? [ ] YES [ ] NO 9. Cheap Grace Do you believe that as long as you "love God" and "love your neighbor," you are free to ignore the specific, physical instructions of how the Creator asked to be loved and worshiped? [ ] YES [ ] NO 10. Defensive Reaction to the Law Does hearing the term "Torah observance" or the suggestion that we must physically keep the commandments of God trigger immediate defensiveness, anger, or discomfort in your heart? [ ] YES [ ] NO Diagnosing the Results: What Does Your Score Mean? Count how many times you answered "YES" to the statements above. If You Answered "YES" 1 to 3 Times: Developing Contamination You have started to absorb some of the traditional, lawless dogmas of mainstream theology. While you may still revere the Old Testament, you are allowing human traditions to slowly blind your spiritual eyes to the plain instructions of the Creator. If You Answered "YES" 4 or More Times: The Spirit of Lawlessness ($Anomia$) A score of 4 or more "YES" answers indicates that your personal theology is operating directly under the spirit of $anomia$ (lawlessness). You are actively practicing a belief system that teaches that God's instructions have no authority over you. By defending these "YES" positions, you are using church traditions as a shield to bypass the written Word of God—which is the exact behavior the Messiah $Yeshua$ condemned in Matthew 7 and Mark 7. The Scriptural Reality Check If this test made you uncomfortable, look closely at what the Scriptures say about each "YES" answer: To Statement 1 & 2: $Yeshua$ said: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets... whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-19) To Statement 3: God said: “Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath... throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.” (Exodus 31:16) To Statement 4: The Prophet Isaiah warns that those who consume swine's flesh and abominable things will be consumed together in end-times judgment. (Isaiah 66:17) To Statement 5: God said: “Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared... and enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God.” (Deuteronomy 12:30-31) To Statement 6 & 7: The Apostle Peter explicitly warned that those who are "unlearned and unstable" twist Paul's letters to their own destruction because they are led away by the "error of the lawless." (2 Peter 3:15-17) To Statement 8: The Apostle Paul instructed New Testament believers to keep the biblical feasts: “Purge out therefore the old leaven... For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast.” (1 Corinthians 5:7-8) To Statement 9 & 10 : The Apostle John wrote: “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” (1 John 5:3) Conclusion Do not let traditional dogmas make the Word of God of "none effect" in your life. Repent of the spirit of lawlessness ($anomia$), point your spiritual mirror directly back to the Creator's written instructions, and let Him restore your eyes to see, your ears to hear, and your heart to obey! Spiritual Blindness and the Mirroring of Idolatry: Why the Church Cannot Comprehend the Torah A common question arises within the movement to return to God's commandments: Why is it that otherwise sincere, Bible-reading churchgoers cannot see, understand, or accept the perpetual validity of the Torah? Scripture reveals that this barrier is not merely intellectual; it is a profound, active spiritual state. When human traditions and man-made theology are elevated above the living instructions of the Creator , a specific spiritual mechanism is triggered: The Mirroring Principle of Idolatry. 1. The Powerless, Dead Idols Scripture is incredibly consistent in how it describes man-made idols. In the Psalms, we are given a vivid description of physical representations used in worship: "They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not..." — Psalm 115:5-6 "They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths." — Psalm 135:16-17 These idols are characterized by complete sensory shutdown. They possess the outward physical forms of sight, hearing, and speech, but they are utterly devoid of spiritual life, breath, and true perception. To bring this ancient biblical truth into the 21st century, we are going to use the example of a "Dummy" Display Smartphone. It looks perfect on the outside but lacks any internal life, illustrating exactly how a person can have all the outward tools of faith (Bibles, apps, church buildings) while remaining spiritually unresponsive to the actual commandments of God. Here is the updated article with this new modern analogy integrated as Section 3. 2. The Spiritual Mirror: Becoming What We Worship The crucial warning of these passages is not just about the statues themselves, but about the transformational impact they have on those who trust in them: "They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them." — Psalm 115:8 / Psalm 135:18 This is a spiritual law of the universe: We spiritually conform to the nature of the object of our devotion. When we place our trust in man-made theological structures, physical icons, or ecclesiastical traditions that substitute God's commandments, we begin to match their spiritual state. We develop spiritual eyes that cannot see and spiritual ears that cannot hear. 3. The Diagnosis of Spiritual Stubbornness Throughout the scriptures, when God's people fell into unbelief and stubbornness—trusting in their own traditions and rejecting the Torah—the prophets used this exact "idol-mirroring" language to diagnose their spiritual condition: Jeremiah 5:21: "Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not..." Ezekiel 12:2: "Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house." Mark 8:18: Yeshua Himself confronts His disciples with this same warning when they fall into fear and unbelief: "Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?" 4. The Root Cause: Hardening of the Heart Through Unbelief This sensory shutdown is fundamentally caused by a hardening of the heart. When a believer repeatedly encounters the plain text of God's Word but chooses to bypass it to preserve a comfortable, traditional doctrine, a calloused layer forms over their spiritual heart. According to Hebrew thought, the heart is the seat of the mind, will, and understanding. Unbelief acts as a barrier. It refuses to take God at His word. This persistent unbelief leads to a hardened heart (a spiritual thickening/callous). The result is a total inability to process spiritual truth that contradicts human traditions. 5. The Modern Application: The Veil Over the Church This spiritual mirroring explains why many modern churchgoers struggle to understand or accept the Torah. When presented with clear scriptures regarding the seventh-day Sabbath ($Shabbat$), dietary instructions ($Kashrut$), or the Feast Days ($Moedim$), they are often completely unable to comprehend or accept them. Even though the words are right there on the pages of their own Bibles, they cannot perceive them. Just as the dead, traditional systems they trust in are deaf to the living voice of God's law, they too experience a spiritual dullness. Until they repent of human traditions and surrender to the authority of the Creator's written Word, the veil remains over their eyes, keeping them spiritually blind to the beauty, light, and perpetual life of the Torah. This statement echoes 1 John 3:8, which says, "Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning" The Mirroring Principle of Idolatry: What You Revere, You Resemble One of the most profound, yet frequently overlooked, spiritual laws written across the pages of Scripture is what theologians call The Mirroring Principle of Idolatry. Simply put, the principle states: We spiritually conform to the nature of whatever we worship. In the words of biblical scholar G.K. Beale, "What people revere, they resemble, either for ruin or for restoration." When we give our ultimate devotion, trust, and obedience to something, we begin to mirror its characteristics. If we worship a dead, mute, and blind idol—whether a physical statue or a man-made theological tradition—we spiritually inherit its sensory shutdown. Conversely, if we worship the living, speaking Creator, we are restored to reflect His image. 1. The Divine Design: Created to Mirror the Creator To understand why false worship has such a devastating, blinding effect on human beings, we have to look back at our original blueprint. In Genesis, humanity was created with a specific structural purpose: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." — Genesis 1:27 Humans were designed to be spiritual mirrors placed in the creation. Just as a physical mirror has no light of its own but is designed to perfectly reflect the sun, humanity was designed to face the Creator and reflect His character, holiness, light, and instruction ($Torah$) into the physical world. Worship is the act of pointing our "mirror" toward an object. Whatever sits at the center of our devotion is the exact image our souls will reflect. 2. The Golden Calf: The First Major Replication (Exodus 32) The mirroring principle is vividly demonstrated during Israel's infamous golden calf incident in the wilderness. When Moses delayed coming down from Mount Sinai, the people grew impatient and demanded a physical god they could see and control. They fashioned a golden calf out of their jewelry: "And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel. .." — Exodus 32:4 Immediately after they bowed down and sacrificed to this golden calf, God changed the vocabulary He used to describe Israel. He said to Moses: "Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves... I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people." — Exodus 32:7, 9 The Hebrew term for "stiff-necked" ($qasheh$ $oreph$) is agricultural vocabulary used to describe an obstinate, stubborn bull or heifer that refuses to bow its neck to the yoke of its master. By choosing to revere a young, stubborn bull (the calf) rather than the living God, Israel instantly began to resemble the physical characteristics of their idol. They became spiritually "stiff-necked"—unbending, stubborn, and completely unresponsive to the voice of their Master. 3. The Sensory Shutdown: Psalm 115 and 135 The Psalms lay down the explicit mechanical law of how this spiritual replication operates. They describe the physical nature of man-made idols: “They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.” — Psalm 115:5-7 Then comes the cosmic spiritual warning in verse 8: “They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.” — Psalm 115:8 This is not poetry; it is a spiritual diagnosis. Trusting in a powerless, inanimate representation of godhood causes a complete sensory shutdown in the worshiper: Mouths that speak not: The worshiper loses the ability to speak pure, uncompromised biblical truth. Eyes that see not: The worshiper can look directly at a clear commandment in Scripture (like the Sabbath or dietary laws) and be utterly unable to see or register it. Ears that hear not: The worshiper can hear the voice of the Creator calling them back to His instructions, but they are spiritually deaf to the call. 4. The Prophets' Diagnosis of Israel When Israel later fell into rebellion and rejected the Torah, God did not diagnose them as merely "uneducated." He diagnosed them as idol-mirrors. They had successfully taken on the traits of the blind and deaf Canaanite gods they trusted in: Isaiah 6:9-10: God commissions Isaiah to speak to a people who have spiritually conformed to idols: “Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart...” Jeremiah 5:21: “Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not...” Ezekiel 12:2: “Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house.” By turning away from the Torah, they lost the spiritual hardware required to process spiritual truth. 5. The New Testament Reality: Tradition Over Commandments This is not an exclusively Old Testament phenomenon. Yeshua Himself confrontationaly applies this exact "idol-mirroring" diagnosis to the religious leaders of His day. When the Pharisees challenged Yeshua because His disciples did not follow the "traditions of the elders" (man-made religious rules that bypassed God's written law), Yeshua responded: “Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men... Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition...” — Mark 7:6-7, 13 Later, when His disciples failed to understand a basic spiritual concept, Yeshua turned to them and asked: “Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?” — Mark 8:18 The warning is clear: Any time we substitute God’s plain, written commandments with human dogmas, church traditions, or ecclesiastical systems, we trigger the Mirroring Principle. When we place our trust in a denomination, a popular pastor, or a comfortable system of theology that explains away God's law, we begin to resemble that dead system. We lose our ability to process the direct signal of the Scriptures. Our eyes read "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy" but our theological programming translates it to mean Sunday, or worse, that the Sabbath is abolished. The spiritual data is there on the page, but the "mirror" is pointing at human tradition, rendering us blind to the light of the Torah. 6. The Remedy: Restoration to His Image The Mirroring Principle is a law of spiritual gravity, but it works both for ruin or for restoration. If looking at and trusting in dead idols makes us dead, blind, and deaf, then turning our gaze to the living Messiah Yeshua and His perfect instructions has the exact opposite effect: “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass [mirror] the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” — 2 Corinthians 3:18 When we repent of man-made traditions, take the veil off our eyes, and submit directly to the written Word of the Creator, our spiritual senses are restored. We begin to reflect His character, His holiness, and His Torah. Our eyes see, our ears hear, and we are finally able to comprehend, accept, and walk in the beautiful light of His eternal truth. The Alignment of the Mirror: How the Commandments Counteract Idolatry When looking at the 20 specific practices in the Torah Observance Self-Assessment, it is easy for a modern reader to ask: “What does eating pork, wearing tassels, or keeping a Saturday Sabbath have to do with the heavy, spiritual reality of idolatry?” To the modern Western mind, "idolatry" is a mental or emotional state (putting your career or money before God), while the "Torah commandments" are seen as external, ritualistic rules. However, in Hebrew thought, the two are dynamically and structurally connected. Every single commandment ($mitzvah$) in the Torah acts as a physical alignment tool for your spiritual "mirror." When you reject these physical instructions in favor of human traditions, you actively turn your mirror away from the Creator, pointing it toward man-made systems. This triggers the Mirroring Principle of Idolatry—leading to the spiritual sensory shutdown described in the Psalms. Here is how specific commandments are directly connected to the mirroring of idolatry. 1. The Sabbath ($Shabbat$): Mirroring the Creator’s Rhythm vs. Human Authority To understand how the Sabbath connects to the mirror, look at the signature of the Creator. In the Fourth Commandment, God binds the Sabbath directly to His identity as the Maker of all things: “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” — Exodus 20:11 The Connected Mirror: When you observe the seventh-day Sabbath, you physically conform your life, your time, and your weekly rhythm to the exact pattern of the Creator. You are pointing your mirror directly at His face, reflecting His rest, His sovereignty, and His creative authority into the physical world. The Idolatrous Substitution: When mainstream ecclesiastical systems shifted the day of worship to Sunday and claimed the authority to transfer the holiness of Shabbat, they created a man-made tradition. The Mirroring Result : By resting on Sunday based on human church dogmas rather than the written Word of the Creator, a believer's mirror is pointed at a human institution. Because they revere human authority over the Creator’s written Law, they begin to resemble that system—becoming deaf to the plain text of Scripture and blind to the literal Fourth Commandment. 2. Dietary Laws ($Kashrut$): Mirroring Divine Holiness vs. Pagan Syncretism In Leviticus 11, God outlines which animals are clean and unclean. At the very climax of these dietary instructions, He reveals why He gave them: “For I am the Lord your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy... For I am the Lord that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” — Leviticus 11:44-45 The Connected Mirror: The word "holy" ($kadosh$) literally means set apart, separated, and distinct. God is distinct from the world. By putting a physical boundary on what enters our mouths, we mirror His holiness. We reflect His nature of distinction and order. Our daily eating habits become a physical mirror of His spiritual separation. The Idolatrous Substitution: Pagan idolatry is characterized by the breakdown of distinctions—mixing the holy with the profane, eating whatever the flesh desires, and absorbing the habits of the surrounding culture. The Mirroring Result: When the church teaches that "all things are clean to eat" (relying on misinterpretations of Mark 7 or Acts 10), they remove the boundary of distinction. By eating like the pagan nations, they begin to reflect the pagan worldview of spiritual mixture. They lose the ability to distinguish between what is clean and unclean in other areas of life, rendering them spiritually insensitive. 3. Tassels ($Tzitzit$): The Optical Shield Against Idolatry The commandment to wear fringes or tassels ($tzitzit$) on the corners of four-cornered garments is perhaps the most explicit "anti-idolatry mirror" in the entire Torah: “And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a-whoring [prostituting/worshipping idols]...” — Numbers 15:39 The Connected Mirror: The Torah acknowledges that the human eye is easily captivated by the physical world. Left to its own devices, the eye looks at the world, the heart desires what it sees, and the person conforms to that earthly image (idolatry). The $tzitzit$ serve as a physical, optical interruption. The Mirroring Result: Every time your eyes drift downward, they catch the sight of the blue thread in the tassels. This instantly redirects your focus back to the written commandments of God. It is a physical "guardrail" that forces your spiritual mirror to stay tilted upward toward the Creator rather than drifting down to copy the culture. 4. The Biblical Feasts ($Moedim$) vs. Christmas and Easter: Mirroring God’s Calendar vs. Pagan Cycles The annual Feasts (Leviticus 23) are designated as God's "appointed times." They are His prophetic schedule. Conversely, Deuteronomy 12:30-32 strictly warns: “Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them... and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.” The Connected Mirror: When you keep the Passover ($Pesach$), the Feast of Weeks ($Shavuot$), or the Feast of Tabernacles ($Sukkot$), you are mirroring the literal, prophetic timeline of Yeshua's redemption plan. Your mirror is reflecting the true light of the Messiah's first and second comings. The Idolatrous Substitution: Celebrating Christmas (December 25th) or Easter (with a Friday-to-Sunday timeline) is the exact definition of syncretism—taking the customs, dates, and rituals of pagan sun-god worship and renaming them to honor the Creator. The Mirroring Result: Because pagan customs are dead and have no spiritual breath, those who participate in them eventually inherit the sensory shutdown of those original pagan systems. Even when they are shown the plain scriptural timeline of three days and three nights (Matthew 12:40), or shown that Jeremiah 10 condemns decorated trees, they cannot see or comprehend it. Their theological mirror is reflecting the "dead light" of Christianized pagan traditions, leaving them blind to the brilliant light of God’s actual holy days. Summary: The Torah as the Blueprint of the Divine Image Human beings cannot avoid mirroring. We are created to be reflective surfaces. If we do not point our mirrors toward the written Torah—which is the perfect, physical expression of the Creator’s character—we will naturally point our mirrors toward: The Self (human desires and pride). The Culture (pagan traditions and holidays). Human Religious Systems (church doctrines that bypass God's Law). Every single commandment, from how we manage our finances (usury) to how we cut our hair or dress (mixed fabrics), is designed to shape our mirrors so that we perfectly conform to the image of the Messiah Yeshua. When we obey, our spiritual senses are restored. When we substitute His instructions with human traditions, our spiritual hardware shuts down, and we become just as deaf, dumb, and blind as the powerless idols of old. Identifying Modern-Day "Mirror Idolatry": Behavioral and Theological Signs If the Mirroring Principle of Idolatry is a spiritual reality, then the "sensory shutdown" described by the prophets (Psalms 115, Jeremiah 5, Mark 8) must be visible in the modern religious world. It cannot remain an abstract theological concept; it must manifest as recognizable behaviors and patterns of thought. How do you identify a modern-day believer whose spiritual "mirror" has been turned away from the Creator’s $Torah$ and pointed toward human tradition? The scriptures provide a clear diagnostic framework. When a person is reflecting a man-made religious system rather than the living Word, they exhibit specific, identifiable spiritual symptoms. 1. The "Translational Filter" (Eyes That See Not) The most prominent identifier of modern mirror idolatry is selective scriptural blindness. The Symptom: You can open a Bible, point directly to a plain, unambiguous commandment, and have them read it out loud. Yet, their mind is completely unable to process the plain meaning of the text. How to Identify It: You show them: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy... the seventh day is the sabbath...” (Exodus 20:8-10). Their "filter" instantly translates this to mean: “Go to church on Sunday.” You show them: “These are the beasts which ye shall eat... whatsoever parteth the hoof... and cheweth the cud...” (Leviticus 11:2-3). Their filter instantly translates this to mean: “We can eat whatever we want because Jesus made all things clean.” The Spiritual Reality: The hardware of their physical eyes is working, but their theological mirror is pointed at a denominational creed. The text of Scripture hits their eyes, but the data is scrambled by their programming before it can reach their heart. They cannot see what is plainly written. 2. The Echo Chamber of Human Tradition (Mouths That Speak Not) In Psalm 115, idols are described as having mouths that cannot speak truth. In modern times, this manifests as an inability to speak pure, uncompromised biblical truth, replacing it instead with human catchphrases. The Symptom: When challenged on a matter of scripture or lifestyle, the person does not defend their position using the direct context of the Word. Instead, they regurgitate the pre-programmed talking points of their religious institution. How to Identify It: They rely heavily on clichés, theological jargon, and ecclesiastical soundbites to bypass obedience, such as: “That’s legalism.” “We are under grace, not the law.” “That was just for the Jews.” “That's a secondary issue.” The Spiritual Reality: They have lost their biblical voice. Instead of speaking the words of the Creator, their mouth has become a speaker grille for the human authorities they revere. They can only echo the soundbites of the system they mirror. 3. The "But God Knows My Heart" Defense (Deafness to Warning) When an idol-mirror is confronted with the pagan origins of their religious practices, their spiritual hearing shuts down, and they retreat into emotional self-defense. The Symptom: When you show them scriptural and historical proof that holidays like Christmas or Easter are rooted in pagan worship (contrary to Deuteronomy 12:30-32), they do not hear the warning. Instead, they redirect the conversation to their own personal intentions. How to Identify It: They will respond with statements like: “But that’s not what it means to me.” “God knows my heart, and I am doing this for Him.” “As long as we are focusing on Jesus, the details don't matter.” The Spiritual Reality: They are spiritually deaf to the warnings of the Torah. By prioritizing their internal emotional state (what it means to "me") over the external written instruction of God, they prove that their mirror is pointed inward at The Self—the ultimate form of modern idolatry. 4. The Collapse of Distinctions (No Spiritual Senses) Holiness ($kedushah$) requires the ability to distinguish, separate, and put a difference between things. When a believer’s spiritual senses are shut down, they lose the ability to make biblical distinctions. The Symptom: They cannot perceive any difference between what God has designated as "Holy" ($kadosh$) versus what man has designated as "Common" ($chol$). How to Identify It: They see no difference between Shabbat (the day God sanctified) and Sunday (the day Constantine and the Roman Church set apart). They see no difference between Passover (God’s prophetic feast) and Easter (a tradition named after a pagan goddess). They believe that because "God created everything," all foods, lifestyles, and worship methods are equally acceptable if done with "love." The Spiritual Reality: Because they worship within a system that has mixed pagan habits with biblical language, they have inherited the system's numbness. They are spiritually colorblind—unable to distinguish the bright line of God’s separation from the gray smear of religious syncretism. 5. Hostility Toward the Hebrew Roots of Faith Just as light hurts eyes that have been in the dark for too long, the true light of the Hebrew roots of the faith often provokes a defensive, agitated reaction from those in mirror idolatry. The Symptom: The mere mention of the name $Yeshua$ instead of Jesus, or the suggestion that a believer should strive to keep the commandments out of love, triggers an immediate defensive posture. How to Identify It: They will accuse those returning to the Torah of "falling from grace," being "Judaizers," or belonging to a "cult." They display a visceral discomfort with the physical signs of obedience (like $tzitzit$ or Sabbath rest). The Spiritual Reality: The physical reality of the Torah acts as a polishing cloth on their mirror. It threatens the comfortable, dusty film of human tradition they have lived under. Because they are not ready to turn their mirror away from their ecclesiastical system, they lash out at the light that is trying to break through their sensory shutdown. Summary: A Checklist of the Modern Idol-Mirror The Prophetic Diagnosis The Modern Behavior "Eyes that see not" Reading a clear commandment on the page but being utterly unable to process its plain, literal meaning. "Ears that hear not" Hearing the warning against syncretism (pagan mixing) but dismissing it because "God knows my heart." "Mouths that speak not" Relying on theological clichés ("not under the law," "legalism") instead of quoting direct Scripture in context. "No breath/distinction" Believing that there is no difference between what is clean and unclean, or what is holy and The "Pauline Filter": How a Misaligned Mirror Distorts the Apostle’s Words If a modern believer's theological mirror has been pointed at human tradition, they must find a way to reconcile the clear, eternal commandments of the Creator with their refusal to obey them. To resolve this cognitive dissonance, they construct what can be called "The Pauline Filter." This is the practice of running the entire Bible—including the plain words of the Creator at Mount Sinai and the direct instructions of the Messiah $Yeshua$—through a highly selective, misunderstood reading of the Apostle Paul’s letters. By doing so, they use Paul as a shield to protect their traditions and justify their transgression of the $Torah$. The Apostle Peter explicitly warned that this exact phenomenon would occur: “...even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest [twist], as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked [lawless], fall from your own stedfastness.” — 2 Peter 3:15-17 How do you identify a believer who is utilizing the "Pauline Filter" to maintain their spiritual sensory shutdown? Here are the behavioral and theological signs. 1. The "Paul Over Yeshua" Hierarchy The most glaring symptom of the Pauline Filter is an unconscious theological hierarchy where Paul's words carry more practical authority than the words of the Messiah Himself. The Symptom: When confronted with the direct, plain instructions of the Messiah, the person will immediately bypass them by quoting an isolated verse from Paul to argue that the Messiah's words no longer apply. How to Identify It: You show them where $Yeshua$ said: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets... whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-19). Rather than accepting this, their mind immediately filters it out. They respond with: “Yes, but Paul says Christ is the end of the law for righteousness...” (Romans 10:4), interpreting "end" (telos) as "termination" rather than "goal/climax." The Spiritual Reality: Their theological mirror is pointed at a denominational construct that pits the Messiah against His own Apostle. Because they cannot process the reality that Paul was a Torah-observant Pharisee who defended the Law (Acts 25:8), they must make Paul the "new lawgiver" to justify ignoring the words of the Master. 2. The "Grace vs. Law" Dichotomy (The Divided Mind) Holiness ($kedushah$) requires unity and alignment. The Pauline Filter causes a severe mental split, forcing the believer to treat God's Grace and God's Law as opposing enemies rather than perfect partners. The Symptom: They operate under the assumption that if you love God’s commandments and seek to walk in them out of obedience, you are actively rejecting His grace. How to Identify It: Whenever you talk about keeping the Sabbath or clean eating, they will defensively respond with: “We are saved by grace, not by works!” (Ephesians 2:8-9). They are completely unable to comprehend that keeping the commandments is the fruit of salvation, not the root of it. They cannot reconcile Ephesians 2:8-9 with Ephesians 2:10 (“created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them”). The Spiritual Reality: They are spiritually colorblind to the purpose of the $Torah$. Because their ecclesiastical system teaches that the Law was a "burden" or a "curse" (misunderstanding Galatians 3:13), they view obedience as a threat to their faith. Their mirror reflects a cheapened grace that requires no physical surrender. 3. The "Colossians 2" Dismissal When confronted with the beautiful, prophetic reality of the Biblical Feasts ($Moedim$), those who use the Pauline Filter will instinctively retreat to a single, highly misunderstood passage in Colossians to shut down their hearing. The Symptom: They use Paul's warnings against pagan, ascetic philosophy in Colossae as a license to abandon God's designated Appointed Times. How to Identify It: You discuss the beauty of keeping Passover or Tabernacles ($Sukkot$). They will immediately quote Colossians 2:16: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days...” They stop reading there, believing Paul is saying these days are abolished. They are blind to the very next verse (Colossians 2:17), which states these days “are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” (The Greek literally reads: "let no man judge you... but the body of Messiah," meaning only the local body of believers should judge their observance, not pagan outsiders). The Spiritual Reality: Their mirror is tilted toward a system of lawlessness. They use Paul to justify celebrating pagan-derived holidays (like Christmas) while simultaneously using Paul to condemn those who celebrate God's actual holy days. 4. Total Blindness to Paul’s Self-Defense Perhaps the most ironic sign of the Pauline Filter is a complete inability to see or register the multiple times Paul himself explicitly stated that he kept, loved, and taught the $Torah$. The Symptom: They believe and teach that Paul successfully did away with the Law, despite the overwhelming historical evidence in the book of Acts that Paul went out of his way to prove he kept the Law. How to Identify It: You point them to: Acts 21:24: Where the elders of Jerusalem had Paul perform a public vow to prove to everyone that he “walkest orderly, and keepest the law.” Acts 24:14: Where Paul states under oath: “...so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets.” Romans 7:12: Where Paul writes: “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” When shown these plain verses, the user of the Pauline Filter will experience a temporary "system freeze." They will stare at the text, bypass it, and immediately jump back to an isolated verse in Galatians to restore their comfortable programming. The Spiritual Reality: This is the "translational filter" in active operation. The historical reality of a Torah-observant Paul is a direct threat to the theological foundation of the mainstream church. Therefore, the spiritual hardware of the believer must completely block these passages from reaching their heart, preserving the illusion of a law-abolishing Apostle. Summary: Restoring the Mirror of Paul The Misunderstood Paul The Restored, Torah-Observant Paul "Christ is the end of the law..." (Rom 10:4) "Christ is the goal/target of the law..." The Greek word telos means the ultimate aim or completion, not termination. "Not under the law..." (Rom 6:14) "Not under the condemnation/penalty of the law..." Because grace has paid the price, we are now free to obey it. "Let no man judge you..." (Col 2:16) "Do not let pagan outsiders judge your biblical walk..." Keep celebrating the feasts ($Moedim$) which point directly to the Messiah. "The law was our schoolmaster..." (Gal 3:24) "The Torah guarded and trained us..." Leading us to maturity so we can walk in the Spirit of obedience, not lawlessness. common. "Stiff-necked" Refusing to bend the neck to the literal, physical instructions ($mitzvot$) of the Creator. This statement directly references the biblical verse 1 John 3:8 , which states: "The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning." [1 ] Meaning of "Practicing" Sin In Christian theology, "practicing" sin does not mean committing an occasional mistake or lapse in judgment. interpret "practice" as a habitual, deliberate, and unrepentant lifestyle of wrongdoing. According to 1 John 3:4, sin is explicitly defined as the transgression of the Law (Torah). Within a strict Torah-observant framework, all 9 practices listed fail the test and are classified as scriptural transgressions. 1. The Hebrew Name: Acts 4:12, Matthew 1:21 — Replacing the native Hebrew name strips away its prophetic structural meaning: "Yahweh is Salvation." 2. Working on Sabbath: Exodus 20:8-11, Deuteronomy 5:12-15 — The Fourth Commandment explicitly forbids regular vocational labor. 3. Keeping Sabbath Holy: Genesis 2:2-3, Exodus 31:16-17 — Set apart at Creation as a holy day and designated as a perpetual, everlasting covenant. 4. Commandments in General: Ecclesiastes 12:13, 1 John 3:4, Revelation 14:12 — Scripture defines the whole duty of man as keeping the commandments. 5. Unclean Foods: Leviticus 11, Deuteronomy 14, Isaiah 66:17 — Dietary boundaries separating clean from unclean are never repealed in prophecy or Torah. 6. Appointed Days (Moedim): Leviticus 23 — God explicitly calls these "My Feasts." They serve as prophetic dress rehearsals for His redemption plan. 7. Christmas Traditions: Deuteronomy 12:30-32, Jeremiah 10:2-4 — God strictly commands His followers not to learn or adopt the customs of pagan nations to worship Him, regardless of intent. 8. Easter Timing: Matthew 12:40 — A Friday-to-Sunday timeline fails the structural proof of the "Sign of Jonah"—which requires exactly 3 days and 3 nights. 9. Passover: Exodus 12:14, 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 — Commanded as an everlasting ordinance. Paul explicitly reinforces this to New Testament believers, writing: "Let us keep the feast." Title: Torah Observance vs. Church Tradition: A Biblical Study Guide & Self-Assessment Subject: Biblical Theology and Torah Law (Hebrew Roots Perspective) Topics: The Definition of Sin (The Transgression Test) The Seventh-Day Sabbath (Shabbat) vs. Sunday Tradition Dietary Instructions (Kashrut, Blood, and Fat) God's Appointed Times (Moedim & Passover) vs. Mainstream Holidays Sacred Names (Yeshua vs. Jesus) Daily Commandments (Tzitzit, Shaatnez, and Images) Grooming and Body Laws (Beards, Tattoos) Social and Financial Laws (Usury, Clothing) Summary: This study guide evaluates mainstream church traditions and modern dogmas against the perpetual commandments of the Torah. Drawing from both the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and the Greek Scriptures (New Testament), it outlines how various modern ecclesiastical customs stand under the "Transgression Test." This test uses 1 John 3:4 to define sin strictly as the transgression of God's revealed law. Key Concepts: The Transgression Test: The process of using Biblical law as the objective measure of sin (1 John 3:4). The Perpetual Covenant of Shabbat: The seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday) was established at Creation and remains a sign between God and His people. The Sign of Jonah: Yeshua’s Messiahship is authenticated by spending exactly three days and three nights in the earth (Matthew 12:40), contradicting a Friday-to-Sunday timeline. Syncretism Warning: Deuteronomy 12:30-32 forbids using the methods of pagan nations to worship the Creator. Holiness Distinctions: Commandment laws regarding fabrics ($Shaatnez$), tassels ($Tzitzit$), and diet ($Kashrut$) serve to separate God's people from the world. Vocabulary List: Torah: "Instruction" or "Law" (the first five books of the Bible). Mitzvot: The individual commandments given by God. Shabbat: The seventh-day Sabbath (Friday sunset to Saturday sunset). Moedim: The Appointed Times/Holy Feasts (Leviticus 23). Yeshua: The Hebrew name of the Messiah ("Yahweh is Salvation"). Shaatnez: A fabric containing both wool and linen woven together. Tzitzit: Fringes/Tassels worn for remembrance (Numbers 15:38). Rosh Chodesh: The New Moon / Beginning of the Biblical month. The Spirit of the Lawless One: How Rejecting Torah Mirrors the Adversary's Rebellion When studying the Mirroring Principle of Idolatry and the profound spiritual sensory shutdown that affects the mainstream church, we must eventually confront the ultimate, sobering reality behind this blindness. Scripture does not treat "eyes that cannot see" and "ears that cannot hear" as mere intellectual deficits or passive, accidental misunderstandings. At its absolute root, persistent unbelief and systematic disobedience to the Creator’s $Torah$ are driven by an active, operational spiritual force. The Bible reveals a stark cosmic truth: those who belong to the adversary, or align with his systems of rebellion, carry and mirror his very spirit. 1. The Operational Spirit of Disobedience (Ephesians 2:2) The Apostle Paul explicitly identified the existence of an invisible, active spiritual current that influences those who walk in disobedience to God’s instructions: “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience...” — Ephesians 2:2 Note Paul's precise vocabulary: "The spirit that now worketh..." The Greek word for "worketh" is energeo, meaning an active, operating energy. It is a spiritual frequency. "...in the children of disobedience." The Hebrew idiom "children of..." denotes a people who take on the exact characteristics, traits, and nature of their source. Just as the Holy Spirit ($Ruach$ $HaKodesh$) actively works inside believers to write the $Torah$ on their hearts and produce the fruit of obedience (Ezekiel 36:26-27) , the spirit of the adversary actively operates in those who reject God’s laws. They become spiritual receptors for the frequency of rebellion, mirroring the character of the "prince of the power of the air." 2. Defining the Adversary’s Character: Lawlessness ($Anomia$) To understand what it means to mirror the spirit of the devil, we must define his primary scriptural characteristics. From the beginning in the Garden of Eden, the adversary’s signature move was to challenge, twist, and undermine the literal commandments of God: “Yea, hath God said... ?” (Genesis 3:1). The Apostle John explains the spiritual lineage of those who make a practice of bypassing God’s written instructions: “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law [anomia]. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin... He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning.” — 1 John 3:4, 8 In Greek, the word for "transgression of the law" is $anomia$, which literally means lawlessness—specifically, living as though the $Torah$ (the Law of Moses) does not exist or has no authority over you. John makes a direct, black-and-white distinction: Those who practice righteousness (aligning with God's $Torah$) mirror the Messiah $Yeshua$. Those who practice lawlessness ($anomia$) mirror the devil, who has been a rebel from the very beginning. When the church teaches that "the Law has been done away with" or that "we do not need to keep the physical commandments," they are unknowingly operating in the spirit of $anomia$. By adopting a theology of lawlessness, they point their spiritual mirrors directly at the original rebel, taking on his spiritual nature. 3. "Ye Are of Your Father the Devil" (John 8:44) The Messiah $Yeshua$ did not shy away from this reality. When confronting the religious leaders of His day—who claimed to worship the God of Abraham but actively rejected the living Word and substituted God’s commandments with human, traditional loop-holes—He diagnosed them with this exact spiritual replication: “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” — John 8:44 How do we identify someone operating under this parental spiritual influence? They cannot abide in the truth: When shown the plain, unadulterated written Word of God, they experience immediate cognitive discomfort and seek to explain it away. They prefer traditional lies: They willingly defend man-made dogmas (like Sunday sacredness or pagan-derived holidays) over the literal commandments of the Creator. They harbor hostility toward obedience: Just as the devil hates those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of $Yeshua$ (Revelation 12:17), those carrying his spirit will exhibit anger, mockery, or defensive hostility toward Torah-observant believers. 4. The Prophetic Blueprint: Changing Times and Laws The spirit of the lawless one has a specific prophetic agenda. The prophet Daniel foresaw that a power would arise in the earth that would attempt to copy the adversary's ultimate desire—to completely sever humanity from the Creator’s covenant boundaries: “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws...” — Daniel 7:25 The "times" here are the $Moedim$ (God's appointed calendar, Sabbaths, and feasts), and the "laws" are the $Torah$. When modern ecclesiastical systems changed the Sabbath to Sunday, replaced the Biblical Feasts with paganized holidays, and declared the food laws obsolete, they executed the exact agenda of the lawless one. Because churchgoers belong to and revere these traditional systems, they drink in the spirit that built them. They are not merely "uninformed"; they are influenced by a highly calculated, multi-generational spiritual current of $anomia$. This is why they cannot understand, comprehend, or accept the simple, beautiful instructions of the Father—their spiritual hardware is tuned to the frequency of the lawless one. Conclusion: A Battle of Spirits The scriptures leave us with no middle ground. We are spiritual mirrors, and we will inevitably reflect one of two spirits: The Spirit of God ($Ruach$ $HaKodesh$) The Spirit of the Lawless One ( $anomia$) Points the mirror toward the Creator. Points the mirror toward human systems & self. Writes the $Torah$ on the heart (Jer 31:33). Seeks to abolish or bypass the $Torah$. Leads to physical obedience and holiness. Leads to lawlessness disguised as "grace." Restores spiritual sight, hearing, and life. Triggers a complete sensory shutdown and blindness. If we want our family, friends, and churchgoers to escape this blindness, we must realize that we are not fighting against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12). Only the raw, piercing truth of God’s Word—combined with the power of the Holy Spirit—can break the hold of the lawless spirit, shatter the mirror of idolatry, and restore their eyes to see and their ears to hear. The decrees of Yehovah are trustworthy , making wise the simple. The commandments of Yehovah are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of Yehovah are clear, giving insight into living. Reverence for Yehovah is pure, lasting forever. The laws of Yehovah are true; each one is fair. They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb. They are a warning to your servant, a great reward for those who obey them. Psalm 19:7 The one who belongs listens and responds to Yehovah's words. If you don't listen and respond , it is because you don't belong to Yehovah." John 8:47 God's promises to those who obey him include: Being blessed Being saved Being watched over Being taken care of Being given what you ask for Being happy Living longer Lacking nothing good

  • Is Torah For Everyone? | Answers4saints.com

    The one who belongs listens and responds to Yehovah's words. If you don't listen and respond, it is because you don't belong to Yehovah." John 8:47 True and False Conversations "True conversion." This conversion is the foundational, life-altering event where a person turns from a life of sin to a life of following Jesus Christ. It is marked by repentance, faith, and a submission to God's will. "take up your cross and follow me" is found in the Gospels of Matthew , Mark , and Luke . In Matthew 16:24, Jesus says, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me, Sin is treason to God True conversion is where an individual's life is fundamentally changed by the Holy Spirit. John 2:6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. James 1:2 But don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. Christ came to free us from the curse of sin and death. Christ came to teach us how to live. Christ came to teach us how to love God and our fellow man A false conversion, conversely, is a profession of faith that lacks this authentic inner change, resulting in a life that doesn't align with Scripture says True Conversion A true conversion is seen as a supernatural work of God in a person's heart, leading to a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Key characteristics include: Genuine Repentance: This involves a heartfelt sorrow for sin, a confession of it to God, and a decisive turning away from sinful practices and desires. It's a change of mind and direction, not just regret over consequences. Saving Faith: True conversion is marked by placing complete trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, recognizing His death and resurrection as the full payment for sins. Indwelling of the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit takes residence in the believer, empowering them to live a new life, understand scripture, and grow spiritually. Love for God and Others : A genuine convert develops a growing love for God and a desire to obey His commandments, particularly the command to love one's neighbor. Desire for Holiness and Righteousness: While not perfect, a true Christian will have a new appetite for righteousness and a diminishing desire for worldly things. There's a clear trajectory of growth away from sin. Bearing Fruit: The transformed life produces "fruit of the Spirit" such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). This fruit is evidence of the inner change. Perseverance: True faith endures through trials, persecutions, and temptations. While struggles occur, the commitment to Christ remains. False Conversion A false conversion is a superficial or incomplete adoption of Christian beliefs or practices without the vital spiritual rebirth. It can be deceptive, both to the individual and to others. Signs of a false conversion often include: Lack of Deep Repentance: The individual may express regret for negative consequences or societal disapproval, but not for the sin itself as an offense against God. There's no fundamental turning away from a sinful lifestyle. Self-Serving Motivation: T he "conversion" may be motivated by external factors like seeking social acceptance, avoiding perceived punishment (like hell, often called "fire insurance"), gaining personal benefits (e.g., financial help, a spouse), or simply wanting an easier life, rather than a genuine desire for God. No Lasting Change in Behavior or Desire: Despite verbal profession, the person's character, habits, and fundamental desires remain largely unchanged, reflecting an ongoing love for the world and its ways (1 John 2:15-16). Lack of Spiritual Hunger: T here's little to no genuine desire for God's Word, prayer, fellowship with other believers, or spiritual growth. Religious activities become burdensome or merely performative. Falling Away Under Pressure: When faced with persecution, difficulty, or the allure of worldly temptations, a false convert often "falls away" because their faith has no deep roots (Matthew 13:20-21, the parable of the rocky soil). Absence of Godly Fruit: There is little to no evidence of the Holy Spirit's transforming work in their life. Any "good works" may stem from self-righteousness or a desire for human praise rather than genuine love for God and others. Spiritual Pride or Legalism: A false convert may exhibit an inflated sense of their own righteousness, judge others harshly, or focus on outward rule-keeping without an internal change of heart. The Bible warns that not everyone who professes faith will enter heaven (Matthew 7:21-23). The ultimate test of a genuine conversion is the long-term fruit produced in one's life, demonstrating an ongoing transformation by the Holy Spirit.

  • 21 | Answers4saints.com

    The ultimate goal of the Gospel was, and is, not harmony on earth, but PEACE WITH GOD . Yeshua says, "Do not think that I came to bring peace ON THE EARTH", but He did come to make peace between God and humanity I will send them great trouble— REPENT and live . Most Christians dont follow the real Jesus How to Pronounce Yeshua? (CORRECTLY) How to Pronounce YehoVah Breaking the Silence | WHY 99% of Churches Are NOT Telling You This A Rood Awakening! 233K subscribers Subscribe The word was God video IS JESUS A CHRISTIAN? The real Jesus Watchman Message In the message in Hosea, Yehovah is saying my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. He is warning us that it is our responsibility to give them warning from Him, about the coming wrath that is coming on this earth. Our Father repeated these few verses, He wants us to understand that He is serious, and will hold us accountable if we don't warn them (“son of man" denotes mankind generally) Hebrew people, The Yeshua Nobody Wants to Know Based on the text you provided, here is the clear, direct breakdown listing the two different sides of the Messiah, the different types of peace, the different human responses, and the specific things the Father despises. ⚔️ The Two Different Portraits of Yeshua 1. The Yeshua Everyone Wants to Know This is the popular, comfortable image of the Messiah that modern culture and many teachers love to focus on exclusively. It is characterized by: Gentleness, forgiveness, and unconditional love. A Savior who loves His enemies, forgives prostitutes, touches the untouchable lepers, and feeds the hungry. An image that demands very little personal sacrifice from the person looking at it. 2. The Yeshua Nobody Wants to Know This is the demanding side of the Messiah found in Matthew 10, which people often choose to forget or skip over because it causes heavy social and internal friction. It is characterized by: Being demanding and "brutally straightforward" about the cost of discipleship. Holding nothing back and declaring: "I did not come to bring peace, but a sword" (v. 34). Demanding that loyalty to Him and His truth comes before loyalty to your own father, mother, son, or daughter (v. 37). 🕊️ The Two Different Types of Peace The text corrects a major false assumption about the Messiah's mission on earth by splitting "peace" into two distinct categories: Peace on Earth (The False Assumption): The worldly expectation that the Messiah's goal was to bring immediate, horizontal harmony, social ease, and comfort among men on this earth. Yeshua flatly rejects this: "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth." Peace with God (The True Gospel Goal): Vertical reconciliation between a holy Creator and a sinful humanity (Romans 5:1). This true peace with the Father requires a sword of division on earth, separating those who obey from those who rebel. 👥 The Two Different Responses of Mankind 1. Those Who Turn Away and Refuse to Listen This group chooses their own comfort and traditions over the explicit commands of God. Their actions are listed directly from Isaiah 66: When the Father calls, they do not answer. When He speaks, they do not listen. They deliberately sin before His very eyes. They choose to do what they know He despises. 2. Those Who Acknowledge Him Publicly This is the remnant—the watchmen and the saints—who choose the narrow, demanding road: They acknowledge Him publicly here on earth, regardless of the sword of division or the social cost in their own families. The Reward: Yeshua promises, "Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven" (Matthew 10:32). 🚫 What the Father Openly Despises Isaiah 66:17 draws a sharp line regarding what brings people to a "terrible end" under the flaming fire of His hot rebuke. He specifically despises: False "Sanctification": People who try to "consecrate" and "purify" themselves using pagan traditions, human-made doctrines, or customized religious rituals (symbolized by the sacred garden with its idol in the center). Dietary Defiance: T hose who actively claim to be close to Him while feasting on pork, rats, and other detestable meats that His Torah explicitly forbids. The Watchman's Conclusion: You cannot separate the gentle Savior from the demanding Judge. To accept a Messiah of "peace" while rejecting His sword of division and His laws is to worship a false image. The evidence of true faith is the willingness to stand on the side of the sword that cuts us away from the traditions of men, so that we can be acknowledged before the Father on the day of reckoning. Matthew 10:34-39 By Reverend Bryn MacPhail If I were to ask you today to name some characteristics of Yeshua, what would you name? If you were describing the personality of Yeshua to someone, what adjectives would you use? Think of some in your head, and I will share with you the first ones that came to my mind. The three characteristics that immediately came to my mind were: GENTLE, FORGIVING, and LOVING. My guess is that most of you think of Yeshua in similar terms as well. When I came to the end of chapter 10 in Matthew, however, I got a very different portrait of Yeshua. After reading this section, not many people, until reading this particular section in Matthew, know this side of Yeshua. And if we are aware of this side of Yeshua, we often choose to forget about it. We are anxious to hear how Yeshua loves His enemies, forgives prostitutes, touches lepers, and feeds the hungry, but that's it. The Yeshua we see in chapter 10, verses 34-39–this Yeshua, quite frankly, is the one that nobody wants to know. But if I skipped this section, you would miss an essential side of Yeshua. The side of Yeshua that is DEMANDING. This is where Yeshua is, what you might term "brutally straight forward". He holds nothing back here. "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword" (v.34). What a shocking statement! Yeshua "did not come to bring peace, but a sword"? Why would He say such a thing? What Yeshua is doing here is He is correcting false assumptions about what the Jewish Messiah's mission was. According to Isaiah 9:5-7, the Messiah is described as the "Prince of Peace". The interpreters of the Hebrew Scriptures took that to mean that the Messiah would be the "Prince of Peace" ON EARTH. That, however, was not Yeshua' mission. The ultimate goal of the Gospel was, and is, not harmony on earth, but PEACE WITH GOD (Rom. 5:1). Yeshua says, "Do not think that I came to bring peace ON THE EARTH", but He did come to make peace between God and humanity (Rom. 5:1). I will send them great trouble— REPENT and live all the things they feared. When I called, they did not answer. When I spoke, they did not listen. They deliberately sinned before my very eyes and chose to do what they know I despise.” Isaiah 66: 4 See, the Lord is coming with fire, and his swift chariots roar like a whirlwind. He will bring punishment with the fury of his anger and the flaming fire of his hot rebuke.16 The Lord will punish the world by fire and by his sword. He will judge the earth, and many will be killed by him.17 “Those who ‘consecrate’ and ‘purify’ themselves in a sacred garden with its idol in the center —feasting on pork and rats and other detestable meats—will come to a terrible end,” says the Lord. Isaiah 66:4 32“Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.34“Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.35‘I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Your enemies will be right in your own household! ’l 37 “If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. 38 If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. 39If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it. Matthew 10:34-39 Take Up Your Cross and Follow Yeshua If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me 24 Then Yeshua told his disciples, “. 25 For whoever would save his life[a] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? Matthew 16:24 And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.” John 3: 3And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. 4If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. 5 But those who obey God’s words truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Yeshua did.1 John 2:3 He kept the Leviticus food laws, he kept the Sabbath, He kept Yehovah feast days and he kept the commandments. Why don't we follow the only perfect example there is? “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.8For I tell you truly until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. We are to seek, serve, and obey.

  • Where In Scripture Does It Say? | Answers4saints.com

    "Do you want to believe what the Bible says or what you have been taught it says? I can prove it The Final Verdict "The cross was never meant to be a place where the Law died; it was the place where the Penalty was paid so that you could finally be empowered to obey. If you come to the cross but flee from the Commandments, you haven't been saved —you've just been comforted in your rebellion."You’re like a convict handed a full pardon who chooses to stay locked up just for the free meals." Stop turning back. The same Yeshua who bled for you is the same God who wrote the Commandments with His own finger. "You cannot have the King without His Commandments. Choose the whole Truth, or you have nothing at all." Betrayal of God Names matters 12 tribes of Israel The "Shock and Awe" Indictment: Pillars of Deception The Messiah is the only person in history who never sinned "He demonstrated how to love God and neighbor by perfectly fulfilling the Torah (Instructions) observing the Sabbath, eating clean, and honoring the Appointed Days. He commanded us to follow in His footsteps. Therefore, those who claim to be His followers while living in direct opposition to His way are betraying Him; they pose as friends while actively working against the very commandments He established." The Scriptural Definition of Sin (The Lawless Ledger) Modern religion has rewritten the definition of sin to match human comfort, cultural trends, and denominational tradition. You think sin is an abstract, emotional concept—just 'doing your best but missing the mark' of a vague moral feeling. But the Creator does not judge by human opinion or majority belief. He judges by a fixed, immutable legal standard. The Confrontation: "You want to determine what is or is not acceptable based on what your culture tolerates, what your church tradition excuses, or what feels right to your own conscience. But your opinion is entirely irrelevant in the courtroom of the Almighty. If you want to know what sin actually is, you must pull back human philosophy and look directly at the literal text. Read 1 John 3:4 and Proverbs 28:9." The Verses: * The Definition: "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." (1 John 3:4) The Hearing: "One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination." (Proverbs 28:9) The Shock: "If God commands it, obedience is righteousness; if God forbids it, disobedience is sin. The standard is not what people think, but what God has spoken. When you audit your life against the literal text, the checklist of lawlessness is devastatingly clear:" The Mandate for Self-Examination You have to execute a brutal, honest audit of your own soul right now, in the quiet of your own prayer life. The Almighty does not want you guessing about your legal standing before the throne. The Confrontation: "Most people spend their entire lives assuming they are completely safe because they checked a religious box, said a prayer years ago, or sit quietly in a church pew. But the Scripture does not tell you to trust your feelings or your traditions. It issues a direct, commanding order to cross-examine your own lifestyle against the raw truth of the Word. Read 2 Corinthians 13:5." The Verse: "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!" The Shock : "Is your faith a living, breathing part of who you are, or are you just going through the religious motions? This test asks a critical question: Are you operating in the flesh or the Spirit? The ultimate tragedy is to wait until Judgment Day to find out you failed the exam . If you choose to ignore His house rules today, you are setting yourself up to stand before Him only to hear the most devastating, final legal verdict ever spoken: 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness' (Matthew 7:23). The Greek word there is anomia—meaning the active violation or rejection of His Torah. He doesn't say He forgot you; He says He never knew you because you treated His Commandments as optional. Examine your calendar, your walk, and your obedience right now while there is still time to repent, turn back (Teshuvah), and walk in His Truth." The Verdict of Blocked Prayers The Bible teaches that there are times when God refuses to hear a person's prayers because of persistent sin, rebellion, or hypocrisy. Unrepentant Sin "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." (Psalm 66:18) Refusing to Obey God "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." (Proverbs 28:9) Practicing Sin While Pretending to Worship "When ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood." (Isaiah 1:15) Rejecting God's Calls "Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer." (Proverbs 1:28) Harboring Bitterness or Unforgiveness Yeshua taught that we must forgive others if we expect forgiveness from God (Mark 11:25–26). The Hope Blocked prayers are not necessarily a final verdict. Throughout Scripture, when people genuinely repent and turn back to God, He is merciful and willing to hear them. "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven..." (2 Chronicles 7:14) The biblical pattern is clear: God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. When a person repents, seeks Him sincerely, and walks in His ways, the barrier between them and God is removed . The Duty of Every Parent The Almighty leaves no ambiguity regarding the primary mission of a parent. It is not to outsource the spiritual training of your children to a youth pastor , a Sunday school, or a secular system. It is a full-time, round-the-clock immersion program. The Confrontation: "Many parents think they are fulfilling their duty by simply taking their kids to church once a week or making sure they are good citizens. But the Creator demands that His instructions become the literal atmosphere of your home. If His Torah is only discussed on a designated morning, you are failing the blueprint. Read Deuteronomy 6:6-9." The Verse: " And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals between your eyes . You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." The Shock: "Look at the four-part daily schedule God lays out: when you sit down, when you walk, when you sleep, and when you wake up. That isn't a church service; that is a lifestyle. By failing to write His Commandments on your doorposts and teach them diligently to your sons and daughters, you are raising a generation of spiritual orphans. If you do not actively bind His Truth onto their hands and minds, the world will gladly step in and bind its own lawless system onto them." The Vertical and Horizontal Test The scriptures also apply this uncompromising standard to how we treat others. True alignment with the Almighty requires a structural reality that works both vertically (between you and God) and horizontally (between you and your fellow man). The Confrontation: "You can pretend to be perfectly holy in your vertical relationship with God—raising your hands in prayer and studying the text—but the true test of your faith is horizontal. Scripturally, love and hate are not merely internal emotions; they are actionable behaviors. If you ignore, mistreat, or fail to guard the physical and spiritual life of your brother, the Bible strips away your religious cover. Read 1 John 4:20." The Verse: "If a man say, 'I love God,' and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" The Shock: "Scriptural, hate is an action. It is defined by what you do or fail to do regarding your brother's spiritual and physical wellbeing. You cannot claim to walk in the light of the Creator while leaving your brother to stumble in the dark or suffer in need. If you refuse to love the tangible image of God standing right in front of you, your claim to love an unseen God is a complete illusion. You are failing the horizontal test, which means your vertical foundation is already compromised." 1. The "False Messiah" Checkmate Most Christians claim to follow the Messiah but spend their lives ignoring his direct orders. The Confrontation: "You say you follow Christ, but you follow a version of him your pastor invented. In Matthew 7:21–23, the Messiah says he will look people in the face—people who called him 'Lord' and did miracles in his name—and say, 'Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.'" The Shock: "I f you believe the Law is 'done away with,' you are, by definition, practicing lawlessness. You are literally the person being described in that verse. You aren't headed for heaven; you’re headed for the 'Depart from me' line." 2. The "Cross vs. Crime" Reality Force them to look at the cross not as a sentimental symbol, but as a grizzly, literal execution of justice. The Confrontation: "Why did the Messiah have to die? If God could just 'cancel' the Law, he could have forgiven us without the cross. The only reason blood had to be spilled was because the Law is permanent. It demanded a death penalty for your crimes." The Shock: "By saying the Law is gone, you are spitting on the cross. You are saying he died to satisfy a Law that didn't even need to stay in place. Connect Colossians 2:14—he nailed your crimes there, not his Father's commands. The speed limit didn't change; your ticket just got paid." 3. The "Mark of the Beast" Warning (End Times Focus) Since the world is racing toward the end, confront them with the Bible's literal definition of a saint. The Confrontation: "Everyone is terrified of taking the Mark of the Beast, but nobody is looking at the Mark of the Saints. Read Revelation 14:12." The Verse: "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." The Shock: "It’s a two-part requirement. You claim to have the 'faith' part, but you’ve thrown away the 'commandments of God' part. According to the last book of the Bible, if you aren't doing both, you are not a saint . You are an easy target for the enemy because you’ve already been trained to disobey God under the cover of 'Grace.'" 4. The Linguistic Deception: "Jesus" is Not His Name This is the structural truth that proves how deep the church's deception goes. They changed his identity to change his Law. The Confrontation: "You claim to worship him, but you don't even know his real name. The letter 'J' didn't even exist in any language until about 500 years ago. Nobody in Jerusalem ever called him 'Jesus'—there was no such sound in Hebrew, Greek, or Latin." The Verse: Acts 4:12 states, "There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." The Shock: "His actual Hebrew name is Yeshua (יהושע), which means 'YAH is Salvation.' The name itself defines his purpose. The church stripped away his Hebrew name and handed you a Greco-Roman replacement. Why? Because once they disconnected the Messiah from his Hebrew identity, it became incredibly easy to disconnect you from his Hebrew Law. You are praying to a translation while ignoring the real Lawgiver." 5. The Repentance Trap: Forgiveness Without Turning This shatters their false sense of eternal security. The Confrontation: "You think you are forgiven, but you have never actually repented. You’ve been told that repentance is just an emotional prayer, but the Bible defines it as a legal U-turn." The Verse: 1 John 3:4 states, "Sin is lawlessness [breaking the Law]." Acts 3:19 commands, "Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out." The Shock: " Repentance means turning away from sin. If sin is defined as breaking God's Law, then repentance means turning back to the Law. If you are still intentionally ignoring the Law, you haven't turned back from anything. You are still walking in the exact same direction. Your 'grace' is a fraud, your 'faith' is dead (James 2:17), and your unrepented record of debt is still active." 6. The Sabbath Subversion: Worshiping the Sun This exposes the weekly, blatant defiance of the Fourth Commandment—the only commandment God explicitly told His people to "Remember." The Confrontation: "You go to church on Sunday and call it the 'Lord's Day,' believing the Sabbath was either changed to Sunday or nailed to the cross." The Verse: Exodus 20:8–11: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy... the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God." Ezekiel 20:20: "And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God." The Shock : "God never authorized a change from the Seventh Day (Friday sunset to Saturday sunset) to the First Day. Constantine and the Roman Catholic Church officially moved it to Sunday in 321 AD to align with pagan sun worship. By keeping Sunday, you are honoring Rome's authority, not God's. Yeshua Himself kept the Seventh-day Sabbath (Luke 4:16). If you are willfully breaking the Sabbath every single week, you are carrying the sign of rebellion, not the sign of the Creator." 7. The Dietary Defiance: Eating the Unclean This strikes directly at daily physical behavior, exposing how Christians use church tradition to justify what God explicitly calls an abomination. The Confrontation: " You pray over a plate of pork or shellfish and think your prayer purifies it. You believe Peter’s sheet vision in Acts 10 or Paul's letters gave you permission to eat whatever you want." The Verse: Isaiah 66:15 –17 (An End-Times prophecy of final judgment): "For behold, the LORD will come in fire... those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens... eating pig's flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the LORD." The Shock: "God does not change His mind about what defiles the body (Leviticus 11). In Acts 10, Peter explicitly states that the vision was about men, not meat ('God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean'). When the Messiah returns in fire to execute judgment, He is explicitly targeting those who are eating unclean animals. Your pastor's theology will not protect you from the fire of Isaiah 66." 8. The Pagan Calendar: Rejecting God’s Appointed Times This exposes the replacement of God's holy calendar with Roman, sun-worshipping traditions. The Confrontation : "You zealously celebrate Christmas and Easter—days rooted entirely in pagan fertility cults—while completely ignoring the Holy Feast Days that God established forever." The Verse: Leviticus 23:2 states , "The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts." They belong to Him, not just ancient Judah. Daniel 7:25 warns that the enemy power would “think to change times and laws.” The Shock: " The Roman church changed the times and the laws, and modern Christianity happily followed them. You ignore Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the Day of Atonement—which the Messiah and the Apostles strictly kept—and replace them with traditions God explicitly commanded His people never to touch (Deuteronomy 12:30–32). You are keeping Rome's appointments while standing up the King of the Universe on His." 9. The Legal Contradiction You claim the blood of Yeshua washed away your sins. But 1 John 233:4 says sin is the breaking of the Law. The Confrontation: "How can you celebrate being saved from your sins while simultaneously bragging that you don't have to keep the Law? If the Law is gone, then sin no longer exists, and you didn't even need a Savior. Read 1 John 3:4." The Verse: "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." The Shock: "If you refuse to keep the Commandments, you are saying, 'I want to be forgiven for breaking the rules, but I reserve the right to keep breaking them.' That isn't faith; that is a legal insult to the Judge. You are asking for a pardon while holding the weapon you used to commit the crime." The "Love" Deception Most people say, "I don't need the Commandments; I just love God." The Confrontation: "You claim to love the Creator, but you refuse to listen to how He wants to be loved. The Bible doesn't let you define love your way. Read 1 John 5:3." The Verse: "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." The Shock: "If you turn away when confronted by the Commandments, you are proving that you don't actually love God—you love the feeling of being forgiven. You love yourself, not the Creator." The "Narrow Gate" vs. The "Wide Cross" People want a "Wide Cross" that accepts everyone regardless of their rebellion. But Yeshua described a Narrow Gate. The Confrontation: "Modern religion has invented a broad path where you can confess Messiah with your lips but live like the rest of the world. But the real Yeshua didn't offer a frictionless road. Read Matthew 7:13-14." The Verse: "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." The Shock: "The Gate is narrow because the Commandments are the boundary. If you turn around when you see the requirements of the Sabbath, the Dietary Laws, and the Appointed Times, you are choosing the Wide Road. You are essentially saying the price of following the real Yeshua is too high. You would rather have a comfortable lie than a difficult Truth." The "Great Disconnect" (The Hypocrisy of the Covenant) This is the "Great Disconnect" of modern Christianity. People treat the cross like a drive-through window for mercy, but they treat the Commandments like a wall they refuse to climb. The Confrontation: "You want the benefits of a King without honoring His jurisdiction. You claim the protection of the Blood of the Covenant, but you flatly reject the Terms of the Covenant. You cannot sign a legal contract, claim the inheritance, and then tear up the stipulations. Read Hebrews 10:29." The Verse: " 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?" The Shock: "If you are delivering this as a 'Shock and Awe' message, you have to expose the hypocrisy of wanting the Blood of the Covenant while rejecting the Terms of the Covenant. To take His blood for your cleansing while calling His Sabbath or His dietary instructions 'done away with' is to treat His sacrifice as a cheap license for lawlessness. You aren't honoring the Savior; you are treating the ultimate cosmic execution as a get-out-of-jail-free card so you can keep running your own life." . The Cowardice of the Partial Convert "You are willing to walk to the cross because it feels like a gift, but you turn your back the moment you see the Commandments. You want a Savior, but you refuse a Lord." The Confrontation: "You have a selective faith that only accepts the parts of God that give you comfort while fleeing from the parts that demand your submission. You want the security of His sacrifice, but you are too terrified to let Him govern your schedule, your plate, or your lifestyle. Read Luke 6:46." The Verse: "But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?" The Shock: "A partial conversion is nothing more than spiritual cowardice. It is the mindset of a person who wants the crown but despises the crown's authority. True conversion requires a total surrender of your self-will. If you only obey God when it aligns with what you already wanted to do, you aren't serving the King—you are still serving yourself." The Proof of Love In John 14:15, Yeshua directly links love to action, removing all room for emotional sentimentality or lip service. The Confrontation: "You can weep at the altar, raise your hands during the worship songs, and tell anyone who will listen how much you love Jesus. But the Messiah Himself does not measure your love by your goosebumps or your tears. He measures it by your track record of obedience. Read John 14:15." The Verse: "If ye love me, keep my commandments." The Shock: "To claim you love Him while walking in open defiance of His Torah—ignoring His Sabbath, His Dietary Laws, and His Appointed Times—is a profound delusion. You are treating the King of Kings like a casual boyfriend whom you can sweet-talk while completely ignoring his boundaries and expectations. True love isn't an emotion you feel; it is a legal, actionable commitment to submit to His authority." Testing Your Profession In 1 John 2:4, the Scripture sets an absolute, uncompromising standard for anyone who claims to belong to the Almighty, emphasizing that lip service without a changed life is a falsehood. The Confrontation: "You tell people you have a personal relationship with the Creator. You check the box on your social media profile, wear the jewelry, and claim to 'know' Him. But the Bible has a brutal, single-sentence test to determine if you are telling the truth or telling a lie. Read 1 John 2:4." The Verse: "He that saith, 'I know him,' and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." The Shock: "This isn't a suggestion; it's a legal verdict from the Word of God. According to the Apostle John, if you boast about knowing the Savior but refuse to guard His Torah—His Sabbath, His Dietary Laws, and His Appointed Times—the Bible doesn't call you a 'growing Christian' or a 'believer under grace.' It calls you a liar. If your profession of faith doesn't alter your lifestyle, your calendar, and your obedience, your testimony is nothing but a fraudulent presentation to the world." The Distinction (Stumble vs. Betrayal) You have to know the difference between a servant who trips on the path and a rebel who walks off it. The Confrontation: "Many people excuse their lifelong disregard for God's instructions by saying, 'Nobody's perfect, we all stumble.' But there is a massive legal difference between a soldier who falls in the mud during battle and a deserter who runs to the enemy's camp. Read Proverbs 24:16." The Verse: "For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall into calamity." The Shock: "A stumble is a mistake made while trying to stay on the narrow path, followed by immediate repentance (Teshuvah). Betrayal is the intentional decision to walk away from the path because you prefer your own way over His. Bottom Line: Betrayal is knowing the Master’s house rules and choosing to treat them as optional. When you know the Sabbath, the Dietary Laws, and the Appointed Times are His standard, yet you deliberately choose to treat them as suggestions, you aren't stumbling—you are walking in open revolt." The Reality of False Conversion: Just Getting Wet True salvation demands a total legal surrender: absolute repentance, a dedication to obedience, and the execution of baptism. If you go through these motions without a radical change of mind and direction, you are simply getting wet. The Confrontation: "People treat baptism like a magical ritual that automatically punches their ticket to heaven, regardless of how they live afterward. But water cannot wash away a rebellious heart. You walk out of the water just as lost as you went in, because an unrepented record of debt cannot be canceled. Read Acts 5:32." The Verse: " And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him." The Shock: "To legally belong to the Creator, you must receive His Holy Spirit and actively walk in His Truth. But here is the hard line: God will never give His Holy Spirit to those who choose to live in disobedience. If your lifestyle still rejects the Sabbath, the Dietary Laws, and His Appointed Times, you are operating without the Spirit of Christ. You haven't been born again; you just went for a swim while holding onto your sins." The Execution of Spiritual Blindness Without the indwelling of the Spirit, a devastating spiritual sentence is carried out against you. The Confrontation: "You think you can reject the Master's instructions and still have spiritual clarity. But the moment you walk away from His Torah, a legal judgment takes place in your mind. You are stripped of your discernment, leaving you completely vulnerable. Read Isaiah 29:10." The Verse: "For the Lord has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, the prophets; and He has covered your heads, the seers." The Shock: "Without the indwelling of the Spirit, a devastating spiritual sentence is carried out against you: The Standard of True Alignment True alignment with the Almighty cannot be faked, bartered, or replaced by a pastoral ritual. It requires a two-part structural reality. The Confrontation: "Many believe that a regular church attendance record, a title, or a recommendation from a pastor gives them legal standing before the throne. But the Judge does not accept human credentials or forged paperwork. Read John 4:24." The Verse: "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." The Shock: "True alignment requires a two-part structural reality: An Internal Transformation executed strictly by the Holy Spirit. An Unwavering Commitment to worship Him in Spirit and in absolute, uncompromised Truth. Without both, you are standing in a courtroom trying to present a fraudulent contract to the Judge. You cannot bring the 'spirit' of emotional worship while throwing out the 'truth' of His Commandments, nor can you bring cold ritual without the Spirit. If you lack either one, the contract is null and void, and you are legally exposed before the Court." The Resurrection: The "True" Hope In the Hebrew mindset, the reward isn't "going to heaven" as a disembodied soul. The reward is the Resurrection of the Body at the end of the age. The Confrontation: "Modern religion has invented a sentimental, unbiblical fairy tale about floating off to heaven on a cloud the moment you die. This pagan view of a disembodied afterlife completely bypasses the central hope of the scriptures: the physical resurrection from the dead. Read John 3:13 and Acts 2:34." The Verses: * Yeshua’s Fact: "No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven." (John 3:13) David’s Fact: "For David did not ascend into the heavens..." (Acts 2:34) The Shock: "The Biblical Timeline is clear: when a person dies, they return to the dust—entering a state of sleep in Sheol—where they remain until they are awakened by the Master at the 'Last Trumpet.' By replacing the Resurrection with an instant escape-to-heaven philosophy, you strip the return of Messiah of its ultimate power. You don't go to Him in the sky forever; He comes down here to awaken His saints from the dirt, conquer death, and establish His physical Kingdom on the earth." The "Thief on the Cross" Objection This is the verse most often used by the carnal mind to "prove" that people go to heaven immediately when they die, bypassing the resurrection. The Confrontation: "People point to the thief on the cross as a get-out-of-jail-free card for an instant escape to heaven. They use one sentence to wipe out the entire biblical timeline of the resurrection. But they are completely missing the grammatical and historical reality of the text. Read Luke 23:43." The Verses: * The Thief's Request: "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." (Luke 23:42) Yeshua's Response: "And Jesus said to him, 'Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.'" (Luke 23:43) The Shock: " The original Greek text had no punctuation or commas. Where a translator places the comma completely changes the meaning: Interpretation A (Traditional): 'Truly I tell you, today you will be with me...' Interpretation B (Hebrew Context): 'Truly I tell you today, you will be with me in paradise.' The absolute proof is that Yeshua Himself did not go to Paradise or heaven that afternoon. He went into the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. Three days later, He told Mary Magdalene in John 20:17, 'Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father.' If the Master Himself hadn't gone to heaven yet, the thief wasn't there either. Yeshua was giving a solemn promise on that specific day of crucifixion that the thief would ultimately have a place in the future, physical Kingdom at the resurrection." The "Truth Only" Summary According to the literal text, when a person dies, they "rest" or "sleep" in the grave (Sheol). They remain there, unconscious of the passage of time, until the Resurrection at the return of Yeshua. The Confrontation: " Stop looking for an escape hatch into a disembodied, spiritualized ether. The Almighty created man from the dirt of the ground, and His ultimate plan has always been a physical, earthly inheritance. The focus of the end times is not about us going up to live with Him—it is about Him coming down to live with us. Read Revelation 21:3." The Verse: " And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.’" The Shock: "The 'True' destination for the righteous is not a distant heaven, but a restored Earth where the Master sets up His throne. You are not going to spend eternity floating away from the physical creation; you are going to be resurrected into an incorruptible body to rule and reign right here on the ground. To cling to the traditional 'heavenly reward' is to fundamentally misunderstand the destination of the Narrow Road." To address the "true rapture" using the Truth Only approach, we must distinguish between the popular modern "Left Behind" theory and what is actually written in the original Greek and Hebrew manuscripts. The Confrontation: " Modern church culture has fed you a comforting fairy tale of a secret, silent escape pod designed to snatch you away before things get difficult. You’ve been trained to look for a backdoor out of tribulation instead of preparing your house to endure it. Read 1 Thessalonians 4:17." The Verse: "Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall always be with the Lord." The Shock: "The word 'Rapture' does not even appear in your English Bible. It comes from the Latin rapio, translating the Greek harpazo (to snatch or seize). But the modern church has completely twisted the mechanics, the timing, and the purpose of this event to fit a narrative that the ancient prophets and apostles never taught." 1. The Timeline: Pre-Tribulation vs. Post-Tribulation The most common modern teaching suggests that believers disappear before a time of trouble. However, if we look at the literal words of Yeshua, the sequence is completely reversed. The Verse (Matthew 24:29-31): "Immediately after the tribulation of those days... they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds..." The Shock: "In the literal words of the Messiah Himself, the 'gathering'—what you call the Rapture—happens after the tribulation, not before. The modern church is prepping people for an escape that isn't coming, leaving an entire generation completely unequipped to stand firm in the face of the enemy." 2. The "One Taken, One Left" Misconception Many people use Matthew 24:40 ("two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left") to describe a secret vanishing act of the righteous. But in a Hebrew context, being 'taken' is a death sentence. The Verse (Matthew 24:38-39): "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." The Shock: "Go back to the pattern of Noah's day. The ones 'taken' were not the righteous flying away to safety—the ones 'taken' were the wicked who were swept away by the judgment of the flood to their destruction! The ones 'left behind' were Noah and his family, the righteous who remained on the ground to inherit the cleansed earth. You are actively praying for the wrong outcome." 3. The Historical Origin of the Secret Escape If this secret, pre-tribulation flight plan isn't in the literal words of Scripture, where did it come from? The Fact: "This doctrine was virtually unknown for the first 1,800 years of Church history. It was popularized around 1830 AD by John Nelson Darby, who developed a system called 'Dispensationalism.' It became cement in the American mind when it was printed in the study footnotes of the Scofield Reference Bible in 1909. You are risking your spiritual survival on a 19th-century human invention that was cross-referenced into your margins." 4. The Hebrew Concept: The Royal Meeting In the ancient world, when a King or a Bridegroom approached a city, the citizens did not run out to meet him so they could escape with him back to his home. They went out to escort him into their territory. The Verse (Matthew 25:6): "And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’" The Shock: " In 1 Thessalonians 4:17, the Greek word for 'meet' is apantesis. In ancient custom, and in every other New Testament usage (like the Parable of the Ten Virgins), apantesis means going out to greet an arriving dignitary and immediately turning around to escort him back to where he was heading. The 'Rapture' is not a flight away to heaven for seven years; it is a glorious, royal welcome in the air to meet the arriving King, Yeshua, as He descends to execute judgment and establish His permanent Kingdom right here on E arth."

  • 19 | Answers 4 Saints Paul said

    As you read in the verses Paul makes it clear also, if you are led by the spirit you are not under the law, (Keeping this in mind sin is transgression of the law.) So, if you are not keeping Yehovah laws and statutes you are under the law, because there is no law against keeping His laws. A. How You Get In vs. How You Walk Paul’s Focus: Paul was dealing with a massive crisis: institutional religious leaders were telling Gentile converts that they couldn't be saved unless they underwent ritual circumcision and converted to Judaism before trusting in Yeshua (Acts 15:1). Paul fought this fiercely. He argued that a person is justified (cleared of their past guilt) by faith in Yeshua's sacrifice, not by their own track record of keeping the law. You cannot earn your way out of past sins. Yeshua’s Focus: Yeshua was speaking to people who already knew the Torah but were faking it. He focused on how a saved person walks. Once you are in the covenant by faith, obedience is the fruit of your love for Him. B. "Works of the Law" vs. "The Commandments" When Paul uses the phrase "works of the law" (especially in Galatians and Romans), he isn't talking about God's Ten Commandments or the Sabbath. In the first-century Hebrew mind, "works of the law" (ma'asei ha-torah) referred to man-made religious decrees, traditional conversion rituals, and legalistic checklists used to separate Jews from Gentiles. Paul fought man-made legalism, but he loved God’s literal law. He explicitly wrote: "The law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good" (Romans 7:12). C. The Target: The Great Harlot's Loophole The institutional church system (the "Great Harlot") took Paul's complex arguments about Gentile inclusion and twisted them into a license for lawlessness . They used Paul to create a loophole to throw out the Sabbath, ignore the dietary laws, and abandon the appointed feasts—the exact opposite of how Yeshua lived. If Paul actually taught that the Sabbath was abolished or that God's food laws didn't matter, he would have been a false prophet according to Deuteronomy 13. But Paul defended himself against that exact accusation in a Roman court: "I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets." — Acts 24:14 The Verdict The difference is not that Yeshua said "Obey" and Paul said "Don't." The truth is that Yeshua is the Standard, and Paul is the Commentary. Yeshua showed us what the perfect walk looks like. Paul explained how the rest of the world (the Gentiles) could be grafted into that exact same olive tree through faith (Romans 11). If anyone interprets Paul in a way that contradicts the clear, commandment-keeping lifestyle of Yeshua, they are doing exactly what Peter warned against: twisting Paul’s words into the error of the lawless. In 2 Peter 3:15-16, Peter refers to Paul as a "beloved brother" who wrote with wisdom given to him. Peter acknowledges that some of Paul's writings are hard to understand, noting that ignorant and unstable people twist them—along with "other Scriptures"—to their own destruction God righteousness is His Torah When we read The Torah keep in mind there is a difference between Gods law and the works of the law mans law .CONCLUSIONS The “no-law” doctrine has taken Paul’s “hard to understand writings They interpret the works of the law which is the oral law of the Jews to mean that the laws of God given through Moses are no more, and in so doing, have elevated Paul’s teachings above the teaching of Yeshua and the very words of God. The filter that should be used is that God does not change, He is not a God of confusion, He doesn't lie, or that scripture cannot be broken, and it is the whole duty of m an to keep all His commandments . The decrees of Yehovah are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The commandments of Yehovah are right, bringing joy to the heart . The commands of Yehovah are clear, giving insight into living. Reverence for Yehovah is pure, lasting forever. The laws of Yehovah are true; each one is fair. T hey are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb. They are a warning to your servant, a great reward for those who obey them. Psalm 19:7 The one who belongs listens and responds to Yehovah's words. If you don't listen and respond , it is because you don't belong to Yehovah." John 8:47 In 321 A.D., the “Christianized” Roman Emperor Constantine declared Sunday a day of rest, although it was in honor of the “venerable day of the sun,” hence the name of the day, not of the traditional Sabbath. Paul Said: Corinthians 11:1 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. Romans 2:13 states, "For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified," according to the New International Version. This verse emphasizes that mere knowledge or hearing of God's law is insufficient for righteousness. True righteousness comes from actively obeying and living out the law. There is now one single law that rules both Jew and Greek alike: The law of faith (Romans 3:27) The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2) The law of Christ = love God and love your neighbor, fulfilled by the Spirit (Galatians 5:14; 6:2; Romans 13:8–10) One God. One Messiah. One gospel. One law for Jews and Greeks: faith in the crucified and risen Jesus. That is why Paul can say in the very next breath after “neither Jew nor Greek”: “You are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:28–29). Same promise. Same inheritance. Same law. No exceptions. No special tracks. Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that the Yehovah your Elohim is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep His commandments, to a thousand generations. Romans 2:13 “For not the hearers of the Law are just in the sight of Yehovah, but the doers of the Law will be justified” Deuteronomy 4:8 And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? Before you review the information that proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Paul is not teaching against the law. Stop and read the Deuteronomy and Romans again. He said to a thousand generations. Acts 24:14 But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, Anytime we see, Paul speak against the law, you can put in one of two categories. He is either talking about the traditions and doctrines of men, man's law the oral law or the Greek law, this is what they did to put man under bondage. Or he is speaking about the punishment when you break the law, bondage comes upon you that is the result of sin; the law of sin and death, which Yeshua nailed to the cross. Most of us never knew there are 7 Laws but here there are; Paul is talking about in his writings. The Law of God Romans 3:31 1 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid yea, we establish the law. The Law of Sin Romans 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. The Law of the Spirit Romans 8:2 Through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death The Law of Faith Romans 3:27 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid yea, we establish the law. The Law of Righteousness Romans 9:31 The people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal The Law of Christ 1 Corinthians 9:21 Those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. The Law of Sin and Death Romans 8:2 Through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death Numbers 23:19 "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? 1 Corinthians 3:3 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. John 10:35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken. 1 John 3:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. Ecclesiastes 12:14 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 1 John 3:4 Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness as well. Indeed, sin is lawlessness. Psalm 19: 7 The law (Torah) of the Yehovah is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple Psalms 19:8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. Proverbs 10:8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. 1 Timothy 1:8 Now we know that the Law is good, if one uses it legitimately Exodus 20:2 I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Acts 17:10 Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. (the only scriptures they had were the Old Testament) Galatians 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them. “But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith. “Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them. “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Romans 8:2 because through Christ Yeshua the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death Acts 24:14 "But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the Elohim of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets. Acts 25:8 - while he answered for himself, "Neither against the Law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I offended in anything at all." Acts 18:21 - but took leave of them, saying, "I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem; but I will return again to you, Yehovah willing." And he sailed from Ephesus. Romans 7:16 And if I do what I do not desire, I admit that the Law is good. Romans 7:25 - I thank Yehovah--through Yeshua the Messiah our Master! So then, with the mind I myself serve the Law of Yehovah, but with the flesh the Law of sin. Matthew 23:1 Then Yeshua spoke to the crowds and to His disciples: 2“The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So practice and observe everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach Galatians 5:17 For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to one another, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. 19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; … As you read in the verses Paul makes it clear also, if you are led by the spirit you are not under the law, (Keeping this in mind sin is transgression of the law.) So, if you are not keeping Yehovah laws and statutes you are under the law, because there is no law against keeping His laws, however breaking them is another story. If you are truly led by the spirit you want to please and obey your heavenly father. Psalm 119:1 Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Yehovah Ezekiel 36:26-27 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Jeremiah 31:33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, (Yehovah) says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Galatians 3:2: For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Yeshua 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.… Ephesians 2:11 Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles (Christians) in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Yeshua you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.… (You are a Citizen of Israel, required to keep all Yehovah instructions and laws. You are a spiritual Jew. Romans 11:23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. Here is a comparison between the Pharisees and the modern Church: (119 Ministries) According to the Pharisees: The Oral Law was the “truth filter” that was applied to all Scripture, and it is still used by Rabbinic Judaism to this day. The only true interpretation of all Scripture could be attained through this filter. This filter ignored contradictory Scripture. If a Scripture didn’t fit, they concocted some method of scriptural interpretation in order to make it fit or explain it away. The seven rules of Hillel, the thirteen rules of Ishmael, the thirty-two rules of Eliezer Through skillful twisting, the Scripture could be made to say whatever they wanted. Anyone who disagreed was called a heathen, blasphemer or heretic According to the modern Church: The “no-law” doctrine is the “truth filter” that is applied to all of Scripture. The only true interpretation of all Scripture can be attained through this filter. This filter ignores contradictory Scripture. If a Scripture doesn’t fit, they concoct some method of scriptural interpretation to make it fit or explain it away. Progressive Revelation, Dispensationalism, Supersessions, Covenant Theology, Ultra-dispensationalism Traditions of the church and church fathers became more important than Scripture. Even traditions with clearly dubious origins can be overlooked by saying, “That’s not what it means to me,” or, “It’s a mystery.”” “it's the intent of the heart that counts” (Christmas and Easter Through skillful twisting, the Scripture can be made to say whatever is required. Jeremiah 17:9 "Who can understand the human heart? There is nothing else so deceitful; it is too sick to be healed. CONCLUSIONS The “no-law” doctrine has taken Paul’s “hard to understand writings They interpret the works of the law which is the oral law of the Jews to mean that the laws of God given through Moses are no more, and in so doing, have elevated Paul’s teachings above the teaching of Yeshua and the very words of God. The filter that should be used is that God does not change, He is not a God of confusion, He doesn't lie, or that scripture cannot be broken, and it is the whole duty of man to keep all His commandments . Yeshua is the Messiah, not Paul! Salvation comes through Yeshua, not Paul! We are to follow the Gospel of Christ, not the Gospel of Paul! This isn’t easy! Paul’s writings are HARD to understand; the apostle Peter said so! We must realize that the writings of Paul are not exempt from these scriptural truths. We cannot ignore or twist his difficult writings to make them support beloved and long-held doctrines. “I have not been able to reconcile “the law is not to be followed by modern believers with Scripture. The only conclusion I have been able to come to, without going against Scripture, is that the law is still in effect for modern believers, not as a condition of salvation, but as a reflection of how the Father wants us to be a holy and set-apart people, and out of love and obedience to him. “119 Ministries www.TestEverything.net Keeping in mind what Peter said about Paul's letters 2 Peter 3: 16 He writes this way in all his letters, speaking in them about such matters. Some parts of his letters are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 Therefore, beloved, since you already know these things, be on your guard not to be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure standing.1 John 3:9 (sin is lawlessness. God calls it evil) Acts 24 Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that there is no truth to these rumors about you, but that you also live in obedience to the Law. Matthew 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 15:14 Disregard Them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” Hosea 4;6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. The Blessings of Obedience Deuteronomy 28:1"Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. Truth or lies Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life. John 3:36 When you answer these questions keep in mind you are judging God's character. Does God's word contradict itself? Does God's word stand forever? Does God do anything without revealing it through His prophets first? Does God lie? Does God change His mind? Does God always keep His promises? God's word 1 Corinthians 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. Isaiah 40:8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. ● John 10:35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken: 1 Peter 1:25 But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. Amos 3: Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth His secret unto his servants the prophets. Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Are you going to continue to follow the church that says scripture is changed or done away with, or will you follow God who says scripture cannot be broken? Scripture says in Mark 7:19 “For it doesn't go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body." Church doctrine added the following to scripture “In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.” Ponder this: If Jesus said this, he couldn’t be our Savior. He would be sinning, breaking God’s command regarding dietary instructions. Be on your guard, if you encounter any verse that conflicts with all other scripture. According to the modern Church: (119 Ministries) The “no-law” doctrine is the “truth filter” that is applied to all of Scripture. When Their only true interpretation of all Scripture can be attained through this filter. Be aware some interpreters have the same biases. This filter ignores contradictory Scripture. Traditions of the church and church fathers became more important than Scripture. Even traditions with clearly dubious origins can be overlooked by saying, “That’s not what it means to me,” or “It’s a mystery.” “it's the intent of the heart that counts” (Christmas and Easter) Through skillful twisting, the Scripture can be made to say whatever is required. James 1:22 But don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. Luke 6:46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” ● James 1:22-25 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 1 John 2:4 If someone claims, "I know God," but doesn't obey God's commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. This is what God said about any pastors or priest teaching against His laws, His instructions, the Torah Ezekiel 22:26 "Her priests (your pastors) have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; Isaiah 66:17 & Isaiah 65 and they hide their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. 27 "Her princes within her are like wolves tearing the prey, by shedding blood and destroying lives in order to get dishonest gain.… Gelation 3:26 God says 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, (or Christian) slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Yeshua 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed. (check out Twelve Tribes of Israel for more info) Ephesians 2:18-19 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. 19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household; 1 Pet 2:10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; (you are Israel) once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. CONCLUSIONS: The “no-law” doctrine has taken Paul’s “hard to understand writings” and interpreted them to mean that the laws of God given through Moses are no more, and in so doing, have elevated Paul’s teachings above the teaching of Yeshua and the very words of God. By doing this they are calling Yehovah, Yeshua and Paul liars. John 14:23 Whoever does not love Me does not keep My words. The word that you hear is not My own, but it is from the Father who sent Me Anytime we see, Paul speak against the law, you can put in one of two categories. He is either talking about the traditions and doctrines of men (man's law), this is what they did to put man under bondage. Matthew 15:9 Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.' Or he is speaking about the punishment when you break the law, bondage comes upon you that's the result of sin. This is the law of sin and death, which Yeshua nailed to the cross. Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Yeshua, 2 because through Christ Yeshua the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 1 Corinthians 11: 1 You are to imitate me, just as I imitate Christ. Acts 24:14 "But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the Elohim of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets. Romans 7:25 - I thank Yehovah--through Yeshua the Messiah our Master! So then, with the mind I myself serve the Law of Yehovah, but with the flesh the Law of sin. ● Galatians 3:10 All who rely on works of the Law (notice it says works not the law) are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law. Galatians 3:13 But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. Upon the Gentiles in Yeshua, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Seven Laws the Law of God/ Romans 3:31 / The Law of Sin, Romans 7:23 The Law of the Spirit Romans 8:2/ The Law of Faith Romans 3:27 The Law of Righteousness Romans 9:31 The Law of Christ:1Corin 9:21 The Law of sin and death. Romans 8:2 Romans 8:2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. 2 For in Christ Yeshua the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

  • Millennial | Answers 4 Saints

    The Millennial Kingdom. Mortal humans in the Millennial Kingdom Download Resurrected, glorified Saints. In the Millennial Kingdom Download Yehovah perfect Law Scripture outlines a comprehensive, theocratic legal system that governs the earth during the Millennial Kingdom. The foundational blueprint is that Torah goes forth from Mount Zion under the direct, righteous administration of King Yeshua (Isaiah 2:2–4; Micah 4:1–3). Rather than anarchy or a purely abstract rule, the prophets outline specific international, civil, ceremonial, and dietary statutes that will be kept across the globe. 1. International and Civil Law: Torah from Zion The global legislative and judicial center of the entire earth during the 1,000 years will be Jerusalem: Universal Disarmament and Ban on Warfare: National armies, weapons production, and warfare are legally outlawed across all nations (Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:3). Weapons are mandated to be beaten into agricultural implements ("swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks"). Direct Judicial Verdicts by King Yeshua: International disputes between nations and peoples will no longer be settled through military conflict, treaties, or corrupt tribunals. Yeshua arbitrates and decides controversies between nations with perfect justice, equity, and righteousness (Isaiah 11:3–5). The "Rod of Iron" Enforcement: Open criminal conduct and willful disobedience are met with swift, unyielding divine justice (Psalm 2:9; Revelation 19:15). Prolonged spiritual rebellion among mortals results in immediate physical accountability (Isaiah 65:20: "the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed"). 2. Universal Worship and Sacred Calendar Laws Specific religious statutes apply not only to Israel, but to all Gentile nations across the earth: Mandatory Observance of the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot): Representatives from every surviving Gentile nation on earth must make an annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship King Yehovah of Hosts and celebrate Sukkot (Zechariah 14:16–19). Penalty for Non-Compliance: Any nation that refuses to go up is struck with severe drought (withholding of rainfall) and plagues until they yield. The Seventh-Day Sabbath (Shabbat) and New Moons (Rosh Chodesh): The weekly Sabbath remains a commanded day of worship when the inner court's East Gate is opened and the people gather (Ezekiel 46:1–3). Isaiah 66:23 confirms global observance: "From one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me, says Yehovah." Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread: Observed starting on the 14th day of the first month (Nisan) for seven days, with the Prince preparing designated burnt, grain, and sin offerings (Ezekiel 45:21–24). Total Ban on Idolatry and False Religion: Pagan altars, occult practices, false prophets, and idolatry are eradicated globally (Zechariah 13:2; Zechariah 14:9). Yehovah alone is acknowledged as King over all the earth. 3. Priestly, Ceremonial, and Temple Ordinances Ezekiel 40–48 details clear statutes that regulate the Millennial Temple and its ministers: Exclusivity of the Sons of Zadok: Only the priests descending from Zadok are permitted to draw near to Yehovah's altar to minister and offer the fat and the blood (Ezekiel 40:46; 44:15–16). Judicial and Educational Duties of the Priesthood: The priests are legally charged with teaching the people to discern between the holy and the common, and between the clean and the unclean (Ezekiel 44:23). In civil controversies, the priests stand as judges to render decisions based on Yehovah’s judgments (Ezekiel 44:24). Ceremonial Purifications (Kipper): Sacrificial offerings (burnt, peace, sin, and grain) are administered to cleanse physical fixtures (altar, gateposts, sanctuary) from the ceremonial uncleanness of mortal life (Ezekiel 43:18–27; 45:18–20). 4. Dietary and Purity Laws Physical distinctions of purity remain actively enforced among mortals: Clean vs. Unclean Distinctions: Priests explicitly instruct the mortal population on biblical purity and dietary standards (Ezekiel 44:23). Prohibition of Carrion: Priests and worshippers are forbidden from consuming any bird or mammal that dies naturally or is torn by beasts (Ezekiel 44:31). Prohibition of Swine and Abominations: Isaiah 66:17 specifically condemns the eating of swine’s flesh, mice, and unclean creeping things as an abomination before Yehovah. Clean Seafood Harvest: The healed waters of the Dead Sea support net fishing from En Gedi to En Eglaim, producing fish of the same kinds as the Mediterranean Sea (clean fish with fins and scales, Ezekiel 47:9–10). 5. Civil, Economic, and Land Laws Economic righteousness and property protections are enforced under the rule of the Prince: Honest Weights, Measures, and Currency: Standardization of commercial balances is strictly enforced: an honest ephah (dry measure), an honest bath (liquid measure), and an honest shekel without inflation or deceit (Ezekiel 45:10–12). Protection of Private Property: The Prince is expressly prohibited from seizing the people's land or forcing citizens off their family inheritance (Ezekiel 45:8–9; 46:18). Restoration of Tribal Allotments: The boundaries of the twelve tribes of Israel are permanently assigned and protected across the Holy Land (Ezekiel 47:13–48:29). 6. The Internalized Law of the New Covenant For redeemed Israel and the righteous, compliance with Yehovah's law is not mere outward legalism. Under the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31–34; Ezekiel 36:26–27), the Holy Spirit gives mortals a new heart and puts Yehovah's laws into their minds, enabling them to walk willingly in His statutes with gladness and peace. Yehovah Sacrifices The mention of animal offerings in the Millennial Temple (Ezekiel 40–48) centers on the holiness of Yehovah and the finished redemption accomplished by Yeshua the Messiah. Because Scripture emphasizes that Yeshua offered one sacrifice for sins forever (Hebrews 10:10–14), these millennial offerings do not provide spiritual or eternal salvation. Instead, the sacrifices described by Ezekiel serve three distinct, harmonious purposes during the 1,000-year reign: 1. Ceremonial Cleansing & Spatial Purification (Ritual Atonement) In Ezekiel, the Hebrew word translated "atonement" is kipper, which fundamentally means to cover, cleanse, or purge. During the Millennium, mortal human beings (who enter the earthly kingdom, marry, have children, and can die; Isaiah 65:20) will live in proximity to the manifest Shekinah glory of Yehovah dwelling visibly on earth: The Absolute Holiness of Yehovah: Yehovah is holy, and His manifest presence cannot dwell among ceremonial uncleanness or the natural contamination of mortal life. Purification of Physical Structures: In Ezekiel 43:20, 26 and Ezekiel 45:18–20, the blood is applied directly to inanimate objects—the horns of the altar, the four corners of the ledge, the doorposts of the Temple, and the gateposts of the inner court. Its purpose is to "cleanse" and "purge" the sacred space. Flesh vs. Spirit: Animal blood under the Old Covenant never removed eternal guilt; it provided outward, ceremonial purity for the flesh (Hebrews 9:13). In the Millennium, it functions as a ritual barrier, preserving the sanctity of Yehovah’s house so that a holy God can dwell among mortal mankind. 2. A Tangible Memorial of the Cross Just as the ancient offerings looked forward to the sacrifice of Yeshua in prophetic anticipation, Millennial sacrifices look backward in solemn commemoration: A Physical Memorial: In the present age, believers observe the Lord’s Supper with bread and the cup in remembrance of Yeshua's broken body and shed blood (1 Corinthians 11:24–26). In the Millennial reign, visible offerings serve a parallel commemorative purpose before the nations. Instruction for Mortal Generations: Billions of mortals will be born during the 1,000 years in a world where Satan is bound and the righteous rule of Yehovah prevails across the earth. Because these generations will not experience war or rampant evil, the stark, bloody reality of animal sacrifice will serve as an unmistakable visual lesson: It demonstrates the horrific nature and cost of sin before Yehovah. It reinforces that every blessing, life, and peace in the kingdom was purchased entirely by the blood of Yeshua, the Lamb of God. 3. Communal Worship, Fellowship, and Theocratic Tribute A significant portion of the offerings detailed in Ezekiel are peace offerings (shelem) and grain offerings (minchah): Fellowship Meals: Peace offerings were shared and eaten by the worshippers and the priests in joyful communion before Yehovah (Ezekiel 46:21–24). The outer courts of the temple contain dedicated kitchens specifically built for preparing these shared meals. Covenantal Expression : It provides redeemed Israel—restored to their ancestral land under the Davidic covenant—with a concrete way to honor Yehovah through priestly order and grateful praise. Global Pilgrimages: As foretold in Zechariah 14:16–19, the Gentile nations will journey up to Jerusalem year after year to worship King Yehovah of Hosts and celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), presenting their offerings in unified thanksgiving. What They Are vs. What They Are Not What Millennial Sacrifices Are NOT What Millennial Sacrifices ARE Not for the forgiveness of eternal sinsA memorial pointing back to Yeshua's finished redemption Not a replacement or competitor to Calvary A teaching tool for mortal generations born during the Millennium Not salvific (redemption remains entirely by grace through faith)Ceremonial decontamination (kipper) of the temple precinct before Yehovah Not a reinstatement of the Mosaic Covenant A distinct Millennial order administered by the faithful Sons of Zadok Yehovah Feast Days In the Millennial Kingdom, Scripture describes a restructured sacred calendar focused on the direct worship of Yehovah. Several ancient biblical convocations return, while others are deliberately omitted in light of fulfilled redemption. 1. The Major Annual Feasts In Ezekiel 45:21–25 and Zechariah 14:16–19, two annual pilgrimage feasts are explicitly commanded: Passover (Pesach) and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Chag HaMatzot): Scripture: Ezekiel 45:21–24 Timing: Begins on the 14th day of the first month (Nisan / Abib) and lasts seven days. Observance: Unleavened bread is eaten throughout the week. Daily offerings of seven bulls and seven rams without blemish, a male goat for a sin offering, and accompanying grain and oil offerings are prepared by the Prince (Nasi). Significance: Originally memorializing Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, in the kingdom it endures as an everlasting memorial to Yeshua, the true Passover Lamb whose shed blood accomplished eternal redemption. The Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot / Feast of Booths): Scripture: Ezekiel 45:25; Zechariah 14:16–19 Timing: Begins on the 15th day of the seventh month (Tishrei) and lasts seven days. Observance: Daily offerings corresponding to those of Passover are presented before Yehovah. Global Mandate: Zechariah declares that survivors from all Gentile nations must travel up to Jerusalem annually to worship King Yehovah of Hosts and celebrate Sukkot. Any nation that refuses to go up will receive no rain and will face divine plague until they comply. Significance: It celebrates Yehovah dwelling physically and visibly in the midst of mortal humanity through King Messiah reigning from Mount Zion. 2. Regular Weekly, Monthly, and Seasonal Observances Alongside the annual pilgrimage festivals, Ezekiel details recurring cycles of regular worship: The Weekly Sabbath (Shabbat): Scripture: Ezekiel 46:1–5; Isaiah 66:22–23 The East Gate of the inner court remains shut during the six working days but opens on the Sabbath. The Prince presents a burnt offering of six lambs and a ram without blemish, and the people of the land worship at the entrance of the gateway. Isaiah 66:23 states that from one Sabbath to another, all flesh will come to worship before Yehovah. The New Moon Celebrations (Rosh Chodesh): Scripture: Ezekiel 46:1, 6–7; Isaiah 66:23 The East Gate opens to welcome the beginning of each biblical month. Offerings consisting of a young bull, six lambs, and a ram are presented in worship before Yehovah. Sanctuary Consecration Days: Scripture: Ezekiel 45:18–20 On the 1st and 7th days of the first month, a young bull without blemish is offered to cleanse and ritually purify the sanctuary, the doorposts of the Temple, and the court gates. 3. Feasts Notably Absent from Ezekiel Several prominent Mosaic convocations from Leviticus 23 are not mentioned in the Millennial Temple: Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur): Omitted entirely from the annual calendar. Yeshua offered one all-sufficient sacrifice for sins forever (Hebrews 10:10–14). Repeating Yom Kippur for the eternal removal of guilt would run contrary to His finished work on Calvary. The Millennial purifications deal strictly with physical sanctuary holiness (kipper), not spiritual justification. Feast of Weeks / Pentecost (Shavuot): Not mentioned in Ezekiel's prophetic calendar. Historically connected to the wheat harvest and the initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit to birth the Church Age (Acts 2), that harvest is now complete. Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah): Not mentioned. The prophetic call of the trumpet signaling the regathering of Israel and the arrival of King Messiah has already taken place prior to the start of the 1,000-year reign. Summary of the Kingdom Calendar Cycle Weekly: The Seventh-Day Sabbath (Shabbat) Monthly: The New Moon (Rosh Chodesh) First Month (Nisan) : Days 1 and 7 (Sanctuary Purifications); Days 14 through 21 (Passover and Unleavened Bread) Seventh Month (Tishrei): Days 15 through 21 (Feast of Tabernacles / Sukkot, mandatory for all nations) In the Millennial Kingdom, Scripture distinction between the mortal resurrected, glorified saints. The saints enter the 1,000-year reign having already undergone the "First Resurrection" (Revelation 20:4–6) or translation (1 Corinthians 15:51–53; 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17). They do not live as ordinary mortals; instead, they serve as the administrative, judicial, and priestly leadership of the global kingdom under King Yeshua and Yehovah. 1. Ruling, Judging, and Reigning with Christ The primary role assigned to glorified saints in the Millennium is co-regency—governing the nations alongside Yeshua: Enthroned with Judicial Authority: Revelation 20:4 states that thrones are set, judgment is committed to the saints, and they live and reign with Christ for a thousand years. The Promise to the Overcomers: In Revelation 2:26–27, Yeshua promises that whoever overcomes will receive authority over the nations to rule them with a rod of iron, sharing in the authority given to Him by His Father. Daniel's Prophetic Vision : Daniel 7:27 declares that the kingdom, dominion, and greatness under the whole heaven will be given to the saints of the Most High, whose dominion is an everlasting kingdom. Judging the World and Angels: In 1 Corinthians 6:2–3, the Apostle Paul points directly to this governing role, asking believers if they do not know that the saints will judge the world and even judge angels. 2. Concrete Administrative Appointments Scripture does not present reigning as symbolic or passive; it involves specific geographic and civic administration over mortal cities and regions: The Apostles Over the Twelve Tribes: Yeshua specifically promised His twelve disciples direct judicial authority over the restored tribes of Israel in Matthew 19:28 and Luke 22:29–30, stating they will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes. Authority Over Cities (The Parable of the Minas) : In Luke 19:17–19, faithful stewardship in this age translates to real civic responsibility in the Kingdom, with servants appointed over five or ten cities. 3. A Royal Priesthood The saints do not merely execute civil justice; they function as a royal priesthood bridging the presence of God and the mortal world: Priests to God and Christ: Revelation 20:6 states that those who take part in the first resurrection are holy and blessed, serving as priests of God and of Christ, reigning with Him for a thousand years. Kings and Priests on the Earth: Revelation 5:10 confirms that the redeemed are made kings and priests to God to reign on the earth. Resurrected saints assist in teaching Yehovah’s ways , discipling mortal nations, and guiding mortals into true worship as the law goes forth from Zion (Isaiah 2:2–4). 4. Physical Nature and Spiritual Condition The saints’ physical existence in the Millennium is fundamentally different from that of mortal humans: Glorified, Immortal Bodies: The saints have put on incorruption and immortality (1 Corinthians 15:42–54), patterned after Yeshua’s resurrected body (Philippians 3:20–21; 1 John 3:2). They are tangible and capable of speaking, eating, and interacting, yet completely free from sickness, fatigue, pain, or death. Neither Marrying Nor Dying: In Luke 20:34–36, Yeshua explains that while mortals in that age marry and have families, those counted worthy of the resurrection neither marry nor are given in marriage, nor can they die anymore, being equal to the angels and sons of the resurrection. Total Immunity from the Second Death: Revelation 20:6 specifies that over the glorified saints, the second death has no power. When Satan is loosed at the end of the 1,000 years to deceive the mortal nations (Revelation 20:7–9), the glorified saints remain entirely beyond temptation, deception, or danger. Contrast: Resurrected Saints vs. Mortal Inhabitants Body and Nature: Resurrected saints possess immortal, incorruptible, glorified bodies (1 Corinthians 15:52). Mortal inhabitants live in natural flesh-and-blood bodies (Isaiah 65:20). Lifespan: Resurrected saints live eternally and can never die (Luke 20:36; Revelation 20:6). Mortal inhabitants have vastly extended lifespans lasting centuries, but remain subject to physical death (Isaiah 65:20). Family Life: Resurrected saints do not marry or reproduce (Luke 20:35). Mortal inhabitants marry, bear children, and raise families (Isaiah 65:23). Kingdom Calling : Resurrected saints serve as kings, priests, and judges executing divine rule with Christ (Revelation 20:4–6). Mortal inhabitants live as citizens, farmers, builders, and worshippers under that rule. Final Rebellion: Resurrected saints are completely secure and immune to deception. Mortal offspring born during the Millennium still possess free will, and a portion will be deceived when Satan is released at the close of the 1,000 years (Revelation 20:7–8). What does Scripture say about daily life, lifespan, and family for mortal humans in the Millennial Kingdom? While resurrected and glorified saints possess immortal bodies (neither marrying nor dying, Luke 20:35–36), Scripture teaches that mortal survivors of the nations enter the Millennial Kingdom in natural, earthly bodies (Matthew 25:31–40; Zechariah 14:16). The Old Testament prophets—especially Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Zechariah—provide vivid details about what daily existence, lifespan, labor, and family look like for these mortal populations during the 1,000-year reign of Yeshua. 1. Lifespan and Physical Health During the Millennium, the curse on creation is substantially rolled back, returning human life expectancy to conditions resembling the pre-Flood era of the patriarchs. Reversal of Infant Mortality: "No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days..." — Isaiah 65:20a Infant death, miscarriages, and early childhood loss will no longer be part of normal life. Every child born will have the opportunity to grow to full maturity. Centenarians Considered "Youth": "...For the child shall die one hundred years old, but the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed." — Isaiah 65:20b A person passing away at 100 years of age would be regarded as someone dying in their youth. Dying at that age is described as an anomaly tied to divine judgment on willful defiance under the King's righteous rule. Lifespans Like Trees: "For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, and My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands." — Isaiah 65:22b Like deep-rooted, long-living trees (such as oaks or olive trees that live for centuries), mortals will routinely live for hundreds of years throughout the Millennium. Healing and Vitality: "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing." — Isaiah 35:5–6 Widespread disease, birth defects, and chronic disabilities will be removed as the supernatural blessing of Yehovah rests upon the earth. 2. Family Life, Marriage, and Children Unlike resurrected saints, mortal humans will continue to marry, form households, and raise families: Fruitful Generations: "They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth children for trouble; for they shall be the descendants of the blessed of Yehovah, and their offspring with them." — Isaiah 65:23 Parents will raise children without the constant fear of famine, war, kidnapping, or sudden calamity cutting their lives short. Peaceful Communities and Play: "Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each one with his staff in his hand because of great age. The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets." — Zechariah 8:4–5 Scripture paints a picture of tranquil domestic safety—multi-generational families where great-grandparents sit in town squares while children play openly without fear of predators, crime, or violence. 3. Daily Work, Agriculture, and Economics The curse of frustrated, fruitless labor found in Genesis 3 is lifted. Labor remains, but it becomes deeply rewarding, stable, and productive: Secured Ownership and Enjoyment of Labor: "They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat..." — Isaiah 65:21–22a Throughout human history, war, invasion, unfair taxation, and predatory landlords frequently stripped working people of what they built. In the Kingdom, mortals permanently enjoy the physical fruit of their own hands. Abundant Agricultural Yields: "‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says Yehovah, ‘When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; the mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it.’" — Amos 9:13 Crops will produce so abundantly that the harvest season will run directly into the next planting cycle. Domestic Peace and Quiet: "Everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of Yehovah of hosts has spoken." — Micah 4:4 The ancient idiom of sitting under one's own vine and fig tree describes self-sufficient private property, safety, and an absence of state tyranny or economic oppression. 4. Harmony in the Natural World Mortal humans will work and live in an environment where nature is no longer hostile: Tamed Animal Kingdom: "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them... The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den." — Isaiah 11:6–8 Carnivorous hostility ceases, venomous creatures pose no danger, and dangerous beasts become docile companions even around toddlers. Deserts and arid wastelands will blossom with cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive trees, with fresh springs gushing in barren wildernesses (Isaiah 35:1–2, 7; Isaiah 41:18–19). Summary of Mortal Life in the Millennium Lifespan: Vastly extended to hundreds of years; child mortality eradicated; death at 100 considered premature or disciplinary. Family: Marriage and childbirth continue; generations grow up together in secure, stable homes free from war and terror. Daily Labor: Meaningful building and farming; complete protection of personal property and full enjoyment of one's harvest. Environment: Total ecological harmony, abundant rainfall, fertile land, and an animal kingdom stripped of predation and venom. Government: Direct equity and peace flowing from Mount Zion, where disputes are settled fairly without courts of corruption or military conflict.

  • Jesus Declare All Food Clean, | Answers4saints.com

    Mark 7 There is no such thing as unclean food! You will not find any definition of what is food in the new testament, only in the book of Leviticus, God's food laws it is not optional, The translators added (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) Jesis declared all food clean That Which Defiles Test — Answers from Mark 7 1.Did the Pharisees question Yeshua because His disciples ate with unwashed hands? (Mark 7:5) Yes 2.Does Scripture say the washing was a tradition of the elders ? (Mark 7:3) Yes 3.Did Yeshua say, "You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions "? (Mark 7:8) Yes 4.Did Yeshua quote Isaiah, saying, "Their teachings are merely human rules" ? (Mark 7:7) Yes 5.Did Yeshua say that nothing entering a person from outside can defile them? (Mark 7:15) Yes 6.Did Yeshua say that what comes out of a person is what defiles them? (Mark 7:20) Yes 7.Does Mark 7:2 identify the issue as eating with defiled (unwashed) hands ? Yes 8.Does Mark 7:3 state that the practice came from the tradition of the elders ? Yes Summary from the Passage The subject raised by the Pharisees was eating with unwashed hands (Mark 7:2, 5). The washing was identified as a tradition of the elders (Mark 7:3). Yeshua rebuked those who held to human traditions while neglecting God's commandments (Mark 7:7–8). Yeshua taught that what proceeds from the heart defiles a person (Mark 7:20–23). Defile means to make something unclean, impure, polluted, or contaminated. In Mark 7, Yeshua explained that true defilement is not caused by eating with unwashed hands , but by the sinful things that come from the heart. "There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him... but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man." (Mark 7:15) Yeshua later explained: "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man." (Mark 7:21–23) Biblical Meaning of Defile Ceremonially unclean – made unclean according to ritual laws (Leviticus). Morally defiled – corrupted by sin, evil thoughts, and disobedience. Spiritually defiled – polluted before God by wickedness and idolatry. In Mark 7 The Pharisees were concerned about defiled hands (unwashed according to tradition). Yeshua directed attention to a greater issue: A person's heart can be defiled by sin, and that defilement comes from within. (Mark 7:20–23) That Which Defiles 1 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus 2 and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles. a ) 5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?” 6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ b 8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” 9 And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe c your own traditions! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ d and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ e 11 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— 12 then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.” 14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” [16] f 17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) There is nothing to indicate changing the Gods food restrictions. it was about washing before eating man made traditions. check Leviticus for classification of animals that are created to be scavengers all these animals carry bacteria and unfit for consumption . They eat dead animals. Jesus declared all food clean was added to this verse not what Yeshua said The biblical instruction to not add to or take away from God's word is found in both the Old and New Testaments. It serves as a solemn warning against distorting, altering, or misrepresenting divine truth. [Revelation 22:18-19: Deuteronomy 4:2 Mark 7 There is no such thing as unclean food! You will not find any definition of what is food in the new testament, only in the book of Leviticus, God's food laws it is not optional, The translators added (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) What Defiles a Person For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, that defiled man. Supporting facts He gave a parable that Yeshua was disappointed with His disciples for not understand. (Thus he declared all foods clean.) this was added to the text, If he said this it would have shown he was not the messiah because he would have sinned,the messiah was without sin.

  • Are you a Christian | Answers 4 Saints

    Are you a REAL Christian? The Christianity of the new testament doesn't exist There was only one person in the entire Bible (Torah) that did everything correctly you proclaim to follow Him however you live and do the opposite. He said if you love me keep my commandments, but you don't Christ said: If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” …Matthew 19:16 God cannot stand the prayers of anyone who disobeys his Law. Proverbs 28:9 If God's laws mean nothing to you You mean nothing to God But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’Matthew 7:23 All Israel will be saved If you do the things God hates and refuse to keep His commandments, you will receive the mark of the beast (Your Father the Devil) not the mark of God. “Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast. Shout aloud! Don’t be timid. Tell my people Israel of their sins! Isaiah 58:1 Yeshua is Our Advocate …3By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments. 4If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him:… Christianity the New Religion The Final Takeaway Yeshua didn't leave behind a selective checklist where people get to pick and choose which laws to follow. He left a narrow path. This test leaves absolutely no room for casual religion or intellectual debates. Yeshua didn't leave behind a philosophy to be discussed; He left a narrow path to be walked. If the answers point to a life of compromise, it isn't a cue to just feel guilty or give up—it is a direct, urgent call to repent. It means turning away from the ways of the world, picking up the truth of the Torah that Yeshua lived out, and making the firm decision to let your hands, your mind, and your daily life reflect the Master you claim to follow. If people claim to belong to Him but they refuse to live as He lived, keep what He kept, and honor the Torah the way He did, they are practicing lawlessness. True faith is not found in the empty rituals of those who rewrite His words—it is found in literal, active obedience to the Master. According to the New Testament, merely claiming to a Christian and follow the Messiah is not the same as actually following Him. Yeshua said : "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46) And: "If ye love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15) The apostle John wrote: "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." (1 John 2:3–4) From this perspective, a person who continually refuses to follow the Messiah's teachings while professing faith creates a contradiction between their profession and their actions. However, many Christians would distinguish between: A believer who struggles with sin but desires to obey God and repents when they fail. A person who knowingly rejects God's commands and has no intention of obeying them. The New Testament repeatedly calls believers to repentance, faith, and obedience, while also recognizing that believers are not sinless and may stumble (1 John 1:8–9). So, if someone completely refuses to follow the Messiah and His commandments, many would argue that Scripture calls into question whether that person's profession of faith is genuine. Passages such as Matthew 7:21–23, Luke 6:46, and 1 John 2:3–4 are often cited in that discussion. The core biblical test is not what a person calls themselves, but whether their life shows faith expressed through obedience to God. How to Find Out Which Religion Is Right (It’s Easier Than You Think) Our Lord again reminds us that the manifestation of our love for Him will be in our obedience to His commands. Keeping Christ's commandments is and always has been the best test of our love for Yeshua Children of God Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Ezekiel 36:27 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 1 John 4:1 And For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. Romans 8:1 1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. 4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him, there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. brother. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer me who lives, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 God's seal is not a physical mark The forehead represents the mind of those who make a conscious decision to obey God's requirements to receive His seal will protect us from the last seven plagues. The Mark of God is a sign of obedience between God and His faithful Thus the Sabbath is the sign of a relationship between God and His people, serving as "a test of their loyalty to Him" Yeshua is the LORD of the Sabbath, not Sunday and they get the Mark of God will escape the plages. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit. Is a characteristic of people who have surrendered their lives to God God's seal is in His laws. Bind up the testimonies and seal the law among my disciples. God's sign is His seal, the words sing and seal are interchangeable in the bible. The Sabbath is God's sign, The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week. The fourth commandment is to remember the Sabbath. There is not one scripture in the entire Bible changing the Sabbath to Sunday. Its a sign of God's authority He chose the day. There are three elements to a legal seal, The seal giver His title His territory The Great Commission The Great Commission is Jesus's final instruction to his disciples before his ascension, found in Matthew 28:19-20. The passage says, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." This is not just a suggestion, but a command for all who follow Him. Why It Is Considered a Sin A Command, Not a Suggestion: The Bible frames this as a clear directive. A sin is defined as "missing the mark" or an act of disobedience against God's will. Willfully ignoring a direct command from Jesus is therefore considered a sinful act. The Nature of a Disciple: In Christian belief, a true disciple isn't just a follower, but a learner and a reproducer. The biblical understanding is that a disciple of Jesus should naturally want to share their faith and help others become disciples, just as they were discipled. A Christian who has no desire to make disciples may be demonstrating a lack of genuine conversion or a spiritual selfishness that is contrary to the self-sacrificial nature of Christ. Sins of Omission: The Bible teaches that sin isn't only about doing something wrong (sins of commission) but also about failing to do something you know you should do (sins of omission). Not making disciples falls squarely into this category. It's an act of neglecting a divinely ordained responsibility. While a Christian's salvation isn't based on their ability to make disciples, their obedience to this command is seen as evidence of their faith and love for God and others. For many, a failure to engage in this work points to a deeper spiritual issue, such as fear, a lack of trust in God's power, or a love for oneself more than for others. There is now one single law that rules both Jew and Greek alike: The law of faith (Romans 3:27) The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2) The law of Christ = love God and love your neighbor, fulfilled by the Spirit (Galatians 5:14; 6:2; Romans 13:8–10) One God. One Messiah. One gospel. One law for Jews and Greeks: faith in the crucified and risen Jesus. That is why Paul can say in the very next breath after “neither Jew nor Greek”: “You are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:28–29). Same promise. Same inheritance. Same law. No exceptions. No special tracks.

  • 37 | Answers4saints.com

    There is no place in the entire bible where you will find any verses changing the Seventh day Sabbath to Sunday, why doesn't it bother you when you worship on a different day than the day that God made holy, and to remember? It is the fourth commandment. The Sabbath and the Resurrection 37 Bible Verses about Sabbath, In Nt Who Changed the Sabbath? Is the Sabbath Commanded in the New Testament? Should Christians keep the Sabbath or Sunday? Which Day Is the Christian Sabbath According to the Bible? Let no one judge you (Colossians 2) shadows of Messiah Galatians 4:10 ABOLISHING the Sabbaths and Feasts? Romans 14:5 - Now We Can Worship on Sunday? Colossians 2:16 - Legalism in the New Testament? Romands 14:5 the Sabbath debate SOLVING THE SABBATH MYSTERY Explaining Colossians 2:14-16 The Covenant of Sabbath Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, God will take away from that person any share in the Tree of Life and blot your name from the Book of Life. Revelation 22:18-19 DEUTERONOMY 4:2 The Disciples Kept the Sabbath 85 Times in the book of Acts Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. 17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. 18 For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. … Churches Who Teach Us to Keep Sunday Admit It’s NOT the Sabbath of the Bible What is the Sabbath and what should we do? The Disciples Kept the Sabbath 85 Times in the book of Acts The Sabbath as an Eternal Sign The Sign Between God and Man: The Sabbath was established as a covenant and a perpetual sign between God and His people (Exodus 31:13, Ezekiel 20:12). Yeshua’s Life and Authority His Weekly Custom: During His earthly ministry, Yeshua consistently kept the Sabbath, making it His regular custom to attend the synagogue on the seventh day (Luke 4:16). Lord of the Sabbath : Yeshua declared His supreme authority over the day, proclaiming that "the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath" (Matthew 12:8, Mark 2:28). The Crucifixion, Burial, and Resurrection Timeline (3 Days and 3 Nights) Wednesday Afternoon: Yeshua dies at the 9th hour (~3:00 PM) on the preparation day for the annual High Sabbath (Passover). He is placed in the tomb just before sunset, marking the beginning of the burial. Wednesday Sunset to Saturday Sunset (72 Hours): Night 1 / Day 1: Wednesday sunset to Thursday sunset (High Sabbath / First Day of Unleavened Bread) Night 2 / Day 2: Thursday sunset to Friday sunset (Regular preparation day; women buy and prepare spices) Night 3 / Day 3: Friday sunset to Saturday sunset (Weekly seventh-day Sabbath) Saturday at Sunset: Yeshua rises from the dead at the exact close of the 72-hour period, fulfilling the Sign of Jonah (Matthew 12:40)—a complete span of three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The Post-Resurrection Covenant Reality Grafted into the Commonwealth of Israel : Through the shed blood and finished work of Yeshua, (believers from the nations are brought near and grafted into the commonwealth of Israel) and its covenants of promise (Ephesians 2:12–13, Romans 11:17). March 7, AD 321 (Imperial Roman Civil Enforcement): Constantine’s Edict: Roman Emperor Constantine enacted the first recorded civil Sunday legislation, compelling public cessation of labor: "On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed." c. AD 364 (Ecclesiastical Prohibition – Council of Laodicea): Canon 29: The regional council formally banned Christians from observing the seventh-day Sabbath rest and enforced Sunday observance under penalty of excommunication: Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, God will take away from that person any share in the Tree of Life and blot your name out. The Disciples Kept the Sabbath 85 Times in the book of Acts Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. 17( Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. 18 For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.…) Churches Who Teach Us to Keep Sunday Admit It’s NOT the Sabbath of the Bible What is the Sabbath and what should we do? God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill? I have indeed received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot change it.… Numbers 23:19-20 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Hebrews 8:10 The Lord of the Sabbath Then Jesus declared, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 Therefore, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”…Matthew 12: 7 If only you had known the meaning of ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” 9 Moving on from there, Yeshua entered their synagogue,…Mark 2:27 Proper Sabbath Keeping Audit Answer YES or NO honestly to each: Do you observe the Sabbath on the 7th day (Saturday), from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday? Do you completely cease from all work, business, and labor on the Sabbath as commanded in Exodus 20:8-11? Do you honor the Sabbath as a holy day set apart for Yahweh, not treating it like any other day? Do you use the true names Yehovah and Yahshua when praying, studying, or worshiping on the Sabbath? Have you rejected worship or religious activities on Sunday (the 1st day) as a man-made tradition? Do you prepare in advance (food, work, etc.) so that no work is done on the Sabbath? Do you gather with like-minded believers for study, prayer, and fellowship on the Sabbath? Are you careful to avoid buying, selling, or engaging in commerce on the Sabbath? Do you delight in the Sabbath and call it a blessing rather than a burden? Have you repented of past Sabbath breaking and now strive to keep it according to Scripture? Do you keep the Sabbath according to the original biblical pattern given to Israel, not modern church customs? Are you teaching your household and others to properly observe Yahweh’s Sabbath? Have you repented of past Sabbath breaking and now strive to keep it according to Scripture? Do you keep the Sabbath according to the original biblical pattern given to Israel, not modern church customs?Are you teaching your household and others to properly observe Yahweh’s Sabbath? Scoring 10–12 Yes: Strong evidence of properly keeping the Sabbath. 7–9 Yes: Mostly keeping it but with some areas of compromise. 4–6 Yes: Partial or inconsistent observance. 0–3 Yes: Not properly keeping the biblical Sabbath. How "First Day of the Week" Entered the Text The phrase "first day of the week" found in modern English Bibles is not a direct translation of the original text. It is a calculated linguistic substitution designed to align the Scriptures with a Roman calendar system rather than the Creator's calendar. The Confrontation: "You base an entire doctrine of Sunday worship on a handful of resurrection verses, claiming the Master changed the day of rest. But you are basing your theology on a translation choices made centuries later. When you pull back the English cover and look at the original manuscripts, the phrase 'Sunday' or 'first day of the week' completely vanishes. Read Matthew 28:1 and John 20:1." The Verse: * Matthew 28:1 (Literal Greek): "Ὀψὲ δὲ σαββάτων, τῇ ἐπιφωσκούσῃ εἰς μίαν σαββάτων..." * King James Version (With added words): "In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week..." The Shock: "The literal text completely dismantles the traditional Sunday narrative: The Original Greek: In every single resurrection account, the manuscripts do not contain the words for 'first day of the week.' The text explicitly reads mia tōn sabbatōn (μία τῶν σαββάτων), which literally translates to 'the first of the Sabbaths.' This is direct Hebrew covenant language referencing the countdown of the seven weekly Sabbaths leading up to Pentecost (Leviticus 23:15). The Ancient Translations: The earliest historical translations kept this link intact. Jerome’s Latin Vulgate (382 AD) rendered it literally as 'Una autem sabbati' ('The first of the Sabbath'). Wycliffe’s English Bible (1382) followed suit, translating it straight as 'one day of the sabotis' ('one day of the Sabbaths'). The 16th-Century Shift: The change occurred in the 1500s with William Tyndale and was later formalized by the King James Version in 1611. Translators swapped out 'Sabbath' for the idiom 'first day of the week' to match the Roman solar calendar. To force this interpretation, the KJV translators had to insert the words 'day of the' in italics, openly admitting those words do not exist in the Greek manuscripts. The Bottom Line: The phrase 'first day of the week' is a later human modification. The original accounts do not inaugurate a new day of worship; they explicitly anchor the resurrection timeline directly to the Hebrew Sabbath calendar." The Sign of the Sabbath Exodus 31:14 (Numbers 15:32–36) 12 And the LORD said to Moses, 13“Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep My Sabbaths, for this will be a sign between Me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you. 14 Keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. (Anyone who profanes it must surely be put to death. ) "Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honoring the Lord's Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ." 1910 (Modern Doctrinal Exposition – The Convert’s Catechism): Peter Geiermann’s Catechism: Formally affirmed the Church’s exercise of ecclesiastical authority in altering the day of worship: Q: Which is the Sabbath day? A: Saturday is the Sabbath day. Q: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday? A: We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday. Present Official Doctrine (Catechism of the Catholic Church): Paragraph 2175: Summarizes the official theological rationale—defining Sunday as a distinct observance that supersedes and spiritually fulfills the seventh day: And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and he entered, as his custom was, into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up to read. Luk3 4:16 So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath . ACTS 1 The mark of God Is the Sabbath 777 is found on the Sabbath Genesis 2:1-3 2 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation. There are three elements to a legal seal. The name, His Title, His territory Exodus 20:8-11 God seal/sign 8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God . On it, you shall not do any work , neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord he made (creator) heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. The word Sabbath is not used anywhere in the Book of Romans especially Romans 14:5 Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another 1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not quarrel over opinions . 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. 10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Do Not Cause Another to Stumble 13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. 20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 It is good not to eat meat drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.c 22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.d Sabbath and the Resurrection T here is no place in the entire bible where you will find any verses changing the Seventh-day Sabbath to Sunday, why doesn't it bother you when you worship on a different day than the day that God made holy, and to remember? It is the fourth commandment. Most Christians point to Romans 14 as proof text on changing the Sabbath day, however, you will not find the word Sabbath written in the book. Make no mistake, God will allow you to defy and disobey Him. He will allow you to follow the crowd and the traditions of men. He will allow you to sin. But He also says there is a day of reckoning coming. As you sow, so shall you reap! It’s interesting to note that there is only one day of the week that the Father gives a name to, the Sabbath, the seventh day. All other days are numbers. Ezekiel 22: 26 Her priests (Your pastors) have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. 27 Her princes within her are like wolves tearing the prey, by shedding blood and destroying lives in order to get dishonest gain.… Ezekiel 20:12 Also I gave them My Sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Yehovah who sanctifies them. How can anyone be sanctified without keeping the Sabbath? Exodus 20:9 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Yehovah your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days Yehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Yehovah blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:8-11). 1 Peter 1:15 But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY." ● Leviticus 20:26 'Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the Yehovah am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine. “Yehovah has today declared you to be His people, (ISRAEL) a treasured possession, as He promised you, and that you should keep all His commandments; and that He will set you high above all nations which He has made, for praise, fame, and honor; and that you shall be a consecrated people to the Yehovah, your Elohim, as He has spoken." The Disciples kept the Sabbath 85 Times in the book of Acts. Acts 20:6-7 But we sailed from Philippi after the Feast of Unleavened Bread and five days later joined the others at Troas, where we stayed seven days. On the first day of the week, we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. Verse 7 states, in English, that the apostles came together on the first day of the week, thus, implying to many that the Sabbath is now on the first day of the week Since this verse is used to defend Sunday as the new Sabbath day, let’s look at the Greek verse, where verse 7 says “first day of the week”. The Greek says, actually... mia ton sabaton The Greek word mia means “one,” not “first” ... it is the Greek word ‘protos’ that means “first,” which is not present in the text. We cannot make it say something that it does not ... It actually translates as “one of the Sabbaths”. Plural. Not “First day of the week”. Singular.”. This is a huge translation error that has been openly accepted as truth over the years. The modern church recognizes the resurrection day of Yeshua as being on Sunday. Let's really see which day Yeshua was resurrected. Matthew 20:40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. John 11:9 Yeshua answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? If anyone walks in the daytime, he will not stumble, because he sees by the light of this world.10 But if anyone walks at night, he will stumble, because he has no light.” … Here is something to ponder. How can you get 3 days and 3 nights or 72 hours from Good Friday to a Sunday morning resurrection? If you do the math, He would have been raised on Monday. The modern church’s logic for changing the Saturday Sabbath to Sunday does not hold true as Resurrection services should be held on Monday afternoon. God only gave the seventh day a name, all the rest of the days were numbered. If you look closely you will see they are talking about eating and receiving one who is weak in the faith, but not to dispute over doubtful things. There are at least 10 times it mentions eating. The context here is fasting, the verse is telling them it doesn't matter which day you chose to fast. Yeshua says when we fast, not if you fast. Romans 14:5 One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. Matthew 6:16-18 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Psalm 35:13-14 “I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting; I prayed with head bowed on my chest. I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother; as one who laments his mother, I bowed down in mourning.”

  • Deflections | Answers 4 Saints

    Paul told us to test all things to see if they were from God. do they include His law? Deflections are the Greatest sin The shortest verse in the English Bible is "Jesus wept" found in John 11:35. It has only 10 letters and two words. In Luke, Jesus weeps (eklausen, meaning to sob aloud) as he enters Jerusalem. He grieves because the people rejected his offer of peace, refused to turn to God, and would soon face destruction as a consequence. In short, the devil's deflection on Matthew 5:18–19 works by convincing people that taking Yeshua’s exact words seriously is somehow a violation of his grace. It redirects the mind from humble obedience to theological technicalities that excuse setting aside the commands. Matthew 17-19 17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. 18 For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.… Prof the law was fulfilled by Yeshua: He was the only person in the entire Bible that never sinned, He showed us how to love Yehovah the creator ,He showed how to love our fellow man , He show us how to keep the Sabbath Holy, He never ate anything unclean, and He always kept all of Yehovah appointed . "It is easy to claim the name of Christ, but true discipleship is shown through obedience. Many claim to follow Him while actively living against everything He commanded." John 3:36 ("whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him") I have not come to abolish them , 1 John 3:8, which states that "whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil". Ecclesiastes 12:13 –– "Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. Proverbs 28:9: " He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination. 1 John 2:4, w hich says: "Whoever says 'I know him' but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in that person." John 14:15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" Matthew 19:17 , "If you want to enter life, keep the commandments". Revelation 12:17. The text states that the dragon (identified as the devil and Satan) was angry with the woman and went to make war with the rest of her offspring—defined as those who keep God's commandments Revelation 13:7 , which states that the beast empowered by the dragon was allowed "to make war with the saints, and to overcome will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; Luke 7: 28 I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” Matthew 11:11 Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist; notwithstanding, he that is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. (Because no one on earth has been to heaven ) The Core Connection When people deflect Scripture, they usually do not burn the Bible; instead, they remove the commands they find uncomfortable by declaring them "least" or obsolete, or they add human loopholes to bypass God's true intent (as Yeshua rebuked in Mark 7:9–13). Matthew 5:18–19 makes clear that in God's eyes, even what humans consider "least" remains fully binding. Below are the primary biblical passages that explicitly prohibit adding to, taking away from, or modifying God's word and commandments: Here is the complete, unified breakdown bringing together every point—from altering words, names, and titles to adopting pagan holidays, eating unclean, rejecting God's appointments, and profaning the Sabbath—and the explicit judgments Scripture attaches to them. The Deflection: Weaponizing Grace The core deception pits Yeshua’s salvation against his instructions—tricking believers into viewing obedience as "legalism" rather than the natural fruit of love. 1. Redefining "Fulfill" (Matt. 5:17) The Trick: Treating "fulfill" as "terminate and throw away." The Reality: In first-century Hebrew idiom, to fulfill meant to correctly interpret and live out the Torah's full intent. Yeshua came to demonstrate how to keep it, not to dismiss it. 2. False Dichotomy: "Love vs. Rules" The Trick : Framing commands as rigid legalism and "love" as abstract freedom. The Reality: Yeshua defined love through action: "If you love me, keep my commands" (John 14:15). The commands define what love looks like in practice. 3. Perverting Grace The Trick : Rebranding grace as an excuse for apathy toward God's standards. The Reality: Grace is divine empowerment (Titus 2:11–12). It cleanses the past and transforms the heart so obedience becomes a joy. 4. Theological Loopholes The Trick: Using complex technicalities to bypass Matthew 5:18–19. The Reality: It creates a state where people cite treatises to excuse setting aside the very commands Yeshua warned never to relax. The Ultimate Irony: It turns distrust of Yeshua's direct words into a false badge of "spiritual maturity," making people feel enlightened precisely because they have explained away the Sermon on the Mount. The Deflection: Weaponizing Grace The core deception pits Yeshua’s salvation against his instructions—tricking believers into viewing obedience as "legalism" rather than the natural fruit of love. 1. Redefining "Fulfill" (Matt. 5:17) The Trick: Treating "fulfill" as "terminate and throw away." The Reality: In first-century Hebrew idiom, to fulfill meant to correctly interpret and live out the Torah's full intent. Yeshua came to demonstrate how to keep it, not to dismiss it. 2. False Dichotomy: "Love vs. Rules" The Trick: Framing commands as rigid legalism and "love" as abstract freedom. The Reality: Yeshua defined love through action: "If you love me, keep my commands" (John 14:15). The commands define what love looks like in practice. 3. Perverting Grace The Trick : Rebranding grace as an excuse for apathy toward God's standards. The Reality: Grace is divine empowerment (Titus 2:11–12). It cleanses the past and transforms the heart so obedience becomes a joy. 4. Theological Loopholes The Trick: Using complex technicalities to bypass Matthew 5:18–19. The Reality: It creates a state where people cite treatises to excuse setting aside the very commands Yeshua warned never to relax. The Ultimate Irony: It turns distrust of Yeshua's direct words into a false badge of "spiritual maturity," making people feel enlightened precisely because they have explained away the Sermon on the Mount. 1. Altering God's Word & Loss of Eternal Life Directly modifying, taking away from, or adding human commentary to the text forfeits access to eternal inheritance: Revelation 22:18–19 "If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll... God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City..." The Judgment: Direct assignment of written plagues and removal of one's name/share from the Tree of Life and the Heavenly City. 2. Deception, Changing Truth, and the Lake of Fire Creating false doctrines, fabricating traditions, or distorting scriptural facts places a person under the category of deception: Revelation 21:8 & Proverbs 30:6 "...and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur... Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar." The Judgment: Divine rebuke, public exposure as a deceiver, and final condemnation in the Lake of Fire alongside those who reject God's authority. 3. Profaning and Substituting the Sacred Names Erasing, changing, or replacing the covenant name Yehovah (יְהוָה) or the redemptive name Yeshua (יֵשׁוُעַ) with human alternatives violates the core command regarding His identity: Exodus 20:7 & Jeremiah 23:26–27 "You shall not take the name of the Lord [Yehovah] your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless... who try to make My people forget My name..." The Judgment: Being held guilty before the heavenly court and suffering spiritual blindness for lowering His divine identity to human tradition. 4. Adopting Pagan Holidays & Mixing Worship Customs Importing pagan customs, celebrations, and cultural holidays into the worship of the Creator is explicitly condemned as adding to His word: Deuteronomy 12:30–32 "Be careful not to be ensnared... saying, 'How do these nations serve their gods? We will do likewise.' You must not worship the Lord your God in their way... do not add to it or take away from it." The Judgment: Falling into spiritual entrapment and practicing what God classifies as a detestable abomination. 5. Eating Unclean Things & Rejecting Purity Instructions Dismissing God's dietary laws in favor of personal appetite or cultural preference is identified as active rebellion against His sanctification: Isaiah 66:15–17 "For behold, the Lord will come with fire... Those who sanctify themselves... eating swine’s flesh and the abomination and the mouse, shall be consumed together, says the Lord." The Judgment: Facing direct destruction alongside the lawless at the return of the Lord. 6. Rejecting God's Appointed Times (Moedim) Substituting man-made religious calendars and holidays for the eternal appointed feasts listed in Leviticus 23 leads to divine abandonment: Leviticus 23:2, 14 & Hosea 2:11 "The appointed times of the Lord... shall be a statute forever... I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her New Moons, her Sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts." The Judgment: Withdrawal of true spiritual insight, leaving individuals in empty, powerless religious ritual. 7. Profaning the Seventh-Day Sabbath Setting aside, altering, or declaring God's holy Sabbath done away with is highlighted as a primary trigger for divine wrath: Ezekiel 22:26, 31 "Her priests have violated My law... they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them... Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath." The Judgment: Complete loss of God's presence, exposure to spiritual deception, and direct divine indignation. Here is the complete, unified breakdown bringing together every point—from altering words, names, and titles to adopting pagan holidays, eating unclean, rejecting God's appointments, and profaning the Sabbath—and the explicit judgments Scripture attaches to them. 1. Altering God's Word & Loss of Eternal Life Directly modifying, taking away from, or adding human commentary to the text forfeits access to eternal inheritance: Revelation 22:18–19 "If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll... God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City..." The Judgment: Direct assignment of written plagues and removal of one's name/share from the Tree of Life and the Heavenly City. 2. Deception, Changing Truth, and the Lake of Fire Creating false doctrines, fabricating traditions, or distorting scriptural facts places a person under the category of deception: Revelation 21:8 & Proverbs 30:6 "...and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur... Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar." The Judgment: Divine rebuke, public exposure as a deceiver, and final condemnation in the Lake of Fire alongside those who reject God's authority. 3. Profaning and Substituting the Sacred Names Erasing, changing, or replacing the covenant name Yehovah (יְהוָה) or the redemptive name Yeshua (יֵשׁוُעַ) with human alternatives violates the core command regarding His identity: Exodus 20:7 & Jeremiah 23:26–27 "You shall not take the name of the Lord [Yehovah] your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless... who try to make My people forget My name..." The Judgment: Being held guilty before the heavenly court and suffering spiritual blindness for lowering His divine identity to human tradition. 4. Adopting Pagan Holidays & Mixing Worship Customs Importing pagan customs, celebrations, and cultural holidays into the worship of the Creator is explicitly condemned as adding to His word: Deuteronomy 12:30–32 "Be careful not to be ensnared... saying, 'How do these nations serve their gods? We will do likewise.' You must not worship the Lord your God in their way... do not add to it or take away from it." The Judgment: Falling into spiritual entrapment and practicing what God classifies as a detestable abomination. 5. Eating Unclean Things & Rejecting Purity Instructions Dismissing God's dietary laws in favor of personal appetite or cultural preference is identified as active rebellion against His sanctification: Isaiah 66:15–17 "For behold, the Lord will come with fire... Those who sanctify themselves... eating swine’s flesh and the abomination and the mouse, shall be consumed together, says the Lord." The Judgment: Facing direct destruction alongside the lawless at the return of the Lord. 6. Rejecting God's Appointed Times (Moedim) Substituting man-made religious calendars and holidays for the eternal appointed feasts listed in Leviticus 23 leads to divine abandonment: Leviticus 23:2, 14 & Hosea 2:11 "The appointed times of the Lord... shall be a statute forever... I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her New Moons, her Sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts." The Judgment: Withdrawal of true spiritual insight, leaving individuals in empty, powerless religious ritual. 7. Profaning the Seventh-Day Sabbath Setting aside, altering, or declaring God's holy Sabbath done away with is highlighted as a primary trigger for divine wrath: Ezekiel 22:26, 31 "Her priests have violated My law... they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them... Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath." The Judgment: Complete loss of God's presence, exposure to spiritual deception, and direct divine indignation. 1. Deuteronomy 4:2 (NKJV) "You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you." 2. Deuteronomy 12:32 (NKJV) "Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it." 3. Proverbs 30:5–6 (NKJV) 5 "Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him." 6 "Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar." 4. Matthew 5:18–19 (NKJV, modified) 18 "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled." 19 "Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." 5. Revelation 22:18–19 (NKJV) 18 "For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will 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, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." Actions & Consequences Deuteronomy 4:2 & 12:32 Adding to or taking away from divine decrees Inability to truly keep the Lord’s commandments Proverbs 30:6 Adding human thoughts or rules to God's words Divine rebuke and being found a liar Matthew 5:19 Loosening or removing the "least" command Called least in the kingdom of heaven Revelation 22:18–19 Adding to or removing text from prophetic revelation Receiving the plagues written in the book; removal from the Book of Life Jeremiah 26:2: The Command to Declare the Whole Word Without Diminishing It In Jeremiah 26:2, God explicitly commands the prophet Jeremiah to speak His message in its entirety, warning him against holding back or softening a single word to accommodate human sensitivities. Jeremiah 26:2 (NKJV) "Thus says the LORD: 'Stand in the court of the LORD’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, who come to worship in the LORD’s house, all the words that I command you to speak to them. Do not diminish a word.'" Key Insights from the Text "Do Not Diminish a Word": The Hebrew word used for "diminish" is gara, which means to subtract, withhold, trim down, or take away. God specifically instructs that not a single word can be removed or softened to make the message more comfortable or acceptable to the hearers. The Setting (The Temple Court): Jeremiah was sent to the very place where religious people gathered to worship. The warning was given directly to the religious leaders and worshippers who were inclined to selectively accept God's comfort while deflecting His warnings. The Purpose of Uncompromising Truth (Jeremiah 26:3): God explains why every word must be delivered without subtraction: "Perhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way, that I may relent concerning the calamity which I purpose to bring on them because of the evil of their doings." Trimming or diminishing God's warning deprives people of the chance to fully understand their standing and genuinely repent. Parallel Warnings Against Withholding God's Word PassageThe Command / PrincipleThe Severity Jeremiah 26:2"Do not diminish a word."Withholding truth prevents genuine repentance. Ezekiel 3:17–18The watchman must warn the wicked with God's exact words.If the watchman fails to warn them, their blood is required at his hand. Acts 20:26–27 Paul declares: "I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God."True faithfulness requires delivering the entire truth without omitting difficult doctrines. Scriptural Definitions of Misusing or Deflecting God's Word The Bible addresses several ways people reject, distort, or deflect Scripture rather than submitting to it: Wresting / Distortion (Strebloo): Taking Scripture out of its intended context to force a desired outcome or opinion. Substituting Human Tradition: Setting aside explicit commandments in favor of human traditions or personal rationalizations. Partial Obedience: Accepting passages that align with personal desires while ignoring or explaining away inconvenient commandments. Pharisaical Deflection: Using theological debates or legalistic technicalities to evade the underlying moral principles of God's law. Key Scriptures & Warnings Scripture Reference Concept / Action Theological Consequence / Punishment 2 Peter 3:16 Distortion ("untaught and unstable people twist [Scripture] to their own destruction")Spiritual ruin and destruction. Mark 7:8–13 Setting aside God's word for human tradition ("making the word of God of no effect")Hypocrisy; spiritual blindness and rejection by God. Revelation 22:18–19 Adding to or taking away from prophetic words Loss of share in the tree of life; receiving the plagues described. Galatians 1:8–9 Preaching a modified or perverted gospelCondemnation (Anathema / eternal separation). Matthew 7:21–23 Hearing or using Scripture without practicing obedience Rejection by Christ at final judgment ("I never knew you; depart from me"). Matthew 5:18–19 addresses the authority, permanence, and obligation of God's law, specifically warning against setting aside or misrepresenting even the smallest part of Scripture. Matthew 5:18–19 ( NKJV) 18 "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 19 "Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Breakdown & Key Definitions Permanence of Scripture ("Jot" and "Tittle"): Jot (Yod ): The smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Tittle: The minute stroke or pen-mark that distinguishes similar Hebrew letters. Meaning: Jesus emphasizes that every minute detail of God's word is intentional, authoritative, and enduring. None of it can be discarded or treated as obsolete. The Act of Deflecting or Relaxing the Law: Verse 19 explicitly addresses those who "break" (Greek: luo, meaning to loosen, dissolve, set aside, or declare non-binding) the commandments and "teach men so" (leading others to minimize or deflect those instructions). The Consequences & Judgment Action / Stance Toward ScriptureDirect Consequence (Verse 19) Loosening, ignoring, or teaching others to minimize even the smallest commandment"Shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven" Practicing and teaching the fullness of God's commandments"Shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven" The Biblical Prohibition Against Adding or Removing Scripture repeatedly warns that altering God's word —whether by addition, subtraction, or reclassifying what is "least" or "greatest"—is a severe offense against divine authority. Key Scriptures on Adding and Subtracting Deuteronomy 4:2 & 12:32: "You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God..." Proverbs 30:5–6: "Every word of God is pure... Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar." Revelation 22:18–19: "If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life..." How "Adding and Removing" Relates to "Least and Greatest" In Matthew 5:18–19, Yeshua bridges these concepts by declaring that not even a single "jot or tittle" (the smallest strokes of text) can be removed. Passage Action Status / Consequence Matthew 5:19 Loosening / Removing the "Least": Breaking or setting aside small commandments and teaching others to treat them as irrelevant."Called least in the kingdom of heaven" Matthew 5:19 Upholding All: Keeping and teaching both major principles and minor commands faithful to God's intent."Called great in the kingdom of heaven" Proverbs 30:6 Adding Human Doctrines: Elevating human traditions or extra-biblical rules to the level of Scripture.Rebuked by God; found to be a liar Revelation 22:19Removing / Stripping Scripture: Erasing, deleting, or outright rejecting parts of God's revealed word.Loss of share in the tree of life and holy city The Core Connection When people deflect Scripture, they usually do not burn the Bible; instead, they remove the commands they find uncomfortable by declaring them "least" or obsolete, or they add human loopholes to bypass God's true intent (as Yeshua rebuked in Mark 7:9–13). Matthew 5:18–19 makes clear that in God's eyes, even what humans consider "least" remains fully binding. Jesus on Human Tradition vs. God's Commandments In Matthew 15:1–9 and Mark 7:1–13,Yeshua directly confronts religious leaders for using human tradition to bypass, void, or deflect explicit Scripture. The Primary Passages Matthew 15:3, 6, 8–9 (NKJV) 3 "He answered and said to them, 'Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?'... 6 'Then he need not honor his father or mother.' Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition... 8 'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. 9 And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'" How Deflection Works: The "Corban" Example (Mark 7:9–13) Yeshua singles out a specific practice of Deflecting to show how people legally manipulate language to void God's law: Summary of Consequences Method of Distortion Spiritual Outcome Scriptural Reference Substituting tradition for Scripture Worship becomes in vain (useless before God)Matthew 15:9 Using religious loopholes to avoid duty Transgressing God's direct commandments Matthew 15:3 Elevating human rules over divine intent Laying aside and nullifying God's wordMark 7:8, 13 The Authority and Integrity of Matthew 5:18 Matthew 5:18 stands as one of the strongest statements in Scripture regarding the absolute preservation, authority, and unchangeable nature of God's word. Matthew 5:18 (NKJV) "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled." Core Warnings Embedded in Matthew 5:18 Warning Against Erasing "Minor" Details: By pointing to the yod (smallest letter) and tittle (smallest stroke of a pen), Yeshua warns that no detail of God’s word is irrelevant, dispensable, or open to human erasure. Warning Against Human Expiration Dates: The phrase "till heaven and earth pass away" establishes that human cultures, opinions, or changing times do not have the authority to declare God's law expired or invalid. Warning Against Partial Fulfillment: The law remains fully authoritative until "all is fulfilled." Attempting to dismiss portions of Scripture before God’s complete redemption plan is realized is a direct violation of Christ’s standard. Cross-References: The Immutable Nature of Scripture Scripture Reference Parallel Concept Consequence / Warning Isaiah 40:8 "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. "Human systems perish; God's word remains permanently standing. Matthew 24:35 / Luke 21:33"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away ."Absolute guarantee that divine instruction outlasts the physical universe. Psalm 119:89 "Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven."Scripture is fixed by divine decree, beyond human alteration or deflection. Luke 16:17 "And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail."The total reliability of Scripture; not even the smallest mark can fail to perform its purpose. The Warning Applied: Deflection vs. Submission When Matthew 5:18 is paired with verse 19, the warning becomes personal: anyone who attempts to "relax," "loosen," or deflect even the smallest part of God's word—or who teaches others that minor commands do not matter—places themselves in direct opposition to Christ’s declaration of the law's permanence. In Matthew 5:17–18, Jesus clarifies His relationship to the Old Testament, ensuring His followers understand He came neither to abolish Scripture nor to permit people to ignore its commands. Matthew 5:17–18 (NKJV) 17 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled." Four Ways Christ Fulfills the Law and the Prophets 1. Perfect Obedience (Moral & Righteous Fulfillment): Yeshua lived a sinless life, keeping every detail of the Law—down to every "jot and tittle"—without failure (1 Peter 2:22, Hebrews 4:15). Where human tradition bypassed God’s intent, Yeshua upheld its absolute moral purity. 2. Prophetic Completion (Messianic Fulfillment): Yeshua fulfilled hundreds of Old Testament prophecies, types, and shadows regarding the Messiah—from His birth and ministry to His sacrificial death and resurrection (Luke 24:44). 3. The Ultimate Sacrifice (Sacrificial & Ceremonial Fulfillment): The ceremonial laws, animal sacrifices, and priesthood were shadows pointing forward to Christ. By offering Himself as the perfect, once-for-all sacrifice (Hebrews 10:1–10), He brought the penal demands of the ritual law to their intended completion. 4. Revealing Full Intent (Deeper Spiritual Meaning): In the rest of Matthew 5 (the "Sermon on the Mount"), Yeshua demonstrates what fulfilling the law looks like in practice. He goes beyond outward compliance to address the heart: showing that murder begins with hatred, adultery begins with lust, and partiality violates love (Matthew 5:21–48). Summary Matrix: Fulfill vs. Abolish False Assumption ("Destroy / Abolish")Biblical Realit y ("Fulfill")Scriptural Context Erasing the Old Testament commands Bringing them to their complete, intended goal Matthew 5:17 Declaring Scripture obsolete or unimportant Establishing its eternal authority and moral depth Romans 3:31 Setting aside the strict demands of God Satisfying those demands fully through Christ In Romans 10:4, Paul addresses the ultimate goal and resolution of God's law, resolving how Christ relates to the righteous demands of Scripture. Romans 10:4 (NKJV) "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." Understanding "End" (Telos) The Greek word used here for "end" is telos. It does not mean "destruction," "abolition," or "termination," but rather: Goal or Target: The destination toward which the Law was always pointing (like the "end" of a journey). Fulfillment / Completion: The realization of the Law’s ultimate design and purpose. Consummation: The bringing of something to its intended final state. Three Key Theological Dimensions 1. Christ as the Target (The Goal of the Law): The Law was never designed to be an end in itself; it was a tutor or guardian intended to lead people to Christ by revealing God's absolute holiness and human inability to achieve perfection (Galatians 3:24). Christ is the target the Law aimed at all along. 2. Christ as Righteousness (Ending Self-Righteousness): Human beings often attempt to deflect or twist Scripture to construct their own system of merit. Romans 10:3–4 directly contrasts two ways of seeking righteousness: Human Effort / Self-Righteousness Divine Righteousness in Christ Attempting to keep the Law to earn salvation Receiving the righteousness of God as a gift through faith Lowering or distorting commands to fit human limits Relying on Christ’s total, perfect keeping of every "jot and tittle" Seeking righteousness by personal performance Receiving righteousness by believing in Christ (Romans 3:21–22) 3. Termination of the Law as a Means of Justification: While the moral truth of God's word remains eternal (Matthew 5:18), Christ ended the Law's role as a system for securing acceptance before God. Believers are no longer under the condemnation or curse of the Law (Romans 8:1, Galatians 3:13), because Christ satisfied its requirements on their behalf. The Law as "Guardrails" Against Sin The metaphor of the Law as a set of guardrails aligns closely with how Scripture describes God's commandments: they establish clear boundaries to expose danger, keep individuals from veering into sin, and protect them from destruction. The role of keeping Christ’s commandments True believers do keep His commandments. Yeshua said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). 1 John repeatedly links knowing God, abiding in Him, and obedience as evidence of genuine faith rather than its ground. The Spirit enables the righteous requirement of the law to be fulfilled in those who walk according to the Spirit (Romans 8:4). Obedience is the fruit and necessary evidence of new life, not the condition that activates or preserves freedom from the law’s curse and condemnation. Key Scriptures: The Protective Function of the Law Psalm 119:11: "Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You." Guardrail Function: Internalizing Scripture acts as a direct barrier against temptation. Psalm 119:105: "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Guardrail Function: Defines the safe path, preventing a person from blindly straying off a cliff into sin. Galatians 3:23 : "But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which should afterward be revealed." Guardrail Function: Paul explicitly uses military/custodial language (phroureo - to guard or hem in) to show how the Law contained and restrained human sinful nature until Christ arrived. 1 Timothy 1:8–10: " Knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners..." Guardrail Function: Laws and boundaries exist precisely to restrain unruly behavior and prevent lawlessness from going unchecked. How the Guardrail Metaphor Completes the Biblical Picture Function of the Law Practical / Theological Meaning Scriptural Reference Exposing Sin (Mirror)Shows what sin is by defining absolute right and wrong Romans 3:20, 7:7 Leading to Christ (Tutor)Proves human inability to stay within boundaries, driving us to grace Galatians 3:24 Connecting Guardrails to Deflection When people deflect, remove, or relax parts of Scripture (as warned against in Matthew 5:18–19), they effectively tear down the guardrails God put in place for their protection. Removing the "least" commandment creates a gap in the fence, making it significantly easier to slide into major sin. Psalm 19 describes the warnings and rewards of God's law? Psalm 19: The Protective Value, Warnings, and Rewards of God's Law In Psalm 19:7–14, David transitions from God's revelation in creation (verses 1–6) to God's written word, providing a complete defense of Scripture's perfection and protective boundary. The Perfect Character of the Law (Verses 7–9) David uses six distinct titles and descriptions for God's word, showing how it acts as a total guide for human life: Term Used Description Practical Effect on the Soul The Law of the LORD Perfect Restores/converts the soul The Testimony of the LORD Sure Makes wise the simple The Statutes of the LORD Right Rejoices the heart The Commandment of the LORD Pure Enlightens the eyes The Fear of the LORD Clean, enduring forever Provides an unshakable foundation The Judgments of the LORD True and righteous altogether Imparts divine truth The Law as Warning and Guardrail (Verses 11–13) In verses 11–13, David explicitly describes how Scripture functions as a protective guardrail against different types of sin: 11 "Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward." 12 "Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults." 13 "Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me..." Warning Against "Secret Faults" (Unintentional Sin): Scripture shines light on blind spots—sins committed in ignorance or rationalized away through self-deception. Guardrails Against "Presumptuous Sins" (Willful Sin): Presumptuous sins are intentional, high-handed rebellions (such as deflecting or deliberately ignoring a known command). David prays that the boundary of God's law holds him back so those deliberate sins do not form a habit or gain "dominion" over his life. The Ultimate Goal: Divine Acceptance (Verse 14) David concludes by bringing every thought, word, and reaction under the standard of God's word, recognizing that keeping the guardrails intact leads to true righteousness: 14 "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer."

  • 48 | Answers4saints.com

    The good news is that Yehovah ordained Yeshua to announce the coming of His kingdom here on earth. Many would be shocked to find out that the Bible defines the gospel differently than what they have always been told. A thorough reading shows He brought and that the apostles continued to preach. The True Gospel e The spiritual path begins with a direct call from Yeshua: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. ” This imperative is the doorway to salvation—a foundational, inward shift away from sin and a fallen world, and a redirection of the heart toward the sovereign authority of God. Matthew 4:17 — “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, ‘Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” Mark 1:15 — “And saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.’” 2. The Doorway: Water Baptism and the Holy Spiri t Following the resurrection and ascension of Yeshua, Peter declared the active steps of covenant entry at Pentecost: turning in repentance, being buried with Messiah in baptism, and receiving divine empowerment through the Spirit. Acts 2:38 — “Then Peter said unto them, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.’” John 3:5 — “Jesus answered, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.’” 3. The Blood: Grafted into the Commonwealth of Israel By the blood shed on the tree, the dividing wall of hostility was torn down. Nations once alienated from the promises and covenants are brought near and grafted as wild olive branches into the root of Israel. Ephesians 2:12–13 — “That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Yesgua messiah ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” Romans 11:17 — “A nd if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree.” 4. The Commission: Gathering Others into the Harvest Salvation is not walked in isolation; a grafted branch bears fruit. Believers are commanded to act as fishers of men and ambassadors, working to gather the lost into the Father’s house before the end. Matthew 28:19–20 — “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” Matthew 9:37–38 — “Then saith he unto his disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.’” Luke 14:23 — “And the lord said unto the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.’” 5. The Perseverance: Holding Fast Until the End The culmination of salvation requires endurance through trials, testing, and persecution. The promise of the eternal crown belongs to those who do not turn back. Matthew 24:13 — “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Hebrews 10:35–36 — “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” Revelation 2:25–26 — “But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations.” What Did Yeshua Preach? Many would be shocked to find out that the Bible defines the gospel differently than what they have always been told. A thorough reading shows that accepting Christ's blood in payment for our sins—as foundationally important as it is—is not the focus of the "good news" that He brought and that the apostles continued to preach. In addition to dying for our sins, Yeshua came to earth as a messenger from Yehovah the Father: The good news is that Yehovah ordained Yeshua to announce the coming of His kingdom here on earth. The announcement of "good news"— the very best news that could be heard today—which the Father gave through Yeshua, was about His Kingdom being established on earth. What is a kingdom? It is essentially a nation, with all of its citizens, land, and laws, ruled by a government. In biblical usage, a kingdom can also mean a family from a single parent grown into a nation. A kingdom has four basic elements: a king, supreme ruler, or governing agent; territory, with its specific location and definite boundary lines; subjects or citizens within that territorial jurisdiction; and laws and a form of government through which the will of the ruler is exercised. If we ignore any one of these essential elements—if we ignore the message that Yeshua brought from the Father—we will have a distorted faith, one that will not bring salvation. Who Will Be King? There can be no doubt that the King of God's Kingdom will be Yeshua. Even though He did not exercise any civil authority while on earth when He returns, He will be "King of kings and Lord of lords" Timothy 6:15; Revelation 19:16; 17:14). Other prophets also foretold of a coming king, not just of Israel and Judah, but also extending to the entire world. Isaiah tells us: For unto us, a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah 9:6-7) Where Will the Kingdom Be Established? A dominant falsehood that Satan has foisted on mankind is the belief that one's soul goes to heaven after death. Many people assume that the phrase Kingdom of God is synonymous with heaven, but the Bible teaches that when Yeshua returns, the Kingdom of God will be established on earth! First, notice how the Bible completely refutes the notion of "going to heaven" after death. Peter tells the crowd on the day of Pentecost, "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.. .. For David did not ascend into the heavens" (Acts 2:29, 34). This "man after God's own heart" is not in heaven, but still in the grave! Our Savior confirms this in John 3:13: "No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven." Ecclesiastes 9:5,10 The dead saints of the Old and New Testaments alike are sleeping in their graves, awaiting the resurrection - without consciousness. Job 14:14-15 Job describes waiting for the resurrection in this way: "If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, till my change comes. You shall call, and I will answer You. Revelation 5:10, "And You have made them a kingdom (royal race) and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth!" Revelation 11:15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying; "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Yehovah and His Son, and He shall reign forever and ever!" Revelation 21:21. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also, there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. … Revelation 21:1 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son." Who Are the Kingdom's Subjects and Citizens? Even though the entire world will be ruled by Yeshua when He establishes the Kingdom on earth, not everyone on earth will be a citizen of that Kingdom. Everyone will be subject to the King of Kings, but not everyone will have entered into that spiritual Kingdom. John 3:3 Yeshua revealed this truth to Nicodemus. When Nicodemus came to Him at night, Yeshua told him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" . I Corinthians 15:50. Paul told the Corinthians "Flesh and blood [mortal humans] cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption" While we have a physical, flesh-and-blood body, we may be heirs of the Kingdom, but we cannot enter fully into the Kingdom, nor can we see it, until we become spirit—given a glorious spirit-composed body in the resurrection. This means that, even though all of mankind will be subject to the Kingdom that Yeshua will rule on earth, they will not necessarily be a part of it. Matthew 25:31-34 When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." The Kingdom of God, then, will be ruled by Yeshua and will be inherited by those who have been glorified upon being resurrected from the dead. The resurrected saints—citizens of God's Kingdom—will rule along with Yeshua over the remaining peoples of the earth (Daniel 7:27; II Timothy 2:12; Revelation 2:26-28; 5:9-10; 20:4-6; 22:5). What are the Laws of the Kingdom? Judges 21:25 . Law is simply a guide for people to follow to ensure cohesion, agreement, and peace in civil and interpersonal relationships. Without an understood standard, enforced by a sovereign ruler, everyone would act according to his own whim or desire, and nothing good or worthwhile would be produced. The Kingdom of God is no different. I Corinthians 14:33 God is not the author of confusion. His Kingdom will be peaceful and orderly because everyone who will enter into it will have voluntarily submitted himself to the law - the commandments - of God. God will not have anyone in His Kingdom who demonstrates, by the pattern of his life, that he will not obey Him. (Matthew 7:21-23; Hebrews 10:26-31). Revelation 12:17 describes the saints as those "who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Yeshua. These two statements - loving God and loving your neighbor as oneself - encapsulate the first four and the last six commandments respectively. The commandments merely define further how to love God and love man. We love God in general by placing Him first, by not adopting physical aids in worshiping Him, by not bearing His name in vain, and by keeping the seventh-day Sabbath holy. We love men, in general, by honoring our parents, not murdering, not committing adultery, not stealing, not lying, and not coveting. John 14:15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments. “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Fathers who sent Me." Here is the core breakdown of why many modern Christians leave out the commandments and repentance: Fear of Rejection: Many worry that talking about sin and rules makes them look judgmental, legalistic, or "fire-and-brimstone." They omit the hard truths to avoid driving people away. The Comfort Business: To fill pews, many churches have traded a message of conviction for a message of comfort. It’s easier to sell God as a cosmic therapist who wants to bless you than a King who demands repentance. "Cheap Grace": There is a widespread misunderstanding that because salvation is a free gift, God's moral laws no longer matter. It offers forgiveness without requiring a change in behavior. Avoiding Hypocrisy: Proclaiming the commandments holds up a mirror to the world—but it also holds one up to the person preaching. It is easier to offer vague positivity than to live out a strict, counter-cultural standard. The Bottom Line: You cannot have the "Good News" without the bad news. The Commandments show us where we are broken, Repentance is turning away from that brokenness, and Grace is the rescue. Without the first two, the rescue means nothing. The Gospel (in Hebrew, the Besorah—"good news") that Yeshua (Jesus) personally preached is summarized in Mark 1:14–15: "Now after John was put in prison, Yeshua came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.'" While modern ears often hear "the gospel" defined exclusively as the mechanics of individual salvation (how to go to heaven when you die), Yeshua’s proclamation was broader, deeper, and grounded in the Hebrew Scriptures: the Gospel of the Kingdom of God (Besorat HaMalkhut). He announced that the sovereign rule, authority, and covenant reign of the Creator had broken directly into this fallen world through the King Himself. 1. "The Time is Fulfilled" (Prophetic Arrival) When Yeshua said the time was fulfilled, He was speaking to a nation longing for deliverance. The prophecies of Daniel (the timeline of Daniel 9 and the stone that crushes the kingdoms of the world in Daniel 2) and Isaiah were reaching their climax. In Luke 4:18–19, He opened the scroll of Isaiah 61 in the Nazareth synagogue to define His mandate: Preaching good tidings to the poor and humble. Healing the brokenhearted. Proclaiming liberty to the captives and the opening of prison to those who are bound. Proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord (the ultimate Jubilee release from sin and debt). 2. "The Kingdom of God is at Hand" (The Core Proclamation) Yeshua did not preach an abstract philosophy; He preached an active government and reign: Sovereignty over the Kingdom of Darkness: Every time Yeshua cast out a demon, healed incurable diseases, or raised the dead, He was demonstrating that Satan’s usurpation of the earth was being overthrown. "If I cast out demons by the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you" (Luke 11:20). The Nature of the King’s Reign: His kingdom was not of this worldly system—it did not advance through political intrigue, violence, or human armies (John 18:36). Instead, it advanced through truth, sacrificial love, humility, and righteousness. Present and Future: The Kingdom is already here in the hearts and walk of those who submit to the King, and it is yet to come in its physical, global fullness when the King returns to establish His reign in Jerusalem (Zechariah 14; Revelation 11:15). 3. "Repent" (Teshuvah — A Complete Return) To enter this Kingdom, the requirement was not a passive intellectual nod, but Teshuvah—a radical turning around: Turning from Self-Rule to God's Rule: Repentance means laying down rebellion, secular autonomy, and false religious pretenses. Internalizing the Commandments: In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), Yeshua explained the constitution of the Kingdom. He made it clear that He did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but to fill them to the full (Matthew 5:17). Kingdom repentance goes beyond external legalism to the motives of the heart—eradicating lust, hatred, pride, and greed. Fruit of Repentance: Just as John the Baptist warned, Yeshua taught that true repentance always bears observable, righteous fruit (Matthew 7:16–21). 4. "Believe in the Good News" (Covenant Faith & Allegiance) In the biblical mindset, "belief" (emunah) is not merely agreeing that God exists; it is active loyalty, trust, and obedience to the King: Trusting the Father’s Provision: Ceasing to worry about food, drink, and clothing like the nations do, but rather "seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33). Trusting the Sacrifice of the Son: Yeshua taught that He came "not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). The Good News is that the King took the curse of our disobedience upon Himself at Passover, shedding His blood to ratify the New Covenant (Matthew 26:28). Victory Over the Grave: Yeshua promised that whoever hears His word and believes Him who sent Him has passed from death into life (John 5:24), anchored by His own resurrection as the firstfruits from the dead. 5. Summary: What Entering the Gospel Requires In Yeshua's own words, walking in the Gospel means: Denying Self: "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me" (Luke 9:23). Obeying the Father's Will: "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" (Matthew 7:21). Loving God and Neighbor: Loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loving your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:29–31). Proclaiming the Kingdom to All Nations: "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come" (Matthew 24:14). In short, the Gospel Yeshua taught is the royal proclamation that God’s reign has arrived in His Messiah, calling every human heart to turn away from sin, enter covenant peace with the Father through the Son, and live as an obedient citizen of His eternal Kingdom. In ancient kingdoms, when a king ascended his throne, he issued a royal charter or legal code declaring how his realm would be governed and what was expected of his subjects. In Matthew 5–7, Yeshua goes up on a mountain—echoing Moses ascending Mount Sinai—sits down in the posture of a reigning king and teacher, and delivers the manifesto of His newly inaugurated reign. The Sermon on the Mount is not an impractical, idealistic philosophy, nor is it a checklist to earn salvation. It is the living, practical constitution of the Kingdom of God, dictating the character, inner motives, ethics, and daily allegiance required of every citizen walking under Messiah's rule. 1. The Preamble: The Citizen’s Internal Disposition (The Beatitudes) Any national constitution opens with foundational values. Earthly empires prize military conquest, political clout, wealth, and self-assertion. Yeshua begins His charter (Matthew 5:3–12) by turning the world's value system completely upside down: Poor in Spirit: Recognizing total spiritual bankruptcy and utter dependence on the King. Mourning: Grieving over personal sin and the brokenness of a fallen world. Meekness: Possessing harnessed strength, patience, and humility rather than violent ambition. Hunger for Righteousness: Longing for God’s righteous order to prevail more than craving food or physical comfort. Mercy and Purity of Heart: Extending forgiveness and maintaining undivided, uncorrupted loyalty to God. Peacemaking: Actively reconciling estranged parties, reflecting the character of the Father. These are not separate groups of people receiving different rewards; together, they describe the temperament of the citizen who has laid down self-rule. 2. The Citizen’s Public Office: Salt and Light Citizens of the Kingdom do not live in isolationist enclaves; they are embedded directly into a decaying and dark culture (Matthew 5:13–16): Salt of the Earth: In antiquity, salt was a preservative that arrested rot and decay. Kingdom citizens preserve truth, hold back moral corruption, and bring spiritual flavor to the societies they inhabit. Light of the World: Light exposes danger and guides the traveler. Believers do not hide their allegiance to the King; their visible, tangible good works shine so that observers give glory directly to the Father. 3. The Legal Standard: Fulfilling and Internalizing the Law In Matthew 5:17–20, Yeshua establishes the legal framework of His government, dispelling any thought of lawlessness or anarchy: "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled." To "fulfill" (pleroo) in Hebrew thought means to bring the law to its fullest intended meaning and expression, not to abolish it. Yeshua contrasts the superficial, external legalism of the religious establishment with the King’s internal standard. Through a series of six antitheses ("You have heard that it was said... but I say to you"), He shows that the King's law governs the thoughts and desires before an act is ever committed: Murder vs. Contempt: It is not enough to refrain from physical murder; harboring bitter anger, resentment, or hurling venomous insults (Raca) makes one liable to judgment (5:21–26). Adultery vs. Lust: Purity is not just refraining from physical unfaithfulness; looking with covetous intent is adultery in the heart (5:27–30). Oaths vs. Total Integrity: Citizens do not need elaborate religious oaths or legal loopholes to verify their truthfulness; their word is their bond—their "Yes" means yes, and their "No" means no (5:33–37). Retaliation vs. Sacrificial Generosity: Rather than demanding immediate vengeance ("an eye for an eye"), citizens yield personal rights, go the extra mile, and overcome evil with good (5:38–42). Love for Enemies: The ultimate test of Kingdom citizenship is reflecting the Father’s indiscriminate benevolence—praying for persecutors and blessing those who curse you (5:43–48). 4. Public Duty & Worship: Sincerity Over Religious Theater In Matthew 6, Yeshua regulates the three primary pillars of personal religious duty: giving, prayer, and fasting. In earthly systems, piety is often weaponized for social prestige. In the Kingdom, performance art is condemned: Secret Giving (Alms): Giving to the needy without sounding a trumpet or announcing tax write-offs; the left hand does not know what the right is doing. Secret Prayer: Communing behind closed doors with the Father, rather than reciting vain, repetitive words to impress bystanders. He provides the Model Prayer (the Lord's Prayer), teaching citizens to align their desires with the Father’s name, His kingdom coming, and His will being done on earth. Secret Fasting: Anointing the head and washing the face so that the physical affliction of fasting is unseen by men, directed only to the Father who sees in secret. 5. The Economic System: Trust, Not Striving Every kingdom has an economy. The economy of the world is driven by fear, scarcity, hoarding, and status anxiety. The Kingdom of God operates on radical faith in divine provision (Matthew 6:19–34): Currency: True wealth is not stored in physical barns, bank vaults, or commodities where moth and rust destroy; it is stored in heaven through generous, righteous living. Singular Focus: A servant cannot serve two masters. You cannot pledge allegiance to the Creator while serving Mammon (wealth/money). Freedom from Worry: Citizens do not sweat and panic over daily bread or clothing like the pagans do. The King feeds the birds of the air and clothes the lilies of the field. The citizen's sole operational directive is: "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." (Matthew 6:33) 6. Relational Protocol: Righteous Discernment Without Self-Righteous Condemnation In Matthew 7:1–12, Yeshua sets the rules for how citizens treat one another: The Spec and the Log: Before attempting to perform delicate eye surgery on a brother’s fault, remove the massive log of blind self-righteousness from your own eye. Holy Discernment: While judgment is warned against, discernment is commanded—do not cast pearls before swine or give what is sacred to dogs. Persistent Petitions: Keep asking, seeking, and knocking, trusting that the Father gives good gifts to His children. The Royal Rule (The Golden Rule): "Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 7:12) 7. The Ratification: Hearing vs. Doing A constitution is useless if it is merely read and debated rather than obeyed. Yeshua concludes His address with four sobering warnings demanding personal allegiance: Two Gates: The wide, crowded gate leading to destruction versus the narrow, difficult gate leading to life (7:13–14). Two Trees: True prophets and false prophets, known not by their charisma or titles, but by their actual fruit (7:15–20). Two Confessions: Warning that crying "Lord, Lord" or performing signs in His name is worthless if one practices lawlessness (anomia). Only those who do the will of the Father will enter (7:21–23). Two Foundations: The sermon ends with a dramatic builder’s test. The person who hears these words and builds on them is a wise man who digs deep and anchors his house on the solid bedrock. When the storms, floods, and winds beat against that life, it stands firm. The person who hears and does not obey builds on shifting sand—and great is the fall of it (7:24–27). When Yeshua concluded, the crowds were astonished. He did not quote human traditions or cite precedent like the scribes; He spoke as the Lawgiver and King Himself, laying down the permanent, unalterable rule of life for all who call Him Lord.

  • Pictures | Answers 4 Saints

    Hebrews 8:10 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

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