During the apostolic era, Christians were viewed as members of a Jewish sect, a subset of Judaism; the Twelve Apostles and their disciples were passionately Torah-observant (Ac 21:20), including the Apostle Paul. (24) As the Holy Spirit lead them to delight in Torah as the law of God (Ro 7:22), the early church remained Torah-centered; except for their love for Messiah, they looked and acted Jewish.
The distinct religion which we now call Christianity began to emerge late in the 1st century, distinguishing itself from Judaism by rejecting Torah as God’s Law. Though Christ plainly warns against this (Mt 5:17-18), and though Paul anticipates this type of apostasy (2Ti 4:3-4), desperation to escape the devastating Fiscus Judaicus, the additional tax imposed by Rome upon all Torah-keepers, beginning shortly after the destruction of the temple in 70 CE and continuing for hundreds of years, opened the door wide to deception. The relentlessly crippling financial burden — imposed simply for being Torah-observant — drove post-apostolic leadership to wrest key Pauline passages (2Pe 3:16) to decouple the burgeoning, predominantly lower-class gentile Christian population from its biblical foundation. (Ps 11:3)
Since no reasonable soul would believe all of Torah has been abolished, especially laws such as Do Not Kill, Do Not Commit Adultery, etc., key figures such as Justin Martyr and Ireneus began to arbitrarily partition Torah into moral and civil or ceremonial laws, claiming ceremonial commands were temporary shadows fulfilled by Christ and civil laws were only for Jews. They started encouraging believers to cease sabbath observance, abandon God’s feasts, ignore dietary laws, leave their children uncircumcised, etc. Conveniently, as it turns out, they began teaching precisely what suffering believers were desperately wanting to hear: how to stop being identified as Jewish and avoid debilitating taxation without renouncing their faith in Christ.
Thus the “itching ears” predicted by Paul a few decades earlier played itself out in the churches (2Ti 4:3-4), corrupting the faith and starting yet another false religion. The burdensome tax continued right up until just before this new religion, Christianity, was officially recognized as the state religion under Constantine (380 CE). Evidently, this is no coincidence, but calculated extortion and deception. In retrospect, we should expect as much; as God further reveals Himself (1Co 2:8) Satan strategically creates the clever counterfeit. (2Co 11:13-15)
Yet the trained soul perceives that dismissing parts of Torah as civil or ceremonial openly contradicts the plain teaching of Christ Himself (Mt 5:17-18) and changes the very definition of sin (1Jn 3:4), amounting to a radical departure from the faith which was once delivered onto the saints. (Ju 3) We know Torah is spiritual (Ro 7:14); it is all good if we use it lawfully. (1Ti 1:8) Rejecting this arbitrary partition of Torah collapses the entire superstructure of Christian dogma like the proverbial house of cards and exposes Christianity as a massive fraud. (Mt 7:26-27)
Even so, most Christians accept this artificial classification of Torah as a given, mentally substituting whatever definition of the law they happen to prefer in any biblical context. They instinctively dismiss the parts of Torah they despise while thinking they are respecting God’s law as a whole, and they do not even seem to realize they are doing so. (I certainly didn’t.) Pointing it out and challenging this key step might be a gamechanger for the elect: challenge them to show from scripture where and how God partitions His laws like this. When we stop doing so, Torah-relevance becomes an all-or-nothing proposition (Mt 22:40), as it should be (Is 8:20), exposing biblical objections to Torah observance as inherently inconsistent: they simply cannot stand. (2Ti 3:16-17)
The reality is that deliberately and routinely breaking any part of Torah defines one as a lawbreaker. (Ja 2:10-11) Intentional, willful disobedience is the defining characteristic of Satan and his own. (1Jn 3:8)
Yet God’s mercy towards sins of ignorance (1Ti 1:13) is evidently graciously extended to those who remain blinded by the enemy (2Co 3:14), who literally cannot see what they are doing. It is no small thing to acknowledge this level of deception and repent; it effectively amounts to following another Jesus, a very different one, evidence that the Jesus preached in Christianity since the 2nd century is not the Jesus of the Bible. The same language is used, but the actuality is quite different.
Preaching Christ as Messiah offering to save us from breaking Torah, equipping and enabling us to live in obedience to Torah (Ro 8:4), reveals who is willing to receive the true King and who is content to follow the counterfeit. (Ro 8:6) The foundation of God stands sure, having this seal: Jesus Christ knows those who are His (2Ti 2:19), and He is saving us from our breaking of Torah. (Mt 1:21)
Tim,
Question on your comment: They started encouraging believers to cease sabbath observance, abandon God’s feasts, ignore dietary laws, leave their children uncircumcised, etc.
The uncircumcised portion of your statement in relation to Galatians 2:3-4 But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised: 4 And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:
Titus is obviously Not a “children” — but neither was the [uncircumcised] compelled to be [circumcised]
In verse 11 Paul withstands Peter to his face for [fearing] them who were of the circumcision.
There is more there, and usually you have a scripture explanation for these things.
vs 14 also
stephen
Great question(s) Stephen,
My view is that the context of Galatians 2 implies Judaizers were requiring Titus to undergo ritual conversion to Judaism (which is what was meant by “circumcised”, as in Gal 5:2-4), which Paul vehemently opposed as a violation of the Gospel since it implied salvation was ultimately merited by keeping the law (“legalism”). This is the same type of conflict we read about in Acts 15:1-2. “Freedom” here should not be understood as permission to violate Torah (in other words, to sin) but being released from the lie/burden/bondage of legalism, salvation by works, which is where the Jews were stumbling. (Ro 9:31-32)
Paul’s ensuing confrontation with Peter (vs 14 ff) was about Peter’s inconsistency in observing Jewish oral tradition related to Gentile uncleanness (which forbade Jews from companying or eating with Gentiles, see Acts 10:28), while teaching the Gospel to Gentiles per Christ’s command. This confrontation was not about whether Gentiles should keep Torah, but about whether Gentiles could be saved without converting to Judaism. It was about what ultimately saves us, where righteousness ultimately comes from. (vs 21)
Nowhere in Galatians do we understand that Torah is not applicable to Gentiles, or that God has changed the definition of sin for anyone. In Galatians, Paul is fighting another gospel (1:6-9), requiring us to convert to Judaism to ensure our salvation.
What do you think?
Tim,
For myself, at 75, I realize a need to be more [careful] in my walk with JESUS. I do not want to walk in [vanity] and/or [self-righteousness]. I joyfully observe the coming of young people in the United States to the Lord Jesus Christ. My generation is fast leaving this earth.
Some scripture:
For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having NOT the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
The SECRETS of ALL our hearts shall be Judged by Jesus Christ.
It was both Spoken and Written:
Be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
The [harmless] as doves makes me judge mr. stephen’s heart [that’s myself] — Is the [intent] of my heart to [love] a brother as unto the LORD? ie… what does it mean to [love] Tim?
The LONG View. In Eternity… there will be an aspect of the Lord Jesus Christ that is ONLY reflected by the Lord Jesus Christ and Tim. Tim will have a UNIQUE aspect of Christ beyond the physical fingerprints, rather, the actual divine touch of Abba upon Tim’s spirit, and Tim’s heart. There is MORE depth there than any of us can comprehend. [my opinion] ALL members in the body of Christ have this SAME uniqueness. Psalm 139 for corroboration.
Short run, is simply a [caution]. Be careful not to straight-jacket someone into being [you] in order to be acceptable in the Body of Christ. A caution is [not] a don’t walk like this, it is simply a caution that one examine if he or she is being as harmless as a dove, as the Spirit of Truth, as our Teacher.
Do you know Who THE Teacher IS? Someone who tells this [stephen/guy] we are NOT studying this today, we are studying your lack of gratitude and your Call to repent in this are of your life. A Spirit of Truth teacher is someone who IS teaching me JESUS for what I need as my Daily Bread.
I am currently not walking in wisdom to respond to your question beyond saying, ONLY YOU can Judge your own heart, your own intentions to be harmless as a dove.
My wife died awhile back [John 14:1-3] and I had a vision sometime thereafter of something from 40-45 years ago — it was in black and white and living color and I SAW where I had set a bad example in one area of life. I SAW the thoughts of my mind. I had not thought about this in 40 years or so. The TEACHER was judging the secrets of my heart. And then I heard a question: do you think this might have made it harder for your wife to walk in respect and as a help mate? [This was not said to condemn me, rather, like an Older Blood Covenant Brother explaining things to me] Or if you prefer, being taken out to the wood shed 🙂 Def. a scourging.
Some people eat meat. Some vegetables. Some look at all days the same. Some look at this day as being special. They have different fingerprints. WHO upholds them? I do NOT want to condemn GOD’s fingerprints in any way. Fortunately, I am not formerly called to it. [For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us [my brother, my sister] from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.]
What do [I] think? you queried. I think as long as the intent of the heart is to Love [HIS] sheep and lambs, and you are wise as a serpent about this — you will grow in understanding as THE Teacher teaches you. After all,
If any man speak, let him speak according to the Oracles of God. If any man minister, let him do it according to the ability which God giveth, that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
love
stephen
ps
When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
The above is the scripture where I see Mr. Tim being UNIQUE in Christ… you can duplicate a Mona Lisa, but Tim can never be duplicated in the heart of Abba. There is only one Tim curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
My substance was not hid from Thee when I was made in secret, and intricately wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
PSS — don’t think I answered your specific question — I’m just a different fingerprint — but as scripture states — I admire your fingerprint, it is impressive, it reflects ABBA.
def. an imperfect answer …
Thank you, Stephen.
In your typical gentle and mysterious way you seem to be challenging me, but I’m not sure exactly why or how. My guess is that you may find my emphasis on Torah to be a bit of a hobby horse or preference that I am trying to force fit others into, as if this were my particular brand of faith, being as good as any other.
It reminds me of some loving brothers who were troubled by my early emphasis on Torah, as I first began to really discover it. They said, “Leave him alone, we have all had our messianic spree. Let him have his run at it. He will come out of it eventually.” That was 23 years ago. I don’t think I’m coming out of it.
I agree that common Christian teaching is that Torah is optional at best, dangerous at worst. But what if Christianity itself is a false religion, distinguished uniquely by its baseless claim that the Jewish Messiah came to abolish God’s law, established by God more than millennium before his time and upon which all of their faith rested? I have never seen anything in any of Christ’s teachings that even suggests this.
What if the Jesus being preached in Christianity is not the biblical Jesus? Does your Jesus get angry with those who do not reverence him? The biblical Jesus does. “kiss the son less he be angry and you perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little.”
Does your Jesus feel wrath towards those who will not obey him? The biblical Jesus certainly does. “… hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the lamb.”
What if, of all the Christians you know, only 1% are going to make it to heaven? And what if, of all the other people that do not identify as Christian, only one and 10,000 are going to make it?
If the above is true, and I don’t think we can say with any reasonable certainty that it is not, is it loving to say nothing and mind my own business? Is it truly loving to tell others who are persistently resisting and rejecting Torah that they are in a good place with Messiah? When he has explicitly said he will tread down everyone that errs from his statutes? Ps 119:118 “You have trodden down all them that err from your statutes, for their deceit is falsehood.”
I agree it is not good to judge, but I disagree that trying to awake people to the danger they are probably in is in any way judgmental.
I am getting better at expressing my faith, and doing so in love, and I do want to grow here.
However, if it is the message itself that you dislike, I can do nothing about that unless someone shows me plainly from scripture where I am in error.
But if there’s something about the way I am saying it that is offensive, when the truth itself is not offensive, I am more than interested in understanding how I can improve my delivery. Perhaps you can give me an example or two of how I could say something more charitably without diminishing the content itself.
Please do clarify your concern for me and help me understand how I can get better.
Thank you again for your reply.
Tim,
I always Love you. You exemplify iron sharpens iron as better than anyone I know.
I have just printed out Romans 8. I have learned that reading out loud and praying through something is better than only reading. This is especially true in the gospels I have found. I like to pray in tongues while reading; but groaning is OK to.
Perhaps, on our own time we Both could read and pray through this, independently of one another, but in agreement in some mysterious way 🙂
And if you have a chapter of scripture from Genesis to Revelation, that you see would benefit myself to read through, pray out loud — than we would be participating in each other’s growth. We would both have two chapters to read and pray through.
Ephesians 4:16 From Him the whole body, fitted and held together by [every] supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love through the [work] [:)] of each individual part.
I recently have read, Prayed out loud through both Jeremiah 23 and Ezekiel 34 — it brings one to tears as they pray — I endeavored to apply it to both the US and Israel in places, some places just Israel.
Plenty of Judgment there. But as I prayed I [felt] “His Tears” coming out of my voice and eyes at times. It is Not a Joy to Him to release Judgment. He takes No pleasure in the death of the wicked. Though it is a Joy to the righteous to Do judgment. Proverbs 21:15
And as in the past, I still encourage you to release tracts on college campuses. You Tube, Rumble etc.
My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
In my opinion, Tim, [that’s you] has the gift of a [ready writer]
I would [imagine] that should you decide to read and Pray through Romans 8 out loud — many messages will be spawned by [YOUR] Teacher.
love and appreciation,
stephen
Iron sharpens iron. So one man sharpens another. pr 27:17
Romans 8
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
PS
Wondering about interceding for lepers in the Body of Christ to be resurrected to preach the gospel. I’m thinking about, Joel and Victoria Osteen, Paul White, and the Democratic Party. We could do this while praying through Romans 8 and whatever chapter you choose should you choose a chapter. You may have other lepers to consider. I’m thinking of the four lepers who went into the enemies camp and finally decided to come back and tell the people the Good News. Salvation for the Nation.