Can a Christian follow Yeshua while ignoring the Torah?
If I never heard of Torah, as a Christian, my walk with my LORD would be unimpeded concerning the veracity/security of my salvation and New Covenant promise (Hebrews 8:12); with that said, the Torah provides the Christian invaluable historical and eschatological information concerning the who, what, where, when, why, how, of Elohim’s eschatological plan for Time and humanity, including the essential foundations of faith; therefore, it’s not that a Christian “follows” Torah and it’s rules, regulations, traditions, but that the Christian’s spiritual walk would be incomplete without Torah; therefore, a Christian’s fullness of joy and understanding would be lacking due the plethora of theological knowledge that would be absent void a study of Torah, theological truths that the Holy Spirit would not be able draw upon as tools to arbitrate the redeemed conscience/provide instruction; this, as the Holy Spirit walks the redeemed Christian in daily sanctification in preparation for service in the New Jerusalem.
Question asked: “What was the purpose of JESUS coming to the world?”
Jesus entered Time in fulfillment of Genesis 3:15 in order that He, born of the seed of the woman, would “destroy the works of Satan” – (death, Hell, the grave) (1 John 3:8b) via a battle strategy that was ordained “before Time began” (2 Timothy 1:8); that is, the Gospel which is first pictured for humanity in Genesis 3:21 where Elohim, Himself, would shed innocent blood to provide mankind a gifted, imputed, robe of righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21) while rejecting self-righteous works as righteousness exemplified by Adam as he attempted to cover his own shame and sin through the application of fig leaves (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Jesus successfully completed His divine mission at Golgotha 4000-years subsequent to Genesis 3:15 via the shedding of His innocent blood as atonement for sin (Leviticus 17:11; 1 Peter 1:18-19). In fact, our entire creation, the creation narrative, is the resultant of a Spiritual WAR that was initiated by an anointed cherub angel (Satan, Revelation 12; Ezekiel 28:11-15) before Time began. This Earth is simply a temporary repository for the war between good v. evil and the Earth will continue until such time Elohim restores holiness and peace to His Kingdom and accomplishes His eschatological will upon this Earth.
Innocent substitute. Replaced fig leave of human righteousness.
Mark 16:9 to Mark 16:20 are bracketed [ ] in better translations with a margin note that these verses do NOT appear in early manuscripts. It is assumed that a Scribe seeking to provide a closing paragraph to Mark’s rather abrupt ending included these verses apart from the inspired Text.
Mark 16:16 does NOT teach that water baptism is an element of salvation but that “belief” in Messiah by faith is an element of salvation as clarified in part b of the Scripture. The Scripture says nothing about those who believe but are not baptized. Anyone seeking to use Mark 16:16 as textual support for the legalistic doctrine of water baptism as necessary for salvation is guilty of the Negative Inference Fallacy.
It is the one who believes, trusts, in Jesus as Messiah who is saved, not the one who works. The Church of Christ and its doctrinal stance on water as an element of salvation makes this religious organization a religious cult of works.
Skeptic asked: “When was trinity added to Paul made religion?”
The Trinity has been relevant since the Holy Spirit introduced same in Genesis 1:1 as a plural noun accompanied by a singular verb and the Holy Spirit then proceeds to introduce Himself as the Logistical Overseer of the creation narrative in Genesis 1:2.
If one is truly “born again” confirmed by the presence of the Holy Spirit within them as the Seal and Guarantor of New Covenant promise (Ephesians 1:13-14), the Trinity, the deity of Jesus, are rock solid doctrines that are undeniable.
1God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2in these last days has spoken to us 👉in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, 👉through whom also He made the world. 3And 👉He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. 5For to which of the angels did He ever say, “YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU”? And again, “I WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM AND HE SHALL BE A SON TO ME”?
6And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, 👉“AND LET ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM.”
7And of the angels He says, “WHO MAKES HIS ANGELS WINDS, AND HIS MINISTERS A FLAME OF FIRE.”
👉8But of the Son He says, “YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER, AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM.
9“YOU HAVE LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED LAWLESSNESS; THEREFORE GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS ABOVE YOUR COMPANIONS.”
10And, 👉“YOU, LORD, IN THE BEGINNING LAID THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH, 👉AND THE HEAVENS ARE THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS;
11THEY WILL PERISH, BUT YOU REMAIN; AND THEY ALL WILL BECOME OLD LIKE A GARMENT,
12AND LIKE A MANTLE YOU WILL ROLL THEM UP; LIKE A GARMENT THEY WILL ALSO BE CHANGED. BUT YOU ARE THE SAME, AND YOUR YEARS WILL NOT COME TO AN END.”
“Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am “He,” you will die in your sins.” John 8:24 (NASB)
In John 8:24, the word “he” is added by translators. While English Bibles (like the NIV or KJV) use “I am he,” the original Greek simply says “I am” (egō eimi). This directly mirrors the divine name used in the Old Testament (Exodus 3:14), with Jesus claiming equality with God.
Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” John 8:58 (NASB)
Again: the original Greek says “I am” (egō eimi). This directly mirrors the divine name used in the Old Testament (Exodus 3:14), with Jesus claiming equality with God.
The Jewish audience and their religious leadership clearly understood Jesus’ proclamation of Deity and sought to murder Jesus by stoning; ultimately, charging Jesus with “blasphemy” and handing Him over to Pilate, Herod, for execution.
In Hebrews 1, the Father clearly proclaims Jesus to be “God” and Creator and the Father commands the angels to worship Him. I believe the Father. You should as well!
When Jesus uttered the dying proclamation: “It is finished“….Jesus was speaking of His primary purpose for having entered the Realm of Time; that is, to fulfill Genesis 3:15 and Genesis 3:21 which were a proclamation of Elohim’s war and the battle strategy concerning defeating the works of Satan (death, Hell, the grave). This is why Messiah entered Time.
“the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8b (NASB)
Innocent substitute. Replaced fig leave of human righteousness.
The Holy Spirit disagrees with you. I trust in the power of the Spirit to seal me, keep me…as my sin has been covered by the imputed, gifted, righteousness of Jesus earned for me at Golgotha (2 Corinthians 5:21). My righteousness (right standing) with the Father is NOT my own, but the righteousness of Jesus in me through faith…this is my divine Guarantee of salvation, not my efforts, but HIS, alone (Galatians 2:16; Romans 4:4-5).
If I lived as you in your rejection of eternal security, if I did not trust in the Spirit to Guarantee my salvation and my relationship with the Father, I could not experience peace and assurance as I would wonder daily…have I done anything that bars me from salvation? Have I been sufficiently “good” to keep my salvation…you see, your perverse doctrine manifests inevitably into a “works doctrine” which is repulsive to the Father (Isaiah 64:6). You trust in you to be saved and redeemed and secure. That’s but one reason Catholicism is a works cult…it denies the sufficiency of Jesus to save and keep us saved through the Spirit, alone.
In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
Theological question: How can we recognize false teaching today? Justify, please.
You won’t automatically recognize “false teaching” lest the Holy Spirit indwells you (Ephesians 1:13-14; John 14:16) and He, the indwelling Holy Spirit, discerns for you the words of deceit; therefore, unless you are born again by faith in Jesus as your Messiah, you have no realistic hope of discerning what is true and what is false with consistency.
In order for the Spirit to guide you in Truth, you must first take the initiative to input that Truth into your mind and your spirit through reading, study, reciting, listening, to the Scriptures and this allows the Spirit to bring to your memory, to the forefront of cognition, what our LORD has said, its context, its relevance in your life (2 Timothy 2:15).
Much like a modern day computer’s hard drive and stored data; lest you input the data of Scripture, the Holy Spirit has nothing from which to draw upon and provide you insight and discernment.
In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
Actually, the Torah is but a mere fragment of the comprehensive spiritual law (Romans 2:14-15), the spiritual law having been infused within human kind on Day-6 as a bulwark against unrestrained narcissism as the spiritual law is arbitrated by the human conscience. It is that same spiritual law that judged Satan of covetousness before the creation of Time and that same law judged the Adamic and Noahic generations of defilement with the demonic resulting in the extinction of all mankind save eight.
When Elohim speaks of writing His laws on the heart of mankind, He speaks of the New Covenant where the indwelling Holy Spirit, given to all who trust in Messiah Jesus as Savior; these who have trusted, believed in Jesus are granted the Gift of the Spirit to dwell within them (Ephesians 1:13-14) and it is the indwelling Holy Spirit who becomes the Arbiter of the redeemed, enlivened, conscience, the new man (2 Corinthians 5:17), and the Spirit walks the new man and new woman in daily sanctification producing divine fruit through them that fulfills all law (Galatians 5:23); both, codified and spiritual, and this divine fruit (Galatians 5:16-23) actually pleases the Father and proves one to be a disciple of Jesus (John 15:8).
If Torah were written upon the heart void the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit to Arbitrate the redeemed conscience, Torah would be as impotent concerning righteousness with the Father as it was in the Old Covenant (Romans 8 ).
Hebrew Roots asked: “Why are those seeking to follow God’s laws called Judaizers?”
It’s theologically acceptable and a beautiful endeavor to seek to honor Elohim’s laws as long as that “attempt” to obey Torah does not convolute the purity of faith, alone, in Jesus, alone. Problem is; concerning Hebrew Roots and many Messianic Judaism parishioners, they place one foot in Torah Law and one foot in the New Covenant and this perversion of Elohim’s will concerning the sufficiency of the Son to redeemed apart from works results in death in Hell for the compromised.
If you’re a Hebrew Roots or Messianic Christian, your salvation and your walk in the Spirit is rooted solely in faith in Jesus, alone. Your works, your efforts at obedience to days, letters, diets, traditions, feasts, play ZERO role in your salvation…as salvation is by grace (unmerited favor apart from human input or works) through faith, trusting, believing, in Jesus as Messiah…this is the KEY to unlocking the door to salvation.
If you seek to enter New Covenant relationship with the Father through faith in Jesus and add water baptism or Torah Law obedience or speaking in tongues or church attendance or Mass participation or receiving the Sacraments or paying your indulgences or praying the rosary or seeking to venerate Mary or walking door-to-door spreading the doctrines of your particular religion…you have nullified the sufficiency of Jesus’ blood to atone for your sin by faith, alone…you are a Judaizer…you are a CULT…you are a deceiver of Truth concerning the Gospel (Romans 4:4-5).
Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,
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