What does Jesus mean by “…if you love me you will keep my Commandments…”? John 14:15
Christian response,
NO ONE finds covenant relationship through Law, no one (Romans 3:20). The Commandments spoken of by Jesus are HIS COMMANDMENTS, not the Decalogue in the Old Covenant. And obedience to Messiah’s Commandments are NOT possible or relevant to God until such time a covenant relationship with the Father is established by grace through faith in Jesus as our Lord and the Holy Spirit takes-up residence within the believer who then teaches those Commandments to the faithful (John 14:26) and walks them in sanctification/obedience as He prepares the faithful for service in the New Jerusalem.
Until such time one establishes Covenant Relationship with the Father, your works and striving after Law is futile as our best works on our best day are as a filthy menstrual cloth in the nose of God (Isaiah 64:6). Legalists, Jews, Israelites, Cults, do NOT understand God’s truth because they’re hung up in a Covenant that provides NOTHING but knowledge of our culpability void atonement (Romans 3:20).
It is the one who BELIEVES in Jesus as Lord that is saved from death in sin and Hell and NOT the one who strives after self-righteousness through Law. Our obedience is relevant SUBSEQUENT to our salvation as our obedience SUBSEQUENT to our salvation is verification of our saving faith have led to a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Romans 8:2
“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”
Romans 3:20
“20 because by the works of the Law none of mankind will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes knowledge of sin.”
SDA and Jewish Roots obsession with the Ten-Commandments… Christian response, It’s not that anyone fights against the Decalogue, it’s the fact that the Decalogue, the moral laws articulated therein, have been infused within the New Covenant via Messiah’s Commandments and the Christian does not look to the Decalogue for guidance i.e. the Old Covenant of Law but the Christian looks to the Holy Spirit and Messiah’s Commandments written upon our heart, administered by the Spirit via sanctification in the New Covenant, for wisdom and obedience as the Spirit prepares us for service in the New Jerusalem. If the Christian never had access to the Ten-Commandments/or the Torah…their covenant relationship with the Father would be unimpeded as Jesus is our Law and our Lord.
A participant in a religious debate forum asked why it is that Jesus taught the Father’s Ten-Commandments yet Christians deny them as relevant through their alleged disobedience to the Decalogue?
Christian response,
The demonically inspired propaganda that Christianity is lawlessness is foolishness and an agenda promulgated by legalists and the cult of the SDA – Sabbatarianism and Hebrew Roots fanatics. The Decalogue was given SPECIFICALLY to Jacob’s children through Moses at Sinai and they are NOTHING NEW but simply a reiteration and codification in stone of the moral law written upon our heart at conception having been extant from the creation of the angels as these moral laws (9 of the 10) act as an arbiter of free will. As a servant of Jesus Christ, I am NOT under the Law of the Covenant, I am under GRACE in my LORD (Romans 6:14). Please, allow me to explain…
What is the difference between the Letter and the Spirit?
Christianity adheres to a stricter and more demanding LAW than the Covenant of Law could ever produce. Jesus’ Commandments articulated during His Earthly ministry (not the Decalogue per se), are written upon the heart of the faithful in Him by faith. Jesus’ Commandments are methodically administered by the indwelling Holy Spirit through sanctification via the conscience and those LAWS-Commandments possess increased culpability through mens rea or the “thought life;” this, as no longer must an individual physiologically perform the sin to internalize culpability but the mere THOUGHT of the sin is condemnation (Matthew 5:27-28).
Again, the Christian walks in obedience to the Commandments of JESUS which are written upon the heart of those who love Him and these Commandments are carefully, methodically, internalized and processed WITHIN every true believer by the Spirit via the conscience (John 14:26). Please STOP with the “Christianity is lawlessness” nonsense, it’s the Devil’s work.
A Christian’s warning to the Jew, the Israelite, seeking eternal life through the Torah/Tanakh.
Sin is violating God’s moral law…that law having been extant from the creation of the angels as LAW is the arbiter of free will. Unrepentant/unatoned for sin will not be permitted to enter the Kingdom of God as God is Holy and sin’s destructive nature will not find acceptance in His presence (Revelation 21:27). The Torah/Tanakh only defines sin, culpability before God but is completely absent atonement and without the shedding of blood there is no atonement or forgiveness of sin (Leviticus 17:11; Hebrews 10).
The Torah is NOTHING NEW but simply a reiteration of the moral law with the addition of ceremonial-civil-dietary edicts given specifically to Jacob’s children through Moses as they were set-apart for God’s eschatological purposes concerning Messiah and the Gospel. You will not be judged in Eternity by the Torah…you will be judged by the moral law written upon your heart at your creation/conception. Unless Yeshua is your Lord to atone for your disobedience to the moral law, you will NOT enter the Kingdom of God (John 14:6). The Torah provides ZERO atonement (Romans 3:20) and without Yeshua’s shed blood to atone for your sin, you will die in sin and die in perdition without hope or excuse (John 14:6; John 8:24).
Does Ezekiel 18:20-22 suggest God honors a works salvation? In other words, does Ezekiel suggest that a man or woman can be sufficiently good and obedient to the Law to be saved from death in Hell?
20 The person who sins will die. A son will not suffer the punishment for the father’s guilt, nor will a father suffer the punishment for the son’s guilt; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.
21 “But if the wicked person turns from all his sins which he has committed and keeps all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall certainly live; he shall not die. 22 All his offenses which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has practiced, he will live. Ezekiel 18:20-22 (NASB)
Christian response,
Do not be deceived into thinking that Ezekiel 18:20-22 suggests a man can inherit eternal life by good works or obedience. Even on our best day, our works done in the flesh is likened to a filthy menstrual cloth in the nose of God (Isaiah 64:6).
For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our wrongdoings, like the wind, take us away.” Isaiah 64:6 (NASB)
First of all, note the “all” in v.21 of Ezekiel 18; herein lies a major problem; that is, the Law requires perfection in order for righteousness (a right standing) with God to be attained through it (James 2:10; Galatians 3:10; Deuteronomy 27:26) and mankind is sinful by nature (Romans 3:23; Isaiah 53:6-8) and we’ve all violated God’s Law; therefore, the Law only defines sin and condemns all of human kind void atonement (Romans 3:20); therefore, one’s attempt at obedience to a Law can never provide eternal life (Romans 8:3-4).
What about Ezekiel and good works?
Ezekiel was under Law and man’s good works done in “faith” out of regard for God and His dominion upon the Earth…that “faith” could provide a right standing with God (Hebrews 11) but this is NOT a “works salvation” as it was not the works that garnered God’s favor but the faith that preceded the works done for God that mitigated God’s wrath. It was not the blood sacrifices that saved, it was the faith of the one offering the sacrifices believing that God is true that mitigated God’s wrath (Hebrews 10-11).
Concerning sin and atonement?
Interesting, even “faith” in the Old Testament was NOT sufficient to forgive sin because without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin (Genesis 3:21; Leviticus 17:11); And we know that the blood of animals could never provide atonement for sin (Hebrews 10). So then, those who died in the Old Testament having placed their faith in God could NOT enter the Kingdom of God because nothing impure is permitted to enter there (Revelation 21:27); King David understood this conundrum when he made the following statement…
“For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; You will not allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.” Psalm 16:10 (NASB)
David understood that he would NOT enter the Kingdom of God upon death of his body in Time because the Holy One, Yeshua, had not yet manifest and made atonement for sin; so then, every Old Testament saint that died in faith was relegated, detained, in Sheol (Abraham’s Bosom or Paradise) awaiting Messiah’s atonement (Luke 16). When Yeshua cried out “It is finished” (John 19:28-30), Yeshua announced the end of the Law’s curse upon mankind (Galatians 3:10) and the dawning of a New Covenant established in His blood, Yeshua’s sinless blood, that the Father accepts as the ONLY atonement for the sins of the whole world (Matthew 26:28; 1 John 2:2; 2 Corinthians 5:21). That atonement is only accessed by the one who “believes” that Jesus is Lord who died to pay their sin-debt (Romans 10:9-10).
Death of the body in the New Covenant,
Those who die in the New Covenant having believed in Jesus-Yeshua as their Lord, these redeemed are now ushered directly into the presence of God awaiting the coming resurrection of the justified (2 Corinthians 5:8). No longer do the saints of God await atonement in Sheol (Hades-Paradise) but atonement for sin has manifest through Jesus’ selfless love at Golgotha and Heaven’s Gates are open to the one who “believes” in Jesus as Lord (John 3:16).
It is faith in Jesus that results in our adjudication before the Father declaring us “NOT GUILTY.” No one is saved by their works, the Law, their obedience to a Law…it is ONLY by faith in Jesus as Lord that the Keys to the Kingdom are granted (Ephesians 2:8-9; John 3:16-18, Romans 10:9-10).
Those absent the Holy Spirit refer to the Trinitarian as an “antichrist.” What has the Holy Spirit said about God revealing Himself as a Trinity within the Realm of Time? Are we to disbelieve what the Holy Spirit has said simply because our 3-pound brain lacks the ability to fully understand our omnipotent God?
The Trinity is extant from The Genesis to the Revelation for the one willing to believe God and what He has said. God reveals Himself as a Trinity first in Genesis 1:1 with the plural noun, singular verb, “Elohim.” The Holy Spirit is first introduced in Genesis 1:2. The Father, Son, Spirit, are seen working together to create the complex human genome in their spiritual image in Genesis 1:26-28 as “Our” and “Us.” The Son is first introduced in Genesis 3:15 as emanating in Time through the seed of the woman (virgin) and doing battle with the Devil (1 John 3:8b). The battle strategy used by God to destroy the works of the Devil is first pictured as the Gospel in Genesis 3:21 with the shedding of innocent blood to clothe mankind in a robe of righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21) while rejecting the works of man to cover his own sin (fig leaves). In the first-three Chapters of the Canon…we see the Trinity at work but there are those who don’t see and won’t believe. Jesus often spoke of the Trinity, but you refuse to believe.
Who is the “true” antichrist?
“Who is the liar except the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.” 1 John 2:22 (NASB)
Muslim asked: “Why is Jesus Christ only a God in John’s Gospel?” Christian response,
Matthew initiates his Gospel declaring Jesus as God as well as do the words and works of Jesus documented in all four-Gospels, but John’s Gospel is unique and set-apart from the synoptic Gospels as John focuses on Messiah’s deity, Matthew focuses on Messiah’s Jewishness in the flesh; Mark focuses on Messiah’s miracles; Luke focuses on Messiah’s birth and healing from a physician’s perspective. The Holy Spirit has coordinated this so that mankind can understand God and internalize God’s purposes in Time and Eternity through the body of Jesus and His ministry upon this Earth. Jesus is Elohim (Genesis 1:1) and John emphasises this in the introductory paragraph of his Gospel as Jesus is the Living Word of God who became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:1-14). Unless Jesus is your Lord as Mediator for your sins, you will die in sin and not enter the Kingdom of God (John 8:24). Jesus is the ONLY WAY to life in Eternity (John 14:6).
FB contributor stated: “As far as I’m concerned, Judaism is the right religion.” Is he correct?
Christian response,
Judaism is a religion for sure and Judaism is death to the soul in Hell because Judaism, the Covenant of Law, the Torah, only defines sin void atonement (Romans 3:20)…no one entered or enters the Kingdom through obedience to Law because we’re sinners (Romans 3:23) and the Law demands perfection (James 2:10); therefore, the Law, the Torah, Judaism, only condemns the one seeking righteousness through it (Galatians 3:10).
It is ONLY by faith in Jesus as our Lord, the One who died for us; the One who kept the Law in perfection; the One who imparts HIS righteousness over the life of the one who believes in Him as Lord (2 Corinthians 5:21) that will be saved and enter the Kingdom of God subsequent to death of the body in Time (John 14:6; John 3:16-18; 2 Corinthians 5:8).
No one, nothing, but Jesus Christ as Lord provides atonement for sin, covenant relationship with the Father, life in Eternity via the Gift of the Holy Spirit as Guarantor of relationship (Acts 4:12; Ephesians 1:13-14). Trust, believe, in Jesus as your Lord and LIVE!
So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4 He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.
Islam, a “religion” of peace?Christian response, Islam is born of adultery between Abraham and Hagar producing a “wild donkey” of a man named Ishmael who is the progenitor of the Ishmaelites who are the progenitors of Muhammad, a 7th-Century demon possessed pedophile, murdering thief, who stole from the Torah to create the Koran and when the Jews rejected Muhammad and his new religion initiated in Medina, the Islamic Caliphate was born and for 1400-years Islam’s warriors motivated by Satan (John 8:44) murdered by the sword thousands of innocent Jewish and Christian men, women, children, until stopped in 1929.
The god of Islam, Allah, is Satan (John 8:44) masquerading as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14) via the Arabic moon god. There is NO life in Islam…only death, deception, as the World’s largest religious cult. Only Isaac is the son of promise, NOT Ishmael!!!
Islam-Iran, Russia, China, will engage in a nuclear war with Jerusalem, Israel in the near future triggering the 2nd-Advent of Messiah Yeshua. Islam is the seat of the demonic in our World and there is NO life in the god of Islam, only death and deception. Only Yeshua and faith in Him as Messiah provides life with the Father through the atonement for sin (John 14:6; John 3:16-18).
Darwin’s contribution to America’s Death in Atheism and Apostasy
Engel v. Vitale (1962) removed Jesus from the Public Schools advocated by radical atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair; one-year later (1963), the “progressives-communists” (initiated by John Dewey as early as 1880-1900) infused demonic Darwin into our classrooms as a “biological science” and methodically infused Marx into the “humanities” as an alternative to capitalism; subsequently, America’s high schools and universities have vomited-out the Millennial’s and Gen-Z generations of atheists, nihilists, communists, who hate America and are methodically transforming our Nation into a communist stronghold…these are the “useful idiots” labeled by and spoken of by Communist Dictator Lenin and as a result, America is dying a slow and painful death and our posterity will suffer horrifically. From the Genesis forward, there has been no greater progenitor of atheism than Darwin’s idiocy forced upon our children in the absence of Biblical truth as a buffer to apostasy promulgated via evolutionary theory i.e. the demonic.
"RickeyD" Holtsclaw 