The Refiner's Fire is constantly bombarded by e-mails from well-meaning (and some not-so-well-meaning) Christians who try to inform us that Messianic Jews and Gentiles are "under the law". (And whenever we try to defend ourselves and use Scripture to show why Christianity is off the mark, we get accused of "bullying.") They insist we are totally "off the mark" and promoting "works" because we don't seem to realize that "Jesus nailed it to the cross".
These people don't understand that, what has been "nailed to the cross" is our past SINS, not God's Torah/Divine Instructions in Righteousness! He nailed our certificate of debt for breaking the Law to the cross - not His Torah. But yet, some have seen fit to call Torah observance a "doctrine of demons" - while others have actually threatened to look us up in order to do us physical harm because of our belief.
In view of the endless barbs and threats against us, we have composed the following for anyone who wishes to find his/her way to GOD's TRUTH. (It's not "our Truth" or "just another belief"; but what the true seeker can actually find IN the Bible.) Please forgive us for being blunt, but the time has come to stand up for GOD's Truth! Judgment is coming and we are told Yeshua will vomit the "lukewarm" from His mouth (Revelation 3:15-16).
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So, let's get Biblical!
People such as mentioned above obviously don't understand what Torah observance is all about. They don't seem to realize that Yeshua was the FINAL SIN OFFERING (He offered Himself!) who came to abolish the man-made, "rabbinical" instructions that had people bound up and confused about what Yahweh (the Father) had actually said. He did not come to abolish God's original Divine Instructions (Torah - without which we would have NO blueprint for moral, holy living - 1 John 3:4).
Yahweh gave us a new Covenant through Yeshua, not a new Torah! Torah has been around since the beginning, way before there were ever any "Jews". Cain and Abel knew to present animal sacrifices (Genesis 4); Noah knew the difference between "clean and unclean" animals (Gen. 7:1-3). There we no "Jews" until Jacob gave birth to what was to become known as the Tribe of Judah - and yet EVERYONE up until that time who believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was TORAH OBSERVANT....
Yeshua is the Living Torah who never, ever negated His Father's original teaching and instruction. Please read Torah made simple.
To help clarify this very important issue, we have compiled a list of questions every Christian should ask him/herself before sending irate e-mails to The Refiner's Fire. We ask that you read the following with an open mind; to verify in the Bible everything that is written here; and most of all, to push aside all malice and personal prejudices and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you:
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PLEASE USE THE BIBLE TO ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:
(Try not to use personal interpretations or extra-Biblical, man-made writings)
Answer: You won't find anything in Scripture that references the changing of the Sabbath to Sunday. Some argue that it's because "Jesus rose on a Sunday" - but you need to ask yourself: Why would that, in itself, change the seventh-day Sabbath that God ordained "in the beginning"? (First of all, please see our article which proves that Jesus did NOT rise on a Sunday!) Some argue that Constantine was responsible for changing the Sabbath because he hated the Jews. No matter who instituted Sunday worship, in Yeshua's time, both Jews and Gentiles alike, regularly attended the synagogue for worship on the seventh day, and the fact that interested Gentiles in Antioch requested further instruction of Paul "on the next Sabbath" is irrefutable evidence that no separate Sunday (1st day) meetings were being held there by those early Christians: The Gentiles were willing to wait an entire week, till the next Saturday, for a meeting because they knew that Paul and his companions did not normally meet for worship on a Sunday. Acts 13:42-44 tells us that, on the next Sabbath (Saturday) almost the whole city arrived for the meeting. Some insist that Acts 20:7 reveals Sunday worship, but this is not true. Fact is, Jewish believers in Yeshua continued meeting at synagogue (or the Temple) for Sabbath. Common practice would be havdallah - meeting in homes after sundown on Saturday to continue discussions and praise from the Sabbath, which explains Paul "preaching until midnight" in Acts 20:7. The first day of the week for Jews (like Paul) began at sundown at the end of the Sabbath - Saturday evening - not "Sunday." Furthermore, the fact is, neither the Father nor the Son has ever claimed the first day as His own in any higher sense than He has each or any of the other laboring days. Neither of them has ever placed any blessing upon it, or attached any sanctity to it. The Bible tells us God expressly reserved the seventh day to Himself, placing His blessing upon it, and claimed it as His holy day. (Genesis 2:1-3.) Moses told Israel in the wilderness of Sin of the sixth day of the week, "Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord." Exodus 16:23. (Please see The True Sabbath Day.) Yeshua said: Matthew 5: 17 Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. 18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah - not until everything that must happen has happened. If "ALL" hasn't happened yet, and heaven and earth have not passed away, then that must mean that His Torah is still valid.... Answer: No - "forever" has not come and gone. Torah observant believers celebrate the Biblical feasts because it is instructed by God in the Torah for Israel ("Israel" includes EVERYONE who accepts the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - see Numbers 15:13-16) to observe these festivals forever (Leviticus 23:21, 31, 41, Exodus 12:14). Messiah Yeshua observed these festivals as did the early Messianic Jews and apostles such as Rabbi Shaul/Apostle Paul (Acts 20:16, 1 Corinthians 16:8, Acts 28:17). When Yeshua returns to this earth these festivals will be re-established worldwide (Zechariah 14:16-21). God has His appointed times! He does nothing without purpose. What makes us think we can simply ignore what He says? Here's something to ponder. Yeshua has only fulfilled the first four of the seven Biblical feasts. If He fulfilled the first four, what makes you think He won't fulfill the last three? If everything goes according to God's Plan and the first four feasts have been fulfilled, then the next feast to be fulfilled is Rosh Hashana - the Feast of Trumpets: the "Rapture". Since Christians choose to believe the entire "OT" has been "nailed to the cross", then does this mean there won't be a "Rapture"? Why should there be, since you don't "believe" in the Biblical feasts.... |
Yahweh warns us not to forsake His Torah. Since Yeshua said He didn't come to abolish Torah, we should be taking this VERY seriously! Yeshua didn't abolish - He tightened and strengthened God's original teaching and instruction! Take, for instance, the things He espoused in Matthew 5:
Matthew 5: 21 "You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' 22 "But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.
Matthew 5: 27 "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY'; 28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Does this sound like someone who "abolished" God's original teaching and instruction?
Yeshua's intent was not to abolish or weaken or emasculate the Laws of Yahweh, revealed in the Old Testament, but to expand and magnify them to their full spiritual intent and conclusion; to show their full meaning, purpose, and relevance; to reveal their spiritual and supernatural nature and basis; to show that the commandments lead us by necessity to FAITH in him as the Messiah. We do not earn salvation by works, but by Faith in Yeshua the Messiah, who died for our sins, and who now gives us his spirit to enable us to fulfill the righteousness of the Law (Acts 2:38; 5:32; Gal.2:20). The Messiah did not replace the Law of Yahweh with Faith alone, but rather gave us inward Faith, through his spirit, to enable us to observe the holy commandments of God! Yet, with the advent of Christianity, the "Old Testament", along with God's original teaching and instruction, basically became null and void because they mistakingly think "Torah" equates to "law". BIG MISTAKE!....
The apostle Paul knew this truth and wrote to the believers in Rome: Does it follow that we abolish Torah by this trusting? Heaven forbid! On the contrary, we confirm Torah (Romans 3:31). Not one "jot or tittle", was abolished from the Law of God.
Some have written to The Refiner's Fire to remind us that "animal sacrifices were abolished", and that they used to be part of "the law". To that, we say: "Because Yeshua was our final SIN Offering and we don't have to do animal sacrifices anymore, how does that prove that the ENTIRE Torah was abolished? Yeshua abolished the need for animal sacrifices, and He came to abolish the "rabbinical" teachings of the time that had people so bound up in legalism, that they were afraid to get out of bed on the Sabbath because they feared that, with the effort of rising from bed, they might be guilty of "working". The teachings of the rabbis at the time had made the entire Torah a burden. Acts 21:20-24 tells us:
Acts 21: 20. And when they heard (it) they glorified Elohim. And they said to him: "Our brother, You see how many myriads there are in Judaea who have believed: and these are all zealous for Torah! 21. And it has been told them, of you, that you teach all the Jews that are among the Gentiles to depart from Moshe, by telling them not to circumcise their children, and not to observe the rites of Torah. 22. Now, because they have heard that you have arrived here, 23. do what we tell you. We have four men, who have vowed to purify themselves. 24. Take them, and go and purify yourself with them, and pay the expenses along with them, as they will shave their heads; that every one may know, that what is said against you is false, and that you fulfill and observe Torah. (AENT)
If Yeshua had abolished the "law", then why did the apostle Paul observe it with four other Church men in Yerushalayim 29 years AFTERthe crucifixion of the Messiah?
What does this tell us about the true "religion" that Yeshua the Messiah proclaimed? What does it tell us about His true gospel? Paul wrote,Therefore, what are we to say? That the Torah is sinful? Heaven forbid! Rather, the function of the Torah was that without it, I would not have known what sin is. For example, I would not have become conscious of what greed is if the Torah had not said, "Though shalt not covet." (Rom.7:7). He further added, So the Torah is holy; that is, the commandment is holy, just and good. (verse 12). He went on to say that Yahweh's Law is spiritual (Rom.7:14) - and that which is spiritual is eternal. Paul also wrote, We concentrate not on what is seen but on what is not seen, since things seen are temporary, but things not seen are eternal. (II Cor.4:18). If the Laws of Yahweh were all abolished, as some believe, then Yeshua did away with what was clearly holy, righteous, good, and spiritual....
Those who teach contrary to the Torah, which Yeshua upheld - and Paul also taught - are false preachers and prophets. Paul wrote of them: II Corinthians 11: 13 The fact is that such men are pseudo-emissaries: they tell lies about their work and masquerade as emissaries of the Messiah. 14 There is nothing surprising in that, for the Adversary himself masquerades as an angel of light; 15 so it's no great thing if his workers masquerade as servants of righteousness. They will meet the end their deeds deserve.
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So - is "the Law" still valid today? You bet it is! It is a standard for righteousness. Yeshua said that not one yod or tittle would pass away, and that those who love Him will keep His commandments. The Law is not for salvation, but for sanctification (being Holy). No one can keep the Law perfectly, but striving to live as Adonai commands brings us closer to His desire for our lives. Christians need to remember that, while God changed the Covenant, He never changed His Torah. Yeshua came to abolish the "rabbinical stuff", not GOD'Steachings. Messianic Judaism (if we have to give our faith a label) adheres to both, the "Old" and the "New" covenants. That does NOTmake us weird or "off the mark" - nor does it make Messianic Judaism a "doctrine of demons" as many Christians suggest! We are merely OBEYING God according to what the Bible says.
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