Do the people who teach and preach Scripture REALLY verify their favorite passages with the "WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD" (Acts 20:27) using a proper Hermeneutic Model?
Let's discover this together, shall we?
A lot of very zealous people, who have been influenced by the common error (sometimes they even know better and just use this as a reason to attack us), that Messianic believers are trying to earn salvation by obeying the "old covenant", tend to be the first to verbally assault folks like those of us here at Remnant Nation.
No matter how many times we tell some of these individuals, and sometimes groups, that we fully acknowledge Messiah is the ONLY source of salvation, but this does not alleviate us of our responsibility to obey (like Messiah did - not like the religious leaders He faced). Sadly, it not only doesn't resolve the issue for them - they just get all the more angry and adamant!! Some will then move to another line of accusation like "just because I don't worship like you do...", or "do you obey every tiny little law", and etc. The problem with this is that they are still just trying to point fingers instead of seeing the bigger picture. It's spiritual nitpicking. The very thing they are accusing us of doing to them. They just can't see it through the rather obvious conviction they are experiencing, or they would not have taken such emotional investment into the discussion to begin with.
You know, if you look at 2nd Peter 3:15* you see that even Peter points out that there is a patient timetable Abba has given for all of us to come to truth and accept His mitzvot/commands. No one is expected, nor do we perpetuate such a misconception, that you must instantly know and obey every 'jot and tittle' of Torah. We do perpetuate a truth, that I will demonstrate below, saying we are indeed obligated to obey and Messiah's words are often overlooked or plain ignored on the matter, and Paul is completely misunderstood and his work twisted to keep the deception alive.
*"And remember, 👉🏻our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved👈🏻. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him—"
Before you start thinking I am implying Peter is saying salvation comes from obedience, I already said I am not. Peter is pointing to something very important, however. Which I will cover more below. The Scripture reference for this is
Matthew 24:13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Folks Often shout things at me like:
"JESUS FREED US FROM THE LAW!!"
Which begs the question; Oh, did He now...?
Bear with me, and I'll show you just how intensely loving this examination really is.
Let's start with some of Messiah's own words on the topic of Torah and go from there.
Matthew 5:19 So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’
How about the words of "John the Beloved":
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. 5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
1 John 3:4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is the transgression of the law.
Reflecting on Matthew 7:21-23 from above, perhaps those 'works' He was talking about sound familiar? That's because they are a remarkably similar abridged version of the signs that testify someone is a true follower of His -
Mark 16:17 "These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages. 18 They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”
Yet because they chose to disobey God's Law, they are told to go away.
"BUT, JESUS FREED US FROM THE LAW!!"
Did He? Are you absolutely certain?
Or did He show us HOW to live by it, as it was originally intended, when given at Mt. Horeb!?!? No one can argue that He lived perfectly according to Torah. But no one seems to notice He didn't live by Torah the way the rest of Judaica did...
If you don't know the answer to that question about Him showing us how to live by Torah, or you are still leaning toward the typical Christian Antinomian answer, may I suggest you take another quick look at 1 John 2:4 above? Keep in mind that many translations say "walk as He walked" in place of "live as He lived". Now that you know what "walk as He walked" means; He walked according to Torah, but not like the religious leaders of His day did. That's the key folks... that's the key.
Messiah showed us that Torah is supported by Loving One's Neighbor, (echoing Leviticus 19:18👈 that's Torah, Matthew 23:39, Mark 12:31, & Luke 10:27) and Truly Loving God (echoing Deuteronomy 6:5👈 that's Torah, Matthew 23:37, Mark 12:30, & Luke 10:17). So since Torah is SUPPORTED by "Love" then "Love" is about the application of Torah, not the replacement of Torah. Why do I say Torah is supported by Love God/Love People? Because that's what happens when we hang something on something else. Like a door on it's hinges. If Torah is the door, Love God/Love People are the hinges. Do we pay attention to the usefulness of the door or the work of the hinges? Is it the door or the hinges that give or deny entry? Is it the door or the hinges that protect from weather, intruders, and/or dangerous animals? Yes, the door only functions well if the hinges are in place and given the right care so they can do their job, but the primary job of the hinges is to make it possible for the door do it's job properly. It is up to the occupant to keep both in operating order.
Still - though - we MUST then also balance this with -
"If you love me, OBEY my commandments" - John 14:15.
The only command He ever called New was already in Torah, so His reference to it's "new-ness" is relative. This can be found in John's rendering of the event concerning the "First Commandment". In John's recollection, Messiah is speaking directly to the disciples, but the principle is the same nonetheless.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another... John 13:34
So why did He call it "New"?
The religious leaders were obviously NOT teaching this, so to the populace (including the disciples) it WAS new! How can I say this? Because in Matthew 5:43 He said —
👉“You have heard 👈 that the law says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy." 🤔
The 'hate your enemy' part is not in Torah, the rabbis added that part!
Here is one more example of a passage/verse of Scripture in which the words of Messiah are treated as though He preached a message different than the Message of His Father, but as I've demonstrated above and will continue using the message of the Apostles below, isn't different at all:
Luke 6:46 "Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?"
This verse, in proper context is about the wise and foolish builder. One built his house on a solid foundation and another on sand. Let's examine that t tiny bit using a post I made in the Remnant Nation University group on Facebook, shall we? (Between the next 2 Dividers) It has been altered, from the original, very slightly to make it more clear.
Link to the original post from July 16, 2022 https://www.facebook.com/groups/remnantnationuniversity/permalink/456258859642860/
If the Old Covenant laid a foundation for the New Covenant, as is held to be true by the vast majority of Christian Theologians and Denominations; then if it has completely passed away (as is also held to be true by the vast majority of Christian Theologians and Denominations), how is it that the Building which is formed by the New Covenant still stands?
It is imperative, when building our Theological House, we don't build without a foundation or we are building on sand. Eventually storms WILL come and our house will crumble or stand - dependent SOLELY upon our choice of foundation or lack thereof. The greatest of all storms is death itself, it truly and eternally divides those who have been absolutely faithful from those who have not.
In Matthew 7 when Yeshua said the following (especially vs 24) it was immediately following another conversation I'll post and comment on below...
👉24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.👈 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But 👉everyone who hears these words👈 of mine 👉and does not put them into practice👈 is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
What "words" was He referring to?
"everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock"
For the answer, as is so common, we have to backtrack a little....
Matthew 7:21- 23
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’"
I chose this version because it appears to completely cover the truth of what's being said and shows just how important it is to get educated in what the original says. I want to unfold it for you.
That very last word 'evildoers' is both revealing and concealing. It conceals the base meaning but reveals what is probably the heart of Messiah regarding the ones He is calling 'evildoers'.
In Greek, the word used is "a'nomia". It literally means "without law". So the only actual meaning of this passage BECAUSE of this tiny little word, based on the context of the entire discourse within the greater passage, is 'even doing great exploits in My Name is an evil act if you're doing so while rejecting My Father's law/instruction/Torah'. In His own words, "the one who does the will of my Father". He is clearly stating Torah IS THE WILL OF HIS FATHER, they are synonymous.
The point is that this is a heart condition. If you're doing great exploits but choosing to walk differently than He walked, your motives are not loving but the opposite.
It's time to let go of the nonsense man-made Theology and re-evaluate the lies we've inherited.
Jeremiah 16:19 "YHVH, you are my strength and fortress, my refuge 👉in the day of trouble👈! Nations from around the world will come to you and say, "Our fathers left us a foolish heritage, things in which there is no spiritual profit".
Aren't the "End Times" also known as "day(s) of trouble" or "perilous times"? The word for nations here in Jeremiah 16:19 is "ger", the predecessor of "goy" in Hebrew, the plural of which is "goyim" which means "Gentiles". So Jeremiah is talking about Gentiles coming to Israel for clarification, in the End Times because they have realized the Theology they have been handed doesn't align with the real narrative of Scripture.
You may or may not be aware of this, but it's happening NOW and has been for a number of years. I started this journey ahead of the wave in 1994, but I certainly wasn't among the first to do so.
Proverbs 4:2 For I give you good doctrine: Do not forsake my law.
Endures what...? Could it be that Revelation 14:12 reveals the answer? It is, after all, something the Revelation of Yeshua Messiah/Jesus Christ (Book of Revelation) said RIGHT after it mentions martyrs waiting on their justice. Those martyrs patiently endured persecution for their willingness to obey the Father's Commands while maintaining their faith in Messiah - right until their end.
They endured until the end!
Revelation 14:12 This means that God’s holy people must 👉endure👈 persecution patiently, 👉obeying His commands👈 and 👉maintaining their faith in Jesus👈.
When Paul was accused of teaching people to ignore or disobey Torah in Acts 21:29 he replied in 22:3 "I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and 👉taught according to the 👉🏾perfect👈🏾 manner of the law👈 of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day". As he continued his defense he explained he was met by Ananias [who every Christian claims was also a Christian] after being blinded on the road to Damascus, but of Ananias Paul said (22:11) "And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus. And one Ananias, 👉a devout man according to the law👈, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there..." He goes on, after being safely moved to Cesarea and appearing before the governor Felix, in the presence of Ananias the Highpriest (not Ananias from the road to Damascus story)... 24:10 "Then Paul, after that the governor had beckoned unto him to speak, answered, Forasmuch as I know that thou hast been of many years a judge unto this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself: 11Because that thou mayest understand, that there are yet but twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem for to worship. 12 And they neither found me in the temple disputing with any man, neither raising up the people, neither in the synagogues, nor in the city: 13 👉Neither is there evidence of the things whereof they now accuse me👈. 14 But this 👉I confess👈 unto thee, that after 👉The Way👈 which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, 👉believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:👈"
So there was no evidence? Evidence of what? Let's go back to their first accusation:
Acts 21:28 "Crying out, Men of Israel, help: 👉This is the man, that teacheth ALL men every where against the people, and the law👈👈👈, and this place👈: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place. (Emphasis Mine)
They were accusing him of teaching all the people every where he travelled to be against "Jews", "The Law", and "The Temple". And they did it while standing in Jerusalem, in The Temple, and he was Teaching!! They could hear what he was teaching and yet they only brought up rumors, so they had no first hand evidence AT ALL. So Paul pointed there was no real or admissible evidence of him teaching anyone to ignore or disobey Torah. Don't you think the copies of Galatians would have been damning evidence ifnit really is about being freed from Obedience? Its not friends, Galatians is about the religious bondage Torah can become without Messiah at the center of it all!
Then in Acts chapter 24 Paul said he himself believed and lived by ALL that is contained in Torah and the Prophets.
FOLKS even 'THE WAY' (mentioned in Paul's testimony), which Christianity calls the first Christians, were Torah Obedient or Paul wouldn't have been a part of them because he'd have left them OR he'd have left Torah!!! He made this statement more than 30 years AFTER the resurrection!!!
Are you aware that Messiah presented only 2 possible endings for believers who reject Torah?
Being least in the Kingdom (Matthew 5:19-21)
Being told to get out of His presence (Matthew 7:21)
Are you aware that the iniquity mentioned in Ezekiel 33 is the same as the iniquity mentioned by Messiah in Matthew 7:23** and Luke 13:27***. In the Greek Matthew chose "a'nomia" which literally means "without the law" and Luke chose "adikia" which literally means "rejection of the law".
**And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
***But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
LOVE WARNS and that is what I am trying to do here. To warn you and provide you with the tools to warn others!! If you cannot feel my genuine concern and grief, go back to the top and read the words of Messiah again and let them sink in. PLEASE
It's time for believers to stop thinking the God who never changes somehow changed between Malachi and Matthew, if He's Love and Grace now He always has been, if He WAS a God of Justice then - He still is. It's time to stop thinking Jesus came to undo everything His Father did, which makes Him rebellious AND a FALSE PROPHET according to the very Torah He perfectly upheld (Deuteronomy 13:3&4). It's time to stop thinking YHVH, the God who is Love, brought slaves out of Egypt to make them slaves to HIS Law.
Almost without fail, Antinomian Theology will fall back on Scriptures they believe support the statement by which they rage at me and other Torah Positive believers (listed twice above).
Yet, they fail to accept Paul's own testimony from Acts (covered at length above) and the MANY Torah Positive passages he wrote.
Do they not realize that their Theology creates a conflict that makes Paul a liar and/or an idiot? You'll see below, in a graphic, that Romans is quite Pronomian, yet people still claim Galatians as it's antithesis. How can that be? How can one part of Scripture contradict another when Messiah Himself said that " a city divided against itself cannot stand?" (Matthew 12:25).
The plain text, in Greek, supports the Pronomian view in all Torah Positive passages. But the plain text Greek does not definitively support the passages people tend to believe are Antinomian. At best those passages are unclear, and what does the Principles of Hermeneutics say we do when we find an "unclear" or "obscure" verse? Number 4 makes this dilemma extremely simple. Let the ones that are clear interpret the obscure for you. But first you have to realize just how obscure they are and you cannot get that from translations, you have to look up the contradictory verses and take notes on what each of the Antinomian and Pronomian verses says. Then honestly ask yourself; "Which ones seem as though they could go either way?". I assure you, you are going to find the Antinomian verses the predominantly more confusing, which means you fall back on those that are not as confusing to make it clear. But, the church has always done the opposite because they overlook the words of Yeshua/Jesus and Paul as presented in this paper.
I sometimes get messages from folks, after they read blogs like this and similar others we post. Many of those messages explain how duped they felt by Christendom after Abba showed them just how consistent Scripture really is from cover to cover. They are frustrated by the perpetuated traditions of men that replaced His Way with man's way; and that it's been called truth, sound Doctrine, good Theology, and a host of other labels that make it appear righteous (even though righteousness is defined in Deuteronomy 6:25* and confirmed by Paul in Philippians 3:6* even the writer of Hebrews* agrees). They feel lied to and betrayed. Then feelings of foolishness settle in and they become ashamed. I have to point out that we are only accountable for what we KNOW and what we have SEEN. We only become foolish when the truth is given and we choose to trust our own encounters, experience, feelings, and opinions over the plain text of Scripture as a whole. When we consciously choose to believe the religious lies and/or deception of men over what He has brought someone in our life to open our eyes to. The writer(s) of the following memes below are being little too sharp in their expression of this principle, but what they share is truth nonetheless.
*Deuteronomy 6:25 For we will be counted as righteous when we obey all the commands the LORD our God has given us.
*Philippians 3:6b And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.
*Hebrews 11 is filled with examples of those who obeyed God by faith and it was counted as righteousness. The church misses the Hebraic concept here. It's not the faith that made them righteous. It's how they USED their faith that did. They applied faith to be Obedient.
Advanced Study
Use a Lexicon to compare the Pronomian and Antinomian passages in Greek for yourself and see what you find.
Study Help for using a Lexicon:
The numbered progression of possible meanings of a word in Greek or Hebrew shows it's most likely and common definition in descending order. In other words, the most common and likely definition will be the first. This changes with the context of the rest of the passage, so you may need to read all the verses surrounding the verse you are investigating to get a better grasp on which of the choices is most likely. This is the best I can offer you unless you want to learn the languages. Just remember, your investigation cannot make any verse contradict any other verse or you've chosen incorrectly. That will take some time to master.
Usually, the first and most commonly known definitions of keywords or phrases within the passages you examine will point toward a more Pronomian view, though this is not always the case - so you'll need to familiarize yourself some with culture, history, and especially the various bodies of law in 1st Century Judaica. We are all willing to help you with that. Reach out any time.
Those passages are also usually analyzed completely devoid of any cultural or historical context except that of Greco-Roman Theology. But the Apostles weren't Greco-Roman Theologians, they were Torah Obedient "Jews" as I have already established. So please be willing to let Ruach Ha'Kodesh (Holy Spirit) guide you and mold your perspective. That is all I ask.
Here is a fine shortlist of Pronomian Passages to start with:
You already have a large list of Antinomian Passages to begin looking up and cross-referencing with a Lexicon. If you've been in church any length of time at all, you've heard them preached from the pulpit repeatedly.
The facts, in the above 4 or 5 paragraphs, individually bring the Antinomian assumptions into question and make the Antinomian perspective suspect. But combined, they make one wonder how in the world Antinomian beliefs are so prevalent?!?!?
All this extra stuff was added to quantify my next statement(s).
Perhaps it's time to ask yourself 👉IF👈 when it looks like Paul is speaking against Torah, he was actually speaking about THAT body of Law - or another... Torah is NOT the only word that refers to some kind of law in Hebrew. But "nomos" is pretty much the only root word for law in Koine Greek. Therefore, my friends, the writings of Paul are as truly misunderstood today as they were when Peter penned in 2 Peter 3:16
"Speaking of this as he does in all of his letters. There are some things in those [epistles of Paul] that are difficult to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist and misconstrue to their own utter destruction, just as [they distort and misinterpret] the rest of the Scriptures."
As my grandpa Hillis would say "Maybe you should put that in your pipe and smoke it" referring to taking some time to think it over. It's not arrogance to be confident, with all this backing me, and the Principles of Hermeneutics providing checks and balances for what I have presented, I am very confident in what I have passed on to you. Please don't just take it as another "Under the Law" lecture. Besides, that phrase doesn't even refer to people who are Torah Obedient; but that explanation is for another time.
There is SO MUCH MORE TO THIS, but this should be plenty for you to start with. PLEASE
Got questions about how and why I confidently say these things?
Happy to discuss... 👇👇 in the comments.