Is the Bible 100% Consistent?

My Friends who believe the Law is not applicable to believers in Jesus; I ask you to PLEASE consider the absolute consistency of Scripture and how it uses specific words and phrases repeatedly. While linguistics is not my primary focus, it does hold significance in my field of research. Will you at the very least read this with a mindset of attempting to learn whether or not I MIGHT be correct about Scripture's absolute consistency?

Below is a Facebook post I did on August 22, 2022 that addresses this very thing. If this is too intense for you, please feel free to completely disregard it and scroll passed without reacting or commenting below this blog. But, if it is something you're willing to discuss, I am happy to do so. I am not arrogant about this, as many have accused, but I am convinced. I CAN however hold a civil discussion and respect your disagreements. I just ask you do the same.

"Am I the only one who finds it ironic that Antinomian Theology uses "we aren't saved by works, but by faith through grace" (Ephesians 2:8&9) referring to Torah? But when asked what the works are in Ephesians 2:10...

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

...👉🏻 It's suddenly not Torah...!?!

Even though the next few Scriptures make it clear we who accept Him as Messiah and Lord become a part of the Circumcision referencing the Covenant that Torah is (though it's a circumcision of the heart) by being brought into the Commonwealth of Israel. These two references should make it abundantly clear that the text is referring to Torah, but many try very hard to explain this away. Which requires tremendous mental gymnastics and twisting of the context of Scripture.

This passage also should obviously support the Acts 15 record of the Jerusalem Council; which decided that believers in Messiah do not need to convert to Judaism before being welcomed among the brothers and sisters of Faith in Yeshua. But many work very hard to explain this away as well, at least those who are honest about it will generally just say they don't accept that without offering any opposing prooftexts.

Further still, if you read it ignoring the verse numbers, it's easy to see the Council still gave them the 4 starter rules 👉from Torah👈, told them to go to the Synagogues where Moses was preached every Sabbath, AND sent them letters (the Epistles) to educate them further.

Do we really think those Epistles would then tell them to STOP following Torah, or does it make more sense it would tell them how to apply Torah in the New Covenant now that it has been written upon their hearts and minds (Jeremiah 31, Hebrews 8, and Romans 2)???

Some folks try very hard to justify their position with Ephesians 2:15 by saying He abolished Torah. But THAT is not what it says. It says He abolished the "enmity" of the law and ordinances. The Greek is "echthra". Echthra is translated as "hatred" in Galatians 5:20. In context with other prooftexts offered in this post, we can surmise it was 👉hatred for Torah👈 He crucified and abolished. It was the 👉dividing wall of separation between humanity and a love for YHVH's ordinances👈 that He abolished; Ezekiel 36:26 & 27 makes it clear He promised to give us a love for His Torah after sending His Spirit. Acts 2 proves He sent tHis Spirit as promised in Ezekiel 36:27!!

This then leaves it squarely on the shoulders of each individual to choose to pick up that hatred once again or leave it crucified with their flesh, in the same fashion it is up to the individual to pick up their sin once again or let it remain dead "in Christ", after being forgiven and pardoned. After all 1 John 3:4 defines sin as 👉the violation of Torah👈.

Here is a wonderful translation from Ephesians 2:

"14 For He is our shalom (peace), the One who made the two into one and broke down the middle wall of separation. Within His flesh He made powerless the 👉hostility👈 15 the law code of mitzvot (commands) contained in regulations. He did this in order to create within Himself one new man from the two groups, making shalom" (Emphases Mine - parenthetic inserts added for clarity).

Let's add Numbers 15:16 to this for greater clarity: " ‘One law and one custom shall be for you and for the gentile who dwells with you.’ ”

Romans 11 makes it very clear Gentiles are "grafted to" Israeli believers. If then we are of the "commonwealth" of Israel, are we not then "dwelling" them? The church likes to spiritualize things, and to a great degree there is nothing wrong with this - most of the time. But they tend to make two (possibly more) primary errors in doing so.

1. They look for the spiritual "meaning" or "application" of something BEFORE they have dug out the intended message from the author to the original audience they were writing to. This leads to some problems a. The spiritual meaning or application they find contradicts the plain text of the passage when in proper context b. The spiritualized conjecture then becomes a standardized doctrine to successive individuals people in their lineage begin teaching as if it is a sound exegesis
   

2. The skipping of a proper process in determining a proper context leads to heretical teachings that will, over time, engulf an entire belief system and literally cause any truth it once contained to bleed out slowly until the entire system becomes one not expressed by Scripture

The passage from Ephesians 2 refers directly to a wall between "Jew" and Gentile, but what was that wall? We can be lazy and say it was just "racial prejudice"; but is it really that simple? I think if we look at the historical reasons for the tzit tzit, untrimmed corners of their beards, etc we get our real answer - it was to make them stand out as a people and separate them from the global system(s) of their day. If we are to be further honest, NOTHING made them stand out more than Torah. So, once again I'll reiterate, that there is a choice of the individual to be made.

In some cases within Scripture "enmity" means distance or separation depending on context. Further pointing to the "wall of separation" being the enmity/hatred of Torah. One could potentially go so far as to say that He also abolished the distance between humanity and the ability to keep Torah the way it was intended - through the Laws of Love, Mercy, and Grace. Which would also be consistent with Ezekiel 36:26&27 and 1 John 2:3-6.

Ezekiel 36:26 "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."

1 John 3:3 And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commands. 4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commands, 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.

Transparency shows the context for Ephesians 2 to be found in the fact we who are "Gentiles" (vs 11) "👉🏻and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and [were] without God in the world👈🏻" (vs 12) are brought into the Commonwealth of Israel.

Therefore, being brought into the Commonwealth of Israel, we are no longer without God, and what - from God - does Israel bring to the table? T.O.R.A.H.

We were strangers to the Covenants of Promise - Torah Commands.

Abraham was in Covenant with God because YHVH trusted him to train his children in His Ways. Genesis 26:5 says Abraham Obeyed TORAH. Throughout Torah Gentiles are referred to as "strangers or foreigners", you can see this with each Mitzvah (command) in many places of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers - maybe try Numbers 15:16 on for size, again. This wording in Ephesians chapter 2 is CLEARLY pointing to the applicability of Torah to all believers in Messiah. Note "strangers to the Covenant of Promise".

If we take the time to dig into Paul's work, it's not difficult to see he was actually Pro-Nomian.

There MUST be a standard by which we make such decisions on what Scripture means in one place or another. The best standard is to learn to let Scripture interpret Scripture.

YHVH is a God of absolute consistency. He never waivers, not one iota. So the very fact that people will quote things from the very same chapter and change what the very same words mean within that same chapter, not to mention from book to book, is a clear indicator they are using this tactic to make Scripture fit their chosen beliefs and not the other way around!

Before closing this, I want to add a post I put in our Facebook Group "Remnant Nation University":

Sept 12, 2022

Psalm 111:

7 The 👉🏼works of His hands👈🏼 are 👉🏼faith and righteousness👈🏼; all 👉🏼His laws are

unchanging👈🏼. 8 They are 👉🏼fixed for ever and ever, they are 👉🏼applied in faith and righteousness (works)👈🏼.

If all that is required is a one time prayer and no commitment to "works", then why exactly are His works called faith and righteousness, but our application of His Torah is not about faith and righteousness? Silly rabbit... works are the product of a salvation encounter, and obedience to Torah are works of faith and righteousness. Paul called them "good works" and James/Ya'akov called Torah the "Faith Once Delivered to the Saints/Holy Ones". The Bible is absolutely 100% Consistent.

Perhaps, using the pic at the top, you can now see why obedience to Torah Commands is called the "Covenants of Hope" and "good works" by Paul in Ephesians."

<<<<<<<<<

Part 2

Thoughts?

If you enjoyed this blog, or would like to bring others into the conversation, please share it with your email lists and social media accounts. We always invite healthy conversations and civil debates among the family. Iron sharpens Iron and sometimes the grinding isn't pleasant, but it can be respectful and civil.