Lord, Lord

Yeshua warns us that there is a selection process for salvation, and most will not make the cut – even many that think they ‘good people’.

¹³ Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: ¹⁴ Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Matthew 7:13-14

This is a hard truth that most do not want to believe. There are qualifications we must meet for admittance and many will fail to meet the standard – including people we love dearly, but are as lacking as ourselves.

We can assume that following the consensus is no guarantee for success since Yeshua tells us ‘many will take the broad way to destruction’.

¹⁵ Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Matthew 7:15

There are pious people who proclaim they have the secret to salvation, or to leading an abundant life, or . . . whatever the new craze is.

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Matthew 24:24

There are obvious charlatans among the many gospel preachers of today, but there are also many that are sincere in their beliefs and teachings (I could be one of them!).  How can someone tell whether truth unto salvation is being taught or not?

First, we are commanded to “Test Everything”.

²¹Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. ²²Abstain from all appearance of evil. ²³And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1Thessalonians 5:21-23

When was the last time you ‘proved’ the tenets of the church you attend?  Do you know how to prove what they teach?

There is what is referred to as the “Deuteronomy 13 Test”

¹ If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, ² And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; ³ Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴ Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. ⁵ And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

Deuteronomy 13:1-5

If someone instructed you to worship Horus or Ishtar, that would be rather obvious.  Stay away from that nut case.  We are warned, however, that it is possible to “deceive the very elect”, so the false instruction must be much more deceptive in order to lead the majority towards the wide gate of destruction.

Christ is always protrayed as all-inclusive and that no matter what you say or do, he has your back . . . he is your buddy and would never be judgmental concerning your words or actions. This is not the Christ of the Bible – he is going to separate the wheat (good) from chaff (bad) and throw the chaff in a fire!

It might be good for you to know what he professed and how he lived, rather than rely on what others say he is.

Yeshua continues warning about false prophets and gives us a way to spot them.

¹⁶ Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? ¹⁷ Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. ²⁰ Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Matthew 7:16-20

“Good Fruit” – that is what we need to look for.  But how do we define “good”?

If only there was an objective standard.

⁷ The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. ⁸ The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. ⁹ The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. ¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

Psalms 19:7-10

The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

Psalm 12:6

Here is the rub.  Christian leaders, today, tell us that the entire Word of God no longer applies to us.  Why would they do that?  Yahweh wrote one book and men claim it no longer applies to us?  On what basis?!?

Obviously, there are some men that teach this because they do not want to follow the rules that Yahweh gave us (instructions that best allow us to live among men with relative peace).  They do not want to have consequences for lying, and stealing, coveting and murdering (sounds like most politicians, doesn’t it?).

These are your wolves, because they are open in their desire to destroy you.  There are others, which claim to be believers, who teach that large sections of the Word no longer apply on the basis of a misunderstanding of what Paul shares.

Peter warns us that

the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; ¹⁶ As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. ¹⁷ Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. ¹⁸ But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever.

2Peter 3:15-18

So, when you read in several places that the Word of God is perfect and lasts forever . . .

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

Isaiah 40:8

For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.

Psalm 119:89

Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.

Psalm 119:160

But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

1Peter 1:25

. . . and then you read, and are told by religious leaders, that Paul tells us

For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Romans 6:14

Then to reconcile this contradiction, you need to apply the Deuteronomy 13 test.

Taken out of context, this verse not only makes it sound like we are no longer bound by the Law of God (which is what the wolves want to be true), but if it is read grammatically, it states that the law is sin.

Does anyone really believe the Law of God is sin? 

Paul (the guy who wrote Romans) doesn’t

⁷ What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

¹² Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

Romans 7:7,12

[In case you are curious, the “law” referred to in Romans 6:14 is the “law of sin”, which he mentions several times in several letters – this is easy to see when looking at the context.]

Paul was falsely accused of teaching “all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs” (Acts 21:21). If the Law was actually done away with and Paul was actually teaching that, the Jews would not have needed to falsely accuse him of speaking against the customs.

The misapplication of Paul’s letters is not the purpose of this blog.  Many people have addressed this (as have I, in several of my blogs), but you must test what you have been taught and “hold fast that which is good.”

Does it matter whether the person is teaching ‘the Law does not apply to us’ has good or bad intentions?  No, because the end result of believing either one of them takes us from the Law and leads us down the path to destruction. 

Remember, few are saved.  When Yeshua judges us at the Bema (judgment seat), what standard do you think he will use?  Surely he has an objective standard that he will apply, fairly, to all of mankind.

Can you claim that Yeshua is your Lord and believe you are not bound by the “perfect” Law his Father gave to man and that Christ lived perfectly?

³ And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. ⁴ He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵ But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. ⁶ He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

1John 2:3-6

Yeshua was the Word made flesh (John 1:14).  Can you proclaim him as Lord and deny him, also?  He speaks of those who will confess him Lord.

²¹ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? ²³ And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 

Matthew 7:21-23

Proclaiming Christ as Lord and teaching the Lord’s Laws do not apply is the same as taking Yahweh’s name in vain (the third Commandment – Exodus 20:7).  It is likened to taking someone’s name in marriage but denying that the marriage vows apply to you or anyone else.

One’s ability to preach a dynamic sermon or sing an inspirational worship song does not overcome the FATAL flaw of denying the Word and teaching others to deny it, also.

On the Pentecost after Yeshua died on the cross, and was resurrected, 3000 souls of the people attending the festival at the Temple became believers (Acts 2:41).  Why did several thousand believe then and few are transformed today?

Maybe they do their own Deuteronomy 13 test. 

Maybe Peter didn’t teach that Christ’s resurrection did away with the Law, like most teach, today. 

Maybe they recognized that Yeshua kept the whole Law and never taught against it.

Embrace the entire Word of God.  It is what Christ did (“Not my will but thine be done” – Luke 22:42b); it is what the Apostles did; and if we are to be followers of our Lord Messiah, it is what we should be doing, also.

Let us finish Matthew 7:

²⁴ Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: ²⁵ And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. ²⁶ And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: ²⁷ And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. ²⁸ And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: ²⁹ For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Matthew 7:24-29

Hear and do.

Hear and do.

Your eternal life depends on your hearing and doing.