Losing Those Close to Us

I said ‘goodbye’ to a brother in Christ, yesterday.  I had known him for years and he was a fellow workman in the ministry I used to be a part of. 

When I left the ministry (though not the faith), I tried to maintain contact with my denominational family.  I was often asked why I left because the minister was charismatic and popular.  I confided with a few, but I declined to explain to most because it was personal to me and I did not want to set up a situation where people felt they had to choose one of us over the other (make no aversions, I was not the choice they were going to make), like what happens when a married couple divorces and their friends find it awkward to remains friends with both parties even though they were close with both.

Then, my awakening happened.  I’ve spoken of my revelation before and my renewed and energized study of the scriptures.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

2Timothy 2:15

There is nothing quite as cute (and irritating) as the zeal of a convert.  There is also nothing quite as ugly as the persecution of the apostate (a person who forsakes his religion, cause, party, etc.) that has left the church.  Muslims go as far as demanding the killing of apostates (Why is the Apostate to be Executed in Islam).

I have not left the faith though I no longer teach the dispensational doctrines associated with my former ministry.  I still teach salvation through faith in Christ, which is (or should be) the bedrock of all Christian dogma.

No one that I know of has demanded my death (the closest has been my wife, who, with good cause, has fantasized about it for decades), but I have been the subject of false claims of heresy. 

It is common to try to marginalize the outcast so that others do not follow in their path.  My previous minister (the one I broke from) was earlier compared to a child molester when he was fired from the ministry he had started.  There was no accusation of child abuse, but the comparison was an intentional smear to marginalize him and shrink the number of people from moving to his new ministry.

The Apostle Paul was falsely accused of crimes against the faith.  This begs the question of why would they have to ‘falsely’ accuse him if Paul was actually teaching against the Jewish faith?  They should have been able to actually accuse him if he was speaking against the Torah.

The more years one spends in a denomination, the harder it is for them to conceive that their doctrine could contain error or that any other denominations may contain a greater understanding in some aspect of their faith.  This is made easier by the construction of simple adages that aid in avoiding examination of any perceived (or real) contradictory belief held by others.

Been there – done that.

I remember when the Roman Catholic church taught us that Catholics were the only ones going to heaven.  That made for some interesting conversations with my HS sweetheart who, as a Baptist, was taught only the Baptists were going to heaven.  We both thought we could convert the other over time.  Ahhhh, the presumptiveness of religions and teenagers.

I said ‘goodbye’ to a brother in Christ because of his continued misstatements (yes, lies) about what I was saying and teaching.

The issue concerned my teaching that once someone has accepted Christ as their savior, the believer should follow the whole Bible (including the Law of Moses).  His interpretation of this was that I was teaching people that they had to follow the Law to be saved. 

This is a blatant lie, told knowing, since I asked which of my dozens of blogs and hundreds of memes ever advocated a works’ salvation. I have never taught that obedience to the Law was required for salvation since the Word clearly states that nothing we can do will save us.

⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

I formerly taught, as he still does (and as 97.3% of the Christian world teaches) that the Law of Moses no longer applies to us because of the death and resurrection of Yeshua.  I have come to understand that this is not true, which I would have understood sooner if I had embraced the Old Testament.

For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

Malachi 3:6

Most Christian churches embrace Malachi when he speaks to bringing in the tithes (Malachi 3:8-10), but not when he counters their  dispensational belief that Yahweh treats us differently at different times in history.

The books of James and 1John consistently state that we manifest our faith through obedience to the Word. 

Teaching that the ‘first half of the book’ no longer applies does not leave us with a Godly standard we can apply in order to manifest our faith.  It leaves us with a personal interpretation of what “loving one another” looks like.

²⁸ And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? ²⁹ And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: ³⁰ And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. ³¹ And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. ³² And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:

Mark 12:28-31

The Scribe understood that Yeshua was placing the ten Commandment into two groups – one group that dictates our relationship with Yahweh (no idols, Sabbath, taking His name in vain, etc.) and one that dictates our relationship with humans (no lying, stealing, murder, etc.).

The Scribe would not have responded, “thou hast said the truth”, if Christ had given some nebulous answer that did not tie itself to the Word.

³⁴ A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. ³⁵ By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

John 13:34-35

What defines “loving one another” if it is separated from the Word?  What if someone else defines it differently?

¹³ For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. ¹⁴ For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Galatians 5:13-14

What defines “love thy neighbour as thyself” if it is separated from the Word?  What if someone else defines it differently?  What if they are a narcissist or a self-loather?

Yeshua, walked, talked, and ate the Scriptures.  He never veered from the Law of Moses.  He was controversial because he refused to follow Talmud (Jewish traditional ordinances) when it contradicted Moses and the prophets.  This made him increasingly unpopular with the ruling religious leaders and led to his execution.

My book and my blogs examine what it means to follow Torah, since I had no idea of what that looked like because of my many decades of erroneously believing and teaching the Torah does not apply to Christians.  I posted the first chapter of my book to help clarify what works are (Faith Without Works?).

Following Torah in the absence of faith in Christ is okay, since the Law of Moses is a great standard for living in a civil community, but it does not lead to salvation.  Being a ‘good’ person is good, but it is not the standard of the Word for salvation. 

Conversely, faith in Christ without works is dead (James 2:17, 26).

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. ⁷ Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.

1John 2:3-7

Following Torah does not require one become a Hebrew.  Jews welcome converts, but Yahweh does not require conversion for salvation.  Many non-Israelites left Egypt, also, after Yahweh had devastated the land and proved their gods to be impotent.

⁴⁸ And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. ⁴⁹ One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.

Exodus 12:48-49; see also Numbers 15:15-16

I said ‘goodbye’ to a brother in Christ and it saddens me – even as the separation of death hurts my soul.  I pray for a reconciliation, but it is better to separate than to bring strife into the family.

I am open to debate and welcome it, because I will never believe that I fully understand scripture.  I will not contest with someone that requires I argue and defend a position that I do not hold so that they do not have to examine a position that they do hold.

Check out my blogs at WordPress.com and decide for yourself.

As a side note, you will occasionally see a photo of me wearing a fuzzy hockey puck (a shtreimel – pronounced shtry-mull).  I created this photo in response to the many people who have asked if I am a Jew or referred to me as a “Judaizer”.  The photo makes me laugh . . . not only because it is such a bad example of photoshop, but because I enjoy taking a jab (in jest) at my friends who believe following the Law of God is impossible and burdensome.  Yahweh says that neither is the case.