After spending some time listening to the constant hype and spin by Christians in religious forums on how people need to read their Bibles, come to God, accept Jesus as their savior, in order to enjoy the "free" gifts and goodies that are promised in the kingdom of the great beyond, I noticed how the instructions given by Christians on what a Gentile must do to be accepted by God differs from what the Old Testament(OT) actually says. Not surprisingly, the OT makes no mention of needing Jesus or accepting him to be "in God's fold". The OT does give clear instructions on how to be accepted into God's fold:
Isa 56:1-8
This is what the LORD says: "Maintain justice and do what is right, for
my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed.
Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who the man
who does this, the man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating
it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil." Let no foreigner who has bound
himself to the LORD say, "The LORD will surely exclude me from his people."
And let not any eunuch complain, "I am only a dry tree." For this is what
the LORD says: "To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases
me and hold fast to my covenant-- to them I will give within my temple and
its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give
them an everlasting name that will not be cut off. And foreigners who bind
themselves to the LORD to serve him, to love the name of the LORD, and to
worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold
fast to my covenant-- these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them
joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted
on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations."
The Sovereign LORD declares-- he who gathers the exiles of Israel: "I will
gather still others to them besides those already gathered."
Keeping the Lord's covenant and laws, doing what is just and right, not desecrating the Sabbath, and maintaining justice are the requirements. Accepting a man as your savior is not required. Nor is being covered by the blood of a man required. No man is required to die for your sins and as Ezek 18:20-28 states, each man will die for his own sin and will redeem himself.
Ezek 18:20-28
The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the
guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness
of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked
will be charged against him. "But if a wicked man turns away from all the
sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and
right, he will surely live; he will not die. None of the offenses he has
committed will be remembered against him. Because of the righteous things
he has done, he will live. Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?
declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from
their ways and live? "But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness
and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked man does, will
he live? None of the righteous things he has done will be remembered. Because
of the unfaithfulness he is guilty of and because of the sins he has committed,
he will die. "Yet you say, `The way of the Lord is not just.' Hear, O house
of Israel: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? If a righteous
man turns from his righteousness and commits sin, he will die for it; because
ommits sin, he will die for it; because of the sin he has committed he will
die. But if a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed
and does what is just and right, he will save his life. Because he considers
all the offenses he has committed and turns away from them, he will surely
live; he will not die.
Keeping the covenant means keeping the law. There is no mention anywhere about God changing his mind and the rules later on and sending Jesus to bypass this process. There are no doctrinal surprises which are to occur at some future point. Yet Paul claims a "new" way to righteousness was invented by God and that righteousness could not be gained by following the law. In essence, Paul declares Isa 56:1-8 and many other OT verses with similar instructions to be lies. Paul is calling God [Yahweh] a liar:
Rom 3:21-22
But now a righteousness from God, apart from LAW, has been made known,
to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes
through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
Gal 2:21
I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained
through the LAW, Christ died for nothing!"
Unfortunately for Paul, Christ did die for nothing since acceptance into God's fold never required Jesus in the first place.
Interesting that Christianity has thumbed it's noseng that Christianity has thumbed it's nose at the OT instructions from "God's holy word" and preaches the teachings of Paul who pummeled the law into the ground, saying it was a curse, that it did not justify anyone, that it was against the people, and that it was weak and useless. In the name of his new religion, Paul contradicted God and even Jesus his Lord. The food laws are voided, the circumcision requirement is voided, and any other laws that stood in the way of Paul gaining converts among non-Jews who couldn't have been bothered with Yahweh's complicated laws in the first place. Jesus became a one stop shopping center for salvation where the cumbersome and complicated commands from Yahweh were exchanged for a much easier requirement of believing in Jesus as your savior. The dismantling and hammering Paul gives the law is widespread and complete:
Gal 2:15-16
"We who are Jews by birth and not `Gentile sinners' know that a man is
not justified by observing the LAW, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too,
have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ
and not by observing the LAW, because by observing the LAW no one will be
justified.
Gal 5:18
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under LAW.
Gal 3:10-14
All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written:
law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not
continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."Clearly no one is
justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith."The
law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things
will live by them."Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming
a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."He
redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the
Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise
of the Spirit.
(Here Paul slips in his own sophistry. He first quotes Deut 27:26 "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." Paul then proceeds to claim that the law itself is the curse, not the breaking of it. Then in an attempt to give Jesus and himself credibility he quotes Deut 21:23 "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." Jesus was never hung on a tree. And if Jesus was cursed then he could NEVER have been the "perfect sinless man" that Christians ct sinless man" that Christians claim he was. God would not pervert justice by cursing a perfect sinless man. (Deut 32:4, Job 34:12))
Gal 3:25
Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the
LAW.
Gal 5:6
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value.
The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
(Paul trashes the law on circumcision as laid down in Gen 17:10 )
Gal 6:15
Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is
a new creation.
(Paul again trashes the law on circumcision as laid down in Gen 17:10)
Rom 10:4
Christ is the END of the LAW so that there may be righteousness for everyone
who believes.
Rom 7:6
But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the
LAW so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and NOT in the old way
of the written code.
Rom 14:14,20
As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that NO food is
unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him
it is unclean.
Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. ALL FOOD IS CLEAN, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble.
(Here Paul dismantles the food laws of God as set down in Lev 11)
Rom 2:29
No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision
of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise
is not from men, but from God.
Rom 5:20
The LAW was added so that the trespass might INCREASE. But where sin
increased, grace increased all the more,
(Here Paul states that the LAW was given so that sins would INCREASE. This is a blatant contradiction of the OT teachings. This ploy is to show God creating more sin so that Jesus can come along and "cleanse" everyone of this additional sin. The more sin, the more the need for Jesus. Paul here is asserting that God deliberately created more "sin" by adding his LAWS to the human equation. Contrast Paul's claim here with OT verses about the law from Psa 119 which are listed further below.)
Eph 2:13-15
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought
near through the blood of Christ. For HE HIMSELF [No need for Yahweh's
laws now] is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the
barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by ABOLISHING in his flesh the LAW
with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself
one new man out of the two, thus making peace, out of the two, thus making
peace,
Col 2:13-14,16
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful
nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having
CANCELED the WRITTEN CODE, with its regulations, that was against us and that
stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. Therefore do
not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious
festival, a New Moon celebration or a SABBATH DAY.
(Paul discards the instructions on observing the Sabbath as set down in Exo 31.)
Heb 7:11-12 (The authorship of Hebrews is uncertain)
If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood
[for on the basis of it the law was given to the people], why was
there still need for another priest to come--one in the order of Melchizedek,
not in the order of Aaron? For when there is a change of the priesthood, there
must also be a change of the LAW.
(The priesthood of Melchizedek was superseded by the Levitic priesthood and was promised to them for eternity (Exo 29:9, Num 25:13) There is no support for the creation for a "new" priesthood, it is simply a ploy to do away with the existing law.)
Heb 7:18
The former regulation is set aside because it was WEAK and USELESS.
Acts 15:28-29
It SEEMED good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to BURDEN YOU WITH ANYTHING
BEYOND the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed
to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.
You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.
(Here the NT writer establishes HIS version of which laws are to be followed. The rest of God's laws are simply BURDENS to Christians.)
Paul's descriptions of the law being canceled, weak and useless, a curse, and flawed fly directly in the face of God's word from the OT. According to the OT, the law was perfect, everlasting, and provided salvation. The following verses illustrate the reverence and esteem the law receives in the OT. The law provides wisdom, salvation, and is perfect and everlasting. It is not something which is to be canceled or described as a curse nor is it weak and useless as Paul claimed. Contrast the following verses to those of Paul's cited earlier:
Psa 19:7
The LAW of the LORD is PERFECT, reviving the soul. The statutes of the
LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
Psa 119:155-160
Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek out your DECREES.
Your compassion is great, O LORD; preserve my life according to your LAWS.
Many are the foes who persecute me, but I have not turned from your statutes.
I lohave not turned from your statutes. I look on the faithless with loathing,
for they do not obey your word. See how I love your precepts; preserve my
life, O LORD, according to your love. All your words are true; ALL your righteous
LAWS are ETERNAL.
Psa 119:106-118
I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous
LAWS. I have suffered much; preserve my life, O LORD, according to your
word. Accept, O LORD, the willing praise of my mouth, and teach me your LAWS.
Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I will not forget your LAW.
The wicked have set a snare for me, but I have not strayed from your precepts.
Your STATUTES are my heritage FOREVER; they are the joy of my heart. My heart
is set on keeping your DECREES to the very end. I hate double-minded men,
[like Paul] but I love your LAW. You are my refuge and my shield; I have
put my hope in your word. Away from me, you EVILDOERS, [those who dismiss
the law] that I may keep the commands of my God! Sustain me according to
your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed. Uphold me, and
I will be delivered; I will always have regard for your DECREES. You reject
ALL who stray from your DECREES, for their deceitfulness is in vain.
Note:(Psa 119:106-118 was tailor made as a rebuke of Paul and Christianity)
Psa 119:142-147
Your righteousness is everlasting and your LAW is true. Trouble and distress
have come upon me, but your commands are my delight. Your STATUTES are FOREVER
right; give me understanding that I may live.I call with all my heart; answer
me, O LORD, and I will obey your DECREES. I call out to you; SAVE ME and I
will keep your STATUTES. I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my
hope in your word.
Psa 119:33-34,39-44
Teach me, O LORD, to follow your DECREES; then I will keep them to the
end. Give me understanding, and I will keep your LAW and obey it with all
my heart Take away the disgrace I dread, for your LAWS are good. How I long
for your precepts! Preserve my life in your righteousness. May your unfailing
love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise; then I
will answer the one who taunts me, for I trust in your word. Do not snatch
the word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my HOPE in your LAWS. I will
always obey your LAW, for EVER and EVER.
Psa 18:30
As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is FLAWLESS. He
is a shield for all who take refuge in him.
Psa 111:7-9
The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.
They are steadfast for ever and ever, done in faithfulness and uprightness.
He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant forever--
holy and awesome is his name
Deut 4:1-2
Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and LAWS I am about to teach you. Follow
them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land that
the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. DO NOT add to what I command
you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God
that I give you.
Deut 12:28
Be careful to obey ALL these REGULATIONS I am giving you, so that it
may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will
be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the LORD your God.
Eccl 3:14
I know that everything God does will endure FOREVER; nothing can be added
to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.
Eccl 12:13
Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God
and KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS, for this is the WHOLE duty of man.
The law is the light and salvation to the Jews and Gentiles, not Jesus. Salvation is achieved through obeying God's laws and decreeschieved through obeying God's laws and decrees. There is NO OTHER way! There is no salvation through the worship of a God/man named Jesus that will ever be needed. The following verses illustrate this clearly.
Isa 51:4-8
"Listen to me, my people; hear me, my nation: The LAW will go out from
me; my justice will become a LIGHT to the nations. My righteousness draws
near speedily, my SALVATION is on the way, and my arm will bring justice to
the nations. The islands will look to me and wait in hope for my arm. Lift
up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will
vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants
die like flies. But my SALVATION will last FOREVER, my righteousness will
never fail. Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have my LAW
in your hearts: Do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults.
For the moth will eat them up like a garment; the worm will devour them like
wool. But my righteousness will last FOREVER, my SALVATION through all generations."
Even Jesus said that the law would endure and should be observed to the letter until heaven and earth disappeared. Jesus further states that anyone who teaches otherwise will be least in the kingdom of heaven. Paul, weren't you listening to your savior?
Matt 5:17-20
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I
have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth,
until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least
stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the LAW until everything
is accomplished. ANYONE who breaks one of the LEAST of these commandments
and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of
heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great
in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness SURPASSES
that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the LAW, you will certainly not
enter the kingdom of heaven.
Paul also contradicts the book of James by teaching that the law was canceled and temporary.
James 1:22-25
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what
it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like
a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes
away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently
into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting
what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.
James 2:10
For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is
guiland yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
Paul's attempts to eliminate the need for the law apparently left him no better off than he was before he embarked on his mission of creating a new religion based on his version of salvation. Paul's mind bending statement (below) that he continues to sin despite his new found salvation is evidence of a man caught up in his own sophistry. Paul takes God's laws which the OT says are perfect and eternal and tries to turn them into a curse which he is under. Paul simply cannot stop himself from sinning. The implication is obvious. If Paul who deems himself a designated mouthpiece for God cannot control himself, how can a lesser human do so? Hence the need for an escape from the "faulty" law and the promise of an easier candy coated salvation?Jesus.
Rom 7:15-25
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but
what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law
is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living
in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.
For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For
what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this
I keep on doing.Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who
do it, but it is siis no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that
does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right
there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another
law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind
and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What
a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be
to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a
slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Paul considers himself "a slave to God's law". This is the same law he declared a curse and this is also the same law he declared God initiated to bring MORE sin into the world. But as demonstrated by the OT, the law is not a curse but a path to wisdom.
Psa 19:7
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the
LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
At least Paul was sometimes honest enough to recognize his own deceptive nature:
2 Cor 11:17
In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but
as a fool.
And Paul describes all Christians who have adopted his new religion which is based on discarding God's laws and worshipping a man called Jesus:
2 Cor 11:1
I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness; but you are already
doing that.
Paul invents a new set of rules for salvation, takes it upon himself to discard God's laws and then announces himself as "appointed" to tell the "truth" to the Gentiles:
1 Tim 2:5-7
For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men--the testimony given in its
proper time. And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle--I
am telling the truth, I am not lying--and a teacher of the true faith to the
Gentiles.
But Paul again is caught in his own web. Note also that Jesus, according to Paul is NOT God but a MAN. If the MAN Christ Jesus, gave himself as a ransom for all men, then nobody was saved. The OT shows his claim to be a lie.
Psa 49:7-8
No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him-the
ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough-
Another common claim of Christians regarding the law is that they are under a new covenant. They assert the old covenant expired when Jesus died on the cross and they aren Jesus died on the cross and they are no longer under the "old" laws. But this is not as clear as it first appears. The NT does indeed state that at the death of Christ, a new covenant was initiated :
Heb 9:15-18
For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those
who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance--now that he
has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first
covenant. In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the
one who made it, because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it
never takes effect while the one who made it is living. This is why even the
first covenant was not put into effect without blood.
Heb 10:9
Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside
the first to establish the second.
But prior to these verses the author of Hebrews stated although the old covenant was obsolete. It had not yet disappeared.
Heb 8:13
By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and
what is obsolete and aging will SOON disappear.
Heb 8 was written after the death of Jesus, after the resurrection, and after the ascension. Yet according to Heb 8:13 the old covenant had not yet passed away but was going to pass away "soon". When exactly did it pass away? If the new covenaxactly did it pass away? If the new covenant took effect at the death of Jesus, the obsolete old covenant should no longer exist at all. Was this replacement of new for old supposed to be a gradual process? Was the implementation of the old covenant a gradual process or did it apply immediately? It applied immediately upon delivery, not years later. This is what was promised by God concerning the "new" covenant:
Jer 31:31-34
"The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like
the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to
lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband
to them, " declares the LORD. "This is the covenant I will make with the house
of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their
minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be
my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother,
saying, `Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of
them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more."
God was to put his laws in the minds of men. Notice this does not say a "new" law, but this is a new covenant or contract. The existing law is not cancelntract. The existing law is not canceled but is reaffirmed under a new contract. When has it become no longer needed to teach people about God and his laws? If ALL were supposed to know God and have his laws written on their minds as promised then this has never happened. If this had happened as promised then there would be no need for churches holding Bible classes to teach people about God and what his word is. There would no longer be any need for that if the new covenant was in effect as promised. So we have the author of Hebrews claiming that a new covenant took effect at the death of Jesus, but the old covenant had still not disappeared.
Most likely the writer of Hebrews thought it would pass away and the new covenant would come into universal effect at the arrival of Jesus at his next coming. But Jesus never came back. Apparently God is in breach of contract.
(As an aside, the author of Hebrews quotes Jer 31:31-34 in Heb 8:8-12 but he leaves Jer 31:29-30 out of his quote of God's announcement of what was to occur in the future. Here it is:
Jer 31:29-30
In those days people will no longer say, `The fathers have eaten sour
grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.' Instead, everyone will
die for his own sin; whoever eats sour grapes--his own teeth will be set on
edge.
(Everyone will die for his OWN sin. It's understandable wdie for his OWN sin. It's understandable why the author of Hebrews left off this quote. There is no need for Jesus if each is to die for his own sin.)
It's hard to find two teachings so diametrically opposed as to the definition, attributes, and status of the law as those written by Paul and those found in the OT. In order to create a need for Jesus, and an easier path for potential converts, the law was systematically dismembered by Paul and rendered useless as a vehicle to salvation and God's kingdom. Christians frequently boast that they follow God's word and believe in the inerrancy of the Bible. But those who follow Paul's teachings are only paying lip service to the God they claim to worship, adore, and give all praise and glory to. It's all a sham.
Perhaps the OT predicted the arrival of Paul and his teachings. The following verses certainly describe those who follow the teachings of Paul:
Isa 29:13
The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor
me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me
is made up only of rules taught by men.
Psa 50:16-17
But to the wicked, God says: "What right have you to recite my laws or
take my covenant on your lips? You hate my instruction and cast my words
behind you.
The OT declares that God's laws are perfect and eternal. Perfect means without flaw and eternal means for all time. No amount of hype, spin, or obfuscation can make imperfect and temporary that which was previously declared perfect and everlasting.
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