The trial has begun. The defendant stands accused of a heinous crime. A young child was brutally attacked and murdered, and the case is now being presented before the court. You are a member of the jury and must decide the fate of the man now sitting before the court surrounded by his defense attorneys. What will be the means by which you determine his guilt or innocence? Clearly you will decide based upon the evidence presented.
For an entire week you hear the testimony of 50 witnesses, all of which are equally legitimate. Out of the 50 that are summoned all but 2 present unambiguous testimonies that strongly indicates the defendant is clearly guilty. The evidence for the prosecution is overwhelming. Only 2 of the witnesses testify of his innocence. So, when all the testimony is presented you have a decision. Will you take the testimony of the 48 or of the 2?
You and your fellow jurors retire to the jury room to decide the verdict. The judge expects a quick decision and ponders the case. There is truly no argument. Who in their right mind would throw out sworn, convincing testimony from 48 witnesses just because 2 others testified to the contrary? There was no evidence presented to discount the testimony of any of the witnesses; therefore, it all comes down to a 48 to 2 weight of evidence against the accused. The evidence is simply devastating for the defense. If there ever was an "open and shut" case, this is it. The entire courtroom can tell the defense considers it a certain defeat, and the prosecution is already preparing for the punishment phase of the trial.
Within an hour you and your fellow jurors return with the verdict. The judge asks for the verdict to be read, and you, as the chief juror, stand to read the brief wording of the decision arrived at by yourself and your fellow jurors.
"We, the jury find the defendant not guilty of all charges."
WHAT? The courtroom erupts in disbelief! The mother of the dead child bursts into tears and must be sedated. The father leaps from his chair enraged and is restrained by policemen that, if they followed their true desires, would love to loan the father their own firearm to dispatch with the man that CLEARLY DID kill his precious child! The defendant simply smiles a wicked smile, shakes his attorney's hand, nods at the jurors, and walks away to freedom!
News reporters swarm to the jurors eager to find out how they could possibly allow the defendant to go free despite the overwhelming evidence that clearly showed he committed the crime! Since you are the selected representative of the jurors you are the first one assaulted by the hungry reporters.
"Sir, I'm with FOX news, and I am sure we all have the same question. How could you possibly have arrived at a verdict of not guilty?"
"Well, you see, we liked the guy and wanted him to be innocent; therefore, we didn't even consider the 48 witnesses that testified. There really was no reason for witnesses because we had made up our minds even before the trial began. Anyway, there were the 2 witnesses that said he didn't do it."
The reporter continues. "But, Sir, you had mountains of documents proving his guilt! How could you ignore it? How could you take the testimony of 2 yet throw out the other 48?"
"Like I said, we wanted him to be innocent; therefore, we didn't even look at the documents except in passing. Our minds were made up. Anyway, we felt in our hearts he was innocent and a couple of the fellow jurors that happen to be Christians even felt the Spirit had told them he was not guilty. They said they prayed and had a strong feeling he was innocent. We don't care what the evidence showed."
"Sir? Are you telling us the jury ignored the clear weight of the evidence purely because you had a "feeling" in your heart he was innocent and because some of them felt the "Spirit" was telling them something the evidence clearly does not show? Why would a true Spirit present what the clear evidence fails to show?"
"Yep. That and the fact we didn't want to really look at the evidence because we felt the guy was just too charming to have done what they claim he did. Now leave me alone! Besides, they felt like the Spirit confirmed their thoughts. We don't want to hear anything more about evidence! We know we are right and no amount of evidence will change our minds!"
My friends, this is precisely the situation confronting us as we debate the questions of the deity of Yahshua and the relevance of Torah (Law)! The Scriptural evidence is DEVASTATING to those proclaiming that Yahshua is God and death to God's Eternal teachings (torah). The odds are far weightier that 48 to 2. Yet despite the "open and shut" nature of the case virtually all Christians are convinced of the deity of Yahshua and the abolishment of Torah because that is what they have always been told and felt! Often, no amount of evidence will convince them otherwise, and usually they will not even consider the evidence! They have been conditioned to believe it and present all manner of "mysteries", Scriptural distortions, and verbal gymnastics to "prove" their case while at the same time discarding – often without even looking at it – the mountain of evidence proving otherwise!
Those of us that strenuously attempt to consider the evidence from an unbiased perspective are perpetually amazed at the complete lack of respect given the only evidence permissible in the case – the Holy Scriptures! We are aghast at how Scriptural evidence so crystal clear can be so universally opposed and so flippantly discarded based upon one's feelings. The Holy Spirit never contradicts Scripture, and if your feelings do they are most certainly not from the Holy Spirit but have origins elsewhere.
2 Corinthians 11:13,14
13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
We have but a simple request. All we ask is that you please consider the only admissible evidence (Scripture) and do not allow inadmissible evidence such as
affect your deliberations.
Sadly, most Christians have the attitude expressed by a co-worker of mine whom I thought was sincerely seeking truth. I will first point out that UNlike most traditional Christians this man is truly serious about his faith and tries, to the best of his ability, to live a life he feels is pleasing to God. He struggles daily to perfect himself and possesses a kind and loving heart. Recognizing this, I surmised that he was someone who is open to adapting his faith to what he discovers in a never ending search for truth. During an email discussion at work the subject of easter arose. Easter is a perfect opportunity to present an example of a typical error in traditional Christianity which illustrates how traditional Christianity is largely based on ancient Roman pagan sungod religions instead of Biblical truth. Easter, as well as other Christian holy days such as Christmas, helps to educate people about how Christianity - as it is practiced today, versus how it was practiced by Messiah's earliest followers in the first century - is actually a mixture of various pagan religions popular in Rome in the early centuries. The pagan, unscriptural origin of "easter" is extremely easy to prove. During a brief back-and-forth email correspondence he made the following statement. Please take special note of what I show in bold letters.
"... But with all due respect, and with Yeshua as my witness, I will not be seeking deeper understanding of theology or seeking more knowledge of the truth ever again. These gifts of God must come to me and be received by me as I seek to experience Love (as I have come to know Love). ..."
As Messiah as his witness, he directly stated that he had no intention of seeking truth! Wow! That is an exceedingly dreadful mind set, especially when he stated it in the name of Messiah! Though I will not quote his entire correspondence, he also belittled and mocked those like myself who actually do possess a hunger for truth and the humility to change if we find ourselves to be engaged in religious practices or beliefs contrary to the truths we discover.
Anyone who is not willing to continually seek truth and adapt their faith to the truths discovered is - in a spiritual sense - as far away from "humility" as one can get and has no real desire to become "like Christ."
I was stunned and deeply saddened. Yet tragically, his mind set is the rule rather than the exception among Christians and represents a perfect example of an "unwise juror" who refuses to even look at the evidence. A man I view as a humble sincere seeker of truth flagrantly proved in his statement that knowing Biblical truth was of little importance. He also expressed the common belief that truth would be "revealed" to him. Such statements are particularly sad since he was rejecting truth even as God was attempting to reveal it! When those statements are made, even by a person as sincere about his faith as this man, the real meaning is that the individual stating them is going to believe whatever he or she wishes to believe then claim the "Spirit" revealed it. It amazes me how many totally contradictory faith practices the "Spirit" has allegedly revealed to folks! Such people usually consider themselves and present themselves as pious and self-effacing; however, they are actually among the most spiritually arrogant in the religious world.
Though it may not necessarily apply in this example, generally those who utilize such arguments are implicitly saying, "Unlike you, I am so spiritually exalted and in touch with the Spirit of God that I don't need to worry about the trivialities of truth versus error. Of course, I am not practicing error anyway since, if I was, the Spirit with whom I am so closely connected would reveal it to me without my having to bother with studying Scripture. I'm too spiritually minded for details, and only those who do not have the guidance of the Spirit focus on such things." Sadly, people who feel this way are actually among the most deceived among us and the least likely to ever humble themselves to discover that the "spirit" they are following is likely the "spirit of delusion" or the devil "masquerading as an angle of light." I will soon have an article on this very issue since it is so widespread.
Another common belief this individual possesses is the belief that "love" is of far greater importance than "truth." People need to realize that WHAT you believe IS important. Having a heart of "love" is crucial, but practicing a true Scriptural faith is also crucial. Striving to correct a person's severely unscriptural faith practices constitutes a primary means of showing love! Scripture commands us to correct those we see in error. The Bible makes it clear that God is NOT pleased with idolatrous or unscriptural faith practices, and it is very UNloving to allow people to continue practicing error without striving to awaken them to truth. Additionally, refusing to seek truth or considering it to be of little importance shows one to have very little "love" for God!
What makes the "love" argument particularly smug is the fact that those who use it have a faith system or ideology they embrace anyway. Therefore, the argument that "love" matters more than insuring that your faith system is truly Scriptural is a hypocritical position since those who make such arguments are, themselves, practicing a faith system in which they are firmly entrenched and which they refuse to change. Even their unbalanced focus on "love" is, itself, a faith system! So obviously, they do consider what and how a person believes to be important, they simply have no intention of scrutinizing their faith. It is just one of many tactics people utilize to avoid scrutiny of their faith.
And lest we forget, the disproportionate focus on "love" is nothing new. "Love" was the catch phrase of the 1960s, and many of those who were most ardent in promoting it led us into the "sexual revolution," drugs, new age religion, radical feminism, abortion rights, social liberalism, rampant secularism, and a whole host of other godless and lawless (anti-torah) ideologies. Obviously, "love" alone is not enough. Their "love" focused approach led and will lead millions of precious souls to eternal death and resulted in what is perhaps the single most spiritually and morally destructive decade in American history due to its lingering effects. The repercussions of their "love" focused attitude without combining it with Scriptural truth has permanently scarred America with the stain of a multitude of ongoing and growing sins. The majority of America's moral woes today can be largely traced to the "love" revolution of the 60s.
Am I claiming to be able to refute every single passage that suggest Yahshua is God and the Torah abolished? Not necessarily. However, I will be able to present conclusive evidence that will leave only a tiny number of passages that appear to support the traditionally accepted views. When the irrefutable proof of widespread scribal manipulation of the New Testament manuscripts (thousands) by those that wished the "Bible" to indicate that Yahshua is God is taken into consideration the number of verses suggesting his deity effectively disappears. One of the strongest proofs that Yahshua is NOT God is the fact that, despite the efforts of probably well meaning scribes that sought to "clarify" the manuscripts to say what they "knew" they "actually" said, the New Testament still overwhelmingly shows Yahshua is not God. Additionally, when the context in which the passages reside is considered and the original language consulted, there is literally NO PROOF WHATSOEVER that Yahshua is God or that the Torah is abolished! Likewise, when the New Testament, particularly the epistles of Paul, is correctly interpreted from the Hebraic perspective of the authors the notion that the Eternal Torah has been superceded or rendered void is proven to be wrong.
The more realistic question is for you. Will you follow the example of the unwise juror in the story above; or, will you allow common sense, reason, and - above all - the lopsided weight of New Testament and Tanakh Scripture be considered as evidence. We humbly, lovingly, and sincerely pray you can do this as you consider the most important question in all religion – indeed in all of time. A question that truly has eternal consequences.