For believers like myself that prayed for all bias to be removed and approached the Scriptures with the glasses of tradition taken off, the realization of the actual relationship between the Father and the Son was shocking to say the least, as was the recognition of the need for Torah observance. Once realized, the truth of the ONE and ONLY God and the Messiah Yeshua suddenly appeared everywhere in the pages of Scripture, as did the exhortations to continue in Torah.
I know this sounds outlandish to most of you that are Christians. I know exactly what you feel, why you feel it, and would feel no different than you had I not engaged in EXTENSIVE study to arrive at my current beliefs. It really was like finding the "pearl of great price" and realizing the pearl was sitting on my nose the entire time. Even as I type this I know virtually all of you will think I'm a nut and probably feel I am the one deceived. However, I've been where most of you are. Have you been where I now am? I grew up a traditional Christian and became very zealous for my beliefs. ONLY when I prayerfully persevered in my determined attempts at unbiased study did the Living God reward me with truth and tear me from the embrace of the great harlot (Rev. 17:5).
The Bible is literally filled with passages - even the New Testament as you will see - that make it absolutely clear as "the nose on your face" that Yeshua is most certainly NOT God and that sincere effort to obey Torah IS required as proof of your faith. Once those tradition-glasses are gone it is like stepping from a dimly lit tunnel into a day of brilliant sunshine. At first it is somewhat dazzling and disorienting, but once the original shock fades everything is seen with unprecedented clarity. The entire Bible becomes far more consistent and the need for dispensationalism, systematic theology, Catholic catechisms and all the other grandiose inventions of Christianity evaporates. The Word of God becomes a smooth running stream void of rocks, debris, or other obstacles that disrupt the flow. The Logos, or plan of God (Logos = motive or plan) becomes extremely easy to see and suddenly false teachings are exposed everywhere throughout the Constantinian Christian faith because the light of truth reveals what was before hidden in the shadows.
It is impossible to explain how far reaching these two false doctrines are until you experience it yourself. The teaching that Yeshua (Jesus) is God may be the "mother of all errors" within Christianity and the primary reason for my zeal to publish this web site. However, the "abolishment" of Torah by Christianity is no less destructive and is actually more condemning. Indeed, this error is a major cause for the other! It is really hard to explain, and I realize you may not understand unless it happens to you. I also realize very, very few traditional Christians will ever remove the bias-glasses, and thus may never understand. Yeshua sadly prophesies of just such an outcome and openly predicts the Beast religious system will have the entire world in its power when he returns.
Well, after being freed from the brothel of the great harlot and finding the truth, others and myself agonized over how such a clear truth can be so hidden from the typical Christian. It is like suddenly finding yourself surrounded by family and friends in a house that is on fire. (I've experienced the terror of a burning home; so, I have a bit of insight into that feeling.) You frantically try to get them to look around to see the house burning, but for some mysterious reason they all seem in some sort of wicked spell and refuse to hearken to your pleas. It is as though some powerful drug has them in a drunken stupor. They either just give you patronizing, "poor condemned fool," looks, get violently defensive and tell you to go away (or go to hell), or just smile at you with a "you will learn my child" look. Often, they simply do not care! And of course all the while they virtually never expend any energy or time to study with you - except what and how the beast wants them to study - or seriously look at the evidence you present. I elaborate elsewhere why they better start caring! No matter what you do they don't seem to want to see and don't care that you're warning them out of true loving concern for their souls. Frequently they are just too deeply entrenched in living in the burning house and will not even consider leaving no matter how hot the flames get. The article, Truth on Trial, refers to this very issue.
To this day myself and others haven't fully understood the reasons why sincere, intelligent, loving people cannot see the obvious. Of course the term "sincere" automatically removes many from the list of those that we are puzzled about. Most that call themselves Christians are not at all sincere and are unrecognizable from the most carnal and hedonistic members of society. These habitually sinful "Christians" are often among the most decadent. They openly profane God through their lifestyles and will most assuredly suffer the fury of God's wrath. Nevertheless, we have reached a few conclusions that I will now share with you.
The number one reason for the blindness is the awesome and evil power of deception, which Satan possesses. The tremendous clout of the dragon-empowered beast of Daniel and Revelation that utilizes the spiritual harlot as his ally is truly incredible. The dragon is of course Satan, and he has given great power to the beastly harlot he created. That is, without doubt, the primary cause. In fact, those of us recognizing this truth have had our faith strengthened by the realization that there truly is a furious spiritual battle going on for our minds, and ultimately our souls. The beast's influence is primarily manifested through mind-control - deceptions disguised as truth by utilizing Biblical names and scriptural distortion. Those following the beast do not protect themselves with devoted study of God's Word; thus, they are easy prey for his illusory teachings.
Ignorance of Scripture will doom you, and absorbing what someone else teaches you is not knowledge of Scripture; it is indoctrination. If you do not care to sincerely search God's Word for truth what possible obligation do you feel God has for rewarding you? Satan will invent all manner of distractions and false securities ("once saved, always saved" being the most prevalent) to remove your fear of God and keep you from personally seeking the truth from Scripture. The last thing Satan or his beast system wants is for you to independently search the Scriptures without his guidance, which is manifested through traditional, bias church leaders! The beast gets very angry when his power becomes threatened by your freewill choice to find the truth yourself.
Our observations convinced us that the Bible is true, Satan is real, and we better start taking this stuff seriously. There is simply no logical, human reason why Scriptural truths that are so obvious could be hidden from so many. The intense struggle for our minds in the spiritual realm is unequalled in ferocity. These truths are seen even with a cursory reading of Scripture. As Paul amply warns in Ephesians 6:
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
WE ARE MOST CERTAINLY AT WAR, AND IF YOU VALUE YOUR ETERNAL DESTINY YOU BETTER WAKE UP AND FIGHT USING THE "SWORD OF THE SPIRIT" - THE WORD OF GOD! Don't be taken prisoner by tradition and take no prisoners yourself as you venture into the battle clad with the "whole armor of God". If you fail to heed the warnings of Scripture and pleas from those like myself, you will have no one but yourself to blame if you receive a terrifying spiritual death sentence in the heavenly court when the Holy One sits in judgment to decide your fate!
If you grow up in an Islamic family, what are the odds you will end up a Baptist? If you grow up in a Baptist family, what are the chances you'll end up a Catholic? If you grow up a Catholic, what are the chances of you becoming a Conservative Jew? If you grow up an Orthodox Jew, what are the chances you'll end up a Reform Jew? The examples are endless. Why is this? How can we explain how people - specifically in Christianity - end up with drastically different understandings of the exact same book? In my case I grew up in the church of Christ and ended up a Monotheistic Messianic (for lack of a better term), but that is explained by the learning method used to get me here. And believe me, there is a huge difference between what the church of Christ teaches and what I now am convinced is the truth. By the way, I prefer the term "Messianic" because the term "Christian" has become synonymous with "hypocrite" in these days of "cheap grace" and "once saved, always saved" sinfulness.
What we are convinced is the "truth" is influenced by HOW we learned it. In fact, in religion HOW we learned it generally determines WHAT we learn. Likewise HOW we accepted it determines WHAT we accepted. Please do not miss this, HOW we develop our religious beliefs, largely determines WHAT those beliefs are!
Here's my point. All your religious beliefs were acquired through some sort of conditioning. You were trained to believe certain things and rewards and punishments were used to guide you down the path you have allegedly chosen. Very, very few Christians actually "converted" to Christianity. This same scenario applies to ALL other faiths. Most individuals simply take on their family's traditions much like the ancient peoples' adopting of their family's idols. This is a FACT, despite the unwillingness of most Christians to admit it. Besides family tradition, there are other reasons why people become a "Christian", and almost ALL of them have NOTHING to do with an UNBIASED reasoning from the Scriptures.
There are innumerable reasons for why a person becomes a Traditional Christian. To illustrate I'll randomly select a typical Baptist family as an example; however, virtually any other religion or denomination would do. Here are some off-the-cuff scenarios that determine why most Traditional Christians are Christians. I KNOW the real story behind the "church scene", having been associated with Traditional Christianity for my 40 years of life.
By far, the dominant scenario is family tradition. This is overwhelmingly the means by which we are "conditioned" to accept a certain religious world view. For instance, your mother and father were Baptists; therefore you are Baptist. All you really ever heard or have any actual in-depth knowledge of is the Baptist world view, and often you actually do not have IN-DEPTH knowledge of even that. Any knowledge you may have acquired of other faiths was filtered through the Baptist bias and your parent's critical view of those other faiths. Rarely did you ever venture outside the Baptist sphere to independently search. Most probably you never did - at least not while laying aside your Baptist presuppositions. Without you ever realizing it you were being religion-conditioned from birth to be a Baptist and view everything from a Baptist frame of reference.
Social Pressure. I use the term social pressure because it is composed of more than just pressure from your peers. Actually, peer pressure alone is less influential. The social pressure to which I refer is the powerful influence the social atmosphere of the church can have. Of course there are the obvious biased interpretations and condemnations of other denominations; thus, you grow up thinking your church is the only one that is truly correct. It is always the other guys that are wrong in their beliefs. There is a very real pressure - sometimes not so subtle - to fit the mold the church has machined out for you. If you are perceived as a "rebel" you will be ostracized. Also, since you often literally grow up in a particular congregation, if you attend regularly a strong "family" bond is formed; however, this bond in no way means the doctrines are correct. All it means it that you develop an "extended family" in the church. Once that is done it is almost certain nothing will ever dislodge you even if the devil were proven to be your pastor. That's why the word "denominationalism" is an apt description of the situation. Like nationalism, denominationalism is usually based completely upon the emotional bond formed with the church family and in reality doctrine is irrelevant.
Churches can be a terribly cruel place for those that dare raise questions concerning the doctrinal positions of the church, and if you really want to feel the heat actually attempt to prove what your studies show if they differ with the church's party line. With rare exceptions you will not even be allowed to discuss any personal beliefs that contradict the denomination's creedal positions. You will even find yourself unable to conduct Bible studies beyond the confines of the church because of the "whisperers" that will paint you as being "apostate" or promoting "heretical" ideas.
Another example is pressure from a loved one to join the church. Those that do this generally were weak in their beliefs anyway or had no beliefs; so, it was really no great change for them to do what satisfies their sweetheart. The point here is that doctrine is often of absolutely no importance, at least not really. To satisfy a girlfriend, boyfriend, or spouse, you simply decided to "join their church". You may have studied some, but in most cases you didn't. Even if you did the pressure to "accept" was ever present and psychologically biased your study. Again, TRUTH usually has nothing to do with the decision to become a Christian. It is basically a matter of pleasing the one you love or lust for.
Conditioning through the church's constant customer service efforts is another primary means by which many choose or remain in a church. The church recognizes it must keep its members happy; therefore, all manner of "entertainment" is devised with new "ministries" and programs being added or modified constantly. This is a topic in and of itself. In short, the church is not stupid and is constantly "going with the flow" to market and create whatever it takes to keep the people coming. So, the worldly fulfillment one obtains through the successful customer service "ministries", "prayer groups", "retreats", etc. causes one to "enjoy" their church and, thus, have no real desire to leave.
Closely associated with the previous reason is covetousness or carnal reasons. Yes, next to the "family tradition" scenario, THE primary tactic - especially among teens and young adults - used by the Beast to bring you into his lair is the use of worldly attractions!
I'm going to be honest and discuss what is somewhat taboo in Christian circles. The revolting worldliness and carnal sin present in churches today was a major motivation for me to study and ultimately discover the largely false foundations of Traditional Christianity. I couldn't see how people claiming to adhere to Scripture and follow the Lord could show such unrestrained sin, despite the VERY CLEAR passages of Scripture condemning their lifestyles!
The typical "church" today is becoming an abomination of sinful excess and Scriptural ignorance! Many are social clubs filled with people that often take part in activities and lifestyles no different than what is found "in the world", but since some attending those churches consider themselves "once saved, always saved Christians", it is not considered behavior that will lead to damnation. I don't think many Christians have a correct understanding of sin, or at least no concept of the ultimate result of sinful living - EVERLASTING DAMNATION. Many of today's churches - ESPECIALLY those preaching "once saved, always saved" - are nothing more than mini-mirrors of the carnal world! Facts are facts, and the fact is many Christians attend their selected churches for purely worldly reasons.
As I said, I'm going to discuss what Christianity hates having exposed. Come on Mr. and Mrs. Christian, admit it. You and I both know that MANY churches are "meat markets" for those seeking sexual fulfillment, worldly desire, or social satisfaction. This is one of the reasons "Singles Groups", though often set up for sincere reasons, are such big hits in many churches and even specifically promoted to lure others into the church. Sunday schools are often divided along SOCIAL lines to make it more "fun". It is no big secret that some of society's most lustful and covetous people attend churches that openly teach their sexual perversions and greed will NOT result in eternal damnation. Many of the young women dress to "attract", wearing seductive, or downright whorish clothing, which is at the very least immodest. And, of course, it is a LONG KNOWN bit of trivia among young men that if you want "action", go to a Baptist church or one of the others that allow sin to go unopposed or that preach "eternal security (once saved, always saved)". Sexual Sin is rampant in many churches, and sometimes the Pastor is a willing, unrepentant participant. Many of the young men and women are going for only ONE real reason - to seek carnal satisfaction. Of course, as always, churches that preach "once saved, always saved" or "eternal security" are often the ones most filled with these carnal, hedonistic, hypocrites that know almost nothing of God's true teachings. However, the carnal nature of the church has now invaded virtually every denomination, even those that supposedly teach the necessity of obedience and holy living.
Whatever happened to going to church to learn Truth? Whatever happened to reverence in worship? Whatever happened to talking about Scripture and God in "church" instead of socializing? WHATEVER HAPPENED TO LOVE OF THE ALMIGHTY OR - DARE I SAY - FEAR OF HIM? Today, surprisingly few go for these reasons or show any fear or love for the Almighty. It is to the few that are sincere in seeking the Truth instead of worldly pleasure that we proclaim our message since the "eternally secure" carnal Christian has NO motivation to leave his/her "satisfying" religion.
The bottom line is that most Christians are conditioned in ways similar to Pavlov's dog to accept traditional Christian teachings without truly and sincerely scrutinizing those teachings or investigating alternatives. Therefore it is fair to say that they NEVER "convert" to anything! In fact, many haven't the slightest real understanding of what it means to convert! The most basic meaning is to convert FROM WORLDLINESS AND LUST TO HOLINESS, RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND SERVICE TO GOD! In general, the typical Christian simply chooses his/her desired flavor from the religious buffet Christianity offers. Usually, their choice has little to do with Scriptural truth, having much more to do with what they desire or their traditions. There is NO better example of exactly what Paul was talking about in the following verses than the situation present in today's "Christian" world.
What is the solution? First, stay away from the hedonistic church or ANY church that promotes the gospel of Satan through its "eternal security" lies. If there is ANY preacher deserving of God's chastisement, it is he that promotes the open rebellion and license to sin implicit in the wicked "once saved, always saved" false doctrine. Try and insure your Scriptural study is purely based upon the cognitive method, called insight. By this I mean YOU, without the pressure to conform to tradition and completely void of ALL bias carefully study the entire Scriptures from Genesis through Revelations - reading the Tanakh (Older Testament FIRST) - to come to your understanding of what the Word of God actually teaches. YOU, using your God-given ability to reason and think, piece together the puzzle of eternal life while resisting most especially those pressures most liable to distort your attempt at unbiased study - meaning forcefully resisting the conditioning influences that Satan will endlessly try to use to derail your sincere search for truth
The preferred method suggested by all Christian teachers I have known of starting with the New Testament forces bias and is similar to attempting a trip from Detroit to Seattle with nothing but a map of Seattle as your guide. The Seattle city map is useless at actually getting you there and is only of value once you've found your way and know your are on the correct path! Without a thorough reading and basic understanding of the great promises and teachings (Torah) found in the Tanakh it is absolutely impossible for you to correctly understand the Eternal Plan of the One Eternal God. I will discuss this further in the article entitled The Best Way to Study the Bible.