The Trinity And The Torah: According To The Refiners Fire Website (Part II)

QUESTION: I wish more people knew that YHWH never intended to have two different laws! Can you suggest any scriptures that tell the Gentiles they are welcome into the covenant but they have to keep His rules? I need verses that prove Yahweh's intent from the very beginning that His Covenant was not just for the Israelites but for the entire world.

ANSWER:

The very first instruction (Torah) that YHWH gives to ALL MANKIND is to be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. YHWH does not just instruct Jews or even just Hebrews to do this. It is for all humanity - Jew and Gentile alike (Genesis 1:27-32).

Bj:

But We Don't Necessarily Apply That To Today, In Light Of The Fact That Jesus And Paul Weren't Single, Had No Biological Children And Paul In Fact Taught That Being Married Is 'An Affair Of The World' That Typically Takes Ones Focus Off Of God. (1 Cor. 7)

But I'm Glad This Author Has Recognized That This Was Before There Was Such A Group As Jews.

Maybe He Will One Day Recognize What Else God Said Before The Torah And Jews.

This Will Come In Handy Later.

Article Forgets What It Just Pointed Out:

After "the Fall" did the sin and death relate just to proto-Hebrew-Semites? No! ALL of humanity suffered. If all of humanity suffers then all of humanity is bound by YHWH's instructions. No one gets a free pass. Everything from the prohibition against slaying Cain on forwards relates to ALL RACES.

Genesis 6-9. All humans sinned. All humans except Noah and family are wiped out in the flood. Obviously all humans were held accountable for their behavior by YHWH....

Bj:

Being Responsible For Our Behaviour Doesn't Mean We Are Justified By It Or That Or That The Torah That Would Come Later Would Be That Standard.

Sin Being Passed On To All Doesn't Prove That 'All' Are Justified By Torah.

"For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. 18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. 20 The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 5)

Notice The 'Law Was Added' So That The Sin May Increase Not Decrease, And Only Through The 'Obedience' And 'One Act Of Righteousness' Of 'The One Man', Christ And Our Reception (Faith), Are We 'Made Righteous' And Have 'Eternal Life.'

Article:

Moving forward, after the flood. Nimrod in Genesis 10 defies YHWH and YHWH punishes him and all his people. Again, not a Jew or Hebrew among them. Still held accountable - all of them.

YHWH then waits 10 generations for Abram (later Abraham) to be born. Abram has to give up his idolatry as a member of the nations BEFORE being counted as a Hebrew. He and all his Chaldean Ur family and friends must journey with him, get circumcised, etc. Even people who want to do business with Abraham - like the Shechemites - must be circumcised. So, the whole Gentile circumcision thing did not just come up in Acts 15! (For that you can also read verses in Deuteronomy and Jeremiah chapter 9.)

Bj:

Today The Goal Is Not To Become A Jew But To Become One Of God's Own.

Always Accountable But Never Justified By The Torah.

This Behaviour By Abraham Mentioned Above Didn't Justify Him, Now Did It?

Article: Through Abraham ALL NATIONS are blessed; that is a continuous theme:

...
But what many Christians forget is WHY they can be blessed through Abraham who, in a way, was a Gentile too before he was counted as Hebrew. In the NT, we are told over and over again that Abraham believed YHWH and it was counted to him as righteousness. But, what gets lost is HOW Abraham believed and HOW his faith was proven - that is be ACTION and OBEDIENCE:

Genesis 26: 5 because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws."

Bj:

This Authors Conclusions Are Wrong On So Many Levels That It's Difficult To Know Where To Begin.

1) This Is Before The Torah.

2) Eleven Chapters Prior To This Is Where Abraham Is Justified Through Faith Alone.

"He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." 6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness." (Genesis 15)

Even The Apostle Paul, Sent To the Gentiles, Really 'All' (Look At Acts 13:46ff), Reiterates.

"It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14 For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, 15 because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. 16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring--not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all....

The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness--for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification." (Romans 4:23ff)

What Is Presently Required Of Jew And Gentile?

Faith

"Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God." (1 Jn. 5:5)

Article:

In other words - KEPT MY TORAH! If it's good enough for Abraham, it's good enough for all the nations who get blessed by him on that same basis.

Bj: In Other Words, Abraham Believed God And It Was Counted Unto Him For Righteousness.

That Is What Abraham Did.

"It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise" (Ro. 4)

The Authors At Refiners Fire, Though Claiming To Believe In Yeshua, Reject The New Testament And Hardly Use It, And Condemn Those That Do.

Go Figure.

How Does One Claiming To Be A Believer In Messiah Reject Messiah's Words?

Article:

Genesis 22: 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. 12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." 13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided." 15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, "I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

Bj:

Unbelievable, This Article Quotes From This Passage But Makes No Connection Between This And The Sacrifice Of God The Son. (John 3; Hebrews 11)

It Is Through Faith In The Person And Work Of Christ That Takes Care Of It All And No Works Will Help It Along.

As I Said In Part 1 Of This Critique, Distort Who Christ Is And What He Came To Do, You Distort The Whole Message.

In The Following Biblical Passages Compare How Who Christ Is, Affects What He Did And Its Application. (Acts 20:28; Hebrews 1; Colossians 1; Revelation 1)

In Fact Inserting Works For Salvation Is 'Another Gospel.' That Paul Condemned. (Galatians 1:8,9; 2 Cor. 11)

The Whole Book Of Galatians Is Devoted To Those That Wrongly Insert Works Into Salvation And Sanctification. (Galatians 3)

And It Doesn't Just Apply To Gentiles:

"After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are." (Acts 15)

Article Goes On:

But what about Moshe? Surely that whole Exodus thing and those rules were just for the Hebrews? Really? What does the Bible say:

Exodus 12: 37 .

By "foreigner" YHWH means the uncircumcised. But an "alien" who is circumcised may eat the Passover, because the same Torah applies to BOTH OF THEM. This statement "one Torah for Jew and foreigner" or "one Torah for Israelite and foreigner" appears many times. Many nations came out of Egypt and many nations were bound with Israel, but the covenant comes from YHWH THROUGH Israel.

Bj:

Gosh This Is Too Easy.

How Can One That Says Such Things Ever Have Gotten To First Base In Their Relationship With God?

Now The Author Is Talking About The Event Preceding The Exodus And The Giving Of The Law/Torah.

'Foreigner' Is Whomever Wanted To Be Spared From The Angel Of Death.

Now We Know That Christ Is Our Passover And We Are No Longer Viewing Messiah From A Distance But Close Up As An Ever Present Reality. (1 Corinthians 5:7)

"Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast--as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth." (1 Cor. 5:7)

In Fact Why Observe The Shadow For Justification When We Are Already Justified By And Because Of The Reality?

Article:

Okay, so after Moses and Joshua many prophets come. The monarchy is established. The Temple is built for YHWH but is it just to be used by Jews? Let's investigate this:

Psalms 86: 8 ...Isaiah 2: 2 ...Isaiah 52: 10 ...Isaiah 56: 7 ...Isaiah 66: 20 Jeremiah 3: 17 Jeremiah 29: 14 ...Ezekiel 5: 5 ...Zephaniah 2: 11 ...Haggai 2: 7 ...Zechariah 8: 23 ....Mark 7: 15

Bj:

So The Author Draws From The Past And Future To Apply It To The Present But Neglects The Real Message In These Examples.

The Message Of The Past Was That Before Torah, Abraham Was Justified By Faith Alone. (Genesis 15; Romans 4; Galatians 3; Romans 3), And This Principle Supercedes Any Requirements Peculiar To The Time (Hebrews 11), And The Message He Just Referred To Is About A Future Millenial Reign Of Israel On Earth, And These Gentiles Are Those That Did Not Believe In Messiah In This Present Age.

Due To The Rejection Of Messiah By Israel, Presently All Are On The Same Level And Only By Faith In Christ Are We Justified. (Romans 11:24-32)

And Unless We Want To Assume That Gentiles Including The Body Of Christ Are Outside The Gates Trying To Get In, We Must Conclude That These Are 'Nations' In The End, While We Are Reigning With The Head Of The Body In Heaven.

Since When Do We Presently Come To God According To Our National Affiliation?

Whosoever Will Is The Present Dispensation.

"Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." (John 3:14-18)

Bj Maxwell

04/25/2008

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