When was the last time you TESTED what you believe ?
Isn't it true that many people never TEST what they believe - isn't most of our faith borrowed ? Doesn't it come from our culture, our family, our denomination, our own interpretation of our journey through the lens of our training. Isn't our “knowledge", therefore, a set of reminiscences, & our perception always incomplete, & full of omissions, & thus a subsequent combination of random memories ?
A devout Christian who I know, claims that they do not have to keep all the Torah (law) that they can, while I claim that I am commanded to keep all the Torah that I can.
Q: Isn’t one of us is deceived ?
If I am the one who is deceived, then I have been deceived into believing that I should search Torah, in order to learn to keep, & do it.
If I have been deceived into believing that I have be saved by grace through faith, & as a follower of the Messiah who saved me, I should walk as He walked, then I have also been deceived into believing that I should keep the 7th day Sabbath, that I should keep & observe the feasts of Lev 23, & that I should obey dietary laws of Lev 11.
If he is the one who is deceived, then he has been deceived into believing that he doesn't have to keep Torah.
If he is the one who is deceived, then he has been deceived into believing that he should be saved by grace through faith, & as a follower of the one who saved him, he's been liberated from having to keep the sabbath, from observing the feasts of Lev 23, or be restricted by dietary laws of Lev 11.
In Gal 3:1, Paul addresses them with “O foolish Galatians”, who hath bewitched you”. Here is the whole verse :
Gal 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Messiah Yahushua hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
The Greek word translated as “foolish” is derived from G453, Anoetos, which means in this context, one who is not exercising his/her mind, or someone who is not thinking.
The Greek word translated as “bewitched” is from G940, Baskaino, which means to slander, or speak against something.
Q: What has been slandered or spoken against ?
A: YHWH’s Torah – these Galatians, of whom Paul says they have not exercised their minds, or they haven’t been thinking, have been deceived into thinking that they no longer have to keep YHWH’s Torah.
So, if someone has been deceived into believing that they do not have to keep YHWH’s Torah, are they being “foolish”, & haven’t they been bewitched ?
Can I ask you to decide, which scenario sounds more like the work that satan would do ?
1: would satan deceive people into believing that they have to obey YHWH's instructions, His Torah, or
2: would satan deceive someone into believing that they do not have to obey YHWH's Torah ?
Which one of those sounds more like something satan would do ?
Again, would satan deceive a man so that in his deceived state, he starts obeying YHWH’s Torah, or would satan deceive a man into believing that, since he's been saved by faith through grace, he doesn't have to keep YHWH’s Torah ?
I cannot find a place in the Bible where Messiah Yahushua said “depart from me ye workers who keep YHWH’s law, who obey Torah, depart from me for I knew you not” - that's not written in the Bible, is it ?
But I do find in Matt 7:21-23, where Messiah Yahushua warns us what He will say to the “lawless”, those not keeping YHWH's Torah, “depart from Me, I never knew you”.
I cannot find a place where Messiah Yahushua said, “I came to keep the law, so that you won't have to”, but I do find a place where He said :
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. (Matt 5:17).
I cannot find a place where Messiah Yahushua said, "after My death, burial, & resurrection, you'll no longer be required to keep the sabbath, or observe YHWH’s feasts, or follow the dietary laws", but I do find a place where He said “as long as heaven & earth stand, not one jot or one tittle shall pass from the law" (Matt 5:18).
So does it make more sense to think that satan would deceive a man to keep YHWH’s Torah, or does it make more sense to think that satan would deceive a man to forsake YHWH’s Torah ?
If people say, "we're saved by grace through faith, & in being saved we should obey YHWH’s Torah", & others say "we're saved by grace through faith, & in being saved, we're no longer to keep YHWH’s Torah", again, both cannot be right - one is deceived, & we should not be so “foolish”, as to refuse to consider how ludicrous it is, to even think that satan is running around deceiving people into obeying YHWH's instruction, His Torah !
What decision will you make ?