Grace Abused (Part 2)

I am sometimes amazed by the lack of scriptural knowledge of those who call themselves "Christians." That, may seem like a harsh statement, but so many, who call themselves by the name of Jesus Christ (Yeshua haMashiach), seem to have no knowledge of what sin is, nor how severely our heavenly Father will judge it. Many who identify themselves with the name of Messiah, are clueless to His word, and are either too busy to read it, too lazy, or just not interested. It's much easier to turn on the television, and watch some preacher on the tube, even though there are so few on television teaching the truth of Scripture.

 Many sit in dead churches, that neither preach the basic message of salvation, nor are they preparing their flocks, for the dangerous times that we are entering into. Their pastors may seem to have knowledge of the words of our heavenly Father on the surface, but in their hearts, they do not know the Elohim of the word, nor do they have a relationship with Him. A good number of pastors are in the pulpit, only because it is their job. They may have had a call upon their lives at one time, but they turned to the arm of the flesh to learn about Him. They may have gone to seminary, and learned how to function in the office of pastor, but many have never really gotten down on their faces before our Creator, and asked Him to teach them. Many of these pastors are blind guides, leading blind sheep into destruction. They are simply wolves in sheeps clothing.

 Many Christians are asleep at the proverbial wheel, as the world we know is rapidly coming to a close. Instead of making themselves ready for the destruction that is about to come upon the whole earth, what are most Christians doing? You would think they would be seeking Yeshua with all their heart, soul and strength. Some, who know the times and the seasons, are diligently seeking the truth about these final days, but the majority are not. Even those who do not believe in Yeshua, are conscious that something is going on in this world, and that something is about to happen, that will change this world forever. What are many that call themselves Christians doing? Some are playing with astrology, witchcraft and sorcery. Some are into vampires, zombies, Harry Potter, palm and tarot card readers, mediums, demon inspired video games, pornography, celebrating pagan holidays, like Halloween, Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, and you name it. Many are caught up in things that glorify death and the dead. 

Is that what Messiah meant for our lives to be? When you question them about this behavior, you get the standard answers "I'm saved by grace. Didn't Jesus give us a free pass to enjoy our lives just as we please? Jesus did away with the Torah (Instruction).  I go to church, and I believe in God. I've never killed anybody. I guess I'm alright." Is that what you think? Sadly, many do.

Someone has to tell you the truth from the scriptures. Someone has to blow the shofar (trumpet), and sound the warning. If I do not sound the alarm, and make it clear, your blood will be upon my hands. As a watchman on the wall, I take my commission seriously. Danger is at our gates, and the masses are asleep. Wake up!  Make yourself ready. I am not interested, in your sowing a thousand dollar seed into my ministry, as some are. I'm not interested in your tithes, offerings, or seed dollars. My interest is in our eternal souls. No price can be put upon our souls. It is not my ministry in the first place. It is given to me freely from Ruach haKodesh (the Holy Spirit), and it is my commission, and my desire, to freely give the revelation our heavenly Father has given to me through Ruach haKodesh. It is freely available, to all who will listen. My only desire, is that we may know the truth of salvation, that can only come through Yeshua haMaschiac (Jesus the Christ).

 What does our heavenly Father think about all these sins? Do we think He just looks the other way, and winks His eye? Does Grace cover all these blatant, and willful sins, or is there something very wrong with that thinking? Some may say "I am only doing these things from a curiosity standpoint. I am not really serious about it." Sin, is sin in our Creator's eyes, and un-repented willful sin, is not covered by the precious blood of Yeshua. If we think it is, we may find out the hard way, that it is not.

 The book to the  Hebrews 10:26-29 tells us this:

"For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace." (KJV)

What did the Almighty have to say to His people about such sins as sorcery, astrology, divining, witchcraft, and idol worship? He was very clear that we are not to do it.

 In Deuteronomy 18:9-13 we read the following:

"9. When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11. or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12.  Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. 13. You must be blameless before the Lord your God." 

What about astrology? Many will say that astrology in not mentioned in these passages. It is mentioned in the above passages, but the Hebrew, as is often times true, has no exact, or perfect translation into the  English language. In the Hebrew, according to the Masoretic Text, verse ten reads thus:

"There shall not be found among you, one who passes his son, or his daughter through fire, one practicing divination, a cloud reader, a fortune teller, or a spell caster."

The Hebrew word for "cloud reader" in the text is [מעונן], and signifies, one who divines auspicious times from reading the occurrences happening in the heavens, according to the sun, moon, stars, and clouds.

The commentary below comes from the Interlinear Chumash Torah, concerning verses 9-13 of the above passage.

"Now the Torah goes on to the manner in which God will communicate His will and whatever the nation must know of the future in order to fulfill its responsibilities to Him. But first, because it is human nature to want to know the future and to utilize whatever means to successfully pursue that end, the Torah forbids Jews to copy the practices used by the nations to foretell events. To God, these practices are abominable. They were not the way of life ordained for Israel."

Now, do we really believe that if these practices were abominable to our heavenly Father when Israel practiced them, they are suddenly acceptable with Him today? I would like to remind us of the full meaning of the word "abomination" as it is used in the Tanakh (Old Testament). It means; Those things, which make (if possible) our heavenly Father want to vomit. It is those things, which are most disgusting to Him. If they were that disgusting to our Creator, when His people Israel did them, do we really think they are now acceptable to Him today, because of grace? It just might be time, for the believers in Messiah Yeshua, to have a reality check. Remember, as believers in Yeshua, we are grafted into Israel. We, in Messiah, are of the commonwealth of Israel, and are Abraham's seed by faith.

Deuteronomy 4:19 has this to say of astrology:

"When you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars - all the heavenly array - do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven." 

Deuteronomy 17: 2-7 is adamant about this sin, and the punishment for such sin is given. Our heavenly Father, was serious about idol worship, and the practice of astrology, sorcery and witchcraft. All of them fall under the heading of idol worship. Although we no longer stone people to death for these sins today, they are still sin, and such sins still fall under the judgment of our Creator.

"If there is found among you, within your gates [in any city] that ADONAI your God gives you, a man or woman who does what ADONAI your God sees as wicked, transgressing his covenant by going and serving other gods and worshiping them, the sun, the moon, or anything in the sky - something I have forbidden - and it is told to you, or you hear about it; then you are to investigate the matter diligently. If it is true, if it is confirmed that such detestable things are done in Isra'el; then you are to bring the man or woman who has done this wicked thing to your city gates, and you are to stone the man or woman to death." (CJB)

For one to believe that our heavenly Father will pardon these blatant and willful sins, because we are now under a covenant of grace, I believe to be, a gross misrepresentation of the whole idea of our Creator's  plan, for which He desires us to walk.

Isaiah 47: 13&14a puts it this way:

"All the counsel you have received has only worn you out! Let your astrologers come forward, those stargazers who make predictions month by month, let them save you from what is coming upon you. Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot save themselves from the power of the flame."  

Then there is Jeremiah 8: 1&2:

"At that time, declares the LORD, the bones of the kings and the officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves, they will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped. They will not be gathered up or buried, but will be like refuse lying on the ground."

It is my hope, that by now, we are starting to get the picture that these sins in our lives are unacceptable to Elohim. It is consistently mentioned throughout all of Scripture, in both the Tanakh (Old Covenant), and the B'Rit Hadashah (Refreshed [New] Covenant). It is written that out of the mouth of two or three witnesses, a matter is established (Deut. 19:15 & Matt. 18:16). If something is mentioned two, or three times in Scripture, it is very critical for you to grasp the meaning, of what is being said, and the importance of the matter. So far, I have given you the witness of Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Paul from the Refreshed Covenant, plus the writer of the book of Hebrews. There are many more witnesses, that one may read on his own, such as, 2nd Kings 17:16-18,  Zephaniah 1:4-6, Acts 7:42, 1st Corinthians 10:20, and of course Galatians 4: 8&9.

Is it clear enough yet, what our Creator thinks about these abominations? Are we really stiff necked enough, to believe that He will pardon these sins done willfully, because of grace? Don't we see, that grace is given to us from above, that we would not practice these abominations? Grace is given to us, that we might turn our backs on these sins, and not be condemned in them. Grace is given to us to resist evil. It is not given, that we may have a free pass to indulge ourselves in sin.

The Apostle Paul had this to say about sin and grace in Romans 6:1-4:

" What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that Grace may abound?  May it never be! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who were immersed into Messiah Yeshua were immersed into His death? Therefore we were buried together with Him through immersion into death - in order that just as Messiah was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life." (CJB)

It is my prayer that many people would examine their lives to see if you are really in the faith. We, as believers in Yeshua, are to repent of sin. That means turning our backs to it. Turning away from it, and looking to Yeshua our savior. Are we going to be perfect in our walk with Him? Of course not, but by walking with Him, and seeking His ways, we will all learn the true meaning of Grace. 

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.

Shalom Ahlaychem,

Barry W Gaugler