Dear Refiner's Fire...
Dear Refiner's Fire...
If people keep rejecting the Torah, but accept Y'shua will they still gain access to the world to come? Many Christians believe they will inherit the Kingdom, but will they really? If you have a stance on this, please guide me to the scriptures that support your belief.
Our Response...
Great question!
The short answer is: ONLY YHWH Himself can make that decision. Those living before Yeshua came onto the scene, were judged according to their hearts and obedience to Torah; while the Levite Priests made atonement for them via animal sacrifices. Today, many Jews believe (since there is no Temple right now) that "only prayer and supplication" is required to enter heaven. Christians, on the other hand, believe all that is required of them is to "believe in Jesus" (in large part due to the false teachings and man-made doctrines of Catholic "Church Fathers" such as Constantine, Tertullian and Ignatius).
Please read on to discover why neither side is correct!
Below are some examples on how atonement was made for YHWH's people before Yeshua came onto the scene. Note that the burden was very heavy on the Levite Priests.
Exodus 28: 36 "You are to make an ornament of pure gold and engrave on it as on a seal, 'Set apart for ADONAI.' 37 Fasten it to the turban with a blue cord, on the front of the turban, 38 over Aharon's forehead. Because Aharon bears the guilt for any errors committed by the people of Isra'el in consecrating their holy gifts, this ornament is always to be on his forehead, so that the gifts for ADONAI will be accepted by him.
Leviticus 6: 25 "Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, 'This is the law of the sin offering: in the place where the burnt offering is slain the sin offering shall be slain before the LORD; it is most holy. 26'The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it. It shall be eaten in a holy place, in the court of the tent of meeting. 27'Anyone who touches its flesh will become consecrated; and when any of its blood splashes on a garment, in a holy place you shall wash what was splashed on.
Leviticus 10: 16 Then Moshe carefully investigated what had happened to the goat of the sin offering and discovered that it had been burned up. He became angry with El'azar and Itamar, the remaining sons of Aharon, and asked, 17 "Why didn't you eat the sin offering in the area of the sanctuary, since it is especially holy? He gave it to you to take away the guilt of the community, to make atonement for them before ADONAI. (CJB)
Also, read Numbers 18 to get more of a glimpse of the weight that was placed upon the shoulders of Aaron and the other cohanim/priests.
YHWH often lamented that His people were stiff-necked, grumbling and disobedient, despite His every effort to be them to realize that HIS Instructions were all GOOD for them; that those Instructions would lead to LIFE by setting them apart from the pagans. Below is one example revealing His anger, and He asked:
Isaiah 1: 11 "What need have I of all your sacrifices?" Says the Lord. "I am sated with burnt offerings of rams, And suet of Fatlings, and blood of bulls; and I have no delight in lambs and he-goats.12 That you come to appear before Me - who asked that of you? Trample My courts 13 no more; bringing oblations is futile, incense is offensive to Me. New moon and Sabbath, proclaiming of solemnities, assemblies with iniquity, I cannot abide. 14 Your new moons and fixed seasons fill Me with loathing; They are become a burden to Me. I cannot endure them. (New Jewish Publication Society)
In other words, He simply wanted them to submit to His Divine Instructions out of "love" instead of "obligation." But, alas, many still don't understand that to this day, and which is part of the reason why they refuse to "believe in" the Christian Jesus. And actually, this is for good reason, as Yeshua (our Messiah's given Hebrew Name which means "YHWH is Salvation") as "Christ Jesus" has been skewed by Christian dogma into someone he never was ... a Torah-less "god" who expects nothing of us except to "believe in him" while expecting nothing and forgiving everything, including ongoing, deliberate sins. In reality, Yeshua was a Torah observant, tallit-wearing, Seventh Day Sabbath and Feast-keeping, kosher Jew, whose followers for a century after his death, ALL kept Torah!
Yes, at first glance it would seem that anyone who believes in Yeshua is "saved"; because of the content of the following passage:
John 14: 6 Yeshua answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
However: Those who have accepted Yeshua, in reality, should READ and STUDY the Torah (first five Books of the Bible that contain ALL of YHWH's original, Divine Instructions); along with the REST of the Bible in order to get the "big picture." (There is so much more to the concept of "GOD" than that last one-fourth of the Bible called "The New Testament!") And contrary to popular belief, there is more to it than just "believing in Jesus." God requires Faith AND Action! Unfortunately, "the church" to this day remains blind to that fact, and we at The Refiner's Fire believe this may cause "the church" to become viewed as "lukewarm" upon Yeshua's return, and be vomited from his mouth (Revelation 3:16).
1 John 2: 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in him. 6 He who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walked.
How did he walk? By Torah! Y'shua didn't make up new rules. He kept Torah and expected US to follow suit. You can only know the him through the law and the testimony! Revelation reveals this:
Revelation 12: 17 "The dragon was infuriated over the woman and went off to fight the rest of her children, those who obey God's commands and bear witness to Yeshua."
Revelation 14: 12 "This is when perseverance is needed on the part of God's people, those who observe his commands and exercise Yeshua's faithfulness."
Please note, the above scriptures don't mention the "Ten Commandments". They simply refer to "the Commands" or "the Commandments", depending on which Bible version you use....God warns us in Proverbs 4:2 - "I give you good instruction: Do not forsake my Torah."
Here's more...
"And by this we know that we love the children of Elohim, when we love Elohim and follow his commandments. For this is the love of Elohim, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not burdensome. Because, whoever is born of Elohim overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith" (1 John 5:2-4).
"If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept the commandments of my Father, and I abide in His love." (John 15:10).
"And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My Commandments" (Sh'mot/Exodus 20:6); and, "Therefore you shall love YHWH your Elohim and keep His charge and His Statutes and His Judgments and His Commandments, always." (D'varim/Deut. 11:1).
"Only take great care to obey the mitzvah and the Torah which Moshe the servant of ADONAI gave you - to love ADONAI your God, follow all his ways, observe his mitzvot, cling to him, and serve him with all your heart and being." (Joshua 22:5). He declared "...as for me and my house, we will serve YHWH." (Joshua 24:15).
And Paul said:
"Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we ESTABLISH the Law" (Romans 3:31).
The thing is, Scripture is clear that YHWH hates paganism. He is holy and commands us to be holy and set apart. How are we "set apart" if we refuse to keep the commanded Seventh Day Sabbath - which is a SIGN between YHWH and His people! - and make up our own "holy days" (Christmas, Easter) both of which are steeped in paganism?
Ezekiel 20: 11 I gave them my laws and showed them my rulings; if a person obeys them, he will have life through them. 12 I gave them my shabbats as a sign between me and them, so that they would know that I, ADONAI, am the one who makes them holy.
We pray that our explanation above will help you decide "who will end up in heaven!"