Michael, good name. I am also Michael.
I’d like you to consider something. I was a Christian missionary before I became a real Disciple of Jesus.
There is much I could say but I haven’t the time and likely you won’t care.
I taught as you do. But as you know when reading the 3 Gospels you notice something is off.
We believe scripture ends at the end of the 3rd Gospel. I don’t expect you to accept this, and you will likely not entertain the idea. Religious people in general rarely move more than a step from where they started. And they usually accept the first religion they look into, or the most popular in their area, or their parents. I call them Proximity Christians.
Anyway,
Somethings to think about.
Jesus says we only have one teacher and one father. Matthew 23.8-10 NKJV.
Christians learn more from Paul that the True Jesus in the 3 Gospels. You wont find Jesus mentioning grace. You will repeatedly see people being tossed into hell for reason that contradict the Christian teaching in the 21st century. [Christians change often]. People are thrown into hell for calling a brother MOROS “fool” [literally MORON]. For ‘lawlessness’ [living apart from the law], for not doing good works Matthew 25 ALL, and etc.
You could count how often they quote paul and the false Jesus in John. And compare it to the True Jesus.
In John you have contradictions compared to the true Gospels.
- Different day of death
- Different idea of who Jesus is
- Different length of ministry
https://theelect.org/is-the-gospel-of-john-from-god/
As for the law. As you know Jesus said every jot and tittle of the law stands until heaven and earth passes away. It hasn’t. Im sure your teachers told you to focus on the word ‘fulfil’ and ignore the rest. Christian teachers do that when Paul and True Jesus teaching are different. Fulfil = “to fill to the top”. Jesus said that AND THEN ADDED LAW AND CORRECTED LAWS. The Jews were adding Talmudic ‘oral law’ to the True Torah. Jesus challenges them on their “traditions”. Instead of focusing on ‘fulfil’, read the whole text. What does “I have no come to destroy the law” mean? It means to make the law less than it was. To make it less important. This passage cannot be any cleared and without the added texts John – Revelation, you will not find this idea that the law is now done with.
Unfortunately as believers we trust our teachers. Christians are nice people and we trust what they say when we are young. They did the same thing. We all 1. Accept doctrines without reason. 2. Join the community and make friends and marry. 3. Add REASON to the doctrines that we accepted without reason. 4. Whatever doesn’t make sense we “put it on the shelf”.
I did the same thing.
But my loyalty was to Jesus. And when True Jesus’ teaching were being ignored or were contradicted by 21st century Christian leaders I chose Jesus.
Its not an easy thing to do because depending on how long you have been part of ‘the church’, will depend if you will allow yourself to think on your own, allow yourself to agree with Jesus and God regardless of what Paul says.
Its an amazing thing from Genesis to the 3 Gospels the law is a wonderful thing. Whoever wrote acts and the added texts, were determined to get followers of Jesus to stop keeping the law. Have you not thought it absurd that in acts the Disciples are said to have destroyed the law so much that only 3 still stand. Don’t eat food offered to idols is one, and one which Paul later says it doesn’t matter if you keep it. “I caught you with guile”. – Paul. “My lie”. – Paul
So what you have now is a religion of people who do nothing at all but meet and sing and repeat the lies they were taught.
If you cannot find a teaching coming from Genesis to the 3 Gospels, then it not of God. “Grace” is not found. “Saved by Grace” is not found. Sure…people can say, “God puts up with us and its only by his mercy that we are here”. This may or may not be true, the point it you must be able to find God or Jesus saying it VERBATIM. Word for Word. Try it. It will change you.
If you only focus on the 3 Gospels for a year, it will change you. If you do that for a year, and then read the texts after, it will be apparent something is off.
I hope you can consider this. Likely your Christian teachers put a trap in your mind. And that is Paul saying whoever doesn’t agree with him, “let him be accursed”. Or the end of Revelation that adds another threat.
Paul replaced Jesus as the intellectuals took over the mainstream church in the 2nd century. And people like a nice easy religion, when they can gain heaven by just making a mental decisions and never doing much else. Obviously there are many Christians who have done many good works. And I hope the “lord lord” text doesn’t apply to them. Because in that text in the 1st Gospel chapter 7, Jesus says, “depart from me you who practice law-less-ness”.
You are teaching people not to practice the law. Jesus spoke directly about people who do this. What did he say in the 1st Gospel chapter 5?
I leave it to you to look that up.
Peace
