Read and see if you can prove this wrong!
A Walk Through Acts
(Could the Torah possibly be for Christians???)
One of the things that has always amazed me is how much the first century church was able to accomplish with what little it had. I had to admit that the modern day church doesn't come close to the consistency that the early church had in regards to working the works of God. I kept having a gnawing feeling that we were missing something very big. Finally because of the frustration I was feeling in regards to my own walk with the Lord I got brutally honest with God and told Him that I didn't care what it was but I HAD to know the truth about what was missing.
What you are about to read is a very small portion of what I've learned since I prayed that prayer three years ago. I would basically call it an introduction or a lot of food for thought but before I continue I would like to ask you a favor. Please, please ask God to give you eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to receive what you are about to read if it's from Him.
Ok, so let's get going on what I hope will be the start of something wonderful:-)
A very basic question...
Now before we actually start that walk through the book of Acts I would like to lay two pieces of foundation first. It would seem to me that if what we've been taught about Jesus's mission here on earth is true then we should be able to find that information in the Old Testament prophecies. The strange thing is that one of the most important parts of His mission that we've been taught He did is NOWHERE in those prophecies. It's the part where He was supposed to have done away with His Father's Torah/law/instructions. And it gets even stranger. Not only isn't there a single prophecy that says He will do away with His Father's Torah, but in fact there are two prophecies that say just the opposite.
Psalms 40: 7-8
Then I said, "Behold I come, in the scroll of the book it is written of Me . I delight to do your will O My God, and your law is written within My heart.
Psalms 78:1-3
Give ear O My people to My law. Incline your ears to the words of My mouth. I will open My mouth in a parable, I will utter dark sayings of old. Which we have heard known and our fathers have told us.
Even though many of the Rabbis of Jesus's day wanted nothing more than to trip Him up they ALL knew something we don't....that part of the Messiah's mission was to EXPLAIN His Father's Torah/law/instructions....not do away with it.
Did Jesus really say that?
The second piece of foundation I would like to lay is some of the things Jesus himself said about His Father's Torah/law/instructions.
Matthew 5:17-19
Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but fulfill. For assuredly I say to you till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven but whoever does and teaches them he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Pretty heavy stuff considering Jesus just put three back to back warnings about His Father's law. Yet we're taught that He did just exactly what He said He didn't do...."destroy the Law or the Prophets" because if putting them aside and not obeying them isn't destroying them I don't know what is. On top of that just in case we didn't understand the first warning He says that heaven and earth will have to be gone before His Father's Torah goes away. And finally He decides to give us a little incentive by saying that we'll be REWARDED WHEN WE GET TO HEAVEN by doing and teaching God's Torah.
Matthew 23:23
Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done without leaving the others undone.
This passage is a perfect example of the Messiah explaining His Father's Torah where it was being mishandled. He tells them that yes they should be tithing those herbs as the law instructs but that they were neglecting much more important matters that the law also gives instructions about. He was fine tuning their understanding of Torah not doing away with it.
This next passage is tucked away in a lengthy discussion of "the abomination of desolation" in the End Times but it's very interesting.
Matthew 24:20
And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.
Since we're taught that God's Torah has been done away with because of Jesus's death then God's original Sabbath and His Feasts were done away with also. Well if that's correct then why would it matter if this event happens on the Sabbath???
I have one more passage in John that I would like to share before we begin our walk through the book of Acts.
John 10:35
If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came and the Scripture cannot be broken....
In this section of Scripture Jesus is commenting on Psalms 82:6 but what I want to draw your attention to is two things. First, which Scriptures is He talking about since what we call the New Testament hadn't been written yet....and secondly if our Messiah is telling us that Scripture can't be broken then isn't it breaking Scripture to say His Father Torah has been done away with?
I hope that you're starting to see that maybe, just maybe all is not as we were taught it was. That there are some things in Scripture that we missed....well guess what.....we did and we're just getting started.
Ok, let’s take a walk...
Now that we've heard some things directly from Jesus that we've not heard before I think it's time to give Paul a chance to clear up some misunderstandings about what we think he said. And just to be fair we'll let Stephen, Peter say a few words also.
To start we need to take a look at a story that we've heard many times but have missed a few things.
Acts 6:11-14
Then they secretly induced men to say, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God." And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council. They also set up false witnesses who said, "This man does not cease to speak blasphamous words against this holy place and the law for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us."
Let's take a closer look at exactly what is going on. First of all Stephen is being falsely accused of something. What I want you to pay attention to is WHAT he's being falsely accused of. He's being accused of speaking against Moses, God and the "customs of Moses". Just so you understand the "customs of Moses" is another way of saying he was speaking against Moses/Torah. So I ask you, if that is the lie then what is the truth? And if what we've been taught about the Torah is true then why wasn't Stephen preaching that since Jesus has come and died that we don't have to live by God's Torah anymore???
Next I'm going to give Peter a chance to recount a protest he made to God about something he had been doing all his life.
Acts 10:14
But Peter said, "Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean."
This passage is from the vision Peter had of the sheet with the unclean animals coming down from heaven. Now I know that when many preachers talk about this passage they focus in on what they THINK God is saying about "food" which He isn't, and miss the fact that Peter himself explained to the other disciples that God was trying to clarify some things to him about ministering to the Gentiles. But what's really relevant to our discussion is the fact that Peter reminds God that he has NEVER eaten anything unclean. Let's think about this for a minute. Again this event takes place sometime AFTER Jesus has gone back to heaven. So why is Peter still eating only the foods that God instructs us to eat in His Torah? Doesn't Peter know that he's no longer under bondage to those rules? By the way whenever food is talked about in Scripture it's the food listed in the Torah because anything else isn't even considered food.
Will the real Paul please stand up...
Now like you I've heard all my adult life that Paul taught against Torah or the law as it's also called. But I'd like to share some things from Paul's own mouth that show something very different.
Acts 18:19-21
And he came to Ephesus and left them there but he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to stay a longer time with them he did not consent but took leave of them saying, "I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem but I will return again to you God willing." And he sailed from Ephesus.
Now just like everything else in Acts this event happened a considerable time after Jesus's Resurrection so any further observance of Torah should have stopped. So why does Paul pass up a wonderful opportunity to teach more about his Messiah but instead tells the people he MUST leave to attend one of the feasts that God has commanded in Torah??? (also read Acts 20:16 where Paul does it again) I'd like to have you consider one more thing. If you notice in the passage the Jews Paul was preaching to asked him to stay, do you really think that would have happened if he was preaching anything against Torah?
Acts 21:20-24
And when they heard it they glorified the Lord . And they said to him(Paul), "You see brother how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed and they are all zealous for the law but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. What then? The assembly must certainly meet for they will hear that you have come. Therefore do what we tell you. We have four men who have taken a vow(the Nazarite vow Num. 6:1-27). Take them and be purified with them and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law.
When someone tells us about a good deal and backs it up with their own money we tend to put more weight in what they've told us, that's just human nature. Well human nature hasn't changed much in 2000 years and the believers gathered in this passage where no different. They again had a situation similar to what happened to Stephen where Paul was being falsely accused of preaching against the law/Torah.
What's a little different and very interesting is that this group of upset people were BELIEVERS and "zealous for the Law" and the church elders in Jerusalem told Paul to join in with four men who had taken the Nazarite vow and pay for the sacrifices to prove he walked orderly and kept the law.
Now let me get this straight, Jesus's death has done away with obeying His Father's Torah and somehow Paul doesn't know this and is about to dish out big bucks for sacrifices for himself and four other men to prove that he keeps the law??? What's wrong with this picture?
I'm glad you asked so I'm going to let Paul keep talking. But because this passage ends with a comment in verse 25 which refers to an event in Acts 15 we need to take a look at that.
Acts 15:18-21
Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood. For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.
This passage is of course the decision that the Jerusalem Council made in regards to some issues in handling the new Gentile believers. The problem is how these verses have been misunderstood and the last sentence proves it.
First what most of us where never taught was that the four things mentioned in this passage where not anything new for the Jews. God had always had a BEGINNING foundation for people who wanted to become part of Israel and the four things mentioned in this passage was part of that foundation. You had to lay down some basic ground rules for fellowship in order for others to START learning what they needed. The proof of this is verse 21. If just those four were all that was needed then who cares that Moses/Torah is taught every Sabbath? God cares that's who because you have to give people time to learn the rest and for centuries the whole Torah was taught during Sabbath each year and it's the same today. Now let's move on to some more comments from Paul.
Acts 22-12
"Then a certain Ananias a devout man according to the law having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there"
In this verse Paul is giving his testimony and he tells about the man whom God sent to him to heal his eyes after his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. Again I ask you why doesn't Ananias know he doesn't have to obey the law? Maybe because he knew something we don't. Let's keep going.
Acts 23:1
Then Paul looking earnestly at the council said, "Men and brethren I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.
Paul is talking to the Sanhedrin here and I don't think they would have cared one bit about how he lived unless the "good conscience" he's talking about is 'walking orderly' according to Torah. Are you starting to see a pattern here. If not I'm going to show you more.
Acts 24:14
But this I confess to you that according to the Way which they call a sect I worship the God of my fathers believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets.
Here Paul is talking before Felix the governor and I don't think he can make it much plainer that his belief in "the Way" has not changed his observance of Torah. But I have two more passages to share.
Acts 25:7-8
When he had come the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood about and laid many serious complaints against Paul which they could not prove while he answered for himself. "Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I offended in anything at all.
Acts 28:17
and it came to pass after three days that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. So when they had come together he said to them, "Men and brethren though I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our father's yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hand of the Romans.
I guess the saying that if first you don't succeed try, try again is older than I thought because here we go again with the false accusations that Paul was teaching against the Law. The sad and really tragic thing is those accusations were turned into a doctrine that has been taught as truth for 2000 years! As you think about that let me give you one last passage.
Acts 28: 22-23
But we desire to hear from you what you think for concerning this sect we know that it is spoken against everywhere" So when they had appointed him (Paul) a day, many came to him at his lodging to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets from morning till evening.
Isn't it interesting that Paul taught the people about Jesus from the "Law of Moses and the Prophets" but then again that's all he could have taught them from because all he had was the Tanach which is what we call the Old Testament which contained the Torah/Law, the Prophets and the Writings. What we call the New Testament hadn't been written yet. Think about it...every single "church" that Paul and any of the disciples started were based on the Old Testament.
Remember the story about the Bereans who searched the Scripture every day to make sure that what Paul taught was correct and were commended for it? There is no way that Paul could have taught them that to be a believer in Jesus that the Torah was no longer valid because they would have rejected that immediately.
I have to tell you that the passages included in this paper are only scratching the surface. It's my prayer that they have at least caused you to start your own research while asking God to show you "if these things be true".
Yours in Messiah,

Are you like me? have gone to a church, and set there hearing the word preached, but still had an unanswered question! ask the preacher, and still was unable to get the answer I was looking for. SO I went in th bible my self, read it over and over, and each time I was shown more and more, til one day my eyes open and my ears also. I was able tosee what the church has missed all these years, and the bible became like an opne book that I could understand very easy, I read in the old testement where GOD said he was going to blind the two house's of Isiarl, So I went to se just who was the two house's were, to find that I am in one of the house's and the Jew's were the other. O'the church say they were in that group but they are not. I can show you where the church has lost there way and have been teaching wrong for a very long time

Is Paul greater than his God?
For almost 2000 years the church has held up the apostle Paul's teachings as the epitome of theology and doctrine. Sometimes even when it contradicted what his Lord taught especially as it relates to His Father's law. It seems to me that before we can use Paul as an example for anything we better know what his Teacher taught because last I heard he couldn't add to or take away from that source.
For the rest of this paper we're going to take look at what Jesus said about Himself and His relationship with His Father. Lets see if that relationship left any room for Him to create a new religion. Because if Jesus couldn't then we better readjust our thinking about Paul.

John 1:14-And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth
So Who's word did Jesus become? His own or His Father's? If you believe church doctrine Jesus taught something different than His Father's word, especially in regards to His Father's law. Hmmmm there's something not quite right about that.
John 5:19-Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.
Jesus says He does nothing of Himself. As we continue this is not the only time or only way He makes this statement.
John 7:16-Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.
Jesus's doctrine is not His but His Father's. Not much wiggle room there. Let me ask a question. If Jesus's doctrine is the same as His Father's then would someone please tell me where in scripture the Father say He's going to change His mind about the place that His law has in the scheme of things for His children. Weren't we, the wild olive branches, grafted into the cultivated tree? In fact doesn't the Father say of Himself "I change not"?
John 8:28-Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.
Again Jesus says He does nothing of himself and only says what His Father tells Him to. I don't see any big change in the Father's mind here that's for sure.

John 10:30-I and My Father are one.
John 10:37-38...If I do not do the works of My Father do not believe Me, but if I do, though you do not believe Me believe the works that you may may know and believe that the Father is in Me and I in Him.
Both of these say pretty much the same thing and the point in verse 30 is an especially important one. Think about this a minute...since Jesus and the Father are one then Jesus was there, agreed with and participated in the creation of the laws that brought order and blessing to His children's lives. The Father says more than once that His laws will never pass away?
John 12:49-For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.
That means the Father told Jesus to say what He did in Matt. 5:17-19 about the Law not passing away. In fact there is no where that Jesus says anything about his mission having anything to so with the ending of his Father's law for His children.
John 14:9-11... Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves
The church doesn't put much authority in the Old Testament in regards to doctrinal issues so if Jesus and the Father are one and Jesus isn't speaking in His own authority, then where does the Father even hint that His son's mission includes the ending of His law. (which by the way is for blessing and never was set up for salvation)
John 14:15-If you love Me keep My commandments.
By now I sure hope you don't think that this means Jesus has a different set of rules than His Father because if you do then you might want to check out the portion of scripture that the above quote comes from where God the Father is speaking...Exodus 20:6-but showing mercy to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
John 14:24-He who does not love Me does not keep My words and the word which you have is not mine but the Father's who sent Me.
Sounds alot like Jesus is emphasizing what He said earlier in verse 15. Kind of makes you wonder why He has to keep repeating Himself.
John 15:10-If you keep My commandments you will abide in My love just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love.
Sounds kind of familiar doesn't it. You think that maybe the concept of “in the mouth of two or more a thing is established” might just apply here.
John 17:17-Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
Check out these very interesting passages in the Old Testament.
Psalm 119:142-Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Your law is truth.
119:151-And all your commandments are truth.
119:160-The entirety of your word is truth.
You might also want to look at 119:1, 9-11, 17-18, 97, 151...and this is just in one chapter of one book of the Old Testament because if you read you will find that NEVER is God's law considered bad in any way or hard. How can we say that the patriarchs and the prophets and all the great men of scripture be so great and yet supposedly they were wrong about God's law?
We have to remember that when Jesus and his disciples which includes Paul talked about the word the only word they were taking about is what we call the Old Testament. In a nutshell when Paul talked about the traditions of men or the ordinances of men he was talking about the oral law handed down by the Rabbi's that tried to explain the law and build fences around it so that the people didn't sin. Unfortunately it just laid a heavy burden on them that was NEVER intended by God and the simplicity of His word. The church has taken a preconceived idea about Paul and built it's doctrine around it instead of really looking at what Jesus said which Paul couldn't add to or take away from and looking at Paul's actions.