Friendly Reminder (2)
Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James 4:4 (almost NASB)
Friend of the world – Who is a philos tou kosmou (friend of the world)? This is a vitally important question, perhaps equal to the scribe’s inquiry, “Who is my neighbor?” If we have the wrong answer to this question, we might fall prey to the same seduction Havvah experienced.
Here’s the simple answer: a friend of the world is an enemy of God. Obvious, but perhaps not too helpful, until we realize that God has given us quite an exhaustive list of the thoughts and behaviors of those who wish to befriend the world. That list is found in the 613 Torah commandments. A friend of the world disregards God’s instructions for living, replacing His instructions with guidance from the kosmos. Since there can only be one true God, replacing His instructions with different directions about life can only mean that the replacements come from a false god. To be a friend of the world is to be idolatrous. To be a friend of the world is to serve a god other than YHWH. It doesn’t require debauchery, treachery or megalomania. It only requires asserting that God’s instructions don’t matter.
Was that a body blow? Did that remark suddenly cause you to shudder? If it is true that Torah disobedience puts you in the position of an idolater, are you still able to claim friendship with the Most High God? Do you have a greater appreciation for the dilemma facing Havvah? She wanted to do all that she was expected to do. She wanted to be the best ‘ezer kenegdo she could possibly be. Don’t you want something similar? Don’t you want to be all you can be, all God intended you to be? But are you willing to manifest that desire within the boundaries God sets? Havvah doesn’t sin because she is selfish or power-hungry or rebellious. She sins because she desires to improve God’s plan. The desire is genuine and noble. The means are sinful. She befriends what the world has to offer in order to do what God wants. I wonder how many of us do the same.
Of course, this truth entails two imperatives. The first is that I must know the 613. Not all apply to me, of course, but to ignore or disregard them is an act of rebellion, according to the implication in James. So I must look and see which apply to me.
The second is that I am called to love my enemies. Now I realize that this commandment (one of the 613) extends to those who willfully or ignorantly disregard the 613. They are my enemies because they are God’s enemies because they serve another master. And I must love them with such a compelling love that they return to the 613, the fellowship of His community and the experience of His presence. Love of enemies doesn’t mean simply turning the other cheek to those who carry a gun. It can also mean caring for those who carry an altered Book.
Topical Index: enemy, friend, world, James 4:4, commandments, Havvah
Oh Skip, so true.
How awesome yet frightening to think I had been walking with the Lord many years, without even knowing I was using an altered Book! So skillfully done: seeming slight changes here and there, the deceitful work of an Enemy with subversive intent! The alterations were not and still is not readily evident…
But thanks be to the Holy One! Israel’s return as a people on the stage of world history initiated a time when much that had been parading as truth was set to be exposed and overturned… Sounds and feels a little like John’s ministry as he prepared his people for Messiah…! Or is this time akin to how Simeon saw the Messiah role – set for the rise and fall of many in ‘the grafted-in’ Israel…
What a work of the Spirit lies before us – converting the converted; saving the saved!!
I am still stumbling upon the Gentile Christian/Greek/ Religious /Pagan bent within me… Besides, I/we have all around me/us an innumerable company using an altered Book and/or replaced instructions! This will be a fierce battle – the Strongman is even drawing out the sword… Little wonder we are encouraged – he that endures to the end will be saved; he that overcomes will sit with Me…
Thanks Skip
This will be a fierce battle – the Strongman is even drawing out the sword…
This weeks portion in Micah (5:6 – 6:8) really spoke to me in this regards. While God pulls down the pillars that hold up our roof, and remove sorceries from us, He says to speak to the mountains and the hills. The battle IS on, the lines have been drawn and the only question remaining is who and what will remain after the dust settles. I’m bettin’ it’s gonna be YHWH and His Word!! 🙂
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:
And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find [it].
It would seem that it will get worse before it gets better, but I wonder if the passage in Micah speaks of the Elijah to come.
Wow Skip–you really consider fellow believers who do not accept your “Torah-obedience” based interpretation of scripture as “enemies” of yours and of God?
Notwithstanding, I still consider you a friend of mine (and a friend of God http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtPOASI9uiA ).
HI Paul,
Nice to hear from you. I am glad you are still reading. Just a following remark. First, when I read the prophets, any of them, I see them calling Israel back to the covenant, to the Torah. The prophets claim that Israel has become idolatrous because it has forsaken its God. That claim is based on a review of the behaviors of Israel compared to the requirements of Torah. If the prophets consider abandoning Torah a symptom of idolatry, doesn’t that make the case that those who reject, ignore or oppose God’s instructions are idolatrous? It sure seems so to me.
Secondly, Yeshua accuses Israel of the same misdirection, not because they did not meticulously follow the external behaviors but because there was a propensity to substitute external behavior for the requirement of an inner devotion. But Yeshua never suggests that inner devotion alone is sufficient. He never dismisses the external obedience to Torah on the basis that all we need is a “heart” attitude. In fact, both Yeshua and Paul make it abundantly clear that they are Torah-observant and they expect other to be so as well, with the appropriate inner attitudes. Too many contemporary scholars are now aligned with this understanding of the New Testament accounts to dismiss it as my Torah-observant interpretation. What is really happening is that scholars from all over the globe are realizing that the Bible never did offer a separation of Christianity from its Jewish context. That separation came about hundreds of years after the age of the New Testament writers, so if we want to understand what happened in the first century, we have to stop reading the documents as if they were written in the fourth century. There are a lot of world-recognized scholars today who are going in this direction.
Finally, when Israel was idolatrous, God did not cease to love them. He did not stop caring for them. He did not stop exhorting them, guiding them or nurturing them. But He certainly chastised them in order to bring them back to the path. It would have been very difficult to call Israel a “friend of God” in the days of the prophets. Israel was an enemy, by their own actions, but an enemy embraced by God’s love. That is pretty much my view of the current standard Christian theological stance. The idea that God replaced Israel and that God’s instructions for living no longer apply is idolatrous. I don’t believe, and I am not alone, that this can be sustained from Scripture, even though the history of the church certainly embraces this position. But these are theological points. By far the vast majority of people who have believed in Jesus and who currently believe in Jesus have no real idea of the theology behind their beliefs. They are followers. They believe more or less what the pastor says, and in my experience, most pastors have never seriously studied those beliefs, their genesis and development, either. These people do not think of themselves as enemies of God. How could they? They are just doing what they have been told. They love the Lord with what they know. And I am quite sure that God accepts that love as true devotion to Him because that’s what it is – hearts that truly want to love and serve God. It’s important to point out that God’s grace is never contingent upon Torah observance, for Israel or for us. Torah observance is the method by which I enter into the FULL life God desires for me. It has nothing to do with God loving me.
My real argument is with the leaders of the vast majority. If they have not investigated, not studied, not examined the evidence, especially today when so much is available, if they are simply marching in tune with the doctrinal positions of the Church formulated 500 years ago, then I want to shake up the ground a bit. I want to suggest that there are serious concerns about this continuing rejection of the unity of God’s word. Most of my students are pastors. Most have never thought outside their doctrinal box. Now is the time to do so. I don’t mean that they don’t love the Lord with all that they know. I mean that there are fractures in that knowledge, fractures which lead in a direction opposed to God’s purposes. Unless someone points them out and says, “Hey, we need to think about this,” they will continue on the path that eventually leads away from God, even if they don’t realize it at the moment.
And, by the way, we are GREAT FRIENDS! Thanks.
Skip I’m so glad you wrote this comment. My husband and myself struggle to express this exact sentiment to those we encounter. We don’t believe that YHVH’s grace toward us is dependent on our obedience nor our understanding. He loved me when I was 7 and wanted a bible so I could begin to understand. But now that I do understand I’m responsible to obey. It’s the evidence of my circumcised heart. Understanding brings one of two possible results. Obedience to what I’ve been taught or rebellion against it. Wisdom says obey!
Then there is the wretched misunderstanding which is what we experience today among God’s people. The result is chaos. Misunderstanding doesn’t mean we aren’t loved. It means we aren’t able to function in our prime directive. Be fruitful, fill the earth, subdue, and have dominion. Torah obedience subdues chaos. That’s what the millennium is all about.
Personally I can hardly wait!
Yeah, but in the meanwhile, it’s back to the practice field.
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you have learned it
and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:14-16
Paul is talking to young Timothy here and calling to his rememberance those who taught him in the sacred writings (the Tanakh) from childhood. Unfortunately many within the body of Messiah have not been acquainted with the Tanak, much less from childhood. It was these very sacred writings that made this young man wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
My own years of experience within the body of Messiah is that the Tanakh is minimalized and not really taught (mostly in pictures and types) to young and old believers alike. The very text that would make one wise unto salvation is not really engaged in, or given serious attention by the leaders within the body of Messiah. There is exceptions within the body of Messiah and I am thankful for that.
This Scripture is breathed out and is profitiable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the messenger of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
The very Scriptures that would teach, reprove, correct, train, and equip us is replaced with………. friendship with the world and of course, an enemy of God.
In today’s congregation of Messiah, “What would the Apostle James have to say to the leaders?”
Thanks, Brian. My experience with pastor-students is the same. These men and women love the Lord, no doubt, but they have been taught a New Testament only faith and so they are missing most of what the Bible has to say. In our evangelical world, with its enormous emphasis of “getting saved,” we have left behind any distinctiveness in living that offers attraction to the faith. We offer life insurance rather than a Boy Scout’s manual of survival in the world.
Skip- This is a good explanation – it goes to the heart of the matter in relation to those who are torah observant and those who adamantly stick to the words of the ‘altered book’. and how we should relate. One of the ways I have found it useful to broach the subject of Torah with Christian friends is by giving them the book called ‘Restoration’ – Restoring the Torah to the Disciples of Jesus by Thomas Lancaster It is his own story and covers all the questions that people have about whether Torah is still valid etc. Have you read it?
I have found these two bolgs -yesterdays and today’s very good – yes how we need to monitor our thoughts! ‘…taking captive every thought…’! Thanks
Christine
I don’t know that book. thanks for mentioning it.
“Torah observance is the method by which I enter into the FULL life God desires for me. It has nothing to do with God loving me.”
Amen, Skip.
Torah observance DOES have to do with us loving HIM. As long as I can remember, most everything I heard while I was in the denominational system for 38 years was about His love for ME, ME, ME, and never about my love for Him. (I hate to say it, but it reminds me of an old George Harrison song from the 70s, “I, Me, Mine”.) I’m not saying it isn’t important to realize how much YHWH loves us, but it IS important to realize that it is incumbent upon us, if we truly love Him, to do as He has instructed us.
I’ve heard many “Sunday morning” pastors say that the Old Testament is (only) important because it shows us how NOT to live, how NOT to make the “same mistakes Israel made” when they offended and angered YHWH time and time again. If that’s the case, then what did they do
(and not do) that landed them in such a mess? Essentially, was it not their disregard for YHWH’s instructions (Torah)? Was it not the mixing of His ways with the ways of the world/heathen/nations/Gentiles that ended in YHWH divorcing them/us?
We need to stop seeing this relationship as one-sided, after all, who among us would enjoy being with a spouse who SAID they loved us, but never did anything to show it? By the same token, if we say we love Him, then we need to do as He instructs. What did Yeshua say in John 14:15?
“If you love me, you will obey my commandments.”
Am I “massaging” the text to make it say something it does not? Am I “twisting scripture” here to try and make “my” theology work? Listen, my life was MUCH easier and filled with less heartache before when I “went to church” and believed the lie that “the Old Testament [was] for the Jews”, and that the “Law was done away with”. When we think about apostasy, what’s more likely – that a bunch of people are going to give up what is an easier, less resistant walk (i.e., NOT having to keep YHWH’s instructions), along with the majority of Christendom doing it, or leaving behind relative ease and comfort for following YWHW in “the Way” which He has instructed us to walk? (Forget the world for a second – this biblical path has definitely not made many friends for me with those in “the” church.)
“But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: ‘We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Yeshua whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given TO THOSE WHO OBEY HIM.'” (Acts 5:29-32, emphasis mine.)
We see here, by the way, that God gives the Spirit to those who obey Him. To Paul M. (above), I ask, what is it that they obeyed? What is the only written documents/scrolls to which the believers of that time had access? And was this not after Yeshua’s resurrection that we’re told to obey God?
Being an enemy of God is encapsulated by not doing as He instructs us to do. When He spoke through Jeremiah, He said as much:
“Thus says YHWH: ‘Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls…” (6:16)
But all too often we (who have returned to “the Way”, we who are trying to walk in the same faith that those in the first century walked in) hear from those such as our friend Paul M. (who are brought under conviction by our desire to be obedient, just as I was three years ago), and they say this is “our interpretation”. But essentially what they’re saying is the same thing a rebellious people said to Jeremiah in the remainder of the aforementioned verse:
“…But they said, ‘WE WILL NOT WALK IN IT.'” (6:16, emphasis mine)
To them, God’s Torah is not a delight:
“…Indeed their ear is uncircumcised, And they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of YHWH is a reproach to them; they have no delight in it.” (Jeremiah 6:10)
Is openly proclaiming, “We don’t have to….”, being a friend of the world or an enemy of God?
I disagree vehemently with those who, though they have hearts of obedience to God and His Torah, say, “Well, we don’t HAVE to keep God’s commandments…” Does this view line up with what the scriptures teach? No:
“But if you will not hearken to me, and will not do all these commandments, and if you shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhors my judgments, so that you will not do all my commandments, BUT THAT YOU BREAK MY COVENANT:” (Leviticus 26:14-15, emphasis mine). Then He proceeds to tell them all the terrible things He will do to them/us. Pay close attention to the last six words – when we do not DO as He instructs, we BREAK the covenant. Please, let that sink in.
“But the mercy of YHWH is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children; to such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them. (Psalm 103:17-18)
And what about those who believe they will be a nation of kings and priests, but whose interpretation is that they do not need to keep/do the Torah?
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you shall be no priest to me, seeing you have forgotten the Torah of your God, I will also forget your children.” (Hosea 4:6)
Be a friend to God. Love Him with all your heart, soul, and might:
Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which YHWH your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you go to possess it: That you might fear YHWH thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, you, and your son, and your son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that your days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it, that it may be well with you, and that you may increase mightily, as YHWH God of your fathers has promised you, in the land that flows with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: YHWH our God is one YHWH, and you shall love YHWH your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart. And you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.” (Deuteronomy 6:1-7)
“And hereby we do know that we know him, IF we keep his commandments. He that says, ‘I know him,’ and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” (1 John 2:3-4, emphasis mine)
“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments – and his commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3)
No, in fact, keeping them is liberty/freedom, for they ARE freedom (from the world’s way of doing things):
“But whoever looks into the perfect Torah of liberty, and continues in it, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” (James 1:25)
“…be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” (James 1:22)
Be doers of the word, and in so doing, friends and lovers of God instead of companions of the world and enemies of God.
Shalom.
WOW! I am glad this touched you in a way to produce such a powerful reply. thanks. I am also absolutely convinced that were it not for God loving me in spite of my ignorance and misguided thinking over many years, I would not be where I am now. He is enormously patient with all but His desire and direction are clear. As Moshe Kapinski said, “The Torah commandments are 613 opportunities to show our love for God.”
Amen Hamilton! The Word of God certainly does pierce to the soul and spirit revealing the heart.
“The elect receive grace, not to allow them to remain idle . . . but to enable them to work well.” Prosper of Aquitane
Skip, Strong words. My initial thought was that these are prophetic words, but in my spirit I knew that was not strong enough. These are words of a prophet. I consider it a great blessing from Yah to once again hear the thunder peal and the lion roar in the land. If I, or most of us, were to speak the same words they would fall on deaf ears, but because you have standing, both in the academic and Christian communities, these words are imbued with power and authority; thereby ennobling the speaker to the ranks of a modern day Yirmeyahu or Yeshayahu. (Jeremiah & Isaiah) So may Yah bless you and keep your message strong. Be faithful to speak THE Word He gives to you no matter the cost of standing, rank or face. Thank you. I stand proudly by your side
Dear Michael,
Thank you for that vote of confidence. I can assure you that there are many in my own circles who would raise an eyebrow, or perhaps a bit more, over the implications in this TW. And as far as the comparison with those two prophets chosen of God, I can only say that if there is any parallel it must be with the resistance and reluctance of Yirmeyahu. I know with absolute certainty that I am not worthy. My own words are often most convicting. Perhaps that’s why years ago I wrote, “The Importance of Being a Hypocrite.” Anyway, we go forward together. No one wins this race by showing up first.
I trust that you will correct me as often as I am mistaken.
Michael,
You so eloquently voiced the words I’ve felt and believe for years.
Thank you
Thanks to all for their thoughtful responses. As it turns out, my wife and I had tickets to see NT Wright speak in Manhattan at Socrates in the City on Monday. Wright is one of the world’s leading New Testament scholars, and he was speaking on his book “Scripture and the Authority of God: How to Read the Bible Today”. I asked him his view on Torah-observance. For those interested, here is a link to his talk, including his response to the question. The link will only work for the 1st 100 responders.
Blessings.
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What a well educated man, with interesting ideas. Its kind of scary.
As a uneducated person I would like to ask him why he teaches that Yeshua is/was the rebellious Son? The Father sent Him to establish His Kingdom on earth but then He makes up His own new( not renewed) rules?
And in NT Wright’s view, if John 17 and 18 or 19 are the most important, centre of the gospels for this is where the Kingship is established and ALL authority of the Father was given to Yeshua, Bishop Wright must surely also have read the previous chapters where Yeshua repeats the RULES for the Kingdom over and over.
Some of the last words from a dying man: John 14:15 If you love me keep my commandments
21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me
23 If someone loves me he will keep my word
24 someone who does not love me does not keep my word
15:10 If you keep my commands, you will stay in my love – just as I kept my Father’s commands and stay in his love
14 you are my friends, if you do what I command
Yes, Luzette-so often we have heard do you have any “last words?” His last request to His talmudim was “abide in me”. This my friends is the command of YHWH. “Abide in Christ.” Victory comes through surrender. Absolute surrender to the LORDship of Christ. For the LORD- He is G-d.
I have absolutely no problem in living under the Torah (the law, the instructions) of G-d. His word, (our Bible) is final, full and complete in giving us all things we need pertaining unto life and godliness.
The Torah of YHWH is the Lamb’s Book of Life. If someone (anyone) embraces Yeshua as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world and has asked, (according to His instructions, (“ask and you will receive”) for forgiveness of their sins, and (again) according to the instructions of Yah- confessed (or agreed) Jesus (who is the) Christ is LORD, He (according to G-d’s covenant promise) shall be saved.
I do not know where the erroneous idea has come from that we can be a child of G-d, born into the covenant promises of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and then live like a hellion comes from, other than a fabricated lie. If (rather, -since) we have been “bought with a price”- the precious blood of our Redeemer- shall we (as Paul testifies) continue in sin- that grace may abound? And what is Paul’s rapid answer to this? “G-d forbid.” A resolute, resounding “no.” (Romans 6.1)
Do you have children? (I hope so). Do they live under “house rules?” Or do you let (allow) the little precious darlings loose to run rampant on the streets? -Pardon me, but..-“oy!”
If we would only allow the scripture to speak. “For (our Bible says of itself) the word of G-d is alive and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword- piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4.12) I didn’t “make that up..” “It is written”..hello.
We have (according to G-d’s book of instructions) -all things that pertain unto life and godliness. When G-d created this world- how did He do it? He spoke. When the ‘prophets’ of old spoke- what occurred first? G-d spoke to them. “And the word of the LORD came unto..________. Fill in the blank with the name of any prophet. G-d first spoke to them, and they in turn spoke the words He gave unto them.
Now lets all practice this. We have in our grubby hands- the living, active, word(s) of G-d. All of them. From Genesis 1.1 thru maps. “Every word of G-d is pure.” Have I missed anything? “Every word”. Yeshua said (will we listen to Him?)- “The words I speak unto you- they are spirit and they are life.” (John 10.10) This is (only?) G-d speaking y’all. Jesus is LORD. Yeshua is ADONAI. This man is G-d (your Creator) Incarnate. The word was made flesh. He is the Living Torah. The living, active, full, complete- how to do it in the flesh-incarnated word of G-d. If you want to know how to live according to the will of G-d- look no further than Yeshua- the perfect son of man. He demonstrated for us and to us- how to love. He took a towel and girded Himself and washed the feet of the Talmudim. He showed us- He demonstrated unto us- true Torah living. How to love sacrificially- How we should serve one another in love. G-d became a man to communicate clearly unto all the “how-to” of life. Live this way. Husbands, fathers, brothers- live like this.
I would ask this question of all this morning. Is is possible to live according to Torah without Yeshua? Is it? I remember this from His book- “without Me, you can do nothing.” Is this true? Or is G-d a liar? How much then- do we need Him?