In the myriad discussions I have had over the years with folks who are in christianity, as I was for five decades, the conversations often turn to a leveling of mere platitudes and vague accusations of “false teaching,” and sometimes it is claimed that the primary difference in what I teach and the particular flavor of christianity the other person embraces, is that it is merely just an issue of “semantics.”
Now, when an accusation is made that the teachings I share are false, it’s somewhat rare for there even to be an effort to provide any evidence that those teachings are false. Or, a person defending christianity will often just make illogical arguments that conflate the Sabbaths with the law of Moses (an argument that specifically charges the apostle Paul with false teaching, since he observed the Sabbaths and taught them to the Gentile converts).
Or, they will claim that I am “adding to salvation,” when in actuality, it is christianity that adds to salvation, making it a decision that man makes (and often, something that must be maintained either by abstaining from sins of the flesh, or by keeping up with one’s repentance, which is a damnable heresy, and not a part of true salvation).
Usually, the only reason a person who is lost in christianity would claim that the truths of the Holy Spirit are merely a “matter of semantics” is because they don’t actually understand the truths of the Holy Spirit.
What do I mean by that? Well, often in christianity, there is an aversion to anything that sounds Jewey, so the defensive posture of many christians is just to claim, out of spiritual ignorance, that anything that sounds Jewey MUST be the law of Moses.
Such a christian will often make ludicrous remarks like, “that’s old testament, but I’m new testament,” or “we are not under the law, so the feasts don’t apply to us,” or, easily disproved lies like, “the new testament believers changed their weekly day of assembling to the first day of the week because of Messiah’s resurrection” (which is a blatant lie). Scripture is scripture, and it all fits together perfectly (when one understands what is physical foreshadow and what is spiritual real substance).
For the first 50 years of my life, I was immersed in all things christianese. I was formally educated in christianity at a christian high school and university, I worked on pastoral staff as a music minister for several years, and I toured to “churches” across the country for well over a decade. I know the primary tenets of christianity, and am familiar with many of the different teachings of the various flavors out there (more than 41,000 christian denominations in the world).
During all those years, and with all the knowledge I had, the things I know now from the instruction of the Holy Spirit were things I didn’t even know existed then—because christianity rejects so many of the Holy Spirit’s truths (usually for no other reason than the perceived Jeweyness of them).
So, when I converse with some christians, they will simply dismiss the difference between truth and error as nothing but “semantics,” and that’s usually out of complete ignorance of what is being discussed. I don’t say that as an insult, but as a simple fact. Ignorance is just a matter of not having learned something.
Now, to be ignorant is not a slight, but to hear the truth and then reject the truth to continue in the ignorant error is a matter of stupidity, and choosing to be stupid is sinful foolishness, where spiritual matters are concerned.
So, when someone in christianity is shown that salvation is not a decision that man can make, but is a matter of belief in Messiah Yahoshua and confessing Him before others, which is to endure in belief—all the way to the saving of one’s soul (Hebrews 10:39), and that person chooses to reject that truth and to cling to their salvation-by-decision, that’s just willful stupidity.
That’s what happened with the unsaved christians we see in Matthew 7:21-23. They wholly believed they were saved because they had made some sort of decision—but, they were never actually told they had been adopted into Yah’s family. In essence, they declared their own salvation. Most in christianity today have declared their own salvation, and then they falsely think that specific verses of scripture state that THEY have been given the Holy Spirit (something the scriptures CANNOT do).
Also, there is a tendency for many in christianity to look to numbers of followers for validation—even though Messiah said of life in Him, “ . . . and few there be who find it.” There are 2.5 billion christians on the planet. I dare you to square that number with “few.” So, determining truth by how many people are preaching something is a wily ploy of the enemy. Truth is not democratic—it is not determined by consensus, or by how many believe it. How many were in the wilderness preaching with John the Baptist?
In all the years I have now been sharing the Holy Spirit’s truths with others, I have found that those in christianity who are interested only in proving that what they already believe is truth, will usually reject the Spirit’s truths, and remain in the false religion they know, whatever flavor of christianity they are in.
It is those who seek to understand the Holy Spirit’s truths, and to see how scripture is all one volume that fits together perfectly, and that the Father’s traditions hold vast treasures of spiritual truth for His children (yes, all those things that christianity threw away when it was invented—after the NT had been written—and codified in the 4th century by the sun-worshiping emperor).
So, for a conversation to end up being meaningful, the person who is debating against the Holy Spirit’s truths I share would have to know them first, rather than simply dismissing them; for until they do that, it is not a logical debate—it’s just truth against opinions, which are not equal in substance at all. To argue against the Spirit’s truths, it is necessary first to know them.
And, once someone takes the time to know and understand them, they will typically realize that christianity has no true argument against them. Arguments out of ignorance are usually futile; for a debate to be meaningful and fruitful, the elements of the debate must be understood by all parties. Simply calling something that one doesn’t actually understand “a matter of semantics” is mostly a waste of everybody’s time.
The Holy Spirit’s truths will always align perfectly with ALL of scripture (in its original languages and contexts) and with ALL of the Father’s traditions. If a teaching doesn’t meet both of those standards, it is not of the Holy Spirit, but is a false tradition of men.
Moreover, the Holy Spirit will not teach one person something, and then teach something contradictory to someone else. So, where there is disagreement, either one side is right and the other is wrong, or they’re both wrong. If the beliefs contradict each other, they cannot both be truth.
So, I welcome anybody who thinks that what I teach is false to provide the specific evidence of it—not just platitudes, and not just claiming that it’s a matter of semantics. If I am spiritually wrong, and you claim to be saved, then it is YOUR DUTY to explain to me WHY I am wrong, and to show me the truth.
But, again, any such attempt MUST rise to the standard of the Holy Spirit’s truths—it must harmonize perfectly with all of scripture and with all the Father’s traditions.
For most in christianity, that will necessitate learning the Father’s traditions first, for it is impossible to rebut what one doesn’t even know or understand. And, the fact that christianity abolished the Father’s traditions, the matter becomes a difficult one—until a person is willing to learn the traditions that Paul taught to the Gentile converts as a foundation of doctrinal truth to help guard against false teachings (1 Corinthians 11:2, 2 Thessalonians 2:15).
PLEASE, show me ANYTHING that I teach that is false—but, to do that, you’ll need to understand, first, what I teach—it won’t work just to dismiss spiritual truth because you equate all Jeweyness with the law of Moses.
For more information: Why I Am No Longer a Christian