The substitute

This is a subject that I have long been reluctant to share with you. But, I believe it is time because it is necessary for us to grow and move forward in our understanding. I have looked at this subject for a long time. I do not write this without a strong conviction that it is correct. I feel personally responsible for every word I write and pray that you will look into this with equal trepidation, fear and most importantly prayerfully. I believe that one of the fundamental doctrines of Christianity is false and we have missed the point.

[Exodus 32:30-35] And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the Etrnl; perhaps I shall make an atonement for your sin. And Moses returned unto the Etrnl, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin…and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. And YHVH said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them. And YHVH plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

Deuteronomy 24:16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the father. Every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

Ezekiel 18:1-4; 20-24; 26-27 The word of the Etrnl came unto me again, saying, What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge? As I live, saith the Etrnl Gd, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Etrnl Gd: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die. When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.

Malachi 3:6, For I am YHVH, I change not.

I do not believe that Jesus bore our sins on the cross or paid the penalty for our sins. It violates the Torah and is not in keeping with YHVH’s principle of justice. To say that Christ’s personal righteousness is imputed to every true believer, is not Scriptural: to say that he has fulfilled all righteousness for us, or in our stead, if by this is meant his fulfilment of all moral duties, is not Scriptural nor is it true.

The father of the protestant reformation Luther, claimed that the saved are actually sinners, but that they are righteous because God reckons them as righteous . “They are unknowingly righteous, and knowingly sinners. They are sinners in fact, but righteous in hope.” This is ridiculous. If I beat and rob someone weaker than myself I am not righteous knowingly or unknowingly. This idea came from Paul.

Paul goes to great lengths to try and convince people that they just need to believe in the death burial and resurrection of Yeshua in order to be righteous. Something Yeshua himself did not teach. In Romans 4 Paul uses logizomai eleven times. This key word means to reckon, credit, rank with, calculate, consider, deliberate, grasp, draw a logical conclusion, decide, or impute. Romans 4:3-8 teaches that faith in the atoning work of Christ is imputed to the believer for righteousness. Paul then argues that neither Abraham nor David was justified or accepted on the basis of works. This is another of those doctrines of the church that goes to great lengths to make sense of something that makes no sense. Much like the trinity doctrine it tortures logic and is practically incomprehensible. The truth is always simple. If you behave righteously then you are in fact righteous. If you sin you loose that righteousness. But, if you sin then repent and ask for forgiveness then you are restored to righteousness. Righteousness imputed by unmerited grace leads to lawlessness. It is used as a “get out of jail free card”. With imputed righteousness I can justify any evil behavior. I cannot believe that was Yeshua’s intention because he didn’t preach it. If it was the center piece of the gospel, I’m certain he would have preached it from the house tops! 

Was our sin placed on Yeshua?

 If our sin was imputed to Yeshua so that he became a sinner, he would have been disqualified to have become our atoning sacrifice. The scripture is abundantly clear that Yeshua did not sin. 

If we reject the artificial faith alone construct of Paul and accept the teaching of Yeshua that we must obey YHVH’s commandments, then the doctrine of imputed righteousness and Yeshua as atoning sacrifice is no longer needed. 

We receive the grace of YHVH by becoming a party to His covenant. We become a party to His covenant by obedience to his commands and entry into the life He has ordained for us. We observe His sabbaths, Holy days and appointed times and behave ourselves morally, obeying the Shema. Hear oh Israel. YHVH is our God and we shall love YHVH our God with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul and all our strength, and we will love our neighbor as ourselves”. We must obey His Law and His ordinances. 

In the end, we do not need imputed righteousness. We are simply forgiven because of our obedience and our being a party to His covenant. Your sin is your problem. Yeshua cannot give you his obedience. You must be obedient for yourself. If you cheat, steal and act immorally then say “Jesus paid it all and obeying the commandments is legalism”, then you are calling God a liar and proclaiming that Paul had superior teachings to Yeshua and that YHVH’s commandments are no longer in effect. Yeshua said.

Matthew 5:19 So anyone who breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever obeys them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

1 John 3:4 Everyone who sins also commits lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness.

Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, by their fruit you will recognize them. 21 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’ 

This is what Yeshua taught. Obedience, not substituting his righteousness for our sin.

If you are more concerned with the sin of legalism than actual disobedience and immorality then I am afraid you have missed the point.