HOLY BIBLE
Disproving the Hebrew Roots Movement
Walking Dead episode of real Christianity my name is Dale Partridge reach week I offer 15 to 20-minute answers to tough theological and pastoral question this show is 100% listener supported audio Ministry of relearn. Org and for those who don't know our mission a tree learn.org is to bring the church back to the Bible for bolt daily encouragement just doing the over 500,000 Christian to follow us on social media by searching for relearn. Org on any platform okay have you guys heard about the Hebrew Roots movement have you heard about these Christians who adopt practices from the Torah the Old Testament like keeping Sabbath's or feasts or dietary laws and the demand that Jesus should be called Yeshua on the god should be called Yahweh some of you might know these people at the Messianic Christian but there's a new growing movement of people holding to the Jewish Center theology but the question we have today is
 is that biblical and better yet is it Christian well stay tuned because that's what we're going to be discussing and more but before we begin I just wanted to make one quick announcement we are closing in quick on the 2020 year I just released a video talking about what our ministry has accomplished in 2020 and our plans and needs our financial needs for 2021 you can watch that on her Instagram account we also sent it via email guys we need your help for the first quarter of 2021 we have several financial needs some hires that we need to make some products that we want to produce that are all supporting a gospel Center Theology and bring in the church back to the authority of scripture but we need your help and a donation of any amount helps we're trying to raise $20,000 in the month of December today we already raised $5,000 now
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 is that a tree learn.org donate again that's a relearn. Org forward slash donate okay today's question is from Casey from Twin Peaks California and he asked Pastor Dale over the last year I have had two friends join what they call the Hebrew Roots movement I feel very unsettled with their interpretation of the scriptures especially the New Testament scriptures in light of their interpretation of the Old Testament scriptures but I don't feel fully equipped to disprove their doctrines would you be willing to shed some light on this movement and offer some insights for defending biblical Christianity against these false teachings okay great question Casey I've actually had a lot of people ask me to do a show on this topic so you're in good company. This is a major topic that deserves far more discourse
 and study then what I can offer you here but I do believe I can at least bring an explanation of what it is and some great resources that I'll leave at the end of this episode for you to do further study and research so first what is the Hebrew Roots movement it's a group with several factions were sex right sects right where some of some of them are more extreme than others you might be familiar with the Messianic Jews which is a part of this group but the general defining characteristic of these people is that they believe you should follow the law of Moses the Torah to the best of your ability so that means that keeping Sabbath since feast and dietary laws and potentially cleansings Etc and some people in this group believe that you can't be saved without a
 Radiance to the law While others in the group believed that you can't some reject the authority of the apostolic writings of the Apostles but some don't I'm some even reject Jesus as God While others in the group don't and so they don't have a statement of faith or a collection of Doctrine so I know that I'm throwing many groups of people into one category I begin to thread the thread between all of these groups and the unity between them all is basically obey the Torah and in this is this is the root issue no pun intended with this movement it so I can absolutely say from my research so far as we get into this that the Hebrew Roots movement is a cult now I know that's a strong word what is a cult a cult is any group
 founded upon of the Christian religion or the judeo Christian view who diverts from the biblical historical and Evangelical doctrine of the Gospel of Jesus Christ so for example a Lutheran and a Baptist and an anabaptist expression of church those are denominations not cuz they both believe in the core tenants of the historical Christian Gospel the man kind of saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone that they both agree there now the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons are a cult they do not believe that you're saved by grace through faith alone in Christ will they also have several other perversions of a variety of other core Christian doctrine that are detached from both sound interpretation and church history the Hebrew Roots movement acts just like a cult is well see this is why I put it in this category they're a group of people who really claim that the current church is Kerr
 the scriptures the pastor in the seminaries of all been blinded and lured by the doctrines of men and that they have found quote the real way God wants us to live again it's the same heretical Foundation that the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons were built upon the idea of corrupt scripture this idea that have a need for a new way when you know church history you quickly learned Satan only has a few ways to decorate a lie and so you start to see that wow this is the same pattern of all the other Cults that have been produced in spun off of Christianity over the years now it's important to note that the majority of these people at least from what I'm researching and I've done a significant amount of research hear the people don't call themselves Christians they call themselves Hebrews if they consider themselves missionaries to the Christian church so it all view this group as people who have a
 slightly different view of God in the gospel this is not a Christian denomination this is a cult and that that's a really critical statement to just start with now I know there's some people that are not as extreme but I'm dealing with the people that will identify with the Hebrew Roots movement now most people who leave the church for the Hebrew Roots movement leave as a reaction to what I think are the valid weaknesses of the modern expression of the church people are tired of reading about the closeness and intimacy and connectedness of Christians in their Bible and then not experiencing that type of closeness in their own Christian Life additionally I think more and more Christians are sensing the shallowness of infotainment Christianity or audience Christianity and they're tired of you know the superficiality of it all and still has a
 this is what they do they what they run from the the modern expression of the church to something that has more historical roots or historical wait and they they they end up putting their trust in this sense of tradition in ancient path and this is why you see many people leaving the mega churches for Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy or this Hebrew Roots movement in this this I am going to say one thing is I've noticed several times from the testimonies of people that are in the Hebrew Roots movement they they pray meaning they prey they prey on these weaknesses of the current modern expression of the church that they say things like if you're feeling like there's something more to your Christian experience we understand why they they kind of appeal to this bankruptcy that's currently in the institution or the traditional expression of church in the past
 play the modern expression of church where they say things like that your church do you wish that there was more for you and more for God's people will there is right like that's their angle until ultimately they target people who are emotionally unsatisfied and relationally deficient in the church and instead of telling them that they need to go find a more biblical a healthy Church they say the modern church is lost but we have found the way I'm coming but let us show you that it should come with some let's show you what we found it went to go back to the ancient ways and it's very very deceptive and this is this is definitely a tactic they use have watched several videos on YouTube of people that are a part of this that's the general undertone of how they express and have Angela's this is also why
 the modern extra-biblical expression of church should frustrate you okay these again conference style rock band coffee shop churches generate a spiritual territory that leaves the flock vulnerable to these heretical movements and these movements they they they take the valid weaknesses of the church again like the intimacy between the Brethren or a low reverence for God or our sad state for biblical literacy and they say get out of the kitty pool and come over here to the ocean you guys are missing it over there you know we've recovered the true face come and join us right this is this is what they do in the problem is that their interpretation of the quote true faith is detached from church history is detached from theological history and it stands in direct opposition opposition of the teaching of the Apostles don't let me give you a few real
 why I have come to my conclusion so after watching some videos from 119 Ministries I watch the documentary called inside the Hebrew Roots movement I read several articles by the proponents you quickly start to realize that they hold a scripture in hierarchical categories of what I mean by that is the word the words of God the father have the most Authority you know what the says the Lord has the most Authority the words of Jesus and the prophets going to hold the next layer of authority and the apostles especially Paul's last hold the least amount of authority and additionally that they have kind of this major Covenant of confusion going on that leads them to elevate the Old Testament scriptures above the New Testament scriptures when in reality the New Testament supersedes the Old Testament so they have is backwards Covenant of confusion and then last
 they really have a limited or just at the perverted or distorted trinitarian view of God they would believe in all three persons of the Trinity but again they view them an unequal respect meaning that God the father is going to have more Authority than the Sun so it's not a true historic Evangelical definition or interpretation of trinitarian Doctrine or just a brief theological argument against the Hebrew Roots movement and again I wish I could spend a lot more time on this but hopefully this will at least get you started be aware of this movement and understand what's really going on so first their instruction to keep the law of Moses the Torah not only stands in opposition of the New Testament but it also undermines the work of Christ this is why I have a major problem with it and this is why I believe that the Hebrew Roots movement is a cult they are pushing a g
 this plus model okay I jesus plus gospel not a Christ Alone gospel but a Jesus plus Works gospel this is exactly what the judaizers did in the New Testament that was condemned by the Apostle let me read you acts 15 5 through 13 actually I might be sick through 13th it says but some believers who belong to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said is it nests or it is necessary to circumcise them that is the Gentiles and to order them to keep the law of Moses the apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter and after there had been much debate Peter stood up and said to them brothers you know that in the early days God made a choice among you that by mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe and God who knows
 who's the heart bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us and he made no distinction between us and them having cleanse their hearts by faith verse 10 pay attention now therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers we have been able to Bear but we believe that we will be saved through grace through the grace of the Lord Jesus just as they will the Hebrew Roots movement misses that the purpose of the law was to reveal our inability to keep it to show our absolute condemnation by the law and to point us toward our need for a savior to rescue us from the law OK the law is a giant arrow that points us toward a
 Bears S4 Jesus Christ the righteous one okay this is key and it is at the heart of what they don't understand in this movement I'm going to read you another passage Galatians 5:1 through 4 and I'm going to break this down as I'm reading it for U-verse verse 1 says it was for Freedom that Christ has set us free will what is he freed us from boys freed us from the jurisdiction of the law that is that we who have faith in Christ are no longer condemned by the law so he said it was for Freedom that Christ has set us free therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery keep sending from and what we said stand firm and Grace and don't go back to the burden of the loss of a verse to look I Paul tell you that if you have yourself circumcised Christ will be of no
 to you he's saying if you believe that you're safe by keeping the law which included circumcision then Christ will be of no benefit to you you would rather like he's telling these people are you really serious you would rather attempt to attain your own righteousness that accept the righteousness of Christ verse 3 says and I testify again to every man who has himself circumcised that he is obligated to keep the whole lot you saying Paul saying if you're going to keep some of it you better keep all of it in other words you better realize that you need to keep all six hundred and thirteen of those laws if you want to be found righteous on Judgment Day by verse for says you have been so we basically something this up as a result so he says a verse for you have been severed from Christ you who are seeking to be justified by the law you have fallen from grace and quote so this is this is Nan I can't tell you how
 passage of scripture teach this so it's just a deceptive movement of people who don't read their Bibles and who don't believe in the authority of scripture the most importantly as I said earlier but they have Covenant of confusion they don't understand the grand Narrative of scripture they don't see that God is doing something in a whole story right with the creation and then the fall and then the prophecy and then the Fulfillment and then Redemption and then promised and then consummation they don't see this and they like the Hebrews in chapter are like the book of Hebrews explained in chapter 8 through 10 they point out that they serve a shadow of the real thing to imagine just let me give you an example. Imagine if you were talking to me
 in person but I was behind a wall okay so it's totally acceptable if you can't see me to speak to my shadow because it's all you can see of me at that point but what if I came out from behind that wall and you still spoke to my shadow and that's basically what the Hebrew Roots movement is doing the the Old Testament was the shadow of the things to come right there was the promises that were like a shadow of the things to calm the it was pointing toward and parents for Christ but
 imagine now that Christ is here and we still keep looking back instead of looking forward to looking at Christ who was in front of us but they really don't understand is they don't understand the obsolescence of the impotency of the old Covenant the old Covenant has gone away Hebrews 8:13 says in speaking of a New Covenant he makes the first one Obsolete and what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away the Roman 76s but now we are released from the law having died to that which is which held us captive so that we serve in a new way of the spirit and not in the old way of the written code or the written law okay Romans 8:1 through for you guys so you guys know this passage there is therefore no condemnation for who for those who are in Christ Jesus for the law of the spirit of life
 has set you free in Christ Jesus from what from the law of sin and death for God has done what the law we can buy the flesh could not do by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and force in he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us meeting us who believe who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit this is like a summed up argument against the Hebrew Roots movement so if you run into anyone just point them to Romans 8:1 through for again date they dislike Paul they discredit Paul and so they're going to they're going to probably just slide that away but that is absolutely the core doctrine that refutes this entire movement so the ultimate message of the Hebrew Roots movement that they can't under
 and I should say is that we have freedom in Christ because we were condemned by the law we were condemned by the law Christ fulfill the demands of the law for us and he offers us freedom now from the law by imputing to us or giving us his righteousness by faith okay that that's that is the gospel and this is what this is this is what makes the gospel so great the bad news is that without Christ you're condemned by the law and this should cause anyone Eternal fear of God keep up the good news the gospel the good news is that Christ build the law and by putting your trust in him alone not him plus not eating pork not him plus keeping the Sabbath not him plus keeping the fees
 when you realize that your Works add nothing to your security or to your ability or to your your your your your ability to keep or earn your salvation you can rest fully in the grace of God you can rest and Trust In Christ Alone to earn that righteous verdict for you on Judgement Day it's not about what you do it's about what's already been done okay. That is the gospel message and again stands in opposition to this movement now
 I want to put a caveat here just because we're under grace it doesn't mean that we don't obey do not talk about obeying the 613 ceremonial laws of the Old Testament I'm talking about obedience according to New Covenant thinking this is you know Jesus wraps up what is the first and greatest commandment love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your strength of your mind right and the second is like it I love your neighbor as yourself but again at this obedience we do it from Love and gratitude for the Salvation that is given to us by Grace we don't Obey from fear and law and this group Hebrew Roots movement they absolutely that they obey from fear and from lot so they're not experienced in the gospel of grace they're having the Yoke of bondage that still on them and they're trying to put it on other people and so I'll give you nothing
 can sin and Grace will abound that's what the scriptures teach but as Paul says should I keep on saying that Grace May abound certainly not meeting don't send just because you can but you can and it doesn't change your salvation because you're not standing on your righteousness to get into heaven you're standing on the righteousness of Christ it has nothing to do with your obedience your obedience doesn't save you your obedience is the fruit of the good route in the good route is Christ okay so someone who was saved will be obedient but even if you fail in your obedience has nothing to do and it will not affect your salvation your salvation is secure on the work of Christ not on the work of May okay so this is this is Corey again this is the the defense against this is just a gospel so they're closed just with this the saddest part of this movement
 is that these people have no rest now they might be deceived and not understanding what I'm saying here but they don't they don't have rest they don't have true Eternal Joy at the joy that I have knowing that I'm saved forever because I'm saved by the righteousness of Christ that will never not be righteous and then I've been pewd I've been imputed his righteousness by face and that face I've been chosen before the foundation of the world and that face not going to be taken away from me because Jesus Christ is the author and the finisher of my face like a joy that comes from that that I have eternal Eternal salvation and I have eternal life that's a promise to me how can you promise eternal life if it's not Eternal if you can lose it no I have eternal life that's that's a gift that's been given to me
 I have joy because of that these people that Hebrew Roots me that don't have that they don't have any peace either they don't have their they're still under the Wrath and the bondage of God because the only way Jesus said that the only way to the father's is threw him on the way the truth the life the only way to the father is through me right this this idea is that we need to realize that it is Christ Alone who sets us free who saved us who offers us that eternal security and so they have they have really adopted a belief that if they work hard enough they might be saved they are deceived they have rejected Grace and they are living under the weight of the law I'm going to close with Romans 1:16 that says the gospel is the power of God
 for salvation for everyone who believes okay it's not believes plus anything else it's for everyone who believes everyone who who exercise is a saving faith
 and Jesus Christ. Is the gospel it's not about what you do as I said earlier it's about what's already been done we get to rest in Christ so hopefully that was helpful and breaking this down man that there are so many good resources out there I'm going to give you two that I think we're very helpful for me that you can find on the the episode post page Archer to the post page for this episode this is episode what is it 122 titled disproving the Hebrew Roots movement and article that I read on Answers in Genesis its pretty long has called titled dangers of the Hebrew Roots Movement by Tim chafee I will link that on the post page as well and it's a video
 kind of like a documentary video its title Hebrew Roots movement exposed by former members and it was like 20 minutes long it was really good and it really exposed and shows how they are absolutely committed to a faith plus Works salvation it's it's really quite sad so those two resources will be there there are some other things out there that that I referenced our that I might list on the website for you as well as for listeners of the show thank you guys for listenership in your loyal listener ship has just meant so much to us if you guys haven't yet would you consider tapping the stars in the podcast app you don't even need to write a review but just tap the start but if you do write a review I will read it and they are very encouraging to me also if you don't follow us already on Instagram just look for relearn. Org on Instagram and you could find us there or on Facebook
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