The issue of Lawlessness

Shabbat Shalom! This is a topic that I find is often a catylist among believers. I am not trying to stir up controversy or attack anyones perspective. The topic comes up repeatedly in the New testiment and so it is not an issue of what many consider "jewish law". The warnings are about the creeping in of lawlessness and seem to be an aspect of the endtimes of which we are living in now to my reckoning. Matt. 7:23 describes people standing before Yeshua on judgement day saying LORD,LORD! didnt we do all kinds of miracles in your name?(my paraphrase) "I will say to them plainly,depart from me you LAWLESS ones! I never knew you. I find this passage extremely unsettling. For one thing the idividuals truely believe they are believers. They did healings and cast out demons and other miracles in Jesus name. Yet, the LORD says he never knew them. The qualifying factor here is lawlessness. Why does Yeshua state that He did not know them? They obviously think they know Him! We know that Yeshua was not speaking about mans laws specifically. He often reproved and corrected religious leaders about the 'adding " of burdens to the people and the misinterpreting of the law of God.
We have to be careful not to just say that these people are just cultists or superficial believers. Remember, they have enough faith in the name of Jesus to do miracles! They are not just pew warmers they obviously have some form of faith. Yet it is their lawlessness that divides them from the LORD. Lets look at another verse in Matthew. 24:9-15. Yeshua is talking to the twelve about the signs of his return and the end times.this is just after the nation will rise against nation,earthquakes and famines section. vs.9 Yeshua tells them about coming persecution.Warns them they will be hated by virtually everyone! vs 10 many will abandon the faith and betray the bretheren... vs 11 many false teachers and prophets will appear and deceive many.vs 12 Because of LAWLESSNESS the love of many will grow cold, vs 13 but those who stand firm to the end will be saved! vs 14 the good news of the coming kingdom will be preached to the whole world as a testimony to the nations, and THEN the end will come .
I think that this passage is extremely interesting and relevant to us.We should not fall into the trap of believing that the false teachers and prophets will be joseph smiths or jim jones types. This would be too obvious. Yeshua also said that "if it were possible even the very elect of God would be deceived!" Lets suppose that the deception is more subtle then a radical departure from biblical teaching. After all, MOST christians can recognize radical departure from the faith. Suppose that the deception comes in the form of justifying disobedience to God's LAW (lawlessness?) Suppose some taught that"GRACE" was a free ticket to heaven? Perhaps some taught that the law is a CURSE that has been nailed to the cross of Christ? Rather then God's instruction in rightiousness or standard of rightiousness. What if some told us that because Jesus "FULFILLED" that standard it has been" DONE AWAY" with? Some might accuse those who said that the Torah instructions are still valid and to be used as guildlines and instructions in rightiousness, as "LEGALISTS!"
A legalist is not someone who obeys God's laws but it is one who seeks to earn their salvation by doing so (pride)or creating manmade laws for the same purpose. This is where it gets sticky.... What commands was Jesus speaking about when he stated "If you love me you will keep MY commands!" This is important because this is the determining point of whether we love Him or not. We dont want to be among those that are saying" LORD! LORD!" in the end.
Are Yeshuas commands differant from YHVH's commands ? Some seem to be teaching that! If that were true however, Jesus could not be the messiah of the jewish people. As He would have disobeyed Torah and would not be "ONE with the Father" as he stated. He would have changed His word, so then His statements about the slightest stroke of the pen never passing away until heaven and earth are destroyed, would have been pointless ! The next question is how do we determine what instructions to His people in scripture we are to follow. Everything to do with the temple sacrifices and the former priesthood are over as there is no temple in existance nor priest hood. These were forshadowings of messiah and His sacrifices. The instructions to the people about agriculture and business largely are difficult to apply as most of us are not farmers today. The principals of providing for the poor and needy are still there however. The defining of immorality is still very obvious and applicable. How about the dietary instructions? Have they been abolished ? I was taught that the vision Peter had of the sheet being lowered was about food... It is not! It is about accepting those we once considered unclean into fellowship! Remember,Yeshua did not teach against the Torah at any point. Only the misinterpretations of it. When we get to places of instruction about teaching the gentile believers. The first issues are "do not eat meat that has been strangled ( with the blood in it) and do not indulge in sexual immorality." Those were the FIRST instructions. Do we really believe that they were not taught not to murder or steal or covet or use God's name in vain or make idols etc? To say that this is all of the law they were taught begs logic. The fact that the first instruction had to do with the dietary laws about blood is interesting! What commands are we allowed to disregard? remember the 10 are an encapsulation of the WHOLE Torah. Just as the statement Yeshua made about "Love the LORD your God with all your heart....Love your neighbor as yourself"is an encapsulation and key to the whole Law of God. It is not a replacement for the Torah just a simplification. I hope I did not step on any toes in writing these things her it was not intended to offend . It is a warning because I love my brothers ands sisters. I do not want them to be led astray by dangerous teachings that will seperate them from YHVH. Please share your thoughts and questions without fear or embarassment. We are all learning and I have had to do a lot of unlearning what I was taught through the years in many churches that I attended. I do look forward to hearing your posts. Blessings in Yeshua!