or the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want. …18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works so that no one can boast. 🏛️ What Does "Under the Law" Actually Mean? To understand why Paul said we are not "under the law," you have to look at the phrase scripturally, not culturally. In the Greek text, being "under the law" (upo nomon) carries a specific legal meaning: being under the condemnation and penalty of the law because you are a lawbreaker. Think of it like a modern traffic law: If you drive the speed limit, you are not "under" the authority of the flashing lights and the ticket book. You are walking in freedom. The law isn't chasing you. The exact second you choose to break the speed limit, you put yourself "under the law." You are now a criminal caught in the system, waiting for the penalty. Before you came into covenant through the Messiah Yeshua, you were a lawbreaker. You were trapped in protective custody under the law of sin and death (Galatians 3:23). You owed a blood debt you could not pay. When Yeshua died for you, His grace paid your penalty and pulled you out of that prison. He didn't delete the speed limit; He paid your ticket and set you free from the executioner! “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.” — Romans 3:31 (NKJV) According to the clear blueprint of Scripture, receiving the true, empowering grace of God is not a passive event or a quick mental agreement. It is a profound, life-altering legal and spiritual transaction. True grace is an unearned gift, but it is exclusively given to a specific heart posture. The Scriptures lay down a direct, unbreakable sequence for how a person physically enters into this covenant and receives the gift of the Holy Spirit. This phrase likely references the famous biblical proverb, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." This theme of humility runs throughout scripture as a reminder of the peace that comes from recognizing our dependence on God rather than relying entirely on our own strength. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ] Where it is found: You can read this exact sentiment in the New Testament books of James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5 , which both quote the Old Testament passage from Proverbs 3:34 . [1 ] What it means : Pride pushes people to rely entirely on themselves and act as their own ultimate authority. Because of this, scripture notes that God opposes or resists the proud. [1 ] The reward for humility: Those who are humble acknowledge their limitations and seek God. In return, they are met with His unearned favor, or "grace," which helps them overcome daily struggles and find spiritual rest. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ] 🛠️ The Scriptural Sequence to Receive Grace 1.Confront the Standard of the Word:The Diagnosis. You must look into the perfect mirror of God's Torah (His Law) to understand your true spiritual condition. Scripture states that "sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4). You must believe that you have broken His commandments, sinned against His holiness, and that you rightfully deserve the sentence of the law of sin and death (Romans 6:23). 2.Experience Godly Sorrow:The Broken Heart. Instead of making excuses, minimizing your actions, or defending your traditions, you allow the truth to smash your pride. You experience a deep, internal grief because you realize your lawlessness has offended the Creator and brought shame to His Name. This is Godly sorrow, which produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret (2 Corinthians 7:10). As the Psalmist records: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, You will not despise" (Psalm 51:17). 3.Repent (Teshuvah):The Physical Turn. You must execute a radical, 180-degree physical turn. Repentance (Teshuvah) means you stop walking down the broad road of worldly customs, pagan traditions, and self-pleasing appetites, and you turn your face directly back toward the ancient paths of the Father's commandments. You actively cast the abominations out of your life, your home, your diet, and your calendar. 4.Surrender to the Messiah through Baptism:The Covenant Seal. You cast your entire life upon the unmerited mercy, favor, and blood of the Sovereign King, Yeshua. You acknowledge that His death paid the blood-debt you owed for your past lawlessness. You seal this commitment by being immersed in water (baptism) in the name of Yeshua Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins (Acts 2:38). This is where you physically "put on Christ," burying your old, rebellious nature and rising as a brand-new creation (Galatians 3:27). 5.Receive the Holy Spirit to Walk in Truth:The Empowered Life . Once you have repented and entered the covenant, the Father gives you the ultimate gift of grace: the Holy Spirit. The purpose of the Spirit is not to give you goosebumps or make you feel emotional; the purpose of the Spirit is to write the Torah directly onto your heart and mind (Hebrews 10:16), giving you the supernatural power, desire, and strength to physically do what the Word says and establish His Law in your daily walk (Romans 3:31). ⚖️ The Gatekeeper: Humility vs. Pride There is one supreme, universal spiritual law that dictates exactly who receives this gift and who is locked out. Scripture repeats this warning multiple times across both testaments: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” — James 4:6 / 1 Peter 5:5 / Proverbs 3:34 The Proud Man defends his lifestyle, makes excuses for eating abominations, clings tightly to the annual pagan traditions of his ancestors, and argues with the plain text of Scripture. Because his neck is stiff, the Creator actively resists him, and he can never access true grace. The Humble Man hears the straight, uncompromised shout of the Word, falls on his face, confesses his lawlessness, and asks the King for instructions. Because his heart is soft, the Father pours out boundless grace upon him, lifting him out of the muddy pit of the world and placing his feet firmly on the path of stable, joyful obedience. Grace is entirely free, but it will cost you your pride, your worldly reputation, and your attachment to human traditions. If you want the true, life-saving favor of Yehovah today, humble yourself before the text, submit to the King, and start doing what His Word commands! God’s grace and His Spirit are deeply connected in scripture. The Holy Spirit is considered the very presence of God within a believer , and it is through this Spirit that we receive, understand, and apply God's unearned grace to our daily lives. [1 , 2 ] How Grace and the Spirit Work Together The Source of Grace: Grace is God's undeserved favor and love. It is a free gift given to us through faith in Christ. [ 1 ] The Spirit's Role: The Holy Spirit illuminates these truths, helping us grasp what God has freely given us. The Spirit is often called the "deposit" or guarantee of our salvation. [1 , 2 ] Evidence of the Spirit: When a person has the Spirit of God, their life is transformed. T his transformation produces what the Bible calls the "fruit of the spirit": love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. [1 , 2 ] By this connection, we know that God dwells within us and works through us. You can explore more about how the Spirit empowers believers on Desiring God . [1 , 2 ] Here is the final, binary (Yes/No) Grace Test to prove whether you are operating under true biblical grace or a lawless counterfeit. 1. Theological & Spiritual Meaning Divine Favor : In religious contexts grace is unearned, unconditional love and forgiveness. It is the free gift of salvation and spiritual strength. Mealtime Prayer: A short, spoken prayer of thanksgiving offered before or after eating is widely referred to as "saying grace". [1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ] 2. Behavioral & Interpersonal Poise and Elegance: The physical attribute of moving smoothly, naturally, and with dignified balance (e.g., a dancer's grace). Compassion: Interacting with others by showing patience, kindness, and extending forgiveness, especially during difficult situations. [1 , 2 , 3 ] 3. Practical & Legal Contexts Grace Period: A designated length of time past a due date (like a bill or insurance premium) where a late penalty or cancellation will not be applied. Privilege: In law, a concession, pardon, or temporary exemption granted as an act of mercy rather than a strict legal right. [1 , 2 ] ⚖️ The True Grace vs. Counterfeit Grace Test Instructions: Answer these final 3 diagnostic questions honestly to see how the word "grace" is being applied in your life. Question 1: The Function of Grace The Scriptural Law: “ For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age...” (Titus 2:11-12). The Question: What is grace actually teaching you to do on a daily basis? [ ] YES (True Grace): Grace acts as your trainer, giving you the power to say "No" to the desires of the flesh and the traditions of the world, driving you to live an upright lifestyle aligned with the Torah. [ ] NO (Counterfeit): You use the concept of grace to excuse or tolerate known compromises in your home, calendar, or diet, treating it as a safety net for ongoing disobedience. Question 2: The Relationship to the Law The Scriptural Law: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it ?” (Romans 6:1-2) / “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.” (Romans 3:31). The Question: Now that you have received salvation by grace through faith, what happens to your obligation to obey God’s written commandments? [ ] YES (True Grace): You recognize that grace delivers you from the condemnation of the law (the law of sin and death), which frees you to gladly establish, honor, and physically do the commandments in Spirit and Truth. [ ] NO (Counterfeit): You believe that being "under grace" means the Old Testament laws, dietary boundaries, and Sabbaths are "done away with," effectively using grace to render God's Spoken Word void. Question 3: The Threat of Turncoats The Scriptural Law: “For certain individuals... have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.” (Jude 1:4). The Question: When you are confronted with a hard, uncompromised command from the Scriptures (like purging pagan holiday traditions or unclean foods), what is your immediate defense? [ ] YES (True Grace): You tremble at the Word, humble your heart, and seek the Spirit's help to align your lifestyle with the command immediately. [ ] NO (Counterfeit): Your mind immediately jumps to the defense of "I'm saved by grace, not works," which is the exact mechanism Jude warns against—turning the favor of God into a shield to protect your own lawlessness. 🎯 The Conclusion of the Matter True grace is an empowering gift. It does not lower the Father's standard of holiness; it raises your ability to meet it. If your grace results in a clean home, a guarded Sabbath, a scriptural diet, and the keeping of His Appointed Times, you are walking in the true, unmerited favor of the Most High. If your grace allows you to comfortably keep the traditions of Rome, eat abominations, and ignore the Torah, you are caught in a delusion that scripture defines as a dead faith. The tests are finished, the standard is clear, and the witness of the text is absolute. May the true grace of our Master Yeshua give you the strength to stand with the obedient remnant until the day of His appearing! Here are 5 more direct, binary (Yes/No) questions to expand the Grace and Accountability Test. These focus specifically on the ultimate purpose of grace: moving a believer from a state of lawless rebellion to a life of physical, covenant-keeping action. 📋 The Simple Test: Part 4 (The Mechanics of Grace ) Question 4: The Power to Perform The Scriptural Law: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10). The Question: Do you view grace as a passive legal status that merely keeps you out of hell, or do you view it as the active fuel that enables you to perform the "good works" explicitly outlined in the Father's Law? [ ] YES (True Grace): You recognize that grace was given so that your hands and feet could physically walk out the ancient paths and commandments God prepared from the beginning. [ ] NO (Counterfeit): You treat grace as an end in itself, believing that as long as you have the right theology, actual physical compliance with God's laws is optional or secondary. Question 5: The "Sin is the Transgression of the Law" Rule The Scriptural Law: “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” (1 John 3:4). The Question: When you talk about needing "grace for your sins," do you define sin strictly the way the Bible does (breaking the written Torah), or do you use a human, emotional definition of just "being a bad person"? [ ] YES (True Grace) : You use the scriptural definition. You know exactly what commands you broke (e.g., breaking Sabbath, eating unclean), which makes your repentance specific, urgent, and physical. [ ] NO (Counterfeit): You keep your understanding of sin vague and generalized, which allows you to feel "covered by grace" without ever having to stop specific lawless habits. Question 6: The Trampling of the Son The Scriptural Law: “Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:29). The Question: If you willfully continue in a practice after the written Word has clearly shown you it is an abomination (like eating swine's flesh or celebrating pagan-rooted dates), what are you doing with the blood of Christ? [ ] YES (True Grace): You tremble at this warning. You immediately drop the behavior because you refuse to insult the Spirit of grace by using the Messiah’s death as a license to keep breaking His Father's laws. [ ] NO (Counterfeit): You continue the behavior anyway, assuming the blood of the covenant automatically covers willful, ongoing rebellion because "no one is perfect." Question 7: The Fruit Inspection The Scriptural Law: “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” (Matthew 7:19-20). The Question : If grace is truly living inside you through the Holy Spirit, it must produce visible, physical fruit that looks like the Messiah's lifestyle. Does your daily lifestyle look like the Torah-observant walk of Yeshua? [ ] YES (True Grace): The fruit is evident. Your calendar, your kitchen, your speech, and your behavior have been structurally altered to match the Master's walk. [ ] NO (Counterfeit): Your fruit matches the culture around you. You look, eat, and celebrate just like the world, using the word "grace" to explain away the lack of biblical fruit. Question 8: The "Not Everyone Who Says to Me" Standard The Scriptural Law: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name...’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:21-23). The Question: When you stand before the judgment seat, on what basis do you expect to enter the Kingdom? [ ] YES (True Grace): You trust completely in the grace of the Messiah, which successfully led you to stop practicing lawlessness and instead do the explicit will of the Father. [ ] NO (Counterfeit): You rely on your verbal professions ("Lord, Lord"), your religious activities, or your church attendance, while continuing to live a lifestyle that ignores the written commandments. 🏁 The Ultimate Division True grace is not a tool used to bypass t he Torah; it is the supernatural power that brings you into subjection to it. Every YES is a declaration that the King's authority is absolute over your flesh. Every NO is a warning light that a counterfeit, lawless grace is still comforting you on the road to the harvest of fire. Turn the wheel completely while the gate is still open! 🐐 1. Stumbling in Weakness (Where Grace Abounds) The Father understands that we are dust, and that unlearning the lawless habits of the world takes time. If a person has a sincere heart to obey the Torah, but they slip up due to weakness, ignorance, or an accidental oversight, grace does not leave them. “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Yeshua Messiah the righteous.” — 1 John 2:1 (NKJV) In this case, grace is actively working. The Holy Spirit convicts the person’s heart, they experience Godly sorrow, they confess the specific sin, and they physically correct their behavior. Grace remains good because the person is submissive to the discipline of the house. 🐂 2. Walking in Rebellion (Where Grace is Cut Off) The line is crossed when a person receives the knowledge of the truth, looks directly at what the written Word says, and chooses to keep sinning anyway because it is popular, comfortable, or culturally normal. Scripture defines this as presumptuous sin—sinning with a high hand. When a person does this, God does not just passively watch; a precise spiritual hardening takes place. The author of Hebrews lays down the terrifying legal reality of what happens when a believer chooses ongoing, willful lawlessness: “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment...” — Hebrews 10:26–27 (NKJV) If there is no longer a sacrifice covering you, it means grace has been removed. You have chosen to walk out from under the Messiah’s blood and back into the prison of the law of sin and death. ⚠️ The Three Steps to the Total Removal of Grace When a believer starts sliding backward into the traditions of the world or the appetites of the flesh, the Father typically follows a clear, merciful, yet severe process before grace is completely extinguished: Step 1: Holy Vexation and Conviction The Holy Spirit stirs up trouble in your conscience. Your prayers feel blocked, your peace disappears, and the written Word starts to bite whenever you read it. This is God’s grace trying to pull you back. If you harden your neck here, you move to Step 2. Step 2: Severe Divine Discipline The Father begins to physically shake your life to wake you up. He may allow financial distress, family friction, or the loss of worldly comforts to show you that Egypt has nothing for you. As Hebrews states: "For whom the Lord loves He chastens..." (Hebrews 12:6). This discipline is a severe form of grace designed to smash your pride. Step 3: Giving Over to a Reprobate Mind If a person fights through the conviction, ignores the discipline, and insists on keeping their pagan traditions, their unclean foods, or their worldly compromises, the Father will eventually lift His hand completely. He stops correcting them, stops disciplining them, and hands them over to their own delusions. “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting.” — Romans 1:28 (NKJV) When God "gives someone over," it is the ultimate removal of grace. They can now sin comfortably without feeling any guilt, thinking they are perfectly fine, completely unaware that they are tracking straight toward the harvest of fire detailed in Isaiah 66. Question 13: What Happens When You Twist the Wheel? The Setup: David prayed a critical prayer in Psalm 19:13: “Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me.” The Question: When the light of the Torah exposes a specific sin or worldly tradition currently sitting in your home, what is your immediate, physical reaction? [ ] YES (Under Active Grace): Your heart breaks, you take immediate accountability, and you physically cast the compromise out of your gates, proving that the Spirit of grace is alive and ruling your flesh. [ ] NO (Risking the Removal of Grace): You pacify your mind with excuses, delay the physical cleaning of your house, or assume that "God understands my situation," stepping directly onto the dangerous path of willful defiance. 🏁 The Summary Line God does not remove grace because you are imperfect; He removes grace when you become unteachable. If you can look at a command and refuse to change your lifestyle to match it, you are insulting the Spirit of grace. Turn the wheel completely while you still feel the sharp bite of conviction—because the only thing worse than the discipline of the Father is His silence.

You claim to honor Christ by celebrating His birthday. The Heathens celebrate the Sun god's birth on December 25th, you Christians celebrate the Son of God birth on December 25th. Celebrating pagan ways , you love, God hates Jermiah 10:2 The Biblical Truth about Christ’s Birth The Satanic Ritual of Sacrificing Children (If you mix unholy with Holy it is blas·phe·my ) Every year, the priests of Ishtar would impregnate young virgins on an altar dedicated to herself and her husband*. The children were born on Christmas December 25, and the next year they were sacrificed on Easter Sunday at the sunrise service. The priests would take Ishtar's eggs and dye them in the blood of the sacrificed children. You must not worship the LORD your God the way the other nations worship their gods, for they perform for their gods every detestable act that the LORD hates. THIS Is What Jesus and the Bible Say about Christmas... Is Christmas a Christian or Pagan Holiday? Cathain a rugadh Meisias? Sábhálann Kurt Cammeron an Nollaig Faigh réidh na Cásca! (Bunús Págánach na Cásca agus na Nollag Nochta) Cuid 1 de 8 Fírinne nó traidisiúin Celebrating Jesus' Birthday Físeáin Nollag Físeán Yule a cheiliúradh Físeán Nollag Admhaíonn Pat Robertson gur carnal í an Nollaig The Biblical Truth about Christ’s Birth Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. Pagan Christmas How This Pagan Custom Got into the Church The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge explains clearly, in its article on "Christmas": "How much the date of the festival depended upon the pagan Brumalia (Dec. 25) following the Saturnalia (Dec. 17-24), and celebrating the shortest day in the year and the 'new sun,’. December 25th is not the birthday of Yeshua the true Christ! The apostles and early true Church never celebrated Christ's birthday at any time. There is no command or instruction to celebrate it in the Bible—rather, the celebration of birthdays is a pagan, not a Christian custom , believe it or not, the pagan festival with its riot and merrymaking was so popular that Christians were glad of an excuse to continue its celebration with little change in spirit and in manner. Christian preachers of the West and the Near East protested the unseemly frivolity with which Christ's birthday was celebrated, while Christians of Mesopotamia accused their Western brethren of idolatry and sun worship for adopting as Christian this pagan festival but remember, these people had grown up in pagan customs, chief of which was this idolatrous festival of December 25th. It was a festival of merrymaking, with its special spirit. They enjoyed it! They didn't want to give it up! Now this same article in the New Schaff- Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge Explains how the recognition by Constantine of Sunday, which had been the day of pagan sun worship, and how the influence of the pagan Manichaeism, which identified the SON of God with the physical SUN, gave these pagans of the fourth century, now turning over wholesale to "Christianity," their excuse for calling their pagan festival date of December 25th (birthday of the SUN-god) the birthday of the SON of God. And that is how "Christmas" became fastened on our Western world! We may call it by another name, but it's the same old pagan sun-worshipping festival still! ."The Real Origin of Christmas but if we got Christmas from the Roman Catholics, and they got it from paganism, where did the pagans get it? Where, when, and what was its real origin? It is a chief custom of the corrupt system denounced all through Bible prophecies and teachings under the name of Babylon. And it started and originated in the original Babylon of ancient Nimrod! She claimed a full-grown evergreen tree sprang overnight from a dead tree stump, which symbolized the springing forth unto new life of the dead Nimrod. On each anniversary of his birth, she claimed, Nimrod would visit the evergreen tree and leave gifts upon it. December 25th was the birthday of Nimrod. This is the real origin of the Christmas tree. We are shocked to learn the truth—some, unfortunately, take offense at the plain truth! But God commands His faithful ministers, "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression! 22 Then the Yehovah said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites this: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven: 23 Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold. Exodus 20:22 Psalm 81:12 So I let them follow their stubborn desires, living according to their own ideas. Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for 1. The date of December 25 is not found in your Bible. The shepherds and sheep would not be in the fields in the winter. There is There is no verse that mentions the number of wise men. There is no mention that any of them were Kings. The wise men found the king of the Jews when he was around 2 years old. The Bible does mention not to bring an evergreen tree into your home and decorate it Mary and Joseph were not required to travel in the winter Yehovah says a lying tongue is the second on His list that He hates most. Everything about Christmas is pagan, Pat Robertson admits to the fully pagan origins of Christmas and defends celebrating the Christianized pagan holiday ● Jeremiah 10:2 Thus says the LORD, "Do not learn the way of the nations, and do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens though the nations are terrified by them; 3 For the customs of the peoples are delusion; Because it is wood cut from the forest, The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool. 4"They decorate it with silver and with gold; They fasten it with nails and with hammers So that it will not totter.… I have come to believe that nothing can be said to change one’s mind about Christmas. The music, gifts, food, and festive events outweigh the true meaning of Yeshua’s birth, this event trumps Yehovah. If you really want to celebrate His birth, then don't do it on the pagan sun god’s birthday on December 25th. This is what we find in the Bible. Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seemeth right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death!" John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Deuteronomy 12:31 Thou shalt not do so unto Jehovah thy God: for every abomination to Jehovah, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters do they burn in the fire to their gods. ● Matthew 15:9 "In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" John 4:23 The true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. He will not accept that kind of worship, even though it is intended in His honor. To Him, He says, it is offering what is abominable to Him, and therefore it honors, not Him, but false pagan gods. GOD says we must not worship Him according to the "dictates of our conscience"—a term we often hear. Does It Honor Christ? Suppose someone you love has a birthday. You want to honor that person on his or her birthday. Would you lavishly buy gifts for everyone else, trading gifts back and forth with all your other friends and loved ones, but ignore completely any gift for the one whose birthday you are honoring? Now come two arguments often used to justify Christmas observance. Many will reason this way: "But, even though the exact date of Yeshua's birth is unknown, should we not select some date to celebrate as His birthday?" The answer is positively no! Did you not notice the statement quoted from the Catholic Encyclopedia? "Sinners alone, not saints, celebrate their birthdays." The celebration of birthdays is not a Christian, but a pagan custom, observed by sinners! But many still say, "Even so—even though Christmas was a pagan custom, honoring the false sun-god, we don't observe it to honor the false god, we observe it to honor Christ." But how does GOD answer in His Word? "Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them [the pagans in their customs] . . . that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, how did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise? Thou shalt not do so unto the Yehovah thy God: for every abomination to the Eternal, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods" But Yeshua says plainly, "Yehovah is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). And what is truth? Yehovah’s Word—the Holy Bible—says Yeshua, is truth (John 17:17); and the Bible says Yehovah will not accept worship when people take a pagan custom or manner of worship and try to honor Christ with it. Again, Yeshua said: "In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (Matthew 15:9). Christmas observance is a tradition of men, and the commandments of Yehovah, as quoted, forbid it. Yeshua said, further, "Full well ye reject the commandment of Yehovah, that ye may keep your tradition." That is precisely what the millions are doing today. They ignore the commandment of Yehovah He commands, regarding taking the customs of the pagans and using them to honor or worship Yehovah: "Thou shalt not do so unto the Yehovah thy God." Still, most people today take that command of Yehovah lightly, or as having no validity whatsoever, and follow the tradition of men in observing Christmas. Make no mistake! Yehovah will allow you to defy and disobey Him. He will allow you to follow the crowd and the traditions of men. He will allow you to sin. But He also says there is a day of reckoning coming. As you sow, so shall you reap! Yeshua was the living Word of Yehovah in person, and the Bible is the written Word of Yehovah. And we shall be judged, for eternity, by these words! They should not be taken lightly or ignored. What Encyclopedias Say The word "Christmas" means "Mass of Christ," or, as it came to be shortened, "Christ-Mass." It came from the Roman /Catholic Church. Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church In the Scriptures, no one is recorded to have kept a feast or held a great banquet on His birthday. These recognized historical authorities show Christmas was not observed by Christians for the first two or three hundred years—a period longer than the entire history of the United States as a nation! In the fifth century, the Western Church ordered it to be celebrated forever on the day of the old Roman feast of the birth of Sol, as no certain knowledge of the day of Christ's birth existed." Sol Invictus ("Unconquered Sun") was the official sun god of the later Roman Empire and a patron of soldiers. In 274 AD the Roman emperor Aurelian made it an official cult alongside the traditional Roman cults. God forbids pagan feast days idolater, a person that admires intensely and often blindly one that is not usually a subject of worship. Idolatry is the worship of an idol or cult image, being a physical image, such as a statue, Every year, the priest of Ishtar would impregnate young virgins on an altar. The children were born on Christmas and the next year they were sacrificed at the Easter Sunday sunrise service. The priest would take Ishtar’s eggs and dye them in the blood of the sacrificed children. This was observed around 2000 years before Christ was born. 'You shall not give any of your offspring to offer them to Moloch, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am Yehovah. Leviticus 18:21 21. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Yehovah your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected by children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. Exodus 20: 5 Do Not Be Unequally Yoked …16 What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” 17“Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” 2 Cor 6:1717 The Sovereignty of God 1 Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2 This is what the LORD says: “Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by the signs in the heavens, although the nations are terrified by them. 3 For the customs of the people are worthless; they cut down a tree from the forest; it is shaped with a chisel by the hands of a craftsman…4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they faste n it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. Jeremiah 10:2-4