Opening Disclaimer
Before we get started, let me be clear about something. I am not a seminary-trained theologian. I’m not your cookie-cutter Christian. In fact, I disagree with many core practices and teachings of the Christian faith.
I’m not here trying to convert anyone to this faith. You can believe what you want to believe.
But here’s what I am asking you to do – fact-check me. Every single time. Don’t take my word for anything. When I reference a verse, look it up. When I make a claim about what the Hebrew or Greek means, verify it. When I connect dots between passages, check those connections yourself.
This is my personal study, my personal journey of discovery. I’m sharing what I’ve found when I started reading the Bible without filters, but your relationship with God is between you and Him.
If that interests you, if you’ve ever wondered what the Bible actually says versus what you’ve been told it says, then stick around.
The Journey Begins
Welcome to Un-canonically Speaking. I’m here to have an open interview with the Bible – asking questions that some preachers won’t, being honest about what I find, and encouraging you to do your own deep study instead of following predetermined questions in a Bible study guide.
So how did I get here? It started with a conversation I had with God. He told me that I withheld 1% of myself from Him, and that it mattered. So I made a vow – to give Him 100% of myself.
And apparently, He took me seriously. Because immediately – and I mean immediately – He started dismantling everything I thought I knew about being a Christian.
It began with what I’d been taught about Jesus and the Old Testament – specifically about keeping His laws, commandments, and statutes. Before this, I didn’t keep them. I was a Christian, and Christians aren’t bound to Old Testament laws, right?
Wrong.
The Matthew 5 Revelation
So I’m reading Matthew 5, and Jesus is talking to His disciples about the law. And right off the bat, He says something that should make every Christian pause: “Not one jot or tittle of the law will disappear until heaven and earth pass away.”
Then He drops this bomb in verse 19 – anyone who sets aside even the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. I’m sitting there thinking… wait, isn’t that exactly what Christianity teaches? That we don’t need to follow Old Testament laws?
But here’s where it gets really interesting. Jesus tells His disciples they need to surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees and scribes. These guys knew the Torah inside and out – they lived and breathed these laws. The Pharisees had access to all of the Torah and writings in the “Old Testament.” They studied the law more than anyone. Yet they would make provisions for personal gains. So we are to be more righteous than them – keeping the laws perfectly.
What really got me was when Jesus says to be perfect. God gave us laws that keep us in alignment with justice and perfection. Yet Christianity says that it’s impossible to keep the laws, and even worse, they lie on God saying He knew that they were impossible to keep.
Think about this: God – perfect in all His ways, just and righteous – they say He commands His people to do something that He knows they could never do, then threatens them with the worst punishment imaginable for not doing what He commanded. Where is the justice in that? Why would I command my child to do something that I know is impossible for her to do and then threaten her with the worst punishment imaginable for not doing it?
The Cognitive Dissonance Moment
You know what cognitive dissonance is? It’s that uncomfortable feeling when what you believe crashes head-first into reality. And you’ve got two choices – change your beliefs or try to change reality.
So here I am, staring at this massive collision. On one side: God is just, righteous, and perfect – that’s reality, that’s who He is. On the other side: my belief that He commands impossible things and then punishes people for failing. Something’s got to give.
Well, I can’t change who God is. Reality is fixed. So I had to change what I believed.
Which meant… wait for it… the laws He gave us? They CAN be kept. Perfectly. Because a just God wouldn’t command the impossible.
It’s actually that simple. Either God is unjust for commanding impossible things, or the laws aren’t impossible. There’s no middle ground here.
The Anger and Heartbreak
I was angry. But not just angry – I was angry for God. They didn’t just lie to me, they lied on Him. They made Him out to be some cosmic tyrant who sets people up to fail.
And then it hit me – they taught me it was okay to sin against my God. That’s not just wrong teaching, that’s blasphemy. That’s heartbreaking.
Look, I get it – some people are just sheep, following what they were taught, faithful to the tradition. But evil? Evil is skilled. He’s got the pulpit in the palm of his hand, and he’s good at what he does. And I fell for it. For years.
My stomach still turns when I think about what I did against God – believing I didn’t need to follow His ways, thinking His standards were optional. I know Jesus atones for my sins, but… God, I wish I had known Truth sooner.
But you know what? Maybe that’s why I’m here now. Maybe that’s why we’re having this conversation. Because if I fell for it, how many others are still falling for it?
Opening the Conversation
Now, I want to hear from you. I welcome questions from anyone – doesn’t matter your background, where you’re coming from, what you believe or don’t believe.
But here’s what I need from you – and this is important. When you ask your question, I need you to be honest about how you’re feeling when you ask it. Are you genuinely curious? Are you seeking truth? Or are you asking with a stubborn heart, just looking to shoot down whatever I say?
Like, if you’re wondering “If human blood wasn’t acceptable for atonement in the Old Testament, why would Jesus’ blood be our atonement?” – are you really seeking to understand, or are you trying to trip me up?
Because if you’re genuinely seeking, we can take that question to God together. He’s never failed to answer even my smallest questions. But if you’re just trying to play “gotcha” – I’m not giving you the time of day.
And I’ll be completely honest with you – if I don’t know something, I’ll tell you. And if the answer doesn’t come to me, then maybe God doesn’t want you getting that answer from me.
Example: The Blood Question
Actually, let me give you an example. Someone asked me that question about blood atonement, and it really intrigued me. I wasn’t asking to be difficult – I genuinely wanted to know.
So I asked God. And He led me to Exodus 34, where He proclaims His name to Moses and says that He forgives our sins.
But here’s the beautiful part – the Hebrew word for “forgives” there means “to bear, to take on.” It’s the same word used in the commandment about not taking the Lord’s name in vain.
And then it clicked. Everything God does, He does first in the spiritual realm, and it reflects here in the physical. He bore our sins spiritually when He brought the host of the Lord out of Egypt. Then He came and put His spirit in Yeshua Ha Mashiach and bore our sins physically on the cross.
And when it all came together – when I saw how God had been bearing our sins from the very beginning, how the cross was the physical manifestation of what He’d already done spiritually – I felt loved. Completely, deeply loved.
That’s the difference between asking God directly and just accepting what someone tells you the Bible says. When God answers you Himself, you don’t just get information – you get relationship. You feel His heart.
The Bottom Line
Look, when it’s all said and done – no matter where you fall on the spectrum of faith, no matter what denomination you came from, no matter how confused you might be right now – it all boils down to two things.
First: Keep the laws, commandments, and statutes of God as they were written in the Torah. Not as someone interpreted them, not as tradition modified them – as they were written.
Second: Believe that Yeshua is Ha Mashiach and submit to His Lordship. Not just believe He existed, not just say you accept Him – submit to His Lordship.
That’s it. Everything else is commentary. Everything else is human addition. These two things – God’s standards and Yeshua’s Lordship – that’s the foundation.
So if you’re ready to strip away the traditions of men and get back to what God actually said, if you’re ready to let the Bible speak for itself… welcome to Un-canonically Speaking.
Jesus said seek and you shall find, ask and you shall receive, knock and the door will be opened unto you. So I sought the truth and found it in the Bible. I asked God and He sent answers. I’ve knocked on the door, wanting to know His heart, and He opened it.
Now it’s your turn. What questions do you have? What has always bothered you about what you’ve been taught? Let’s take it to God together and see what He says.