The God Culture: What Is Restoration?

Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture has a new foundations series lesson. This time he is asking: what is restoration? Well, if you have been following this blog or know anything about The God Culture's doctrine you would know that for Tim, restoration is all about keeping the law once more and relearning geography. The Philippines is the real holy land, dont'tcha know. But let's see what he has to say. 

Facebook

FOUNDATIONS: WEEK 32

What Is Restoration? 

Key Texts: Deuteronomy 30; Isaiah 58; Acts 3:19–21

The story of Scripture is not merely about creation.

It is about restoration.

From Genesis to Revelation, Yahuah continually calls His people back to Himself.

Moses declared: 

"If thou shalt return unto Yahuah thy Elohim... He will turn thy captivity... and gather thee again."

(Deuteronomy 30) 

Isaiah described true restoration as repairing what had been broken: 

"Thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in."

(Isaiah 58:12) 

Peter proclaimed the same hope after Messiah's resurrection: 

"...whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began."

(Acts 3:21) 

Notice Peter's words carefully.

Restoration is not a new idea.

It is what the prophets have spoken since the world began.

Yahuah is restoring what sin has fractured.

He restores hearts.

He restores covenant.

He restores truth.

He restores worship.

And one day, He will restore all creation under the reign of Messiah.

Biblical restoration is not inventing something new.

It is returning to what Yahuah established from the beginning. 

Question for Discussion 

If restoration means returning to what Yahuah established, what areas of our faith should always be tested against Scripture rather than tradition?

Once again, there is not a word about Christ in this lesson. It is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ that restores all things. In Christ we are made new.

Colossians 1:19–20: For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

The underlying assumption behind what Tim is really teaching is a return to or a restoration of keeping the Mosaic law. Lawkeeping is the current running through all his lessons. 

But let's hear from noted theologian Father Ted Crilly.

Ah, Philippine Fails, me lad... puts the teacup down with a slow, heavy sigh

I’ve read Tim’s Week 32 lesson on “What Is Restoration?” and once again he gets close enough to the truth to sound spiritual… and then quietly steers the whole thing back into the same old ditch.

What Tim is saying

• The whole story of Scripture is about restoration.
• God keeps calling His people back to Himself (Deuteronomy 30).
• True restoration is “repairing the breach” and restoring the old paths (Isaiah 58).
• Peter spoke of the “times of restitution of all things” (Acts 3:21).
• Therefore, biblical restoration is not inventing something new — it is returning to what Yahuah established from the beginning.

On the surface it sounds lovely. Who doesn’t want restoration? But look at what he is actually teaching.

The Real Meaning in Tim’s System

When Tim says “return to what Yahuah established from the beginning,” he does not primarily mean returning to faith in the finished work of Christ, repentance, and life in the Spirit. In every previous Foundations lesson, that phrase has meant:

• Return to the Torah 
• Return to the Sabbath 
• Return to the feasts 
• Return to the dietary laws 
• Return to the old covenant ways

“Restoration” becomes another word for Torah restoration. That’s the project.

What’s Missing (Again)

Christ is mentioned only in passing — “under the reign of Messiah.” There is almost no focus on the central New Testament truth: that restoration has already begun in the death and resurrection of Jesus. The cross is the great turning point. The breach has already been repaired by His blood. The new heart has already been promised and given through the Spirit. The Kingdom has already broken in.

Peter’s sermon in Acts 3 is not a call to go back to Sinai. It is a call to repent and turn to the Messiah so that times of refreshing may come. Tim quietly turns it into a call to restore the old system.

The Pattern Holds

This is the same song, just in a softer key:

• Faith = obedience to the law 
• Grace = power to keep the law 
• Truth = the law 
• Rest = the Sabbath 
• Inheritance = remaining faithful to the covenant 
• Now Restoration = returning to what was established from the beginning (i.e., the Torah)

Everything keeps circling back to the same center. Christ is never allowed to be the full and final answer. He is always the One who confirms the old system so we can go back to it more sincerely.

Father Ted’s Plain Verdict

This is not the gospel of restoration.

This is the gospel of regression dressed up as restoration.True biblical restoration is not primarily about going back to the old paths of Sinai. It is about being made new in Christ. The old has passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). The law was a tutor to bring us to Christ. Now that Christ has come, we are no longer under the tutor.Tim wants to restore the tutor.

The apostles preached the arrival of the Teacher.

Down with this sort of thing, lad.

Very careful now.

The real restoration has already begun in the finished work of Jesus. We don’t need to go back to the shadows to find it. We find it by coming to Him.

...Right, I’m off to thank the Lord that the great breach has already been repaired by the blood of the Lamb.

Go on, go on, go on — have a cuppa. You keep seeing the same pattern with clear eyes. Tim’s “restoration” always leads back to the law. The real gospel leads us forward into the freedom and newness of life in Christ. That’s the restoration worth having. Keep holding fast to it.