Released from the Law

by | Oct 1, 2015 | Blog

Released from the Law

Moving on from our lengthy discussion on Grace as taken from Ephesians 2:8 and 9, I’d like to look at another popular passage of the Bible that the anti-Torah Christian uses to condemn those of us who embrace a Torah lifestyle. Romans 6:14, and we touched briefly upon this verse in part one of this series. However, in order to continue the practice of sound bible examination, I’d like to start this discussion, beginning at verse 1 of this same chapter. The KJV renders the passage as such: What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?1 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 ¶ For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.1 8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12 ¶ Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.1 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. (Rom 6:1-14 KJV)

As with other writings of this great apostle, this passage is no different—it’s convoluted and in many places very difficult to understand. I’m of a mind, friends, that Paul’s writings not be read by the uninitiated Christian until such time that he or she has been fully vested in the Faith. That is, I’m of a mind that Paul, a brilliant Torah scholar, who was not only taught at the feet of Gamli’el (Acts 22:3) but also personally by Yahshua while Paul sojourned in Arabia (Galatians 1:11, 12), is intellectually and spiritually on another plain than a great majority of us. I’m not the only person saying such things. Paul’s fellow apostle, Peter, wrote a similar sentiment, found in 2 Peter 3. Peter wrote: “And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him—speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction.” (verse 16)

Indeed, this is the very situation the Christian Church finds herself in today. Christian leaders throughout the years have taken Paul’s writings, and because they tend to be challenging to understand, instead of treating his writings in a systematic, contextual manner that would properly illuminate the meaning of his writings in light of the whole of the bible, these individuals have employed bible sound bites (that is individual verses and even sentences taken from individual verses) to create entire doctrines around those verses. Thus, we have what some bible scholars call, Pauline or Western Christianity. I’ve actually grabbed hold of this concept myself, seeing how churchianity has all but eliminated the four (4) gospels and the tanakh (Old Testament) and have built the entire Christian religion upon the erroneously perceived, understood and translated teachings of Paul. Have you ever been party to or a hearer of a conversation where Torah was discussed and another member of the conversation say something akin to: “But Paul said…” in opposition to what was being discussed? It’s maddening to say the least. And this is a prevalent practice and mindset throughout the whole of Christendom. Paul seems to have even greater preeminence in our Faith than even Yahshua and Yahovah.

Why is this so? I have a theory. I contend that Paul’s writings (bearing in mind how challenging and difficult they may be to fully comprehend by most) have been twisted and reworked by those who have a sola gratie, Billy Sunday, turn or burn, “come just as you are” agenda. Their agenda and their efforts are enticing and desirable to those of us who want a “little of that old time religion.” That old time religion that is so appealing to the masses of churchianity, doesn’t require anything apart from answering the call to Christian discipleship, saying the sinners’ prayer, taking the right-hand of fellowship (at least it’s done in the baptist church of my youth), maybe get dunked by a preacher in some cold water in a baptismal pool, and then being turned loose to live whatever life we damn-well please while awaiting the rapture of the church. There is no room for Torah living in this equation, is there? How we worship, obey and live is left up to the discretion of the believer. For Westerners, this is the absolute best religious scenario to have, right? We love freedom and we love choice. We don’t like to be told “we can’t” or “we must.” We like to think that we know best how to live our lives and to please God. And oh, if we stumble and fall—if we choose to shack up with a dude or a girl because we like them and we want to see if we are compatible with one another before we commit to marriage, God knows my heart. If I feel that I must lie, cheat and steal in order to get ahead in my career or just life in general, well, God knows my heart. I’m saved by grace and you know, once saved, always saved—right? If I feel that I just don’t want to set aside Saturday for my day of rest and to honor the commandment of Yahovah to keep it holy, because I have so much to accomplish on that day since I work all week—like laundry, shopping and movies or concerts—but God knows my heart. Praise God for “grace.” There’s freedom in Christ! Whew hew!

We’ve all heard these work-arounds (my words) to doing what we are instructed to do and that is to obey Father. Because we are obstinate and self-centered, that vast majority of us much prefer Pauline Christianity than the Hebraic Roots of the Christian Faith. And because you “Torah” people aren’t down with the fact that Torah has been done away with and you persist in your Sabbath worship, your holy day observances, your refusal to eat port and shellfish and your wearing of tzitzits (to name just a few things), you have completely fallen from grace. The shed blood of Christ is not applied to us because we refuse to live in the freedom that Christianity claims we are to live in. We don’t have adequate enough faith to punch our tickets to heaven and we feel we must rely upon Torah to get us to heaven.

My mother, upon learning that I had transitioned into the Hebraic Roots of the Christian Faith, in total disappointment and disdain, said to me that “you weren’t raised that way.” In other words, your loyalty is supposed to be to the culture, religion and church that you were raised in. You don’t have a right to move beyond that which you’ve been taught and raised in. You see, I soon learned—and let me just say, that that statement that my mother made to me a few years ago, really bugged me and I couldn’t understand why. Well, the Ruach spoke to me on that issue and low and behold, the lights came on in my mind and soul. Churchianity has been successful in removing the push or purpose that we as His creation must have, to establish a true, personal relationship with the Creator of the Universe and to become true disciples of Yahshua HaMashiyach. Instead, the push and purpose is to establish a true and personal relationship with the church; with the denomination; with the organization; with the movement; and ultimately, with men and their traditions, beliefs and doctrines. That’s where the emphasis has and continues to always be dear friends. And sadly, I never realized that my mother had not established a true, personal relationship with her Creator. That realization has profoundly broken my heart. And it’s not just me dear friends. This mindset is prevalent throughout the Christian and Catholic and Jewish worlds. The challenge for us is, how do we emphasize and show to others who are in bondage under these religions, that it’s not about establishing a relationship with the church or denomination or organization: it’s about establishing that right-relationship with Father and becoming a true disciple of the Master? We know very well that any relationship we establish with Father and His Son is based upon adhering to a set of house rules which is Torah.

I’ve come to learn, painfully though, that we’re not going to necessarily change anyone’s mind on this thing. In my studies this week, I stumbled once again upon this Pauline passage, that seemed to put this issue into proper perspective for me. Paul (Shaul) wrote to the Corinthian assembly: 12 ¶ Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:1 13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: 14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. 15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. (2Co 3:12-16 KJV) Despite Paul actually writing about the Jew in this passage, this same sentiment and concept applies to churchianity today. We can do nothing to convince our cousins in religion that the course they are on is leading them down a path towards destruction. As hard and as passionate as I am about this message, this week, upon reading this passage, was a reality check—a wakeup call for me. This podcast will not change very many peoples’ minds—talking about those who are outside the Hebraic Roots of the Faith–because a veil hangs over their hearts. All I can do—all we can do—is to walk before Father perfectly in the Father’s statutes and to keep His commandments (1 Kings 8:61) and as Shaul spoke of in a few of his epistles: provoke the Christian, Catholic and Jewish world to jealousy (Romans 10:19; 11:11). It is as a result of our living Torah—Yahshua-style—and the Christian, Catholic and Jewish worlds seeing the power and might of the Ruach Kodesh being manifested in our lives—that these will desire to have what we have and tug on our tzitzits and as Jeremiah prophecied: “the Gentiles (the nations) will come unto us from the ends of the earth and shall say, surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity and things wherein there is no profit. (Jeremiah 16:19 KJV) This particular series on the Law and Grace is not intended to convince anyone of the efficacy, value and necessity of Torah Living, but to ensure that we are prepared to defend our Faith and way of life as Peter instructed: “…sanctify the Lord God in our hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” (1 Peter 3:15 KJV)

Not Under Law But Under Grace

So then, going back to the verse in question—Romans 6:14: The obvious focal points of this verse for the traditionalists, fundamentalists and charismatics is “…for you are not under the law, but under grace.” Indeed, that simple phrase when plainly read (as in other writings of Shaul) is potentially damaging to the Hebraic Roots believer in Yahshua Messiah’s case. This passage seems to clearly state to them that we “christians” are not under the law, but instead are under grace. It’s almost suggestive of, “hey, as a born-again Christian, your life is based upon grace—God’s unmerited favor (which is not actually found in the bible). That law that those idiots over there cling to (speaking about us in the Hebraic Roots), is for the Jews. The law is NOT for you!

Now I’ve come across understandings in Christian circles that apply the element of salvation to this verse, since it would stand to reason that even after becoming a christian, people still sin. But this verse says that sin has no power or dominion or mastery over us. So it would stand to reason, to the christian, that Paul is talking about sin’s potential influence over our eternal life. In other words, you might sin even after becoming a Christian, but grace makes it so that you are good to go and salvation is guaranteed to you regardless. In other words, sin is a non-issue to the christian. We need not be concerned about sin interfering in our christian life, because grace takes care of this nasty, pesky little nuisance. Oh, this all sounds so wonderful and so convenient—does it not? The law stands for intolerance and black and white statements of what we can and can’t do in the sight of God Almighty—all because of the sin problem. The problem is—and I know some of us have heard this preached and taught countless times by christian preachers and teachers—the law was unable to save us because it is impossible to keep the law. It’s just not possible to obey Torah. But enter grace: now, the penalty of sin has been paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ. The Law is impossible for us to keep anyway, so Jesus kept the Law for us perfectly. Thus, grace eliminates sin and the need to keep an impossible to keep Law. Yay! And the crowd goes crazy!

But then, is this what Shaul was actually meaning to say when he wrote this passage? Are we, as disciples of Y’shua Messiah, willing to stake our eternal lives on such a plain read of this passage? Is this a salvation issue? What do you think? Does this verse really say to us that the Law is not applicable to the true Believer in Yahshua HaMashiyach’s life? Let’s dig around this verse and see if the plain read that the christian so strongly holds to, is the proper interpretation and understanding to be gained from this passage.

I often to like to pluck from challenging verses, key words and phrases and look at those key words and phrases within the context and true meaning of the overall passage, chapter and book. I find the following words and phrases of greatest interest: (1) sin; (2) dominion; (3) under the law and under grace.

Sin

Let’s consider the term “sin.” The term for the English word “sin” that is here used by Shaul in the Greek is “hamartia.” Hamartia in ancient Greek writings denotes a “failing to hit the mark.” As the term is used in other ancient writings, hamartia denotes an error of the understanding or a bad action or evil deed. However, according to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, harmartia is always used in an ethical sense such as doing something improper—be it by omission or commission, thought, feeling, speech or action. It is also looked at as that which is done wrong or committed that is of an offense or violation of the divine law, be it in thought or in action.

As used in this verse of Romans, the term sin (or hamartia) is not so much an act as it is a power or principle that has “dominion” over us. In fact, it’s almost as though, sin is an entity or powerful personage. Sin is likened to an “invading power” by the Gingrich Lexicon

I found it interesting, going back to the concept of “missing the mark,” that Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of the Old and New Testament, suggests that this meaning has been “largely lost” in the New Testament. And if that sentiment is even remotely true, that would be a most unfortunate thing, but more importantly, it suggests to me that churchianity has once again whitewashed the inseparable link that exists between Torah and sin—that is, that Torah defines what sin is and that Torah sets the mark by which we must attain in order for us to have a viable relationship with the Creator of the Universe. Instead, we’ve replaced the “missing the mark” analogy with sin being an illness or powerful personage that is impossible to defeat without grace. But that should not be a surprise here.

Vine’s goes on to comment about the way sin is portrayed in this section of Romans as being a “governing principle or power” that, acting through the members of the body, though the seat of sin is in the will. Thus sin is more a governing principle or power that controls us and our will is often poorly ill-prepared to resist the tug or pull of sin. It would stand to reason, given this understanding, that we have the overwhelming belief that it is impossible to keep Torah. Are we saying then, then, that it is impossible to obey God or are we saying that we must sin because we are too weak to not sin?

You know, that is a great question: is it possible for us not to sin? And every time that I’ve seen where this question is asked, the responder is left somewhat speechless. The question places the responder to the question in a very difficult situation: if they say, I am incapable of not sinning, then are they are saying that they have no self-control and they are prone to go about their lives doing God knows what? If they say, I am capable of not sinning, then are they saying that they are sinless and are living perfect lives? And then, if they slip up and sin, is their statement contending that they can resist sinning, going to come back and bite them in the behind?

Indeed, we absolutely can live sinless lives. It’s not impossible as churchianity has proclaimed. And, oh, we can also keep the whole of Torah blamelessly as did Z’kharyah and Elisheva—the parents of Yochanan the Immerser—did in their lifetime. (Luke 1:5,6) The problem is not that we, being depraved humans who have no means of self-control, are physically, emotionally and psychologically incapable of not sinning. We are capable of not sinning. We do it everyday. Most of us do not steal, kill, fornicate, cheat on our spouses, lie, etc., and it’s not a difficult thing to do. The problem is that we lack the will to be sinless. Our flesh wants what it wants and we more times that naught, succumb to the desires of our flesh. The earthly flesh and blood half-brother of our Master Yahshua, explains this dilemma so aptly: 12 ¶ Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. 13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:1 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. (Jam 1:12-15 KJV) It is that warring that goes on within our hearts and minds—lust—that our weakness as humans give in to and thus, sin results. Under the old covenant, we were required to simply do what we were told and to not do that which we were told not to do. However, in Mashiyach, we are not even to entertain the desire or lust in the first place. That’s the spirit of the renewed covenant. And this is what Shaul is saying here in a nutshell: that sin—which is defined by Torah and we’ll get into this in another episode of this series—that our tendency or lack of will power to sin, controls us or has dominion over us. And as I said in the first episode of this series, christians, just as catholics and jews, sin and in some cases, sin with gusto. So sin remains, despite the onset of grace.

So then, the question remains: what in the world is Shaul getting at here. Sin continues to dominate us. Let’s look at the next key word which is dominion.

Sin’s Dominion Over Us

In the Greek, dominion is “kor-ee-yoo-o” and it means to be lord or master, rule, lord it (over) or control. Thus, it would seem that Shaul is insinuating that sin has ruler-ship or lordship over the non-believer. Further along in Romans, Shaul speaks to the dominion that the Law had over men at some point. (Reference Romans 7:1)

Clearly, being dominated by someone or something is not a good thing. We all know of stories where people are or have been dominated by another person and that situation turns out always to be a tragic situation for the one being dominated. When we are dominated by someone or something, our individual freedoms have been done away with. We no longer have control over our lives. We are answerable to that which dominates our lives. As I’ve mentioned in other postings, we as a species typically do not relish being dominated by anybody. Yet we tend to allow situations, people and things to dominate us. I remember a time just a few short years ago when I allowed my career to dominate me. I gave over my life to the career and I found that my job and my career owned me. Even in my off hours, I was consumed by my job. I made plans for my family and personal life around the demands and constructs of my job. I recall going to a conference in the midst of one of the Feasts, because I felt it was necessary for the furtherance of my career. I reasoned that I wouldn’t actually be working on that holy day, but I would simply be present at the conference and then fly home that day. It wasn’t until some time later that I finally realized that the job/the career dominated me to such a degree that even my participation in my Faith was subject to the demands of my job.

Families, relationships, objects, etc., all have the potential to dominate us. How many of us have pushed our Faith aside because of the demands of job, families, relationships and objects/possessions. We choose the relationship, the family, the possessions, the job over the requirements of the Faith and over our relationship with Father and our Master Yahshua HaMashiyach. What are we doing when we allow these things and people to dominate us? We signal to Father that the world means more to us than He means to us. The priority is the world and the Father comes in a distant second. And once these things dominate us, they are extremely difficult to break off. It takes amazing discipline and commitment to shake off that which dominates us. And that includes sin. That tendency we have to sin—that is what dominates us. We give in so easily to that which is in violation to God’s way of life. We’ll compromise on the Sabbath Day or a Feast Day, because we are too weak to resist the pull that the cares and desires of life. Shaul is not saying that one single act of sin no longer has dominion over over us because of grace. He’s saying that we can now hit the mark because of grace: grace gives us the wherewithal to make the mark that we’d otherwise miss because of our tendency to give in to sin.

Let’s now turn to the phrase: “under the law and under grace.”

Under the Law and Under Grace Paradox

Obviously, the primary thing those who would read this phrase plainly would conclude is that Shaul is clearly stating to the Roman assembly—as well as clearly stating to us today—that we are NOT under—we are not imprisoned by—we are not controlled by—the Law or Torah. And why, according to churchianity, are we not under Torah or the Law any longer? We are not under the law any longer because we have grace. Simple huh?

Sin is defined by the Law. So then, if the law is done away with, how do we know what sin is? Did God, by implementing grace, completely scrap the law and thus make sin—which again is defined by the law—a non-issue with the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ? It just doesn’t make any Godly sense. Shaul wrote to this same Roman assembly that: “…I would not have come to know sin except through the Law, for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.”” (Romans 7:7) Thus, without Torah, we have no way of knowing what Father defines as sin. So it would stand to reason that Shaul may not mean what a plain read of the passage here might suggest. If we get rid of the Law, with the understanding that we are now governed by grace, then what’s to stop us from fornicating, adulterating, stealing, lying, cheating, murdering, violating His Sabbaths and moedim, eating whatever tickles our fancy regardless whether it is food or not? Did not Father say it himself to us: “For I am the LORD, I change not…” (Malachi 3:6) So if Father doesn’t change, wouldn’t it stand to reason that His standards, which are clearly outlined in His Torah, would not change either? So if we get rid of the standards, which is Torah, then we’re left with our own standards, right? And we know that our standards just don’t quite make the mark that was established by Father from the outset of time. Again, Father told us: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways…” (Isaiah 55:8) So it stands to reason that Torah must remain in some capacity—it just can not go away or that it has been replaced by grace. Does it make sense, knowing that Father’s ways are not our ways and that Father doesn’t change, that He would simply toss His standards aside and allow our standards to take center stage in our lives? Of course not! Shaul clearly states earlier on in this letter to the Roman assembly: “Does it follow that we abolish Torah by this trusting (i.e., this Faith)? Heaven forbid! On the contrary, we confirm Torah.” (Romans 3:31 CJB)

So what, then, does Shaul mean by this statement, we are not under the law, but under grace? Well, the likely, true understanding of this phrase can only be understood if we understand the legalistic system that we were under at the time prior to Y’shua’s atoning sacrifice on Calvary’s execution stake. We were under a rigid set of laws and ordinances and statutes that were virtually impossible to keep. This system was designed to protect Torah, so to speak. In the interest of protecting Torah, which translates to making systems that would prevent us from violating Torah, we found ourselves trying to earn Father’s acceptance through legalism. It’s not Torah that was the problem in this equation: it’s the system that was erected round about Torah that ensured that we would not violate Torah. The problem is, however, that legalism—that legalistic system—did not factor in the heart of man. Y’shua brought this very issue up to us in His many and varied teachings. Consider Matthew 15:10-20: 10 ¶ And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: 11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. 12 Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? 13 But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. 14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. 15 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. 16 And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? 17 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. (Mat 15:10-20 KJV) The legalistic system that placed a fence around Torah and would serve as a safeguard against our violating Torah or rather, prevent us from sinning, did not factor in the heart of man, which Father Himself stated: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

So it would logically seem that Shaul is saying here to us that we are no longer obligated to follow a set of legalistic practices, laws, rules, statutes, ordinance and doctrines to maintain a right standing with Father. That system has not, does not, and never will work. That is where grace comes in. Grace gives us the power to live Torah in the midst of this perverted world. Our hearts are changed from that of stone to that of flesh. Father stated through the writings of Ezekiel: 17 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. 18 And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. 19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: 20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD. (Eze 11:17-21 KJV)

No, it’s not the Torah that was done away with the advent of grace. It’s the legalism that man devised around Torah to prevent us from violating Torah. Torah stands alone and needs no man to help it out.

Does this interpretation of “we are not under the law” jive with the context of this passage of bible? Well, some scholars contend that the Roman assembly of believers at the time Shaul wrote this epistle was composed of Gentile and Jewish Roman citizens. Some estimates place the Jewish community in Rome at the time Shaul was writing this letter to the Roman assembly of believers, at somewhere around 50,000. According to Keener’s IVP Bible Background Commentary on the New Testament, “many of the founders of the Roman church were Jewish Christians.” History suggests that sometime in the 40s CE, the Jewish community was expelled from Rome proper by Emperor Claudius. For a time after the expulsion, the Roman assembly of believers was composed entirely of Gentiles. Upon Claudius’ death, the expulsion of the Jews was repealed and Jews were allowed to return to Rome. No doubt, some of the Jews who were expelled from and returned to Rome, were Jewish Christians.

It would stand to reason, taking into account known history and the context and tenor of Shaul’s writing, that he was addressing various situations related to the cultural and racial issues affecting the Roman assembly. It is widely believed that the Jewish Christians (i.e., believers), upon returning to Rome and re-establishing their place in the Roman assembly, brought with them Judaism. Thus these Jewish believers were mixing their Jewish religion with their Faith in Jesus Christ. And it was that mixture of Faith in Jesus Christ and Judaism that was being introduced into the Roman assembly. This mixture was in no way taught or encouraged by Shaul when he first established that assembly of believers. There is little doubt that these Jewish believers were insisting that their Gentile counterparts, observe and practice Jewish legalism as part of their Faith in Y’shua Messiah. Not only would this cause a great degree of confusion among the Gentile assembly as it relates to their place in the redemption plan (that is, if they did not convert to Judaism, they could not be part of the congregation of believers in Y’shua Messiah), it also most certainly resulted in some form of racial and cultural conflict within the assembly.

So it would stand to reason that Shaul was addressing this insertion of Judaistic religious practices into the true Faith once delivered, contained in the Roman assembly. This situation was likely a very volatile situation that would have the potential of ripping the assembly to pieces. Shaul had a job to do and that was to set the record straight: the legalistic practices that the returning Jews were bringing in to the congregation had no place there. Although Y’shua was of Jewish descent and the Faith started out within the Jewish nation, the Faith was not based upon Judaism. The Faith was based upon grace, faith and obedience to Torah.

Furthermore, the phrase “under the law” would not apply to Torah. For we are NOT “under” Torah—we live Torah. Living under something, such as a set of laws and legalistic practices, denotes that we serve that thing—we serve that set of laws—we are under bondage to that system. We are not under bondage to Torah. Torah is a manifestation of God’s grace to man for it is because of Torah that we know how to live in accordance with the expectations and requirements of our Creator. We are not left to imagine what we need to do in our lives to please Father. Torah provides those answer. It’s our instruction manual.

There is another aspect of no longer being under the law but being under grace that I wish to touch upon before ending this discussion. And that has to do with the penalty associated with Torah. Because of our sinful nature, and Torah defines what sin is, there are penalties associated with violating Torah. When we violate Torah, we must pay the penalty. Prior to Y’shua’s work on Calvary, the penalty for violation of Torah was death and curses. Yahovah’s grace, through the work of Y’shua HaMashiyach and the agency of the Ruach Kodesh, we are no longer subject to a death penalty. Y’shua paid the debt by dying in our stead. And that death was not just physical death, we’re talking about eternal death. And certainly, I’ll get into this issue of the atonement in future episodes of Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections, but for now I just wanted to put out there that in addition to not be subject to the legalistic requirements of Jewish law, we are no longer under the penalty of physical and eternal death that comes as a result of Yahovah’s Law. Yes, while we await Yahshua’s return, we will continue to die when it is out time to die. But we are not subject to being put to death for violation of Yahovah’s law as we once may have been. Furthermore, because of grace, we are not condemned to eternal death, but have a chance—a hope—for eternal life.

Closing Thoughts

It is my hope that this episode on Grace and the Law provides us with the tools and understanding we will need to address questions that we are bound to receive from those who challenge our life of Torah Living. Again, I am under no illusion that anything that we discussed here today will change the hearts and minds of those who are anti-Torah Living for the true Believers in Y’shua HaMashiyach. There is a veil that exists over their hearts, minds and souls that only the Ruach HaKodesh can remove from them. Just remember when we first came in to this Faith, how we fought tooth and nail, in some cases, against what we were being told and taught. It was only by the grace of Yahovah and that veil being lifted from our hearts and mind that we were able to freely accept the true Faith once delivered. All we want to do here is defend our Faith and know for ourselves why we do what we do and why we believe what we believe.

Serve the LORD–Torah Living Daily Challenge–Parashah 47 Part 6

by | Sep 17, 2015 | Blog

SERVE THE LORD

Torah Living Daily Challenge

The 4th aspect of Moshe’s admonishment to us from verse 4 of the 13th chapter in most modern translations and verse 5 of the CJB is that we serve Yahovah. In the KJV, the term “serve” is used some 193-verses. The term “serve” in the Hebrew is “abad.” My research into the use of this term took me to some interesting places, although none of what I’ve uncovered was a surprise.

The term as used throughout the scriptures means to work, labour or serve one by labours (at the risk of using the very term to define that term). Digging deeper, we start to get into the concepts of being a slave and a vassal. The concept of being a slave of course comes with some negative connotations associated with it, especially in our Western—so-called enlightened society. Quite plainly, slavery is a bad thing. As a black man living in America, the term “slavery,” of course, carries with it the legacy of 18th and 19th century slavery and oppression that is still often referred to in various segments of our society where social injustice rears its head. And certainly, the enticement when considering this concept of slavery as referred to in this passage of Torah, is to shy away from any thought of being “enslaved” by others.

serving

And it is that Western perspective I have learned, we must closely guard against. As distasteful as the concept of slavery may seem to us in 21st Western society—especially when hearkening back to slavery in this country two and three centuries ago and in light of recent revelations of slavery in the 3rd world as well as “white-slavery”—we can’t superimpose our negative views of slavery upon an appreciation of slavery in the ancient near east. I can understand why so many throughout the centuries and around the world have shirked the Bible, especially the Old Covenant (i.e., the Old Testament) because of such practices such as slavery being prominently discussed and even sanctioned to some degree. Certainly, slavery was a prominent practice and way of life in the ancient near east and of course, it was not looked upon by the citizens of the world living during that time, the way we may view slavery today.

In order not to get entrenched in a discussion on the ethics of the practice of slavery, suffice to say that slavery was widely practiced throughout the ancient near east, including Israel, and Torah stipulated how slaves were to be treated. The focus we must have in this discussion, is not the practice of slavery per se, but the service—the labour that is derived from the practice. The slaves whole purpose in life was to service and attend to the needs of his/her master. Their personal desires, life-goals, needs, hopes, etc., were inconsequential to say the least. And that is why I believe this concept of slavery is so fitting in this discussion, again, at the risk of insulting those who might by offended by the practice of slavery. When we gave over our lives to Father in a covenant agreement to be His peculiar treasure above all people; a kingdom of priests and an holy nation (Exodus 19:5,6)—we essentially forfeited any personal interests, agendas, goals, etc to work for Him. Yet Churchianity has taken the true Faith once delivered down an entirely different road. A would-be adherent to Christianity can come just as they are, say a prayer (the so-called sinner’s prayer), maybe get dunked in a pool of water, and then attend church every Sunday. There is no mention or instruction by the church power brokers that one get up everything in their lives in the service of Yahovah. There is no instruction as to how one should live in accordance with the stipulated ways of Father. Christians are encouraged to pursue personal goals, agendas, desires, hopes, dreams and preferences, even if they are in opposition to the teachings of Y’shua Messiah and Torah. But it stands to reason, then, that we can not truly serve Father if we are serving two masters—God and self (Mat. 6:24). Master taught us that we will inherently love the one (most likely the mammon) and hate the other (most likely the Father). So there is no middle ground in this equation. There is no compromising here. We have been instructed to be as slaves—servants—our entire being consumed in fulfilling the purposes and commands of Yahovah. What He instructs us to do—what He commands us to do—that which we know will please Him, we must do. It means denying ourselves the privileges that we would have to fulfill our own desires. Master taught: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” Indeed, that is our Torah Challenge for this post—service to Yahovah through self-denial, constant seeking in terms of Yahovah’s will for our lives and service to the Kingdom. Shalom.

Listen to What the Father Says–Part-5 of Parashah 47

by | Sep 11, 2015 | Blog

Listen to What the Father Says

Part 5 of Parashah 47

The third aspect of Moshe’s direction to us as it relates to Yahovah preparing us to enter the Land of Promise (verse 5 of the 13th chapter of Deuteronomy—it is the 4th verse in the NAS, KJV DBY, NLT, ASV, YLT, ESV, NIV and NRS) was for us to “listen to what He says” (CJB). And as I read this, I wondered to myself, what does “listening to what the Father says” look like to us living in the 21st century?

This was somewhat puzzling to me as I recalled that day that was recorded in the 19th and 20th chapters of Exodus, where we stood at the base of Mount Sinai and witnessed and heard our Creator speak directly to us, His Torah and establish His covenant with us. This day was the precursor for the Day of Pentecost and Yom Teruah (aka The Day of Trumpets). This day was unlike any in history. This day the Creator of all that is revealed Himself to us as a nation; a people; His possession. But we fretted at the wonders and the sight of His majesty, power and might. It was recorded:

15 ¶ All the people experienced the thunder, the lightning, the sound of the shofar, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled. Standing at a distance, 16 they said to Moshe, “You, speak with us; and we will listen. But don’t let God speak with us, or we will die.”17 Moshe answered the people, “Don’t be afraid, because God has come only to test you and make you fear him, so that you won’t commit sins.”18 ¶ So the people stood at a distance, but Moshe approached the thick darkness where God was. (Exo 20:15-18 CJB)

Just a quick note here: you’ll often hear or see me reference instances in Israel’s ancient history in the first person–such as “when  we stood at the foot of Mount Sinai.” I am not channeling any spirits from that time. I am not insane thinking that I am reincarnated from that time. I am simply putting into perspective the history of ancient Israel in relation to our heritage. Let me explain: Shaul wrote to the Roman assembly of believers: “But it is to you Gentiles, I am speaking: as I am a Shaliach to the Gentiles (i.e., a Hebrew sent to the Gentiles) I honor my ministry; if, perhaps, I provoke emulation in the children of my flesh and may revive some of them. For if the rejection of them was a reconciliation of the world, what will their conversion be but life from the dead? For, if the first-fruits are set apart, then the rest of the dough (it came from is) also: and if the root is set apart, then also the branches. And if some of the branches were plucked off; and you, an olive from the desert, were in-grafted in their place and have become an heir of the root and fatness of the olive-tree; do not boast over the branches. For if you boast, you do not sustain the root, but the root sustains you. And should you say “the branches were plucked off that I might be grafted into their place.” Very true. They were plucked off because they disbelieved; and you stand by faith. But do not be uplifted in your mind, but fear. For if Elohim spared not the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you. Behold now the goodness and the severity of Elohim…” Rom. 11:13-22–AENT. Thus, when I refer to incidents that occurred to ancient Israel, I will often reference those events in the first person as I seek to put into perspective our new identity in Messiah and Israel. I’ve found that once I embraced our spiritual heritage, everything associated with the Faith became more real to me and I hope and trust that by you understanding this about me, my writings and recordings, you will gain a greater appreciation of who we truly are in Y’shua Messiah. And I will say with some caution so as to not offend those who might disagree with me: I truly believe that most of us who have come in to the Hebraic Roots of the Christian Faith are not just spiritual Israel, but possibly even of the lineage of physical Ephraim. This will be something I explore in future episodes of Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections. But for now, let’s continue with the topic at hand.

So we chose to have Father speak to us through Moshe as opposed to having Him speak to us directly. We gave up a most auspicious opportunity to hear directly from the Creator of the universe as to what it is He expects from us as His own treasured possession among all peoples of the earth; His kingdom of priests; His holy nation. (Reference Exodus 19:5-6) And then today, Father does not speak to us audibly as He did on that day at the foot of Mount Sinai; although some might take exception to that. I realize that Yah’s Spirit will at time speak to us directly as I believe He has spoken to my spirit on several occasions by His Ruach HaKodesh. I’m talking more about audibly speaking to us: like our spouses, children, bosses, friends, neighbors, etc., speak to us such that we hear them with the use of our ears and we can understand them. This is how we humans communicate with one another—one party speaks and the other party receives/hears/listens to the message, and if necessary, the receiving party responds. But in all honesty, Yahovah/Yahweh does not, with the exception of the rarest of occasions, speak to us in an audible fashion. So then we in the 21st century find ourselves in the same boat as we were in the Sinai Desert—requiring the Father to speak to us through His chosen vessels—be it His written word; His chosen teachers; via the move of His Spirit around and in us; or by our general observations of the world around us.

The problem I find with NOT hearing directly from Yahovah/Yahweh as He originally intended His communications to us to be heard, is the risk of Father’s Word being distorted or not reaching us accurately and precisely as He originally transmitted it. We see this evident in so many ways. Take for example our Bibles—we are learning more and more these days how various passages in our bibles have been tampered with by unnamed men who took it upon themselves, for whatever reason or personal or group agenda, to alter the original message. Despite the many disagreements to this by certain segments of the Christian community, it is an established fact that many passages in our bibles have been tampered with over the centuries. How do we know this: manuscript comparisons—Hebrew and Greek scholars comparing the thousands of existing manuscripts of the books of the bible have confirmed variations between those manuscripts. Certainly, one could question the validity of any of those manuscripts being used in the comparisons, but the scholar looks to the oldest existing manuscripts to see what was recorded and the oldest manuscripts will by default become the “standard,” so to speak, whereby the more recent manuscripts are judged. The scrolls found in the Qumran caves have proved to be of greatest value in setting the bar as it relates to determining what the original message was. Scholars have placed the age of the scrolls/manuscripts recovered from the Qumran caves to have been copied by the Essenes between 200 BCE and 68 CE. (Reference: http://www.centuryone.com/25dssfacts.html) Many of these Qumran manuscripts make up some of the oldest manuscripts in existence and as a result, these have become the standard by which many of the later manuscripts are judged.

Thus, we are faced with a dilemma as it relates to hearing from Father through the reading of His Word. If scrupulous men have taken upon themselves to tamper with God’s Word throughout the centuries, how do we know that we are hearing exactly what Father has intended for us to hear? Or is it important for us to hear or listen to Yahovah? Well, that question is easy to answer—indeed it is important for us to listen to the instructions of our Creator and more importantly, obey those instructions. Thus we have been commanded to “listen to what Father says.”

Michael Rood touches upon this issue in the introduction to his Chronological Gospels. (Please note: I realize that many who will hear this audioblog or read this blog may not agree with many of Mr. Rood’s teachings. I realize and accept that fact. However, I am a firm believer that Mr. Rood has taught and teaches today a great deal that is true. I reference that of Mr. Rood’s teachings that I have affirmed for myself to be of sound truth through my personal research and study. That which he teaches that is controversial and has limited biblical or extra-biblical support, I try to avoid making any substantive reference to in this or any of our postings.) According to Rood, “a fatal error has been introduced into an otherwise flawless mathematical system (speaking to the time frame that the feeding of the 5,000). In the 4th verse of John chapter six, eight words were inserted into later copies of the Greek text in order to artificially lengthen the ministry of Y’shua. It is the pinnacle of intrigue that these eight words were appended to the very section of Scripture that guaranteed that the forgery would eventually be exposed. And it was revealed by the one miraculous event recorded by all four Gospel authors: the feeding of the 5,000.“ Rood goes on to identify those inserted words as “And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.” (John 6:4) Apart from other sighted discrepancies which makes this sentence suspect of forgery, we in the Hebrew Roots of the Christian Faith should be able to identify a glaring problem with this sentence and that is the phrase, “…a feast of the Jews.” For we know that the annual holy days—the moedim—are Yahovah’s Feasts (also described as the Feasts of the Lord); so clearly it would be evident that Yochanan, the writer of this gospel record, a Jew, would not have used this phrase “a feast of the Jews” to describe one of the annual feast days that he no doubt would have been very familiar with. The other glaring problem with this passage is that bread was served to the 5,000, and if it was indeed Passover–more precisely the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread, then serving the bread would have been in direct violation of Torah as the time of Passover required us to eat “unleavened bread.” As an investigator by career choice and trade, these issues surrounding this passage of John, are quite suspect to me as it should be to any who are familiar with the Hebraic Roots of our Faith. It would clearly seem to me that someone, other than the Apostle Yochanan (aka John), wrote or appended this Johannine passage.

The research Rood conducted in putting together The Chronological Gospels, especially as it relates to this crucial event—the feeding of the 5,000–led to him coming across manuscripts that predated the manuscripts that most of our English bibles are based upon. Those earlier texts DID NOT have the phrase or sentence, “And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.” This is prima fascie that forgers have taken hold of our bibles and for whatever reason, altered the original writings.

Now, as insignificant as this specific example of the bible being altered in places might seem to most self-professing Christians throughout the world, it should be of tremendous importance to us in the Hebrew Roots of the Faith. This example is a clear indicator that the brother of our Master, who penned the epistle of Jude, was right in his assessment that “…certain men [have] crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” (Jude 1:4 NAS) For we’ve established without any uncertainty, the absolute importance of hearing or listening to what Father has to say to us. For any distortion or error in Father’s Word could lead many of us astray, as so many in churchianity find themselves today.

Now, I don’t believe all is lost, despite what the naysayers will throw at us regarding the perceived unreliability of the biblical text. Father has, throughout the centuries, preserved His Word in many sundry ways. He has sent us His anointed teachers and His Spirit to ensure that His Word is delivered in as pristine a state as we, the receivers of the Word, are willing to receive. I truly believe Father is committed to our understanding what it is He has for us to know about Him and His expectations for us as His people. Oh, the Word of Yah is so wonderful, despite the attacks it has suffered at the hands of men who have personal and organizational agendas. When we fall in love with the Creator of the universe and we hunger and thirst after Him and His righteousness, and seek to know and please Him, nothing will prevent us from hearing His voice accurately.

Father spoke to the Prophet Isaiah in this regard and what Isaiah recorded—in my humble opinion–is one of the most profound and assuring verses to be found in the whole of Scripture in regards to the Word of Yahovah reaching its intended audience unsullied:

CJB Isaiah 55:1 ¶ “All you who are thirsty, come to the water! You without money, come, buy, and eat! Yes, come! Buy wine and milk without money – it’s free! 2 Why spend money for what isn’t food, your wages for what doesn’t satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and you will eat well, you will enjoy the fat of the land. 3 Open your ears, and come to me; listen well, and you will live – I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the grace I assured David. 4 I have given him as a witness to the peoples, a leader and lawgiver for the peoples. 5 You will summon a nation you do not know, and a nation that doesn’t know you will run to you, for the sake of ADONAI your God, the Holy One of Isra’el, who will glorify you.” 6 Seek ADONAI while he is available, call on him while he is still nearby. 7 Let the wicked person abandon his way and the evil person his thoughts; let him return to ADONAI, and he will have mercy on him; let him return to our God, for he will freely forgive. 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,” says ADONAI. 9 “As high as the sky is above the earth are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For just as rain and snow fall from the sky and do not return there, but water the earth, causing it to bud and produce, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater; 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth – it will not return to me unfulfilled; but it will accomplish what I intend, and cause to succeed what I sent it to do.” (Isa 55:1-11 CJB)

When we gave up that opportunity to hear directly from Yah on that fateful day at the foot of the mountain, from that point on Father spoke to us through His chosen vessels—first Moshe; then Joshua; then His appointed Judges; then His prophets; the righteous Kings of Israel (as well as the evil kings of Israel who rejected Yahovah’s Torah and led us away from Father, the actions of which resulted in our punishment and destruction as a nation); then Y’shua and His chosen Apostles. After Master left us, He sent us His Ruach HaKodesh (aka the Holy Spirit). The Ruach Kodesh also reveals and delivers Yahovah’s word to us. After the Apostles left us, we were left with the following means by which we today can accurately hear/can listen to what the Father says:

  • His recorded Word or as popularly known, the Bible–utilizing consistent, sound bible study practices and referencing a wide range of bible resources that Father in his providence and infinite wisdom has made available to us
  • His Ruach HaKodesh–His Holy Spirit–His voice that speaks to our hearts, minds and spirit
  • His anointed teachers–those who teach the truth and who do not compromise the Word for personal or denominational agendas
  • Our personal and collective life experiences
  • The people and situations that we come into contact with on a frequent and infrequent basis

These mediums by which the Father speaks to us are readily accessible to most of us in one form or another. However, and this is a huge problem that we face in our Faith as well as in all of Christianity, we tragically fail to optimize the opportunities to hear from Father. What I mean by this is that many of us fail to even pick up and study our bibles at any appreciable frequency. Many of us would prefer to have someone tell us what “thus sayeth the Lord.” This is one of the biggest reasons why Christianity is in the terrible rut it’s currently in. For centuries, many of us have sat under the teachings and doctrines and rules and laws of churches and denominations. Instead of hearing what Father has to say to us, we’ve given ourselves over to hearing what the church or a denomination has to say to us. By our not consulting and eating up our bibles each and every day, we leave ourselves open to missing vital information that we need to properly function as ambassadors of the Most High to this evil and perverted world. I discuss this very issue in my multi-episodic series entitled “Understanding the Bible” and I would humbly encourage you to take the time and listen to or read those postings. In those postings I discuss the tragedy of biblical illiteracy in the Hebraic Roots and Christian Faiths. The Bible, for all intents and purposes, is the primary means whereby Father speaks to us. Most of us are acutely aware of this. Being self-professing children of the Most High, we require constant instruction in order to live and fulfill the Creator’s will for us in this world. Yet our laziness and fear of reading and studying the bible prevents us from properly functioning as children of the Most High. The only way to fix this is to resist the enemy’s efforts that prevent us from delving into the riches of our bibles each and every day.

Which brings me to the next problem: the cares of life. The cares of life get in the way of our listening to and hearing from Yahovah/Yahweh. When we were in the Sinai desert under the leadership of Moshe, we didn’t have anything to distract us or take our attention away from hearing what Father had to say to us. The only reason we failed to obey what Father instructed us to do was because of our inclination as human beings to resist and even oppose the ways of our Creator. Shaul wrote this to the Roman assembly:

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
  2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
  3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:1
  4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
  5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
  6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.1
  7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.1
  8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. (Rom 8:1-8 KJV)

Today, with all the things constantly ongoing in our lives: careers, families, bills, current events, television and the internet, we are faced with rationing out time in a cramped life for Yahovah. This should never be the case for any of us. But for the vast majority of us, it sadly is. The cares of life drown out the quiet, small voice of the Ruach (Spirit) as it attempts to get our attention and communicate with us the will and commandments and love of the Father. How many of us go through an average, busy, hectic day, and at the end of that day, realize that we made no time for the Father. We find that we did not receive a Word from Father for that day. Instead, we received word(s) from children, husband/wives, bosses, co-workers, the television, the radio; everyone and anything but Father. This is the absolute best scenario for the enemy to have and it serves their purposes and goals to a “t.” Listening to Yahovah takes some work. It’s not something that we naturally do–it’s a foreign-alien practice to us as humans. We cannot entirely rely upon preachers, teachers or church-leaders to deliver the spiritual goods to us, although Father certainly speaks to us through his anointed teachers. But beyond that the teachers and preachers, we must listen and hear from Yahovah through fervent, heart-felt, meditative prayer. We must listen/hear from Yahovah through the reading of Yah’s Word and allowing the Ruach to reveal His truths to us. We must listen/hear Yah by quietly and observantly taking the time to appreciate Father’s creation. I realize this may seem completely unconventional to most, but when we take the time to experience and appreciate Yahovah’s creation, the Ruach uses those rare moments to reveal many things about the Creator of the Universe to us and that is another opportunity to listen and hear Father.

Sometimes it comes down to simply turning off the electronics, getting in to our closets, putting our bibles on the desk in front of us, clearing our minds of all the stuff that it has been filled with the day prior, and availing ourselves to the infilling, leading and revelation of the Ruach Kodesh. We make room for everything else in our lives, but we tend to place Yahovah at the bottom of each day’s to-do and personal appointment lists. If we find that we’ve run out of time, we may give Father an obligatory nod of the our spirit and promise to do better the next day and move on with our lives. Father demands more from us. He demands to be first in our lives. He purchased us with the blood of His Son and has branded us with His Ruach Ha Kodesh. ( 19 Or don’t you know that your body is a temple for the Ruach HaKodesh who lives inside you, whom you received from God? The fact is, you don’t belong to yourselves; 20 for you were bought at a price. So use your bodies to glorify God. (1Co 6:19-20 CJB) Thus we are to become and exist in this world as His loyal servants. Not as “robots” or some form of automatons, but exercising the unique gifts and character in the service of His Kingdom. Once we realize what the “real deal” is, we can hear and listen to Yahovah. And when those impediments to hearing and listening to Yahovah have been done away with, we can live that life abundant that Master provides. Master said,

“ 7 ¶ Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (Joh 10:7-10 KJV)

Lastly, we can learn and hear from Yahovah through a recall of our individual life experiences, as well as through the life experiences of others whom we may come into contact with. How many times have we come into contact with someone and hear their testimony and have been profoundly affected by their testimony or their story? How many times have we, conversely, looked back and have seen the path we’ve taken and have learned something so profound that it literally changes our lives and the direction of our walk with Messiah right then and there? It’s happened to me on a number of occasions. That which profoundly affects and changes our lives may seem to others as insignificant. But that seeming insignificant thing can be used by the Spirit (Ruach Kodesh) to teach us something about Father; about ourselves; and about the world around us, through that simple reflection. We often tend to devalue our own experiences and interactions with others. However, it’s these varied and seeming insignificant (as well as the significant) life-experiences that have played such a great role in my spiritual development—looking back over an experience or interaction, and seeing something there of a critical spiritual nature, and then internalizing and acting upon that revelation. These times offer opportunities for Yahovah to communicate to us His will for our lives and His commandments of us as His chosen ones.

Listening to and hearing from Yahovah comes to us by many obvious and not-so obvious means. It’s not from just reading our bibles, although the greatest messages from Father come directly from our study and reading of the bible. But Yah’s Word comes to us from virtually every aspect of our lives; some obvious and some not so obvious. Thus, we must shut up, crank up our hearing (be it physically or spiritually), and just avail ourselves to hear what Father has to say to us. We don’t have Father speaking His Word directly in to our ears as He did on that fateful day at the foot of the mountain. We forfeited that opportunity. We don’t have Moshe, the prophets or the apostles to provide us direct instruction from Father. But what we do have is the written Word, the Ruach Kodesh, Yahovah’s anointed teachers and the many life-experiences that provide us endless opportunities to hear from our Creator. That is our Torah Challenge for today fellow saints-in-training: to listen to and hear from Yahovah by whatever means He chooses to deliver His Word to us. How we go about listening to and receiving that Word is entirely up to us as individuals. But we better damn well figure out and get it done—sooner than later.

 

Shalom and may you walk in the power and might of His Ruach Kodesh. Sincerest blessings to you all.

By Grace are you Saved–Grace and the Law Part 2

by | Sep 10, 2015 | Blog

 

By Grace are You Saved

 

Part 2 of the series: Grace and the Law

In part one (1) of this series entitle Grace and the Law, we critically looked at some of the key bible passages that our cousins in fundamental and charismatic churchianity (or Christianity as popularly referenced) have used over the centuries to support their claim that Torah was done away with and replaced by the hijacked (my wording) doctrine of grace. Allow me to conduct a brief review of those controversial passages so that we all have a central place to begin our quest for a sound, biblically-based response to our Faith’s most staunch critics.

Restating the problem simply, traditional and charismatic Christianity contends that Torah has been done away with by the work of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Furthermore, our cousins in the Christian religion contend that any attempt or even thought of adhering to the Laws or Commandments of God (or as we prefer to call these collectively, Torah) are tantamount to a transgression of God’s grace through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ; that we are placing our eternal hope in works that could never pay the price of our redemption. Finally, the Jew showed us that it is impossible to keep Torah, thus any effort to keep Torah will be met with utter failure and any claim of faith in Jesus Christ, a total mockery. According to the Christian, Jesus kept Torah perfectly during His life and ministry here on earth. Therefore, we who would claim Jesus as our Lord and Saviour no longer are required to keep Torah. In other words, everything has been taken care of by the Creator or Jesus Christ—in other words, don’t worry, be happy—occupy until Jesus returns and raptures us from this earth and takes us to heaven where we’ll reign with Him for all eternity.

Conversely, we in the Hebraic Roots/Messianic Believers in Y’shua Messiah/Netzari communities contend that we are compelled by our love for the Father and in strict obedience to our Lord and Master, Y’shua HaMashiyach, to be Torah honoring, observant and obedient. We see our salvation as a free gift from Yahovah, the God of Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya’akov. Furthermore, we contend that our freedom from sin and the resulting eternal life came to those of us who would claim Y’shua HaMashiyach as our Messiah, as a result of His atoning death on the execution stake on Calvary more than 2,000-years ago. It is our love for our Creator and our loyalty to our Master Y’shua HaMashiyach that we, without reservation, without the slightest hesitation, obey the Father’s Torah and adhere to His way of life for mankind. Our salvation is tied to Torah by way of our qualification for that free gift of salvation. We are able, contrary to popular Christian belief and teachings, that one may live Torah perfectly as a result of the infilling of the Ruach Kodesh (aka the Holy Spirit) and it is this divine arrangement that the Christian wrongly interprets as “grace.” Despite the many seeming anti-Torah passages in the Brit HaDashah (aka the New Testament), primarily from the pen of Rav Shaul (aka the Apostle Paul), we of the true Faith once delivered to the first-century saints by Y’shua HaMashiyach realize the truth of what Shaul was trying to get across to the recipients of his many epistles. We contend that Westernized—Paulinized churchianity has failed to properly execute sound biblical exegesis of his writings and thus it is really these (that is the westernized Christian) that have fallen from grace, not us. This is not a finger-pointing exercise, but a thing of seeking the truth as revealed to any who would seek it via (1) the revelation of the Ruach Kodesh; (2) bible scholarship that is devoid of denominational assertiveness and influence; and (3) commonsense that the Creator endowed each of us with at birth.

I, unfortunately, am of a mind that our two sides can not be reconciled to any appreciable degree without one side conceding to the claims and accusations of the other. It would mean we in the Hebraic Roots of the Christian Faith abandoning a fulfilled life of discipline, love and peace in Torah for a contrived life of “live as you please” or “as you see fit” and “occupy until Christ returns.” It would mean we would become subject to the traditions, laws and rules of men. Essentially, it would mean going over to a life of religion that Y’shua came to free us from. I came from that and many of you came from that as well. We’ve come to realize and greatly appreciate the freedom that has come as a result of our giving ourselves over to our Master Y’shua as opposed to giving ourselves over to men; to a church; to a denomination; to a religion. Y’shua told us that He came that we would have life and experience that life in abundance. (John 10:10) As wonderful as life may appear in churchianity, her members have spoken loudly with their feet and their wallets. The Barna Group reported a few years ago that people are leaving tradition/fundamental Christianity in droves—some estimates place the number in the millions over the course of the last decade. The primary reason given by those who have left Christianity is a lack of spiritual fulfillment and their lives having not been challenged during the time they were members of the church. Conversely, all indications are (and unfortunately there is no data that I can find to back this up) that our Faith is growing and that large numbers of folks are coming to a knowledge of the Hebraic Roots of the Christian Faith. These are finding rest for their weary souls and a refreshing for their diminished spirits. Indeed, the Ruach is moving in our Faith. It is a wonderful time to be a part of the true Faith once delivered.

Last episode we looked at a few controversial passages that may cause some of us problems when trying to defend and explain to non-Torah observant believers in Jesus Christ (or traditional/fundamental/charismatic Christians) why we believe Torah is still viable for every believer in Y’shua Messiah. As well as it’s important that we make sure within our own minds and spirits that we understand what Shaul meant when he wrote these seeming anti-Torah passages. Let’s go over them quickly before we move forward. They are as follows:

Ephesians 2:8,9— 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. Is Shaul saying here that grace through the simple act of faith eliminates any need for works in a believer’s life? What does Shaul mean when he says “not of works?” What is this “works?” What does a “workless” life look like as it pertains to those who depend solely upon grace through faith?

Romans 6:14—14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. I discussed last episode that sin, despite what Shaul appears to be saying, remains commonplace in many congregations and churches throughout the world. Since it would stand to reason that Shaul is not speaking to actual sin that believers are prone to commit—that is the violation of Torah; is it then reasonable to conclude that Shaul is actually referring to something else here? Could it be that Shaul is creating an analogy here whereby he is actually referring to any negative influences or affects that sin will have in opposition to the believer’s eternal life?

Romans 7:6— 6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.1 According to this passage, it would seem that Shaul is saying that the law was not good for us and if we were to serve in the newness of spirit, then we had to be delivered from the law. Is Shaul saying here that the Law had problems associated with it? Was the Law problematic? Was the Law bad? Was the Law a mistake that needed correcting? Was the Law a failed experiment? If we choose to honor and obey Torah, have we placed ourselves in spiritual harm’s way, so to speak?

Galatians 3:10-14– 10 ¶ For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. 11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. 13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Is Shaul here saying that Torah observers are under some kind or type of curse? If so, what is there about the Law that makes it a a curse? If the Law is deemed to be a curse through the auspices of the Holy Spirit that was working in and through Shaul, and that Holy Spirit was provided to Shaul as a gift from Y’shua HaMashiyach, why would Father have placed upon us a cursed thing such as Torah? What would that say about our Creator? Are we then victims of the Law?

Lastly, Galatians 5:2-4– 2 ¶ Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. 3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. 4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. Are we who are Torah observant truly fallen from grace? For that matter, what does “fallen from grace” really mean? Do our cousins in churchianity, who love to use this passage as an assault upon us and our Faith, truly understand what this actually means? Is it true what our cousins in churchianity say about those of us who follow Torah—that if we choose to obey the Law, if we are found to have violated one of the 613-commandments or laws, that we are guilty of breaking the entire Torah? Does breaking one of the commandments actually nullify the rest or make one guilty of breaking the entire Torah? Is circumcision a dead or done-away with commandment? If we who are of the true Faith once delivered, who have chosen to be Torah observant, make the work of Y’shua Messiah of no effect unto us? If so, why?

Setting the Stage

As I stated in the previous post, these are some tough passages to confront for those of us Torah observant believers in Y’shua Messiah. What I find very interesting is that Christianity has gone out of her way to apply a very literal read of these passages and has effectively made Rav Shaul, or as the Westerner prefers to refer to him as the Apostle to the Gentiles Paul, into the most effective anti-Law (aka Torah) agent in all of history.

We inherently know that a plain read of these Pauline passages can be profoundly misleading. We also know that biblical illiteracy is at the heart of the misunderstanding and mistranslation of these passages. The purpose of this episode is to take each of these passages and determine whether or not the plain read of that passage provides an accurate meaning of that passage based on sound biblical interpretative practice and exegesis. We will resist denominational influences to guide our study. We will not allow our individual cultural and personal biases to prevent our gaining a true understanding of these passages. All we want to do is to resolve once and for all what Shaul meant when he wrote these passages and whether or not he stood for Torah observance in the life of the believer in Y’shua Messiah. I want to know if I truly understand why it is important for all believers in Y’shua Messiah to be Torah observant, especially in light of these seeming anti-Torah passages of Shaul. If we fail to prove that the plain reading of these passages does NOT reject Torah observance by us believers, then we are in a dilemma: are we Torah observant because someone told us we needed to be but we really have no true biblical basis for our beliefs and actions? Or are we simply making things up in our heads and living according to how we feel we should live? I don’t know about you, but I want to be in line with the will and commandments of Yahovah/Yahweh/Yahuah and His Son Y’shua HaMashiyach.

So let’s get started. But first, let’s establish some ground rules for this study: (1) we acknowledge the primacy of Scripture to determine how we live our lives in Y’shua Messiah. (2) We believe that Shaul was a sent one from Y’shua and therefore he has authority to instruct us in the ways of our God. (3) We acknowledge that the only way to gain a true understanding of the bible is through the revelation of the Ruach Kodesh (aka the Holy Spirit) and applying proper exegetical principles to our study of Scripture. Those exegetical principles include: (a) allowing the bible to interpret itself; (b) avoid taking one verse alone to establish doctrine, but to examine every other applicable verse in comparison; (c) studying each passage in question in context—that is, what is the true issue being addressed; who is writing the passage; what was going on in history at the time the passage was written; who was the author’s intended reader and audience; how do the surrounding verses connect with the verse/passage in question? And (d), when examining the use of certain key words in the passage in question, gain an understanding as to how that same word is used in other passages of the bible.

That which we don’t cover we’ll pick up where we leave off in the next episode. Again, I believe that we can not downplay the importance of this subject as it relates to our Faith and our being able to defend what it is we believe and why we believe that which we say we believe and practice. Too many of us assume that we don’t need to defend our actions or our Faith. Yet when we are confronted by someone who opposes our Faith, or we are asked by someone in search of truth to explain our Faith, we choke—we present a poor witness. Our Master gave His best for us when He walked this earth 2,000-years ago. Shouldn’t we do likewise? I don’t want to disappoint Him nor do I want to do anything that will diminish the opportunity for someone to find truth in the midst of a jacked-up world. We have all the answers to this world’s many woes. That being said, my goal, my intent, my mission in life is to be ready to give anyone who asks me about my Faith. Rav Kefa (aka the Apostle Peter) wrote in his first epistle:

ESV 1 Peter 3:15, 16 but ain your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, balways being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and crespect, 16 ahaving a good conscience, so that, bwhen you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

Does the Creator’s Grace Eliminate Torah Entirely?

Ephesians 2:8,9— 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

This verse seems to aptly support the doctrine of “sola gratia” that I referenced last episode/last posting. Sola gratia, if you recall, is the Latin phrase meaning “grace only” or “grace alone.” The concept of sola gratia came out of the Protestant Reformation and was to stand in stark contrast to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church that seemed to suggest that salvation was achieved through the grace of God and also by the merits of “one’s own works performed in love.” (Wikipedia-sola gratia) Although this was a hardcore belief of those behind the reformation, the truth of the matter was that the Roman Catholic Church “explicitly affirmed the doctrine of sola gratia in the year 529” in the Councils of Orange and of Trent. It was the doctrine of “sola gratia” that emerged from these councils and was explained as such: that salvation is made possible only by grace and that faith and works “are the secondary means that have their origins in and are sustained by grace.” The protestant reformers, however, seized upon and took the concept of sola gratia to a higher level, taking works entirely out of the equation and actually labeling works as Legalism. Bottom line, as it relates to the protestant reformer’s concept of sola gratia—which today constitutes the same view of most fundamental,traditional and charismatic denominations throughout the world—is that “salvation is entirely comprehended in God’s gifts (that is, God’s act of free grace), dispensed by the Holy Spirit according to the redemptive work of Jesus Christ alone.” (Wikipedia—sola gratia)

Now, one must agree that there is a problem with the doctrine or concept of “sola gratia” and that problem is what is referred to in Wikipedia as “Antinomianism.” Antinomianism argues that “if someone is saved, he/she has no need to live a holy life, given that salvation is already in the bag” so to speak. And isn’t this perspective a primary cause for the schism; the chasm; the thing that divides our two faiths? It is indeed clear that our love and obedience to Torah is nothing short of a gross offense to Christianity as a whole. The problem, however, is not with us but with the Christian who is sorely mistaken, not only in their understanding of the concept of “grace,” but also in their reasoning and understanding as to why we are Torah observant.

So as it relates to this passage of Ephesians, what do we know about the purpose and intent of this letter? Who was Shaul’s intended audience or readers? What could have prompted this statement from Shaul? Well, scholars tell us that Ephesus was located on the east side of the Aegean Sea in Asia Minor which is part of modern Turkey. Shaul’s first visit to Ephesus is recorded in Acts 18:18-23, which appears to be one of the stops Shaul made on his second missionary journey. The assembly in Ephesus appears to have been a mixture of Gentiles and Jews who seemed to be primarily congregating at the local synagogue, which was common place throughout the Roman Empire of the first century. With that, we know then, that a mixture of Torah observance, Judaism, and maybe even some paganism was being practiced amongst the members of that assembly. It so happens that Ephesus was famed for its Temple of Artemis or Diana. So like everywhere else that Shaul’s foot print was felt, Shaul had a rough road to haul—trying to coral believers from every walk of first-century life, into the true Faith, must have been an impossible task.

This portion of the Ephesian letter, interestingly enough, seems to be focusing on the Gentile half of the assembly. Shaul writes:

“For it is by His grace we are rescued, through faith; and this is not of yourselves, but it is the gift of Elohim: Not of works, or else anyone glory (in themselves). For we are His creation who are created in Y’shua the Mashiyach for good works which Elohim has before prepared for us to walk in. Wherefore be mindful that you formerly were carnal Gentiles; and you were called the uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision and which is the work of the hands of the flesh. And you were, at that time, without the Mashiyach; and were aliens from the regulations of Israel; and strangers to the covenant of the promise; and were without hope and without Elohim in the world. But now, by Y’shua the Mashiyach, you who before were afar off, have been brought near by the blood of the Mashiyach. He is Himself our peace, who has made the two (become) one, and has demolished the wall which stood n the midst, and the enmity, by His flesh; and in His flesh (the) enmity and regulations of commands (contained) in his commandments are abolished (so) that in himself (an occurrence of the divine nature or qnoma), he might make the two into one, establishing peace.” (Eph. 2:8-15 AENT)

Now there are a few things to consider as we examine this passage in context. Instead of taking just verses 8 and 9 at face value, we have now taken on a sizable chunk of Shaul’s letter to the Ephesian assembly. Now, most of churchianity when referencing Ephesians in their arguments in support of sola gratia and the abolishment of the Law or Torah, will focus only on verses 8 and 9. However, there is a severe problem in referencing just verses 8 and 9 when discussing the issue of grace and the law, and that is one receives an incomplete understanding of what Shaul has to say on the subject.

To begin with, Shaul goes on to say in verse 10 that we (Gentiles) have newly been created “for good works which Elohim has before prepared for us to walk in.” Does this not hit you like a brick wall as it hit me? What is Shaul saying here? He’s saying that we who were Gentiles, having been made new by the work of Y’shua, are now created “for good works” and those good works were prepared by Yahovah (as opposed to Elohim) for us to walk in. The NAS and ESV says of those good works, that they were “prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” And the natural question that we must ask is, what are those good works that were prepared beforehand that we should walk in them? Well, the phrase “good works” is found in 23 verses in the KJV. Now, we must be careful to discern the different Greek words used to describe “good works” which are “agathos” and “ergon” respectively. In some passages, the word “good” is “kalos” which means beautiful, handsome or excellent. Shaul uses “agathos” in this Ephesians passage. Invariably, however, the Greek word “ergon” is used to denote “work.”

As it pertains to this particular passage, Thayer’s Greek Lexicon suggests ”ergon” is “that which is required and approved of Yahovah (as opposed to God), in the same sense of Mashiyach.” And we can safely presume that which is required and approved of by Yahovah and Mashiyach as related to “works” is commandments or rules, or as I will boldly propose here, Torah. Yes, I believe Shaul is suggesting here that we Gentiles, through the work of Mashiyach, have been fashioned to do “good works” which I surmise to be Torah. There are several biblical verses that I point to as support for my contention:

Titus 2:11-14—For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”

What is Shaul writing about here? He’s talking about the grace of Yahovah bringing salvation to the world and that grace teaching us to live Godly lives as we await the Saviour’s reappearing. And we know that it is not up to man’s discernment or determination as to what is Godly and what is not. Father alone is the stipulator of what is Godly. Yet Father has not left the determination as to what is Godly or not Godly up to chance or up to trying to read His mind. He revealed what is Godly and what is not by His Torah. It’s not rocket science.

Titus 2:1-10—But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: that the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children. To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you. Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.”

Hello! All of these qualities are not unique to Shaul’s teachings. They come right out of Torah. Good works!

2 Timothy 3:17—But thou hast fully known my doctrine (writing to Timothy), manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus (here’s that reference to living Godly lives again) shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou has learned and has been assured of, knowing of whom thou has learned them; and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures (none other than the Tanakh—the Torah, the prophets and the writings—but primarily Torah, because the New Testament had not been created as yet), which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all “good works.””

Here we go again, good works being tied directly to scripture, or better, tied to Torah.

And there are several others that I will not overtax with you. But suffice to say, that Shaul seems to be tying the concept of “good works” or “ergon agathos” to being Torah observant.

But then there is the other aspect of works that we must not overlook here and that has to do with Shaul tying works directly to “law.” The phrase “works of the law” is used some 5-times in the KJV. (Reference: Rom. 9:32; Gal. 2:16; 3:2, 5, 10)

So I think we have enough to put into some semblance of understanding what Shaul is saying in Ephesian 2: 8—and that has to do with providing a quasi definition of grace; that being grace through our faith in Y’shua HaMashiyach, has rescued us from the world and from eternal death. That rescuing came as a free gift from Yahovah/Yahweh and all we had to do is accept that rescue. In doing so, however, we have received the power to live godly lives. And what does living godly lives look like? It’s all contained in Torah. We have become new creatures. Being former Gentiles (but now Israelites—having crossed over and grafted in) we lived according to the ways of men—evil, sinful, without Yahovah in our lives. Taking on that newness of creation, we have the wherewithal to walk according to His ways or as Shaul wrote: created for good works which God “prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” What is this good works that Shaul is referring to? It’s Torah. So already we see that Shaul has not discarded Torah observance by believers, especially Gentiles. But Shaul clearly indicates here that grace has saved us from the world and from destruction and has provided us the means by which we may walk in accordance to Yahovah’s stipulated way of life for mankind.

Oh, I have no doubt that the more stubborn and obstinate Christian will insist that “good works” as referenced here by Shaul throughout his writing has nothing to do with Torah, but will instead provide a definition or explanation of the phrase “good works” that is consistent to his/her western understanding of what good works means. The problem with this line of reasoning is that there will be thousands, if not millions of perspectives on what constitutes good work. Like opinions, everyone has their own idea of what constitutes good work. But let’s break it down folks: our opinions amount to nothing more than “dung” in the sight of the Almighty. And if anyone is a serious believer in Y’shua HaMashiyach, or for that matter, Jesus Christ, and they are pure in their agenda, then he or she must concede that it’s all about Yahovah/Yahweh/Yahuah/God/Father. It is His opinion, and His opinion alone that matters. So let’s get off our high horses and stop being arrogant fools. Any concept of what is good, especially as it relates to works, must absolutely come from Father and can not come from man, as much as we may like to thing that we have the right stuff to determine what is good and what living a good and godly life looks like.

But let’s not stop here fellow saints, we’re heading towards the stretch as it relates to this Ephesian passage—and hang on, this is where it really gets exciting and brings home for us the truth about Torah living in relation to grace! Hallelujah.

Verse 11, Shaul, a Benjamite, a former Pharisee and at the time of this writing, an Apostle—a sent one directly from our Master Y’shua Messiah—lovingly reminds us of our past. We were carnal gentiles. The KJV, ESV, NAS, ASV words it, Gentiles in the flesh. But the literal rendering of the Greek text (along with the DBY and YLT) reads nations in the flesh. In other words, we were not Israelites and we were certainly not Jews. Thus looking at us from the Jewish and Israelite perspective–from Shaul’s perspective, we were so-called “uncircumcised.” Being of the so-called “uncircumcised,” we were aliens, devoid of commonwealth of Israel, or better rendered in the Greek, we were lacking Israeli-citizenship—verse 12. For all intents and purposes, we were “outsiders.” We were despised and rejected by the Israeli nation, especially by the Jewish nation. Being outside the realm of the true Israelites—not speaking of Judaism per se, but of true Israelis who’s lives were governed by Torah—we were NOT privy to the covenant promises that came by virtue of being an Israeli; especially an Israeli who had Mashiyach as their Master and Yahovah as their God. Thus we were in a hopeless state. Destined for eternal damnation. But the Father, in His infinite wisdom and love for mankind, made provision for even us, being, existing in our hopeless state. He inserted Himself in the affairs of men to offer a lifeline to any who would grab hold to it. It was no longer a case whereby we would have to live out our lives in a hopeless state. It was not situation that we had to convert to Judaism to have the remotest chance and part of the covenant. No! Not this time! It was an opportunity for complete inclusion in the commonwealth of Israel; full access to the blessings of the covenant. What should have cost us our lives for access and inclusion, cost us nothing—just acceptance. But with that acceptance comes responsibility. That responsibility is that we perform. Perform what? That we live and operate in the realm of “good works,” for we have been made—we have been prepared—for such. That is who we become—it is who we are identified as. It is what we look like. It is how the world sees us from then on. Good works. It’s not negotiable as the Christian would assert.

Being born here in America, my citizenship comes to me free of charge. However, if I am to be; if I am to remain a citizen, there are things that I am expected to do—obey the laws of the land; pay my taxes; make a living; contribute to society in some way or another. If I fail to obey the laws of the land or pay taxes or make a living for myself and my family, I will not realize the full benefits of American citizenship. In fact, I may even lose my citizenship (in a low-level way I would add) by being incarcerated.

Despite what the Christian believes and teaches and lives, there are no free lunches as it relates to our relationship with Father. He does indeed offer us the gift of eternal life that comes without charge to us—but oh what price was paid for that gift. In order to receive and keep the gift, we must qualify for it. Father is not going to promote any human to the place of being one of His children; a king; a priest; His elect in a state of rebellion; hating Him by virtue of being disobedient to His will and His commandments. Does it make any sense, Christian, to think and believe that we can live anyway we damn-well please, reject Father’s laws and commandments, and enter into His Kingdom as honored citizens? Would you allow your children to live in your house in total rebellion and disobedience and receive complete and unfettered freedom and privilege? Well, some of you do, and that’s a shame. But let me just tell you, Yahovah don’t play that. He has purchased us with the blood of His son. Shaul wrote to the Corinthian assembly: “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price…” (1 Cor. 6:19, 20) We’ve accepted that gift. We now live in His house. He has house rules. Therefore, we are compelled to live in His house under His rules. His rules are contained in Torah. Thus, we must be Torah observant, even as believers in Y’shua Messiah. If we elect to not obey His rules—His Torah—well, that’s a story for another day.

Conclusion:

If there is anything to be gotten from this exercise, it is the absolute necessity of sound biblical exegesis that include contextual analysis—context, context, context. If we were simply to take verses 8 and 9 of this 2nd chapter of Ephesian, from a purely plain reading perspective, we could very easily walk away having an unshakable impression that sola gratia is the name of the game today and that Torah observance by believers in Jesus Christ is not only unnecessary, but completely in opposition to the sacrifice of the Saviour and the doctrine of grace. Employing bible sound bites to explain and support Christian doctrines is a prescription for destruction; at the least, a prescription for living an unfulfilled and potentially sinful life.

References:

  • Wikipedia—Sola Gratia
  • The Aramaic English New Testament (AENT)
  • Friberg Greek Lexicon
  • Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary on the Whole Bible
  • Nelson’s Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts
  • Michael Rood
  • Thayer’s Greek Lexicon
 
 
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Babylon Rising and the First Shall be Last–Rob Skiba–Messianic Torah Observer Book Review

by | Aug 14, 2015 | Blog

I came across Rob Skiba this past May while attending his breakout session at the 2015 United in Torah Conference in San Diego, California. I had never heard of Rob Skiba prior to attending the conference. Since coming into the Faith I had for all-intents-and-purposes ended abandoned my interest in eschatology, end-time prophecy and the like, with the exception of my recent reading of Michael Rood’s “The Mystery of Iniquity–The Legal Prerequisites to the Return of the Messiah.”  Rob’s topic at the conference was entitled “The Yahuwah Triangle.” This 3-hours breakout session exposed me to not only concepts from the Book of Genesis that I had never heard of before–that being the concept of who and what Nephillim truly were–as well as present-day concepts related to the pagan origins of our nation and the end-times being somewhat of a repeat of Genesis chapter 6. I left his presentation completely overwhelmed and completely wanting more from this man of Yahovah.

Rob Skiba at the Prophecy Club

Rob Skiba describes himself as a writer, director, actor and researcher. After hearing his presentation at United in Torah and consuming this book, I describe him as a man on a mission: a mission to reveal the hidden evil that has existed from the time of Nimrod through the founding of our nation, all the way up to the end times of this world. The story and concepts that he brings out in this book are nothing short of jaw-dropping and frankly disturbing. After attending Rob’s presentation at the May conference, I couldn’t wait to get a hold of his materials and gain a better understanding of full message he is trying to get across to our nation and the world.

I got a hold of Babylon Rising and the First Shall be Last shortly after returning from the conference. I found Rob’s prose to be refreshing, compelling and it held my attention throughout the entirety of what is a moderately lengthy read. My understanding and knowledge of Babylonian-Egyptian-Greek and Roman mythology was and continues to be essentially non-existent, but Rob did a fairly good job of keeping a reader like me afloat by providing as much of a primer on the subject as practical, without bogging down the content with a course on mythology and paganism. As I’ve mentioned in a recent podcast and blog posting, I’ve taken it upon myself to research and gain as much of an understanding of the Ancient Near East and its associated religious practices and beliefs. This project I have to admit did not originate with my exposure to Rob Skiba but with Torah Teacher Matthew Vander Els. I came across Matthew’s teachings about the nations of the Ancient Near East and their influences on ancient Israel–this in the fall of 2014 at a Michael Rood conference in New York. Matthew’s presentation convinced me of the importance of having at least a modicum of knowledge and understanding of Ancient Near Eastern customs and practices in order to better understand aspects of our Hebraic Roots. Rob’s presentation this past spring and my reading of Babylon Rising only solidified in my mind and soul that part of our training in the Faith must include a familiarization of ancient paganism and its influence upon the world then, today and tomorrow.

Babylon Rising Skiba

Babylon Rising and the First Shall be the Last was unlike any book on end times I’d ever read. It was an indictment on all that we Americans hold dear in this country: our history, freedom, democracy, liberty, the pursuit of the American Dream and the like.  Few of us would ever imagine that much of what we held sacred and true regarding our nation’s beginnings and her government and society are far from the contrived Christian foundation that we were all brought up to believe. Prior to reading this book, I had been primed by a fellow Hebraic Roots brother on the questionable origins of our beloved nation. Then upon reading Skiba’s well written dissertation on this subject, many of the pieces and questions I’d had in my mind for the last several years seemed to fall handily in place.

Skiba spends a great amount of time laying the foundation of how the end times will not be as fundamental denominational writers have long envisioned it be. In fact, Skiba’s version of the end times can be described as a revival of an “oldie” but far from “goodie.” The first three or so chapters focus on the Genesis account of the pre-flood and early post-flood period of man’s history. I would say that the basis or theme of this section of the book would be found in that famous prophecy delivered to us by the Savior that simply says: “For the Son of Man’s coming will be just as it was in the days of Noach.” (Mat. 24:37 CJB) Skiba certainly makes a sound argument against those who would link this prophecy to anything but those things that were transpiring during the days of Noah. What I mean by that is that modern end time teachers have gone out of their way to link end time events to technological advances, Catholicism, financial devastation, religious fanaticism and governmental harassment. Skiba does not preclude that any one of these elements is part and parcel of the end times. Instead, Skiba draws the reader to examine the Genesis record to arrive at an understanding of exactly what the Master was referring to. Without going into the content of the book, suffice to say, the things and situation of Noah’s day is nothing like that which the modern day end time prophets and teachers are putting out. Rob’s thesis is nothing short of shocking and utterly thought provoking.

The second half of the book is devoted to the pagan origins of the United States which I believe will send much of churchianity, or even the secular segment of our nation, spiraling out of psychological control. To see logically and irrefutably laid out before the reader a thesis that shows the United States from the beginning was founded upon paganism and that she has had little connection whatsoever with Christianity is nothing short of a life changing paradigm shift. Bottom line, Skiba orients the reader to see quite clearly that this is not the America that he/she has been led and taught to understand from a Christian perspective. Everything, from our money to our monuments and so-called hallowed halls of democracy in Washington are infected with paganism. So deep is this rabbit hole that one can spend a lifetime simply trying to find one’s way out of the labyrinth of tunnels and dips and corners that lead to the origin of this nation’s government and societal norms.

Skiba spends the the latter portions of the book tying everything together from the perspective that much of what we’ve been taught in our denominations is erroneous. It is this erroneous foundation that will sentence many a would-be believer down a path of destruction at the end times. The sense of false security that is germane to Western churchianty precludes most Christians from ever realizing the truth and it is that lack of understanding, coupled with the sense of false security, that places the whole of Christianity in a precarious situation as it relates to end times. The bottom line Skiba concludes, is that, it really doesn’t matter what it means to us; it matters what it means to God!. And that is where churchianity has slipped off the tracks. It is my prayer that books like Babylon Rising will awaken the Church Triumphant from its millennia old slumber before it’s too late.

Babylon Rising-and the First Shall be Last is an absolute must read for any self-professing believer in Y’shua Messiah. The reader may not agree or believe everything Skiba writes in this book, and that’s okay. In fact, Skiba goes to great pains throughout the book to provide the reader with a disclaimer that much of what is written is Skiba writing on that which he has researched and that which has been revealed to him by the Spirit. It is up to the reader to do his/her own research and come to his/her own conclusions. This is as it should be in every aspect of our Faith–hear, receive, verify, do something with it.

Get this book Saints.