Month: February 2015

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Full Disclosure (Part 2)

The Apostle Paul

Paul explained more fully. Paul said if we would believe in our heart that Yahweh raised Yeshua from the dead, and confess Him as Lord, then He would save us; because with the heart, we believe unto righteousness; and with the mouth we confess unto salvation. (Romans 10:9-10)

 

Paul went on to say that whosoever would call upon the name of the Lord would be saved. (Romans 10:13) Did Paul mean what he said?

 

When Paul wrote these things to the believers in the Roman ekklesia (what we call the church), it was the only “New Testament” they had because the New Testament did not exist. Paul did not say in his letter to the believers in Rome that they had to believe in Yeshua, and then do good works, live right, and persevere (believe) until the end to be saved.

 

So are we to believe that the great Apostle Paul, the Apostle to the gentiles, preached an incomplete gospel to the people in Rome? Are we to believe that Paul did not provide a full disclosure of the terms and conditions of salvation to the people in Rome, and gave them false hope?

 

God forbid!

 

What about the Roman guard? When Yahweh delivered Paul and Silas from prison, the Roman prison guard asked them what he had to do in order to be saved. Paul and Silas told the guard that if he would believe on the Lord Yeshua Messiah, he and his household would be saved.

 

Did Paul and Silas give a full disclosure of the terms and conditions of salvation to the Roman prison guard, or did they give him a false hope?

 

God forbid!

 

There is something deeper going on, and it is this: A fundamental transformation. As we believe in our heart that Yeshua is Messiah, and trust Him as Lord, His Spirit comes to live in our body. Yeshua’s Spirit becomes one with our spirit, and we are transformed into Yahweh’s son.

 

At that time, Yeshua’s life becomes our life. (Gal 2:20) Yeshua’s Spirit gives us new desires, and produces fruit (evidence of His presence) in our lives, and helps us put off the flesh, and grow in righteousness, and holiness. And He empowers us to preserve (believe) until the end.

 

In Romans 8, verse 9, Paul, speaking of this transformation, says, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his”.

 

In verse 14, Paul says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”

 

It should be abundantly clear that Yeshua, and Paul are preaching the exact same Gospel, which says that if we believe on Yeshua Messiah, Yeshua’s Spirit will come to dwell in our body with us, and become one with our human spirit. And since Yeshua and Yahweh are one, we are united with Yahweh and Yeshua, and have eternal life, at that point.

This raises two important questions.

 

One: What does it mean to believe? Two: What is eternal life?

 

In the Apostolic Writings (what we call the New Testament), the English word, “believe” comes from the Greek word, “pisteusas” (Strong’s # 4100). This Greek word means to have knowledge of a fact, and assent to it, while putting full confidence in it.

 

So, there are two aspects of belief. One: hearing a particular fact, and assenting to it. Two: placing our full confidence, and trust in that fact.

 

The first dimension of belief is hearing the truth, and agreeing with it, which is a cognitive process, i.e., it is a function of the brain/mind. The second dimension of belief is placing one’s full confidence and trust in that fact, which is a function of the heart, i.e., our innermost being.

 

When a person’s belief is one dimensional, he hears the truth, and agrees with it cognitively. Cognitive belief produces a small amount of change in a person’s life via cognitive forces, and religious activities. It does not, however, produce the transformation unto eternal life.

 

When a person’s belief is two dimensional, he hears the truth, and agrees with it cognitively, and then, at some point, he puts his full confidence and trust in this truth, and tries to walk it out in his life.

 

This commitment to walking out the truth is called repentance. And without repentance, belief is incomplete, and this kind of belief does not produce the fundamental ontological transformation unto eternal life.

 

Whenever someone’s belief is two dimensional (complete and real), in their heart, they commit to living out the truth in their daily life. In response to their repentance, Yeshua’s Spirit comes to live in their body with them, and becomes one with their human spirit. (1Cor 6:17)

 

When Yeshua’s Spirit becomes one with our human spirit, our life is hidden with Messiah in Yahweh. (Col 3:3) Therefore, we leave the kingdom of darkness, and enter Yahweh’s Kingdom, where we are united with Him. (Col 1:13) Hence, we have eternal life. (John 6:47)

 

As Paul said in Romans 8:9, we are no longer in the flesh, but in the Spirit, so, per Yeshua’s conversation with Nicodemus, we meet the requirement to enter Yahweh’s Kingdom, being born of the Spirit.

 

Since we are no longer in the flesh, we seek to no longer live in the flesh, and since we are in the Spirit, we seek to live in the Spirit. The Spirit leads us to live right, do good works, and believe (remain committed).

 

We must always remember that as Yahweh fundamentally transforms us we experience an ontological change, i.e., we actually, in reality; become a new creature in Christ Jesus. Yahweh removes our heart of stone, which wants to go its own way, and replaces it with a fleshly heart that longs to obey Him (Ezek 11:19-20). Yeshua’s Spirit gives our new heart new desires, and the power to accomplish them. The primary desire of the new heart is the desire to please Yah, and preserver in the faith. And the Holy Spirit gives us the power to accomplish this desire.

 

Remember, it is with the heart that we believe unto salvation, and we now have a new heart that yearns to please Yahweh by believing Him.

 

Yeshua’s brother, James, said faith without works is dead. In other words, if your faith is one dimensional (without true repentance of the heart), Yeshua will not transform you, and empower you to live right, do good works, and believe until the end. Thus, this faith will not save you.

 

So what happens, and when does it happen?

 

 

 

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Full Disclosure (Part 1)

Recently, I received an email from someone challenging the notion that it is impossible for a true born-again believer to fall away. This person said that Yahweh says that He keeps us, but He also said that it is possible for us to fall away. This person said that both statements can be true, even if we do not understand how they could both be true, much like Yeshua being fully God, and fully man at he same time, or the Father, Son and Holy Spirit being one.

Over the next few days, I will post my response to this man.

 

In John 3, Nicodemus came to Yeshua (Jesus), and Yeshua told Nicodemus that if he wanted to see the kingdom of God, he had to be born-again. Essentially, Yeshua told Nicodemus that he had to undergo a fundamental transformation in order to see God’s kingdom, because what is born of flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.

 

Yeshua took Nicodemus back to the writings of Moses, and reminded him of the disobedience of his ancestors, and their encounter with the fiery serpents. Nicodemus’ ancestors did not trust Yah, and complained about His provisions. So Yah, sent fiery serpents to kill those, who did not trust Him to save, and provide.

 

After many Hebrews and gentiles had been bitten, and died, the people realized the hopeless situation that they were in, and called upon Yahweh. In response, Yahweh told Moses to make a symbol of the people’s sin (a bronze serpent on a pole), and tell them that if they were bitten, if they would look at the symbol, He would save them from death.

 

In the Scriptures, bronze is a symbol for judgment. Consequently, what Yahweh was saying was that if the people would look upon the thing that manifested their sin, which He had judged, they would not suffer the consequences of their sin (they would not experience death).

 

It is within this context that Yeshua said, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. (John 3:16)

 

Clearly, Yeshua was telling Nicodemus what he had to do to enter into the Kingdom of Yahweh, and be saved from the consequences of his sin, which would be eternal separation from Yahweh (eternal death).

 

Remember, Yeshua told Nicodemus that he needed to undergo a fundamental transformation in order to enter into the kingdom of God. So clearly, when Nicodemus believed in Yeshua, Yeshua’s Spirit entered into him, and transformed him into a new creature. Yeshua’s Spirit transformed him from a fleshly creature into a spiritual creature, so he could enter into His Kingdom where he would be united with Yahweh.

 

This was the only thing that Yeshua told Nicodemus, and Nicodemus could not read the Gospels, Acts, or the writings of the Apostles because they did not exist at that time. So, did Yeshua preach an incomplete Gospel to Nicodemus? Did Yeshua fail to tell Nicodemus what he really needed to do in order to be saved? Did Yeshua neglect to tell Nicodemus that he had to do good works, act right, and endure (believe) to the end?

 

God forbid that we would think such things!

 

Yeshua is the Gospel. Do we really want to think that Yeshua would have given Nicodemus an incomplete Gospel, and a false hope? Do we really want to think that Yeshua did not give Nicodemus a full discloser of the terms and conditions of salvation from eternal death?

 

 

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Becoming Saul

In the Apostolic Writings (the New Testament), we encounter a Jewish man named Saul. Saul lived in the Roman Empire, and so he also had a Roman name. Saul’s Roman name was Paul. Saul was not a unloving, dogmatic Jew, who became a loving, tolerant Paul, when he encounter Yeshua’s transforming love. No, Saul was Paul, and Paul was Saul. Nevertheless, I will use this false premise to make a point.

Saul was a Pharisee, who thought that he was blameless before Yahweh. Saul said he kept the law without fail. Saul actually thought that he earned his right standing with Yahweh. Saul despised Yeshua (Jesus), and hunted down His followers, in order to kill them. In short, Saul thought that he was “all that, and a bag of chips”.

Yahweh elected Israel and commanded her to reach out to the nations on His behalf. Israel, however, turned their relationship with Yahweh into a religion, and it slowly morphed into a false religion, which condemned the nations, and withdrew from them.

This religion had blinded Saul, and caused him to become a proud, intolerant, unloving, condemning, violent, murderer, who was completely convinced that he was right with Yahweh.

Then, Yeshua knocked Saul to the ground.

While blind, and laying in the dirt Saul realized that he was nothing, and that all his years of religious schooling left him knowing nothing. Saul was terrified, because he realized that he was not right with Yahweh, and that all his religious ceremonies and laws were useless.

Paul arose from the dirt confessing Yeshua as Lord. Then, Yeshua filled him with his Spirit, and took him into the desert to teach him, and humble him as they walked together.

The closer Paul got to Yeshua, the more he saw his own sinfulness. And as Paul grew spiritually, and Yeshua began to work through him, Yeshua allowed him to suffer persecution, beatings, whippings, stoning, hunger, cold, nakedness, lack, ship wreck, and jail. Yeshua let him suffer these things, so that he would remain humble.

Yeshua let Paul suffer, so that Saul would not come back to life.

What about you? Are you growing spiritually? Is Yeshua working through you? Is Yahweh prospering your life? If so, be very careful, because you might turn your relationship with Yeshua into a religion, and your religion might morph into a false religion that condemns the very people you are supposed to reach out to on His behalf. This religion might lead you think think more highly of yourself than you should, and one day you might find yourself blind and in the dirt.

The bad things you are going through, might be the very things that Yahweh is using to keep the old you dead, so that He can use you. So, ask yourself, am I becoming a humble servant or am I becoming Saul?

 

 

 

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