What Not to Have Faith In

Last time we were together I spoke about what we need to have faith in, and now we need to understand the other side of that argument- which faith is useless, maybe even deadly.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

I am going to tell you the first, and most important thing NOT to have any faith in, and this will probably shock you- have no faith in a religion.

And yes, that includes Judaism, although if you have to faithfully believe anything, Judaism is the closest thing to what God said to do. Yet, even within Judaism, there are so many Talmudic things which are not in the Torah (or even go against the Torah) that you need to watch out for.

Within Christianity, well…there is one unchanging God, yet there are some 64,000 (Yes, THOUSAND!) Christian religions, all claiming that they are the one, correct way to worship God!

So, how can that be?

Overall, having faith in any religion that tells you the law was done away with by the son of God is misplaced faith.

Think about it: sin is breaking the law of God, right? And God gave us the Torah which identifies what sin is (Romans 5:13), so if there is no longer any Torah then there is no longer any sin, right? I mean, how can you break the law if there is no law?

And (here’s the real kicker!) if there is no law, then there is no sin, so there is no need for a Messiah anymore- he doesn’t have to return. With no law there is no sin, so everyone goes to heaven and there can’t be an Apocalypse because it would be wrong of God to punish people for sinning if there is no sin.

Bottom line?- if Yeshua did away with the law then everything in the New Covenant about the End Days is wrong.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t put any faith in that statement.

Another thing not to put any faith in is a human being because, as I said the last time, humans are innately sinful, selfish, and self-absorbed.

And we are easily fooled, so even someone who thinks they are doing what is right can be led to reject God and bring others along with them on that path to destruction.

Here’s a good example of how easily we can be fooled into doing something hurtful: you know those posts that say something very compassionate and then challenge you to copy and paste it if you feel the same way? Or maybe you see a post or saying on Facebook that you love, sent to you by someone you know, so you copy and paste it then send it to everyone you know because it is such a wonderful, compassionate statement.

Well, that is how many viruses are spread. You see, in HTML (the language of the Internet) a series of coded statements, including an executable (which runs a program) can be hidden within a paragraph of text. All the person has to do is codify that section of writing as (0,0) and it will not be visible to the reader, but it will be there, all the same, and the computer will recognize it, and perform it.

Faith in what you see on the Internet is just plain ignorant and foolish, and that means ANYTHING you see on the Internet whether it be news, posts, quotations from famous people or whatever. There are no rules of validation or requirement to be true for anything on the Internet.

Another reason not to place your faith in a religion is because God has no religion: he only has his rules for how to worship him and how to treat each other. That isn’t a religion, it is a lifestyle.

Men created religion so they could have power over other men, so the more faithfully you follow a religion the more you are putting your faith in people, and we just went over why that is foolish and leads you to the path of destruction.

Now, I do not want you to think I am suggesting that you never follow any religion. I am trying to say that you should not blindly put your faith in any religion. What you need to do is read the Bible and be aware of what God says so that you can tell when a religion is going in the wrong direction.

You will find the only place where God says what he wants us to do is in the Torah- everywhere else when he speaks (as he does to his prophets) he is not giving any new instructions; what he is doing is to warn the people to get back on track with the original instructions.

And the only time God speaks in the entire New Covenant is when he tells us Yeshua is his son, whom he loves and we should listen to him.

So, put no faith in people or in a religion, and here’s another hard to accept statement: do not put faith in your version of the Bible.

You see, there are literally thousands of versions in hundreds of different languages, and every single version of the Bible is subject to the interpreter’s personal understanding of the original language, the correct cultural usage of the words and terms when the Bible book was written, and personal bias.

So, where are we? Put no faith in a human being and except for the commandments and laws found in the Torah, which were dictated to Moses by God, everything else in the Bible was written by humans, and we know about them.

I know, I know, if what I am saying is true then we can’t put our faith in anything, right? It seems that way, but there is one thing you can absolutely have faith in, and that is God and his Ruach haKodesh, his Holy Spirit, which will guide you to see God’s truth, no matter which version of the Bible you are reading.

Thank you for being here and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

Saved by Faith, but Faith in What?

The saying “Saved by faith” has been around since Shaul made it popular way back when, and even today people keep saying, “We are saved by faith!”

But faith in what?

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

The answer is really simple, but there is more than just one thing to be faithful to.

First of all, you have to understand that faith means choosing to believe in something that you can never really prove. Proof is the antithesis of faith because if something can be proven, then you have it as a fact and there is no need for faith. I can tell you that there is plenty of proof that God exists, but it is all just as easily dismissed as coincidence or science.

People who want to disprove God’s existence explain things scientifically, but what they fail to catch on to is that God created science and is not restrained by it.

So, to start with, when it comes to being saved by faith you must first faithfully believe in God. DUH! Without faith in God, you have nowhere else to go except to live your life knowing that there is no one behind you, no one caring about you, and no one you can truly, absolutely have faith in except another human being.

And given how human beings are, that is one in the loss column before you even start to play the game.

Next you have to have faith that what God says he will do will be done. Period.

The next thing is to faithfully believe that Yeshua IS the Messiah God said he would send. The reason this is essential for salvation is because there is no temple, and without the temple we cannot bring a sacrifice to be forgiven, and without forgiveness of sin there can be no salvation.

No one stained with sin will ever be allowed into God’s presence, so the way we are saved is through being forgiven. The shedding of innocent blood is the means by which we receive forgiveness, but it is forgiveness alone that saves us.

To receive forgiveness under God’s Torah, we had to shed innocent blood (Hebrews 9:22), and that had to be at the place God put his name (Deuteronomy 12:11), which was the temple in Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 12:5).

No temple, no forgiveness, no salvation no matter how faithfully you try to obey Torah (and I say “try to obey” because no one can be 100% Torah obedient 100% of the time).

This is where Yeshua comes into the salvation picture- his sacrifice, as the Messiah, replaced the need to bring an animal to the temple in Jerusalem, so through faith that God does what he says, faith that Yeshua is the Messiah and faithfully believing that as the Messiah, Yeshua’s sacrifice is a once-and-for-all sacrifice for everyone, you can receive the forgiveness that will save you.

And lets’ set the record straight right now: the once-and-for-all sacrifice doesn’t mean that all sins are automatically forgiven… NO! It means that every time we sin, we can find forgiveness when asking God to forgive us by means Yeshua’s shed blood. And you DO need to ask forgiveness for every single solitary sin you commit for the rest of your life.

And don’t think for a second that all you need to do is to ask. Without real t’shuvah (repentance), without feeling guilty and ashamed for having sinned, God will not forgive you.

God is not stupid or ever fooled- he knows your heart and what you are thinking, so without true repentance, you are no better off than a faithless person.

Oh, I almost forgot- faith in God is demonstrated by obedience to God, and not some religion. Don’t take my word for it: that’s what the brother of Yeshua said in James 2.

And, just in case you missed it the first time, the only place in the entire Bible where God, himself, tells us what he wants us to do is in those first five books, called the Torah. If your religion tells you, in any way, that you don’t need to follow the Torah, then you can never prove your faith by works, so your faith will be dead.

You can be the nicest person on the earth, give to the poor, go to church or synagogue every Shabbat, love everyone, and be as good a person as any human being can be BUT… if you reject anything in the Torah, such as reject celebrating the Holy Days God said to celebrate, reject God’s laws of Kashrut (Kosher) by eating whatever you want to, have intimate relations when you are not supposed to, or with someone you shouldn’t, or violate any of the other rules in the Torah, all that “good’ stuff you do will not help you.

Oh, yeah, and here’s the biggie!- according to the Messiah, as he tells us in Matthew 6:14-15, if you do not forgive those who sin against you, God will not forgive your sins against him, and (here’s another kick in the pants)… every sin you commit is against God.

So, there you have it, saved by faith means:

  1. Faithfully believing (that means without needing proof) that God exists and is 1,000% trustworthy to do as he says he will.
  2. Faithfully accepting that Yeshua is the Messiah.
  3. Faithfully believing his sacrifice was an acceptable sacrifice.
  4. Faithfully believing that because of his shed blood you can receive forgiveness of sin.

Salvation is what we are able to receive only when we are totally cleansed of sin, which is why it is so imperative that each and every day you ask God to forgive you, even if you don’t think you sinned.

Better to be covered than cursed.

Thank you for being here and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!

Yeshua and God Must Be Separate Beings for Salvation to Work

One of the main religious issues that causes disruption, as well as distraction, is the idea of the Trinity: is God separate from Yeshua or are they the same entity, in different forms.

As far as salvation is concerned, the question of Trinity or Unity is irrelevant because Yeshua MUST be the Messiah, and not God, for the plan of salvation to work.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

The plan from the start was that God would send a Messiah to make it possible for us to overcome our sins and be able to commune with God, which is only possible after we have been cleansed of sin. Now, with the destruction of the temple in 73 AD, because the Torah required a sin sacrifice at that temple, and no where else, without a Messiah we could never be forgiven.

When Yeshua sacrificed himself, it was the means for us to be forgiven in that his sacrifice- as the Messiah- replaced the need to bring an animal to the temple in Jerusalem. That is why he said the only way to the father is through him ( John 14:6) because the temple was no longer available.

The Messiah serves as a substitution for the sacrificial animal, and only God can forgive sins. Oh, yeah, I know what you’re going to say, “Yeshua said he can forgive sins”, and you’re right, he did say that. BUT… that was only while on the earth (look it up in Matthew 9:6). Once his role as the substitutionary sacrifice was completed, and he was raised into heaven to sit at the right hand of God, sin forgiveness reverted back to God, and God, alone.

Yeshua, as Messiah, is an intercessor, not an interceptor. We worship God, we pray to God, and we thank God for forgiving us because only God can forgive sins.

Yeshua provides the way to come before God so we can ask for forgiveness, by means of the blood sacrifice performed on our behalf by God’s Messiah.

If Yeshua is God, then why refer to him? Why pray in his name? Why have anything at all to do with him? If he is God, what sense is there in going to God to ask God to refer to himself when we ask God for forgiveness?

Yeshua always referred to God as his father, and never made the literal claim stating that he is God in the flesh (that was what some guy wrote in the beginning of the Gospel of John, and Yeshua never said that about himself).

Here’s something else to consider… how do we know Yeshua is the Messiah? The answer is that he fulfilled nearly every prophecy about him, all of which are in the Tanakh (the Old Covenant, aka the “Jewish” Bible). Some of those prophecies are still to be fulfilled, and that will happen when he returns- not as God, but as the Messiah. So, if Yeshua is God, then the prophecies about the Messiah would indicate that he will be God, but here’s the kicker- not one prophecy about the Messiah in the entire Tanakh indicates that he will be God.

Aright, here we go again: I know, I know, you are going to say, “What about Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 9:6, where it says he will be called “Mighty God”? That verse doesn’t say he IS God, only that he will be called “Mighty God”. That is more of a warning about the creation of the Trinity than it is about confirming the Messiah is God.

(In the description is a link to a message I just did about this misleading verse).

The fact is that there is not one, single reference to the Messiah in the Tanakh, which is the definitive source for knowing how to identify the Messiah, that indicates he is actually God.

Not one.

A man whose name was Tertullian, sometime around the middle of the second century, is the first one to use the term “trinity” when referring to Yeshua, and that is where this whole idea came from. The Gospel of John is the most often quoted source for any validation of Yeshua’s divinity, and that gospel is recognized to be so very different from the other three that it is suspect.

Personally, I totally reject the entire gospel of John, and even more than that, not only do I believe it is not a valid gospel, but I don’t even think it was written by a Jew! But, I digress…

God’s plan of salvation is simple: if you are stained with sin, you cannot enter into God’s presence. The way to be “saved”, i.e., to be in God’s presence, is to be cleansed of sin. This was done through the sacrificial system, with the blood of an innocent thing (lamb or goat) being spilled to atone for the sin of a person; the animal’s life served as a substitution for the person’s life (the life of a thing is in its blood-Leviticus 17:11) .

In Deuteronomy 12:11, God states that the only place a sacrifice can be made is where he places his name. Initially, this was at the Tent of Meeting (where the Ark was kept), and later at the temple in Jerusalem. That place has never changed.

With the destruction of the temple in 73 AD, there was no way that, in accordance with the Torah, anyone could be saved. Ah, but, that is where the plan for a Messiah now comes into play. The Messiah is a human being born from the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), making him the Son of God (literally, not just spiritually), who would be the only human being able to live in complete accord with the Torah, 100% of the time, and as such be an acceptable sacrifice for sin.

This is essential! The Messiah has to be human to be an acceptable sin sacrifice! He has to be able to sin, otherwise his sinless life is just a cheat. There is no value in being sinless if you can’t sin, to begin with, which would be true if Yeshua was God. That is why Isaiah, in Isaiah 53, tells us that the Messiah was 100% human, that he knew illnesses and was as susceptible to sin as anyone else.

You’ve got to understand this: lambs are born sinless, but not humans, so for a human being to be sinless takes self-discipline, humility, and faithful obedience to God. An animal can’t be faithful but a human can, so for a human being, i.e., the Messiah, to be an acceptable sacrifice, he must have the ability to sin.

God can’t sin. That’s right, Folks- if you believe Yeshua is God, then your salvation can’t be real because God can’t sin, he can’t die, he can’t be a sacrifice, and God can’t forgive himself because he can’t sin, in the first place.

If Yeshua is God, that turns the entire sacrificial system upside down, and renders it impotent!

Faithful acceptance of Yeshua as the Messiah is the only way we can be saved- we are not saved by believing Yeshua is God, but by believing he is the Messiah God created and sent to the earth to provide a means for us to receive forgiveness of sin.

Like it or not, Yeshua HAS to be the 100% human Messiah, created by God through Miryam and not God in the flesh, in order to fulfill the prophecies about the Messiah and to be an acceptable sacrifice; otherwise, God’s plan of salvation can’t work.

Thank you for being here and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

Yeshua and the Snake

In John’s Gospel, Yeshua says that he will be lifted up like the snake in the desert. Many consider this to be a prophetic statement about how he will die, but I believe it means more than that.

I believe he is saying he will become an idol, replacing his father as God.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

I suppose we should start by reviewing the snake incident.

In Numbers 21, after the people kvetched (again!) about something, God sent poisonous snakes to bite and kill them as punishment. The people repented, and asked to be saved, so God had Moses make a brass serpent and place it high on a pole. When someone was bitten, they only had to look towards the snake and they would not die.

(You know, there is an entire message in that one sentence, how people sinned and would not die but still suffered the consequences of their sin, i.e., they still got bitten! But that is for another time; actually, I just recalled I already did a message on that one, and I’ll put a link to it in the Description.)

Now, what happened to that snake is not mentioned again until centuries later, in 2 Kings 18, when we learn that this snake, which originally was designed to represent God’s salvation from death (by snakebite) was now being worshipped as an idol, a god in and of itself, and it was being called Nehushtan (“Nachash” is Hebrew for snake). King Hezekiah had it destroyed.

Now let’s see why Yeshua chose that event to tell us what will happen to him.

Yeshua was placed on a stake for all to see, and he tells us that those who see him there and believe in him will be saved. Just like those who saw the bronze serpent on a pole and believed in God would be saved.

Prophecy fulfilled, right? Not quite.

The snake was later turned into a god, and what the “Church” has done is the same thing with Yeshua, changing what he is (the Messiah FROM God) into God, himself!

Christians constantly pray to Yeshua instead of to God, they ask Yeshua for forgiveness, when God is the only one who can forgive, and they thank Yeshua for blessings in their life when those blessings come from God!

Let’s get something straight: While Yeshua did say he had authority to forgive sins (Matthew 9:6), he specifies that he has this authority on the earth. This is also in two other gospels, and the reason he says that is to prove he is coming from God, NOT that he is God, and since he is no longer on the earth, the sin forgiveness thing has reverted back to Daddy.

The prophecy Yeshua made was a dual-prophecy: first, a soon-to-occur prophecy that Yeshua would be raised on a stake and secondly, as a future prophecy that he would be worshipped and replace God.

Exactly what happened with the snake.

So, if you find yourself praying to Yeshua, stop it- pray to God.

If something wonderful happens in your life, don’t thank Jesus- thank God.

And next time someone tells you that it is all about Yeshua, remind them (as you are being reminded, now) that for Yeshua, it was ALWAYS only and totally about his father in heaven.

Hey, look- if Yeshua said it is all about his father, and that his father forgives, and that his father blesses, and that he only did and said what his father told him to do and say (that’s in John), then who are you or I to say anything different?

Yeshua always referred to himself as separate from God, identifying as the Son of God, and he always considered himself subservient to God, so how do you think he feels when people worship him instead of his Father?

Thank you for being here and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

Does Isaiah 9:5-6 Really Say The Messiah Will Be Almighty God?

One of the most well-known prophecies in the Tanakh (everything in the Bible before Matthew) regarding the Messiah to come is Isaiah 9:5-6, where we are told that the Messiah will be called (among other things) the Almighty God.

But does that mean the Messiah will be God, or just that he will be called God?

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

There are many, MANY versions of the Bible, and most of them are interpreted by Christians. There are a number of Jewish interpretations, of course, so let’s see where some are the same, and some are different when we look at Isaiah 9:5-6 (remember that not all Bible interpretations have the exact same numbering.)

The JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh (1999) says: “He has been named ‘The Mighty God is planning grace*; The Eternal Father, a peaceful ruler...”

( * It references Isaiah 25:1, where another prophecy
mentions how God has planned graciousness of old.)

The Sefaria (a non-profit digital library of Hebrew texts) interprets it this way: “He has been named ‘The Mighty God is planning grace; The Eternal Father, a peaceable ruler'”.

The KJV says: “~ and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

The NIV says: “And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

The Complete Jewish Bible says: “Pele-Yo‘etz El Gibbor
Avi-‘Ad Sar-Shalom [Wonder of a Counselor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace]”

And let’s look at one more Jewish version, Chabad’s Complete Jewish Tanakh: “~ the wondrous adviser, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, called his name, ‘the prince of peace’.”

(This one seems to be describing God, and that God will call the Messiah the “Prince of Peace”.)

So… who is correct?

Every Christian version I looked at (and I looked at more than just the ones here) said he would be called some version of “Almighty God”, and I even saw that in some of the Jewish versions.

But as you see, some other Jewish versions do not call him mighty God, but show that the mighty God calls him the Prince of Peace.

Interesting, isn’t it? The more Orthodox Jewish interpretations do not indicate Messiah will be God, while most every other version, some Jewish and all the Christian ones, indicate that Messiah will be God.

But wait a minute! Does it say he will be God, or does it say he will be called God?

You know, there’s quite a difference between what one is called, and what one is. Think of all the things you have been called throughout your lifetime, and ask yourself if what you have been called is always really what you are.

During my lifetime the things people have called me isn’t really what I am…. well, maybe some of the things, but not all of them!

Remember how Yeshua said that he would be like the snake in the desert (John 3:14)? And remember that the snake set up by Moses in Numbers 21:9, to represent God’s salvation from the snake bites, was later worshipped as a god and called Nehushtan (2 Kings 18)?

Well, I believe Yeshua’s prophecy wasn’t just about how he would die (being raised on a stake), but also how he would later be worshipped as a god; actually, as the one and only God. He knew that people would replace worship of the one, true God, his father, with him: praying to him, asking him for forgiveness, and basically replacing his father with him, something Yeshua would never have even thought of doing.

I believe this passage from Isaiah has been misunderstood, and now is being used as a justification for the Trinitarian belief that God (the father) and Yeshua (the Messiah) are the same entity.

As I said earlier, there is a BIG difference between what someone is called, and what they are. I am inclined to go along with the more Orthodox Jewish interpretation that indicates the Messiah will be called, BY GOD, the “Prince of Peace.” That the authority placed on his shoulders will be from God, and not self-generated (which, if Messiah is God, would have to be the case).

In Matthew 22:45, Yeshua disarms the Pharisees trying to trick him by asking them why, in Psalm 110:1, does David call his son (meaning the Messiah) “Lord”? Yeshua points out that if the Messiah is David’s son, how can he be David’s Lord? Similarly, if Yeshua is the almighty God, how can he be a prince?

I wonder how, after all these centuries, no one has noticed this obvious disparity? If the Messiah is the almighty God, then how can he be a prince of anything? Wouldn’t he, as God, have to be the Lord of Peace? Or the King of Peace? Whatever, if he was the almighty God, he certainly wouldn’t be just a Prince of Peace, would he?

This is why I go along with the Orthodox Jewish interpretation that indicates when the Messiah is born, he will be a counsellor, he will be a prince of peace, and his authority and rulership will come from God, but he will not be God.

I also believe that the interpretations saying the Messiah will be called almighty God are based on Christian Trinitarianism, and the Jewish Bible versions that also say “almighty God” are wrong, as well.

To finalize, it is imperative to accept that what someone is called is not what they are. Yeshua said we can tell who people are by their fruits, so, nu … what fruits did Yeshua demonstrate? Well, when I read the Gospels, it appears to me that his fruits were always giving his father, God, the credit for everything, and he never called himself the almighty God.

Thank you for being here and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!

Salvation: Same in Old, Same in New

I believe if you ask most Believers what is the main difference between the Tanakh (the “Jewish” Bible) and the New Covenant regarding salvation, they will say the old way was through works, and the new way is only through faith.

Well, they would be right, but for the wrong reasons.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

In the entire Bible, Genesis through Revelation, the only thing that saves us is faith. But faith in what?

Christians will say faith in Jesus, but what the heck does that mean? Faith that he existed? Faith that he was immaculately conceived? Faith that he is the Messiah God promised to send? Faith that he was resurrected? Faith that he did what the Gospels tell us he did?

My answer is faithfully believing that he was the son of God through divine conception, that he was (and still is) the Messiah God promised to send, that his death was accepted as a once-and-for-all sin sacrifice (proven by his resurrection), and that through his sacrifice we can ask God to forgive our sins any time, any where, because his sacrifice replaced the need to bring an animal to the temple in Jerusalem.

Which has proven to be really convenient since the temple was destroyed nearly 2000 years ago.

My answer also includes that the way we demonstrate that faith is to obey the Torah, which is what Yeshua did throughout his lifetime, and what we must do if we truly want to follow in his footsteps and live as he did.

And doesn’t Christianity state that is an essential part of being Christian? Yet, sadly, they say “Do as Jesus did” while teaching to do everything except what Jesus did!

TIME OUT: When I said Yeshua’s sacrifice was a once-and-for-all event, I did not mean that all sins are automatically forgiven, which some Christian religions teach. No! I mean that when he sacrificed himself, it replaced the need to bring an animal to the temple in Jerusalem, which the Torah required for any sacrifice. We still have to fulfill every step of the sacrificial system for sin: we have to be accountable (confession), we have to be remorseful (repentance), we have to have the shedding of innocent blood as our substitution (that’s the part Yeshua took care of), and we have to do T’shuvah (turn from sin) as we go forward.

Throughout the Tanakh the means of salvation was obedience to the Torah, mainly because the Messiah hadn’t come yet. But the requirement for salvation was still faith-based.

God said that sacrifices and offerings mean nothing without obedience; read 1 Samuel 15:22, or Isaiah 1:11-14 or Jeremiah 7:21-23, or Psalm 51:16-17… they all say that obedience is more important than sacrifices or offerings, meaning that just going through the motions is useless without obedience, meaning faithfulness!

Going through the motions is obeying, isn’t it? So how can God say obeying means nothing without obedience? It’s because when he says “obedience”, he means faithful obedience, i.e., obeying from faith that what God says is righteous and correct.

Truth be told, Yeshua proved that someone CAN be saved by obedience to the Torah because he was 100% obedient, and after he died he was resurrected to eternal life in God’s presence. The “fly in the ointment” is that we humans are born sinful and not filled with the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) as Yeshua was. As such, we don’t have a chance of being 100% Torah observant, 100% of the time as he was.

That’s why God planned for a Messiah right from the get-go.

The New Covenant is all about faith in Yeshua, but the problem is that most Christian faith is misplaced. Some believe Yeshua is God, some believe he is the son of God but that he forgives sin, and some even pray to dead people. Most Christian religions, whether Trinitarian or not, have gotten to the point where they pray to Yeshua instead of to God, effectively replacing God with Yeshua.

That is changing Yeshua from an obedient son (like Isaac was) into a rebellious, throne-stealing son (like Absalom was.)

How can we find salvation through a Messiah who teaches to ignore God? If Yeshua taught to ignore the Torah, he committed treason against the King (God) and was a sinner. And we know sinners don’t get to be in God’s presence.

And those who follow sinners are the blind being led by the blind, and both will fall into a hole. That hole goes all the way down to Sheol.

So, both the Old and New Covenants teach we are saved by faith:

  • Non-believing Jews faithfully obey the Torah (well, at least as best as they can) while faithfully waiting for the Messiah
  • Messianic Jews (like me) faithfully accept Yeshua IS the Messiah God promised to send, and we also faithfully obey God’s Torah (again, as best as we can)
  • Most every Christian religion teaches that they need to only have faith in Jesus (again, whatever the heck that is supposed to mean) and to love each other. The BIG mistake they make it that they totally ignore doing as God said to do, as Yeshua did throughout his lifetime, and which is the only acceptable proof that their faith is genuine.

Bottom line? Faith is not just one or the other, Jesus or Torah, law or lawlessness, but it is both sides of the same coin: one side is faithfully believing Yeshua is the Messiah and the other side is proving that faith through obeying God’s instructions (in the Torah).

Thank you for being here and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!

Are We There Yet?

Those of you who are regulars here have probably noticed that I spend almost no time talking about the Acharit haYamim (End Days), which is what the scholars call Eschatology.

The reason why is simple: the visions of that time are so difficult to understand that I have taken the attitude it doesn’t matter what happens when, so long as I am on the winning side when it is over.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

There have been many people who believe they know when the Tribulation will occur, despite the fact that Yeshua said even he isn’t in on it (Matthew 24:36), and there is (and always will be) constant debate about the Rapture, whether it will be before, in the middle of, or after the tsouris (troubles/curses) that will result from those angels pouring from God’s bowls of wrath all those terrible things upon the earth and all the people living at that time.

(Wow, that’s a long sentence!)

However, I do have a thought on the rapture, based on the parables Yeshua told. In Matthew 13:24-30, Yeshua says that when the harvest comes, i.e., the Tribulation, the tares and wheat that have been growing together will all be pulled up, with the tares being gathered and burned, then the wheat being brought into the barn (meaning God’s presence), indicating a Post-Trib event. He also tells us the parable of the fish (Matthew 13:47-50), where the good fish are separated from the bad, which are then destroyed, indicating a Pre-Trib event.

Despite the difference in timing, the message I get from these parables is that when it is over, the believers win. And, as I said before, all I care about is being on the winning side.

Now, despite my disdain for Eschatological arguments, I have to admit that the way things are going, it certainly seems very close.

What with all these blood moons, societal strife and disorder increasing world-wide, government officials committing crimes, riots, increased crime in many of our cities, the increase in storms and tsunami’s, antisemitism increasing (or should I say just becoming more and more visible), and all that other stuff that is supposed to occur, well… like the kids on a long car ride, I have to ask:

“Are we there, yet?”

I don’t know if we are, or how close we are, and neither do you or anyone else, but the one thing that I can be absolutely sure of is this: if you haven’t chosen to be on the winning side, you may not have that much time left to decide if you will be with the tares or the wheat.

And yes, it is a choice: faith in Yeshua is something you have to choose to believe, and without that faithful acceptance, you have no way to be forgiven of your sins, which means no chance for salvation.

To be forgiven of sin, the Torah requires an animal sacrifice to be made where God places his name (Deuteronomy 12:5), which was the temple in Jerusalem (2 kings 21:7). The problem being that the temple is not there anymore, but Yeshua’s sacrifice replaced that Torah requirement to bring an animal to the temple.

Ans that is why only through Yeshua can we now be forgiven, since the temple is no longer there; what’s even worse is that where it was is under Muslim control (the Dome of the Rock).

For the record: the Dome of the Rock is not a mosque, it is a shrine. The Al-Aqsa Mosque is right next to the Dome, both being on the temple mount. The mosque is east of the Dome, so when Muslims prostrate themselves to the east during prayer, they are (effectively) mooning the Dome.

Okay, let’s finish up here. No one will ever know when the Tribulation is set to begin, and no one knows when the Rapture will occur, but one thing we all know- absolutely- is that it will happen when you least expect it (Matthew 24:37-39). So, if you aren’t really sure about Yeshua, or God, or whether or not the Torah is still valid and necessary, I wholeheartedly recommend you get off your tuchas and decide, one way or the other. Hopefully, you decide to accept Yeshua and try to live a Torah observant life.

Look at it this way: if you reject God or Yeshua or the Torah, you choose to have no future other than now. But, if you do accept that God exists, that Yeshua is the Messiah, that he was resurrected and his sacrifice allows us to ask forgiveness from sin, and you try to live as God said we all should (and not what some religion says), what have you got to lose? Yeah, you’ll have to forgo ordering shrimp scampi at your favorite seafood restaurant, and settle for pretzels and potato chips while watching the game instead of pork rinds, but isn’t eternity in total joy and peace worth it?

Thank you for being here and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers, Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

Yeshua’s Death Does Not Save Us

When Yeshua sacrificed himself, his death is not the reason that we are saved. Even after he was resurrected, proving that his death was accepted as a sacrifice, that still is not what saves us.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

There is only one thing that “saves” us, and that is forgiveness of sin. And that forgiveness comes from only one place- God.

God, and God alone, is the only one who forgives sin.

Oh, yeah, I know what you’re gonna say: “But Yeshua said in Matthew 9:6 that he has the authority to forgive sins.”

Yes, he did say he has authority to forgive sins, but there was a condition: while on the earth. That verse says (CJB):

But look! I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”

Notice that he says authority ON EARTH, meaning that the authority he was given to forgive sins was specifically while he was on the earth, and solely to prove that he did come from God and doing God’s work.

After he died, that authority was remanded back to God.

Think about it: if Yeshua is our Intercessor, then why would we need to ask him to intercede if he can forgive sins himself? If he can do what God does, why go to God?

This is part of the oxymoronic logic of the Trinity, in that if Yeshua and God are the same, then why does he have to intercede with himself? And when we ask for forgiveness, who do we ask: God? Yeshua? Both? Is it a joint decision or do they take turns?

But we are not talking about the Trinity, we are talking about understanding how salvation and Yeshua’s sacrificial death are related.

The sacrificial system for sin required a sheep or a goat, one that met the Torah requirements as a sacrifice, to be slain at the temple in Jerusalem (the only place sacrifices were to be made, according to Deuteronomy 12). And with the shedding of innocent blood we could receive forgiveness of sin (Hebrews 9:22)… BUT you need to ask for it, you need to really feel repentance, and you need to desire to do t’shuvah (turning from sin).

A sacrifice meant nothing if you didn’t really feel remorse at your sin. I mean, really?- do you think God would forgive a sinner who didn’t repent of their sin?

I don’t think so!

So, when Yeshua died, he was a sinless sacrifice, innocent and pure, and his resurrection proved two things:

  1. God accepted his sacrifice; and
  2. If you live your life totally and completely in accordance with God’s Torah, you will be saved.

(I know that one really throws a lot of people, but it makes sense- Yeshua lived 100% in accordance with the Torah, 100% of the time, otherwise he would not have been the sinless lamb of God, right? So, if any human could be the same way – which is, sadly, impossible for us- then our “works” would save us, although works like that can’t be done without faith. But, I digress…)

Yeshua’s sacrifice provided a special sin sacrifice, one that replaced the need to bring an animal to the temple in Jerusalem, which has proven to be really convenient since the temple was destroyed soon after that. By means of his sacrifice, we can now come before God any time, any where, and be able to ask for- and receive- forgiveness of sin.

Of course, we also need to do that repentance and t’shuvah thing, as well. God isn’t stupid, and when you ask to be forgiven, if it isn’t a legitimate, heartfelt desire, well… don’t count on it.

Yeshua’s sacrificial death is not what saves us, neither does his resurrection, but it does provide the prerequisite for us to come to God and ask HIM to forgive us.

One last point: the fact that Yeshua’s sacrifice serves as a once-and-for-all sacrifice for sin doesn’t mean forgiveness is automatic. Without true repentance, a true desire to do t’shuvah, and humbly asking God to forgive you for each and every sin, you get nuttin!

Thank you for being here and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!

Is God a Micro-Manager?

The Bible tells us that God knows every hair on our head, and that he is omnipresent.

Proverbs tell us that God directs our ways (Proverbs 16:9) and so many people believe that everything they do is watched by God.

But I wonder if God is really that interested in every, single, little thing that we do?

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

Are you familiar with the term “Helicopter Parent?” It refers to a parent who is constantly watching their child, always hovering over him or her, and never really letting the poor kid do anything on its own.

I don’t see God being this way.

I do believe that God watches over us, but not to the point where he interferes with what we do, except maybe in a way that prevents us from doing real harm to ourselves.

And even then, he might let us go ahead and “skin our knees” because if you never fall, you never learn how to get back up again.

No, from my understanding of the way God has treated people in the biblical stories, he is interested, but he also knows when to let us be on our own.

The problem with a helicopter parent is that they become so involved in their child’s life that they can actually hurt their child’s development, not allowing them to learn how to get out of trouble (because they are never allowed to get into it, in the first place) or to develop independence.

Whether we like it or not, children learn best by watching their parents. Socialization skills, problem solving, how to act in public, etc. are all defined by what their parents do (for the most part), with peer pressure being the next biggest influence on their personal growth.

Maybe this is why God often says that we should be holy because he is holy?

To me, that sounds like the ultimate form of learning by example. God will watch over us, but he is also loving enough to allow us to screw-up and even get into trouble, so that we learn how to make amends and how to get out of the trouble we get ourselves into.

And I also know that he is totally able to extricate us from any problems we get ourselves into, if it comes down to that.

So, what is the point of all this?

It is that we should always trust God to be there for us, confident that we can count on him in times of trouble. And to read the Bible to learn about who God is (not just trust what some religions tells us) so that we can emulate him in our daily lives. God is the epitome of parenthood, and along with (or should I say, despite of) what our own parents teach us, we should always look to God to be the role model to emulate.

He will always be there when we need him, but he isn’t going to micro-manage our lives.

However, if you reject him by rejecting the way he said to live (in the Torah), as many Christian religions have taught their followers to do, then there is a good chance he won’t be there when you need him most.

Thank you for being here and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad

In the New Covenant writings, Yeshua (Jesus) gives us three different methods to use when we pray. Only two of them make sense.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

So, let’s see what Yeshua says.

In Matthew 6:9-13, Yeshua tells how to pray by giving us what we call “The Lord’s Prayer”. This is more than just a prayer, it is the template for all prayers.

We start by recognizing God’s existence and authority, then we ask for only what we need today (demonstrating faith in God to provide), then to be forgiven (this one has a caveat I will explain soon), and lastly we ask for protection from evil. We finish it up honoring God by (again) recognizing his authority and power.

That caveat I mentioned is this: we are to ask God to forgive us as we forgive others, which is actually tantamount to authorizing God not to forgive us if we do not forgive others. Yeshua even confirms this in Matthew 6:14-15.

This prayer is about as good as you can get when it comes to praying, whether you repeat it verbatim or use it as a template for your own prayer.

The second method Yeshua suggests is in Mark 11:24. Here he tells us that when we pray, if we trust we will receive it, it will be ours. This is certainly something that we have to do, i.e., trust that not only does God hear our prayers, but that he can be trusted to deliver.

Now, this doesn’t mean that whatever we want we get. There are many prayers that are not godly or even proper, so if you think praying over a lottery ticket will guarantee you will win, you will be sorely disappointed.

(Watch! Now someone will reply they did that and this whole message gets shot down.)

Trust and faith seem to be the same thing, but they are really two sides of the same coin. Trust is something that we usually give to someone after they have proven themself to be trustworthy, but faith is something we choose to have, proof notwithstanding (Hebrews 11:1).

Of course, when it comes to God, trust should be automatic because , well…he’s God. Duh!

But, for those Doubting Thomas’ out there, you should be able to trust God because we are told in the Bible about many things which archaeology has proven to be true. If the people and events we are told about in the Bible are true, then everything in the Bible can be trusted, as well.

OK, yes- there are some things that are literal and some things that are figurative, and absolute proof of God will never be given because proof is the antithesis of faith, and we are saved by faith, not scientific evidence. But, all in all, we can trust what we read about God because there are so many testimonies, both ancient and modern, to his existence that he has proven, to those who accept it, that he does exist. And if he exists, then he is what we read about in the Bible.

The third method of praying is in John’s Gospel, which I have often said is (in my opinion) a false gospel, but that is for another time. In John 14:13, and again in John 16:23, Yeshua tells his talmidim (students/disciples) that when they pray, they should pray in his name. The idea here is that by invoking the name of the Messiah, God will make sure their prayers are answered.

This one doesn’t make sense to me.

First, let’s examine this for the Trinitarians out there: if Yeshua is God, then why would we need to invoke his name when praying, since our prayers are already directed at him? What I mean is, when we pray to God we are already praying in his name, right?

See? It doesn’t make sense if we go along with the Trinity thingie.

Second, if we believe (as I do) that Yeshua and God are totally separate entities, unique and individual, then when we pray to God why do we need to “drop” Yeshua’s name? Doesn’t God already know that we belong to Yeshua? Does mentioning Yeshua let us go to the front of the prayer line?

Is praying like the game “Simon Says”?

“Dear God, do this, in Yeshua’s name.”
“You got it!”
“Dear God, give me this, in Yeshua’s name.”
“Not a problem.”
“Dear God, I need help with this.”
NO! You didn’t say ‘In Yeshua’s name’!”

I don’t think so.

I have written a few times about why I do not believe that John’s Gospel is a real gospel, and you can find those on the website, and these verses are part of why I believe the way I do.

God knows our hearts and minds, and when we pray to him, he knows whether or not we accept Yeshua as our Messiah. The idea that we need Yeshua to intercede for our prayers to be answered makes no sense to me.

That is why this message is titled “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad”- if you pray to God using the template Yeshua gave us in Matthew, and trust that you will receive what you pray for as Yeshua told us in Mark, then there is nothing else you should need to do to have your prayers answered.

Oh, I should mention one thing more- prayers MUST be heartfelt, honest, humble, and genuine. If your heart isn’t in it, I don’t believe that prayer will get much attention.

Thank you for being here and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!