THE WARNINGS IN THE EPISTLES

ROMANS 11:22 – GOD’S KINDNESS, IF YOU CONTINUE IN HIS KINDNESS

To start let’s go to Romans 11:19-22. There we read about Israel and those of us who believe:

“Then you will say, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in." That is true. They [meaning the people of Israel] were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So, do not become proud, but fear. For if God - Yehovah did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God - Yehovah: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's – Yehovah’s kindness to you, provided you continue in His kindness. Otherwise, you too will be cut off.”

This passage refers to people who “stand fast through faith”. For such people, for those who stand fast through faith, the kindness of God - Yehovah is upon them. However, this is not unconditional: the word “provided”, or “if”, as other translations have it, clearly introduces a condition, an “if statement”.

What is the “IF” condition?

That we will continue in His kindness. If we abandon His kindness and no longer continue with God - Yehovah, then the answer the Word gives is clear: we too will be cut off.

That there are limits after which one is no longer in the faith, is clear also by what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13:5:

“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus the Messiah is in you? unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”

From this it is evident that it can happen that a follower of the Messiah Jesus is no longer in the faith i.e. he has implicitly or explicitly abandoned it. If there was no such case, there would also be no reason for Paul to tell us to examine ourselves whether we are really in the faith. Perhaps that is why we find him and Barnabas in Acts 14:21-22 doing the following:

“And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”

There would be no point in the apostles exhorting the believers to continue in the faith, if there was no possibility to discontinue in the faith. It is therefore possible for a believer to discontinue in the faith, to discontinue in God’s kindness. What will happen in that case? Romans 11:22 gave us the answer in no unclear terms: he will be cut off.

Jesus said exactly the same about those who no longer abide in Him:

John 15:1-2, 6:

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away [i.e. “cuts off”] … “If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”

So being “cut off”, or “taken away” is not something that cannot happen, as “the once saved always saved” people would have people believe, but there is a serious possibility that will materialize for whoever no longer abides in the vine, according to John’s words, or discontinues in the faith, discontinues in His kindness, according to Paul’s words.

COLOSSIANS 1:21-23 – “HOLY AND BLAMELESS, IF YOU CONTINUE IN THE FAITH”

Moving on, in Colossians 1:21-23 we read:

“And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he [Jesus] has reconciled you in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in his sight - if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are NOT MOVED AWAY from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

The Messiah has indeed reconciled us to God in the body of His flesh through his sin-offering sacrificial death, to present us holy and blameless. But this is not unconditional, as there is again an “IF” here, a condition which must be kept in order for these wonderful truths to become a full reality to us in the day of the lord.

What is this condition?

Here it is: “IF” indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel”. Again, see this “continue in the faith”. We saw in Romans 11, that if we do not continue in his kindness we will be cut off. The same we see also here: “IF” we do not continue in the faith i.e. if we discontinue in the faith, then we are not going to be counted among those whom he will present as “holy, blameless and above reproach”.

As also the epistle to the Hebrews tells us:

Hebrews 12:14:

“Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the lord.”

Only holy people are going to see the lord and have eternal life. And only the Messiah can present us as such! But when? “If indeed we continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel”.

THE RACE OF FAITH: THE EXAMPLE OF PAUL

That faith is a race to be run and a fight to be fought, is obvious from what Paul said. As he said to Timothy:

1 Timothy 6:11-12:

“But as for you, O man of God, …. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

From this instruction, two things become apparent:

1. Faith is indeed a fight. “Fight the good fight of the faith” says Paul.

We were called unto eternal life, but we also have to take hold of it. The Greek word translated as “take hold” here is the word “epilavou” and means “catch, lay hold on, take” (Strong’s dictionary). We have been called to eternal life, but this does not mean that we have “caught” it yet. We are running towards it.

Pau applied these instructions  to himself. As he says:

Philippians 3:8-1:

“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing the Messiah Jesus my lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain the Messiah and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in the Messiah, the righteousness from God - Yehovah that depends on faith - that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of the Messiah Jesus.

Brothers/sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God - Yehovah in the Messiah Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 

And again in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27:

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we the imperishable. So, I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”

As Paul said concerning himself: “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of the Messiah Jesus. … I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God - Yehovah in the Messiah Jesus”.

 And again: “Brothers/sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own.”

 The picture we get from Paul is not the picture of a follower of the Messiah Jesus who has achieved his aim and is now sitting back. In contrast, the picture we get is that of an athlete running towards his goal, “that by any means possible” he may attain it. It is the picture of a good fighter who does not box as one beating the air, but fights having his eyes on victory, on the prize waiting for him.

At the end of his life Paul said the following:

2 Timothy 4:6-8:

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”

Faith is for Paul something that needs keeping. “I have kept the faith” he said. Obviously then faith is not something static, something which once you are in, it is a done deal: you can sit back and reach the end automatically. In contrast faith is for Paul a good fight to be fought and a race to be run. The eternal life is not something we have already caught. It is something we have been called to and we are running to take hold of it, to set our hands on it.

May all of us be able at the end of our life to say what Paul said: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”. May none of us consider that he received the prize when Paul himself would not think this for himself but only at the end. Let us all run the race of faith as he did and let us imitate him, as he also tells us to do (1 Corinthians 11:1).

 HEBREWS 12:22-25: “WE SHALL NOT ESCAPE IF WE TURN AWAY FROM HIM”

We will now go to the epistle of Hebrews, where many warnings are found.

 Let’s start from Hebrews 12:22-25. There we read:

“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God - Yehovah, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God - Yehovah the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. See that you do not refuse him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from him who speaks from heaven”

The epistle to the Hebrews, as every other epistle is addressed to believers. When the word “you” therefore is used, this can only refer to believers. And indeed, only to believers could the following phrase apply: “you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God - Yehovah, the heavenly Jerusalem”. No unbeliever has come or will ever come into the city of the living God, unless of course he becomes a believer. The author is clearly addressing believers. Then, using the example of the Israelites and how they perished, he warns his audience, telling them: “See that you do not refuse him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from him who speaks from heaven”

From this warning two things become once again apparent:

1) A believer, somebody who has come to the city of the living God- Yehovah, can turn away, can refuse God -Yehovah.

2) “IF” he does this, then the faith he once had – but has no more – will not deliver him or save him.

Also, the example given is telling: all Israelites started in one accord for the promised land. But on the way almost everyone, turned away, rejecting God - Yehovah and His plan. Did God - Yehovah allow them to enter the promised Land, for which they had started to go and into which God - Yehovah had originally called them to enter? No, He did not. Those who refused to enter the promised land out of fear died in the wilderness and their children entered in with Joshua leading the way.

This is not an analogy that I give, but an analogy that the Word of God - Yehovah gives concerning those who decide to turn away from God - Yehovah.

As the Israelites, who did not enter into the promised land out of fear, so also, we, though we have been called to eternal life, we will not escape, we will not enter into the promised Kingdom, if on the way we turn away from God -Yehovah.

HEBREWS 4:1-3, 9-12: “STRIVE TO ENTER THE REST OF GOD”

Moving to the next passage, from Hebrews 4 this time, we read:

"Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, as He has said,

"As I swore in my wrath, 'They shall not enter my rest,' although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. ...So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God - Yehovah, for whoever has entered God's – Yehovah’s rest has also rested from his works as God - Yehovah did from His. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God - Yehovah is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and/ of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

Entering the rest of God - Yehovah, which I take it to be an alternative expression for entering the Kingdom of God, being saved, living eternally, is something designed for those of us “who have believed” and are obeying the words of the lord Messiah Jesus in all our actions.

This is the plan, the design of God - Yehovah for every believer.

And this is exactly what will happen, unless somebody falls by disobeying God - Yehovah, refusing Him, turning away from Him, like the Israelites did. That is why the writer is saying: “Let us therefore strive to enter His rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience”. It is interesting to look at the Greek word translated as “strive” here: this is the word “spoudazo” which means “to make effort, be prompt or earnest: do (give) diligence, be diligent, endeavor, labor, study” (Strong’s dictionary). We are to strive to enter into the rest of God - Yehovah.

From this it is clear that entering the rest of God - Yehovah is neither something guaranteed nor something that happens automatically, once and for all, when one first believes. In contrast it is something we need to give due diligence, in order to enter. This is what those of the second and third category of the parable of the Sower did not do and as a result the seed of the Word never brought forth fruit. In contrast to them, the picture we get from Hebrews fits perfectly with the picture of the athlete Paul gave us previously in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27:

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we the imperishable. So, I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”

The true believer tries to make good of his faith, striving to enter into the rest of God - Yehovah, practicing his faith, yet failing along the way, falling short of the mark, but not giving up. May we all keep striving to the end of our days.

HEBREWS 6:4-9 – THOSE WHO BECAME PARTAKERS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND FELL AWAY

Continuing in Hebrews we read:

Hebrews 6:4-9:

“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God - Yehovah and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God - Yehovah, and put him to an open shame.”

“For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God - Yehovah; but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things - things that belong to salvation.”

Three questions that one may ask concerning this passage:

1)Does this passage speak to believers? Obviously, as it speaks about people who “have tasted the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the holy spirit and have tasted the good word of God - Yehovah and the powers of the age to come”. Can unbelievers or pretenders – who deceive others – be partakers of the holy spirit? No, they cannot. Therefore, it is clear that the passage is addressed to believers.

2)Does this passage imply that people - who “were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and had become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and had tasted the good word of God - Yehovah and the powers of the age to come” - can “fall away”, drop out, be cut off? Yes, this exactly is what the text says.

3)What will happen to those who fall away? Their end is resembled to the end of the earth that “bears thorns and briers, and it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned”.

This is a rather strong warning for those of us who have started the race of faith: for starting the race is a great thing. But we also need to run toward the end. To fall away from the faith, to turn back abandoning the race, to abandon the Messiah the vine, is something that none of us should ever choose to do.

Now the passage makes clear that it is impossible “for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance”. In other words, there is no way of return for such people. And as reason the passage gives the following:

“Since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put him to an open shame.”

Most cases of backsliding can be forgiven, when there is true repentance and return. However, this case here is something different. “It is impossible”, the passage says, that these people renew themselves again to repentance. I would not say that I understand 100% the reason that is given and I would not want to say things that the text does not clearly say.

However, what the text does clearly say is that their act would be equal to crucifying the lord Messiah Jesus again and putting him to open shame. In other words, with their example not only it would be like they themselves took part in the crucifixion but also, they would demonstrate that he was worthy to be crucified. This would not happen in ignorance but by people that had known the lord and his goodness and have rejected him.

Those who originally crucified the lord, crying in front of Pilate “crucify Him, crucify him”, did it in ignorance (Acts 3:14-21). The door of repentance was open to them. But those of Hebrews 6 are something else. These ones have rejected the lord, and have not done it in ignorance but in full knowledge, and make a public denial, an open rejection, of the Messiah, this done  by people who “were enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God - Yehovah and the powers of the age to come”. For such behavior there is no way open for repentance.

Perhaps the public renunciation of the Messiah is something difficult to be understood by those of us living in the security of western societies. But it was not like this in the first century AD.

Christianity was in the first century considered an illegal religion and was punished with death, torturing and confiscations. The public renunciation of the Messiah and the return to a religion recognized by the Roman State (such as paganism or even Judaism) was presented by the persecutors of the Christians as solution to their “problem”.

Especially for those with Jewish background as the Hebrew believers, who were the original recipients of the epistle, the return to the synagogue and to the familiar Judaism might have seemed appealing. However, such a return demanded the public renunciation of the Messiah in front of the synagogue, thus putting him to open shame. Perhaps that’s why the author takes special effort to warn his audience against something like this, making also clear the consequences.

Closing this strong warning we find the encouraging words of verse 9:

“Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things -things that belong to salvation.”

They “were enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come”.

The words of John Wesley: “We are persuaded of our things that accompany salvation. We are persuaded you are now saved from your sins; and that you have that faith, love, and holiness, which lead to final salvation. Though we thus speak – to warn you, lest you should fall from your present steadfastness.”

HEBREWS 10:23-29, 35-39: “IF WE SIN WILLFULLY”, “IF ANYONE DRAWS BACK”.

Continuing in Hebrews, we find one more strong warning in Hebrews 10. There we read:

Hebrews 10:23-29, 35-39:

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour [destroy] the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

…. Therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: "For yet a little while, and he who is coming will come and will not wait. Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him/her." But we are not of those who draw back and are destroyed but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.”

Again, three fundamental questions, whose answer is obvious from the text:

1) Does this passage and its strong warning refer to believers? The answer is yes it does: it speaks about people who have been sanctified with the blood of the covenant and no doubt such people are Christians. As 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 says, speaking to Christians:

"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God - Yehovah? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified [set apart], you were justified [pronounced not guilty] in the name of the lord Jesus the Messiah and by the Spirit of our God and Father Yehovah."

Sanctification and forgiveness of sins is something reserved for those who believe, and the means to obtain it is the “blood of the covenant” (Matthew 26:28).

2) Now is it possible for someone who was sanctified with the blood of the covenant – the blood of the Messiah when he offered himself up as a sin-offering sacrifice to his God and Father Yehovah - to turn around and count this most precious blood as common, trampling the Son of God underfoot and insulting the holy spirit? Is it possible for someone who once believed to “draw back – quit the faith, turn his/her back on the salvation they have had access to”? The answer is yes.

Notice: The following part of the passage:

“For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.”

HEBREWS 3:4-6: HOLDING FAST OUR CONFIDENCE UNTIL THE END

Further in Hebrews, in chapter 3 we read:

Hebrews 3:4-6:

“For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God - Yehovah. Now Moses was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later; but the Messiah was faithful as a Son over his house - whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.”

And the passage continues:

Hebrews 3:7-14:

“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years. Therefore, I was provoked with that generation, and said, 'They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.' As I swore in my wrath, 'They shall not enter my rest.’ Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God - Yehovah. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in the Messiah, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.”

Is it possible for a Christian “to fall away from the living God - Yehovah”? Yes.

“Take care brothers” is how the related passage starts. Therefore, yes, it is possible for a brother to fall away from the living God.

Furthermore, see also the two conditional statements starting with an “IF”. We are the house of the Messiah “IF we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end”. And again “we have come to share in the Messiah, IF indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” Here we see once more what we have seen several times up to now: faith is a race with a beginning and of an end. When is the end? If the Messiah has not come back during our lifetime, then the end is the end of our life. Else, it will be the time of his coming and our being gathered to him. Those who “hold their original confidence firm to the end”, i.e. the ones who kept the faith to the end will enter the kingdom of God - Yehovah. But those who gave up the faith will not be there. They will NOT “share in the Messiah”, nor will they be in his house. This is what the “IF” statements in these passages clearly say.

MATTHEW 24:13: “BUT THE ONE WHO ENDURES TO THE END WILL BE SAVED”

Along the same lines, and to return back for a moment to the gospel of Matthew, the lord Jesus said:

Matthew 24:9-13:

"Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

Some say that the lord speaks here about the last days. And they are right.

As he said: “the one who endures to the end will be saved”. Exactly the same we saw previously in Hebrews: “For we have come to share in the Messiah, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end” (Hebrews 3:14).

Faith is a race and to run it we need endurance. Pray to God and ask Him to give you an endurance, a will to hold fast by the enabling power of His spirit.  Those who endure to the end, will be saved. The others, the ones who fell away and who did not endure will not be there. That is why the writer of Hebrews encourages us:

Hebrews 10:35-39:

“Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God - Yehovah you may receive what is promised. For, "Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous ones shall live by faith, and if he/she shrinks back, my soul will have no pleasure in him/her." But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”

We have need of endurance, so that after we have done the will of God – Yehovah, we may receive what is promised. And as 1 John 2:25 tells us:

“And this is the promise that he made to us, eternal life.”

Eternal life is a promise, the chief promise, but to receive it we need to endure to the end. Those who abandoned the race, those who did not endure but shrank back will not receive the promise. And the writer of the Hebrews encourages us again:

Hebrews 12:1-2:

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

We have a race to run and there is only one way to run it: with endurance and looking unto Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. And running with endurance, having our eyes fixed on Jesus and on what is promised to us, doing this  we will bear the fruit which marks the true disciples of the Messiah, the fruit the people of the fourth category of the parable of the Sower bore:

“As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.”

The word “patience” is exactly the same Greek word translated as “endurance” in Hebrews 10:36 and 12:1. The ones in the fourth category are those who endure, who keep on running having their eyes on the lord and with patience, as they abide in the vine, in the Messiah, they bear fruit. May all of us be in that category and remain in that category and if any of us is not in it may he/she quickly repent and “run with endurance the race that is set before us”.

1 JOHN 2:24-25 – “IF WHAT YOU HEARD FROM THE BEGINNING ABIDES IN YOU”

Leaving Hebrews, let’s now go to 1 John 2:24-25. There we read:

“Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father - Yehovah. And this is the promise that he made to us, eternal life.”

Whom is John addressing here? This is clear from verse 21 where he said to his audience: “I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth”. So, his audience are believers, people who know the truth. Now to these believers John said that if what they had heard from the beginning i.e. the Word of God - Yehovah, abided in them, they too would abide in the Son and in the Father. By this it is obvious that it is possible that somebody who has heard and knows the truth – as these ones here knew the truth (verse 21) – can ceases to abide (to stay) in the truth.

This is what this “IF” in the passage means (“If what you heard from the beginning abides in you”). As John makes clear only those in whose heart the Word of God - Yehovah continues to abide, to live, abide in the Son and in the Father.

In other words: IF the Word of God - Yehovah has ceased to abide in the heart of someone then he too has ceased to abide, to be in the Son and in the Father. And what happens in a case like this? John clarifies it a few verses later, in verse 28:

1 John 2:28:

“And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.”

See this “so that”. When we see a “so that” we know that what follows it is completely dependent on what precedes it. There is only one way we will not be ashamed and shrink from him in shame at his coming: this is by abiding in him. And to abide in him, we read it in 1 John 1:24-25, we have to have his Word abiding, living in us, and obey his word. Only then are we abiding in him.

Let us summarize:

1)we will not be ashamed at his coming, if we abide in him (1John 2:28).

2) And abiding in him means that his Word abides, lives, in us (1 John 2:24-25) Therefore, abiding in the lord is not something we did once and then we abide in him forever and ever, regardless of how we live, regardless of whether the Word of God – Yehovah really lives in us. If it was like this there would be no reason for John, speaking to believers to encourage them to have the Word abiding in them and to abide in the Messiah. On the contrary, abiding in him is a decision which although we took once it also has to be our decision every day of our lives.

The phrase “abide in him” is John’s way of telling us “Fight the good fight of faith”, “continue in the faith”, “continue in his kindness”, “run the race that is set before you”, and the other phrases we saw Paul and the author of the Hebrews using. It is his way of telling us the same thing.

Reading 1 John 2:28 in a different way: since we need to abide in him so that we will not be ashamed at his coming, then it is clear that those that will not abide in him will be ashamed at his coming. This then gives us a hint of how we are to understand passages like Romans 9:33:

“As it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offence: and whosoever believes on him shall not be ashamed.”

Note that in this passage the present tense is used (“whosoever believes”), declaring that the faith it speaks about is a present reality.

According to John, we will not be ashamed at his coming if we not only start in him but also abide (i.e. stay) in him. The “whosoever believes in him shall not be ashamed” of Romans 9:33 refers then to people who “believe” (now in the present) and will be found abiding in him at his coming, or the end of their life found biding in him.

However, those who His coming will find them not abiding in him will be ashamed. In fact, the lord made this even clearer when he gave the parable of the vine:

John 15:5-6:

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”

2 JOHN 8-9 : TO “EVERYONE WHO GOES ON AHEAD AND  DOES NOT ABIDE IN THE TEACHING OF THE MESSIAH.”

Moving on to the second epistle of John, in verses 8 and 9 we read:

“Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of the Messiah, does not have God - Yehovah. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father - Yehovah and the Son – Jesus’.”

We see John uses the “abiding” as a measure. Abiding means staying, holding fast, enduring. To abide in something you need, after you have started it, to make up your mind to continue in it, to be steadfast in staying in it. To have the Father and the Son, to have them coming and making their home with us, we have to abide in the teaching of the Messiah i.e., to abide in His Word. To live out our lives obey his words. Indeed, as the lord said:

John 14:23-24:

“Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep [obey] my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep [obey] my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.”

Again, there is an “IF” and there is an “and” (in fact three of them). If we love the Messiah then we will keep [obey] his Word, we will abide in his teaching. And, as a result, the Father will love us and He with His Son will come and make their home in us spiritually. But if we do not keep his Word, if we do not abide in the teaching of the Messiah, then this means that we do not love him, and in turn it means that we have neither the Father nor the Son.

2 PETER 1:5-11: “MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO SUPPLEMENTYOUR FAITH”

Moving now to 2 Peter 1:5-11 we read:

2 Peter 1:5-7:

“For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

Does our faith need to be supplemented? According to Peter yes it does. With what does it need to be supplemented?

Here it is virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, love.

What Peter says, Paul also tells us, with different wording, in Galatians 5:22-26:

“But the fruit of the Spirit [the new nature, the new man] is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to the Messiah Jesus [having been purchases by his blood] have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”

And Romans 12:1-2:

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God - Yehovah, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God - Yehovah, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God - Yehovah, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

What both the apostles tell us is:

 “Walk with the new man, not the old man; renew your mind; supplement your faith”.

Back to 2 Peter: let’s now assume that, though the Word says, “make every effort to supplement your faith”, but if somebody chooses not to supplement his faith and makes no effort in this direction. What will happen in this case? We may find the answer by looking at what happens when somebody does supplement his faith. This is given in 2 Peter 1:8:

“For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our lord Jesus the Messiah.”

So, if we “make every effort to supplement our faith” with these qualities then we will be neither ineffective nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our lord. This in turn means that a person who does not do this and makes no effort to supplement his faith will become both ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our lord Jesus the Messiah. And Peter continues:

2 Peter 1:9:

“For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.”

Whoever makes no effort to supplement his faith and therefore lacks these qualities is called blind; a person who has forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins, exactly like the person in the parable of the debtor of the 10000 talents who had forgotten the generosity of his master and from what he cleansed him. And Peter carries on:

2 Peter 1:10:

“Therefore, brothers, rather be diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you do these things, you shall never fall.”

Peter continues:

2 Peter 1:11:

“For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our lord and Savior Jesus the Messiah.”

“For so” means “by these means”, “in this way”, “because of this” will an entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our lord and Savior shall be ministered to us abundantly. Because of what?

Because of what we read in the preceding verses: because of making every effort to supplement our faith with what Peter told us, which in turn means that we will not become ineffective and unfruitful, but we are diligent to make our calling and election sure. By these means, for this reason, we will be given to us an abundant entrance into the Kingdom of God.

Therefore, may we take care of our faith and despite our mistakes and failures along the way, may we supplement our faith “with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love ….. For in this way there will be richly provided for us an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our lord and savior Jesus the Messiah.”

PHILIPPIANS 2:12-16: “WORK OUT YOUR SALVATION WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING”

The next passage we will look at is Philippians 2:12-16: There we read:

Philippians 2:12-16:

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God - Yehovah who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God - Yehovah without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of the Messiah I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.”

To “work out our salvation”, means to live out our faith, to walk like a follower, a disciple, of the Messiah. Now, is this optional? The phrase “with fear and trembling” does not sound optional. This phrase means that we should take the working out, the practicing of our faith, very seriously, so seriously to the point of fear and trembling. To use the words that we saw Peter using in the previous section: we should “make every effort”.

Furthermore, Paul tells the Philippians to “hold fast to the word of life”. If they did this, then in the day of the Messiah he would be proud that he did not run or labor in vain. This in turn means that if they did not hold fast to the Word, the labor of Paul would indeed be in vain.

If the Philippians did not hold fast to the Word, abiding in the vine, then they would not be in the Kingdom and yes then Paul’s labor would be in vain, like it never happened.

1 TIMOTHY 6:10-16: THE LOVE OF MONEY

In 1 Timothy 6:10 we find a further example of people who wandered away from the faith: those who loved money.

1 Timothy 6:10:

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.“

“Wandered away” is the Greek word “apeplanithisan” and it means “to be led astray, to be seduced”. People who have wandered away, were once walking on the right path but then, because of a deception they followed and were led astray, they wandered away. As Paul says, the people he is speaking about here “wandered away from the faith”, which consequently means that they were once in the faith.

The deceitfulness of riches will cause those deceived by it to wander away from the faith. Using the parable of the vine in John 15, this is equal to wandering away from the vine. In turn this will make them unfruitful – third category of the parable of the Sower – as there is no way to bear fruit without abiding in the vine5. Finally, if there is no true repentance and return, the end will be removal from the vine and classification of these “branches” with what will be burned (John 15:2, 6).

Concerning the love of money, it is obvious that it is a lethal enemy to the faith; it is a faith killer of the first degree. God does provide material blessings for the covering of our needs, but wanting to become rich, wanting to be “blessed” with riches is not something we should do. Instead, here is what we should do:

The deceitfulness of riches is mentioned explicitly in the parable of the Sower as a thorn and a cause of unfruitfulness.

Hebrews 13:5-6:

“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So we can confidently say, "The lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"

Are we doing this? Are we content with what we have? Is our life free from the love of money or we are running after riches? Let us think and make any adjustments needed.

Note: It is surprising to me that, given the solemn warnings of the Scripture concerning the desire to become rich, this very desire is cultivated from the pulpits of some churches and quite frequently through so called Christian Media and preachers shown in them.

The Bible says (and this is just a sample):

Romans 8:16-17:

“The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs;  heirs of God - Yehovah and fellow heirs with the Messiah, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

2 Timothy 2:3:

“Share in suffering as a good soldier of the Messiah Jesus”

2 Timothy 3:12:

“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in the Messiah Jesus will be persecuted”

Acts 14:21-22:

“And when they [Paul and Barnabas] had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”

 Suffering for the Messiah’s sake is an honor. What happened to James and to almost all the apostles (martyrdom) was an honor. The apostles themselves saw suffering for the Messiah’s sake as something to rejoice in:

Acts 5:40-41:

“And when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.”

Notice:

Tacitus was a Roman historian and eyewitness to the first state run persecution started by Nero (64-67 AD). He wrote about the events:

"In their very deaths they [he means the arrested Christians] were made the subjects of sport: for they were covered with the hides of wild beasts, and worried to death by dogs, or nailed to crosses, or set fire to, and when the day waned, burned to serve for the evening lights. Nero offered his gardens for this spectacle” (Chronicles, Book XV, para. 44).

Christians were put on fire as evening lights in Nero’s Garden! Can we really picture this? My question now: what would we do if a soldier came to our house to take us away from our family and “blessings” and put us on fire, unless we denied the lord? Would we go? Or would we deny the lord and the faith to save our blessings, because we perhaps believe that this lord, since he is so much of love, would just choose to close his eyes?

What would we do if God did not grant the most precious desire we have (spouse, kids, job, health etc.)? I do not say that he will not. I speak hypothetically. Would we still follow him with no conditions attached? Let each one of us answer for himself.

On false teachers

Forgive me for continuing in this digression, but here it is perhaps a good opportunity to give some more information concerning false teachers. Peter spoke about them in 2 Peter 2:

2 Peter 2:1-3:

“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.”

And through covetousness the shall with feigned words make merchandise of you: Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” (ESV-KJV) “Many will follow their sensuality”: false teachers have apparently a large following. They are popular, because they preach an “easy salvation message”. Contrast this with the narrow gate that leads to life. It is not many who find it but few. Many go through the broad gate.

Matthew 7:13-14:

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

The fact that somebody is a popular preacher does not necessarily mean that he is also a true teacher. It may well be that he is a false teacher and in fact his popularity is just because of this: because he gives the people an entrance through the broad gate and the easy way and many like this entrance and thus follow him.

Furthermore, as Peter tells us:

“And because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed”.

There is only one way of truth, and this is the “hard way that leads to life”. It is the way through the narrow gate. This way, the true and genuine follower of the lord Messiah Jesus, will be blasphemed. It will be perhaps branded as “religion”, “legalism” etc., as opposed to the “freedom” and the “grace” (of cheap, falsified grace and not the grace of the Word) these false teachers promise. Also, the world, seeing these impostors and thinking that they are what they pretend to be (“Christians”), will come to wrong conclusions about Christianity as a whole, again causing the way of truth to be blasphemed. This is a way Satan deceives the whole world through false religion and false prophets and teachers.

 And Peter continues:

2 Peter 2:18-19:

“For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption.”

“Freedom” is the main promise they sell but their promises are lies, for they themselves are slaves of corruption. And why do they do this? What is their motive? Again, Peter gives us the answer:

2 Peter 2:3:

“And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you”

I took this part from the KJV. The old translations use the above rendering, which corresponds exactly to what the Greek text says. The newer versions have the part “they with feigned words make merchandise of you” as “they will exploit you with false words”, rendering the Greek verb “emporeuomai” as “to exploit”. However, this verb does not mean to exploit but “to trade, buy and sell, make merchandise” (Strong’s dictionary). In other words, a characteristic of a false teacher is that he is greedy and in his greed, he makes merchandise of the people of God - Yehovah. I do not know about you but to me this speaks volumes.

Do you see “preachers” amassing huge property (including but not restricted to super luxury homes, jets, luxury cars, huge salaries etc.) all through “their preaching”? I would say: run away! You do not need to hear anything else. This is the fruit of a greedy, false teacher who has merchandised the people, extorting “offerings” from them, selling them bogus books (many of them written by ghost writers), conferences and “advice” for big fees. “By the fruit you will know them” the lord said, and greed is a definite fruit of a false teacher that one can ignore only at his peril.

Now the greedy, false teacher “who perverts the grace of our God - Yehovah into a license for immorality and deny our only master and lord, Jesus the Messiah” (Jude 1:4) is not the only kind of false teacher. There is another one, in the other extreme and this is the kind which had plagued the churches in Galatia and was active in other churches too. Their teaching? That the followers of the Messiah Jesus should keep the law of Moses (see the book of Galatians), that they should abstain from foods (Hebrews 13:9), that they should not marry (1 Timothy 4:1-4), that they should “observe days, months and seasons” (Galatians 4:10), that they should worship angels. Usually under the threat of tithing and the supposed horrible things that will happen to the followers if they do not give their tithe to the “ministry” (more accurate would be “business”) of the preacher. (Colossians 2:18)

Instead of God - Yehovah only, through the lord Jesus the Messiah, that they should call to other mediators instead of the only “one mediator between God and men, THE MAN the Messiah Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5) etc. Those who were preaching or preach such things are false teachers too doing the same thing, as those on the other side: leading people astray, from the true Word of God - Yehovah, this time through false “humility” and “intruding into those things which they have not seen, vainly puffed up by their fleshly mind” (Colossians 2:18 – KJV).

Therefore, false teachers appear basically as two extremes:

The one extreme is a perversion of the grace of God, turning it into a license for immorality, while the other is legalism, and following - through a cover up of false humility - after practices that God never intended. We need to beware of both.

James 3:1-2:

“Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers/sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways.”

“We all stumble in many ways”, says James, referring to teachers and very graciously including himself also. Making a mistake in teaching the Word of God does not necessarily make somebody a false teacher. Else we would all be false teachers, for according to James we all stumble in many ways. The truth is that we all learn and as we learn more, we may have to go back and teach more accurately what we had taught in the past.

I am thankful to God that He does not wait until we reach perfection before He can use us!

Note:  A false teacher is not somebody who just makes a mistake in teaching it. The mistake of the false teacher is not “just a mistake”. It is something much bigger. There is indeed a huge difference between making “just a mistake” and “perverting the grace of God - Yehovah into a license for immorality” (Jude 4) or “speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them” (Acts 20:30) or “through covetousness make with feigned words merchandise of the people of God” (2 Peter 2:3).

Let us go to Galatians:

GALATIANS 5:2-4 “SEVERED FROM THE MESSIAH”

In the epistle to the Galatians Paul deals with the matter of law and grace and the fact that we are saved by grace, by God’s unmerited favor, without the works of the law. The reason he was saying this was because some were teaching the Galatians that they had to keep the law and that they even had to be circumcised. As we said previously, there are, broadly speaking, two versions of false teachers: the one leads people astray by effectively perverting the grace of God into a license for immorality (Jude 1:4) and the other leads them astray through legalism i.e. through imposing adherence to the law of Moses (Sabbath, circumcision, tithe, ceremonies etc.) and to things that God never intended for believers. The Galatians had fallen victims of this second type of false teachers. Paul dealt with the issue making clear what such departure from the true Gospel would mean:

Galatians 5:2-4:

“Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, the Messiah will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from the Messiah, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.”

You cannot be severed from something, if you were never one with it. These people were true believers, one with the Messiah. However, this would change if they sought justification through the law. In that case they would be severed from the Messiah, and they would fall away from grace. Therefore, it is indeed possible to be severed from the Messiah and fall away from grace i.e. to be with Him today but to no longer be with Him in the future, to have ourselves severed from Him, by - in the case of Galatians - following a perverted doctrine. Notice also that they would fall away from grace. It is not that grace would expel them but rather that they themselves would fall away from it.

Furthermore, as Paul testifies of them just a couple of verses later:

Galatians 5:7:

“You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?”

See that he uses past tense: they were running well. But no longer. Somebody hindered them, obviously by teaching them to obey the law and get circumcised. As a result, they were no longer running well. Instead, they were on their way to be led astray. Therefore, it is possible to run well but then to stop running well and even be led astray i.e. fall away from the right path and out of the race of faith altogether.

Now the question to be asked is: if somebody is severed from the Messiah and therefore falls away from grace, will he still be saved? I believe the answer is clear in Ephesians 2:8 and in John 15.

 According to Ephesians salvation is by grace through faith. If these Galatians would fall away from grace, then they would no longer fall into the case of Ephesians 2:8. In addition, according to John 15:6:

“If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”

Whoever does not abide in the Messiah, whoever is severed from him, has the end described in the above passage and which in turn also tells us what would happen in the case of the Galatians that would be severed from the Messiah, no longer a member of the body of the Messiah.

To summarize:

Yes, is it possible that a believer is, because of following a deception, severed from the Messiah. And this, as in the case of Galatians, can happen when someone replaces the work of The Messiah with the law and tries to attain righteousness through it.

Unfortunately, some misuse Galatians to go to the other extreme, saying that God cares only for our faith and the works have no real importance, as if faith and works could exist separately from each other. But it is not really like this. As Luther very correctly said:

“It is impossible to separate faith and works as it is to separate heat and light from fire”. 

This is true. There is no salvation but only by faith and there is no true faith without the respective fruit, the works that should normally accompany it. Fruitless “faith” cannot save, not because the fruit would supposedly save us, and this is missing. In contrast, it cannot save us because fruitless faith is not a true faith. James says: Faith without works is dead!

It is dead as James said (James 2:26) and such faith does not save. The message of this book is in no way salvation through works. There is NO such salvation! There is salvation through faith, a faith though that has to be kept to the end and which should be - and will be if we stay united with Messiah – fruitful. In fact, I would summarize the message of this book in the passage from Galatians 5:6 we saw earlier:

“In the Messiah Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.”

Faith, love, works (action)! All three go together and I do not think that any of these can really exist as stand-alone and without the others.

2 TIMOTHY 2:11-13: “IF WE DENY HIM, HE WILL ALSO DENY US”

The next passage we will check is 2 Timothy 2:11-13. There we read:

2 Timothy 2:11-13:

“The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains Faithful;  for he cannot deny himself.”

The word “him”, obviously refers to the Messiah as he is the one who has died and will reign. Now can we deny the Messiah? Again, if there was no such possibility then Paul would have never mentioned it. Yes then, it is possible that somebody denies him.

He should NOT deny him, but deceived he may end up doing it. What will happen in this case? The Word leaves no space for speculation: “if we deny him, he will also deny us”.

To avoid these plain words many, go to verse 33 and say:

“IF we are faithless, he remains faithful,- for he cannot deny himself”.

The Messiah is never going to be faithless! We may choose to be faithless, but he is never that way. he is always faithful.

 JAMES 5:19-20: THE WANDERED BROTHER

Reading further, let us go to James 5:19-20:

“My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”

Now James says that if a brother brings back somebody who wanders from the truth, he “will save his being from death”. The passage, speaking about death of that person, makes clear that if the respective person does not return, he will not at the end receive eternal life but the exact opposite of it. And this despite the fact that he was once on the right path. The same truth we find also in other places in the epistles. Here are some:

Romans 8:13:

“For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

Galatians 6:7-8:

“Do not be deceived: God - Yehovah is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”

Hebrews 10:26-27:

“For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.”

We reap eternal life when we run the race of faith, sowing to the Spirit and to the new nature. Paul is very clear: “the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” This does not mean that we are faultless or sinless. Nobody is. These however are mistakes while on the way. We strive to live as a slave of righteousness and sometimes we may have some episodes of sin here and there. But they are just that: episodes, not something we are continually practicing, living as a way of life.

IF, however, we essentially live a life of sin, we work lawlessness, we live habitually and as a way of life, according to the flesh, then we will reap what we sowed and from what we read this is “a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire”, corruption and death.

Now some may ask: “but why? Is it not salvation by faith?” Yes, it is, but true faith and living according to the flesh never go together. They are mutually exclusive. We cannot be in both at the same time.

 “SOME WILL ABANDON THE FAITH”

Moving on in 1 Timothy 4 we read:

1 Timothy 4:1-3:

“The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.”

Note: By falling victim to false teachers, who in turn are but instruments of deceiving spirits. We spoke previously about two main groups of false teachers. It seems to me that the false teachers of the above passage belong to the second group, the legalistic one, which uses false humility and promotes that a person can supposedly come to God - Yehovah through such things as abstinence from food or denying marriage. This is again so relevant. In fact, it was only a few hundred years after Paul wrote the above, in the council of Elvira in 306 AD when, according to Canon 33: “all bishops, presbyters, and deacons and all other clerics were to abstain completely from their wives and not to have children" thus opening the way to the obligation of celibacy, which later became a requirement for ministers of some denominations.

False teachers will always lead people astray and we need to watch out. It is nevertheless impossible to watch out if we do not know for ourselves what the Word of God - Yehovah says. Are we reading the Word of God – Yehovah on our own, without the “glasses” of cherished doctrines, without following the traditions of men, or do we essentially base our faith on what others say about the Word? There are many cherished beliefs that people have, yet sad to say: they would not arrive to them by reading the Bible on their own, without somebody teaching them these beliefs. They only “see” these “truths”, if they put on the particular “glasses” of interpreting Scripture that somebody has given them. But the Scripture interprets itself and needs no such glasses.

Closing this section, I exhort us: let us pick up our Bible and read it thoroughly, focusing on what the text says and without filtering the text through theories and theological doctrines, the traditions of men, we may have heard. God - Yehovah says what He means, and He means what He says. If a particular doctrine is in the Bible, you will clearly see it when you read it. But if a doctrine can only be “seen”, after you put on particular “glasses” of interpreting the Scriptures, I would be very careful in considering this doctrine as Biblical. We need to ask our God and Father Yehovah to give us “spiritual eyes” to see with, and “spiritual ears” to hear with, when is comes to coming to an understanding of His Word.

1 TIMOTHY 5:8: “HE HAS DENIED THE FAITH AND IS WORSE THAN AN UNBELIEVER”

To see an example of how Paul meant faith and that for him it was not just a confession but a way of living, let’s go to 1 Timothy 5. There Paul is writing to Timothy about the widows and the obligations that children and grandchildren have to them.

1 Timothy 5:3-5:

“Honor widows who are truly widows. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God - Yehovah.”

God cares for the widows, and He commanded that first children and grandchildren take care of their needs. This is the declared will of God. Now let’s suppose that a believer with widows in his family, denies doing this. Paul speaks about this case in no unclear terms in 1 Timothy 5:8:

“But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

Paul and the other apostles and first and foremost the lord himself, never considered faith as something that cannot be denied, nor did they consider someone faithful just because he said so. When Paul said to the Corinthians to examine themselves whether they were in the faith, he was not referring to people who had verbally denied the lord. These were definitely not in the faith.

Instead, he was referring to believers, to people who thought that they were in the faith and yet did not practice the faith they claimed to have. Denying for example to take care of the members of their household, including their widowed mother or grandmother. Such ones were not in the faith and though they had never verbally denied the lord, they did so practically, by their acts.

Therefore, denying the faith does not mean I stand up and make a confession with my mouth against the faith (though this can happen too). More frequently it means I don’t practice the faith I claim to have, to do this consistently and habitually; what should accompany faith, living it out. Paul, using the case of a so-called believer who denied taking care of his household, said that he had denied the faith, and he was worse than an unbeliever.

“GO AND SIN NO MORE”: WHAT THE LORD EXPECTS FROM FORGIVEN SINNERS.

In John 8:3-11 we have an indicative record of the lord’s great love, compassion and forgiveness for sinners. Let’s read it:

John 8:3-11:

“The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and placing her in the midst they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So, what do you say?" This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."

See the great love of the lord. He in no way wants the death of the wicked but that the wicked returns and lives. As we read in Ezekiel 33:11:

“Say to them, As I live, declares Yehovah God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?”

This was and is the will of God - Yehovah for the ungodly: He wants the wicked to repent and turn back. He in no way wants his condemnation, his death. This does not mean that He is indifferent to sin. But to the sinner, He says: “I do not condemn you. The past is past. Go and from now on sin no more”!

Please note here:

He does not just say “neither do I condemn you”, but also “go and from now on sin no more”. Therefore, He expects something from the sinner: to go and sin no more. May we be thankful for his forgiveness and instead of taking it for granted, may we take it as it truly is a new beginning and may we strive to go and from now on sin no more.

THE REAL FAMILY OF JESUS: “THOSE WHO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD AND DO IT”

In Luke 8:20-21 we read how and who Jesus defined to be His brothers and his very own:

Luke 8:20-21:

“And it was told to him by some, who said, your mother and Your brothers are standing outside desiring to see You. And he answered and said to them, my mother and My brothers are those who hear the Word of God and do it.”

Those who hear and also do the Word are the brothers/sisters of Jesus. As we have repeatedly seen up to now, it is for Jesus the doing of the Word that matters. The hearing of the Word should also be followed by acting on what we have heard.

1 CORINTHIANS 5:5: “SO THAT HIS SPIRIT MAY BE SAVED IN THE DAY OF THE LORD”

Moving now to 1 Corinthians 5 and starting from verse 1 we read about some great sexual immorality that was going on in the Corinthian church.

1 Corinthians 5:1-5:

“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn?

Let him who has done this be removed from among you. For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the lord.”

Among whom was there sexual immorality? “Among you”, among the believers, Paul says. This immediately tells us that a believer is indeed capable of such things as practicing sexual immorality of the worst kind that even the pagans could not tolerate. Now I would like to ask us the following: would the people who practiced these things and who were obviously “believers”, be saved, if they did not repent for what they were practicing? This is a rather rhetorical question as the answer is in the text and the way Paul reacted to the situation. Let’s see it again:

1 Corinthians 5:4-5:

“When you are assembled in the name of the lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the lord.”

The reason that this man should have been delivered to Satan was to lead him to repentance, through the “destruction of the flesh” that this would bring, “so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord”. To say it differently: if the flesh, the old man, of this person was crushed and he repented then his spirit, he himself, would be saved in the day of the lord. From this it is obvious that if this “destruction of the flesh” would not happen and this person would not repent, then his spirit would not be saved in the day of the lord. Paul, in order to avoid this and bring repentance, says deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. But did those who were practicing such and similar sins finally repent?

In 2 Corinthians Paul follows up on the matter of sexual immorality in the Corinthian church. Here is what he says:

2 Corinthians 12:21:

“I fear that when I come again my God - Yehovah may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity and fornication and lasciviousness that they have practiced.”

As we see it was not just one but many who were living in impurity, fornication and lasciviousness. As we also see, many of these people had NOT repented and we do not know whether they ever really did.

A couple of things that I would like us to notice concerning these people: what they were doing was not a sin while being on the right way. This was not an episode of sin, but, as the text says, their practice, what they did habitually and as a way of life. They were working lawlessness to use the words of the lord (Matthew 7:23). If they would not repent, would they find the door of the Kingdom open and the King waiting for them to welcome them in, just because once upon a time they believed? The answer is NO. Because it is clear from Matthew 7:21-23 that the King will not welcome but rather send away those who work lawlessness:

"Not everyone who says to me, 'lord, lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father - Yehovah who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'lord, lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'”

In contrast to many today who have chosen to ignore the above reality, Paul did not ignore it. That is why he was rather upset that the church in Corinth was arrogant and had not taken action to discipline these people so that they might repent and their spirit “may be saved in the day of the lord”.

PETER 2: “IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER FOR THEM NEVER TO HAVE KNOWN THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS”

I left for last two of the “heaviest” passages in this chapter, which are incidentally similar: 2 Peter 2 and Jude. Let’s start from 2 Peter. This epistle has three chapters. The biggest of the three is devoted to the description of some very dangerous people related to the topic we are discussing here. We saw already parts of this chapter in a previous section. But let’s read now a big part of it:

2 Peter 2:1-19:

“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them [with his shed blood], bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed, they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. For if God - Yehovah did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell - grave and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.

Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before Yehovah - the Lord. But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you.

They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness. These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.”

Peter is referring to those who were followers of the lord Messiah Jesus. They denied the Master who bought them. Also, as we read: “Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray”. How could somebody forsake the right way if he was never in the right way?

Nevertheless, the verses of 2 Peter that follow leave no doubt that these people were once part of the family of the believers but eventually turned back, returning to the defilements of the world:

2 Peter 2:20-22:

For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our lord and Savior Jesus the Messiah, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them: "The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire."

That these people were once believers is obvious from the following facts:

1) They had escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our lord and Savior Jesus the Messiah. It speaks about knowing the lord here and you cannot know him without faith. Even as believers, knowing the lord Jesus the Messiah is an aim and not something that happens automatically.

That these people were once of the family of the believers with personal knowledge of the lord becomes undeniable by the use of the Greek word “epignosis”. This word does not mean just head knowledge or simply knowledge. In contrast it means precise knowledge that is applied in practice. Here is how Vine’s dictionary defines this word:

Epignosis: "denotes "exact or full knowledge, discernment, recognition," expressing a fuller or a full "knowledge," a greater participation by the "knower" in the object "known," thus more powerfully influencing him" (emphasis added) Epignosis is the noun form of the verb “epiginosko”.

About this verb, Vine says:

"It denotes "to observe, fully perceive, notice attentively, discern, recognize" and "suggests generally a directive, a more special, recognition of the object "known" than does [ginosko]; it also may suggest advanced "knowledge" or special appreciation; thus, in Romans 1:32, "knowing the ordinance of God" (epiginosko) means "knowing full well," whereas in verse Romans 1:21 "knowing God" (ginosko) simply suggests that they could not avoid the perception. Sometimes epiginosko implies a special participation in the object "known," and gives greater weight to what is stated; thus, in John 8:32, "you shall know the truth," ginosko is used, whereas in 1 Timothy 4:3, "them that believe and know the truth," epiginosko lays stress on participation in the truth." (emphasis added)

An unbeliever may hear about God - Yehovah but if the Word does not enter his heart it will never lead to real knowledge of Jesus the Messiah, let alone full perception as the word “epignosis” denotes.

Just for the record, here are some examples where the word “epignosis” is used in connection to knowing God - Yehovah and the lord Jesus the Messiah:

Ephesians 4:11-14:

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of the Messiah, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge [epignosis] of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Messiah, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and froe by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine- teaching, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”

Ephesians 1:17:

“The God of our lord Jesus the Messiah, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge [epignosis] of him”

Colossians 1:9-10:

“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge [epiginosko] of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge [epignosis] of God - Yehovah.”

Colossians 2:1-2:

“For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge [epignosis] of God's mystery, which is the Messiah.”

Colossians 3:9-10:

“Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge [epignosis] after the image of its creator.

2 Timothy 2:24-25:

“And the lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge [epignosis] of the truth”

I think that we could not seriously support that any of these passages referring to knowing (epignosis) God - Yehovah and His Son could also apply to unbelievers. I wonder though why then some so fiercely oppose the idea that these people of 2 Peter were once believers, when it is so clearly written in the Word that they go back to the defilements of the world, after they had initially escaped them “through the knowledge [epignosis] of our lord and Savior Jesus the Messiah”, the same knowledge that is the aim and the prayer for all of us, the believers?

2) That these people in 2 Peter were once believers is also obvious by the fact that, “the holy commandment was delivered unto them”. Could a holy commandment ever be delivered to unbelievers? I do not think so. Speaking about commandment brings to my mind what Paul said to Timothy:

1 Timothy 6:12-14:

“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God - Yehovah, who gives life to all things, and of the Messiah Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our lord Jesus the Messiah”

Really, why would Paul charge Timothy to keep the commandment unstained if it was impossible that he would ever stain it?

Back to those of 2 Peter: they were recipients of the “holy commandment”, which in a broad sense I take to mean the Word of God and what it commands us. As for example 1 John 3:23 tells us:

“And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus the Messiah  and love one another, just as he has commanded us.”

Furthermore, these people also got to know the way of righteousness. Again, the word “know” is a translation of the Greek word “epiginosko” i.e. it is not a simple knowledge that is meant but a rather deep and good knowledge of the way of righteousness. Could this really happen to people that are not believers? No, it could not. What I believe the above facts very clearly say is that these people belonged originally to the family of the believers, but then they apostatized from the faith. To apostatize means to belong somewhere and then betray it, turning them back, moving away from it. Such apostates were also those of 2 Peter 2. What will the end of these people be? The answer is in the following parts of 2 Peter 2:

“For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them and “bringing upon themselves swift destruction”

JUDE: “TURNING THE GRACE OF OUR GOD INTO LASCIVIOUSNESS” - A MUCH RELEVANT WARNING

Jude is a very short epistle, just 25 verses all in all. But it is both powerful and with an evident urgency. Verse 3 starts right away on the subject:

Jude 3:

“Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints – holy ones.”

The “faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” was in danger and the believers had to fight, to contend, for it. What was wrong, what was happening? The next verse says it:

Jude 4:

“For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God - Yehovah into lasciviousness and deny our only Master and lord, Jesus the Messiah.”

These people were doing two things:

1. They were perverting the grace of our God into lasciviousness.

2. They were denying our only Master and lord Jesus the Messiah.

But how did they do that? As Jude says: they had crept in unnoticed. This then indicates that they were not explicitly and loudly saying that “Jesus the Messiah is neither our lord nor our Master”. Else they would immediately be noticed. Instead, they “crept in unnoticed”, perhaps by transforming themselves the same way Paul says that the servants of Satan transform themselves into ministers of righteousness:

2 Corinthians 11:13-15:

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of the Messiah. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”

Satan’s workers are not coming, presenting themselves as wolves, because then they would be noticed. Instead, they come camouflaged as sheep. They appear as “ministers of righteousness”, but their very works show that they are not. By their fruit you shall know them.

The fruit, the life that somebody lives, what he is practicing is the clearest and the true indicator of whether he is a sheep or a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The lord said this very clearly in Matthew 7:15-20:

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits you will know them.”

In addition, as Jude 12 says:

“These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear”. In other words, these people were taking part in the common meals – the love feasts - the believers were having as a church.

Now let’s summarize:

1) These people had crept in unnoticed. This indicates that they had camouflaged themselves to look like sheep while in fact they were ravenous wolves.

2) They were participating together with the true believers in the common meals they were having as a church.

3) the believers had no idea that these were really wolves and the danger they posed. If they knew the danger, they would already be contending for the true faith once delivered to the saints and there would be no need for Jude to urgently ask them to do so.

These facts tell us that these false teachers were presenting themselves as followers of the lord Messiah Hesus. In fact, Jude is very similar to 2 Peter 2, which also speaks about false teachers who, before they turned away becoming false teachers, were indeed of the family of the believers. I do not know whether they both speak about exactly the same situation but the only way I see that these people got unnoticed, despite the corruption they were spreading, is by posing themselves as followers of the lord Messiah Jesus.

Turning into what they were doing, they were: perverting the grace of God into lasciviousness and denying our only lord and Master Jesus the Messiah. Let’s now get into each of these.

“Perverting the grace of God into lasciviousness”

Concerning the word lasciviousness, this is a translation of the Greek word “aselgeia”. This word is used 10 times in the New Testament and shows up in the related lists of the works of the flesh (see Mark 7:21-22, Romans 13:13, Galatians 5:19-21).

According to Vine’s dictionary it denotes:

"Excess, licentiousness, absence of restraint, indecency, wantonness;

Perhaps the NIV has the best translation of Jude 1:4 when it says:

“They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God – Yehovah into a license for immorality”.

These people had perverted the grace of God into a license for immorality. But how did they do this?

They perverted teaching, in word and in deed. In the “grace” they were teaching there was also a place for living in lasciviousness and sin.

Was somebody living in sin? Well, not such of a problem. Their “grace” covered also this. It is difficult to understand what was happening exactly and I do not want to read more into the text than what it really says, but it is a fact and written in the text that they were indeed perverting the grace into a license for immorality, sin.

“Denying our only lord and Master Jesus the Messiah”

Furthermore, it is written in the text that these people were denying our only lord and Master Jesus the Messiah. The word translated as “Master” is the Greek word “Despotes”, from which the English word “Despot” derives. It means absolute lord. In other words, Jude is using two very similar words, one of them very strong, to point out the absolute lordship of Jesus the Messiah, which these people were denying.

But can it really be?

Can such people creep into the church, fellowship with the believers, practically deny the lordship of Jesus the Messiah, pervert the grace of God - Yehovah into a license for immorality and yet get unnoticed? Unfortunately, it can happen. In fact, I believe it happens today. Many are those today who teach a message of cheap grace. A grace according to which Jesus is more our servant than lord. A grace in which somebody is saved once and for all the minute he believed and what he will do after that minute, whether he will stay in the faith, whether he will stay in the vine, in the Messiah, is not that relevant. What is relevant is that moment of faith. The beginning rather than the end.

Do you want to live according to the world? NO!

Acts 11:26 tells us:

“And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians”

It is the disciples that were called Christians. To tell it differently: there is no such thing as Christians who are not disciples of the Messiah. Whoever is not a disciple, a follower of the Messiah is not a Christian.

As the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer summarized it:

“Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance … Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus the Messiah.”

Unfortunately, such is the grace that many teach, and their teaching has been very popular. It is however a fake grace, a distortion of the true grace of God - Yehovah and we should be alerted so that we do not fall victims of it. And as Peter closes his second epistle:

2 Peter 3:17-18:

“You, therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our lord and Savior Jesus the Messiah. To him be the glory. Amen.”