A NEW HEART

"Circumcise then the foreskin of your heart, and do not be stubborn any longer" (Deuteronomy 10:16; cf. Acts 7:51).

This new heart that signifies spiritual renewal applies to all the  followers of the lord Messiah Jesus - Yeshua who have been grafted into the commonwealth of Israel [Romans 11:17-24; Ephesians 2:13-21:

The prophet Jeremiah said, "The days are surely coming, says Yehovah, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ... I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God - Elohim, and they shall be my people" (Jeremiah 31:31, 33).

The prophet Ezekiel likewise said on God's – Yehovah’s behalf, "I WILL SPRINKLE CLEAN WATER UPON YOU, AND YOU SHALL BE CLEAN FROM ALL YOUR UNCLEANNESS. ... A NEW HEART I WILL GIVE YOU, AND A NEW SPIRIT I WILL PUT WITHIN YOU; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone AND GIVE YOU A HEART OF FLESH. I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT WITHIN YOU, AND MAKE YOU FOLLOW MY STATUES ... and YOU SHALL BE MY PEOPLE, and I will be your God - Elohim. I WILL SAVE YOU FROM ALL YOUR UNCLEANNESS" (Ezekiel 36:25-29).

So, God - Yehovah giving Israel a new heart is the same as being born again [from above]. We know from the New Testament that God -  Yehovah is going to give believing Israelites but also believing Gentiles a new heart.

Like Moses, Jesus - Yeshua said this change of heart should begin spiritually in this life.

Jesus - Yeshua told Nicodemus exactly how to be born again [from above] in this life. He said, referring to himself as the Son of Man, "And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life" (John 3:14).

When Jesus - Yeshua told Nicodemus, "So must the Son of Man be lifted up," he referred to his impending crucifixion and its meaning. That is, just as Moses lifted the serpent on a pole, and snake-bitten Israelites who looked at it were healed, when Jesus would be lifted onto a cross to die for the sins of others, people who believe this about him will be saved and inherit eternal life. The Johannine Jesus later explained, "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself" (John 12:32).

The Johannine Jesus - Yeshua says this as a major faith requirement for salvation. He said, "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and does not come under judgment but has passed from death to life" (John 5:24). And he said, "This is the work of God - Yehohvah, that you believe in him whom He has sent" (John 6:29).

John informs us no less than forty times that the Father - Yehovah "sent" Jesus or did "send" Him as His agent.

Jesus -- Yeshua claimed that he "came" or did "come" from the Father. J.A.T. Robinson explains concerning this abundant data, "The picture which John presents is of Jesus - Yeshua acting as the Father's agent."

The Gospel of John is unique in presenting Jesus - Yeshua as God's – Yehovah’s agent par excellence.

The Jewish Law of Agency:

known in Hebrew as "Shlichut" (שליחות)—is a legal principle in Halacha (Jewish law) whereby a person (the principal, or meshale'ach) can appoint another person (the agent, or shaliach) to perform legal or religious acts on their behalf. When the agent acts, he does so as how the principal who appointed him would act.

"Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing" (John 5:19, cf. 30).

Notice: The Johannine literature of the New Testament has an important theme, often ignored, about obeying Jesus as a major requirement to be saved. It emerges in the Fourth Gospel in two episodes in which Jesus was accused by the Pharisees of claiming to be God - Yehovah (John 5:18-47; 10:30-38).

The author of 1 John teaches similarly. He says of Jesus - Yeshua, "We may be sure that we know him, IF WE OBEY his commandments. Whoever says, 'I have come to know him,' but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist" (1 John 2:3-4).

The author adds: "Everyone who does right has been born of him" (1 John 2:29), resulting in them being "children of God - Yehovah" (John 3:1).

Jesus - Yeshua often taught about living righteously as evidence of being born again [from above] - starting with his Sermon on the Mount. Its beatitudes reveal that people will be blessed for being penitent, mournful, meek, merciful, pure in heart, peaceful, and living righteously (Matthew 5:3-10).

"A person is justified [declared righteous] by works and not by faith alone. ... faith without works is dead" (James 2:24, 26). Real faith produces righteous works.

Notice: John 20:30-31 reads as follows: "Now Jesus - Yeshua did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus - Yeshua is the Messiah, the Son of God - Yehovah, and that through believing you may have life in his name." To have "life in his name" refers to the promise of eternal life, which is what the gospel is about.

Now, we should not think the Johannine literature only requires faith in Jesus - Yeshua as Messiah, the Son of God - Yehovah, without also necessitating faith in his sin-offering sacrificial death for our sins as Savior. For 1 John twice says: "Jesus - Yeshua the Messiah" is "the atoning sacrifice [sin-offering sacrifice] for our sins" (1 John 2:2; 4:10).

Notice: Jesus' - Yeshua's message from the beginning of his ministry until his death was preaching about the kingdom of God - Yehovah and how to enter into that kingdom:

His command to his followers is: The lord Jesus - Yeshua said, “Seek you first the kingdom of God - Yehovah, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33) Amen.

THE LORD MESSIAH JESUS – YESHUA RATIFIED THE NEW COVENANT BY A SIN-OFFERING SACRIFICE HE OFFERED UP TO HIS GOD AND FATHER YEHOVAH

Exodus 24:6-8: And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant and read in the audience of the people: and they said: All that Yehovah has said will we do and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which Yehovah has made with you concerning all these words.

Moses was at that time ratifying - placing the people of Israel under the OLD COVENANT before Yehovah.

Hebrews 9:11-28: Now Messiah has appeared as the high priest of the good things to come. He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this present creation, and he entered once for all into the Most Holy Place, not through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood [as a sin-offering sacrifice], and in doing so he secured the redemption of the age to come. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, consecrated for outward, ritual purity, how much more will the blood [sin-offering sacrifice] of Messiah, who through the spirit of the age to come offered himself [as a sin-offering sacrifice] without defect to God, purify our consciences from dead works to serve the living God - Yehovah!

    So then HE IS THE MEDIATOR OF A NEW COVENANT, so that those who have been invited may receive the promised inheritance of the age to come, since a death has taken place for deliverance from violations committed under the OLD COVENANT. For where there is a covenant, there must be proven the death of the one who made it. For a covenant is valid at death, and it is not in force while the one who made it lives. So even the FIRST COVENANT was ratified with blood. For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying: “This is the blood of THE COVENANT [OLD COVENANT] which God - Yehovah commanded you to obey.” And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and all the things used in worship. According to the Law, nearly everything was purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

    It was necessary therefore for the sketches of the things in the heavens to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves required better sacrifices than these. For the Messiah did not enter a holy place made with hands, which is a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God - Yehovah for us. And he did not need to offer himself often, the way the high priest enters the holy place year after year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world. But now once at the culmination of the ages, he has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself [as a sin-offering sacrifice - i.e., as a sacrificial person. God - Yehovah had determined this role for the Messiah] Just as it is appointed for people to die once, and after this comes judgment, so Messiah also, having been offered once [as a sin-offering sacrifice] to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for him.

When Jesus was crucified, his shed blood – as a sin-offering sacrifice was the ratification of the NEW COVENANT that all those who are his are under! The NEW COVENANT is sealed by the blood [sin-offering sacrifice] of God's – Yehovah’s anointed one!

Matthew 26:26-28: While they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to the disciples. “Take and eat this. It is my body,” Jesus said. Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them. “Drink from it, all of you,” he said to them. “This is my blood which ratifies the [NEW] COVENANT, [That is, the blood necessary for ratifying, bringing into force, the NEW COVENANT, based on all Jesus’ words.] poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. [The suffering servant and his death is the basis for this teaching, Isaiah. 53:12 - So I will give him - Yeshua a share among the mighty, and he will divide the prize with the strong, because he poured out his life (as a sin-offering sacrifice) in death and he was counted with sinners. He carried the sins of many. He intercedes for those who are rebellious.]

Acts 20:28: “Be alert for yourselves and for all the flock, in which the holy spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He acquired with the blood [the sin-offering sacrifice] of His own Son.

Hebrews 12:21-25: You have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God - Yehovah, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to multitudes of angels, to the called-out assembly of the firstborn who are recorded in heaven, and to God - Yehovah, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the upright made perfect, and to Jesus - Yeshua, THE MEDIATOR OF A NEW COVENANT, and to the sprinkled blood [a sin-offering sacrifice] that speaks of something better than the blood of Abel did. See that you do not refuse the One - Yehovah who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on the earth, how much less will we if we reject the One who warns from heaven?

Ephesians 1:3-9: Blessed be the God and Father of our lord Jesus Messiah. He - Yehovah is the One who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Messiah.  For He - Yehovah chose us in him before the foundation of the ages [This means that all believers were included in the divine plan from the beginning, according to Yehovah’s foreknowledge], to be holy and unblemished before Him - Yehovah. In love, He marked us out beforehand to be His sons and daughters through Jesus – Yeshua the Messiah, according to the good purpose of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely gave us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, [that is, through his sin-offering sacrificial death in our place and on our behalf (Mark 10:45: For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom in place of many). Salvation is also through obeying Jesus (Hebrews 5:9: Having been perfected, he became to all of those who obey him the source of the salvation of the age to come)], the forgiveness of our sins, according to the riches of His grace, which He - Yehovah kindly lavished on us. In all wisdom and understanding He made known to us the revealed secret of His will, [the unfolding knowledge of His Kingdom Plan] according to His purpose which He designed in him - Yeshua, as His plan for the time of fulfillment;  to make the Messiah head of everything in heaven and on earth.

Colossians 1:19-20: For God - Yehovah was pleased to have all His fullness live in him, [Note that the same language about “the fullness of God - Yehovah” is applicable to believers also in Ephesians3:19: and to know the love of the Messiah which surpasses knowledge, so that you will be filled with all the fullness of God – Yehovah, also Colossians 2:9: “all the fullness of God – Yehovah dwells” in Jesus - Yeshua, is parallel to the idea expressed by Paul here that the followers of the lord Messiah Jesus are also to be filled with the fullness of God - Yehovah], and through him - Yeshua to reconcile all things to Himself - Yehovah by making peace through the blood [sin-offering sacrifice] on the cross; through him, whether things on earth or in heaven.

Hebrews 10:28-31: Anyone who disregarded Moses’ Law was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much greater punishment do you think a person deserves who treads under foot the Son of God, and profanes the blood of the covenant by which he was made holy, and insults the spirit of grace? For we know Him who said: “Vengeance belongs to Me; I will repay,” and again: “Yehovah will judge His people.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God - Yehovah.

1 John 1:7: But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood [sin-offering sacrifice] of Jesus - Yeshua, His Son, purifies us from all sin,

Revelation 1:5: Grace and peace to you from Him - Yehovah who is, who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits - angels before His throne, and from Jesus the Messiah, the faithful witness, the firstborn from among the dead, the ruler over the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood [sin-offering sacrifice], and has assigned us a Kingdom, as priests to his God and Father - Yehovah to Him be the glory and the power to the ages of the ages. Amen.

Do you see brethren all that the shed blood [sin-offering sacrifice] of God's anointed one Jesus - Yeshua has given to us: We are bought and paid for by the blood [sin-offering sacrifice] of Jesus - Yeshua and yet he calls us brothers and sisters. By his shed blood [sin-offering sacrifice] the NEW COVENANT has been ratified, and we are to live under it, obeying all it’s precepts. Jesus - Yeshua explains how to do so in all he has outlined for us to do. The first is to follow the creed of Jesus – Yeshua found in:

Mark 12:28-34: One of the religious teachers came and heard them arguing and recognized that Jesus - Yeshua had given them a good answer. So, he asked Jesus, “What commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus replied:

“The most important commandment is: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord - Yehovah our God is one Lord - Adonai. Love the Lord – Yehovah your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’

The second is: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no more important commandment than these.”

The religious teacher replied: “You are right, teacher. It is true as you said that God - Yehovah is one Person, and there is no other besides Him, and we are to love Him with all our heart, all our mind, and all our strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. That is far more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Jesus, seeing that he had given an intelligent answer, said: “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”

The followers of the lord Messiah Jesus are to live out the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount in their lives. Realize that if we do not live according to the testimony - words of the lord Messiah Jesus – Yeshua and keep his commandment we have no part in him. He requires that we obey him in order to have salvation, even as James said, "faith without works is dead".

James 16-18: Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters.  Every good act of giving and every perfect gift is from above [The very Jewish idiom “coming down from heaven” simply means that something is a gift from God - Yehovah] , and comes down from the Father of lights, who is without change or turning shadow. He gave birth to us by the Gospel-word of truth - [Rebirth as described by all the NT writers is initiated by belief in the seed message of Jesus’ Gospel of the Kingdom, as demonstrated by him in the parable of the Sower:

(Matthew. 13:19: When someone hears the Gospel-word about the Kingdom, and does not understand it, then the Evil One comes and snatches away what was sown in his mind. This is what happens to the seeds sown on the road;

Luke 8:11-15: The seed is the Gospel-word of God. The seeds on the path are like those who listen, but then the Devil comes - Reminding us of Satan’s constant policy of obstructing the progress of the Gospel of the Kingdom at every opportunity] and takes away the Gospel-word from their minds, so that they do not believe it and so are not saved - [salvation is conditioned on an intelligent reception of the Gospel of the Kingdom, the word of the Kingdom]  The seeds on the rocky soil are those who listen and receive the Gospel-word with joy, but they do not have any roots. They believe for a while - [Showing that the popular belief in “once saved always saved” is false to the teaching of Jesus. Paul warned believers that if we do not remain faithful, we will be cut off (Romans 11:21-22)] but when difficult times come, they give up.  The seeds that fell among thorns are those who listen, but they are choked by life’s worries, wealth, and pleasure, and they produce no fruit. But the seeds in the good soil are the ones who listen to the Gospel-word with an honest and good heart. They hold onto it and produce fruit with perseverance.

1 Peter 1:23-25: You have been born again, [Rebirth and conversion must of course happen now. Immortality is to be gained fully at the return of Jesus (Like 14:14).] not from perishable seed, but from an imperishable seed; the Gospel-word of God, [The word/Gospel of the Kingdom (Matthew 13:19) as preached by Jesus - Yeshua is the essential seed of rebirth, containing the seed of immortality (Luke 8:11). The essential saving content of the Gospel is the Kingdom of God as preached as gospel by Jesus (Hebrews 2:3) and Paul and all NT writers.], which is living and lasting.  For “All humanity is like grass, and all of their glory like wildflowers. Grass withers and flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word which was preached as Gospel to you. [According to God’s – Yehovah’s own plan, so that we would be the first fruits of His new creation].

Notice: Hebrews 5:8-9: Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through the things which he suffered. Having been perfected, he became to all of those who obey him [Obedience to Jesus - Yeshua is invariably the condition of salvation. Faith without obedience is false faith and cannot save] the source of the salvation of the age to come, [Of the future Kingdom of God on earth.] having been designated by God a high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

John 3:34-36: For the one whom God - Yehovah sent as His agent speaks the words of God, for he does not give out the spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son and has given him power over everything. The person who believes in the Son has the Life of the Age to Come [in the coming Kingdom of God where those who enter as glorified immortal men and women will co-rule with the lord Messiah Jesus] The one who refuses to obey the Son [Salvation is given only to those who obey the Son (Hebrews 5:9; 1 Timothy 6:3; 2 John. 7-9; John 12:44] will not see that life. Rather, the righteous fury of God hangs over him.” [That is, threatening with destruction unless he/she responds by repenting and believing the Gospel of the Kingdom as preached by Jesus and every NT writer (Mark 1:14-15; Acts 8:12]

John 6:63: It is the spirit which gives life; the flesh gains you nothing. The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

John 14:10: Do you not believe that I am in the Father - Yehovah and the Father - Yehovah is in me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own initiative. The Father - Yehovah who lives in me is doing His works through me.  Believe me, that I am in the Father - Yehovah and the Father - Yehovah is in me. [The same unity is the ideal for all believers who are to be of one mind and purpose with the Father - Yehovah and Son (John 17:11: I am to be no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name which You have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one., vs. 22-23: I promise to give them the same glory which you have given me. I want them all to be one, just as we are one: I in them and You in me, so that they may be brought to maturity as one - united, that the world may come to know that You commissioned me and that You loved them just as You loved me.)

The word we are to obey are the words the Father gave Jesus to give to us. Obey them!

 

ARE THE FOLLOWERS OF THE LORD MESSIAH JESUS OBLIGATED TO OBSERVE THE MOSAIC LAW?

Those who believe that the followers of the lord Messiah Jesus – Yeshua are not obligated to observe the Mosaic Law are not picking and choosing which passages they want to accept.

Nowhere in any of the New Testament writings outside of the 4 Gospels are there any writings admonishing anyone to observe the Mosaic Law.

The only reason Jesus - Yeshua taught the people to observe the Law was because the Jews - Israel were still under the Mosaic Law. Jesus - Yeshua had not offered himself up to his God and his Father Yehovah as a sin-offering sacrifice, thus reconciling humanity to God – Yehovah, so during his lifetime the Old Covenant,God – Yehovah made with Israel was still in effect:

Galatians 4:1-7:

Let me explain. As long as an heir is underage, he is not different from a slave even though he is destined to be master of everything. He remains under guardians and managers until the date set by his father.  So, we also were formerly underage, held in bondage under the elemental principles of the world.  But when the time was right, God - Yehovah sent forth His Son, who came into existence [GENOMAI] from a woman and under the Law, to redeem those under the Law and give us the status of sons and daughters.  Because you are children, God - Yehovah sent the spirit of His Son into our hearts, calling, “Abba! Dear Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a child, and since you are a child, you are an heir through God – Yehovah.

See Romans 3:19-31:

Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be shut, and the whole world may be held accountable to God - Yehovah. For by the works of the Law no one will be made right in His sight, because through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. But now, apart from the Law, God’s – Yehovah’s way of being right with HIm has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets. That is, God’s – Yehovah’s way of being right with Him is through the faith of the Messiah Jesus - Yeshua for everyone who believes, and there is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God - Yehovah. We are all made right freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Messiah Jesus - Yeshua. God - Yehovah displayed him publicly as the atoning sacrifice – sin offering sacrifice by his shed blood, effective through faith. his was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God – Yehovah passed over prior sins. And He demonstrates His righteousness at this present time, that He is right and He makes right those who have the faith of Jesus

[NT faith in the Messiah Jesus - Yeshua entails not just believing in him but believing what he believed and taught (Hebrews 5:9; 2 John 7-9; 1 Timothy 6:3; John 3:36. Where then is boasting? There is no place for it. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we maintain that people are made right by faith and not by works of the Law. Or is God - Yehovah the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, because God - Yehovah is only one Person, and He will make the circumcised right by faith and the uncircumcised right through the same faith. Are we then negating the Law by faith? Absolutely not! No, we are upholding the Law.

Note: Galatians 3 and Hebrews 8:13:

At the time when He said: “A new covenant,” He made the first covenant obsolete. And what has become obsolete and has grown old is near to disappearing.

The Apostle Paul included Romans 3:31 because he did not want anyone to think he was against the Law because it came from God - Yehovah and is holy (Romans 7:12). No one is to condemn or belittle the Law.

If the Apostle Paul believed Christians are obligated to observe the Law, why then did he write Romans 14:1-6; Galatians 2:14; 5:11-12?

Romans 14:1-6: Accept the one who is weak in the faith, but not to dispute over opinions. One person believes in eating everything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not look down on the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who eats everything, because God - Yehovah has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? He stands or falls before his own master. And he will stand, because the Lord - Yehovah is able to make him stand. One person considers one day as more holy than other days, while another person considers every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day observes it for the lord - Yehovah. The one who eats everything eats for the lord, because he gives thanks to God - Yehovah. The one who does not eat everything does it for the lord and gives thanks to God – Yehovah.

Galatians 2:14: But when I saw that they were not behaving according to the truth of the Gospel, I said to Peter in the presence of all of them, “You are a Jew who lives like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How then can you pressure the Gentiles to live like Jews?”.

Galatians 5:11-12: As for me, brothers and sisters, if I were still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? If I were still preaching circumcision, the stumbling block of the cross would have been removed. I wish that those agitating you would cut theirs right off!

According to Hebrews 8:7-13 and Hebrews 10:1-13, believers are living under the New Covenant nor the Old Covenant (the Mosaic Law).

Hebrews 8:7-13: For if that FIRST COVENANT had been faultless, then there would have been no need for a SECOND COVENANT. But finding fault with them, God - Yehovah says: “Look, the days are coming, says the Lord - Yehovah, when I will make a NEW COVENANT with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My COVENANT, and I had no regard for them, says the Lord - Yehovah.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord - Yehovah. I will put My laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. And each one will not teach his fellow citizen or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord - Yehovah,’ because all will know Me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their evil actions, and I will remember their sins no more.” At the time when He said: “A NEW COVENANT,” He made the FIRST COVENANT obsolete. And what has become obsolete and has grown old is near to disappearing.

Hebrews 10: 1-13: For the Law, having a shadow – a rough outline of the good things to come, but not the reality itself, can never with the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, make perfect the worshipers. Otherwise, would the sacrifices not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having been once purified, would have no more consciousness of sin? But in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins year after year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

So, when he [Jesus – Yeshua] came into the world he said: “You did not desire sacrifice and offering, but You prepared a body for me. You have no pleasure in whole burnt offerings and other offerings for sin. Then I said, ‘I have come (in the scroll of the book it is written of me) to do Your will, O God.’” After saying above: “You did not desire and had no pleasure in sacrifices and offerings, whole burnt offerings and other sacrifices for sin” - which are offered according to the Law - then he said: “I have come to do Your will.” He abolishes the FIRST [COVENANT] in order to establish the SECOND [COVENANT]. By His will we have been made holy through the offering of the body of the Messiah Jesus - Yeshua once for all.

Every priest stands day after day serving and offering time and again the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But Jesus - Yeshua, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins [a sin-offering sacrifice] for all time, sat down at the right hand of God - Yehovah, where he is now waiting until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet. For by one offering [sin-offering sacrifice] he has perfected for all time those who are being made holy.

Acts 15:1-35 describes a meeting the discussed the issue of whether the believers were required to observe the Mosaic Law or not (Acts 15:1, 5). Acts 15:19-22, 15:28-29, and Acts 21:25 describes the results of the meeting.

The believers were to keep only 4 aspects of the Law, none of which included circumcision. These 4 things were to keep the peace between the Jew and Gentiles believers (Romans 14:1-6; 1 Corinthians 8:9-13)."

Note: Acts 21:25:

But about the Gentiles who have believed, we have written our decision that they should avoid meat sacrificed to idols, blood, the meat of strangled animals, and sexual immorality.”

What is written above is absolute proof that the followers of the lord Messiah Jesus – Yehshu are not bound, not required to keep the Law of Moses, i.e. the OLD COVENANT which has been done away by the sin-offering sacrifice THAT Jesus – Yeshua gave to his God and his Father Yehovah on the cross – stake. By his shed blood he ratified the NEW COVENANT, under which all his followers are bound to keep in faith.

Note: Luke 22:19-20:

He took some bread, and after giving thanks, he broke it and gave it to them. “This is my body given for you; remember me by doing this,” he said to them. In the same way he took the cup after supper and said: “This cup is the New Covenant ratified by my blood which is being poured out for you.

Amen  

THE ORIGIN OF THE LORD MESSIAH JESUS - YESHUA

Matthew has deliberately used the powerful Greek word GENESIS - origin, to ensure that readers understand that the Son of God, the promised Messiah who Matthew presents is a real human being, though supernaturally “begotten in Mary”

Matthew 1:20: As he [Joseph] was thinking about these things, an angel of the Lord - Yehovah appeared to him in a dream and said: “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary to be your wife, because the child who has been fathered [GENNAO - “to cause to come into existence,” “to beget,”] in her is from holy spirit [God’s – Yehovah’s creative operational power].

Matthew’s words are a direct allusion to Genesis 5:1 which speaks of the “GENESIS, the origin and birth record of Adam.” This excellent statement makes our point, and Matthew’s, very well: “Not only was the Gospel of Matthew referred to among Greek-speaking Jews as GENESIS, but also his phrase ‘the book of the GENESIS of Jesus the Messiah is strongly reminiscent of the Greek version of Genesis 5:1: ‘the book of the GENESIS of human beings’ and Genesis 2:4: ‘the book of the GENESIS of heaven and earth’ [the account of God - Yehovah working with preexisting material to fashion the world for Adam].

In Jesus - Yeshua the Messiah, God - Yehovah had made a new beginning. The major importance of Matthew 1:1, is that verse defines who Jesus is. John and Paul should not be twisted to contradict this primary, “umbrella” definition of Jesus - Yeshua, meant to identify the true Son of God, the Messiah. Jesus - Yeshua is the visible image of the invisible one and only true God [John 17-3].

In Jesus - Yeshua we see the visible glory of God - Yehovah.

John 1:18: No one has seen God - Yehovah at any time. A uniquely begotten Son, the one who is in the bosom of the Father - in a most intimate relationship with God – Yehovah, he has explained God.]

Jesus is the visible stamp or impress of his Father, who alone is God – Yehovah

Hebrews 1:1-3: God - Yehovah after He in the past spoke to our ancestors in the prophets at many times and in many ways, has in these last days spoken to us in a Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom – because of whom, He made the ages. His Son is the radiance of His glory, the exact image of His person, and upholds all things by the word of his power.

Man is “the image and glory of God”

1 Corinthians. 11:7: A man should not have his head covered, because he is the image and glory of God – Yehovah.

In Jesus that ideal image is restored. He does what Adam failed to do. Jesus is the “man Messiah” of 1 Timothy 2:5:

“…there is one God - Yehovah and one mediator between that one God and humanity, Messiah Jesus - Yeshua, who is himself human.

Note: “begat” = to cause to come into existence, to procreate, to father. Equally true of the Son of God who was begotten, brought into existence by miracle by God - Yehovah in Matthew 1:18-21:

The origin - GENESIS of Jesus Messiah was like this: His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she became pregnant through holy spirit. Joseph, her husband-to-be, was a good man, and since he did not want to shame her publicly, he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he was thinking about these things, an angel of the Lord - Yehovah appeared to him in a dream and said: “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary to be your wife, because the child who has been fathered – GENNAO – cause to come into existence, in her is from holy spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus - Yeshua, because he will save his people from their sins.”

The begetting of the Messiah by God - Yehovah was predicted in Isaiah 9:6:

“A child/Son will be begotten [by God - Yehovah, a divine passive]”.

Isaiah 7:14: “The virgin will conceive,” implying a divine paternity.

See 2 Samuel 7:14 and 1 Chronicles 17:13, where God will become the Father of the Messianic son of David (Hebrews 1:5). Also, Psalm 2:7 and Psalm 110:3 (LXX). Luke1:35 and Matthew 1:18, 20 take up the prophecies of divine begetting and show how they were fulfilled in history.

John 1:13 (see Jerusalem Bible) speaks of the virginal begetting in the case of the Son of God, Jesus.

Hebrews 1:5 and 5:5 see the fulfillment of Psalm 2:7 at the birth of Jesus, as does Acts 13:33 (ESV) where the “raising up” is fulfilled when Jesus is begotten.

Acts 13:34 speaks in contrast of the later resurrection of Jesus from the dead. 1 John 5:1 speaks of God - Yehovah as the begetter and 1 John 5:18 (ESV) of the coming into existence, begetting of the Son, who now protects believers.

The begetting of the Son in 1 John 5:18 defines a time when this happened. To dissolve the easy word “beget” into timelessness destroys both the unitary monotheism (God - Yehovah is a single divine being) and the human Messiah, who in order to be a real human, must begin in the womb of his mother (cp. Isaiah 49:1, 5).

Jesus is the second man specially created by God – Yehovah, the second Adam:1 Corinthians 15:47:

The first man is of the earth, made of dust, the second man is of heaven – begotten by the Spirit of God – Yehovah in the womb of Mary.

Everyone knows that Adam was a human person. As Adam was the federal head of humanity, Jesus is the federal head of the “New Humanity”.

All those who are ‘New Creations’ in him are also members of the ‘New Humanity’ that God – Yehovah has been creating since Adam’s disobedience and its consequences for humanity, held in bondage to sin, but those who are ‘New Creations’ in the lord Messiah Jesus – Yeshua have been freed from the bondage of sin!

WHAT IS ARMSTRONGISM? IS THE WORLD WIDE CHURCH OF GOD AND IT'S OFFSPRINGS A CULT?

 Herbert Armstrong was the founder of the World Wide Church of God and in my opinion was a false prophet and the leader of a cult religion. His teaching mixed law and grace which Paul condemns in the strongest terms saying that anyone who does so is under a curse.

Galatians 3:10: For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, cursed is every one that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

Armstrong said that his followers were under obligation to keep the law of Moses and keep all the holy days as mentioned in Leviticus 23.

Galatians 2:3-5: But not even Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised: And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in the Messiah Jesus  - Yeshua, that they might bring us into bondage: To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

Paul would have labeled Armstrong a false teacher/brother who indeed brought people into the bondage of the law of Moses, and requiring them to circumcise their children on the eighth day after birth.Titus was not circumcised, in order to join an assembly of God.

Galatians:2:16: Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus - Yeshua the Messiah, even we have believed in Jesus - Yeshua the Messiah, that we might be justified by the faith of the Messiah, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

This statement by Paul totally condemns all that Armstrong did by saying his followers had to keep the law in order to be saved and enter the kingdom of God, which is a Satanic lie.

Galatians 3:13: The Messiah has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is every one that hangs on a tree: The Messiah became a sin-offering for us to be reconcilled to our God and Father Yehovah.

What Armstrong taught was a total rejection of what the anointed one Jesus - Yeshua did for us by allowing himself to be crucified, and become a sin-offering sacrifice. 

Anyone who mixes law with grace is under a curse and is following a false gospel, Paul makes that very clear all through the letter he wrote to the Galatians.

Nothing in my hand can I bring to earn salvation, only to his cross [stake] I cling, realizing that I can do nothing to earn salvation. Knowing that my lord and savior has done all on my behalf to reconcile me to his God and his Father and my God and my Father Yehovah. There is no other means or way to gain salvation but in the name of the lord Jesus - Yeshua Yehovah's anointed one. His is my all!