IF WE LOVE GOD, WHAT DOES HE WANT US TO DO?

IF WE LOVE GOD, WHAT DOES HE WANT US TO DO?

John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

So many ask what are we supposed to do after Salvation by grace?  How do we show God we Love him?  How do we show Yeshua our Love?  suprisingly few actually consult Scripture on this matter.  Most simply ask what ever person they feel is righteous enough to know.  Such as a Pastor, Priest, or Rabbi.  Yet as with most things if we would take the time to consult the Word of God in Prayer then we would find our answers. 

Now for most  the Truth found in the answers provided by Scripture aren’t always easy for mans selfish, and prideful nature to take.  Here is a classic example.

( Joh 14:15  If you love Me, keep My commandments. )

It is hard for men who are trying with all there might to ignore the Will of God in there lives, and teaching others to do so to accept this simple truth.  

If you Love God, you will keep his commandments. 

But to be perfectly honest many will stop right here and say “just hold on a second here.  This passage is clearly speaking about keeping Yeshua’s (Jesus’s) commandments not the Torah (Law, Will of God, Law of Moses).”  As if the Father and the Son are not parts of the same God.  As if they have a separate Will. 

This is the flawed teaching that so many have fallen under.  Yet when put to the test of scripture it falls apart quickly.  Is it not written

(Joh 10:30  I and the Father are one ). 

That’s funny if God is eternal, and he never changes, and Yeshua and the Father are  one, where exactly do we get the idea that the commandments of Yeshua would be any different from our Father in Heaven? 

But many would say “yeah this is one verse”.  Yet isn’t it also written

(Joh 8:19  Then they said to Him, Where is your father? Jesus said to them, You neither know Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. ). 

Yeshua sure seemed to think and teach that he and his Father were one 

So now that we have gotten that out of the way, lets move on to Love.  What exactly is Love.  Is it the affect that comes from a pagan deities arrow when it hits you on the rump?  Is it infatuation, or lust?  Once again men can ponder and come up with all kinds of funny ideas about what love is.  There have been volumes of books written on the subject.  It has become so convoluted that many wouldn’t know Love if it was starring them in the face.  So I think it is time to put all the man made nonsense behind us and once again look at what the Word of God says about the subject. 

2Jn 1:6  And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, as you heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.)

Wow    Who would have thought that Love is walking according to Gods commandments, isn’t that interesting. 

All these ideas we have been spoon fed from birth have absolutely nothing to do with Love.  But we can stop here and ask ourselves another very important question.  Haven’t many of us been taught that the Law and Commandments were supposed to be hard and grievous.  Isn’t that why God changed his mind?  

Oh wait we are also taught that God doesn’t change his mind like those false pagan gods.  That is one of his characteristics.  Ok so new approach.  Isn’t that why Yeshua did away with the Law?  Because it was to hard for man.  Wait we just learned that Yeshua doesn’t have a different Will from the Father, and they are part of the same God.  Ok Lets just say the Law is hard and we don’t want to follow it because it has always been SAID that the Law of Moses is a burden on man. 

So lets look at this false tradition and lie of satan. 

(1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome.)

Wait a second does that Scripture really say that?  Don’t we just know that the Law is burdensome and that’s why it was done away with?  This idea doesn’t seem to hold up under the Truth of Scripture does it?   

Lets look at a few more examples just to make sure that the Law of God is not a burden to men, as it has been commonly taught. 

Deuteronomy 4:4 teaches that keeping the Law prolongs our days.  Duet5:29 teaches that the Law would insure that all would be well with the people and there generations that come after them.  Deut 5:33 continues these teachings. 

So just to make sure it is stated.  The Law (Torah, Will of God) was never meant to be burdensome or grievous.  It was given to man to be a blessing.  It defines the Will of God in our lives.  It defines what sin is.  It was never a punishment as many today teach out of ignorance.  The teaching that the Law was meant to be a burden or in some way was a punishment to man, or in most cases Jews, is either ignorance, an out right refusal to read and understand Scripture ,or a blatant lie.  A lie made by man to justify living outside of the Will of God.  Which by the way if you read the post What is Sin, then you know that is the very definition of Sin. 

As we study and we hear the half truths and lies of man that has come directly from the pit we need to remember that justification of a fact does not change the fact.  If the fact is that Sin is going against the Will of God then justifying it by saying that the Will of God doesn’t matter to us, does not change the simple truth of the fact. 

It is mans way to justify our actions to replace the Will of God in our lives.

So lets examine this for a moment.  Lets ask the question WHAT IS THE WHOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF MAN?  How are we supposed to live?  And once again we have been spoon feed many false traditions and lies.  So instead of giving these any credence lets look at what Scripture has to say on the subject. 

(Ecc 12:13  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God, and keep His commandments. For this is the whole duty of man.). 

The whole duty of man is to fear God, and keep his commandments.  Wow!!!  Its not to ignore his teaching’s and his Will?  Amazing!!!! 

It is here that we really need to be honest with our selves.  Did any of us really truly believe that God only wants to grant us wishes in the form of prayer and make us rich.  Did any of us really in our heart of hearts believe that Yeshua (Jesus) sacrificed his self in order for us to Sin more and ignore his Ministry and his Fathers Will?

    Now comes the question that I think we all want to ask. 

HOW IS KEEPING THE COMMANDMENTS LOVE? 

And I think this is a fair question.  How is simply obeying the Will of God showing Love.  Shouldn’t we at least buy him flowers?  Maybe send him a card every once in awhile? 

So lets once again look to Scripture to find our answers.

(Mat 22:37  Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
Mat 22:38  This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39  And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Mat 22:40  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. )

The two greatest commandments as stated by Yeshua himself.  Lets dissect this verse a little before we continue.  First off in order for Yeshua to give the greatest commandment it serves as proof that there are other commandments right.  I mean if I was to say that the greatest cars in the world are Chrysler and Chevy does that mean you can’t buy a Honda?  Of coarse not. 

Many say, that Yeshua is teaching that we do not need to know the Will of God in our lives.  That as the Beatles sang “all we need is love”.  Yet if we love God we will keep his commandments. 

Are we starting to see the progression and how it all fits together?  Yeshua states that first off we must Love God with all our heart, soul, and mind.  How do we do this?  By obeying his Will in our lives.  Second, if we Love God we must Love his children, His creations, our fellow man. Love our neighbor.  And no it doesn’t meant Joe across the street only.  It is all our fellow man.  We are to love them as we love ourselves. 

Man is a selfish being ever since the fall, and has continued to be so unto this day.  Man almost always chooses himself above others, and above even his own Creator.  So in the framework set up by Yeshua here.  We are to love our fellow man in this context.  We are to put them first as we always seem to do for ourselves in our fallen nature.   It goes on to say in verse 40 that on these two commandments hangs all the Law and the Prophets. 

I have heard this taught in ignorance so many time’s, that Yeshua is Hanging the Law as on a hangmen’s noose.  This is a perverse and not even a clever lie.  It is on these two principles that all the Law hangs as if by a fruit bearing branch.  A Messianic title by the way is Branch (Nazaren).  One more thing I really think must be pointed out here.  Is that those of you who teach and believe that we are supposed to only follow the Big 10 commandments.  You really need to focus on this passage of scripture and pray over it.  Because the Two greatest commandments are not taken from the Big 10.  Pray over this for awhile before you teach this idea to others.  The 10 Commandments were a summary of the entire Law.  A summary for the Will of God in our lives.       The Two greatest given by Yeshua is a further summary to lead us into
His Will.  And it goes on later to summarize it more to one word LOVE.  Now go back and define love as we have done in this post and try and to remove the Will of God from your lives.

    So now that we have set all of this foundation and precedent lets move on to the next logical question. 

How should we then feel about his commandments? 

Its hard to begin to think of the Law as set within the confines of Scripture when we have been misled for so long.  But that is what seeking the Truth is all about.  It isn’t always easy to take at first.  So lets step outside the false traditions of men and  see how Scripture tells us to view the law.

Psa 1:1  Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
Psa 1:2  but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

Psa 119:29  Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law!
Psa 119:30  I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me.
Psa 119:31  I cling to your testimonies, O LORD; let me not be put to shame!
Psa 119:32  I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart!
Psa 119:33  Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end.
Psa 119:34  Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.
Psa 119:35  Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it.
Psa 119:36  Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!

Pro 29:18  Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.


I Pray that this has at least given you an inclination towards curiosity to seek the Truth.  Not my Truth, or your Truth, but Gods Truth.  May he give us his Spirit of Wisdom and understanding as we go forth in study of His word.  And may we receive eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to change for His Will and Glory.

What Is Sin

WHAT IS SIN?
1 John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

What is Sin?  This seems like a basic question to ask right?  Yet surprisingly enough very few know how to define sin.  Many think they know what sin is.  Many Know about sin, all  commit sin, but few can properly define it.  If you ask 10 different people what sin is, you will probably get 10 different answers.  They will vary from describing some sins, to it’s the evil and bad things we do.   Many will describe sin as going against scripture.  Yet many that do deny the very scriptures that describe sin in our lives.  

But sin is not in the action itself.  Let me explain in scripture.

( Mat 5:27  You have heard that it was said to the ancients, "You shall not commit adultery."  Mat 5:28  But I say to you that whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.)

There is no actual action when lusting in the heart.  Yet Yeshua taught us that sin is in the heart, it is the motivation behind the action.  He didn’t change or nullify the commandment not to commit adultery, he clarified it. 

Yet this still doesn’t define sin.  The definition of sin is much simpler indeed. 

Another thing that might surprise some,  is that the definition of sin doesn’t come from the understandings and pondering’s of men, it comes from scripture.  Sure the Torah (Pentateuch, first five books of the Bible) define the will of God and in essence, sin for us.  But the simplest definition comes from what many call the New Testament. 

And once again this is very surprising to some.  The definition comes from

(1 John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.). 

So the easiest definition of sin is the transgression of the Law.  Just to clarify what Law is being spoken of here. The Greek word for transgression of the Law is
anomia
an-om-ee'-ah
From G459; illegality, that is, violation of law or (generally) wickedness: - iniquity, X transgress (-ion of) the law, unrighteousness.. 
The Law spoken of that is being transgressed is the Greek word
nomos
nom'-os
From a primary word νέ?ω nemō? (to parcel out, especially food or grazing to animals); law (through the idea of prescriptive usage), generally (regulation), specifically (of Moses [including the volume]; also of the Gospel), or figuratively (a principle): - law.. 
 This is the  word commonly translated or understood to be Torah. 

To gain a better understanding of what sin is, you must understand that the Law being spoken of here is the Torah (Pentateuch, old Testament, first five books of the Bible). 

The simplest way to explain this is to remind the readers that the New Testament simply wasn’t written yet.  The events of the New Testament were still in progress.  The revelations and teachings that led to the New Testament were in progress.  So sin is going against the Law of God.  Most commonly Known as the Law of Moses.  But we will go over this issue more in detail in coming postings. 

So for those of you who are still a bit nervous about this subject it may be best to understand that Sin is simply going against the Will of God.  If God says to turn right and you turn left its sin.  It is that simple. 

The problem comes in when we do not know what the Will of God is in our lives.  So many get hung up and lost on this point.  They say Yay I’m saved by the blood, now what?  How do I live?  And there are many answers and most have nothing to do with the truth.  They usually involve coming to church or emulating a certain person or group of people. 

But the only one we are to emulate,   is the very essence of discipleship.  It is what the name Christian has come to mean.  We are to in all things emulate our Messiah Yeshua (Jesus).

(1Co 11:1  Be imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ. )

Many people know very little about who Yeshua really is.  They have been fed so many lies and mis-conceptions about him he has become something entirely different from how he is plainly described in scripture.  Please take the time to read about our Messiah.  Look at how he lived his life.  And remember this is our example.  Look at every aspect of his life.  And try to see which parts of the Law (The Will of God) that he refused to follow! 

Remember the definition of Sin as stated by scripture and not mans idea of what’s acceptable. 

Many have heard that all sins are equal in the eyes of God.  But they neglect to understand what that really means.  Take the time to properly pray over this issue.    If you do not know what the Will of God is, you may in fact be walking in sin.  And Yes Yeshua’s sacrifice did away with the condemnation of sin and death.  BUT YESHUA DID NOT DIE TO GIVE US A LICENCES TO SIN.  To think this is to deny the very nature of who our God is. 

Sure, we are no longer condemned by sin through the Blood of the Lamb, but we are to emulate him.  And remember in order to be the messiah,  he was without sin.  We are to constantly try to remove sin in our lives.  We do not attempt to keep from sin to become saved.  We remove sin because we are saved.

As we go forth and test these new ideas in Scripture let us pray that our Father gives us His Spirit of wisdom, understanding, and truth. So we may see and walk as our Messiah walked, and be true disciples in the Name of Yeshua (Jesus). May we pray for eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to change for the glory of our God

Name of our Messiah

Many people know our Messiah as Jesus. But this is lacking something. I need to be very clear right off the bat. I am not saying that if you were saved in the name of Jesus then it isn't valid. Or that praying in the name of Jesus doesn't go to the same Messiah. All I am saying is that even though it is the wrong name with the tongue it is the same spirit in the heart. And as with all issues it is the heart that matters.

With that said. I would like to point out that while Jesus is a good translation of the Latin. Which is a good translation of the Greek Iesous, it is a horrible translation of the Hebrew Yhoshua. Or the shortened form Yeshua. You may be asking what is the difference if it all means the same thing? The simple answer is devotion to ones Messiah is the difference. It is a question of true discipleship. Todd Agnew stated it best in his song entitled which Jesus do you follow.

Many people have a distorted image of who our Messiah is. They have believed the false traditions of man. They think of a Greek Jesus that had long flowing brown hair, and bright blue eyes. They teach a Jesus that did away with the Will of God in our lives. They forgot the Hebraic roots of our faith and our Messiah. It is time we stop looking at our faith as if it is a religion made by man. We need to look at Scripture with eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to change. We need to put aside our arrogance and pride and seek the truth in scripture. Not your truth or my truth but God's Truth.

We see in (Mat 1:21 And she shall bear a son, and you shall call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins). What it actually says in the text is Yeshua. You see while Jesus is a fine name, it has no meaning. If you take a look into the Hebriac roots of our faith you will see all names have a deeper meaning behind them.

In the Hebriac culture names mean something. The name was meant to be prophetic of who the child would become. The child as it grew would then have the option to accept his name, try and live up to it, or to rail against it. This is a shadow picture in itself of man and God restoring Gods image in the world, or railing against it as many of us tend to do.

The story of the naming of Benjamin is the best place to see this in action. Gen 35:18 "And it happened as her soul was departing (for she died) that she called his name Benoni. But his father called him Benjamin". You see the Benoni in Hebrew means Son of my Sorrow. His Father did not want his son to have this negative stigma attached to his name. So he changed it ever so slightly to Benjamin. Which means son of my right hand. In Hebraic culture names mean something and are very important.

There are several instances in the Bible where someone’s name is changed either by the Creator or by His servants.

Genesis 32:28 And He said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. Genesis 35:10 And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and He called his name Israel. Numbers 13:16 These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua.

Hosea 1:9 Then said the LORD, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not My people, and I will not be your God.

Hosea 2:23 And I will sow her unto Me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not My people (Loammi), Thou art My people ( Ammi); and they shall say, Thou art my God.

John 1:42 And he brought him to Yeshua. And when Yeshua beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.

In Hebrew, names have meanings. Often when a child is born the reason for their name is given along with the name.

Genesis 4:1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from THE LORD.

The name Cain (kof, yud, nun) comes from the root word kanah (kof, nun, hey), which means “acquired."

Genesis 4:25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For Elohim, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.

The name Seth (shin, tav) comes from the root word shayt (shin, yud, tav), which means "appointed."

When studying the Torah, one should always seek out the meanings of the names of the people and places involved, for they often contain meaningful revelations. Since our ancestors lived in a predominantly oral/aural culture, the names used often help to reveal the meaning and events of a story. They add context!

This is the first clue that Jesus was not the name given to our Messiah. In Matthew 1:21 above, right after giving his name which should read Yeshua, it says "For He shall save his people from there sins". You see unlike Jesus, Yeshua actually means something. It is a word that is still in use in the Hebrew language today. Yeshua means Salvation! And you shall call his name Salvation, Yeshua.  So the true meaning of Yeshua is the salvation of God. It is written in the present tense.

So it goes even deeper. It means the Salvation of God Now. Yeshua was the Salvation of God then. He is the Salvation of God Now. And he will always be the Salvation of God. The name Jesus in a linguistic sense means nothing. But Yeshua means the Salvation of God Now. Which one better describes the Light and Salvation of the world?

As we go forth and test these new ideas in Scripture let us pray that our Father gives us His Spirit of wisdom, understanding, and truth. So we may see and walk as our Messiah walked, and be true disciples in the Name of Yeshua (Jesus). May we pray for eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to change for the glory of our God