HHMI Newsgroup Archives
From: heb_roots_chr@mail.geocities.com
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 1997 2:58 AM
To: Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup
Subject: Bride of Christ Questions
From: aaloha@peganet.com
To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Subject: the "two books"
Dear Eddie,
I rather shyly want to ask you this: Since (as I understood your comments), only those who have made Jesus the Lord of their life and have lived a life
that will be granted REWARDS will be the ones entering into the New Jerusalem and be the Bride of Christ, then what would be the dividing line.
When or how would we know if we have sufficient REWARDs in store to be able to be invited IN?? I want so much to be THERE WITH HIM!
Blessings from our Lord to you,
Barbara
From Eddie:
**************
Barbara,
The BEST Biblical answer I can give you is this --- there IS A REASON why the GREATEST commandment is the GREATEST commandment.
If you fulfill the GREATEST commandment then I am sure that you will qualify. The greatest commandment is:
Deuteronomy 6:4-5
"Hear (SHEMA ... which means to "hear, do and obey") O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord. And you shall LOVE the Lord thy God with
ALL thine HEART and with ALL thy SOUL and with ALL thy MIGHT"
Mark 12:28-30
"And one of the scribes came and having heard them reasoning together and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is
the first (greatest ... Matthew 22:36) commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel,
the Lord our God is one Lord: And you shall LOVE the Lord thy God with ALL thine HEART and with ALL thy SOUL and with ALL thy MIGHT:
this is the first (greatest) commandment"
In John 14:15, Jesus said:
"If you LOVE me, keep my commandments"
I John 5:3:
"For this is the LOVE of God that we KEEP his commandments and his commandments are not grievous"
According to the WORDS of Jesus, those who BREAK the commandments and TEACH others to do so (most of Christiandom) will be
LEAST in the Kingdom of Heaven but those who KEEP the commandments and TEACH others to do so will be GREAT in the Kingdom of Heaven
(Matthew 5:19). But, notice BOTH the LEAST and the GREATEST will be in Heaven.
KEEPING the commandments is a LOVE issue AFTER we are saved. It is NOT a salvation issue.
If we LOVE God, HE will guide us by His Holy Spirit to live the life that God desires for us to live to be well-pleasing
to Him. But, Jesus tells us what should be our ATTITUDE in doing this:
In Matthew 5:6 it is written:
"Blessed are they which do HUNGER and THIRST after righteousness: for they shall be filled"
Finally, I CANNOT judge you and others in these matters because GOD is the RIGHTEOUS JUDGE and He will
PERFECTLY judge our HEARTS in ALL MATTERS.
So, your answer is: LOVE GOD with ALL your HEART, HUNGER and THIRST for Him and remember that in ALL things that HE
will judge righteously His people. He would reward them accordingly (Revelation 22:12, 14)
In Ecclesiastes 12:13 it is written:
"Let us hear (SHEMA) the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God (this is salvation) and keep his commandments (this is spiritual
maturity and wisdom) for this is the whole duty of man"
Eddie Chumney
*****************************************************************************
From: "John Steed" <shofar@tpgi.com.au>
To: "Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup"<heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>
Subject: Bride of Christ Question
Dear Eddie
I haven't read your book on the bride, so I'm probably jumping the gun, but reading your comments on the newsgroup you SEEM to be
suggesting that so long as one believes in the Messiah, it doesn't matter to much what an individual does, in respect to salvation.
From Eddie:
**************
I NEVER suggested that "if one believes in the Messiah, it doesn't matter to much what an individual does, in respect to salvation".
The Hebrew word for "salvation" means "to be delivered".
Deliverance in this life is a PROCESS. When a person accepts Jesus as Messiah, they are NOT COMPLETELY 100% sinless people after that.
Some unrighteous habits we conquer with the help of the Ruach HaKodesh more quickly than others. For example, an individual may
quit smoking soon after they are saved but still have a problem with a bad temper and can get angry quickly. They still may carry with
them an attitude of pride toward others and think that they are better than others (ALOT of religious people are VERY self righteous)
but Yeshua/Jesus said that the GREATEST in heaven will be the SERVANT of ALL (Matthew 20:26-27).
When we accept Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah we are saved (delivered) from being eternally separated from God. But, when we accept Yeshua/Jesus
as Messiah, we are not 100% free from our unrighteous habits. It takes the Ruach HaKodesh / Holy Spirit working in our lives on a DAILY basis to
give us the power to overcome our fleshly nature.
Secondly, the Bible tells us that if we accept Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah and the Ruach HaKodesh / Holy Spirit dwells
inside us that we have a CHANGE OF HEART. In II Corinthians 5:17 it is written:
"Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a NEW CREATURE (has a new heart): old things are passed away (the old heart of stone): behold,
all things are become new"
The ATTITUDE of one who accepts Yeshua / Jesus as Messiah is to have a REVERENCE for God and DESIRE to HONOR Him in ALL that we
say and all that we do.
In Romans 6:1-2a it is written:
"What shall we say then? Shall we continue to sin, that grace may abound? GOD FORBID ..."
Therefore, when someone is saved by GRACE it should be the ATTITUDE of the believer to live a RIGHTEOUS LIFE and KEEP the
commandments of God. One who does this is promised GREAT rewards. Those who take their salvation lightly and do not seek to grow in the
Lord will suffer LOSS OF REWARDS on the day of judgment. Therefore, there is a GREAT PRICE to be paid for ETERNITY by having the attitude
that "it doesn't matter what we do after we are saved". The Bride of Christ DOES NOT have this attitude of heart.
From John:
**************
But that it only effects their rewards - if I have understood correctly. My question is, how then do you understand a text such as Matt.7:21
" Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in
heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in
thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work lawlessness."
It seems to me that these people THINK they BELIEVE. In fact they are working miracles, yet the Messiah says HE NEVER KNEW THEM!!!!
Could it be because of something they have/have not done?? What do you think?
May YHWH bless you in your work.
John Steed
From Eddie:
***************
You have missed what is being communicated in this verse. MANY in the church interpret this verse as there are those who "think
they believe" and that Yeshua/Jesus is rebuking them and telling them that they are not saved. But by doing a careful study, we can
determine that this is not so. The REBUKE is actually that they are manifesting the GIFTS of the Spirit (which are given by the GRACE of
God) but are not manifesting the FRUIT of the Spirit (which is associated with spiritual maturity).
I explain this verse and the meaning of it in my new 476 page book, "Who is the Bride of Christ?". I will try to give you the
reader's digest version in this note. This verse is VERY misunderstood in Christiandom. When Christians read this verse, they
interpret it from the view of "salvation". However, there are TWO key words in Matthew 7:21-23. These TWO key words are KNEW and
INIQUITY (lawlessness).
KNEW is a word that means SPIRITUAL INTIMACY (not salvation). The Hebrew word for KNEW or KNOW is "yadah". The
spiritual connotation is to KNOW INTIMATELY.
In Genesis 4:1 it is written:
"And Adam KNEW (Strong's Word 3045 = Yadah) Eve his wife and she conceived ..."
In Psalm 76:1:
"In Judah (which means PRAISE) is God KNOWN (Strong's Word 3045 = Yadah)"
In Proverbs 3:5-6
"Trust in the Lord with ALL thy HEART (Deut 6:4-5, Mark 12:28-30) and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all they ways ACKNOWLEDGE
(Strong's Word 3045 = Yadah), and he shall direct thy paths".
The GREATEST commandment is to KNOW (Yadah .. to know INTIMATELY) God. It is possibly to be saved and know that
Yeshua/Jesus is Messiah (by knowing the ACTS of God) but not having an INTIMATE relationship with God and know the WAYS of God).
In Psalm 103:7 it is written:
"He (God) made KNOWN (Strong's Word 3045 = Yadah) his WAYS to Moses, his ACTS unto the children of Israel"
Many saved Christians know the ACTS of God ---- Yeshua / Jesus is Messiah, the Bible is the Word of God, God heals etc but
they do not know his WAYS. Knowing the WAYS of God comes by having an INTIMATE PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP with God.
The Hebrew word for WAY is the Strong's Word (1870 = "Derek:). This word is defined to mean:
"a COURSE OF LIFE, a mode of action ..."
An INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP with God is a LIFESTYLE.
I have heard Baptist preachers use (Matthew 7:21-23) as an argument that Charismatic / Pentecostal are "of the devil" and they
are being rebuked here by Yeshua/Jesus. Yeshua/Jesus is NOT rebuking the GIFTS of the Holy Spirit (prophesied in thy name, cast out
devils, doing many wonderful (supernatural) works) but is REBUKING that they never KNEW (lived a LIFESTYLE that was an INTIMATE PERSONAL
RELATIONSHIP with God) Him. So, the GIFTS that were being manifested in Matthew 7:21-23 were given by the GRACE of God.
The second important word to focus on in Matthew 7:23 besides the word KNOW is the word (INIQUITY or lawlessness).
The Hebrew word for law is TORAH. The Greek word for LAW is the Strong's Word (3551) and is the Greek word "Nomos". In
Matthew 7:23, the word INIQUITY (lawlessness) is the Strong's word (458) which is the Greek word "Anomia". The word "Anomia" (458) comes
from two Greek words, "A" which means "without" and "nomos" which is the Greek word for TORAH. Our Bibles translate this as INIQUITY or
LAWLESSNESS and Christianity reads this as "sin". But, the LITERAL translation of "workers of iniquity (lawlessness)" is those who are
"without the Torah". In other words, God is using them to manifest miracles by the Ruach HaKodesh / Holy Spirit (because of the GRACE of
God to pour out the GIFTS of the Holy Spirit) upon people but they DO NOT have an INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP with God and are BREAKING THE
TORAH "workers of iniquity (458 = anomia = a = without, nomos = Torah).
So, Jesus is REBUKING them because they are BREAKING the commandments of God and TEACHING men to do so (most of Christianity)
so they will be LEAST in the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:19) but notice they STILL will be in heaven. The REBUKE is for not KNOWING or
not being the GREATEST in the Kingdom of Heaven. If you LOVE God with ALL your HEART, you will KNOW Him and KEEP His commandments.
Now, let's confirm that this is what this scripture (Matthew 7:21-23) means by cross-referencing it with another
scripture found in (Luke 13:22-27). Matthew 7:13-14, 21-23 = Luke 13:22-27).
In Luke 13:22-27 it is written:
"And he went through the cities and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. Then said unto him, Lord, are there FEW that are
SAVED? (This is the question to Matthew 7:13-14). Strive to enter in at the straight gate: for many I say unto you will seek to enter in,
and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up and HAS SHUT THE DOOR (this is the WEDDING DOOR) and you begin to
stand without (not being allowed to enter the MARRIAGE) and knock at the door saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us and he shall say unto
you, I KNOW you NOT (intimately) from ye are (Matthew 25:10-12 ... the words of the FOOLISH virgins). Then shall ye begin to say, We
have eaten and drunk in thy presence and thou hast taught in our streets and he shall say, I tell you, I KNOW you NOT whence ye are:
depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity (Matthew 7:21-23)"
So, Yeshua/Jesus answered the question of "Are there FEW who are SAVED by talking about the MARRIAGE". He answered the
question by saying that there are FEW that go to the MARRIAGE and only those who go KNOW him (have a SPIRITUAL INTIMACY) and are not
"workers of iniquity" (breakers of the Torah and the commandments of God".
So, John, the answer to your question regarding (Matthew 7:21-23) is that this is NOT a SALVATION scripture but a
BRIDAL scripture. The REBUKE was for not being the BRIDE and have GREAT REWARDS not that they were "never saved".
I hope that I have answered your question. This is the reader's digest version. I have a more comprehensive teaching on
these SAME verses in my NEW 476 page book, "Who is the Bride of Christ?" The chapters which most directly deal with this subject are:
Chapter 4 ... A Spiritually Mature Bride
Chapter 5 ... An Unspotted Wedding Garment
Eddie Chumney
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