From: heb_roots_chr@mail.geocities.com
To: "Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup"<heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>
Date: Thu, 25 Dec 1997 03:51:22 +0000
Subject: Does Keeping the Festivals Save you?
From: Bruce Barham
To: "heb_roots_chr@geocities.com" <heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>
Subject: "Accepting/Believing in" Yeshua/Jesus??
Dear Eddie,
What does it really mean to "accept" or "believe in" Yeshua? In my
opinion this question should be considered deeply by most that call
themselves Christian and by pastors/teachers.
I fear too many Christians have been lead to understand that a simple
factual "acceptance" of the historic truth of Yeshua as Messiah and Lord
is all that is required. Obedience and the true meaning of "believing"
and "following" is ignored or de-emphasized. Growing up in the "Bible
belt" of the south surrounded by Calvinist or psuedo-Calvinist minded
southern baptists exposed me to the tragic results of this "cheap grace"
mentality. It pains me to see sooo many Christians living in - what I
feel is - a false sense of security simply bacause the "beleeeve" in
"Jeeesus" while showing absolutely no desire to "follow" Him.
Unfortunately, they have been taught (and still are being taught) that
"once saved always saved" means to simply acknowledge Yeshua/Jesus as
their "personal savior". Period! That's where is stops. They actually
believe willful disregard for the commandments has no affect on their
salvation and will vehemently state NOTHING will cause them to "fall
from grace" - not even continually, willfully, choosing to sin!
Well, that's where I feel the issue does become redemptive. I firmly
agree that one can be assured of their salvation if they continually
strive to TRULY follow Yeshua by continuing to seek Him through study,
obedience, etc. As they seek and follow, their inevitable failures due
to sin are covered by His loving sacrifice. However, if one WILLFULLY
and/or STUBBORNLY CHOOOSES to disobey and live according to the WORLD,
then - in my opinion - their salvation is very questionable. The best
discussion I have ever seen on this subject is the EXCELLENT book by
Robert Shank entitled, LIFE IN THE SON. Here, the author makes a
critical point when he points out the REAL question is WHAT IS A
CHRISTIAN? He irrefutably argues that REAL Christians CONTINUE to seek
to PLEASE GOD. That point has fallen victim to what I call the "web of
theology". This "web" has many thousands (or millions) of "Christians"
falsely thinking they are "saved", when, in fact they show virtually
zero evidence of any desire to "follow" Yeshua.
>From Eddie:
**************
Bruce,
I believe that you are confusing two issues here while
seeing the validity of need of both issues. These two issues are
making Jesus SAVIOR and making Jesus LORD over our lives.
MANY people have made Jesus their SAVIOR ( I am not talking about
giving lip service to a prayer ... I am talking about GENUINELY
asking Jesus into your heart, believing that He is the Messiah,
knowing that your sins have been forgiven and desiring to live a
Godly life in Messiah). This is making Jesus your SAVIOR with a
TRUE heart desire to make Him LORD over EVERY area of our lives.
God gave us this type and shadow when God brought the
children of Israel out of Egypt with the expressed purpose and desire
to lead them to the promised land. In Romans 15:4, it tells us:
"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were writting for our
learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might
have hope".
In I Corinthians 10:11 it is written:
"Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are
written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come"
God gave the example of the children of Israel coming out
of Egypt with the goal of taking them to the promised land as a
BLUEPRINT of the life of the believer in Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah.
Egypt is a type of the world and the world's system.
When in Egypt, the children of Israel were in bondage to Pharoah.
Pharoah is a type of Ha Satan, the Devil. In Ezekiel 29:2-3 it is
written:
"Son of man, set thy face against Pharoah king of Egypt, and prophesy
against him, and against all Egypt: Speak and say, Thus saith the
Lord God: behold, I am against thee, Pharoah king of Egypt, the GREAT
DRAGON that lieth in the midst of the rivers ..."
In Revelation 12:9, Satan is called a great dragon as it is written:
"And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the
Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world ..."
So, Pharoah is a type of Satan. Just as the children of Israel were
bondage to Pharoah when they were in Egypt, we are in bondage to sin
when we serve the Devil and live in the world's system.
The children of Israel were delivered (saved) from Egypt when they
applied the blood of the Lamb (a type of accepting the shed blood of
Jesus for the remission of our sins and our salvation) to their
doorpost (which represents our hearts). In John 1:29, Yeshua/Jesus is
called the Lamb of God as it is written:
"The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the
Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world"
Next, the children of Israel went through the Red Sea.
This is a type of immersion/baptism called in Hebrew a Mikvah.
Mikvah means "a change of status". AFTER we are SAVED from Egypt (a
type of the world) by applying the blood (of Messiah) on our
doorposts (our hearts), we are to LEAVE Egypt and begin to be
cleansed by the washing of the Word of God as we submit to the Word
of God and seek to be free from the sin in our lives.
Next, God took the children of Israel to Mount Sinai.
The Jewish people call the event at Mount Sinai, "The REVELATION of
God at Mount Sinai". Spiritually, AFTER we are saved (usually by God
doing GREAT signs, wonders and miracles in our lives), God desires
that we GROW in the knowledge of His written Word and His Ways. When
we grow in the WRITTEN word of God and His ways, we then begin to
have a deeper REVELATION of God than when we were first saved.
However, we have the same challenge to overcome as SAVED
believers (because we left Egypt and applied the blood of the Lamb
(Messiah) upon our doorposts (hearts)) as the children of Israel.
Life in the WILDERNESS. The wilderness is a picture of LIFE! In LIFE
we face MANY trials and tribulations just like the children of
Israel. Sadly, most believer react just like the children of Israel.
When trials and tribulations come, they become bitter toward God and
wish to return back to Egypt (the world) and quit serving God with
the same zeal as when they did when they first accepted Yeshua/Jesus
into their lives as Lord and Savior. In Hebrew 3:7-19, 4:1-12,
believers in Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah are warned to not fall in the
same way as the children of Israel in the wilderness.
In Deuteronomy 6:23, we see WHY God brought the children
of Israel out of Egypt (a type of salvation) so that He could bring
them to the promised land (a type of SPIRITUAL MATURITY). In
Deuteronomy 6:23 it is written:
"And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to
give us the land which he sware unto our fathers"
Bruce, what you so accurately describe is that the church
teaches that the GOAL is to be "saved" (which in the type and shadow
is leaving Egypt by putting the blood of the lamb (Messiah) upon the
doorpost (our hearts)). However, God in His Word shows us that the
GOAL was to (leave Egypt by putting the blood of the Lamb (Messiah)
upon our doorpost (our hearts) AND enter into the promised
land (GROW to SPIRITUAL MATURITY) in Messiah, in God's Word and
in God's Kingdom. We cannot confuse salvation with spiritual
maturity. They are two separate things.
Just like MOST of the children of Israel died in the
wilderness (even thought they were "saved" by leaving Egypt and
applying the blood of the Lamb (Messiah) upon their doorpost (our
hearts)), MOST believers in Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah die in the
wilderness of life and are overcome by the trials and temptations in
life because they do not press on in God through the trials and
temptations because they do not FULLY commit to make Yeshua/Jesus
LORD (even though they made Him Savior) in EVERY area of their lives.
The consequence of this is loss of REWARD NOT loss of
salvation. The difference between loss of REWARD while still having
salvation can be seen in I Corinthians 3:13-15 as it is written:
"Every man's WORK shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare
it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try
every man's WORK of what sort it is. If any man's WORK abide which
he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a REWARD. If any man's WORK
shall be burned, he shall suffer LOSS (of reward): but he himself
SHALL BE SAVED yet so as by fire".
The challenge that the children of Israel had when
they physically left Egypt was to get Egypt out of their hearts and
minds. The believer in Yeshua/Jesus has the same challenge. AFTER
they are SAVED by accepting Yeshua/Jesus as their Messiah, the
challenge of the believer is to get the ways of the thoughts and practices
of the world out of the hearts and minds of God's people. There is a
challenge to overcome the desires of the flesh.
Therefore, the two issues for the believer is
making Messiah Savior AND Lord. GENUINELY making Him SAVIOR
will allow you to be saved. All of us struggle in making Him LORD
over EVERY area of our lives. All of us make Him Lord in various
DEGREES. Some believers more, other believers less. The more that you
make Yeshua/Jesus LORD, the greater the REWARD in heaven. The less
that you make Yeshua/Jesus Lord and allow the flesh to overcome you
in different areas of your life and accept the compromised ways and
practices of the world, the LESS your REWARD in heaven.
This is the basic message in my book, "Who is the Bride of
Christ?". I show in this book the difference between those who make
Yeshua/Jesus SAVIOR and those who make Yeshua/Jesus
SAVIOR AND LORD. It is those who make Him SAVIOR AND LORD who
will be His Bride.
Christianity lacks in teaching the believer LORDSHIP.
They only emphasize "God knows your heart". That is why keeping
Christmas is NOT a salvation issue if you have accepted Yeshua/Jesus
into your heart and believe that He is the Messiah. However, it is a
LORDSHIP issue. That is why the believer in Messiah is exhorted to
NOT follow after the same example of unbelief as the children of
Israel in the wilderness. In Hebrews 3:18-19, 4:1, 12 it is written:
"And to whom swore he that they should not enter into this rest, but
to them that believeth not? So we see that they could not enter in
because of unbelief. Let US therefore fear, lest, a promise being
left of US of entering in His rest, any of YOU should seem to come
SHORT of it ... For the WORD OF GOD is quick and powerful, and
sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing
asunder of SOUL and SPIRIT and of the joints and marrow, and is a
DISCERNER of the THOUGHTS and INTENT of the HEART"
Was this "unbelief" salvation or entering into the
FULLNESS of the promises of God by entering the promised
land (SPIRITUAL MATURITY) ???
It is the Word of God that DISCERNS the thought and intent
of the heart. The Word of God shows that the Biblical Festivals will
be kept during the Messianic Age when Yeshua/Jesus returns to the
earth and rules and reigns for 1,000 years. The Word of God shows
that Yeshua/Jesus was born during the Feast of Tabernacles and not
December 25. TRUTH requiries the heart to be sift and TRUTH discerns
the thought and intent of the heart.
Christianity teaches that it doesn't matter what the truth
of God's Word says because "God knows my heart". I keep "Christ" in
Christmas. However, the Word of God declares that the children of
Israel committed a GREAT sin when they established a "golden calf
system of worship ... MIXTURE of the worship of the God of Israel
with pagan practices" in the WILDERNESS ( a type of how we live our
lives). The Word of God CLEARLY shows that the Biblical Festivals are
ETERNAL and will be kept during the Messianic Age BY JESUS when
He returns back to the earth and rules for 1,000 years. The Bible
does NOT show Yeshua/Jesus keeping the celebration of Christmas.
So, Bruce, this is where you have seen the NEED to make
Yeshua/Jesus BOTH Savior AND Lord. However, these are
two SEPARATE issues in the Bible. If our SALVATION was based upon
something that we DO (keeping Christmas or not keeping Christmas)
then our salvation is based upon WORKS and not by the GRACE of God
without works (Ephesians 2:8-9). In Ephesians 2:8-9 it is written:
"For by GRACE are ye SAVED through FAITH, and that not of yourselves:
it is the GIFT of God: NOT of works, lest any man should boast"
>From Bruce:
**************
Anyway, I'll not belabor the point. I think you know what I mean.
Well, with regards to the Hebraic roots, I feel if a "Christian" CHOOSES
to continue in a "golden calf" SYSTEM of worship they show signs of
willful disregard for truth. To me, these "Christians" need to
seriously consider their CHOICE. Truth is truth! WILLFUL rejection of
truth equals WILLFUL DISOBEDIENCE. Can anyone really say this type of
believer is "saved".
>From Eddie:
**************
Salvation is NOT based upon anything that we DO. Many
churches have built entire doctrines and base everyone's salvation
based upon whether they believe, accept and practice a particular
doctrinal truth that only that church embraces and nobody else does.
This basis salvation not in what MESSIAH did but by what we believe
and something that we DO. If it is something that we DO that merits
our salvation then we have earned it. Yet, the scripture say that we
CANNOT EARN our salvation. It is a FREE GIFT. (Ephesians 2:8-9).
If we DO what the scripture's tell us to do, the Bible
tells us that we EARN REWARDS (not salvation) in heaven and our
REWARDS determine our STATUS in heaven. Salvation is based upon
us making Yeshua/Jesus our SAVIOR. REWARDS and our status in
heaven is based upon how much we make Yeshua/Jesus LORD of our
lives. This difference can be seen from what Yeshua/Jesus taught in
Matthew 5:19 as it is written:
"Whosoever therefore shall BREAK one of these least commandments
and shall teach men so, he shall be called LEAST in the Kingdom of
heaven: but whosoever shall DO and TEACH them the same shall be
called GREAT in the Kingdom of Heaven"
Keeping the Festivals is DOING and TEACHING the commandments of
God. When the church teaches the keeping of a holiday not rooted in the
Bible but comes from paganism, they are BREAKING the commandments
and TEACHING men to do so. That is why there are so many Christians
who do not strive to make Yeshua/Jesus LORD over their lives. Rather,
they feel that they have met the GOAL when they accepted Yeshua/Jesus
as their Savior and everything else is "God knows my heart".
Yet, notice that there are two groups in the Kingdom of Heaven. Those
that are LEAST and those that are GREAT. The difference is whether
they keep the commandments and teach others to do so. That is why
keeping Christmas or the Biblical Festivals is NOT a salvation issue
but is a LORDSHIP issue.
>From Bruce:
**************
Often, we say something is not redemptive when we really don't know.
It's just as bad (if not worse) to ASSUME an issue does NOT affect our
salvation as it is to bluntly say it does! All to often, to appear
"loving" or "nonjudgmental" we avoid rebuke. I think we should be just
as careful about stating something is "not redemptive" as we are when
tempted to say it is. That's why I feel we need to lovingly remind
others that recognize the Judaic roots that they need to DEEPLY consider
the consequences of NOT FOLLOWING these clear truths. Pagan holidays
and pagan "traditions" are just one example. Why continue in paganism
even when you KNOW it's pagan in origin? I don't judge such people, but
I do mourn for them. And I'm not innocent of this. I am a poor, dumb,
sinner that is just as bad as anyone. My life has been filled with sin,
and I NEVER place myself on a higher spiritual plane. This knowledge of
my sinful condition is one more incentive for me to CONTINUE FOLLOWING
AND SEEKING TRUTH.
In my opinion, clarification needs to be made as to the definition of a
Christian. Bluntly stated, if someone WILLFULLY CONTINUES to reject
truth - ANY TRUTH - and chooses the "traditional" way, it is evidence of
a WILLFUL DECISION NOT TO FOLLOW YESHUA - A WILLFUL DISREGARD FOR THE
COMMANDMENTS AND WISHES OF THE LIVING GOD. Does that mean they're not
saved? I don't know. No one knows. In our attempts to not be
judgmental we need to avoid the other extreme. Suggestion something is
NOT redemptive is just as bad as saying it IS. In both situations we
are taking on a responsibility reserved for G-d only.
In Yeshua
Bruce...
>From Eddie:
**************
There are MANY, MANY truths in the Word of God which a
believer should walk in. The Biblical Festivals is only one of them. If
we make keeping the Biblical Festivals a salvation issue because it
is a truth in God's Word, we can find an individual who keeps the
Biblical Festivals but doesn't walk in another area of truth in God's
Word. Unless, we are all 100% perfect in all that we do as believers,
ALL of us need to work on our LORDSHIP in some area of our lives.
That is why the HEART of the believer that God is looking to find so
that He can say to them "Well, done, thy good and faithful servant"
is an individual whose heart is to love God with all their heart, mind,
soul and strength. It is an individual who STUDIES and SEEKS to know
and understand and practice Biblical TRUTH as that person is led by
the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit reveals each area of Biblical
truth to each individual. This is a PROCESS. That is why the one who
reaches the promised land is the one who seeks to continually GROW
in the knowledge of God's Word and His Kingdom and His ways.
That is why we need to encourage, strengthen, uplift each other and
speak the truth of God's Word in love for our fellow believer not
with an attitude of condemnation or superiority. God gives grace to
the humble but resists the proud. (James 4:6). And we are to speak
the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) so that we can GROW in the
knowledge of Messiah.
People are on this newsgroup because they LOVE God and are
SEEKING the KNOW God and to FOLLOW His ways in a deeper way.
Many are like myself who have kept / are keeping Christmas and Easter
as a means of expressing their faith and love for Messiah who saved
them. However, just like what God did in my life, He is doing in the lives
of the people on this newsgroup and they are discovering the richness
of their Hebraic Heritage and the importance and significance of the
Biblical Festivals.
I was saved when I kept Chrismas and Easter for so many
years. God loved me and still answered my prayers. By His grace and
mercy, He lovingly showed me a more perfect way. When I was showed
the truth, I had to admit to God that His word was true and I had to
admit the errors and ways of some of the things that I was taught in
the Church. Many on this newsgroup are discovering the same thing.
It is the heart of people on this newsgroup to STUDY the ways of
God, the LEARN the ways of God and to allow the Holy Spirit to lead
them in changing old ways and practices in their lives as HE leads
and guides them in the truth of God's Word (John 16:13). The people
in this newsgroup are seeking to be students and want to make
Yeshua/Jesus LORD AND SAVIOR. Therefore, we must understood the
difference between these two issues. Salvation is when you make
Yeshua/Jesus your Savior. Rewards is when you make Yeshua/Jesus
LORD.
Keeping and celebrating Christmas will not keep you from going
to heaven if you have accepted Yeshua/Jesus as your personal Savior.
However, God has given us and is showing us and is teaching us the
richness of the Biblical Holidays that HE gave to His people. It is
our challenge that HE is making to US to embrace them because He
want US to make HIM SAVIOR AND LORD over EVERY area of our lives.
God is PREPARING a Bride to live and dwell with HIM for all eternity.
Embracing our Hebraic Heritage is ONE of her many wedding garments
that she needs to put on to be ready and prepared to meet her
bridegroom. God's Bride has made Yeshua/Jesus both SAVIOR AND
LORD. This should be the desire of every believer in Yeshua/Jesus as
Messiah.
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