Subject: Does Keeping the Festivals Save you?
Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 00:22:14 +0000
From: heb_roots_chr@mail.geocities.com
Reply-To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
To: "Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup"<heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>

To:            heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Subject:      Does Keeping the Festivals Save you?
From:          James

Shalom Achi (brother) Eddie,

I just had a few comments to make concerning this email I just read.
Below are a few points both you and Bruce made:

>
> BRUCE:
>Unfortunately, they have been taught (and still are being taught) that
>"once saved always saved"  ... 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!
>
> EDDIE:
>
>         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.
>

Now if you go to the end of Bruce's email you will find that his concept
of willful and continual sin is based on keeping the festivals or not
keeping the festivals.  I with you Brother Eddie feel that this not a
Salvation issue, but that it is a maturity issue.  Actually, just keeping
the feasts will not necessarily cause maturity.  It is the Ruach HaKodesh
that does that.  I know of a man in the LORD who I would never compare
myself to in regards to spiritually being mature in that he is way ahead
of me in just about every area that I can think, yet almost never keeps
the feast (he does do passover sometimes).  Does this man know the
LORD, absolutely.  Has he led many souls to the LORD and on to
maturity by God's grace.  He certainly has.  Do I see the real love
of God working in his life and through him towards others.  I certainly do.
So what I am simply saying is that keeping the feast's is not a necesity for
spiritual maturity, the only necesary ingredient is obedience to Ruach
Elohim.
Now that does not mean that the Spirit does not use the feasts.  Truly, the
Spirit uses all of the Word, for it is all God breathed, and just as the
Spirit has used the feast in your life dear brother, He can and will use
them in others.  So in the sense of keeping the Feasts being a salvation
issue (especially for the Gentiles) I totally agree with you.

Also, I agree with your assessment that Salvation is by grace, as it is
written:

   By Grace are you saved through faith...

it is not of works "...lest any man should boast."  I agree that the goal
of the LORD is spiritual maturity for His children.  There is, though,
something called apostasy, spoken of in the scriptures, and though what
Brother Bruce mentioned does not fit the bill, it never the less exists.
Just what is apostasy though?  It is the deliberate recanting of what one
has professed to believe.   In the Talmid of Y'shua's case it would mean
declaring that "Y'shua is not LORD and that God has not raised him from
the dead."  In other words it would mean the denial of Messiah after
fully believing in him.  One of the places that this _GREAT_ sin is
mentioned is in Hebrews 6:4-6

"For those being once enlightened , and having tasted of the
heavenly gift, and becoming partakers of the Holy Spirit, and having tasted
the good word of God, and  the works of the power of a coming age, and
FALLING AWAY, it is impossible for them to again to renew to repentance,
for they will be crucifying to themselves the Son of God, and putting Him
to open shame"

Now the key word in these verses is FALLING AWAY.  This phrase does not
just mean to fall into sin.  The Greek word in the received text is
parapipto (STRONGS 3894) which Strong's says literally means "to fall
aside" but figuratively means "to apostasize" which has been defined
earlier.  Now is this just any person apostasizing?  No, for they must
be:

   "...once enlightened..."  That is they learned of the Gospel of
       Y'shua.

   "...tasted of the heavenly gift..."  That is they accepted the Gift of
       Eternal  life in the Son.

   "...partakers of the comming age..." ditto I believe.
   "...partakers of the Holy Spirit..."
   "...tasted the good word of G-d..."  They began to study His word.
   "...and the works of the power of a coming age..."  The are walking in
       miracles. The Spirit is performing miracles through them.

So the text is talking about a MATURE believer, not an IMMATURE believer,
who recants faith in Y'shua.  Actually the context of the verses really
explains why the Author of Hebrews chose to bring up the subject of
apostasy, for in verses 6:1-3 he writes:

"Therefore, leaving the discourse of the begining of Christ, lets us be
borne on to full growth, not laying down again a foundation of repentance
from dead works, and  faith toward God, of the baptisms, of teaching, of
laying on of hands, and of  resurrection of dead ones, and of eternal
judgement.  And this we will do, if indeed  God permits".

These verses are just before the verses concerning apostasy and just
after the authors rebuke of the disciples for not being yet ready to eat
MEAT (i.e. they where not mature yet).  So what then is the first MEAT he
hands to the disciples.  He explains to them the danger of getting close
to the Holy One blessed be He, and then turning one's back on him.  To
quote a dear Sister in the LORD, he was telling them they needed
"...established hearts."  They needed hearst that where like the very
throne of God, unmovable.  For the Scripture bears witness:

   Kisecha Y'heyah Nachon Ad-Olam
   Thy throne is established/steadfast forever...

and

   V'Ruach Nachon Chadesh B'Kirbi
   and renew a steadfast/right spirit within my inner parts.

The word in both verses that describes how God's throne is and how our
spirit's ought to be is Nachon which means steadfast.  It was this
principle that the author of Hebrew's trying to get across.  So does
this verse deny the gospel based on faith.  No, but if a mature believer
(as define in Hebrews 6:4) deny the True Faith, woe unto him.  It would
be the same as if a High Priest walked into the Holy of Holies on Yom
Kippur and spit on the mercy seat.

To wrap this up:

   1)  I agree with you that we are saved by GRACE not of works lest
        any  man should boast.
   2)  I agree that the FEASTS are NOT a SALVATION issue.
   3)  There is such a thing as apostasy, which is the denial of one's
         faith in Y'shua.
   4)  Apostasy done by one mature in Y'shua is unforgivable.
   5)  The reason for this is that as we are saved by GRACE through
         FAITH, to  apostasize ANNULLS that FAITH leaving no .

If you have a differing view of this verse, please discuss that view.

Shalom BaMashiach...James

>From Eddie:
**************

        Brother James,

         I agree that:

   1)  We are saved by GRACE not of works lest any
         man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
   2)  Keeping the FEASTS are NOT a SALVATION issue.
   3)  Keeping the feasts by itself does NOT make you spiritually
         mature
   4)  I know believers who DO keep the Festivals but are still
         immature, carnal believers in Messiah
   5)  Spiritually maturity is a BY-PRODUCT of loving God with all
         your heart, mind, soul and strength (Mark 12:29:30) and being led
         by the Spirit of  God who will teach you (John 16:13) to worship
         God in Spirit and in Truth. (John 4:24)
    6) Keeping the Feasts cannot be legislated but each believer in
         Messiah needs to be taught their importance and significance
         and why God gave them to understand His redemptive plan that
         HE gave to His people and how each festival teaches
         spiritual truths about our personal relationship and walk
         with God
    7) If you are led by the Spirit of God at this time in history, God
         will lead you to understand the truth and richness of your Hebraic
         roots and encourage you to study, learn, embrace and know your role
         as a Jewish and non-Jewish believer in Messiah and walk in it
     8) By embracing your Hebraic roots and by allowing yourself to
         be led by the Ruach HaKodesh / Holy Spirit, He will lead you into
         studying, learning and keeping the sabbath and Biblical
         Festivals in a progressive way as an expression of your
         faith in Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah as each individual is led by the
         conviction of God's Holy Spirit in their personal lives in the
         timing and direction that the Holy Spirit leads each individual to
         observe these things.

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