LAND OF CONFUSION

Shalom Beloved,

Are you unclear what it means to live in “Babylon”?  It is the land of confusion.  Everything and everyone is not what they seem, even in the Church.  I say, church, and not the Body of Christ because not everyone in the church is in the Body of Christ.  Only those who are born from above by the Spirit of Grace are in the Body.

 …Judah was taken into captivity when they did not keep the Shmitah or Sabbatical years for the land.  They were captive for 70 years or 1 year for every Sabbatical year missed.  The Church  entered into a Babylon state when they forsook the teaching of the Torah and essence of the Sabbath, to rest from our works in Christ….the outward sign of this confusion is the practice of worship on Sunday.  It is not the problem but the symptom. It is the Roman Catholic Church that proudly takes credit for changing the day of Worship from the Sabbath to Sunday, the day the Sun was venerated. It is the Roman Catholic Church that teaches one must be a member of this tradition and do the works prescribed by the Vatican doctrines and dogmas in in order to be saved….Works!

When I was very young, I thought if you spoke about Jesus, you were a Christian and everyone was talking about the same person.  Unfortunately, as I have grown older and more mature, sadly I see this is not the case.  There are many versions of Jesus, but only one can save.

So which Jesus do you know?  A child said to me, “my daddy said you can be any kind of “Christian” as long as you call on Jesus, you are saved.”  Here in is the root of the problem…a lack of understanding and training in sound doctrine.  Does it matter what church or denomination you attend?  Yes! Before you walk through the door, do the homework and research their beliefs and teachings.  Many ministries today opt not to publish a statement of Faith, only a Vision or Mission statement, and sometimes not even that! 

There are many interpretations of the Gospel today, but this is the one place there is no wiggle room, no license for interpretation!  You must believe the true Gospel or you will not be saved!  How do we know if what we believe is true or not?  The scriptures will prove it.  If we try to just interpret what Paul or the writer of Hebrews is saying about salvation without understand the basis from which they come, we will be confused and open to error.

Paul taught, the Torah was not to be used as a means to attain righteousness, for no one is justified under the Law (Gal 3:11).  Nor did Paul condemn and reject the Torah for he said it was good and holy! (Rom 7:12)  But the Law was still beneficial if you use it lawfully. (1Ti 1:8)  It was to be used for the unbelieving and unrighteous for sin is violation of the Law, that the person can see their state and understand the need for their Savior. 

2T 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,  

At the time of Paul’s writing, the only scriptures were the Torah, Prophets and Writings (Wisdom Books).  The New Testament was not compiled yet.  So Torah is valuable to us for doctrine.  Let us examine the Doctrine of Christ in the light of Torah.  We only need to look into the Feasts of the Lord found in Leviticus 23.   In this writing, we will briefly look at an overview of the foundation of our Faith in the Feasts. 

The first mention is the weekly Sabbath. Though it is not technically one of the annual feasts, it is actually a foundation for everything else.  Through the cross, we understand the intent of the Sabbath was to teach God’s people that we must not work on the Sabbath or the penalty is death.  It is referring to the Believer resting from all his dead works of self-righteousness and REST in the finished work of Christ, receiving from God a righteousness that is imputed and not personally earned, but gained by Christ for us through His perfect life and sacrificial death for us.

The first annual Feast is Passover.  A memorial feast that celebrates the redemption of Israel from the Land of Egypt and slavery to Pharaoh.  Egypt signifies the world while Pharaoh represents the devil and sin.  It was through the slaying of the Passover lamb and the blood being applied to the door posts and lintel of their homes.  After roasting the lamb and preparing unleavened bread and bitter herbs, the people were to come into the house with the blood on it, and eat the ritual foods and wait until morning before coming out.  For in the night, the death angel would pass over the houses and strike the first born down in every house where the blood was not applied.

Messiah Yeshua/Jesus is the Passover Lamb, the Lamb of God (1 Cor 5:7, Jn 1:36) slain for us on the cross on the very day the lambs were slain in the Temple for Passover.  It Yeshua’s shed blood that covers our lives and washes us from all guilt and stain.  He is our Redemption from the curse of the Law (Gal 3:13) He has set us free from the Law of sin and death (Rom 8:82) (Ezek 18:20)

So when the sinner hears the Gospel of Jesus Christ crucified and bleeding for our sins; His death and burial, the Righteous One for the unrighteous to carry our sins far away; and rising from the dead on the third day for our justification, he is convicted of sin and comes to the cross of Jesus it is literally their personal Passover day.  As they move from sinner through the cross to the other side they come to unleavened bread.

The feast of unleavened bread is kept for seven days.  You are not to consume any leaven (yeast) for the whole week, but you are commanded to eat unleavened bread.  The person was a sinner, but now they have been forgiven and made new by the Blood of Jesus and have become unleavened…sin removed.

1Co 5:7 Therefore purge out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For also Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

 

We are justified, as they used to say “Just as if you never sinned”.  God has made a covenant with man for seven days (seven thousand years).  The believer is made unleavened from the time of Adam till the end of time.

   

Heb 10:14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified.

After three days Yeshua was raised from the dead on the Feast of Firstfruits, for He is the Firstfruit of them that sleep (1 Cor 15:20)

Pertaining only to the Gospel we will fast forward to the Feast of Atonements or Yom Kippur in the seventh month in the fall.  As Christ is sacrificed once for all, the Feast of Atonement is fulfilled through the shed blood of Jesus that pays the price required for our redemption.  Only the Blood of the Son of God is able cover the cost that is due for our sins.  Perfect atonement, He is enough and nothing more can or needs to be added.

If we look to the Holy Scriptures they will explain the way to interpret the Doctrine. We cannot even begin to understand Paul’s words without a look into the Torah from which he taught.  Some teach that we are not completely forgiven, that it is an ongoing process…that we are still sinners, but just in Grace… that right living and obedience to the commandments is necessary to continue in salvation….and many more errors all come from not looking to our foundation first.  Yeshua is coming soon and many are not ready. Doctrine matters, it is what determines whether we have rested in Christ, have trusted in HIS WORK, and not our own, whether we believe He is who He said He is and finished what He came to do. 

Rom 10:9 Because if you confess the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.

Rom 10:10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses unto salvation.

Rom 10:11 For the Scripture says, "Everyone believing on Him shall not be put to shame."

I pray this is helpful so you can truly know the right doctrine that brings us to a saving faith in Christ Jesus.  You can leave questions or comments below if you are still not sure, we want you to be confident and assured that you have truly come to Christ and are saved.

May the Lord bless you and keep you in your journey…Maranatha