Do you believe in God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?
Do you believe that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah?
Do you think that is enough for you to be saved?
If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.
Well, let me tell you something- just believing God exists and that Yeshua is the Messiah won’t get you anywhere, except maybe started on the proper path to salvation.
Do you know who else believes in God and Yeshua? Satan. And not just Satan, but every demon in Hell. Do you think that is going to save them?
It takes a LOT more than just saying “I believe in Jesus!” to be saved.
In truth, I don’t think most of the people who use the term “Believe in Jesus” have the slightest idea what that actually means, and not an inkling of what it entails.
If you want to be saved from your sins, you need to do more than accept that God exists and that Yeshua is the Messiah. And Unitarian vs. Trinitarian has no effect at all on your salvation.
And, for the record, pronunciation of whichever name (or names) you use for God and his Messiah have no effect on your salvation.
Now, that being said, of course you DO need to believe that God exists- even more than that, you need to believe he is the only God.
And you DO need to accept that Yeshua is the Messiah God promised to send and that he did die, was resurrected, and as such has proven to be accepted by God as the substitutionary sacrifice through whom we can be forgiven of sin.
But, people, that’s just the start.
What really saves us is being forgiven of sin, and that requires more than asking- first and foremost, you need to repent. Honestly, sincerely, contritely, and humbly repent of the sins you commit.
And that means first acknowledging that you do sin.
We all sin- I sin, you sin, everyone sins because we are all, well… sinners. Born with iniquity, living in a world that is full of sin all around us, tempting us every single moment of every single day we are alive. It’s really impossible for anyone to live a sinless life.
And that’s good news, because if anyone could live a sinless life, then it is possible for us to do and we wouldn’t need a Messiah. So, in the end, there would be three people in Heaven: God, Yeshua, and that one idiot who ruined it for the rest of us.
Joel 2:32 tells us that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved (where do you think Shaul got it from when he repeated it in Romans 10:13?), and that is true, of course, but it takes more than just calling on God’s name.
It takes more than just accepting Yeshua is your Messiah and asking forgiveness in his name.
It takes dedication and obedience to God’s commandments. Not the instructions Shaul gave to Gentile Believers who were first learning about obedience to God’s commandments.
Not to celebrate the holidays Constantine created.
Not to obey the Pope, the Pastor, Minister, or even the Rabbi instructing you in Halacha.
It takes obedience to GOD!
And where does God tell us what he wants us to do? Where does God tells us how to worship him? What days does God say we are to celebrate as a festival to him? What ways does God want us to treat each other? How does God say we should conduct business? What does God tell us with regards to punishing people for crimes they commit?
Where is all this?
I’ll bet you know…yes! It’s in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, that “Jewish” Bible most Christians are told they don’t need to know or follow.
There’s no place anywhere in the New Covenant where God tells anyone how to worship or act, or what days to celebrate. Why? Because he already told us everything we need to know in the Torah.
Yeshua didn’t change any of that (Matthew 5:17), except for one part- instead of bringing an animal to the temple in Jerusalem as a sacrifice for sin, Yeshua’s sacrifice replaced that step in the process of forgiveness.
And good thing, too, because after 73 BCE there was no temple to go to!
That is why Jews were so devastated by the destruction of the temple- according to the Torah, the only place you can present your sin sacrifice is where God places his name (Deuteronomy 16:16), which was the temple Solomon built. When the temple was destroyed, so was any hope of being forgiven.
The Wailing Wall (also known as the Western Wall) is not part of the temple- it was part of a wall surrounding the temple area that Herod built.
That is why I am so glad I have found my Messiah, Yeshua, and pray constantly that my Jewish brothers and sisters will eventually come on board the salvation train to take this ride to eternal joy in God’s presence, with me.
I know that you hear us Messianics’ always talking about how the Torah is still necessary, but this isn’t legalism (when people say that it’s really nothing more than a cop-out), it is faithful obedience that comes from loving God and wanting to do what pleases him.
Faith is necessary but faith without works is dead (James 2:14), meaning simply enough that if you have real faith, and really love the Lord (Deuteronomy 6:5) you will want to do as he tells you to do, if for no other reason than to please him.
Remember that he tell us in Ezekiel 18:23 he doesn’t get any pleasure from seeing sinners die, so to not sin we must obey the rules and instructions in the Torah: both Shaul and James confirm this in their writings!
So, if you really love the Lord, and really accept Yeshua as your Messiah, then your faith will demand that you learn what God wants from you and do it, to the best of your ability. Not to be saved, and not to earn anything, but simply out of love for God and the faithful desire to please him.
One last thing: selfless and humble obedience to God is the result of true faithfulness, which is an emotionally fulfilling thing, but there is another nice perk to obedience: read Deuteronomy, Chapter 28 to see all the wonderful blessings you receive here on earth when you obey God.
Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know; like my Facebook page, join my Facebook group “Just God’s Word”, buy my books and subscribe to both my YouTube channel and website.
That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!