Have often have your heard people say that Jesus died for our sins?
And he did, but it isn’t his death that saves us.
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The sacrificial system has 5 steps:
- You have to sin (no sin, no need for forgiveness, right?)
- You have to recognize and confess that you sinned
- You have to repent of that sin (turning from sin is called T’shuvah)
- You have to shed innocent blood for that sin to be forgiven: blood that should be yours
- You have to ask to be forgiven.
When Yeshua sacrificed himself, he did not to do away with any of these steps, or the sacrificial system, itself. He replaced step 4, the need to sacrifice an animal (shed innocent blood) at the temple in Jerusalem, which was the only place that any sacrifice to Adonai would be accepted (Deut. 4). Through Yeshua’s sacrifice, we can now ask for forgiveness any time, any where, whenever we need to.
Which, in my case, is too darn often!
Yet, it isn’t by reason of his death that we can be saved; there is more to it than just that.
First, he lived a life that was in 100% accordance with the Torah, 100% of the time. That is something that no human before him, or since, has been able to do, so when he died, he was truly the innocent lamb that the sacrificial system required. And because he was supernaturally born to be the Messiah, his human life and death had a much greater effect on humanity.
Second, his resurrection proved that his sacrifice was accepted, which is the second most important step in being saved. But, as I said, it isn’t how we are saved.
We are saved not by his life, or by his death, or even by his resurrection, although they are all part of the process….
We are saved by being forgiven.
Only God can forgive sins, and even though Yeshua said that he had the authority to forgive sins ( Matthew 9:6; Luke 5:24), he was very specific to say that he had that authority “on earth”, meaning (as I understand it) only while he was ministering to people, and only to prove that he is the Messiah God promised to send.
What we are told about him after he was raised into heaven is that he now sits at the right hand of God, where he intercedes for us.
From the very beginning of creation, and throughout time even to this very moment, it is only God who can forgive sins. Not a priest, not a Minister, not a Rabbi- only God. And the only way we can be forgiven is through confession, repentance, and accepting that Yeshua is the Messiah, whose sacrificial death was accepted as the sin sacrifice we must make according to the Torah.
Oh, yes, and one more thing…you must ask to be forgiven.
That’s right! Even with all that Yeshua did, if you do not ask to be forgiven, you will not be forgiven. There is no such thing as OSAS (Once Saved, Always Saved); that is a lie from the pit of Sheol, originated by Satan in order to fool people into remaining stained with their sins, even while they believe they are forgiven.
I hate to burst bubbles, but if you don’t ask, you don’t get.
It is not Yeshua’s life, or death, or even resurrection through which we are saved; his part in all this was to provide the means of forgiveness (especially after the temple was destroyed) so that we can ask for God to forgive us.
When we are forgiven, THEN we are saved. That is, up until the next time we sin, which (again, for me) doesn’t usually take too long until I have to ask.
Especially when I am driving in traffic.
So, that is the real way we are saved- not by Yeshua’s death (although that is part of it), or by calling on God’s name (which is also part of it), or by the fact of Yeshua’s Torah observant life (which made it all possible)…no!
The only way we are saved is by asking God to forgive us.
In the end, after all that Yeshua did, after faithfully accepting him as Messiah, heartfelt confession, repentance, t’shuvah (demonstrated through Torah observance), it still comes down to this- the only way we are saved is to ask to be forgiven of our sins, and only God can do that.
Thank you for being here and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even those who do not believe. After all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.
That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot, and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!
