2022 Other New Testament Writings Commentary (With Psalms)

Romans
Romans was completed in its own study this year. See: https://firstfruits.cc/blog/2024/06/17/2022-romans-commentary 

What follows is commentary on the rest of Paul’s letters:

1 Corinthians 1, 1 Corinthians 2, Psalm 150

Paul’s two letters to the Corinthians are among my favorites—his letter to the Philippians being up there, too. If he wrote Hebrews, that is my absolute favorite. While his writing is still somewhat confusing here, it is more clear, more direct and more powerful than in his longer letters.

He begins his letter with the priestly blessing of Numbers 6:22-27, making it abundantly clear that he is equating Yeshua with God (Yahweh). The word “Lord” here, “Kurios” in the Greek, is the same as “Adonai” in Hebrew, which is a substitute for “Yahweh.”

He writes: “GRACE to you and PEACE from God our Father and the LORD Jesus Christ.
The blessing in Numbers: “The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be GRACIOUS to you; The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you PEACE.”

Grace or gracious in both Hebrew and Greek refer to “God’s favor,” which is a free gift for those who turn toward Him.

Many Christians today have fallen into the idolatry of Paul, believing that his words somehow negate the Word of God in the rest of Scripture. They have done this because of the confusing nature of Paul’s writing, which on the surface appears to contradict much of the rest of Scripture. Commentators who have popularized these false interpretations have made things worse. The Truth is that Paul is not God, Paul’s words do not replace God’s words, and, in fact, Paul’s words must and do align with the rest of God’s Word when read properly. There cannot be a contradiction in Scripture, for “God does not lie.” So, if there is an apparent contradiction, we must resort to the balance of the Word of God to help us understand it within the context of the Truth, and when the analysis is exegeted properly, it is clear that Paul’s teaching is consistent with the rest of Scripture.

Paul warns us about making him into an idol right here in the first chapter of his letter: “each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” Now today, we might say, I am of Catholicism, or I follow Calvin, or I follow Luther, or I follow this preacher or that preacher, but let’s be clear: this is idolatry, and Paul teaches us the same thing here, in all humility. We do not follow Paul, we follow Christ. We must be “complete in the same mind and the same judgment,” and that is this: “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” and “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” In other words, we must follow Messiah Yeshua alone, for He alone is the Lord. His teaching alone is the Truth. The Holy Spirit is the only God who shows us the knowledge of the Truth.

To the World, the teachings of Torah, the Prophets, and the Gospel are foolishness. To the one who is perishing, it seems absolutely ridiculous to forsake your own life and your own desires and to put God and His ways first. It seems absurd to trust in a God you cannot see and a law that runs contrary to “human nature.” Man wants to follow after his own heart and his own ways, not be confined to the words of some crusty, lingering book. But to keep God’s commandments and trust in Yeshua; this is what Scripture repeatedly commands us to do, and it repeatedly proclaims eternal blessings to those who walk this path without wavering. Messiah Yeshua has “become to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” If we trust in Jesus and obey God’s commandments, we have the power of God on our side, and though our way of life may appear foolish to those who are perishing, we have inherited eternal life, if we endure. In the End, even the most foolish ways (from Man’s perspective) that God has commanded us, perhaps keeping our body pure from unclean meats, for instance, will be for God’s glory and our reward.

In Chapter 2, Paul makes it clear that His whole mission was to proclaim the testimony of God, for he knew nothing “except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” He spoke to demonstrate the Holy Spirit and its power, interpreting the law and the prophets with the veil removed, quite literally in Paul’s case, so that the Power of God could be displayed through His message. UNDERSTAND THIS: Paul said, “WE DO SPEAK WISDOM AMONG THOSE WHO ARE MATURE; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but WE SPEAK GOD’S WISDOM IN A MYSTERY, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood.” And so it’s not misunderstood, He has given us His Holy Spirit so that we can know this mystery: “For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God” AND “we have the mind of Christ.”

Thus the wisdom of the mystery of God belongs to those of us who have received His Holy Spirit, and the wisdom is this: God came in the flesh to die for our sins, and rose from the dead to conquer sin and death, so that by His grace we could be purified by His blood. God knew from the very beginning that He would need to do this; He “predestined [this act] before the ages to our glory.” Having created Man in His Own image, He knew that we would seek our own way, and that we would sin against Him, and would therefore be condemned to die by the very law that He gave us for our good—to give us life. He knows that His law is good, and perfect and righteous, and He knew that we would rebel against it because, while we are created in His image, we are not God. And so by His mercy, He gave Himself up for us to die on our behalf so that we who accept His sacrifice would be welcomed into His kingdom to be with Him, despite our sin. What magnificent grace that He planned from before He even created us!

This plan is just, though. “A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they [these mysteries of God] are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. … we have the mind of Christ.” Those who are foolish believe the law of God is foolish and they believe God’s redemption plan through Yeshua HaMashiach is foolish, also. The foolish man has one way in front of him, and that is eternal death. God will raise all men and women for judgment on the Last Day, and we will stand before His throne on that day. Those who accepted Christ for salvation and obeyed His commandments out of love for Him will inherit everlasting life, those who rejected either His commandments or His salvation will be thrown into the lake of fire. The foolish things of this world will be burned up, while the power of God will last forever. The choice comes down to whether we will accept His free gift and then walk in His ways, or not. Until a man or woman chooses to follow Him, His ways will appear foolish. Once a man or woman chooses Him, the power of God comes to dwell with them and there is no looking back.

1 Corinthians 3, 1 Corinthians 4, Psalm 1

Paul continues on with his theme, criticizing the men of Corinth for remaining as “infants in Christ.” Paul says he could not speak to them as “spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ.” He adds, “I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly.” What a rebuke! These men are still concerned about the things of this world and they are also pulled aside by the law of the flesh, which leads to death. Paul is not ready to share with them the power of God, the meat of the Word, because they’re not ready for it. However, our greatest desire ought to be to receive this meat, for we cannot remain children forever, but must mature in our faith. Let this sink in as you read Paul, for a lot of his teaching is very basic stuff. We have to move beyond Paul’s introduction to the faith if we truly want to know God and walk with Him in this life.

These men are still stuck on which teacher they follow, not realizing that the teachers themselves are simply stewards of the Gospel and the only true teacher is Christ through His Holy Spirit. Read John 16. In verses 12-14, Yeshua says, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” The Corinthians aren’t quite ready for this, but Paul and Apollos have embraced it and they are trying to raise up fellow workers. Paul points them to Christ, who is the source of all Truth, and not to Paul and Apollos who are simply servants through whom we have come into the faith, as the Lord has given opportunity for each one of us to learn. God causes our growth in faith, knowledge, obedience and perseverance, Paul, Apollos and any one of us who teach ought to simply plant and water.

Each one of us who does the work the Lord asked of us is a fellow worker with Paul and Apollos, the giants who came before us. Paul laid down Christ as the very cornerstone, the very foundation of our faith, but we build on top of Messiah as we expand the Body of Christ, which grows into the Temple of God. In Matthew 28:19-20, the risen Messiah describes the work that we are called to do: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you, even to the end of the age.” Some of us may do this well, others clumsily, but if we do it, the clumsy work may be burned up, while the good work will be rewarded on the Last Day.

In Matthew 6:1-6, Yeshua explains the difference between rewards here or rewards in Heaven:
“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”

One day, if we have faith and obey God’s commandments, we will stand before God and our work will be rewarded. Paul writes only about the faithful in 1 Corinthians 3, and not anyone else. Those who do the work before men will not receive a reward in Heaven, their work will be burned up, but those whose treasure is built in Heaven, there it will be rewarded to Him. In both cases, the men will make it to Heaven, so to do your work for an Earthly reward does not cost salvation, but it does cost Heavenly recognition. We read elsewhere that those without faith or those without obedience will not make it to Heaven, but here we read that even those who have both faith and obedience may not receive any treasure in Heaven if they seek Earthly glory. Our calling and election must be sure, and our purpose must be to build up our treasure where we are going to live forever, and not in this temporary dwelling.

We are the Temple of God, those of us who have faith and obey God’s commandments. God dwells within us. Thus, Paul calls us not to boast in men, but to boast in Christ alone, for then we will receive our reward before our Father in Heaven. Let men regard us “as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.” And as stewards, we must “be found trustworthy,” and submit ourselves to be examined by the Lord. He will bring judgement concerning our eternal disposition, not other men. He will also bring light to the thoughts and intents of our heart, and all eyes will see where we really were at with everything we did in this life. We will all judge each other when God brings these things to light in the presence of the Lord, so we ought not become arrogant in regards to the standing of one worker verses another, but let God receive all the glory. He is the one who has given us life and sacrificed Himself so that we can have eternal life with Him, what have we done but disobey His law and bring the death sentence upon our heads?

We are filled and have become rich on account of the grace we have received from Christ’s sacrifice. We are kings, even, in the Kingdom of Heaven, so long as we live our lives here as humble servants, even forsaking our own lives to serve our King of kings. Paul then boasts of how lowly he has become for the work that Messiah called him to perform, and how these men in Corinth have it much better than they do, and we could say the same about ourselves in America. Why should be arrogant, when we know that the proud will be brought low, and the low will be risen up? Paul uses salt and pepper here to encourage the Corinthians as well as rebuke them, and a rebuke is coming up. “What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?”

1 Corinthians 5, 1 Corinthians 6, Psalm 2

Chapter 5 concludes that it is not our duty to judge those who are outside the Church. We ought to eat with sinners, as Yeshua did, and teach them through our example of love why they should come to know the Lord. God willing, the Spirit will convict them and bring them into the faith. God will judge those who are outside the camp as they respond to His calling or not. But with people who call themselves Christians, we are not to associate with an immoral person, and to “remove the wicked man from among yourselves.” As Christians, it is our duty to judge those who are in the Church, once we have removed the beam from our own eye. We ourselves must get right with Christ and walk by faith in obedience to God’s commandments by the power of the Holy Spirit, but once we are doing that with all our heart, it is our duty—not just a suggestion, but our duty—that we teach others. This is what Yeshua means to “make disciples” and teach “them to observe all the things that I have commanded.”

For those who openly rebel, such as the man who had relations with his father’s wife, they need to be thrown out of the assembly, for they violate the law of God; see Deuteronomy 22:30, among other citations. Paul quotes directly from Leviticus 20:11 here, when he says, “the one who has done this deed would be removed from your midst.” We read, “The man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.” Even in the age of grace, an unrepentant man who practices such lawlessness will fall from grace into the second death. We just turn the next chapter and see Paul write, “Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.” You can’t gloss over this very clear writing. You’re missing the Truth if you do.

Now, Paul’s hope is that by casting out the sinner from the Church that he will come to repentance. He writes: “deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” Perhaps by being thrown out he will recognize the wickedness of his ways and will come to repentance for the salvation of his soul. But Paul gets into the importance of this doctrine next: “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

Paul is saying that to remain unleavened in the Church, we cannot allow evil men to persist among us, lest their behavior, when accepted, start to affect the rest of the Church. We cannot celebrate Passover in memory of Yeshua among sinful people, but all must come with repentant, contrite hearts, looking to Yeshua as their sacrifice for sin. We read in Galatians 2:17, “Christ is not a minister of sin.” This is a most holy time. While we are out in the world, we ought to eat with tax collectors and sinners, but when we are in the sacred assembly, we ought to ensure the body is pure. God does not tolerate the mixing of the holy and the profane, and by so doing, you yourself, though holy, may become unholy on account of tolerating sin among the faithful. It is our duty to call out sin within the body, when we have eradicated within ourselves by the power of the Holy Spirit. All correction ought to be done with love following the Lord’s commandment of Matthew 18:15-17.

If we have a case against our neighbor, which is another term for our brethren in the church in this context, we ought to go only to the other members of the church for judgment. Only saints ought to judge other saints. This isn’t a matter for a court of law or for the police. We ought to be able to manage all matters within the church, using Matthew 18 principles. If someone does become as a tax collector or a heathen, and they are cast out, this is a different story. But among the church, we ought not be unrighteous, because the unrighteous will not make it to Heaven. In Christ, we become washed, sanctified and justified, and the Spirit of God comes to us to help us, and we are made one Spirit with the Lord. Thus, we must flee immorality, so that we do not quench the Spirit. The body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, and thus we cannot commit sin in our body. We have been bought with a price, thus we must glorify God in our bodies. Those who persist in sin will not make it into Heaven.

1 Corinthians 7, 1 Corinthians 8, Psalm 3

Be careful: In 1 Corinthians 7 and 8, Paul both offers his own opinion as well as the Word of God, and we must be mindful of what he is saying where. Paul’s opinion is not the Word of God, but it is rather up for your consideration in your own interaction with the Holy Spirit and your spiritual leaders, while the Word of God is the commandment, which we must obey.

Paul first writes about marital relations, for He had just finished lecturing the Corinthians about a man who had relations with His father’s wife, a sin, God says, that is worthy of spiritual death, and Paul has agreed with the Old Testament law here in full. So he moves on from this sexual immorality to discuss what is sexually moral.

Paul said, men and women ought to marry and fulfill their duties to one another, as God has commanded in Genesis, to “go forth and multiply,” but moreso than this, to understand that as “one flesh,” a man no longer has control over his own body, but his wife also has a say, and likewise the wife no longer has control over her own body, but her husband has a say. In love, both men and women should become one flesh so that husband and wife are not tempted to sin. The only time to deprive marital relations is during prayer and fasting, and both parties must agree, or—while unspoken here but implied—according to the law of God relative to menstrual impurity.

Next, Paul notes that He personally believes it is better for men and women to remain single, as he is, so they can devote themselves fully to God, but if they have any passion at all, they must marry to avoid sin. Then He says the Lord gives instruction to married folks not to break up their marriage for any reason, even if one is a believer and the other is not, for the unbeliever is sanctified by the believer, provided that the believer is putting God first above their spouse, otherwise they are dragged down into sin by the unbeliever, and this should not be. If the believer’s priority of putting God first breaks up the marriage, it is imperative that the believer not remarry, for he or she is still married in the eyes of God. Only if a spouse dies, or commits sexual immorality as Jesus conceded, can a marriage end.

Paul says folks should remain in the place where God called them: If married to remain married, if single to remain single, unless there is passion, if a slave to remain a slave, if free to remain free, if circumcised to remain circumcised, and if uncircumcised to remain uncircumcised. Next comes an important point that we can’t miss: “Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but WHAT MATTERS IS THE KEEPING OF THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD.” This tells us 2 things, and if you’ve read my Galatians interpretation, you already know: 1) Circumcision is a sign of the covenant (physical for the old, spiritual for the new) and physical circumcision is NOT a commandment of God for one who has converted into the faith, and 2) we are to keep the commandments of God. This is what matters, Paul said. As we learn in Galatians, the circumcision of the heart (receipt of the Holy Spirit) is what is required as a sign of the New Covenant, where physical circumcision was a sign for the old.

In Corinthians 8, Paul states that idols are not real, but God is real, and so if you accidentally or unknowingly eat food sacrificed to idols, you will be fine with your relationship with God. However, on account of others who may know that food is sacrificed to idols, we ought to avoid it. We would not want one who is escaping from idolatry to stumble on behalf of us eating food sacrificed to a false god that they once believed in. Paul also speaks again to the same controversy in Romans 14, which was that some Christians (the Essenes, the Ebonites) believed we should eat only vegetables, but everyone else ate clean meats and vegetables. He repeats the lesson of Romans 14 that we should avoid eating meat in front of vegetarians if by eating meat we cause the vegetarians to stumble in their faith. Everything we do ought to edify fellow believers and increase their faith in Christ, and not provide a stumbling block to their relationship with the Lord. That being said, nowhere does Paul say that the laws of Leviticus 11 are not relevant. He never would have even considered walking away from them. It would never have even entered his mind as a consideration; nor would it have been an issue in the early church, when those Gentiles coming into the faith were already identifying with the Jews and avoiding unclean food.

1 Corinthians 9, 1 Corinthians 10, Psalm 4

Paul’s writing in chapters 9 and 10 continue to address the issues he has already brought up so far; namely, 1) the tendency of people to follow after charismatic leaders or commentaries instead of Christ; 2) the tendency toward sin, in particular sexual sin; and 3) the eating of foods sacrificed to idols. It’s important to recognize that Paul is not talking about anything outside of these three concepts, and the context is critically important, otherwise you will miss what he’s communicating, perhaps even thinking that Paul has taken it upon himself to negate the law of God, which he would not do and has not done. As an imperative, I point out that if Paul legitimately did declare that the law was done away with or unimportant, as believers in Yeshua we would need to throw out all of Paul’s writing and conclude He is a heretic, because this is not what Yeshua taught us. And so, as we read, we must read in context, knowing that Paul is not speaking about the law in the way many would like to believe, but rather, he is addressing fairly narrow issues that came up in Corinth.

Paul notes that many if not all of the apostles are married, but he and Barnabas are not, which is an interesting thing to note. He had just finished speaking about marriage, and made his opinion clear on how some ought to marry and others ought to remain single. As a result of this, he clarifies that the apostles deserve to receive material provisions for their families as they go about and spread the Gospel. This is what it means in the law, “you shall not muzzle the ox while it is threshing.” You ought to allow the ox to eat the grain while it is helping you harvest the grain, and likewise, while the apostles go out to sow and reap the Word of God, they too as workers for Yeshua ought to receive food to eat for themselves and their families. Paul, who does not have a family to take care of, also works as a tent maker and thus provides for himself.

Why does he boast about this? Only to say that both ways are acceptable in the Lord. It is OK for a pastor to provide for himself and give the teaching of Scripture as a gift to those who hear it, and it is OK for a pastor to earn his living from those who receive the teaching. Paul does boast about his way’s superiority, but we must take this in balance with Paul’s admonition earlier that we don’t follow Paul or Apollos, but we follow Christ. Nevertheless, Paul does believe his way is better because as a pastor who supports himself he can approach more people who may shy away from having to become involved in a ministry where monetary support becomes expected. While tithing is good for those who do it freely and required under the law, pastors who preach for their own emolument are at risk of departing from the Truth to keep the gravy train going. Many churches today suffer from the need to add people to the church at any cost, even dumbing down the truth by making it more palatable to the world.

As Paul says, “if I preach the Gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the Gospel. For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward, but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me.” That stewardship is this: Whether he’s preaching to Jews, Gentiles, Pagans, those who know God’s Word or those who don’t, to the weak or to the strong in faith, he mirrors and matches them, and presents them with the Gospel on their terms so that they might more readily accept it. To those who understand Scripture, He doesn’t have to teach Scripture, but He can show them where in Scripture the Messiah Yeshua is prophesied. To those who do not know Scripture, He must start by telling them about the God who created the Heavens and the Earth and everything in them, and He must teach them about the law of God, “so that I might win those who are without law.”How could they possibly believe they need a savior if they have no knowledge of sin?

In his quest to teach the Gospel to all, Paul says all who come into the faith must endure in it, for the risk is present and dangerous that any one of us could fall away from our salvation. Thus, we must all run the race to win the prize of glorification, for sanctification is a life-long effort that not everyone successfully endures. He notes toward the end of this metaphor that he himself could become disqualified from the Kingdom of Heaven if He falls into sin. If Paul is concerned about his own falling away, we also ought to be concerned about ourselves. “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

As Paul moves on in Chapter 10 to talk about the risks of idolatry, he references the Fathers who wandered in the wilderness with Moses. What’s fascinating is that Paul interprets this episode in quite the same way that you have seen me do throughout this year. “They were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ.” They all had the Gospel, however they wandered away from it and rebelled against it. The writer of Hebrews makes the same argument in Chapters 3-4. Even though we may walk in faith, become baptized by our own free will, eat the body and drink the blood of our Lord, which is our faith in the Word of God and His sacrifice on the cross, and receive the Holy Spirit, the living water that Christ promised to us, we might still fall away, and Paul warns us not to do this. Israel in the wilderness served “as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved.”

From here, Paul goes on to describe the chief sin of those who wandered in the wilderness, and the chief sin we all might face in our lives; namely, idolatry. “The people sat down to eat and drink and stood up to play.” Let us not mix the holy with the profane and bring pagan practices into our worship. Let us not act immorally. Let us not grumble. Paul warns us all: “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.” He wouldn’t say this if the principle, “once saved, always saved” was actually true. It’s not true. It’s false. We must be mindful, if we think we stand, that we do not fall into sin and temptation. Now Paul confirms, the Lord will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can handle, but that doesn’t mean that some of us will not succumb to that temptation. While God provides the way of escape when He tests us, we have to endure the test and actually not fall into sin. “Therefore,” Paul says, “flee from idolatry.” You can’t commit idolatry and go to Heaven.

Paul notes specifically: “I speak as to wise men” so that we might “judge what I say.” Paul notes that the idol is false and anything sacrificed to an idol has no power over a true believer, but you can’t partake in this idolatrous practice regardless. “the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.” Flee from idolatry, Paul writes. You cannot mix the holy with the profane, and many churches are guilty of this sin today. We cannot mix pagan practices with the ways that God Himself has commanded us to follow, including His Passover Seder, which Yeshua said for us to “do in memory of me.” If we add our own practices into this most holy annual memorial, we risk falling into sin. If we do anything that God has not commanded in our worship, we do so for ourselves or for demons, and not for God. God commanded us how He wants us to worship Him, and this we must follow if we seek to please Him.

While Paul moves on to say, “eat anything at the meat market without asking questions for conscience’ sake,” he’s clearly not referring to eating pork. Anyone can see that pork is pork, but what cannot be seen is whether something has been sacrificed to idols, and this is the context of Paul’s writing here. We are not to inquire whether the CLEAN meats at the meat market have been sacrificed to idols. If we eat at someone’s home, we ought to eat the CLEAN meats put before us without inquiring about whether it has been sacrificed to idols. However, “If anyone says to you, ‘This meat is sacrificed to idols,’ do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you and for conscience’s sake.” Clearly, Paul writes only about CLEAN meat that is sacrificed to idols, and we cannot partake at the table of God and the table of demons. Nevertheless, we’re not to inquire, so as to not create a stumbling block for those who are weak in the faith. Fellowship for the purpose of spreading the Gospel to such sinners ought to take precedence.

1 Corinthians 11, 1 Corinthians 12, Psalm 5

Chap. 11-12 are all about orderly participation in church & obedience to God. While it appears that Paul speaks literally about head coverings, he is referring specifically to order. Men ought to be governed by Christ Himself, & wives by their husbands. Wives ought not lead their husbands, but husbands ought to lead their wives, particularly at church. Paul also confirms the veracity of Genesis: “man does not originate from women, but women from men.” Women were created as a helpmate so that man would” not be alone. Likewise, man was created as a helpmate to God so that God would not be alone. We were created for His glory, & women for ours. Yet, we hold women up in the greatest esteem as what makes us a whole man, for we could not live without them, and in practical terms, we are born of women. At the same time, God holds us up for His glory and does not will to be without us so that His creation can be fully realized, for He created us to be with Him, and this for His glory.

Speaking about the Lord’s Supper, which was a Passover Seder, Paul clarifies that this was not to be done frivolously or even periodically, but in a worthy manner according God’s law. “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.” This Truth is reiterated throughout Scripture, and basically means that must be a true believer in Christ and obey God’s commandments in Spirit and Truth to properly keep the feast in memory of Jesus, like He asked us to. Exodus 12:48 says, “A foreigner residing among you who wants to celebrate the Lord’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat it.” Romans 2:29 explains: “circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.” Jeremiah 4:4 fortells of this: “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your hearts,…”

In summary, if you do not believe in the Lord, you had better not take part in the Passover Seder communion memorial, or you will bring judgment onto yourselves. “A man must examine himself.” We are to search for the leavening in our heart, to make sure it is removed and only unleavened bread remains. We cannot come before the Lord’s altar as sinners, particularly for such a high feast as this. Look at what Jesus said about this: “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23-24). This is the direct context of these verses in Corinthians. He’s talking about contentious folks and those who create divisions in the body. You can’t come and celebrate Passover with that mindset. You can’t come to the feast to get drunk or to fill your stomach. It’s not about that. It’s a memorial to the Lord and what He has done for us. “If we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged.” But because we don’t take the time to learn what the Lord wants from us, we are disciplined. Some of us are sick, others weak or even “asleep” (dead). As Paul said earlier in his letter (1 Corinthians 5:8), “let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

Continuing with his theme of order, Paul instructs us that not every one of us is going to exhibit every one of the Spiritual gifts, but each one of us ought to express at least one of them, lest we come to doubt our own salvation. The idea of spiritual gifts is not so much as a sign, though, but for edification of the Body. And as each part of the Body has its role in real terms, each part of the Body of Christ has a function, and not all parts do the same thing. When Paul asks, “If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be?,” he refers to the power of prophesy verses the power of interpretation. If everyone was a seer, if you will, then who would be able to listen for the direction of the Lord on how to act on the prophesy? All parts of the body are needed in the Church, and all parts serve God’s purposes, but there is not one part of the Body that can do all things. When it comes to church leadership, there are pastors, evangelists, prophets, teachers, doers of miracles, healers, and so forth. Not everyone has each gift, and some have not been called to lead, but to follow, and we all follow Christ. The Holy Spirit calls us and uses us as we allow Him and surrender to His will.

1 Corinthians 13, 1 Corinthians 14, Psalm 6

Paul continues to teach us about order in chapters 13 and 14. If we do not have the Love of Christ in our heart when we teach, in our faith, or in exercising any spiritual gift, then it doesn’t matter what gift we may possess, it will not be used for its purpose, which is edification of believers and non-believers alike. Love is patient, kind, NOT jealous, it does NOT brag, it is NOT arrogant, it does NOT act unbecomingly, it does NOT seek its own, it is NOT provoked, it rejoices in the Truth, which is the law of God, and it never fails, because it comes from God. And there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God but our own stubborn rebellion. If we remain faithful to God, He will remain faithful to us. He will even fight to bring some of us back through repentance, for the Lord will leave behind the 99 saved to find the one who wandered off.

None of the things we do for the Lord mean anything if we don’t do them with love, and love is sacrifice of everything and anything I care about to do the will of God and to preach and practice His Word. God must come first. The Greatest commandment is to love God, the second greatest commandment is to love one another. If in our feeble attempts to love others we violate God’s commandments, then we forsake our love for Him. We must love God first, and if we love Him, we’ll keep His commandments. If we love God first, we will much more easily be moved by His Holy Spirit to love one another as He loved us, because His commandments are His love language. Check out my Bible study on this topic for a deeper look: https://odysee.com/@FirstFruitsMinistries:b/Fruits-of-the-Spirit--Love:1

The Spiritual gift of tongues must be used for a purpose. If we use the gift without the moving the Holy Spirit, it is blasphemy. The Holy Spirit will always use the gift as a sign to those who can interpret the message. It will be an actual language and for an actual purpose. To babble without interpretation and without meaning is to do more harm than good. Folks observing you will think you’re mad, and you very well may be. Even when he prays in tongues, Paul says he understands what he is saying, otherwise it is meaningless. And better than tongues is prophesy, because by prophesy, which is an interpretation of God’s Word as it pertains to the present time, among other things, the body of Christ is edified and their faith is increased. I would much rather prophesy than speak in tongues, though if the Lord moves me to speak in tongues, I pray it brings edification. Here’s a three-part teaching by Pastor Daniel Joseph that details the authentic gift of tongues and its value: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmI6y1h4ekf7ybkBvjRXWnZJk_bdbIEup

1 Corinthians 15, 1 Corinthians 16, Psalm 7

Paul moves toward the conclusion of his letter in chapter 15, changing his focus to the Gospel that he has preached, “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,” and He appeared to many who testify to this Truth through the work that they did and their writing. Paul goes next into one of the elementary principles of the faith; namely, the resurrection of the dead. This principle is so important to the faith, that without faith in this promise of God, then Christ didn’t rise from the dead, your faith is in vain and all of our preaching and evangelism is in vain. In fact, we would be among the most pitiable, for our sins would still condemn us to death. But on account of Christ’s resurrection, as our First Fruits, our sins are forgiven and we too look forward to a resurrection on the Last Day. Not all of us will sleep (die), but we will all be changed in that moment and stand before the Judgment Seat of Yeshua.

More important than this: “by man came death, but by man also came the resurrection from the dead. Without the Creation story of Adam and Eve and their sin in the garden during the first 33 years of our existence, there would be no need for a redeemer. The Creation story must be true, or we don’t need Christ. Without sin, we don’t need a savior. Without death, we don’t need to be risen. But now through Adam we have all come into a sin nature and are born with a propensity to rebel against God in the flesh, but in the Spirit that comes through faith in Christ, we can be born again into a new life forever with God. All who believe in the Lord will be made alive, all who are Christ’s at His coming will be raised up to dwell with Him forever. And there will be no more death. Because of this Truth, Paul instructs us to become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning. Yeshua said, “Go and sin no more.” Sin is lawlessness. When saved by Yeshua, we ought to keep the commandments of God because we love Him more than our own way. To continue in sin is to practice lawlessness, and the lawless ones will be destroyed upon Christ’s return.

Next, Paul explains that we all must die before we can take on our spiritual body on the Last Day. We are earthly, worldly, stuck in the sins of the flesh, which lead to death until we come to believe in Christ, and then we receive “the last Adam”’s life-giving spirit, and our spiritual life is born. Even still, we must put off our flesh before we can enter the Kingdom of Heaven, for “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven.” We shall all be changed, whether alive or dead on the day that Yeshua returns, in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. We will be raised up imperishable, if we are worthy through the death and resurrection of Yeshua. Sin is what leads to death, and sin is defined by the law, but in Christ we have victory over both sin and death. It is because of this salvation that we ought to “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,” for to keep the commandments of God is our all if we truly love the Lord and what He has done for us.

Paul then turns to practical matters: He reminds the Corinthians of the Old Testament law regarding the collection for the saints: “On the first day of the week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper…” We’re not to gather tithes on the Sabbath, but rather already be prepared on the Sabbath to bring our first and our best to the Lord. Exodus 23:19 reads, “The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God.” And so the firstfruits of the land will be produced on the first day of the week, the first day of work following the Sabbath. God instructs us to bring our first and our best on Saturday, but He also commands us to set our first and our best aside at the beginning of the week, before we do anything else. Every paycheck we receive, we should always set aside the first 10 percent for the Lord before we spend a single penny on anything else. Paul justifies and upholds this Torah law, and it is plain to see.

2 Corinthians 1, 2 Corinthians 2, Psalm 8

In the second part of Paul’s second preserved letter to the Corinthians, he speaks about the man who was caught in a sexual relationship with his father’s wife, whom Paul had ordered the Corinthians to cast out of the church and give over to Satan. This man reacted positively to this punishment, which completely in every way followed the law of God in Torah. He came to repentance. Here is the beauty of what we now have in Messiah Yeshua: “sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority, so that on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a one might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. Wherefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.” The man repented. He stopped doing what he was doing and he put Christ first in his life. Having fallen away from grace, he came back into grace. Paul does not want this opportunity for growth to be lost, but fully appreciated and accepted. The man was lost, but now he was found; once saved, then damned, but then saved again.

In the first section, Paul talks about suffering in a way we ought to come to understand. Even if we are in the worst possible scenario, enduring torture, the torture of loved ones, even death, we need to put our trust “in God who raises the dead.” We have no other hope than in Christ.

In the second section toward the end, Paul writes this: “thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life.” Know this, we are a living sacrifice to God when we serve Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, and He is the one who gives us knowledge of Him when we do this, but not when we don’t. To those who are perishing, our odor will be unwanted, but to God and those who are alive in Christ, we will smell like the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. Both trees had an aroma, both are attractive, but one leads to life, the other to death.

2 Corinthians 3, 2 Corinthians 4, Psalm 9

Don’t misunderstand Chapter 3, because a careful reading produces a beautiful understanding of Truth, and God’s law is Truth. “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” Read Romans 7-8. The law of the flesh is that which we do without the indwelling Spirit; namely, we sin in violation of God’s law on account of our own human weakness. We know that every human is a sinner, condemned to die on account of sin. This is why the letter kills and cannot redeem us. The letter is meant to explain what is right and wrong, and if we violate it by doing what is wrong, the punishment is death. Those aren’t my rules, they are God’s rules, and those rules are still valid today. Now the Spirit gives life quite simply because He helps you keep the law of God (Read John 14:15-18). It’s the same law, but now we have a helper if we love Jesus and pursue Him, who elevates our desire to obedience.

This Spirit does something else, too. Read this section again: “Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech, and are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away. But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” Do you see it? Because we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us—we who believe in Christ and obey God’s commandments—God helps us to understand the Old Testament so that we can obey the law according to the Spirit. Again, this is not a different law, it is the same law. It is just now in Christ we can understand how to fully apply it to our lives in full obedience to God’s intent, which is love.

God’s law was given to us for our good. It is eternal. It didn’t change. It wasn’t annulled. It didn’t fade away. The covenant of the flesh faded away. It was replaced by the covenant of the Spirit. Jesus is a prophet like unto Moses. When He showed His glory on the “mount of transfiguration,” even Peter, John and James cowered in fear and hid their faces from Him. This is the same glory that Moses expressed when He came down from the mountain, because He saw the finger of God write the perfect law of liberty on tablets of stone. He wore the veil to protect sinners without faith in Christ, so they would not die in their shame. But now because Christ is resurrected from the dead and redeems us from our sins, “we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory.” It is the Spirit of the Lord that gives us liberty, and that Spirit comes from faith in Christ and obedience to God’s commandments, with His help.

This is why, as we continue into chapter 4, we see Paul write, “as we received mercy, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” It is because of our mercy in Christ that we no longer walk in shame, but we do not alter the Word of God in so doing, for the law is eternal. Jesus Christ Himself told us this repeatedly, and here’s another example I don’t often cite: “Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my Word will not pass away.” (Matthew 24:35) Thus, in the Spirit we manifest the Truth of God’s Word and appeal to the conscience of men in the sight of God. It is not worldly sorrow that we’re going for, for worldly sorrow leads to death, but we preach Godly sorrow, which brings people to repentance so they can be saved. This Godly sorrow can only come from the revelation of the law of God. The revelation of Jesus Christ is what can then redeem.

Even the Gospel, the good news about Jesus Christ, is veiled for those who are perishing, however. It’s not just the Old Testament that is veiled for them, but also the New. They just don’t see God’s Truth in it, no matter which way you try to explain it. They have “a spirit of stupor,” if you will, and perhaps cannot be woken from it? I will die trying for everyone God puts in my path, but for some, I do wonder when to wipe the dust off of my feet, for Jesus said not to cast God’s pearls before swine. Are there opportunities to expand the kingdom out there that I’m missing? Or is God using these apologetics to refine my approach? Is my approach hardened by this? It troubles me daily to consider these questions. I implore you all: stop skimming through Paul’s writing. They are difficult to understand and don’t mean what you read on the surface (2 Peter 3:15-16). Stop relying on the commentaries that are proven false by the Word of God. Know that Paul cannot contradict Christ, or he is a heretic. And modern understanding fails this test. Paul is not wrong, but many interpretations of him most certainly are.

Nevertheless, I intend to continue to my dying breath, “for we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond servants for Jesus’s sake.” I know that “light shall shine out of darkness,” and in Christ that light shines in those who endure in faith and keep God’s commandments. For the law to be written on our hearts just means that our actions don’t matter as much as our intent, but it is the same law, just now more strictly enforced by the Spirit. Thank God He helps us! Without His help, we would not have the power to accomplish God’s will in our lives. It would be impossible. But with His help, it is possible, but we must intend to accomplish it. And in our intent, the grace of God shines even more brightly, because we believe, and therefore we speak and we give thanks to God. For the things we look upon in our obedience and our faith are eternal, and the Spirit has revealed them to us.

2 Corinthians 5, 2 Corinthians 6, Psalm 10

Paul’s metaphors in chapters 5 and 6 are ethereal, lifting my spirit up to my deepest desire, to be with God forever in the land of the living. This place is nothing; it is a wilderness set up for destruction, but like Paul I pray that what is mortal in me will be swallowed up by life. “We have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” This is the house where we ought to build up our treasures. But we must beware, for while we are clothed with the Holy Spirit here, we do not see this life as our end, for we are destined to be further clothed. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15, on the Last Day our corruptible body is put off and we put on an incorruptible body. Yet, Paul warns: Do not be found naked. What does this mean? Look to the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve sinned against God, they were ashamed, and they knew they were naked. Sin leads to death, but eternal life comes through Christ, first, and then walking in the Spirit according to the law, not by the letter (outward appearances), but in the very thoughts and intents of our hearts.

And so the Holy Spirit dwelling within us is powerful, and frankly the only way our hearts can be changed to obey God, but this experience in Christ is just a shadow of what is to come. He gave us the Spirit as a pledge, for while we are home in the body of our flesh, we are “absent from the Lord,” and so we must “walk by faith and not by sight,” because the Lord is not dwelling in our sight, but only in Spirit according to our faith. This is a faith that longs for the day when we are absent from the body and at home with the Lord. We ought to strive toward nothing else. In fact, Paul notes that our “ambition” ought to be “to be pleasing to Him.” What a key phrase! How else do we please the Lord than to obey His law. We read in Romans 8:7-8: “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Thus, to obey the law by the power of the Holy Spirit we please God. This ought to be “our ambition,” Paul writes, meaning that WE MUST CHOOSE TO DO THIS AND THEN ACT!

What directly follows this statement: “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men,…” What is the fear of the Lord other than obedience to His commandments. This is man’s all! (Ecclesiastics 12:13) What did Jesus say? “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28). Paul continues, “If we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died, and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) To live for Christ is to obey God’s law.

“If anyone is in Christ, He is a new creature; the old things passed away, behold, new things have come.” This is our life of sin and death that has passed away, and now we walk by the Spirit of God to keep God’s law with His help. We no longer walk in sin, but walk in Christ. We need to become the righteousness of God in Him. Continuing into chapter 6, Paul exhorts us: “working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain.” We are saved by grace through faith and not by works, so that no one can boast. However, what are you saved for, to continue in sin? Absolutely NOT! “Christ is not a minister of sin.” (Galatians 2:17). Do not receive salvation for no reason, but rather we must walk in the “day of salvation” according to the manner that Christ called us. We must give no cause for offense in anything, this isn’t offense against man that he’s referring to, but offense against God.

He continues: “In everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.” No matter what we experience in this life, we must be found enduring in this: in keeping the commandments of God and our faith in Jesus. (Revelation 14:12). Yes, I’m called heretical for saying that the law is still in force, and we must obey it, but that’s what Jesus Himself said and so I stand on the Word of God. I don’t obey men, the false prophets who came after the apostles, but I obey Christ. Beware that you don’t fall into the traditions of the elders, for we must be better than the Pharisees to make it to Heaven. “We must obey God rather than man.”

Not only this, but we must beware to separate the Holy from the profane, and not to be bound together in churches with unbelievers. We are to go out into the world to make disciples, but when we come together on Shabbat to worship God, we better be found in fellowship with other believers. Righteousness and lawlessness have no partnership with one another, light and darkness do not mix in the Holy Assembly. We must “come out of her, my people,” if caught up in the darkness of a church that teaches false doctrine, and walk into the light. Christ does not have any harmony with Belial; the believer and unbeliever cannot work together to preach the Word of God. What’s more, we cannot mix pagan idols with our worship, and Paul says the same: “What agreement has the temple of God with idols?”

You think it’s harmless to use pagan imagery to preach Christ? The whole Torah condemns Israel for doing just this, and here Paul exhorts us in the same exact manner. Beware, lest you be found honoring your own feasts, your own customs, and your own ways, and God rejects your prayers because of it (Isaiah 1). He calls us to honor His feasts, His customs and His ways, for only then are we truly walking in Christ (Leviticus 23). “For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,’ Says the Lord Almighty.” Beware, because mixing the holy with the profane is a violation of the First through Third commandments of God (Exodus 20:1-7), and He will not hold you blameless if you misuse His name. Honor the Fourth commandment, among the others, and do things His way and be blameless in Christ.

2 Corinthians 7, 2 Corinthians 8, Psalm 11

Shifting gears, Paul says that because we have “these promises,” “let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” This verse is among several that make it abundantly clear that the responsibility is on us to act once we have been saved, lest we fall away. In this language, the Holy Spirit isn’t cleansing us, but we are cleansing ourselves from any defilement of flesh and spirit; namely, the mixing of the Holy with the profane. We are removing these idols or impediments from our lives, as the Holy Spirit convicts us, and aligning our hearts with the law of God that is being written there as we study and pursue the knowledge of God. We live in “the acceptable time” … “the day of salvation,” and therefore ought to give “no cause for offense in anything.” We are called to literally perfect “holiness” in the “fear of God.” Yeshua said, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48).

When we follow Yeshua, as He asked us to do, we learn the full knowledge of God and obey the law that He gave us with great desire within our hearts to please Him. We read in Romans 7:12: “Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.” There are no longer outward appearances, only great desire and love for our savior to do as He asked us to do all throughout Scripture, but now with a new understanding, not through the letter of the law, but by the “Spirit and Truth” of the law. Allow me to give an example:

Deuteronomy 23:1 says, “He who is emasculated by crushing or mutilation shall not enter the assembly of the LORD.” In God’s love language, the verse is meant to discourage men from choosing to become eunuchs by vasectomy, because God commanded us to “go forth and multiply.” The verse has to do with fertility and obeying the voice of the Lord, and God is talking about the Kingdom of Heaven here, and not the Temple or Church. In other words, destroying your ability to reproduce by vasectomy is sin.

Interestingly, Yeshua teaches on this verse and gives even more context in Matthew 19:9-12: “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery. His disciples said to Him, ‘If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.’ But He said to them, ‘All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given: For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.’” What’s fascinating here is that he doesn’t cover the sin angle: those who made themselves eunuchs to prevent fertility. Resultantly, this is still sin.

In the Old Covenant understanding, this sin of crushing the testicles intentionally leads to death. I have committed this sin, and it is a sin I have spent a lot of time in prayer and repentance mulling over. It matters. At some point, I may reverse the surgery, but God has not led me to this point as of now. Perhaps it is similar to circumcision, in a somewhat opposite way, that the physical correction is not necessary on account of my heart being changed, similar to how the physical circumcision is not needed for new Christian converts because they have experienced a spiritual circumcision that removes sin from their hearts. This is the point. We have a New Covenant understanding in “Spirit and Truth,” and lest you think I am just coming to my own conclusion here, consider that the very thing I’m writing about was prophesied in Isaiah 56. In Christ, we have a covering over our sin, when we repent.

In Isaiah 56:4-5, we read, “For thus says the Lord, “To the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant, to them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off.” God did not nullify His law in Deuteronomy 23:1 here; but rather, He provided the New Covenant as a solution to sin, so that even though we have sinned, we can repent and be redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. When the teaching in Isaiah 56 begins, the Lord declares that His “Salvation is about to come.” In Hebrew, this reads, “My Yeshua is about to come. The prophet tells us that God, through His Messiah, will forgive all sins and even the one with crushed testicles from Deuteronomy 23:1 will enter the holy convocation that is to come, the millennial rest that our Sabbath represents and prophesies.

And so with this we return to 2 Corinthians, which is still dealing with the issue of the church member who had relations with his father’s wife in violation of Deuteronomy 22:30 and Leviticus 20:11. This is the man, from 1 Corinthians 5, that Paul instructed them to remove from among them on account of this sin, which is in accordance with the law. These aren’t Jewish Christians in Corinth, but Gentile Christians, and Paul makes no distinction. But here in 2 Corinthians 7, Paul is looking back at the positive results of their actions, because in the New Covenant, the blood of Yeshua covers sin when we come to repentance and turn away from our sin. And we are instructed to forgive our brothers and sisters in Christ, so that we too can be forgiven in Christ. Repentance, which is described in detail in Ezekiel 18 and 34, is needed for a right relationship with God. Without repentance, the end is destruction and there is no hope, even for one who once confessed Christ. This principle must be thoroughly examined.

Paul writes: “For though I CAUSED YOU SORROW BY MY LETTER, I DO NOT REGRET IT; though I did regret it—for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while— I NOW REJOICE, NOT THAT YOU WERE MADE SORROWFUL, BUT THAT YOU WERE MADE SORROWFUL TO THE POINT OF REPENTANCE; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For THE SORROW THAT IS ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD PRODUCES A REPENTANCE WITHOUT REGRET, LEADING TO SALVATION, BUT THE SORROW OF THE WORLD PRODUCES DEATH. For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter. So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the offender nor for the sake of the one offended, but that your earnestness on our behalf might be made known to you in the sight of God. For this reason we have been comforted.”

Take special note of what I have put in all caps. Godly sorrow is better stated as conviction. We read in Proverbs 25:21-22: “If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; for so you will heap coals of fire on his head, And the LORD will reward you.” The enemy is in effect anyone who sins against God, and Yeshua instructed us to “love your enemy” in the same way that Proverbs 25 does, and in the same way that Paul discusses in 2 Corinthians 7. The coals of fire on his head are the conviction the enemy feels because you are obeying God. In the case of the many violating his father’s wife, removing him from the church was not done in anger or with hatred, but with the purpose of bringing the man to repentance. To tell someone, we cannot fellowship with people who violate the laws of God is love, not hate. If they are truly seeking the Lord, and if they are being saved, then the conviction will come and this will bring them to repentance. They will turn away from their sin and turn back toward God, hopefully to sin no more.

Worldly sorrow is the opposite. Worldly sorrow is the heart that is not willing to give up an idol, not willing to give up a sin, not willing to give up a tradition or a way of doing things, even though God’s law clearly opposes what you are doing. Worldly sorrow is a form of idolatry, because you are essentially loving the sin, the thing you’re saying, doing or holding onto, more than God. In our example from Corinthians, the man might have preferred his relationship with his father’s wife more than pursuing the Truth and a relationship with Christ. If he had been thrown out of the church and felt ill will toward the members for standing by the Word of God and doubled down on his sin, this is the type of lawlessness that leads to death, without repentance. Some folks with worldly sorrow harden their own hearts against God and, as Psalm 1 notes, walk in the counsel of the ungodly, stand in the path of sinners and sit in the seat of the scornful. This is a progression from bad to worse.

Romans 1 also records this path. The sinners being discussed there, “although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools…Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness.” If you walk in the counsel of the ungodly, you can still reverse course. You can walk the other way. Even if you’re standing in the path of sinners, you can still turn around and start walking the other way. But if you’re sitting in the seat of the scornful, now you are “practicing lawlessness,” and the Lord will not accept you into His Kingdom when He comes. In fact, He will say, “I never knew you,” even though you cry out, “Lord, Lord,” even though you were saved and cast out demons in His name (see Luke 10). “The wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous,” we read in Psalm 1. It’s quite clear that the Kingdom is not available to those who succumb to “worldly sorrow.”

But this same Psalm says “Blessed is the one … whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.” We’re talking about the Kingdom of Heaven here; the person who loves Jesus, trusting in His free gift of grace, and therefore keeps the commandments of God will stand in the day of judgment. When the Godly man sins, and the Word of God, which he studies day and night, or his brother or sister in Christ, whom he meets with every Sabbath, reveals that sin to him, he ought to have Godly sorrow, which produces “a repentance without regret, leading to salvation.” This repentance ought to lead to vindication in Christ, but also Godly fear, indignation of the sin itself, a longing to be right with God, a zeal to obey God’s law, and an avenging of wrong, or in other words, a desire to make things right. This repentance leads to a refreshing of the Holy Spirit that leads back to God’s Truth in all things.

God’s grace in Christ is a marvelous and wonderful thing, where our lives look different. We no longer covet our own belongings, but make them available to all people we call brothers and sisters in Christ for their own needs, so that when we are in need the church as a whole will rally around us. We’re talking about true Christian community, true fellowship, which is anathema to the American way of life but can be lived out fully even within Babylon. Just like Yeshua, who had all the power and Godhead, humbled Himself even to death on the cross for our salvation, and then was highly exalted, so too ought we humble ourselves in all things to put God’s Truth first in our lives, loving one another with, for and by that Truth, so that we too are glorified with God on that Day that Yeshua returns. It is because of God’s grace that we seek to please Him by keeping His commandments, it is not by the commandments that we receive grace. And yet, as we have studied in Corinthians, we cannot be in fellowship with God and live according to the lawless manner of our own hearts, but we must rather fully submit to Him and His ways, which lead to life everlasting.

2 Corinthians 9, 2 Corinthians 10, Psalm 12

Paul finishes his letter by asking the Corinthians to come through on a gift they have promised to Paul’s ministry. It would seem the promised gift has been delayed, for Paul is praying that covetousness for the needed funds for the ministry does not take root. In brief, Paul is preaching the same sentiment as Yeshua, “Let your yes be yes, and your no be no.” If you promise someone a gift, then give it. Don’t promise and then delay. Paul says this using magnanimous words and graciousness, showing us how to interact in the same circumstances. In fact, with his words, he teaches the law and prophets: “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed…”

Deuteronomy 15:10: “Give generously to him, and do not let your heart be grieved when you do so. And because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything to which you put your hand.”
Proverbs 11:25: “A generous soul will prosper, and he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”

Malachi 3:8-10:
“Will a man rob God?
Yet you have robbed Me!
But you say,
‘In what way have we robbed You?’
In tithes and offerings.
You are cursed with a curse,
For you have robbed Me,
Even this whole nation.
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“If I will not open for you the windows of heaven
And pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it.”

It is in giving that we receive, as we read in Luke 6:38: “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

Giving to others helps us to be thankful for the abundance that God provides back to us. Rather than pinch pennies and be miserly with what we have, we ought to give all the Lord so that He will return even more abundance to us. The Lord literally wants us to test Him in this, and He will indeed deliver.

In Chapter 10, Paul seems to write about himself in a way that I can relate to. I write with directness, but in person speak meekly. He writes: “I who am meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent!” The purpose of this is simple: we ought not go to battle the same way as people of the world, but we must be divinely purposeful in everything we do so that we can tear down the strongholds of the enemy, while offering kindness to the people who surround these wolves in sheep’s clothing. He writes: “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.” In other words, he teaches obedience to God’s commandments and acts according to them also; he works to capture every thought to align it with the Word of God. Any idea that this is not the case must be torn down, and any disobedience to God within the church must be rebuked, but not for destruction. That’s God’s job. Our job in the church is to bring sinners to Godly sorrow for repentance. In any of this work that leads to salvation, to God be the glory!

2 Corinthians 11, 2 Corinthians 12, 2 Corinthians 13, Psalm 13

Paul warns about those who preach “another Jesus.” The question one must ask is: Which Jesus did Paul preach? We look to the previous chapters to inform us: The real Jesus is the one who calls sinners to come to repentance and walk in righteousness instead, following Him to their final days, no matter what comes up in their lives. To repent: To turn directions, from being a slave of sin to being a slave of righteousness, this is what the Gospel calls us toward. Yeshua’s first words of His ministry were: “Repent and hear the good news.” This is the real Yeshua, the one that Paul preached. Any Jesus that allows you to continue in sin and rebellion is not Jesus. We must be “a chaste virgin to Christ,” Paul writes. This is the “simplicity that is in Christ.” Walk in His ways, they are not a heavy burden, but a light yoke. His law is meant for our good, not for our destruction. If we obey, it shows we trust Him who commanded us, and it is in this faith we can be assured of the promises of God.

Paul faced persecution of every kind; he even had a demon that continuously reminded him of who he was before he met Yeshua on that road to Damascus. He says, “there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.” The Lord, rather than send off the demon, told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” When Jesus walked in the flesh, He warned Peter in Luke 22:31-32: “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” It is alone in our perseverance of faith that we can withstand these attacks of the enemy to try and take us down. We were warned we would have “thorns and thistles” as part of the curse of sin and death, but in Christ, His grace, we can overcome this curse and live forever with God.

The demons that torment us, often through the words and actions of others or the evil they purvey in society, and society readily accepts and worships, these are the thorns that the Lord will not take away from us. These are tests for us, to see if we will keep our faith even in the midst of seemingly insurmountable pressure to give up. The power of God is ample to sustain us in the weaknesses of our flesh, if we have this faith to stand in the righteousness that Christ has commanded us. Paul says, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!” We ought to constantly examine our words and our actions to see if they reflect the Spirit dwelling in us or whether our flesh has gotten the better of us. If we sin, we know we have an advocate at the right hand of God who is faithful and just and ready to forgive us when we repent. But we must test ourselves constantly, because it truly does matter what we say and do, and it matters even more what is in our heart, for that is the source of everything we say or do. Is the law written there? Then we ought to keep it. Does our heart truly believe in our Messiah? Then we know Yeshua helps us in every way.

Paul prays to God that “you do no wrong … that you may do what is right … for we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth.” We know that the truth is the law of God, which became flesh and dwelt among us. “May the grace of the Lord Yeshua HaMashiach, and the love of Abba, and the fellowship of the Ruach HaKodesh be with you all.”

We need Yeshua’s grace for salvation, the love of God to help us obey His commandments, and unity in the Holy Spirit to help us, teach us, and lead us home.

Galatians 1, Galatians 2, Psalm 14

Galatians is the most-often cited book of the Bible by antinomian Christians, and in that it is the most read and most highly regarded book in the New Testament. It is a powerful book that states the Truth of Christ. However, it must be stated clearly that Galatians is also the most misunderstood book in all of the whole Bible. It has led many a man astray to walk after the lusts of his own heart, to his own destruction.

It is an elementary principle of the faith that we are saved by grace alone through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. No man, Jew or Gentile, has any chance to stand before God without Christ’s sacrifice. The law can’t save, because the law’s purpose is to point out sin, which is what condemns. But Paul provides an anchor statement so that you do not misunderstand Him: “But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be! For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor.” (Gal. 2:17-18)  

Paul is talking about “rebuilding” a life of sin. Once you are saved, if you continue to “practice lawlessness,” you will lose your salvation. Some might say you never had it to begin with, but Scripture does not support this view. There are many, New Covenant and Old, who were saved and then fell into lawlessness to their destruction. Demus is just one example. Judas Iscariot is another. In Luke 10, we see that you cannot cast out demons if your name is not written in the book of life. However, if you sin, your name is blotted out of that book. Christ saves, but you must endure in the faith. To be a slave to righteousness is to keep the law of God with the help of Christ.

And so to properly understand the Book of Galatians, read Acts 13-15. Paul is not writing about the law of God, he’s writing about men who were telling Gentiles that they had to be circumcised in order to be saved. This is not the law of God, but rather a tradition of men that dates back to the time following Antiochus Epiphanies IV as recorded in 1 and 2 Maccabees. Following that episode, Jews insisted that anyone coming into the faith be circumcised, for that was the marker of their identity among God’s people. These Jews Paul writes about were converted Christians, and they carried this tradition with them as Gentiles were coming into the faith through the ministry of Paul. As Paul writes about, and you will see if you read Galatians carefully, the entire book is written about circumcision, and only circumcision. We are circumcised in the heart when we are saved by the grace of Christ’s sacrifice; the sin is cut out. But if we love Yeshua who saved us, we must then walk according to the righteous law. It is the Holy Spirit who helps us do this. Salvation is the first step on our journey, not the last. Once saved, the Holy Spirit sanctifies us according to God’s righteous law, and if we endure in this faith, we will be glorified with Christ on the Last Day.

I wrote a full commentary on the Book of Galatians earlier this year during an intense study. Please download this study and read it. Look at Scripture. Look at all the references. Consider that Paul cannot contradict Christ, and Paul cannot contradict God, and He doesn’t. Please do not accept the words of men, but consider the “whole counsel of God,” which I pray God has led me to cite in explanation of this very confusing book that has been grossly misused:

https://firstfruits.cc/blog/2024/06/17/2022-galatians-commentary 

Galatians 3, Galatians 4, Psalm 15

PAUL WRITES: “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”

JAMES WRITES: “But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

Do these verses contradict? The clear answer is NO!

Understand this: Galatians is 100% about this question, asked in Acts 15: “ Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’” What these Christian men were teaching new converts was FALSE, and that is the subject of Galatians. Galatians is about circumcision, and Galatians 3 must be understood in that context. Is physical circumcision required for salvation? NO! Circumcision is a sign of salvation, and we are circumcised in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

We are saved by grace alone, not by works, it is a free gift of God. There is nothing we can do to prepare for or earn this free gift. We are saved by the blood of the lamb alone! Not by circumcision. However, do you think that once you are saved you don’t have to obey God’s commandments? Don’t be foolish! Clearly we are saved by grace through faith, and faith is doing God’s commandments, not just hearing about them. The Holy Spirit helps us.

What will you be found doing when Jesus returns? Will you be found obeying God, or obeying the dictates of your own heart? God’s commandments are clear. We are expected to keep them once we are saved, lest we fall away and be considered lawless. Whether Jew or Gentile, we are one in Christ, obeying God because of our salvation, not to earn it. However, if we do not obey the one who saved us, how can we expect Him to glorify us on the Last Day? He will not glorify the disobedient, for only those who were saved and then walk in the righteousness of Christ will be told, “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the rest of Abba.” He will judge us by our works! Thus, Revelation 14:12 is a true witness of the two testimonies required to enter Heaven: The Saints endure by “keep[ing] the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”

Here is an in depth study of Galatians I wrote for you to study:
https://firstfruits.cc/blog/2024/06/17/2022-galatians-commentary 

Paul wrote in Titus 3:8-14:
“This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men. But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless. Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned. When I send Artemas to you, or Tychicus, be diligent to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. Send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey with haste, that they may lack nothing. And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful.”

In brief: Keep the commandments of God, but don’t fight over the rules for keeping them. At the same time, don’t be deceived, but obey God and not Man. Being fruitful means obeying God.

Galatians 5, Galatians 6, Psalm 16

We are not justified by the law, but by grace through Christ. Thus, by pursuing circumcision, a physical sign of the Old Covenant, we lack salvation. When Paul says, “every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law,” he means that we all fall short of God’s glory. There isn’t one of us without sin who is capable of keeping the whole law. This is why through the Holy Spirit, by faith, we wait for the hope of righteousness. Faith working through love is the key to understanding our victory in Christ, who saves us. It is by faith that we obey God, and through the key of love that we unlock the Spirit and Truth of God’s law. This is the freedom we are called to, to love our neighbors as ourself, thus fulfilling the law. This isn’t to say that the law is void, only that in Christ we are no longer subject to the penalty of violating the law, because the Spirit leads us to keep the law of God, rather than the law of sin and death that comes from the flesh.

When we find a brother or sister stumbling, we ought to correct them in a spirit of gentleness, for to not do so may lead to temptations of our own toward anger, strife or dissensions. Rather, we ought to be long-suffering as God is long-suffering, bearing each other’s burdens of the flesh, encouraging one another to follow Christ. This is not to say that our own station in Christ ought to be the same as our brother’s for we each are at our own place in our walk. We each bear our own load, also. But God is not mocked, and whatever a man sows, he will also reap. Thus we cannot expect glorification in Heaven if we from the flesh reap corruption, but rather we must sow to the Spirit, obeying the law of God and reaping eternal life. Paul says: “do not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” As we read in Psalm 119:39, we pray to Yeshua: “Turn away my reproach which I dread, for Your judgments are good.” Let us therefore do good to the household of God especially, exhorting one another by the Word of God.

We belong to “the Israel of God” in Christ, for the circumcision is nothing, and the uncircumcision is nothing—that is, whether we are Jew or Gentile no longer matters—, but we are a new creation in Christ. That new creation is saved by Christ, circumcised by the Holy Spirit, and led into life everlasting by obedience to the one who saved us in love.

Ephesians 1, Ephesians 2, Psalm 17

Ephesians 1 & 2 have been used by Christians for all manner of false doctrine, such as predestination and grace-only antinomianism, among others, but the Truth of them is elegant and quite simple. In fact, I use Ephesians 1 & 2 more than most New Testament sections to teach the Truth of Christian Doctrine, because it is all here.

Here are the summaries of this Truth from Chapter 1:
God predestined all men to be saved, as if we are adopted as sons, through the death and resurrection of Yeshua. We read: “according to the kind intention of His will.” It is God’s will for us to be saved by Christ, but is up to us in our own free will to accept this gift. God does not pick and choose which one of us will be saved; we all have the opportunity through the predestined visitation, death and resurrection of our Lord, to choose to accept the gift of salvation.
“In Yeshua we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.” This is the whole of the Christian faith and the basis for the doctrine of grace. We are all sinners. Every one of us. And the punishment for sin is death. If we are under the law, we are destined to die. However, on account of Christ’s blood that was shed, He freed us from the punishment of death for our sins, and thus we have been forgiven from the sins that the law articulates and are no longer “under the law.”
In Christ we have a promised inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven, and this Kingdom was also predestined and prepared for those who trust in Christ and do the will of God. It was not predestined for one person and not another, but it was predestined for all who believe and obey the Lord.
The Holy Spirit of promise, which is received by those of us who trust in Yeshua, is a seal, or a sign—“a pledge of our inheritance.” Receipt of the Holy Spirit is in fact “the circumcision made without hands” (Col. 2:10-11). We know that physical circumcision was the “seal” or “sign” of the Old Covenant, and we now know that receipt of the Holy Spirit and circumcision of the heart is the “seal” or “sign” of the New Covenant becoming alive in each of us.
He has made “the mystery of His will” known to those of us who believe, so that we can fully understand His Scripture, Old Testament and New Testament, by the power of His Holy Spirit, in Christ. God gives us “a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him” through His Spirit, which enlightens “the eyes of your heart” so you know the hope of His calling, which is trust in His promises, and experience His power, all well knowing that Yeshua HaMashiach rules today and He will rule forever as King of kings and Lord of lords.

Here are the summaries of this Truth from Chapter 2:
Before we were saved, we walked according to the flesh, and were “dead in your [our] trespasses and sins.” We belonged to Satan, “the prince of the power of the air,” and did the works of Satan, “indulging in the desires of the flesh and of the mind.” He still works in “the sons of disobedience,” or those who “practice lawlessness,” as Yeshua says in Matthew 7, and these are the “children of wrath.” They will be destroyed on the Last Day.
Because God loves us whom He created to be with Him, He mercifully made us alive together with Christ through the gift of grace through faith, a gift we must accept. This was the act of Yeshua’s sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. It wasn’t anything we did or said that saved us from our death sentence, but only by our belief alone in Christ through this grace. As we read in Romans 10:9: “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” This salvation wiped our sins clean, “though they were as scarlet, they have become as white as snow.” (Isaiah 1:18)
In Christ, we become a new creation, the man that God intended for us to be, the ideal you that God prepared beforehand. This isn’t involuntary, but we must volunteer to do the good works of the law that God put into place for our good, and He will help us do it (John 14:15-18). This is not the letter of the law that we follow, but the Spirit of the law, and the Holy Spirit helps us to keep it using the key of love to unlock its full meaning.
As Gentiles, we were previously called “the uncircumcision” by the Jews, those called the “circumcision,” on account of the flesh of our foreskin. This was the sign of the Old Covenant between Israel and God. This was “performed in the flesh by human hands,” and at that time, we were separate from God and excluded from Israel unless we subjected ourselves to this ceremonial act. We had no hope in the promises of God and were as good as dead.
As Gentiles in Christ, we have been grafted-in to Israel by His blood, and He is our peace who made both Jews and Gentiles who believe in Christ into one group and broke down any physical barriers that separated us from one another. Gentiles are “no longer strangers and aliens,” but now “fellow citizens with the saints” and members “of God’s household.” We are grafted-in to Israel (Romans 11). Christ has abolished the enmity between Jews and Gentiles, so that now the separation only exists between those who do believe and those who do not believe. The “law of commandments contained in ordinances” is now reinterpreted in this way, according to the Spirit of Truth. And the promises of God belong today ONLY to those who believe. Through Christ we have access in one Spirit to the Father, and all believers, whether Jew or Greek, are being built by Christ into His Holy Temple wherein God’s Holy Spirit can dwell forever.

Ephesians 3, Ephesians 4, Psalm 18

In Ephesians 3, Paul continues to talk about the mystery of Gentiles being grafted-in to Israel through Christ; Gentiles are now “fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ”—they are fellow heirs with the Jews. He prays that Abba strengthens our “inner man” by the power of His Holy Spirit, so that Christ can dwell within us through faith grounded in love, so we may be able to comprehend with all the saints “the breadth and length and height and depth” of the knowledge of God found in the Tanakh (Old Testament), but more than this, also the love of Christ that surpasses this knowledge, so we may be filled up in God.

In Ephesians 4, Paul turns toward exhorting Gentiles to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,” and then He lists fruit of the Holy Spirit. These attributes are interpreted in Spirit and Truth from the commandments of God, and obedience to these commandments through faith is the worthy manner Paul is referring to. We are grafted-in to Israel to be part of a holy priesthood and kings in Christ’s kingdom, and so we must learn the rules. To make this clear, he writes: “walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart.” He couldn’t be more clear. He refers to ignorance of the law of God; he refers to the hardness of heart that comes from not obeying that law of God. The life of God is the life that abides “in the likeness of God” which “has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” Ps. 119:142 reads: “Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
and Your law is truth.”

As a reworded Romans 7-8, Paul explains that in the Holy Spirit of Yeshua, we have the power to “lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and …be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self,” which is in the likeness of God. In other words, we are to follow Christ, as He asked us to do, and fulfill the law as He did, now with the help of His Holy Spirit. We are to throw off our old customs, habits, traditions, holidays, mannerism and way of life and take on a new life in the “one body and one Spirit” that is the body of Christ. We ought to listen to those called as apostles (the writers of New Testament Scripture), prophets (those who interpret Scripture with the Holy Spirit of God), evangelists (those who spread the Gospel to new places), and pastors and teachers (those who lead the local community of believers) so that we can be fully edified in the unity of the faith, the knowledge of Christ and become mature men and women of God who fully understand and appreciate the “elementary principles of the faith” described in Hebrews 6:1-4 and move on to more solid food in the law of God.

This structure that Christ set up, and Paul describes, helps us to no longer be tossed here and there by waves of doctrine, especially those doctrines that might be carryovers of our former paganism, but rather to have one doctrine, one unity in Christ, who is the head of the body that He is building, and that is the doctrine defined by Scripture, the Word of God. We are to “speak truth” with our neighbors, and we know that the “law is truth.” Paul finishes the chapter exploring some of the commandments of God; namely, “be angry and yet do not sin,” which is the commandment “do not murder” according to Yeshua’s explanation of it in Matthew 5. He says no longer steal, but work for what you need, but more importantly work so you have abundance to share with those who need help. He says not to bear false witness, but let your words be used for edification to bring grace and peace to those who hear. This is the Spirit and Truth of the law, interpreted with Love. We must be careful not to “grieve the Holy Spirit” through sin, and forgive one another as Christ forgave us.

Ephesians 5, Ephesians 6, Psalm 19

When Yeshua said, “follow me,” He meant to do everything that He did, in every way, including how He perfectly followed the law, interpreting it with the key of understanding, which is love. Paul exhorts us to do the same here: ”Be imitators of God,” who is Yeshua Ha-Mashiach, as beloved children, and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us.”

Paul elaborates on this next, noting that we cannot be impure. God articulates what makes us unclean all throughout the Old Testament, from eating unclean foods to doing unclean acts, such as the sexual immorality that is comprehensively described. In typical Hebraic writing fashion, Paul then summarizes various aspects of the law that we ought to abide by. The Ephesians must have been struggling with these things.

Paul makes it clear here “that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” So, in chapter 2, Paul made it clear we are saved by faith and not by works, but then he spoke about walking in the law that was prepared beforehand. This is sanctification, assisted by the Holy Spirit. Here in Ephesians 5, Paul makes it clear that we cannot be glorified with Christ and join Him in His kingdom unless we do the same works that Christ did. This is the very definition of faith. In other words, faith is to obey God’s commandments as interpreted through the prism of love from the very root of your heart, mind, soul and actions, with the help of God’s Holy Spirit that dwells in you who were saved. CONSIDER this warning: “LET NO ONE DECEIVE YOU WITH EMPTY WORDS, FOR BECAUSE OF THESE THINGS THE WRATH OF GOD COMES UPON THE SONS OF DISOBEDIENCE.” Yes, we must keep the law, in spirit and truth, or we will not make it into the Kingdom of Heaven. Don’t let anyone deceive you.

Paul would not provide us with this warning if our salvation could not be lost: “Do not be partakers with them [these sons of disobedience]; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of the Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.” What is pleasing to the Lord? Paul answers later in His letter: “not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.” (Eph. 6:6). 1 John 3:32 makes it even more clear that “whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.” (1 John 3:22). Keeping the commandments is what pleases the Lord, but not just outwardly, but also inwardly from the very core of our being. We must desire to keep them and strive to keep them, because we love our God.

Continuing, Paul says, “do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them.” What are unfruitful deeds of darkness other than violations of the laws of God? These things are exposed by the light of Christ. Paul exhorts us: “Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” “Be careful how you walk.” What path are you on? The narrow path to the Kingdom of God, or the wide road to destruction? “Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of God is.” How do we do this? We read the law of God and interpret it in Spirit and Truth, with the key of love. Our minds ought to be focused on God always, speaking to one another and singing always with psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, always giving thanks to God for all things, good or bad, because “God uses all things for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.”

As Christians, we all ought to be subject to one another, wife to husband, husband to wife, son to father, father to son, neighbor to neighbor, pastor to congregation, congregation to pastor, employee to employer, employer to employee, for Christ is the head of the Church and we are all subject to Him. By no means does this negate leadership roles that God has given, but puts them into the perspective of Christ’s love.

Paul quotes a commandment directly at the beginning of Chapter 6, even saying that honoring your father and mother is the first commandment with a promise. But he doesn’t leave it there, he shows the dual-directional nature of our station in the Church under Christ, warning us fathers not to provoke our children to anger, but rather bring them up in discipline with love so that they relish the instruction of the Lord. Even slaves ought to serve their masters for Christ’s sake, so that His will might be accomplished.

We ought to serve God first, doing everything for Him, knowing that other men or women are not our enemies, but our enemy works through them to get to us for our destruction. We are in a war for our eternal lives, and it is possible for us to lose, but God will help us win. It is “the armor of God” that helps us persevere in our salvation; that helps us “resist in the evil day … to stand firm” in the faith we’ve been called to. We need the Truth of Scripture, the law of God. We need to live according to God’s law, because that is righteousness. We need to spread the Gospel of repentance and forgiveness of sins through Christ, for that will bring peace to those who heed the call. Our faith will shield us from the enemy’s attacks, for walking according to God’s commandments and believing in His promises will help us endure. Our salvation protects our mind from both deception and rebellion. Everywhere we go, we ought to live by “the whole counsel of God,” the Word as interpreted by the Holy Spirit in us through the prism of love. Prayer and petition for ourselves and one another will equip us with the power of God so that we can persevere until Yeshua returns for us.

Philippians 1, Philippians 2, Psalm 20

Paul, writing from prison, rejoices in the persecution because it has resulted in the spread of the Gospel. He notes: “to live is to live for Christ and to die is gain.” Every moment of every day has to do with spreading the Gospel and doing more for the kingdom of God, and if that ends, He will awake with Christ on the Last Day, and it will be better. I feel the same way.

In the magnificent second chapter, Paul tells us to take on the same mindset of Christ, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose: to spread the Gospel, and to live the Gospel, putting others before ourselves, without grumbling or complaining, but only rejoicing.

He then proceeds to explain both the humility and the deity of Christ, that God Himself had emptied Himself of His Godly power and became one of us to die for our sins, but then He was risen back up to His previous station as one-in-being with the Father so that on the Last Day “every tongue will confess that “Yeshua HaMashiach is Yahweh to the glory of Elohim.” Through Him, and obedience to His will, we will be there on that Day giving all glory and honor and praise to God Most High.

Philippians 3, Philippians 4, Psalm 21

Paul warns us again to be aware of those claiming any physical requirement is needed for salvation, because it is not. We ought not be led astray by those who violate the law, though, either; those “evil workers.” We are not made righteous by the law, he continues, but through Christ alone. At the same time, we have not yet become perfect in Christ, and thus must press on “so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.” There is an upward call of Jesus Christ, to follow Him in the way He walked according to the law; not by the letter, but by the Spirit. We ought to “keep living by that same standard to which which we have attained.” That standard is forgiveness for sins in Christ, upon repentance, which leaves us blameless in the eyes of the Lord. We ought to keep this standard in Christ by allowing the Spirit to write the law on our hearts so we can walk in it according to love.

No matter what our circumstances, we ought to rejoice, for we are saved in Christ and our we await His return in His glory. In Christ, we ought to be satisfied and thankful for everything we have, asking only for the Lord’s will to be done. Any hangup or difficulty in life is for our refinement as Christians, and so we ought to be thankful for that, also. The peace of God will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Yeshua. As we go throughout our days, we ought to think about and talk about things that are true (the Scripture), honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent or worthy of praise. In Christ, we can do all things according to God’s will when we are called according to His purpose.

Colossians 1, Colossians 2, Psalm 22, Colossians 3, Colossians 4, Psalm 23

https://firstfruits.cc/blog/2024/06/17/2022-colossians-commentary 

1 Thessalonians 1, 1 Thessalonians 2, Psalm 24

The Great Commission of Yeshua is to go and make disciples of all men from all ethnicities and baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit of God, and teach them the commandments of God. Paul writes that his “glory, hope, joy and crown of exultation” is the people he has brought to follow Christ being there on the Last Day in the Resurrection of the Dead when Yeshua returns. Those in Thessalonica even put off idols to serve the true and living God. If only we could convince men and women to do the same today. This puts things into perspective as to what we truly should be concentrating on as Christians. Paul said two times that we ought to be imitators of the Lord and those whom He sent, imitators of the churches of God in Yeshua that are in Judea, for to follow Christ is what it means to be a Christian. We must obey God as He did and love one another as He loved us, teaching the Gospel to please God, who examines our hearts, and not other men. Lastly, we ought to endure suffering and persecution for Christ, for this suffering is nothing compared with the glory that is to come.

1 Thessalonians 3, 1 Thessalonians 4, Psalm 25

Paul continues in chapter 3 to explain that as Christians we ought to expect persecution and suffering, and therefore we must encourage one another to endure through it. Rather than respond in bitterness, we ought to respond with love toward one another, and toward ALL people, so that our hearts can be established as blameless and holy when the Lord comes.

In chapter 4 Paul explains that we also ought to obey the commandments of God for our sanctification by the Holy Spirit, and he specifically mentions keeping our body, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit, clean from sexual immorality and any other impurities, but also that we do not transgress or defraud our neighbors, for God will judge us for our works.

In the last section, Paul says to encourage one another to endure in the faith with the Truth concerning the Resurrection of the Dead. When Messiah Yeshua returns, the dead in Christ shall be raised and those of us who remain alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord, and we will from that point forever be with the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 5, Psalm 26

1 Thessalonians 5 requires some serious exegesis and prophetic interpretation. Let’s start with Jeremiah 6:10-15, where we read:

“To whom shall I speak and give warning,
That they may hear?
Indeed their ear is uncircumcised,
And they cannot give heed.
Behold, the word of the Lord is a reproach to them;
They have no delight in it.
Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord.
I am weary of holding it in.
“I will pour it out on the children outside,
And on the assembly of young men together;
For even the husband shall be taken with the wife,
The aged with him who is full of days.
And their houses shall be turned over to others,
Fields and wives together;
For I will stretch out My hand
Against the inhabitants of the land,” says the Lord.
“Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them,
Everyone is given to covetousness;
And from the prophet even to the priest,
Everyone deals falsely.
They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’
When there is no peace.
Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?
No! They were not at all ashamed;
Nor did they know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
At the time I punish them,
They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.”

This describes what we are witnessing in the World today like no time in American history, but it’s certainly not the first time in world history. Israel and Judah were like this right before they were utterly destroyed and survivors were carried away into captivity. That was a prophetic template, and Paul writes to the Thessalonians that this is what the time of the End will be like also. I believe that time is right now, and we are presently living in the time right before the total destruction of the World and the Flesh, and the return of our Lord. To pair up with this ancient prophesy from Jeremiah, look at what Paul writes:

“Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.”

The vaccine itself was promoted for peace and safety. The lockdowns were promoted for peace and safety. The new vaccine passports are going to be promoted using peace and safety. And preachers will get on board worldwide and join the government in promoting it, because “the Word of the Lord is a reproach to them; they have no delight in it.” Their “ears are uncircumcised,” meaning that they do not want to hear from those who speak God’s Truth from Scripture. This is a longstanding prophesy that applies here. Jeremiah writes, “from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely.” Not only do they not want to hear from Scripture, but when they do read Scripture, they intentionally misinterpret it to suit their own desires and skip over the parts they don’t like. This is the sign of a prophet, priest or parishioner who “deals falsely.”

Isaiah 30:8-11 gives us more insight about this phenomenon. The Lord says to the prophet: “Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and note it on a scroll, that it may be for time to come, forever and ever: That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear the law of the Lord; who say to the seers, “Do not see,” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things;
Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits. Get out of the way, Turn aside from the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.” Beware, for this describes many Christians today who follow the false teachings of John Calvin, which stems from the teachings of Marcion in the 2nd Century, as well as some others who were contemporaries of his or proceeded him with variations of his heresy. Justin Martyr comes to mind as another, or Pope Gregory. Even Martin Luther in his later years. We must follow the law of God, and not the law of men. The commandments of God, and not the traditions of the elders.

Ezekiel 13:3-14 is quite clearly a parallel section of Scripture to everything covered so far: “Thus says the Lord God: ‘Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! … They have envisioned futility and false divination, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord!’ But the Lord has not sent them; yet they hope that the word may be confirmed. Have you not seen a futile vision, and have you not spoken false divination? You say, ‘The Lord says,’ but I have not spoken.’ Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you,” says the Lord God. ‘My hand will be against the prophets who envision futility and who divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of My people, nor be written in the record of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord God. Because, indeed, because they have seduced My people, saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace … So I will break down the wall you have plastered with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be uncovered; it will fall, and you shall be consumed in the midst of it. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.’”

Paul references these prophets and their writing here. Note this important verse again: “While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.” Consider Yeshua’s words in Matthew 24:4-13: “And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will mislead many people. And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. But all these things are merely THE BEGINNING OF BIRTH PAINS. Then they will hand you over to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. And at that time many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will rise up and mislead many people. And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will become cold. But the one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved.”

Paul says the same thing: “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day.” Because we are in Christ, if we are in Christ, we can endure through the persecution and death that is coming upon the world today. “God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep [meaning dead], we will live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.” There is no other way to live than as God has described throughout Scripture. We are either with Him or against Him, we are either showing our love for Him with our obedience and following Him and His commandments, or we are following the traditions of men and the ways of the World unto destruction. Yeshua told us to “watch!” This is the time to be on the alert, to be found doing the works that He commanded us to do, in faith, by the power of the Holy Spirit, as interpreted through the prism of love.

We ought to follow true men of God who are preaching the Truth, such as Pastor Daniel Joseph—I pray to God that I am doing the same—and abandon the false teachers and prophets who prophesy “peace and safety,” because they do so to their own destruction and destruction to those who follow them, also. “The blind leading the blind” will lead them right off the cliff to condemnation. Paul instructs us: “admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” Do not repay evil with evil, but “seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.” He continues: “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.” What better instruction do we have for what to do during these Last Days? This is it right here. Pray!

2 Thessalonians 1, 2 Thessalonians 2, 2 Thessalonians 3, Psalm 27

When we persevere in our faith amidst persecution and affliction, this becomes “a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment” so that we “will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God.” Those who afflict us will be judged, and in fact, they will suffer “eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.” But those of us who endure and trust in the Lord will have “relief” when the Lord Yeshua is revealed in Heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, and He will be glorified as we stand by and marvel and worship Him among all who have believed.

As we await this day, we ought to be careful not to be deceived, especially that we somehow have missed the time of His coming. I believe this is a direct warning against the pre-tribulation rapture theory, which I believe is false doctrine. The day will not come, Paul says, until Christians fall away from the faith in great number, and then a man of lawlessness is revealed, one who opposes God’s law and exalts Himself above every so-called god or object of worship, and he himself will call himself God of the whole world, for that is what he will be. This day is soon coming, as we are seeing Christians fall away from God’s law and faith in Jesus like never before in the whole history of Christianity as we speak, and religious leaders everywhere are promoting antinomianism. The only thing left is for one of them to claim to be the ruler over the humanistic religion that is growing in strength and to claim the throne of God for himself. The temple, as we know, is the church, the body of believers who make up all who profess the name of Yeshua as savior. This man of lawlessness will stand up as a Christian and invoke the name of Jesus to promote godless, lawless humanism.

Don’t be deceived. This son of lawlessness will delude many Christians, so that they will believe what is false, and their pastors will have set them up for it by saying the law was done away with. These will have not believed the truth but instead will have taken pleasure in wickedness. But God has chosen us from the beginning through Yeshua HaMashiach to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the Truth. We know that God’s law is Truth, and we are washed clean by the blood of Yeshua to walk in the commandments, because we love our God who saved us. It is through Yeshua alone that we may gain the glory of our Lord, and so we must hold firm to the instruction we have received through the Scripture or through the Apostles, and through each other, as we are led by the Holy Spirit. Our prayer ought to be that the Word of the Lord spread rapidly and be glorified, and that we are rescued from the deceptions of perverse and evil men.

Paul also commands us in the name of Jesus to avoid people who rely on others for their food and shelter. We ought not travel around begging, but rather provide for ourselves by working quietly so we are not a burden on one another. If one does not work, they should not eat. Everyone should bring a contribution to the table every Sabbath and not come empty handed. Those who don’t work become busybodies and get into the controversies of everyone else’s life, rather than the affairs of their own lives. These types must be commanded to eat their own bread, rather than to become moochers. If they don’t listen, we need to disassociate from them as brothers so they feel the shame of their own actions, always willing to welcome them back upon their repentance. Importantly, we cannot allow those who take advantage of others to spoil our desire to be generous. We can’t become weary of doing good.

1 Timothy 1, 1 Timothy 2, Psalm 28

Paul instructs Timothy quite similarly to how he instructs Titus, and I find it interesting that Paul notes in the beginning of his letter how he is an apostle of Messiah Yeshua “according to the commandment of God our Savior,” for this is all of our calling when saved by Christ to obey God and keep His commandments. He has washed us clean from sin, and He has asked us to go and sin no more, and not to keep living in sin. We must turn toward Him and walk along the narrow path.

In a similar instruction to his instruction to Titus, Paul exhorts Timothy to avoid myths and endless genealogies. We may interpret this as an admonition against determining the genealogy of Yeshua, but it isn’t. Clearly Luke and Matthew have set this straight, recording the genealogy of both Joseph and Mary. This admonition is about the followers of Jesus talking about what tribe they descend from in Israel, as if that matters. It doesn’t. Paul’s writing makes it clear that whether Jew or Greek (Gentile), we are all one in Messiah Yeshua. Our heritage is irrelevant when it comes to obtaining the promises of God, and so long as our heritage is in Christ, we are part of God’s family as adopted sons and daughters.

Paul exhorts Timothy as he goes out to teach to instruct others in love with a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith. For it is only with this mindset that we can teach the Law to others. But too many people teach the Law without understanding, without the Holy Spirit, and it is in this that they lead others astray. Paul makes it clear: “we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully.” We must interpret the law in spirit and truth through the prism of love with the help of the Holy Spirit. Ultimately, if we are in Christ and obeying His commandments, we don’t have to worry about the law, because we are living by it. Paul articulates that the law is only a concern for those who are violating it, the “lawless, rebellious, ungodly and sinners.” Don’t let that be you who disregards or rebels against the law of God, “whatever is contrary to sound teaching,” for then the punishment of the law will fall upon you. Our focus ought to be on the mercy and grace of Yeshua that has come upon us to save us from our sins so that we can walk in the way that He walked.

As Paul continues, he points out Hymenaeus and Alexander, “whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme.” For those who doubt salvation can be lost, it is critical to note sections like this where it is clear that it can. Hymenaeus and Alexander have failed to endure in the faith, but rather “have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith.” This was a faith that they once had, a faith in full assurance and a salvational faith, which they have lost. It is because faith can be lost that Paul tells us over and over again to persevere and endure in it. This is on us to do ourselves, by the power of the Holy Spirit that helps us.

As Paul continues to teach Timothy how to lead as a Pastor, He urges him to focus on entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgiving, for all men, for all kings and those who are in authority, because it is good moral fortitude and praise of Almighty God that leads to “a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” God truly “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” This is a powerful Truth that we must not forget. God predestines for every living soul that He creates to be saved. Sadly, not all men accept the free gift that He has offered through Messiah Yeshua. It is incumbent on each of us to accept and persevere in the salvation that has been offered, or we will not make it. It is for this reason that Paul instructs “men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.” We must stand together in unity in the Lord.

Paul finishes chapter 2 by noting that women should not be pastors, and they should modestly present themselves in the Holy Assembly. This is a blessing to them, since they are surrounded by a culture where women are offered as sexual objects for worship in pagan temples. Rather than seduce, they ought to quietly pray to God and receive instruction with submissiveness to Almighty God. They ought to also submit to their pastor for instruction and their husband as head of the household, so they will be preserved through the bearing of children when they continue in faith and love and holiness with self restraint.

1 Timothy 3, 1 Timothy 4, Psalm 29

The positions of pastor (overseer) and deacon have all of the same characteristics, they must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, sober-minded, gentle, peaceable, and not caught up pursuing any treasure of this world, but only the treasure in Heaven. The pastor must manage his own household well and cannot be new to the faith; his reputation among his neighbors should be good. While the Apostles served as overseers in the early Church, and then appointed more overseers over smaller regions, such as Timothy and Titus, who in turn appointed overseers for each local church “in every city,” we see in Acts 6:12, how the Apostles appointed deacons over the business of administrating alms to the local community, Stephen being among them. We read, “seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” This is the very differentiation between overseers and deacons.

The overseer may be someone who oversees several churches, or the elder who oversees one body. In Exodus 18:21-22, we read Jetrho, Moses’s Father-in-Law, give this advice to Moses: “Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. Let them judge the people at all times; and let it be that they will bring to you every major matter, but they will judge every minor matter themselves.” In the New Covenant, Yeshua Himself is the Mediator at the right hand of God, the prophet like unto Moses (Deut. 18:15), Whom we all have access to, but we still ought to submit ourselves to the governing authorities, as Paul wrote, and these pastors (overseers/governing authorities) may be over church bodies of thousands, hundreds, fifties or tens, depending on what God has called them to. The deacons are those elders who serve the pastors and help the church to function. They may fill any number of administrative role, from worship leader to the guy who keeps the books or the one who manages the website.

Paul writes out these instructions so we might now “how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.” This church ought to be protected from leaders who would become “wolves in sheep’s clothing,” as Yeshua describes them and Paul describes them elsewhere. Therefore, the doctrine of Christ’s grace must be forefront in any church, for He who was revealed in the flesh and vindicated in the Spirit and believed on in the world and taken up in glory is the only manner in which we can be saved. In these latter times following Christ’s ascension, many would leave behind the doctrines of Scripture and adhere to “deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron.”

These men Paul has written a lot about. They are the men who teach circumcision is necessary for salvation (Acts 15, Galatians), they are the men who teach that you must eat only vegetables to be saved and cannot eat clean meats (Romans 14), and some of the same so-called Christians forbid marriage among the pastors. The Essenes come to mind, as do those who followed after Marcion. Sadly, in the second century, a lot of these heretical beliefs took hold in the church like a volcanic eruption, and some Gentile Christians who hated the Jewish people worked very hard to remove everything Jewish about following Christ, a Jew, and the Sabbath fell victim to this heresy. And just like a volcanic eruption, these heresies flowed everywhere like lava and then hardened over the truth, searing mens’ conscience as with a branding iron. Many heresies of this age persist within the Church to this day.

Those with eyes to see can find the Truth in Scripture, and it is the duty of these faithful men as overseers to preach this Truth without ceasing. Paul writes: “In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following.“ Sound doctrine, according to Paul in 2 Timothy 3:15-17, is “All scripture,” which was “given by inspiration of God.” This “Scripture” can only refer to the Old Testament, because the New Testament did not exist at Paul’s writing and it certainly didn’t exist when Timothy was young, for this was before the ministry of Christ. And so we know that the Law (Torah and Prophets) “is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete” and “thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Paul writes for Timothy to discipline himself for the purpose of godliness, which is profitable for all things, and “holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” It is for the purpose of godliness that “we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers,” Paul writes. He tells Timothy: “prescribe and teach these things.” And just to be sure Timothy teaches sound doctrine, Paul writes: “give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.” He also adds “do not neglect the spiritual gift within you,” which he received through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the elders of the Church. Both are needed: the Spirit and the Truth. If Timothy listens to Paul and teaches the Law in Spirit and in Truth, Paul writes, “as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.” This is no small matter. We know from James 2: “faith without works is dead.” Pastors must teach “the whole counsel of God.”

1 Timothy 5, 1 Timothy 6, Psalm 30

Wealth and sexual attraction can take people away from the faith, as these are the foremost temptations of the flesh and of the world. We ought instead to encourage each other and behave in a godly matter toward one another, in all purity. As men, women (other than our wives) are our sisters or mothers), as women (other than our husband), men are brothers or fathers. Widows ought to be cared for in older age, but if younger than 60, Paul instructs them to remarry and bear children. Those who teach ought to be regarded with generosity, both to support them financially but also to give them honor and regard. Only with two or three witnesses ought we bring any cause against an elder. Even slaves ought to treat their masters with esteem, and masters their slaves with respect. All Christian men and women ought to love one another. The sound words of Yeshua and “the doctrine conforming to godliness,” in other words, the Torah, ought to be taught and preached.

We ought to beware of those who seek after gain in their preaching and teaching, but rather look for those who are content with what they have. Seeking after worldly wealth can bring error and death in sin, but seeking after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness is how we “fight the good fight of faith” and “take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.” Paul urges Timothy to “keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We ought to be generous with everything we have and not regard it as our own, but as belonging to God, who “richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.” Our gratitude for the overflowing gifts of God ought to be our regular mindset. These are good words of wisdom for living a Godly life.

2 Timothy 1, 2 Timothy 2, Psalm 31

Paul writes a letter of encouragement to Timothy, who must have been getting discouraged by Paul’s imprisonment, people falling away from the faith, such as Phygelus and Hermogenes, and the false teachers spreading lies, such as Hymenaeus and Philetus. The second two were teaching that the Resurrection of the Dead that occurred after the crucifixion was the final one, and Christians living at the time had missed it. That resurrection, recorded in Matthew 27:52, was simply a witness to the glory of Christ, and a witness to His resurrection, and those who were resurrected then likely died again, other than Christ, of course. Paul advises Timothy to put off his spirit of timidity and instead to use the power and love and discipline that he has in the Spirit of Christ, to go out and preach, no matter the consequences, even if it means joining Paul in prison.

Paul says a few things worthy of note in this letter:

First: “I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did.” In other words, he keeps the law of God, the Sabbath, the feasts and everything else that God commanded the Jews to do. He is blameless in his adherence to the law.

Second: “God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.” We are saved by the grace of God from all eternity through the death and resurrection of Yeshua on the cross, and this salvation is available to all who believe in God, from Adam to the End. Even Moses, David, Elijah and other faithful saints of old are saved by the blood of Christ, but now this mystery has been revealed.

Third: Paul uses three metaphors to show that we must endure in our faith, by obeying God’s commandments, lest we fall away like Phygelus and Hermongenes. 1) “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” 2) “Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules.” 3) “The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.” In other words, keep the faith, keep the commandments, and you will be rewarded.

Paul retells “a trustworthy statement,” perhaps one that he has heard from other Christians, and I think it’s worth meditating on today: “For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” Thank God for the love of Yeshua HaMashiach, our Lord and Savior. Let us ensure that we have the seal of God, for “the Lord knows who are His” and “everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.” It is essential that we keep the commandments of God, for to not do so is “wickedness.” Yeshua said, “you will know them by their fruits.” Are our fruits lawlessness, or lawfulness? Do we interpret it in “spirit and truth” through the prism of “love?” Then we ought to “flee from youthful lusts, and PURSUE righteousness, faith, love and peace,” and call on the Lord with “a PURE heart.” This is what it means to be faithful.

2 Timothy 3, 2 Timothy 4, Psalm 32

Read 2 Timothy 3 and realize that we are living in these days, and there is no mistake: “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.”

The section to focus on is this: “holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power.” First of all, what is true godliness and what is it’s power? It’s actually quite simple. It is our striving to be like Yeshua, to follow Christ by keeping God’s commandments, and to fear God more than we fear man and the persecution man will bring upon us when we obey God.

The power of godliness is described by Yeshua Himself in John 14:18-26. Here’s an excerpt through verse 18: “If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. The power of godliness is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The power of godliness is to exercise the spiritual gifts of prophesy, teaching, evangelism, healing, and the like.

Christians who reject God’s commandments but go to church have “a form of godliness, but have denied its power.” Christians who believe that God does everything and we do nothing, stemming from the Calvinist mindset, deny the power of God in them to actually do the good works that God has prepared beforehand for us to walk in. Those who don’t obey God’s commandments, especially the Sabbath, are those who deny the power of godliness and doing what God has asked us to do. Paul makes this abundantly clear as he continues: “the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with THEIR OWN DESIRES, and will turn away their ears from the Truth and will turn aside to myths.” It’s so clear. Why don’t people keep the Sabbath? Why don’t people give up the unclean meats God has said to avoid? Because of their own desires. Their own desires are more important to them than the Word of God.

And Paul is not at all ambiguous here about any of this. He tells Timothy: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” We know from James 2 that “faith without works is dead.” The works that God prepared beforehand are specified in great detail in His Torah; in the law; in the commandments. The Scripture Paul refers to here is the Torah and Prophets, for at the time of his writing, and especially when Timothy was a youth, there was no New Testament. Paul tells Timothy: “from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” Yes, the Torah is able to give us the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Yeshua. We need both faith in Yeshua, and obedience to the commandments of God to make it to Heaven.

Paul is clear on this: The men who deny the knowledge of God and the truth, those who deny godliness and its power, these are those who have a depraved mind and are rejected in regard to their faith. These men will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. The deception they are in will cloud their understanding to the point where they simply cannot see the Truth any longer. They will say, “Lord, Lord,” but Yeshua will tell them to depart from His presence on account of their “lawlessness.” Yes, keeping God’s Sabbath—not our own Sabbath—and God’s commandments—not the commandments of men—is required to inherit eternal life. Faith in Jesus is also required, but “if you say you know Jesus and do not keep God’s commandments, you are a liar and the Truth is not in you,” John has written to us.

And we know this: “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” The World doesn’t keep God’s commandments, and it is hard to do so. But “those who endure until the end will be saved,” our Lord has promised. This is why, until Yeshua returns, we must “preach the Word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.” We must be sober in all things and endure all hardship, even if it means going it alone, as Paul did. The Lord will strengthen us, as He strengthened Paul to endure in His faith even unto death. As Paul prays, I pray that the Lord rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom, to Him be the glory forever and ever.

Titus 1, Titus 2, Psalm 33

Paul left Titus in Crete to set in order the affairs of the Church there and appoint elders in every city to oversee the various bodies of believers that were meeting. These local church leaders, pastors if you will, ought to be above reproach (blameless in their obedience to God’s commandments), the husband of one wife with believing children, and to emphasize, not in sin or rebellion against God’s commandments. This person should not seek after their own desires or gain, but lead as a servant, just as Yeshua described in Matthew 23:11, “But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.” God’s will ought to be the primary focus of the ministry. In human relations, the pastor should be slow to anger, not a drunkard, and not combative in speech, but rather long-suffering and eager to teach those who are willing to learn, and hospitable all the while. The pastor should also love what is good (this point is now emphasized a third time, showing how critically important it is to keep God’s law in spirit and in truth through the prism of love).

This pastor should also be sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, and a fourth time, “holding fast the faithful word which is accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.”  This fourth iteration of the same Truth, “if you love Yeshua, keep God’s commandments” (a paraphrase of John 14:15), comes with instruction on how to deal with those who are disruptive in the Body. At the time Paul wrote, they were men who taught that you must be circumcised to be saved, a topic discussed in Acts 15 that Paul covers at length in Galatians, and also Romans. But this truth applies to any false doctrine, such as Calvinism, New Age Christianity, the paganism of the Christian tradition from Catholicism, or some of the Paul-denying or Unitarian positions of the Hebrew Roots movement, among sadly far too many others. Paul doesn’t parse words: “reprove them severely so that they may be sound in the faith.” And this ought to be something we take to heart within our own church bodies. We cannot allow wolves to set up their dinner table, or they will devour the flock.

Paul goes on to discuss “Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the Truth.” We know that Yeshua discusses this at length in Matthew 15 or Mark 7, but in short, he’s referring to those who hold the traditions of men above the commandments of God. We ought not invent new rules that are not in Scripture, or teach as doctrines the commandments of men, but hold to what God commands in His law alone. We know that God’s law is Truth (Psalm 119:142,160), and so to follow after myths and commandments of men is to fall into falsehood. Sadly, Rabbis are not the only ones who do this, but also Christian pastors and teachers who hold up men and what they’ve taught above the Word of God. The Sabbath is a prime example. There is no place in Scripture where God ever says the Sabbath is any other day than the seventh day, which is Saturday. Scripture is quite clear that we ought to keep the weekly Saturday Sabbath by doing no work, by not buying or selling, by not cooking or cleaning, and by seeking God in all things, making our fellowship with Him our pleasure. However, men have come up with hundreds of reasons to disregard the plain Word of God on account of what men have said outside of Scripture. This is what Paul warns us about here.

Speaking to Titus again, Paul once more tells him to “speak the things fitting for sound doctrine.” In other words: Do not depart from Scripture in your speech or in your manner of action. Whether old or young, male or female, slave or free, we ought to conduct ourselves according to the Word of God. Toward the end of chapter 2, he explains why: “God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.” In other words: Because you have been saved by grace and cleansed from your disobedience to the law by the blood of Christ, now we must turn away from our lives of sin and walk in the righteousness of Christ, as articulated by the commandments of God, and interpreted in spirit and truth through the prism of love.

In all of these things, Paul writes, “speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.” The word “disregard” or “despise,” depending on your translation, is Strong’s Greek 4065. In the HELPS Word study, we read about “periphronéō” that it come from two root words: from 4012 /perí, "all-around," and 5426 /phronéō, "exercising personal perspective.” Thus, the word in its proper form means think all-around by considering from all sides which results however in "over-thinking" and injecting personal bias. In short, Paul is writing that we do not practice eisegesis with the Word of God or allow anyone else to do so, but we must be careful to practice exegesis when we teach the Word of God. When we serve in the role of pastor or elder, we should not allow anyone at church to talk in circles around you and divine a different meaning than the very clear Holy Spirit led interpretation that is True. In other words, we cannot allow someone to twist our words that align with Scripture into words that do not align with Scripture. Thus, as we present the Truth of Scripture to others, we must be bold in our intent, and firm in our conviction, but we must be meek in our presentation. We cannot allow someone to take the Truth out of context, but we must gently but firmly redirect them back to the Truth. There should be no hot temper involved with it, but rather we ought to be long-suffering and patient, without compromising the Truth.

Titus 3, Philemon, Psalm 34

Paul gets into long-suffering more in chapter 3, where he advises Titus to remind parishioners to be subject to the pastors and teachers, which he calls “rulers’ and “authorities.” He’s referring to the people with these roles in the Church, because these church leaders are there to help prepare the body “for every good deed.” At the same time, it’s important that these leader not malign another person in the church, but rather be peaceable, gentle while showing every consideration for all men. Paul notes that we were all once foolish ourselves, but God saved us through Yeshua, and not on account of our deeds, but according to His mercy, and so we ought not judge others, but rather forgive them and be patient with them. As God gives us His Holy Spirit to sanctify us and convict us to live more godly lives, so too does God offer this same Holy Spirit to all who come to believe in Messiah Yeshua, and it ought to be our focus to spread this very Truth. About God’s salvational grace, we ought to speak confidently, so that those who truly believe and accept Yeshua for their salvation will be convicted by the Holy Spirit to engage in good deeds.

There are certain “foolish controversies” that don’t edify and distract us from this mission, and Paul tells Titus that pastors who engage in such controversies should not be chosen to lead. The Truth of God’s commandments are not among these “foolish controversies,” but “genealogies” definitely are. Whose blood line are you from? Do you descend from one of the tribes? It doesn’t matter! We are all one in Messiah Yeshua! To discuss for interest sake is one thing, but to make it a point of contention is a fruit of the flesh. Other topics that don’t edify and have nothing to do with salvation and sanctification in the Lord Yeshua should also be excluded, if they cause strife or disputes, and pastors ought to have discernment to know when such things begin to cause problems.

Even the law itself should not cause controversy, and if one brother disagrees to the point of strife on whether to wear a tattoo or not, for instance, or whether to shave the corners of their beard or not, let that be between them and God. Even when it comes to the weightier matters of the law, such as the Sabbath, we must be careful not to turn off a brother from the faith on account of our own understanding, and we must be careful to teach with gentility and patience on these topics. There are commandments of God that are clear about this, and pastors should point to them and share them with the weaker brothers and sisters, but pastors must be careful to exhort and encourage with long-suffering, rather than cause strife or dispute that erupts into a wider disagreement over these things. If there is any pastor that routinely brings up controversial topics FOR THE PURPOSE OF dispute, this man ought to be rebuked and then rejected as a pastor for causing division. The church body is about edification and unity, and the pastor’s main role is to encourage this environment.

When Paul writes to Philemon, he asks the man to release his friend Onesimus from slavery and treat him as a brother in Christ instead. He does this with such gentleness I might not see it there if I read the book quickly. The request is firm in its intent, but also gentle enough to allow Philemon to come to his own conviction in the Holy Spirit. It seems Paul also very softly asks Philemon to allow Onesimus to return to minister to Paul in prison, rather than remain with him. The best verse is this, and it’s one that I think I’m going to keep around for when it’s needed: “Having confidence in your obedience [to God], I write to you, since I know that you will do even more than what I say.” If you know a brother is truly in the Lord, simply calling the Word of God to their attention should be more than enough to bring about a right response that is more abundant than if you had asked them to do something directly.

Hebrews 1, Hebrews 2, Psalm 35

Paul spends two chapters differentiating Yeshua from the angels whom God had sent to work with the prophets. Yeshua, who is “heir of all things,” who “made the world” lowered Himself to the station of man, even below the angels, so that He could live like one of us, but without sin. And yet upon His death, which was a final propitiation for the sins of all who believe in Him, He rose into eternal life as the First Born of all Creation into a New Heaven and New Earth that is yet to come for everyone else, and yet by so doing He also reclaimed His proper station at the Right Hand of the Throne of God as our Intercessor, our High Priest, because He is the Visible God who interacts with us and calls us to follow Him Home. It is because of what Yeshua has done for us that we need to pay close attention to what He did for us—salvation by grace—and what He taught us—the commandments of God—, so that we don’t drift away. The writer asks, “how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” We won’t. It’s impossible if we deny Christ OR what He taught to enter the Kingdom of God. Only the children of Abraham, those “who do the works of Abraham”—faith unto good works—will inherit the Kingdom of God.

Hebrews 3, Hebrews 4, Psalm 36

Both in the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, there remains blessings and curses; blessings for obedience and faith, curses for lacking in one or both of these requirements. The Old Covenant had Moses as a mediator and Aaron as High Priest, while the new has Yeshua as both Mediator and High Priest. The people in Sinai, other than a handful, lacked faith in God, and thus they did not enter the promised rest of God; neither temporally or spiritually. We have the promise of rest through Messiah Yeshua, and if we remain obedient to God’s commandments, we will enter His rest, which is the Kingdom of God. However, there is a clear commandment of God to keep the seventh day Sabbath, and the writer of Hebrews instructs us to keep it, also, for it is a rehearsal dinner for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. …

… The writer makes this clear: “There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.” He’s referring to the Kingdom of God, yes, but he’s also referring to the weekly Saturday Sabbath. See the next verse: “For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.” This couldn’t be more clear. Look at the story of Exodus. What exactly did the people in the wilderness disobey over and over again? It was the commandment to keep the Sabbath. God takes this VERY seriously, and to disobey God’s commandment in this manner is a matter of rebellion against Jesus Christ. For Christ has said, “if you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” Christ, who created the Heavens and the Earth and everything in them, rested on the Seventh Day, and He has commanded us to do the same. …

… The very next verse is this: “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Why does one rebel against the Sabbath? Because he or she rebels against God and His commandments. It is a dividing line between the sheep and the goats, the faithful and those who doubt. God’s Word testifies to the Truth in this matter. The way one treats the Sabbath is the same way one treats God’s promise of everlasting life, for the Kingdom of God MUST come first before all else, and how we treat the Sabbath reveals our heart of obedience or disobedience toward God. God will not reward the lawless and rebellious, but will condemn them on the Last Day. …

… Therefore God gave us six days to work and prepare ourselves for the Saturday Shabbat that is set aside as a day to throw off the curse and inherit the blessing, and the blessing is to have a full day set aside to worship and offer thanksgiving to Yeshua on account of the grace by which He has saved us. The writer makes clear: “let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” This is what the Sabbath is about. To not keep Sabbath is to reject Christ.

Hebrews 5, Hebrews 6, Psalm 37

Having just told us that we have permanent access to our High Priest Yeshua at the “throne of grace”—a free gift of salvation we cannot earn, so long as we “hold fast our confession,”— Paul continues in chapter 5 by comparing the weakness of the Old Covenant priestly order with the New Covenant eternal High Priest. Both High Priests, the men who died and the Son who lives forever, offered sacrifices for sin, but on account of Yeshua’s perfect obedience to God unto death on a cross, “He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek.” Take special note that the writer is clear to point out that this salvation is only afforded to “those who obey Him.” Sadly, in the same way as the people the writer addresses, many today have “become dull of hearing,” needing “milk and not solid food;” they are literal infants in the faith.

Why do believers in Jesus need “milk” rather than solid food? The writer explains: “For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.” What is “the word of righteousness?” It is the commandments of God found throughout the Torah, interpreted by the prophets and revealed in their spiritual true meaning through the New Testament. Those who know and keep God’s commandments eat “solid food.” This food “is for the mature, who because of PRACTICE have their senses trained to discern good and evil.” I don’t understand how people don’t see this plain writing for what it is. It is almost like a veil covers the understanding of those who claim to be in Christ, but are not. We PRACTICE by reading the law of God, understanding it through His Spirit, and keeping it, up to and including the weekly Saturday Sabbath. By doing this, we can discern between good and evil. Those who obey God are helped by God’s Holy Spirit to obey Him all the more; so says Jesus in John 14.

But those who are weak in their faith, who are still drinking the “milk of the word,” are at risk of losing their salvation. What is the milk of the word? The writer tells us about this “elementary teaching:” “repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about baptism and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.” In other words, the milk is: 1) Salvation by grace via repentance in Christ’s blood; 2) faith toward God and His promises through Christ by doing the works God has commanded (One and two are analogous to Revelation 14:12 and Ephesians 2:8-10); 3) purposeful adult baptism in water and receipt of the Holy Spirit (baptism by fire) are required (this is being born again); 4) all of the dead (and those who are living) are resurrected on the Last Day when Christ returns; and 5) everyone who ever lived will be judged by God on the Last Day, some will be sent to everlasting damnation, and others to everlasting life in the Kingdom of God.

The writer wants us to move past these basic principles of the faith. But those who don’t risk the judgment. Those who received salvational grace in Jesus Christ and received His Holy Spirit, and have seen the power of God work in their lives, but then reject God’s commandments and live in lawlessness will not make it into Heaven. We cannot crucify Christ again and again, but we must turn from our sin in repentance and sin no more. For those who are in Christ at the time of this letter, the writer has hope for them, but he calls them to “the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end.” They need to obey God, as Jesus did. The writer is concerned they will “be sluggish,” which may result in the falling away. Those who are “imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” have a hope and “anchor of the soul” that is “sure and steadfast,” because they do exactly what Jesus did and obey what God has commanded to His people. This is true faith.

Hebrews 7, Hebrews 8, Psalm 38

The Old Covenant (NOT the law) has been annulled, and the writer of Hebrews explains that the New Covenant has replaced it, changing the way we interpret and act on the law. Understand the context around the singular verses most concentrate on; for it is paramount. Instead of a High Priest that dies and gets replaced by another, there is now a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek who lives forever who is greater than the former. Rather than intercede for sin in the Tabernacle of the wilderness or the Temple in Jerusalem, He now sits in the Tabernacle of God in Heaven and redeems us from sin forever. While Moses was a man, a mediator between God and man, he too was imperfect and could not bring Israel into the Promised Land. He also died in the wilderness. In the New Covenant we have Yeshua, who sits at the right hand of God in Heaven and lives forever interceding for man; He will come again to bring all who trust in Him and keep God’s commandments into the Kingdom of God forever.

In the Old Covenant the law was written on tablets of stone and were interpreted by the letter, rather than in spirit and truth. Men obeyed the law out of a sense of obligation, but their hearts were not in it nor did they fully understand it. Without the Holy Spirit dwelling in most of them, they could not even understand the true meaning of the law, and it served as a tool of condemnation without a permanent remedy. This is not to say that the Holy Spirit did not dwell in some, for without this we would have no knowledge of God, no prophesy of Yeshua, and no promise of a kingdom to come. In the New Covenant, the law of God is written on our hearts, which is far more strict than the former covenant, but it is the same law. Now that we have the blessing of Yeshua dwelling within those of us who believe and trust in His sacrifice for our sins, we have no excuse if we do not keep the law out of a complete and total desire to please Him. We obey because we love Him, and now there is absolutely no excuse for disobedience or rebellion against the law.

The Old Covenant is obsolete, and the New Covenant not only calls us to follow Yeshua in every single way, up to and including perfect obedience to the law, but also to follow Him into death, even death on a cross if that is where our faith leads us. Our duty is to love God first, which means that we must obey His commandments out of a deep desire in our hearts, and not by the letter, but in spirit and truth. If we obey God in every way, we show that we love Him and this necessarily leads us into a true and authentic love for one another. Some emphasize love toward one another above love toward God, and this is a grevious mistake that leads to error and sin, and sin leads to death. We show more love to one another when we love God first, and we love God first by obeying His commandments. When we obey God’s commandments, we love Christ and we love one another. And the Holy Spirit dwells within us to help us. This is a far superior way to a blind obedience without any knowledge of God.

Hebrews 9, Hebrews 10, Psalm 39

Two preliminary considerations ought to be explored before today’s analysis. 1) Hebrews 7-10 shows us that there are two covenants, and yet an eternal law. Here is how the law’s application changed between the Old and the New Covenants: Old: High Priest is Aaron and his descendants; New: High Priest is Yeshua. Old: Mediator is Moses (Moses’s seat in the synagogue); New: The Mediator is Yeshua. Old: The law is written on tablets of stone, enforced according to the letter; New: The law is written on our hearts and interpreted by the Holy Spirit in Truth (according to Scripture). Old: There are bulls and goats, etc., sacrificed for sin; New: Yeshua is our one-time sacrifice for sin. Old: The Tabernacle/Temple is a place that we can visit;  New: The Tabernacle is in Heaven and the Temple is the Body of believers. 2) Read 2 Corinthians 3 again. It explains in detail how when you have the Holy Spirit of Yeshua dwelling within you, you can understand the meaning of the Old Testament Scripture. Without the Holy Spirit of Yeshua, one cannot understand it. In John 14, Yeshua explains that we must have an obedient heart to receive the Holy Spirit.

And so as we get into Hebrews 9, we see that the writer emphasizes the Day of Atonement as an example of how the application of the covenants has changed. Nowhere does he say the Day of Atonement is done away with, and nor does God say this, for God has called it a Holy Convocation Day forever in all your generations. If the writer of Hebrews had said that the Day of Atonement, or any other law, had been anulled, we would need to throw out the text, for no one can speak for God but God Himself. And God said that not one jot or tittle of the law would be done away with until Heaven and Earth pass away. Does this writer contradict God? God forbid!

In the Old Covenant, we see that the Day of Atonement had many ceremonies, complete with implements like the lampstand and the table and sacred bread. These things were copies of what was in Heaven, for in the New Covenant the lampstand is the seven churches written about in Revelation, the table holds our offering before God and the sacred bread represents Israel here; because we are grafted-in to Israel through Christ, we now offer our lives as a living sacrifice. In the Most Holy Place, we see in the Old Covenant a golden ark of incense, the ark of the covenant and the tablets of stone, the cherubim, the mercy seat, and Aaron’s rod that budded, but in Heaven, in the New Covenant, the veil no longer covers the throne room and we see the prayers of the saints as incense that rises to Heaven, the throne of God itself, and Yeshua sitting on the throne of Heaven in the mercy seat, for He is the unleavened bread that was sacrificed, the manna from heaven who returned to heaven, the unblemished lamb who was slain, who sat down on the mercy seat leaving behind a trail of His own blood, and He is the rod that budded, who rose from the dead into new life to be the first born of the new creation (1 Corinthians 15).

We see how in the Old Covenant the priests entered the tabernacle and the holy place, but could not enter the Most Holy Place, the Holy of Holies, and only the High Priest could do so, but not before offering blood. But now Christ has appeared as a High Priest and entered through the “greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands,” and “through His own blood, He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” Why would we not obey God and keep the Day of Atonement celebrating this day in Spirit and Truth for what it really is? Only because of deception and the devil’s intent to to steal away the Truth, both killing and destroying the people of God. “How much more will the blood of Christ … cleanse your conscience from dead works [sin] to serve the living God?” It is because as High Priest Jesus offered His own blood to enter the Holy of holies in Heaven that we now have Him as our mediator of the New Covenant, so that we who are called can receive “the promise of the eternal inheritance.”

You’ll notice that it is “according to the law” that “all things are cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” This law is eternal, just like all of the law, but now the law has been applied in a better way. It is Christ’s blood that heals us now. Both covenants were established by blood, both testaments by the death of the testator, but the new covenant is superior in every way, because it is eternal and real; it is a direct relationship between the God who made the Heavens and the Earth and everything in it and you and me. The Old Covenant did not provide for this relationship, except for a select few who devoted their lives to God, and thus the earthly copies of the Heavenly reality were needed to point the people to the time that was to come. For those who saw through the veil, they were invited to take part by looking forward to the time of Christ. Now, all flesh has an opportunity to be in this direct relationship with God. But, and this is a major caveat, all flesh is not going to accept this opportunity for salvation, for it is a free will choice made by people who truly understand the Scripture’s meaning of a “free will offering.”

There are denominations of Christians today who go through the motions of sacrificing Christ on the altar every week, but this is an abomination. We read: “For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” Yeshua Himself told us to keep the Passover Seder in memory of Him, and it is clear in the Seder dinner’s third offering is a memorial to His death on the cross, wherein He poured out His blood to establish the New Covenant. Why would we not DO THIS, in memory of Him, like He commanded us to do? Communion is an annual memorial at Passover for all of those saints who are a part of the Israel of God, whether a natural branch or grafted-in.

We read next: “inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.” In this, we see that Christ has died once for our sins, and He doesn’t die another time. The next time He comes, He will come to judge the living and the dead. Because of this, it is incumbent on us to both “keep the commandments of God” and “the faith of Jesus” in this life, and to endure in this way of life from the moment we first believe until we die, or until He comes and changes us, because it is appointed for us to die on account of sin. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23). We must follow Christ in every way.

When we move on into Chapter 10, we see that the “law is a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things.” First, recognize that a shadow is an image of a real things that stands behind it in the light of the sun, and second, note the context that the writer is speaking about: “the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year.” It is these sacrifices alone that were a shadow of the good things to come. We see that “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” These sacrifices were a shadow of the good things to come. Quoting Psalm 39 in the Septuagint (Psalm 40 in the Masoretic text), we see the writer connect Yeshua to this saying:“Sacrifice and offering You have not desired, But a body You have prepared for Me; In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure. Thus, He has taken away the first covenant to establish the second, and in the New Covenant, we read that we have a new sacrifice: “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” This is a one-time sacrifice for sin, and not a sacrifice that is conducted year-after-year; certainly not one done week after week.

Priests who once ministered by offering sacrifices that “can never take away sins” no longer have this duty in the New Covenant, because Messiah Yeshua, “having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” The writer next clarifies this Truth by pointing to its prophesy in Jeremiah 31:31, and without this prophesy and their counterparts in other parts of the Old Testament, our faith is invalid. Only God Himself can change the law, and God had announced His intent to do so here: “This is the covenant that I will make with them After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws upon their heart, And on their mind I will write them. … And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” And here, of most critical importance, is the writer’s interpretation: “Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.” Thus, whenever we read about the sacrifices of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers or Deuteronomy, we now know that Jesus is the one-time sacrifice that is made for sin, but the law that surrounds the sacrifices is still fully valid and in force.

The next part of this writing is so important to grasp, because it is the conclusion made to everything that has been discussed so far. The writer says, because “we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way,” in other words, because we have a New Covenant and we can go into God’s throne room and stand before Yeshua who is sitting on the throne on account of His sacrifice, rather than just the earthly copies of the heavenly places, because our sins (of the past) have been forgiven, we need to “hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering,” we need to “stimulate one another to love and good works,” particularly when we gather together to worship the Lord during His appointed times, the seven “holy convocations” and the “seventh day,” which is the Saturday Sabbath. This means, without any doubt, we need to encourage one another to “keep the faith of Jesus” and “keep the commandments of God.” It’s not ambiguous.

The next part is a warning for what happens if we don’t keep the faith of Jesus and the commandments of God: “if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

The Truth here is simple: Now that we have a new and better covenant, now that Christ has died for our sins, how could we fathom further disobedience to the law of God? How could we possibly rebel against His law? How could we possibly discount His Holy Convocations or not devote our whole lives to Him? If we thought death was a severe punishment for disobedience and rebellion before, now that we have Christ, the punishment is eternal damnation for violating the law in rebellion. It is BECAUSE we are saved by grace that we ought to desire with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength to obey the law of God in every way, knowing full well in what way it has been changed, because God has explained this to us in every way. If we have taken certain verses out of context and applied them incorrectly, because we have been deceived by false teachers, repent! God is long-suffering and has sent Christ to forgive us from sin. But if we sin willfully, having been taught the truth by Christ Himself, that not one jot or title of the law will ever be done away with, then there ought to be no expectation of salvation for you, and only total destruction.

Once we fully grasp the Truth of Scripture, it is important to understand that we will be persecuted in every way, even by our own family and friends. Yeshua warned us this would happen, and it has happened to me. Through this, we must endure, with love and patience, praying that our friends and family will come to full knowledge of the Truth and repent. The writer articulates that those who do not endure in the faith are at risk of falling away into destruction when He says: “do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have DONE THE WILL OF GOD, you may receive what was promised.” The opposite is also true: if we do not do the will of God, we will not receive what was promised. If we do not endure, we will not receive our inheritance. In a little while, He is coming back, and so we must live by faith, and we know full well that faith without works is dead. These works are the works of the law, as they are interpreted in spirit and truth through the prism of love. We must love God first, and love one another second, and we do this by keeping the commandments of God, with all faith that He has covered our sins, even though we don’t deserve it.

Hebrews 11, Hebrews 12, Psalm 40

I use Hebrews 11 and 12 in my sermons quite often, because this section of the letter is one of the best interpretations of the Old Testament prophets that there is in the New Testament. Understand the lessons God wants us to learn. Like us, these Old Testament saints must wait until the last day to be resurrected into everlasting life, and like us, they believed in and hoped in the promises of God, and then lived like they believed. It is our action on what we believe that proves we actually believe in what has been promised, and this pleases God. We are all strangers and exiles on earth, and desire a better country—a heavenly one. When we act out our faith in total trust, we ought to look different than the world, just like this “great cloud of witnesses,” and we please God by doing this no matter how foolish we look to the world. And God has prepared a city for us as he has for them, if we do what God has commanded as they did. And we will all be made perfect at the same time.

Like those who suffered before us, and like Christ who died for us, we too must live for God and disregard any persecution or hardship that may come our way, up to and including death. We should expect difficulty, and regard this difficulty as discipline from the Lord, our Father, to help us become more like Him. In fact, if this discipline is lacking in our lives, it is very possible that we are not saved. Again, the writer tells us we must endure in our faith, and our endurance will “yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” Living for God by following Christ’s example is what makes it possible for us to be righteous, with the help of God‘s Holy Spirit. We have to be careful that we don’t take this lightly, for if we become like Esau and forgo our eternal inheritance for a simple worldly pleasure, we may give up everything that has been promised to us. We cannot forsake the Lord, who speaks with us through His Word and through His Holy Spirit. The promised kingdom cannot be shaken, but this world will be utterly destroyed. Which life are we living for?

Hebrews 13, James 1, Psalm 41
More Book of James Commentary: https://firstfruits.cc/blog/2024/06/17/2022-book-of-james-commentary 

In the last section of Hebrews, the writer is sure to identify how we ought to walk as Christians. This is obedience to the law and loving God in faith: Our love for one another endures; we become generously hospitable, even to strangers; we visit prisoners; we honor marriage; and we act in humility with contentment, sharing everything we have with those who need it. While we walk in the faith, we have to beware of bad doctrine that contradicts Scripture. Our sacrifices on the altar are doing good, sharing with one another, and praise to God with thanksgiving, because Christ is now the one sacrifice to end all sacrifice. If a clean animal is sacrificed, it is for our food, and we shouldn’t be bickering over whether or not to eat clean meat or only vegetables. Yet, we must be careful not to defile ourselves through misunderstanding. We ought to submit to our church leaders who are true to the word and exhort us in joy to walk in the way of God, who offers us complete peace in Christ.

James begins his teaching with a call to endurance, for any trial we face in this life on account of our faith should bring us joy with knowledge that our names are written in Heaven. Those of us who lack wisdom to endure in this way ought to pray to God for help, and He will help when we ask with faith. Those without faith oscillate in their walk with the Lord, and are due for destruction. With faith we persevere and the Lord of light and life will provide everything we need. We need to be doers of the Word, which means that we need to keep the commandments of God and follow His laws. Those who read the Word and do not act out God’s Commandments in their lives out of love for the Lord and a desire to please Him do not understand what faith really means. God’s law is a perfect law, a law of liberty, a law of love, and those who obey God’s law with desire are those who love God first and love their neighbor as a supernatural consequence. We endure by remaining unstained by the World.

James 2, James 3, James 4, James 5 Psalm 42, Psalm 43

It’s important for us to examine the Word as a whole, and for the book of James I have done that. James was Jesus‘s brother, and he knew him very intimately. He knew him as a man, and he knew him as his God in the flesh. James became the head of the Christian Sanhedrin, as we see him making a final judgment in Acts 15. His words here are of utmost importance to the faith. If you have a few moments, please review the commentary I wrote a few months ago when I studied James more comprehensively. The link will be in my next comment. Copy and paste it into a web browser to review the commentary I wrote, to God be the glory!

https://firstfruits.cc/blog/2024/06/17/2022-book-of-james-commentary

1 Peter 1, 1 Peter 2, Psalm 44

I really like the NASB translation of the first chapter, because it makes it clear that Peter is writing to all Christians whether Jew or Gentile and not just to the Jews as many incorrectly assume from other translations. Specifically, he writes: “To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood…” We are all aliens in this world, awaiting the new life that we have been called to in the kingdom of God. We have been chosen in Christ to be “born again” to “a living Hope” through the resurrection of Yeshua from the dead. By grace we have been saved. We are saved to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable, but we have not obtained it yet. It is in fact reserved in heaven for us for when Yeshua comes again. We obtain it by enduring through various trials in this life; we are tested by fire like gold so that the impurities of lawlessness are removed from our hearts.

Because of the salvation we are called to, Peter advises us to prepare our minds for action and to keep unstained from the world, hoping completely on the grace that we have in Christ. We must be obedient children, and not children who are slaves to the sin we lived before we came to faith in the Lord. We are meant to be holy because God is holy. God will judge us by our works, and we must have obedience to the truth of God‘s law, which purifies our souls by living it out, with God’s help, for it is the love of God; it is enduring and it is eternal. What is of the flesh will pass away, but the Word of the Lord endures forever, and so this Word must dwell within us for us to last to beyond this world. when we are dwelling in Christ, we are being built together with him as a holy temple of God, a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, and we offer up our living sacrifices, which is our praise and thanksgiving to God for all that he has given us. Anyone who believes in him and does what he has asked of us will live with him forever.

Peter is adamant about us doing a good deeds and avoiding fleshly lasts. Our behavior must be excellent among the gentiles; here he means unbelievers. It is in this behavior, by loving “our enemy” that we encourage belief in the Lord. We must behave with this love in all instances, particularly among our enemies, so that we find favor from them and a curiosity in them for what makes us rejoice. God will not give us any credit if we sin and are treated harshly, but if we do good and suffer for it He will reward us greatly in heaven. This is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is everlasting life to those who know Christ. In Christ we have a shepherd and guardian for our souls, who we must follow patiently until the end.

Here are two key verses that instruct us in the structure of the faith:

“Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.” We are saved by grace so that we have an opportunity to obey God’s commandments out of love for Him.  

“For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth;” We are called to follow Christ’s example, to fully obey the law, even unto death, with all faith in God to raise us up.

1 Peter 3, 1 Peter 4, 1 Peter 5, Psalm 45

Peter continues to be concerned about our obedience to the word of God, and sums up all of our duty with this: we need to be “harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kind hearted, and humble in spirit,” giving love to all people, returning blessings when others’ mistreat us, bringing peace in the midst of trouble, and doing good, rather than evil, and this is his summary of the law of God. He asks: “Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good?” This is the same as when Yeshua said, do not fear those who can kill the body, but fear God, who can send both body and soul into hell. When we were persecuted, we are to respond knowing Christ is lord in our hearts, so that we can offer a defense of hope in Christ whenever anyone asks us how we withstand what ever is coming up against us. He says a second time it is better to suffer for doing right than to suffer for doing wrong, and thus we are to be zealous to do God’s will. In all of this we follow Christ.

Again Peter says that we are to follow Christ: “since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose…” Peter uses the word gentiles in this writing to refer to unbelievers, he is not referring to those Gentile believers who have been grafted into Israel. And thus when he says not to carry out the desire of the Gentiles and then lists a number of sins, he is basically telling us to obey God’s law and to walk away from our former way of life. Peter says that prayer is our tool, and I would add fasting, to ensure our hearts are obedient to God in our faith towards Christ. We are to remain fervent in our love toward one another, for this covers a multitude of sins, Peter says. This love is a selfless pursuit, in patience, of others who are not saved, stumbling or languishing, so that they may know the truth that is in Christ by the power of His Holy Spirit. He then advises us to use the spiritual gifts that God has given us to serve one another through edification related to the grace of God, and we had to do this with reverence knowing that we are doing God’s will, and we better be careful how we do it.

Living in the midst of persecution for preaching Christ as Messiah, Peter reminds followers that they will be persecuted over and over again. We should not think of this as a time past, for Hebrews 12 is very clear that if we are not being persecuted for our faith, we are not doing it right. True Christians are persecuted even in this day and age in America. He says: “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” Yeshua says the same thing in Matthew 5. Peter makes it clear that we are to judge inside the church first besides we look before we look outside, we need to make sure there is no sin within the camp, otherwise God will not dwell with us. We need to make it very clear to our fellow Christians that we put our faith in Christ and obey God’s commandments within the body; this is what it means to entrust our souls to our faithful creator. Judgment comes to believers who fail first.

As elders—preachers and teachers, if you will—, we must shepherd the flock of God with oversight but not compulsion according to the Word of God and his living will that is empowered by the Holy Spirit, and we must do this with eagerness, but not for any benefit to ourselves. We teach by example in humility, not believing for a moment that we are better than others, for we are all saved by grace. When we humble ourselves before God and others, God will exalt us on the last day when He comes again. We are to be sober both in mind in spirit, for the devil is looking for any opportunity to take us off course. He’s looking for believers to devour, because yes, we can lose our salvation if we allow the devil to win these battles. Our endurance must be in Christ., and it is He who strengthens and establishes us, and His dominion will be forever. Let us keep faith in Him and do what He has asked of us so that we can join Him on the day that He comes.

2 Peter 1, 2 Peter 2, 2 Peter 3, Psalm 46

Peter, the man who Yeshua gave the keys to the Kingdom, said that if we do the following, we will never stumble and we will enter the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Yeshua Hamashiach: “applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.”

Peter also tells us that we have to be careful to interpret the word of God using the Torah and the prophets, because without such interpretation, we can get things wrong. All scripture must interpret scripture and none of it can contradict. If we find ourselves with any contradiction in our thinking after reading the whole counsel of God, then we are reading it wrong, according to what Peter is teaching here.

Peter also warns us to look out for false teachers, and he gives multiple examples in scripture for us to look to. If you wanted to study 2 Peter 2 for full understanding, I would suggest going back and reading all of those stories that coincide with what Peter is talking about, and then read 2 Peter 2 again to make full sense of it. It’s really quite a beautiful thing that Peter is writing here. It’s clear we have to be like the righteous men of old.

2 Peter 3 is one of my favorite chapters in the New Testament, and I quote it often. The truth of scripture is undoubtable, and anyone who does not long for the promises of God to come to fruition simply lacks faith and patience. Peter is clear that the Lord will return at the appointed time, and we just need to be patient and do the work Yeshua asked us to do while we wait for him. Peter also warns about Paul’s rating, both praising it for its depth and fullness, however also making it clear that it cannot be read out of context. Many use Paul’s writing is used today to create false doctrine, and much false doctrine is a result of misreading Paul. Peter loves Paul’s writing, as I do, and wants to make it clear that it needs to be read carefully so it is not misunderstood.

1 John 1, 1 John 2, Psalm 47

John makes it clear to us that he was a personal witness to the Lord God in the flesh, Jesus Christ, Yeshua Hamashiach. As a personal witness, he notes that our Lord is a Lord of light and there is no darkness at all in Him. We cannot live in darkness if we expect to walk according to the way our Lord walked. Yet, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and this is why we look to Yeshua to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Because we are sinners, we need the Lord and His grace to forgive us. There is no other way to be saved. John says that he is writing so that we may not sin, for it is our calling in Christ to walk according to the commandments that God has given us. If we do sin, we have an advocate, Yeshua, who sits at the right hand of the Father and intercedes for us. This does not mean we can go on sinning, because if we do, we are not walking in the light. When we repent, we must go and sin no more.

In the next section, John notes how important it is to keep the commandments of God, rather than the commandments of men. He writes, “The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” John is then clear to make sure we understand this is an old commandment, as old as the world that God created. Yet on the other hand, he also writes us a new commandment, which is the commandment Yeshua gave us; to love one another as He loved us, to follow in His example, which we did not have before. John is clear that the world and everything that we love in it is passing away, and we are not to be of the world, nor are we to strive after the things in it. We are to confess the Son, so as to obtain the Father for eternal life. Whatever blessings we have, we are grateful for them, for God provides everything we need. However, we are not to store up our treasures here but rather in heaven, because heaven is where we will spend eternity.

1 John 3, 1 John 4, Psalm 48

Dan Itse wrote:
“Christ gave us the new Covanent, abrogating the old Covanent. The new Covanent has two commandments: that we believe in the Name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another. In these two are all the fruit of the old Covanent produced. The power of commandment 1 covers all breaches of both by the blood of the Covanent, the blood of Christ.”

Me in response:
“Dan, what you’ve written here is not correct, and I write this in love with hope that you come to a greater understanding. The commandments to believe in God, even His Messiah who was coming, and the commandment to love one another are Old Testament Commandments, which Yeshua emphasized as summary commandments in His ministry. This is a Jewish way of teaching, and it is common to Old Testament teachers also. Yeshua said these were the greatest and the second greatest commandments, but He did not abrogate the other Commandments, And you would have to ignore His own words in Matthew 5 to say what you have said. I believe this to be a grievous error.

“I recommend that you read Hebrews again, which differentiates between the old covenant and the new covenant. In the old covenant, the mediator was Moses, the high priest was Aaron and his line, the temple was in the tabernacle or in Jerusalem, sacrifices were bulls and goats, and the law was written on tablets of stone. In the new covenant, the mediator is Jesus; the high priest is Jesus; the temple is in our bodies, collectively the church that believes in Christ, and as individual believers, and we worship in spirit and truth; the sacrifice is Jesus, once for all time; and the law is written on the tablets of our heart. The law has not changed. It is the same, but now the Holy Spirit helps us interpret it in spirit and truth. John makes this very clear when he writes earlier in this same letter: “Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard.” (1 John 2:7)

“The only new commandment that there is, and this does not replace the old Commandments but adds to them, is the one that Yeshua gave: “love one another as I have loved you.” It is simple to understand this when you realize that never before in history had God come down to live in the flesh. We now have Yeshua’s life as an example to us, and we did not have it before. This is why it is a new commandment. We must live as God lived in the flesh and love as He loved. This does not abrogate the old Commandments, but adds Yeshua’s example so that we have a better idea of how to interpret the old testament commandments in spirit and truth with love. The new covenant welcomes us into Israel, to become Jews like our Lord and Savior. We must follow Him in every way and do everything that He did. His teaching is quite clear that God’s commandments are eternal. Only the false teachings of false prophets could lead you away from this truth, for the word of God is clear.”

Comments on today’s verses:
John does a brilliant job of linguistically painting a picture of the dichotomy between those who live in Christ and those who live according to the flesh in the world. It’s clear that we should expect to be treated differently on account of our faith. In very few words, John also summarizes 1 Corinthians 15 when he writes, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him just as He is.“ This is the very hope of our faith, and without this we cannot possibly endure in the faith.

Next, John defines sin as lawlessness. Don’t be mistaken! John is referring to the law of God that is written in the Old Testament. If we violate the law intentionally without repentance, we practice lawlessness and we are not saved. If we are deceived into violating the law, and someone brings the truth to us and we reject it, my fear is this also leads to death. This is the fear of God, which Jesus told us to possess as opposed to the fear of man. Christ’s blood can only heal those sins that we repent from, and our glorification with Him on the Last Day depends on our close walk with Him following our acceptance of His death for our sins. If we believe we can sin, which is to violate the commandments of God, and still be saved by Jesus, we neglect the words in scripture and are deceived. Paul makes this exact point in Romans 3:31 and Galatians 2:17. Do not worship another Jesus who allows followers to violate God’s commandments without repentance; for this is another Jesus and not the one described in Scripture.

John writes: “Make sure no one deceives you: the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as [Jesus] is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil.” And he just told us that “sin is lawlessness.” God‘s word also defines righteousness: “all Your commandments are righteousness.” Psalm 119:172. it’s not just in the Psalms, but we also read Paul write in Romans 7:12: “So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.” And so the clear word that John is writing here is that we must follow the law interpreted in spirit and truth as our Lord Jesus Christ did, and that is how we know that we are of God and in Christ. If we reject this truth, sadly we are deceived, and John has stronger words than me on what follows this deception.

Moving on in his letter, John makes it clear that Christ died to destroy sin. However, when we dwell in Christ, we must practice righteousness, which means to keep the law of God, and he emphasizes: “we also must love our brother.” To practice righteousness is to love God, the first commandment that Jesus emphasized, and to love our brother is the second commandment that Jesus emphasized. John spends a good deal of the rest of his letter emphasizing the need to love our brothers, and this is a very Jewish teaching. Yeshua took this to the next level when he emphasized the need for us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. He extended the definition of “neighbor” to include those who hate us, and John is sure to make sure we understand this. It is incumbent on us to follow Christ even to our own death, for this is what it means that we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Our lives are a living sacrifice, but our lives are also forfeit for the truth of the Gospel. It is not this life that we hope to save; it is our life in God’s Kingdom that matters.

John then warns us that God knows our own hearts, even if we don’t know them ourselves. Our hearts must strive to love one another and to love God, and to drop everything in this life to do so. We believe in the name of Yeshua, and we love one another, by keeping the Commandments of God, and Jesus said this very thing when he said, “if you love me, keep my Commandments.“

Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, and only the Holy Spirit can put this Truth in us, enabling us to truly confess it. If we confess this truth truly in our heart, then the Holy Spirit will work to sanctify us. It is still imperative that we move on from our initial faith to then follow Christ, and open ourselves up to God’s correction. When we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us: greater is He who is in us than He who is in the world. Those who listen to the Word of God written by His apostles and His prophets are the ones who know God. “We love, because He first loved us. … And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.” This is the Sh’ma in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, which Jesus said was the greatest commandment, and the law in Leviticus 19:18, which Jesus said was the second greatest commandment.

1 John 5, 2 John 1, 3 John 1, Psalm 49

John goes back and summarizes everything he said so far in his last section of his first letter. The whole first section of 1 John 5 can be summed up in Revelation 14:12: “Here is the endurance of the saints, here are they who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” We must have faith in Jesus, or there is no salvation. We must keep the commandments of God, or we will not live with God in heaven. We have Christ to help us by the power of His Holy Spirit, but we must surrender to His will, and if we ask for anything according to His will, He will help us. John than differentiates sins that do not lead to death from sins that do lead to death. We are to pray for our brothers in Christ who are sinning, and don’t know it, to bring them to repentance. However, John says that we cannot pray for those who know they sin and rebel against the Lord, for these are sins that lead to death. Remarkably, John warns us last to avoid idols. To put anything before God is a sin that leads to death. Jesus made this quite clear.

John’s second letter can also be summed up with Revelation 14:12. He writes to a sister in Christ: “I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received commandment to do from the Father.” He couldn’t be more clear with this statement. The law of God is Truth, and Yeshua embodied the law, and so He showed us the Truth in action. He also clarifies that the commandment that we “love one another” is the same commandment that we have had from the beginning; namely, in Leviticus 19:18. He goes on from this, describing love as walking according to God‘s commandments. And these are the Commandments we have heard from the beginning, and  he instructs us to obey them. Jesus said the same thing, particularly in Matthew 5 when he said that “not one jot or tittle of the law would be done away with until heaven and earth pass away.” He also clarifies that the law endures beyond this, because he says “heaven and earth will pass away, but my Word will never pass away.” Being one in being with the Father, it is clear that these are the same Commandments given to Moses, but existing even before that from the beginning.

John clarifies in his third letter to Gaius that he rejoices in those children who walk in the truth. We know that God‘s law is truth. In fact, we glean from this letter that those children who are walking according to the truth are teaching this truth to “strangers.“ In other words, the Gentiles who come into the faith and follow Jesus are now walking according to the commandments of God. This is the “manner worthy of God.“ Don’t be confused when he writes that “they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles.” The word “strangers” refers to non-Jews who have become one with Israel in Christ, while the word “Gentiles” here means those who have not followed Christ and reject his commandments. These walk according to the way of the pagans. But those who accept Christ, whether Jew or Gentile, then turn to walk according to the truth, which is the Commandments of God. Diotrephes, although he has been taught this truth, is teaching another way. This letter is the same as Ephesians 2 or Romans 11, now written by John.

Jude, Psalm 50

Jude, more accurately Judah, was a physical brother of Jesus. His short letter has one purpose: identify the false prophets who say they follow Jesus but do not. The hallmark of a false profit, or a false follower of Jesus is this: “ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” In other words, these are people who claim that all we need is God‘s grace to make it into heaven. To be clear: we absolutely need God‘s grace to make it into heaven. We cannot get there without it. However we cannot use God‘s grace as an occasion to sin, but upon salvation we must then turn to keep the commandments of God found throughout scripture if we intend to be godly and faithful to our master and Lord Jesus Christ.

Our psalm reading, Psalm 50, speaks to the same point: “But to the wicked God says, ‘What right have you to tell of My statutes And to take My covenant in your mouth? For you hate discipline, And you cast My words behind you.’” Christians who teach a grace-only, antinomian message are being addressed here. They honor Christ with their lips, but their heart is far from Him. We know from Revelation 14:12 that the “Saints,” which means those who are going to inherit the kingdom of God, are “those who keep the commandments of God AND the faith of Yeshua.” this is a necessary testimony of two to make it into the kingdom. God says the exact same thing in Psalm 50: “He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; And to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God.” Faith in the grace of God through Jesus Christ is essential, but so is obedience to His commandments out of our love for Him.

As Jude goes through example after example in his short letter, he makes it abundantly clear that the stories of the Old Testament are meant for our edification. They are not just pointers to the coming Messiah—although they are that—they are also examples of how we ought to walk according to the word of God in Christ. here is the first example Jude gives to make it clear what I’m talking about: “Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.” We know they did not believe based on their actions, for they routinely violated the Commandments of God. They also did not act upon His promises, disbelieving them, but they acted on a desire to save their own skin.

We see Jude also considers Enoch a prophet, and his book prophecy, and we ought to use this information as we go about our studies. Jude directly quotes out of the book of Enoch in his short letter, and so we ought to read the book of Enoch. Upon reading it, you will see that it is all about Yeshua from the beginning to the end, and it tells the story of these last days we’re living in with great explanation and accuracy. It is clear that many New Testament writers were informed by what is written in that book by the ancestor of Noah, and by Noah himself. The lesson in Jude from Enoch is that Christ is going to return to judge the living and the dead and the righteous will inherit the kingdom while those who practice lawlessness will be destroyed.

We see as Jude continues that he uses very similar words to Peter from 2 Peter 3: “In the last time there will be mockers following after their own ungodly lusts.” It is clear that without the commandments of God, it is impossible for us to know Him and His will for us. But with the Holy Spirit, we can be heavenly minded, keeping ourselves in the love of God, which is to keep his commandments, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life, for this is the grace that He has offered us as a free gift. We have to do our part, “hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.“ It is Christ and his Holy Spirit that is able to keep us from stumbling, and it is He who will bring us into the presence of his glory, blameless with great joy. Trust and obey our great God until he comes. Amen.

Revelation 1, Revelation 2, Revelation 3, Psalm 51

John is writing on the Sabbath day, Saturday, which is the only “Lord’s day” there ever was or ever will be, when Yeshua comes to him in the spirit. Yeshua makes it clear that He is, He was, and He is to come; He is Almighty God and there is no other; He is the first and the last; He was crucified but then resurrected; and He lives forever. He speaks a blessing to John, which is this message of revelation, for when we understand the truth that Yeshua brings, we will have everlasting life.

In the first part of this letter, Yeshua speaks to the churches that are in existence at that time, He speaks also to the church ages that are to come, and He speaks to the seven types of churches that will exist throughout time at all times. I am going to highlight the exhortations Yeshua brings this year, for we can learn from all of them.

Yeshua is clear that toil and perseverance are virtues, and while we are to love our enemies, as Yeshua taught, we cannot tolerate evil men who call themselves Christians but are not, because they do not know the truth. We have to be careful to persevere in our first love most of all; this is our passion to serve the Lord first in all things. Even when we suffer and are tested, even when thrown into prison or murdered for our faith, we must not fear man but fear God. We have to be careful not to put the things of this world first, neither sin nor riches, to be law abiding by keeping God’s commandments, and repent when we are not. The Lord promises that he will fight against those who are lawless with the sword that comes out of his mouth, and we know from Paul’s writing that the sword of the spirit is the word of God, or in other words, the law.

We cannot tolerate adultery, or false prophets, we cannot tolerate those who teach that idol worship (pagan tradition) or unclean foods are acceptable, we must repent of this immorality and turn ourselves back towards God. Yeshua is clear that the one who overcomes by keeping the same deeds that Yeshua kept himself until the end will be given authority in the kingdom of God. We also have to beware of being Christians name only, showing an appearance of godliness, but denying its power. The Holy Spirit helps us to keep God‘s law, and this is the power of God in us; our deeds need to be completed in the sight of God, and we have to repent of any dead works that follow after the flesh or the world. Our garments cannot be soiled, but we must walk with Christ in white, meaning that we walk in righteousness by our own choice, and He will help us.

Our Messiah is clear: if we do not abide in the righteousness of Christ by walking according to the commandments of God, our names will be blotted from the book of life. The law in Deuteronomy stands. We also must beware: we cannot treat the kingdom of God and the promises of God as an ethereal thing that stands far off at some distance that we will never obtain. We can’t be half in the world and half in the next world. We have to live fully in God’s kingdom now, putting God first in all things, in all ways, at all times. We must embrace righteousness through the fire of testing and perseverance, And this white clothing will cover our nakedness, the shame of our sin. We must buy salve to anoint our eyes so that we can see the plain truth of the Word of God. The Lord loves those who he reproves and disciplines, and this is meant to bring us to repentance so that we can be zealous and walk in the ways of the Lord into eternal life. That door is open, but we must walk through it.

Revelation 4, Revelation 5, Revelation 6, Psalm 52

https://youtu.be/jS2osOLEe0U

The door standing open in heaven is Yeshua, and He wants us all to join Him. Revelation, as it unfolds, is a prophetic book of many layers. It tells the same story over and over again, using different Scriptural imagery throughout. The story is quite simple: We must take the Mark of God, and not the Mark of the Beast. There will be tribulation in the world, and we will all face it in our lifetime. We will all be tested and invited to take the Mark of the Beast in our lifetime, as every generation has from the beginning of time. Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, and we are invited to eat from the same tree; the world and all it offers in the flesh; to put that before the commandments of God. Satan still says to us today: “Did God really say…?” Yes, God really did say to keep His commandments, and God really said to have faith and trust in Him and to put Him first in our lives. The Mark of God is to think, speak, and act according to the commandments that He’s given us with love in our hearts and trust in the one who saved us, Yeshua. The Mark of the Beast is to put our trust and love in the things of this world instead. The dichotomy is always present, and the choice is always ours.

Holy holy holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and who is and who is to come, and worthy is the Lamb to receive glory and honor and power and dominion and blessing forever and ever. He is worthy to stand as the judge who fulfilled the law perfectly, and that law will come out of His mouth as a two-edged sword, and we will be judged by our works. Will they reflect our faith in Him, the one who redeemed us by his blood? Will we be found following Him and putting Him first in our lives, speaking, acting, and thinking according to his Word? Or will they reflect hearts of darkness, hearts that paid lip service to the Lamb but thought, spoke and acted like wolves instead? The Saints are those who endure all of the tribulation of the world—yes those who are persecuted or killed, but also those who face other trials and tribulations throughout their lives, but stand firm in their faith in Yeshua and His promises and firm in the Truth of living by God’s commandments. What has reigned true throughout our lives? God knows.

We will face the pestilence, the sword, the famine, and the wild beasts of the earth (corrupt governments) when we as a whole people defy the Word of God, and His judgment will come in this way in every generation. The purpose of all judgment is to bring the people of God to repentance. And when the people of God come to repentance, they will face the persecution and death that has been foretold from the beginning, and even Yeshua Himself has said we ought to expect this to test us and see if we truly believe. Those who cry out like Abel’s blood from the earth, from below the altar in heaven, these will be redeemed by the blood of Christ and will rise again on the Last Day to live forever with Him. Likewise, all who love and obey him and trust in His promises will be resurrected unto eternal life. But those kings of the earth and all who defied Him and His Word will run and hide, because that will be the day they die the second death. There will be no hope for them. Today is the day of redemption. Today is the day to repent and turn back to the Lord in all of our ways. Who is able to stand? Only those who repent and keep the commandments of God and faith in Jesus.

Revelation 7,  Revelation 8, Revelation 9, Psalm 53

There is an appointed time coming for the end of this present age, and we really don’t know when it is. It could be now. It could be much later. One thing we do know from our reading in chapter 7 is that the judgment of God will not come on the whole world until every single one of His saints is marked with the seal of His Holy Spirit. When we are so marked, we will stand before the throne of God—we who are made up of a great multitude of both Jews and Gentiles who trust in the Messiah Yeshua. This may not be in Heaven, for Yeshua said we worship today in front of God’s throne “in Spirit and in Truth.” Our prayers—the prayers of the saints—even today rise as incense “with a sweet aroma” into the presence of God.

The rest of our reading through chapter eight and nine is a parallel to the Exodus story in Egypt. God through his angels will bring plagues on the earth, while His people stand set apart in Goshen, not necessarily out of this world, but out of the reach of God’s judgment. Our prayers will have great consequence during this time, for God’s judgment will come on those who reject Him, but preserve those who are True. And our endurance through this final trial and tribulation at the end will ensure we enter into the kingdom of God when all things are made new. Pharaoh, the king of this world, and all who follow Satan, will not be convinced by the plagues that God will bring down in judgment, but their hearts will be hardened even more against God. The wheat and chaff will be fully separated and the chaff will be ready for the fire while the wheat will be ready to be gathered into the barn.

We see this important verse that shows the hardness of the hearts of those who are being judged: “The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.” We can see this heart in the world today; it is a heart of wickedness that will not accept the Word of God no matter what; people who believe Satan is going to win the war. The opposite of their mindset is also quite clear; it is the mind of Christ, those who keep God’s commandments and faith in Jesus no matter what happens to them. These who are sealed to follow God will endure until the end for eternal life.

Revelation 10, Revelation 11, Psalm 54

John is writing in the style of an old testament prophet like Ezekiel, Isaiah or Jeremiah. The book that was sealed up John was instructed to eat, and it would be from that sweet word that he consumed but then became bitter in his stomach, that he would write the rest of Revelation. This is a prophetic way of saying that the balance of the prophecies that follow are from this book that was sealed. In Jeremiah 29:13, we read: “And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” While it is true that we cannot know all of the ways of God, He still wants us to spend our whole lives seeking Him and finding Him. He reveals His truth more and more to those who pursue Him with all of their heart. Eternity would get boring if we ever had all the answers, so there will never be a day that we know all about God. This is an eternal relationship, and one that will be magnificent in every way, but it starts today.

I don’t know who the two witnesses are, but I do know that they are speaking the truth of God‘s word, because that is the fire that comes out of their mouth. It burns up any unrighteousness. This is why the world is so joyful when these two witnesses die, the world does not want to hear the word of God, they want to pretend that it is just another story book, or a moral code for a distant time. But it is eternal truth. And nothing will ever do away with The word of God, “for heaven and earth will pass away but my word will stand forever,” Yeshua said. It is also clear that there is an end of days, from today’s reading. When the seventh angel sounds the seventh trumpet, this is when the kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of our Lord and have his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever. This is when the temple of God will come down out of heaven. Completely out of chronological order, we see the end here as John just begins to write the prophecy.

Revelation 12, Revelation 13, Psalm 55

The woman Israel gave birth to Yeshua, After he died, resurrected, and ascended into heaven, the woman and her children were scattered throughout the world. This was all part of God’s plan to spread the faith to all the corners of the globe. Satan, who had battled in heaven and lost and was thrown out by Yeshua upon his ascent, went after the woman and her offspring; those who are naturally born into Israel and believe in Yeshua as their Messiah, and those who are grafted-in to the faith and become a part of Israel on account of their faith in Messiah Yeshua. This group, which is one, is characterized by two traits, and it is these two traits when combined that drives Satan mad, because they lead to eternal life: “So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”

A tyrannical government and a tyrannical church, apostate completely, await the true followers of Christ at the end. This duo will use complete force to attempt to coerce the people of God to turn away from him, and to bear in the fruit of the world on the flesh instead. Many will fall away. Only those who have been written in the book of life from the beginning, who hold true to their faith and trust in Messiah Yeshua and the Commandments God will withstand this last push of Satan. Ultimate man, man at his greatest without God, which is a dark dark reality, will rule the earth. It will be like the days of Nimrod, 21st century style. All men and women will have a choice: put on the mark of God, which is to keep the commandments of God and faith in Yeshua, or put on the mark of the beast, which is to do the work of Satan, of the flesh, and of the world. It’s a simple choice, but with major consequences. Choose God and maybe die in the flesh but live forever. Choose the beast, And maybe live for a little while, but then there will be death forever.

Revelation 14, Revelation 15, Revelation 16, Psalm 56

Revelation 14 continues to set up a dichotomy between those who take on the mark of God vs. the mark of the beast. The victory of Yeshua is announced, the destruction of the world is announced, there are final warnings given: fear God and give Him glory. This is no different than Solomon’s “fear God and keep His commandments. This is man’s all.“ The truth never changes. We know that those who practice lawlessness are going to be destroyed. John in his prophetic writing paints this very ominously: “the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day at night.” Judgment is coming to those who reject Yeshua for salvation or the commandments of God for sanctification. But as judgment day comes, there will be those who persevere through any hardship, completely trusting that God’s deliverance is a sure thing. John defines exactly how they persevere in this life, they “keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.” This is the mark of God. Any who die in the Lord, meaning they live according to this two-pronged witness, will rise on the last day to be with Him for all eternity. Let that be you and me.

Those Saints who are rescued out of the earth on the last day, before the lord pours down His wrath, will sing the song of Moses. Check out the first version. It’s pretty awesome. The Saints in the last days have had victory over pharaoh, who represents Satan, and now pharoah will suffer the same plagues that he did in the days of old. Just like in Egypt, just like in Deuteronomy 28 describing the people who rebel against God, in the end times, repentance will not come from those who have already chosen to harden their own hearts against the Lord. While the Lord intends to bring them to repentance, and He desires their salvation, these rebellious through their own free will have blocked off the possibility from their thinking. Even when truth is staring them in the face they will not recognize it. But they will stand before Yeshua and bow before Him, and then they will be destroyed. Pray that they are reachable, those who we know who have rejected Yeshua before the day comes. Now is the only opportunity we have to lead them to Christ. There will not be another opportunity later.

Revelation 17, Revelation 18, Psalm 57

There is no doubt that Christ is with us until the end of the age. This is our comfort and our hope, as we see the world become the world described in Revelation 17. We already can see the harlot rising, for she is the false church, and no denomination needs to be named because she is among them all. That woman Jezebel captures those who call themselves Christian but are not; those who worship idols, who engage in New Age witchcraft, who pray to dead people, who honor pagan traditions but ignore the commandments of God, who trust in Man (in “science”—in medicine) above the power of God, who seek drunkenness and sensual pleasures, who allow impurity into their temple (their body), who cast the Truth to the ground but elevate the culture of death and call it “Christian,” who have their own idea of what love is, because they ignore God’s Word, and thus they judge the people of God as unloving and persecute those who are among the true Church of Jesus. This is why she is drunk with the blood of the Saints.

This false religion is what enables the global power, called Babylon. The woman and the beast become one unit. Is there a real city that is represented by Babylon here? I think there is. I think it’s New York City, or Rome, or both in their own time. I don’t think there’s much doubt that Babylon in this reading describes New York today, for this is the seat of the global power known as the United Nations, which is doing all of the evil described here. And the United Nations ultimately will go after the harlot and depose her, claiming the godhead in its own power. Communism never shares the stage with a god, real or imagined. The Beast (government) hates the church (even the false one) and will ultimately strip it bear. The beast that was and is not and is about to come up describes the empires of man that elevate themselves above God, and we know from history that they phase in and out, but they are all the same, from the Tower of Babel, to Egypt, to Assyria, to Babylon itself, to Media-Persia, to Greece, to Rome, to the Ottoman Empire, to Britain, to America, to what? And I’m sure I missed a few.

Do we pledge allegiance to the flag, or do we pledge allegiance to God? The Lamb of God and His army of angels will defeat all of the flags that are raised against Him. Babylon will fall. The harlot will fall. Christ will be victorious. When we are instructed to come out of the great city of Babylon, it’s impossible to do this if we are to live in the world. However, we must come out of her spiritually and live as a people set apart. We need to be the ones who have truth faith in Jesus and keep the commandments of God, who do not participate in the culture and do not participate in the sins of the world, but rather bring the light of Christ to all who will receive it, no matter the consequences to ourselves. We will be rejected. We will be hated. But Jesus said it would be this way, and we ought to take great joy that our names are written in the Book of Life, provided we continue to walk in the way that He walked.

Revelation 19, Revelation 20, Psalm 58

Yeshua said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Mt. 5:6) Our Psalm reading from Psalms 58:10-11 says, “The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. And men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely there is a God who judges on earth!” Revelation 19-20 explains what is going to happen. We read, “Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; because His judgments are true and righteous; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants on her.” When Yeshua comes on His white horse from Heaven, in His righteousness He judges and wages war. He will utterly destroy everyone who opposes him. Out of His mouth comes the Word of God, the sword of the spirit, and simply by speaking the commandments of God everyone who opposes them and has not trusted in Yeshua will be destroyed in a single moment. His robe will be soaked in their blood.

There will be two suppers on that Day: one on the earth for all the birds of the air to devour the flesh of those who opposed Yeshua when He comes, and another in Heaven, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, for all the Saints throughout history from the very beginning of creation who trusted in Yeshua and kept the Commandments of God by his power. All of us who have been redeemed will say: “‘Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.’ …  ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. … ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ ” And then that fateful day will come, when all who lived, past, present and future, will be judged at the great white throne for their works. What is in our hearts while we live? Is our heart to serve God, to obey his commandments, because we love our Savior Yeshua, or is our heart to rebel against his laws, his commandments, his judgments? Only those with the heart to obey God with all faith in Yeshua will be allowed into the kingdom that endures. Our name must be written in the Book of Life.

Revelation 21, Revelation 22, Psalm 59

We’ve studied multiple sections where it is clear that we are the temple of God. This new Jerusalem that descends from heaven, the marriage supper of the Lamb, are all the saints who are gathered together on the last day. Their day in heaven is like 1000 years on the earth, and the last day is now over, the eighth day is about to begin. All things have been made new, and now the people of God will dwell forever on the earth with Him as the light that shines forever. We descend from heaven with God and are given our eternal inheritance, which is an eternity of living with God and getting to know Him better. All sin will be destroyed, and those who dwell in the house of the Lord forever, those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life, will be without sin permanently. It will be like life in the Garden of Eden, but now with experience and enlightenment, and not just the innocence that there once was. All of our needs will be met, and it will be beautiful beyond imagination. We shall see the face of God and not die.

The prophecy of Revelation is written for the Saints, to give us hope, but Saints will continue to live in righteousness, and sinners will continue to live in lawlessness. The book is not necessarily intended to change hearts and minds but to encourage those whose hearts and minds are already affixed on the Lord. The Lord will bring his reward with Him when He comes, and He will render to every man according to what he has done. Works matter, for they are the very evidence of our faith. The Lord is coming quickly, He says. In 2 Peter 3, the apostle writes that we are not to grow impatient in the coming of the lord, for the Lord wishes that none shall perish but that all will turn to repentance. In a moment, this life will be over, and the next moment we will be waking up to the Day as described here. It will be a blink of an eye for us. Let us wait in humble anticipation with all hope and joy, persevering until he comes. Come Lord Jesus.