The Righteousness of the Law Fulfilled in us

Romans 8:3-4  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; so that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard believers say, “Oh, I’m not under the law, but under grace!” Aside from the matter that Romans 6:14 is being taken out of context when it’s used this way – the “law” referred to here is not specifically the law of Moses, but rather the law of sin & death which came through Adam; see my explanation here — does that mean we are to disregard the law? I think, somewhat unfortunately, that too many believers come to that conclusion, whether they realize it or not. They similarly take another verse, Romans 10:4  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness for everyone who believes, to reinforce the notion that Christ somehow did away with the law. Never mind that He himself said that he came to do no such thing. And please take no notice of the fact that the word “end” in this verse, or “fulfill” in Matthew 5:17 mean not to terminate but to consummate. Is a marriage terminated because it’s consummated? Of course not!

So then what are we to do with the law? Even if we were to keep it, that would not make us righteous, so what’s the point?

I think we’re missing the point entirely when we say things like that. The law was given so that we can know right from wrong. Or more importantly, from the viewpoint of restoring the love relationship between us and our Creator — which is what our salvation is really all about — the law was given so that we would know what our Lover likes and dislikes, loves and hates, accepts or rejects.

This is basic salvation 101 to say that we all needed Jesus to come to take away our sin, since we were completely incapable of doing so ourselves. You won’t find many Christians arguing that point. But what we do seem to miss a great deal of the time is that this isn’t just so we can be forgiven, but so we can have an opportunity to come into communion with a holy God. God cannot have communion was ungodliness. And we were incapable of godliness until Jesus came and removed the barrier. And now that the barrier is removed, we have to know what constitutes godliness in order to live in it. And there’s where we stumble. We tend at this point to wander off into some nebulous – or worse, religious — idea of what that is. Most of us have a pretty good idea of the basics — the nine* commandments are a good starting point – but most of us also carry a sense around with us that that’s not all there is.

And we’re right. That isn’t all there is. He wrote us a big, thick Book, and we ought to read it to discover what He wants, what He likes, and what He hates. And, if we’re honest, we’ll admit that we haven’t exactly done that either. Even if we are careful to do the basics, we always feel like there’s something missing. But – thanks be to God – He doesn’t leave us there, any more than He leaves us in utter sin. After we come through the Door, Jesus, into the sheep pen, the Shepherd begins to raise us up into what He wants us to be, day by day. But we lose track of what He’s doing when we don’t go back to the Book He wrote to see what’s next. And we miss most of the Book when we throw out huge chunks of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy because we think that’s just “the law of Moses.” Which brings me back to the title of this post: if we walk day by day in the way God leads us, we can fulfill all of His desire. Not just the basics, but the “righteousness which is of the law” — the whole enchilada.

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* I know; it’s supposed to be ten commandments, but most of Christianity (as far as I can tell) kind of skips # 4: remember the seventh day to keep it holy, so that leaves nine. Most of us are OK, though, with thou shalt not kill, commit adultery, steal, etc.

You can’t become righteous by trying to become righteous

One of the things Rabbi Yeshua said to His talmidim was that they had to be more righteous than those chasidim who were at that time held in the highest regard for their righteousness.

“For I say to you, If your righteousness is not greater than the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never go into the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 5:20

Now, most of the time when we read about Yeshua’s comments regarding this bunch, they don’t come off as sounding very righteous, but I believe that in this instance (and in some others) He was not speaking of them quite that way. I believe that at this point he was referring to the highest attainable standard.

But they had to do better than that.

He was trying to get them to understand that the only way to succeed was going to be by the new covenant He had come to ratify with His own blood (in a little while). And because through that new covenant, He would inscribe His very Torah in their hearts, their very being.

But this shall be the covenant that I will cut with the house of Israel: After those days, declares YHWH, I will put My Law in their inward parts, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Yermeyahu 31:33 [31:32]

Now of course, all you learned theologians out there (you’re still out there, aren’t you?) know that books and books and books have been written on this, and I don’t plan to write a new one.

But I would like to point out that, although Christians are always saying that this is why our covenant is better than their covenant, we don’t seem to be any better at walking in it. Do we?

But all is not lost. We do need to keep this covenant, and all the Torah of God, before our eyes continually, and endure the exhortations of our elders to not just throw in the towel, saying what’s the use.

Having said all this, I want to insert here an exhortation from an elder named Oswald Chambers, who wrote quite a few piercing admonitions about 100 years ago. (I’ve put a link in my blogroll to a source where you can read him.)

In his entry for July 24, in his devotional My Utmost for His Highest, he wrote:

His Nature and Our Motives

The characteristic of a disciple is not that he does good things, but that he is good in his motives, having been made good by the supernatural grace of God. The only thing that exceeds right-doing is right-being. Jesus Christ came to place within anyone who would let Him a new heredity that would have a righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus is saying, “If you are My disciple, you must be right not only in your actions, but also in your motives, your aspirations, and in the deep recesses of the thoughts of your mind.” Your motives must be so pure that God Almighty can see nothing to rebuke. Who can stand in the eternal light of God and have nothing for Him to rebuke? Only the Son of God, and Jesus Christ claims that through His redemption He can place within anyone His own nature and make that person as pure and as simple as a child. The purity that God demands is impossible unless I can be remade within, and that is exactly what Jesus has undertaken to do through His redemption.

No one can make himself pure by obeying laws. Jesus Christ does not give us rules and regulations — He gives us His teachings which are truths that can only be interpreted by His nature which He places within us. The great wonder of Jesus Christ’s salvation is that He changes our heredity. He does not change human nature — He changes its source, and thereby its motives as well.

Perfection

That’s a big word. And it’s talked about a lot in Christianity, since it’s a major topic in the Bible. But most of the time, you hear the great preachers saying it doesn’t really mean that.

So then – it means what? Some say “maturity.” Some say “completion.” Some say “equipping.” What the!?! You can take all the Greek you want & turn it inside out & backwards, but when Messiah himself defines it as simply being perfect as the Father is perfect, you just can’t wriggle out of it.

(Yeshua sat down with his talmidim and had a nice, long talk with them, outlining his requirements for their behavior. His talmid Matityahu recorded it in his book of the gospel – see the end of chapter 5.)

I’ve been putting off this post for a long time, trying to think of some wonderfully erudite way of expressing this, but then I realized it’s really just as simple as Yeshua said it.

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of learned scholars saying that parts of the Bible don’t mean what they say, simply because they don’t want to deal with it. Accepting what the Bible says entails a great deal of personal responsibility, and if you don’t like that – too late!

And then the other comeback is something like, “Well, look at you – you’re not perfect.” Yes, I am not, but that doesn’t excuse either one of us, does it?

Now, if you will please excuse me while I go and deal with it.

Whoever says Messiah is the King, must also admit He is the High Priest

Numbers Chapter 18: “And YHWH said to Aaron: You and your sons and your father’s house with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood… And you shall keep the charge of the sanctuary and the charge of the altar, that there be no more wrath upon the children of Israel… And YHWH spoke to Aaron: I, behold I have also given you the charge of …all the holy things of the children of Israel; I have given them to you and your sons because of the anointing, as a perpetual ordinance.”

Please correct me, anyone, if I’m wrong, but I’ve read in more than a few places which explain traditional Judaism* that Messiah, when he comes, will arise as the King and Deliverer of Israel. This is certainly true, and would to God more goyim would realize and acknowledge this. And would to God that more goyim who profess to be followers of Christ would realize and acknowledge that to truly do so is to pledge allegiance to Israel’s King.

But are we missing something here? Isn’t the anointing of the high priest just as much of an anointing as that of the king?

The high priest is the messiah of YHWH, just as much as the king. Why am I not seeing this pointed out?

We need to understand that much of what we read in Torah may be understood as illustrations of eternal truth, as well as the explicit instructions of the God of Israel. And is it just me, or isn’t there a marvelous picture in Numbers Chapter 18 of YHWH’s anointed being set out to bear a more profound iniquity than merely his own? You have to notice that the reason YHWH gives for instituting this assignment for the high priest is “that there be no more wrath upon the children of Israel.” If you go back and read the preceding chapters of the book, you’ll see that there was plenty of iniquity and plenty of resulting wrath going on! There had to be something done – the present system wasn’t working. It doesn’t seem fair to tell Aaron that from now on, he’s going to bear the iniquity of the entire community, but if you were in the shoes of anyone else there but him, you wouldn’t be the first one to point that out, would you?

It is surely an admirable thing for someone to suppose that they can atone for their own sin through repentance and prayer, and to make a sincere effort to that end. But what does it take? Is anyone good enough – can anyone be or become good enough – to satisfy Elohim’s just demand for absolute, flawless righteousness? Let’s just start with the number one requirement – to love Him with everything we’ve got, and the person across the street, to boot!

It’s not that it’s humanly impossible, but we start out just far enough behind in that quest to ever quite get caught up (you may have noticed, if you’ve had children, that the first word many learn is “no!”), and each day that we fail to live up to even the first requirement, the farther behind we get. But if we had someone to take all iniquity away from us, to bear it away for us – ah, then we might have a fresh start, mightn’t we? And what if – could it be this good? – what if that sin-bearer could always be there for us each new day, and bear it away if and when we slip up again?

Ah, but would that be what we want, really? A guarantee of sin-then-get-forgiven today, and then sin-but-get-forgiven tomorrow, and then sin-but-get-forgiven-again the next day, and so forth? I think that is, unfortunately, what we do experience in Christianity, but I don’t buy for one minute that this is what God ever intended for us. There is a much greater place for tshuva and tikkun olam in our lives than we often realize, and sometimes I think that those who see this as their only means to atonement have a practical leg up on Christians who act as though we think we can “continue in sin that grace may abound,” as Paul puts it. But first we need that fresh start. We need a High Priest who will bear our iniquity, at least until we can come into our inheritance as children of the Most High.

(* For example, Jews for Judaism is a provocative resource for understanding the traditional viewpoint, updated to our time; another detailed site is Judaism 101.

Take a look at specific and detailed references to the traditional concept of Messiah, and, if you’re brave, at an argument against vicarious atonement.)

How to fulfill Torah

Or, The Romans and the Law, part II

Rom 13:10 Love does no evil to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the Law.

Which “Law” does love fulfill? Love fulfills Torah. “Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

So, to those Christians who say they are not under Law, but under grace, if they do not distinguish between Torah and the law of sin & death, does this mean they are not obligated to love God and their neighbor?

“You are not under the law, but under grace. (Romans 6:14)” Ok, but which law are we talking about?

“The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)”

I see no mention in either of these two verses of the “law of Moses.”

Have you ever heard before of “the law of sin and death?” Did you think it’s the law (Torah) of Moses?

One of the most annoying things about the Bible (annoying, that is, unless you choose to love it) is that in order to understand one verse you often have to read a great deal more than that verse. The book of Romans discusses “law” or “the law” in about a zillion places. Well, ok, it’s only 50-something times, but in 16 chapters, that’s a lot!

A friend said something lately which sounded like he was saying because he’s under the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, he didn’t have to pay much attention to the requirements of what we call the Old Testament. “Oh, I don’t have to worry about that stuff – I’m not under the law, but under grace.” Or words to that effect. If I’d asked him about it, he would have said that’s not what he meant, and I know him well enough to know he was not at all dismissing the Hebrew Scriptures, but the context of his comment showed that he didn’t really understand what “the law” is.

I think that’s true of a lot of us, including myself. I’m discovering there’s a whole lot more to learn before I say “I’m right and he’s wrong.”

But when my friend said what he did, something clicked. I suddenly realized that Romans chapter six is not at all about Torah. It struck me that in order to understand what “law” he’s talking about in chapter six, you have to go back to chapter 5, which talks about the sin (disobedience) of Adam bringing about not only his death, but the death of all his descendants, in that every one of them (us) was sure to sin. That’s the “law” (not a Torah – not a teaching or instruction – but an unavoidable outcome, like gravity) of sin and death. “The wages of sin is death.” (Last verse in chapter 6.) You work, you get paid your wages; you sin, your payment is death. Simple.

“But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

We don’t have to sin – we can be free from sin – *if* we come through the Way that is Jesus, and He enables us to stop sinning, as we learn His way. There’s a whole lot more I could say about that some time, but for now I’m just saying that’s what I see going on in this chapter.

So, back to Torah (the “law of Moses”). Is Romans talking about that at all?

Yep. And this is where we often get mixed up, as I think my friend was. Now ask yourself (assuming you acknowledge the reality of sin, or why have else you read this far) – do you know what sin is? If you answered, disobedience to God, good answer. But to disobey someone you have to know what they told you to do, or what they told you not to do, right?

I think you’re following me, here – I can just feel it. We can know with certainty what pleases or displeases God by simply reading the Book He wrote to us. (The Bible.) The essence of His likes and dislikes is contained in the books of His servant Moses. The Torah.

We’re born with an innate sense of right from wrong (conscience), but if you look around you, when people just go by their own conscience, without any further instruction, things eventually don’t work out so well. Never mind that the more we practice following our own inclinations, the farther we get from God’s directions.

So that’s what Torah (the law of Moses) is – God’s Big Ol’ Instruction Book. The “Owner’s Manual” for our lives. Or, How to Live and not Die, in five easy volumes.

Which is why Paul talks about the law of Moses so much throughout the Book of Romans, in relation to the issues of death & sin, or obedience & life.

But please, let’s not confuse the two. God forbid we should ever be freed from His instructions on how to live! But we have been freed from the law of sin and death (if we will be willing and obedient), through the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

“My doctrine shall drop as the rain… as the small rain on the tender plant”

Moses wrote those words in a book. Deuteronomy 32. Part of the law.

Right after I got up this morning, it began to rain. A nice, gentle rain, to water a dry and thirsty land. So what, you may ask? I live in California. California is classified as an arid state. Like a desert. And we’ve been in an awful drought, and it never rains (well, hardly ever) in summer. And here it is the 5th of June. So this is a big deal for us.

And spiritually also, California has been dry and thirsty. And, when you consider it, America has been dry and thirsty. America used to be known as a Christian country. You wouldn’t know it any more, would you? America actually is still a Christian country, in spite of what our highest leadership says, but the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, or h’qahal b’h’Adon Yeshua h’Mashiach, if you wish to Hebraisize it, has been dry, unproductive, and unable to direct the course of this nation.

Nonetheless, the church has been asking for rain lately. A spiritual rain. Most of the time it’s called “revival,” but how can the land revive if it has no rain?

Then again, if we do receive rain, and it just runs off, what good has it done? We need to open ourselves up to receive the rain from heaven. And this isn’t just standing there with our arms and mouths lifted up, though this is good, but it unavoidably entails that old, crummy notion of “repentance.” Now, we all tend to glaze over when we hear that word. It has become not much more than relgious lingo, so we nod & agree and go about our ways without doing much about it. It means changing what we’re doing, folks. Making a 180 degree turn and heading back in the direction we belong.

“They have corrupted themselves… a crooked and perverse generation. Do you thus repay the Lord, oh foolish and unwise people? Isn’t He your Father who bought you?”

The church? Crooked, perverse, and corrupt? Yep.

Now (bear with me while I seem to switch gears a little), one of the things in the church that has been bothering me is called “replacement theology,” where Christians say that the old covenant people (aka Israel, or the Jews) have been replaced by the new covenant people (the church). Which is supposed to mean that all the wonderful promises written in the “old testament” Scriptures have been taken away from the natural seed of Abraham and bestowed upon the “spiritual” seed of Abraham. We even call ourselves “spiritual Israel.”

But – oops! – we claim the promises, not the curses. What’s up with that?! The curses written in the Book of Deuteronomy are really nothing fancier than the consequences of disobedience. So we think the church hasn’t been disobedient? Excuse me?! Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy when he said that the great commandment — that makes it a “new testament” commandment, if Jesus said it — is to love the Lord with everything we have. Are we doing that? Let alone loving our neighbor in the same way and to the same extent that we love our own selves. That includes our president. Ouch!! Ok – we won’t dwell on that one. But how about that brother or sister that just drives us up the wall? Let alone loving the Redeemer. We like to say we do that (“Oh, I just love Jesus…”), but let’s prove it with our actions, not our words.

I’m not yelling at anyone else who happens to still be reading this, any more than I’m yelling at myself. It starts with me, and I haven’t been obedient to the commandment of the Lord Jesus Christ, but I don’t really think I’m alone with this.

So, we have to deal with the consequences of Deuteronomy, if we want to claim its promises. All of a sudden, replacement theology doesn’t seem to be so attractive, does it?

Now, Christians who claim this doctrine (still ignoring the consequences, of course) like to quote Galatians 4:24, “which things are an allegory; for these are the two covenants, one indeed from Mount Sinai bringing forth to slavery, which is Hagar…” in such a way as to mean that there are two peoples – the Jews and the church, but it’s two covenants he’s talking about.

If there’s any replacing being done, as Paul writes in Hebrews, the new covenant replaces the old covenant. And Paul writes this in Hebrews because the book of the prophet Jeremiah tells us in chapter 31, “Behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that I will cut a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I cut with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which covenant of Mine they broke, although I was a husband to them, says Jehovah; but this shall be the covenant that I will cut with the house of Israel: After those days, says Jehovah, I will put My Law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people...”

The requirements of behavior that will please God don’t change. He will write his Law – his Torah – on the hearts of his people, not do away with Torah. Like Jesus said, he didn’t come to do away with it, but to fulfill. And as Paul says again in Romans “that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us.”

(Please also note this promise is to us goyim only if we willingly join ourselves to the house of Israel and the house of Judah, and therein is a mouthful, or rather a book full, but let’s just say for now that we are very, very fortunate to be given the opportunity, which is only through the blood that ratifies the new covenant, that is the blood of Yeshua the Promised One, the Messiah of Israel.)

I would like to think that even now, he is writing his Law on my heart, but I know I have to be willing and obedient, and take the bad with the good, until such a time as I have completely turned my back on — repented of — the bad, and stuck myself like glue to the good.

“I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your seed may live, so that you may love Jehovah your God, and that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him.”

It looks like the rain outside my window has begun to let up a little — although I really hope not.

Inside out for Jesus

Don’t even think that I came to do away with the Law and the Prophets. I did not come to do away with them, but to fulfill.

What I hear a lot of the time from well-meaning Christians about that verse in Matthew is that Jesus fulfilled Torah (which is true, although they flinch a little when you say “Torah” rather than “the law”), but then they seem to sidetrack that by saying, in effect, that because he fulfilled the law, we now don’t have to, or something like that. He did it, so it’s taken care of, and we can move on to the next thing, such as being good Christians, whatever they think that means. Ask three different Christians what that means, and you’ll get at least five different answers. But — hello! — Jesus is telling us in this whole chapter what it takes to be “good Christians;” what constitutes being the salt and light. And it’s keeping every “jot and tittle” of the law.

Heaven and earth may disappear. But I promise you that not even a period or comma will ever disappear from the Law. Everything written in it must happen. If you reject even the least important command in the Law and teach others to do the same, you will be the least important person in the kingdom of heaven. But if you obey and teach others its commands, you will have an important place in the kingdom. You must obey God’s commands better than the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law obey them. If you don’t, I promise you that you will never get into the kingdom of heaven. [Olam Haba]

He then goes on to give a few more details about what it means to keep the mitzvot better than the most religious people around – and it all boils down to what’s going on in the heart. He has a lot to say in several places about doing the commandments by starting from the inside out – that it just plain doesn’t work when you try to do it any other way.

But, how can we do that, even? Can a leopard change its spots? Aren’t we like, bad inside, and can’t change that?

Well, yes we are, until we submit to God’s purpose in changing us, completely, on the inside, so that we can then be changed progressively from the inside out. This is what being “born again” means. It’s not a catchy phrase meaning “now I’m a Christian.” It’s a whole new, brand new start in life.

The prophet Ezekiel wrote “And I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you: I will take away the heart of stone from your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit in you, causing you to be guided by my rules, and you will keep my commandments and do them.”

Now, notice how many times God says “I will” in that verse. “I will… I will… I will.” Folks, we can’t do it, but he will. The apostle Paul gets a bad rap in a lot of places, but this holds true, if you can grasp it: “God is working in you to make you willing and able to obey him.”

But, there’s an “if” here, as there nearly always is. We have to submit to God’s will in this, and he says in the verse right before that, “at the name of Jesus everyone will bow down, those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. And to the glory of God the Father everyone will openly agree, ‘Jesus Christ is Lord!‘”

This is to do the work of God: to have faith in him whom God has sent.

Or as the prophet Isaiah said: “I invite the whole world to turn to me and be saved. I alone am God! No others are real. I have made a solemn promise, one that won’t be broken: Everyone will bow down and worship me. They will admit that I alone can bring about justice. Everyone who is angry with me will be terribly ashamed and will turn to me. I, the LORD, will give victory and great honor to the people of Israel.”

God says, “I invite.” He doesn’t force us. I’m not here, and neither is he, to twist your arm into believing that Jesus Christ, Mashiach Yeshua ha-Natzeri, is Hashem revealed in human form. It’s your choice, my friend, whether to accept this, or not.

Sheep rule, Goats drool!

The Lord promised the descendants of Jacob through the prophets that when they became sheep scattered all over the mountains of Israel, he* would raise up a true shepherd who would regather them into a place of safety. Now, mind you – he was speaking to Israel at that time. No goyim need apply.

So when Yeshua comes along, it makes sense that he tells the first goy-lady he meets that he hadn’t come for her, but for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. It wasn’t that he was being heartless – she did get what she came for – but he had to make his purpose clear to everyone. And please notice that sheep are still sheep, even when they’re lost. But goats are not sheep. Only sheep are sheep, and Yeshua came for the sheep. No goats need apply.

And when he first issued instructions to his followers to go out and preach, he told them to stay away from goyim and Samaritans (did you ever meet a Samaritan? me, neither), but to go to the lost sheep of Israel.

Then we read the great sheepfold lecture of John chapter 10 — where he says that there is a sheep pen, and that he is the entrance to that sheep pen, and he also is the shepherd of the sheep.

Now, are you with me here — who are the sheep? If you said the descendants of Jacob (aka the Jews), then I thank God that I haven’t put you to sleep yet. If you said something else, why are you still reading?

But then he took a turn and said “There are other sheep which belong to me that are not in this sheep pen. I must bring them, too.” What other sheep? Ah, that’s where we goyim get in on the deal! Of course, not all goyim get to become sheep, but at least there was something in the plan all along to let us into the sheep pen. Through the door. Not any other way. And we sure as ‘ell don’t get to kick any of the original sheep out!

If you don’t know what I meant with that last comment, and if you haven’t yet caught on, then let me tell you that far too many “Christians” say that “the Church” has supplanted or superseded or replaced or somehow knocked into second place “the Jews” in God’s plans for this world. Big, big mistake. (For all you learned theologians out there, this is what is called “replacement theology,” but then all you learned theologians out there already knew that.)

I wasn’t around in 1947 or 1948, but from what I understand, many Christians a generation or two ago who bought into this load of – excuse me – figured that there obviously was no way the Jews would ever get their land back, let alone their original place in God’s favor. I’m not sure how they explained what happened next; if they were honest with themselves, they radically re-adjusted their theology. But we hardly ever do that, do we?

(*by the way, if anyone objects to my not capitalizing the Divine Pronoun, tell them to get over it — I am merely following the Biblical practice. On the other hand, whenever I do Capitalize, and someone sees an inconsistency in that, tell them to quit being so religious.)

Jesus said, “What can I compare God’s kingdom with?”

“…It is like what happens when a woman mixes yeast into three batches of flour. Finally, all the dough rises.”

Jesus taught the Jewish people about the kingdom of God, but much of it was hidden in the form of parables. There are many things regarding the kingdom of God that are hard to grasp for the average Joe. So then, there are also many different understandings of what it’s all about.

I was writing last time about the kingdom of God in us being an amazing vertical relationship. (“In us” — now there’s a mouthful right there!) It’s for His own good pleasure, and also for our benefit. “Stop being afraid, little flock, because your Father is delighted to give to you the kingdom.”

But at the same time God is not a pushover. He wants His will His way. Or as I was saying, complete submission to the Creator brings fullness of joy. I’m talking about living and dwelling in God, being saturated with His power and having His life infused in and through us, and radiating out from us.

Something totally different from the things in the past that we call religion.

There are a few basic requirements, though, starting with a sticky little thing called “repentance.” All that means is changing your mind about everything, in such a way that it changes everything you do. That’s all. Not much. Just everything.

But at this point, I’m getting into what is commonly and rightly known as “the gospel of salvation.” How we can be released from the power of sin and of darkness, so that we can then be transferred into the kingdom of the Son of God. How we can have forgiveness of sins, and then a whole new life, through the shed blood of Jesus, God’s own sacrificial lamb.

There are plenty of places where you can hear this. However my purpose here was to write about how the kingdom of God is, in an outwardly visible way, the kingdom — the rightful rule — of Jesus, Son of David, Yeshua ben David. And how this is completely tied up with the restoration of the people of Israel, the descendants of Jacob the grandson of Abraham, to their rightful preeminence in the affairs of man. And how all we goyim better sit up and pay attention to what is even now happening in Israel, and in the lives of Jews across the globe. How all along, we goyim have been the bottom of that two man pole, and we should begin to recognize that, and also be okay with it.

And, if you’ve heard of something called “the rapture,” you can forget all about that, too. I’ll let that sink in a little before I say some more. In the meanwhile, is there anything you’d like to say?

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not about dying and going to heaven

I had written an earlier post in this spot, but since that time I’ve seen over and over again where well meaning believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have been caught up short when speaking with Jews who rightly point out that God’s purpose for us is to live righteously in this present world, not muddle through this life in order to go to heaven when we die. And why are we so looking forward to death? Death is a thief and a robber.

Jesus came to give us life, but the only way we can have life is by doing the complete and perfect will of God. And it was only He who accomplished the work of living perfectly and righteously before God in this world who then became qualified to pass that ability on to all who come to him through faith.

I began to realize that I could never say enough about this in a blog post, so I’ve put this discussion in a separate page here. And yet I know that I can never say enough about this in a blog page, or in an entire blog, but we all have to start some place. Since there isn’t a spot to comment on a WordPress page as far as I can tell, I welcome your comments, corrections, or challenges under this post. Just don’t expect me to argue with you much about it. Sometimes one just has to put forth “the foolishness of preaching” for them that choose to believe.

Ts’daka, shalom, v’chedvah b’Ruach Haqodesh