Articles & Answers
The awesome and deeply profound book of Hebrews (Iv’riym) begins with a revelation of the Son—not only of His divine preeminence, but of His Deity. In other words, the Son of God—Yeshua—is God. Yet it is not the Son’s deity alone which makes Yeshua perfect. Surprisingly, as we learn in Hebrews chapter 2, there was something that at one time even God couldn’t do. That’s why the Son’s perfection comes through His humanity.
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Perhaps one of the most awe-inspiring pieces of writing in all of Scripture—and more than worthy of this new series—is the anonymous letter to a group of Messianic Jews, commonly known as the book of Hebrews (Iv’riym). The letter is believed to have been written in 69 AD, shortly before the destruction of the Temple and during a time of continuing oppression and persecution of the believers. In it, the author aims to encourage and strengthen his fellow Jewish believers who were having difficulty staying true to their brand-new, Messianic faith, and does this by expertly building a case for having complete trust in the author and perfecter of that faith: Yeshua.
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Does the Bible teach that baptism is necessary for salvation? We know that Yeshua considers it important and normative for the believer, but is it necessary? Let us consider 1 Keifa (Peter) chapter 3, as arguably the strongest passage in favor of this position. For the purposes of this article, we will assume that baptism is immersion, as it is consistently depicted in the Scriptures.
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Judaism teaches that the idea of a man being God—especially the man Yeshua—is in total conflict with the Hebrew Scriptures. Indeed, so staunchly is this believed that the translators of the Jewish Publication Society Tanakh (JPS) seemingly went to some lengths to reinterpret specific Scriptures, obscuring the plain sense that would otherwise overtly hint at a Messiah who is, in fact, God.
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Within Judaism, Messianic Judaism, Jewish Roots, and every adjacent movement, it is universally accepted and taught without question that God gave the Torah to Israel on Shavuot. As such, it is widely held that our observance of Shavuot should also commemorate the receiving of the Torah because that momentous event occurred on the very same date as the Feast. But is it true? Was the Torah really given on Shavuot? Is such an assertion actually biblical? And if not, how should that effect our understanding and celebration of one of the major Feasts of Israel? Read more
When we come to Yeshua for salvation from our sin, it is because we have realized our deep, eternal need, and the great treasure and benefit in accepting what He’s offering. Along with this salvation, God then grants us His generous and gracious gifts, not the least of which is His faithful and unending love. The knowledge and reality of Yeshua’s sacrifice fills and touches us in our inmost being, producing thoughts and feelings of appreciation, gratitude, thankfulness, passion, and profound, overflowing joy. This is the Jesus that most believers know and are more than happy to follow—the one who loves abundantly and gives generously; the one who is gentle and lowly in heart; the one whose yoke is easy and burden is light.
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When we believe in Yeshua and come to Him for salvation from our sins, we also receive the down-payment for that salvation through the gift of the Ruach HaQodesh (the Holy Spirit). But the Spirit does not connect and interact with us so that He can just live quietly and inactively within us—nor to be the object of our euphoric fixation or ecstatic zeal—but so that we can fully proclaim the Good News of Yeshua in power.
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The means and methods by which the Holy Spirit—the Ruach HaQodesh—connects and interacts with us are described in the Scriptures in multiple different ways. Though related, these descriptions do have distinctions, and noting the differences can help us get a clearer picture of how the Spirit operates, how we can be receptive to that interaction, and how His connection to us empowers us to live spiritually in Messiah. Here is a very brief overview of those interactions.
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In the unseen, intangible, yet very real spiritual world intersecting with our material one, God works through His unique and set-apart Holy Spirit—the Ruach HaQodesh. As followers of Messiah, it is essential to learn about the Ruach for our understanding of how to live spiritually in the Master. We need the Ruach HaQodesh in order to latch us to the risen Yeshua, anchor us to our Creator, and make real in our hearts and minds the guarantee of our salvation. Read more
Imagine an entire generation of believers in Yeshua whose testimony was simply this: “I came to know Yeshua at a very young age. And because of that, I’ve never walked in sin or the ways of the world, and I’ve completely devoted myself to Him all the days of my life.” Can you imagine what a generation like that could accomplish for God? And yet, in far too many ways, believers today look and act just like the world. Why? Read more
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