Holding Fast to Your Faith in Yeshua

Israel had just been mightily redeemed and delivered from Egypt. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had done as He had promised: He saved his people from slavery, brought them safely through the Red Sea, and soundly destroyed their enemy through powerful signs and wonders. Yet in no time, barely started on their desert journey, the people found themselves unable to trust in their self-evident Savior. Already, they were threatening and grumbling against God’s man Moses because they were without water. So God instructed Moses to strike a rock with his staff, producing a miraculous outpouring from which the people could drink. Moses then called that place Massah and Meribah (Exodus 17:7)—meaning “testing” and “provoking”—because they had tested and provoked God through their unbelief of His presence and power.
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How a Perfect Yeshua Did What God Could Not

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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The Most Excellent Son

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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Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation?

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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How the Holy Spirit Changes Our Lives

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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How the Holy Spirit Connects With Us

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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Who Is the Spirit of Truth?

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

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Yes, Yeshua’s Disciples Violated the Shabbat

The Master Yeshua clearly stated that one of His purposes for coming as the Messiah was to teach, uphold, and fulfill the Torah (Matthew 5:17-19). Yet not only do many believers maintain just the opposite, but some also believe that Yeshua condoned breaking and violating the Shabbat (Sabbath)—just as the Pharisees accused Him. Let’s see if that’s true. Read more

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6 Non-negotiable Beliefs for Uniting in Messiah

Our generation of Messiah-followers is in crisis. Plagued by division, bizarre beliefs, and the overall watering-down of the Bible, we simply cannot afford to take the fundamentals of our faith for granted. So in order to determine if we can walk together as brothers and sisters in Messiah, here are six areas of non-negotiable belief that identify whether we share an essential, biblical faith.

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Introduction to Bible Translations

Q: I was curious, which English Bible translation do you find to be the most accurate? Is there a correct / accurate Hebrew / English Bible translation? Is there a good Hebrew Bible Dictionary other than the Strong’s? Is there a Messianic Jewish Commentary that I can trust? Any advice or guidance will help. Thank you.

A: These are all great questions—thank you for asking!

As you probably already know, he Scriptures were written in Hebrew (some in Aramaic) and Greek. So when we read the Scriptures in English, we are reading a translation. By definition, this means that no translation can be absolutely “correct.” A translation requires more than just the conversion of individual words. Concepts and connotations need to be understandable by the receiving audience. The various Bible translations fall along a spectrum between literal and paraphrase. A literal translation attempts to convey the original meanings of words and phrases. A paraphrase focuses on the translation of original ideas and concepts. Many modern translations attempt to preserve a certain level of what is called “dynamic equivalence” with the source texts, trying to strike a balance between the literal and paraphrase ends of the spectrum. Read more

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