Posted on 12/08/2018 3:15:49 PM PST by RoosterRedux
That is the hardest thing to break free of.
Your self.
Phinneous -- The God I serve is a Jew. He loves me unconditionally and by His grace, I love Him. The theologian who I respect more than any other is a Rabbi named Paul aka Saul of Tarsus. He wrote most of the New Testament (NT); you've already told me you reject the NT - I understand.
The following is a teaching from Rabbi Saul - a teaching I believe because it resonates in my heart and it reflects my reality:
"What then? Are we (Jews) any better (than Gentiles)? Not at all. For we have already made the charge that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin. As it is written (re: Psalm 14): “There is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away; they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The venom of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and of bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery lie in their wake; and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Now we know that whatever the Law says, it says to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be justified in His sight by works of the Law. For the Law merely brings awareness of sin. But now, apart from the Law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, as attested by the Law and the Prophets. And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. God presented Him as an atoning sacrifice through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand. He did this to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and to justify the one who has faith in Jesus. Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of works (doing the law)? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised (the Jews) by faith and the uncircumcised (Gentiles) through that same faith. Do we, then, nullify the Law by this faith? Certainly not! Instead, we uphold the Law.
I would encourage you to find a Messianic fellowship and 'listen' with your heart's ear. I look forward to when Israel will embrace its Messiah (it's נסיך השלום ). Rabbi Saul says that that day will be like resurrection from the dead. I believe it.
Shalom my friend.
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