“You know that He appeared in order to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen Him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as He is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of Elohim appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of Elohim makes a practice of sinning, for Elohim’s seed abides in Him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of Elohim. By this it is evident who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of Elohim, nor is the one who does not love his brother.” 1 John 3:5-10

In all my reading, in all my study, no one i know would disagree with the idea presented here by John. John who was the only one of the twelve to be at the foot of the cross. Yahoshua, as He hung on that stake looks down at him as he stands next to his earthly mother, Mary, and said, “‘Woman, behold, your son!’ Then He said to (John) His disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’ And from that hour the disciple (John) took her to his own home.” This relationship between Yahoshua and John was a special bond it cannot be denied. Therefore, we should consider his words. Many will say that they do that it is Scripture but proceed to hold the letters of Paul above the letters of John. Mainly because it is easy to interpret Paul as excusing sin. Which Peter himself recognized, Peter another of the twelve writes in one of his letter, “And count the patience of our Adonai as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Adonai and Savior Yahoshua Messiah.” 2 Peter 3:15-18

Paul himself writes to the Ephesians, “So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Messiah.” Ephesians 4:14-15 — So, therefore let us conclude the matter by defining two words, sin and truth. What is sin and what is truth? In order to not be blown about by every wind of doctrine we must understand what sin is and what truth is . . . Without these definitions the warnings given about following false doctrine become increasingly more dangerous. This is why we cannot expect any definition that is outside of Scripture itself.

To drive this point home lets look at what Paul writes to Timothy a young pastor. “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Messiah Yahoshua. All Scripture is breathed out by Elohim and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of Elohim may be complete, equipped for every good work.” The things learned from childhood within the sacred writings is the Torah, the Tanakh, the books of the law and prophets. It is also these books that Paul tells Timothy, “All Scripture . . . Profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness.” He wasn’t referring to his letter or any of his letters for that matter. Do i hold to the teachings in what is known today as the New Testament, Yes, but i hold them in light of the Tanakh, as they point to the same Messiah that is revealed in the sacred writings.

This brings us to the definition of truth as Paul says, “Speaking truth in love.” What is truth? In John 17 we read the Highly Priestly prayer of Yahoshua and He says, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your Word is TRUTH.” Who’s word? Elohim’s word is Truth, Yahoshua was praying that we be set apart by the WORD of TRUTH, the writings of the Torah, and the Prophets. And so then what of sin? Sin is as John writes, “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.” The word law is Torah so the word here is sin is Torahlessness. So if speaking truth is speaking the Torah and living without Torah is lawlessness than the doctrine we are to live by is found in the Torah.

Some will raise the idea that the Jerusalem council, the earliest council, gave the gentiles only a few things to observe. “Abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.” They see this as a final seal of approval on the gentiles. We, however, need to consider the entirety of the meeting. What was going on in its totality. The debate was to put upon them a yoke that they nor their fathers were able to bear. Much of the discussion was on extra things added on by the Priests and Rabbi’s over time. As is summed up by James final statement, “For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.” (For context you will find the full entry in Acts 15:1-33) — It was assumed, that these new gentile believers would be attending synagogue on the Sabbath. And in deed they did and formed the Sect of the Nazarene. These Nazarene’s were later persecuted, and kicked out of the synagogue because of their belief in Yahoshua as the Messiah. To which they formed house churches that still held to the Sabbath until the 2nd or 3rd century.

Because of this misunderstanding many wrongly say that the Torah is too hard to keep. Well, then Elohim is a liar, “For this commandment I give you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off.” Deuteronomy 30:11 — And John is a false teacher, “By this we know that we love the children of Elohim, when we love Elohim and obey His commandments. For this is the love of Elohim, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” 1 John 5:2-3 —

So what then shall we do as believers in Yahoshua Messiah? “Abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.” As well we should, “For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.” Attend a church that proclaims the whole of Elohim’s word and holds true to its teachings. You should begin to honor the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. You should begin to look at the difference between man’s tradition and Elohim’s instruction. It is an exciting journey. However, be warned, it is also difficult and narrow but in the end completely worth it.

This is me speaking the truth in love, Love Elohim with your whole heart and do your best to obey His commandments. Grow in grace and knowledge by studying the whole of Elohim’s Word, tear out that dividing page in your Bible that says New Testament on it and read it as one collection of divinely inspired books that point to one Elohim and one Savior Yahoshua Messiah.

You are loved,
cj