Messiah Mitzvot Part 2
Messiah Mitzvot • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Precept Two
Precept Two
In the first part of this series, we discovered the first precept of the Christ was to “Follow”. In the Hebrew concept of His day this was directly related to understanding what it meant to be “Born Again”. It is to be re-formed or fashioned in the image and likeness of God as in Genesis 2:7. In fact, we see this conceptual pattern in John’s teachings as well.
If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.
No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.
We see the word “practice” here is ‘asa עָשָׂה meaning to do, accomplish, labor or manufacture. It implies to live by a pattern (bana בָּנָה to build, rebuild, establish or make permanent).
Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
This brings us to the second precept Yeshua requires of those who “Follow” or are “Born Again” through Him to the Father. This second precept has been so redefined in American Christianity, of which I do not subscribe. We are not to follow a cultural religion or ideology. We “Follow the Christ”. See if you recognize this next precept?
He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”
The second precept is to “believe”. There are different concepts of “believing”. One might say, “I believe in hurricanes,” because they have experienced one in their lifetime. This is more of a mere intellectual concept of believing. Then there is the perspective of a personal persuasion. One might say, “I believe that vanilla ice cream is way better than chocolate.” Or something like, “I am convinced that ice cream is bad for you altogether.” Then there is the less tangible concept of believing that says, “I don’t care what the weatherman says, I believe it is going to rain because my nose itches.” This is more of a ideological or philosophical concept of believing. But are any of these what Yeshua meant when He calls us to “believe”?
The first problem with each of these concepts of believing is that their source of truth stems from the fleshly and emotional presuppositions of our appetites, desires, and human intellect. They are all passive in nature and require nothing of evidence or sacrificial commitment by the beholder.
True Biblical believing is extremely active according to Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Look at what Yeshua says about actively believing then we will look at it in actual context.
And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.”
Yeshua says this as a reply to a desperate father whose son is being tortured by demonic spirits. Yeshua’s reference to “all things” pertains to those things that are of the Kingdom of God and the will of the Father. The man’s request is out of a loving desperation for his son. Look at the boy’s father’s reply:
Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
Notice he is saying, “I believe but I also have unbelief. Help my unbelief as I seek to believe.” He is crying out from the depths of his soul to truly believe who Yeshua is, not just what He can do for him in the moment. Yeshua is not asking if the man simply believes what Jesus can do but it is a question of believing who He is, the Messiah. So, it is imperative that we have Yeshua’s concept of “believe”.
The dictionary definition is often a summary of most Christians belief today. It says that “to believe” is that one considers it to be true or one considers the evidence and accepts it as one’s own opinion. Well that is pretty safe and relative isn’t it? The dictionary dare not make an absolute statement about what is to be absolute cause then it might be true.
In Exodus God makes this statement about His desire for Israel:
“that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”
The statement is about Israel believing who their God is in contrast to the numerous pagan gods of Egypt. Before making this statement, God had commanded Moses to grab a serpent by the tail and pick it up.
Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’ ” The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.”
And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand—
“that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”
So, was God’s reference to “believing” merely about overcoming fear, or disregarding the natural realm? No, it was about “knowing Him”.
The word used here is ‘aman אָמַן meaning to stand firm, trust, be faithful, to establish, build upon, to make permanent. But it has another interesting meaning that is “to be carried as one carries a child or reference to the one who carries the child”. It is like the dependency of a child. Did Jesus not say we had to come to Him as little children? What did He mean? We have to “believe”. This brings us back to this concept of being “Born Again”. When we are indeed born again in Christ, we are given the right to become children of God by being formed, fashioned, shaped into the likeness of the nature of Christ or “Born Again” to “Follow”. We “follow” or are reformed to the character of Christ Jesus. We have been “delivered” and are now carried as children of God in the hands of the Father. As we grow, we are to be guardians of the truth within our innermost being.
You have to guard the truth within your heart because this world, this life, and the Ha Satan will seek to snatch it away or choke it out just like he did in the Garden of Eden.
But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.
What good is it to have a strong belief in miracles but a weak belief in Christ. Your belief in what God can do for you is weakened by your lack of belief to live righteous. This is why you do not need to go through your life of following Jesus and have only a superficial, humanistic, religious, materialistic, hedonistic, or spiritualist concept of believing. If your “believing” is emotion based, intellectually based, naturalistically based, religiously or philosophically based, you are subject to be persuaded differently given the right threat or circumstances.
The Apostle Paul said this about his believing:
which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.
The Apostle Paul states that his belief is not in a something, an idea, or a religious concept, or an event, but his believing is who the Christ is. When the Apostle says he is “convinced” it means persuaded or resolved by conviction so strong that he is willing to stake his entire life on it.
So, the “believe” Yeshua is commanding us to embrace means to stake or surrender our life to this believing. To believe as He commands is to live it with your whole person, your whole life, for all of your days. If you believe, you are persuaded or convinced to the core of your being that it reforms, transforms, molds and shapes you to let your life look like His. You want to die to self and live a life that honors Him. This is the believing the Early Church and disciples embraced even to the point of death.
The believing Yeshua is asking for is to believe who He is. As He asked His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” If you truly believe who He is, it changes what you believe. What you believe changes who you are. Most of our beliefs are centered around ourselves, our opinions, feelings and wants. But when your belief is based on the Christ, it changes your entire worldview and the patterns of your life are transformed. You are “Born Again”. You “Follow” the Christ.
People in this world today do not need to just hear what you believe, they need to see what you believe. They need to see Him in you.
I have said this multiple times, “Do not tell me you believe something if you are not living it.” Believing is more than just a strong thought of self will. Often we turn the believing portion of faith into merely trying to will something into manifestation in the name of a religious idea. The problem with this kind of faith is that the source is not the will of God but your will. Real believing is not the power of positive thinking but the act of obedience to the will and ways of Adonai. Believing is an act of obedience. True Biblical or Scriptural believing is living the pattern and Christ is that pattern.
Abraham believed so he built an altar and prepared his son. Noah believed so he built a boat. Moses believed so he picked up the serpent by the tail. Three Hebrew children believed so they refused to bow. Daniel believed so he continued to pray. David believed so he prepared his sling. Peter believed so he stepped out of the boat. Jesus believed so he went to the cross. You believe so you stop sinning. You believe so you start giving. You believe so you start loving. You believe so you start serving. You believe so you stop making excuses. You believe so you start living you whole life differently.