Experience: (1) Jesus is LORD, Messiah
(2) Husband of a beautiful wife (40-years); Father of three-beautiful children.
(3) United States Marine Corps 1/1 - 0311 - NCO
(4) Retired 31-year veteran of the Houston Police Department (Patrol-Motorcycle Officer-Commercial Helicopter Police Patrol Pilot)
(5) Education: Master's Degree/University of Houston at Clear Lake
View all posts by RickeyD →
Jesus advises to enter through the “narrow gate” leading to life; therefore, you must acknowledge the “Gate Keeper”….
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.” Matthew 7:13 (NASB)
If one desires to enter the “narrow gate,” they must do the Father’s will and the Father’s will comes with no exception, no addendums or self-righteousness…
Fasting and works and obedience and Sabbaths and Temples and Rabbis and self-righteousness in law-keeping will NOT earn you passage through the “narrow gate” nor will these works of self-righteousness earn you the Father’s forgiveness or even His attention; in fact, until you have done the Father’s will through the Son, the Father does not listen to your prayers nor is your self-righteousness anything but filthy rags (John 9:31; Isaiah 64:6); for all intent and purposes, you are a dead-man walking as far as the Father is concerned (Ephesians 2:1).
If you desire the Father’s forgiveness and promises of life relevant to the New Covenant you must first enter into Covenant Relationship with Him through the Son, Jesus Christ, and become “family” by faith in the Father’s will as there is no other Way through the “narrow gate” (John 14:6).
Law v. Faith, the Father, Eternal Life, your choice…
If you desire to “live by the Commandments” and please the Father you must keep them in absolute perfection; otherwise, you are cursed and condemned (Deuteronomy 27:26; Galatians 3:10); unfortunately for you, you’ve already violated the Law, the Commandments, as you’re a sinner by nature (Romans 3:23; Romans 5:12); therefore, you are guilty of violating the entire Law (James 2:10); therefore, your only hope for life in the Kingdom of God is acknowledging your sin before the Father, acknowledging your need for a Redeemer and confessing-believing-trusting with a sincere heart Jesus Christ as your Lord-Messiah-Redeemer who died for you to pay your sin-debt owed the Father and thereby receive His righteousness and perfection through perfect obedience to the Law imputed into your life by grace (unmerited favor) through faith and enter into covenant relationship with the Father (John 3; 1 John 2:23) and receive the indwelling Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1;13-14) who will guide you daily in God’s will through sanctification (Galatians 5:16); this eternal relationship elicits righteous behavior through the Spirit via the conscience that actually pleases the Father as you’re now His child and you are His family by covenant promise (Hebrews 8:12; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
The Legalist-Jew-Israelite-Religionist…a burden to the Kingdom of God…
Why do you people obfuscate and not “think” and reason? … Because you’re not born of the Spirit but of self-righteousness.
Christianity, those born again by faith in Jesus as Lord, is controlled by the Holy Spirit and not the condemnation and hopelessness of law (Romans 8; Romans 3:20-23; Galatians 3:10; Galatians 2:16).
The Spirit who indwells the faithful in Messiah Jesus controls the heart and administers the will of the Father in the lives of the redeemed through the conscience…this is NOT enslavement to laws, edicts, customs, days, food, temples, traditions (Romans 6:14)…this is intimacy with our Creator through faith having established covenant relationship that endures forever (Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 8:12; John 3).
The New Covenant established in Messiah Jesus’ blood (Matthew 26:28) is forgiveness and peace with our God through relationship not enslavement (Romans 5:1). Your law is for the lawless (1 Timothy 1:9), not those who have received the imputed righteousness of Jesus by faith (Romans 6:14). You weary me, significantly. You are a burden to the Kingdom.
Commandment Keeping in the New Covenant. Revelation 12:17; 14:12; 22:14
The Jew, Israelite, Hebrew Roots disciple, SDA, legalist, quote Greek Scripture denoting Commandment Keeping by “saints” as mandatory in the New Covenant and beyond…what is Truth?
Only those who are “saints” (holy ones) by faith via the imputed righteousness of Jesus as their Lord; these, having received the anointing of the Holy Spirit as Guarantor of covenant relationship with the Father by faith in Jesus will endure to the end and obey God’s will and LIVE (Ephesians 1:13-14; John 3; Matthew 24:13).
Moral Law, the foundation for the Law Covenant (Romans 2:14-15), is for the “lawless” by necessity as an arbiter of free will (1 Timothy 1:9); the Spirit’s leadership through sanctification in the New Covenant is spiritual law for the faithful who are led by the Spirit via the conscience in sanctification, those who have been set-apart by faith in Jesus from the lawless for life in Time and Eternity (Galatians 5:16).
Only those who possess the Holy Spirit possess the anointing to “obey” God’s will and receive God’s favorable acknowledgment for same. If you’re a Jew or an Israelite or a legalist who interpret Commandment Keeping Scripture from an unredeemed perspective i.e. you’re absent the Spirit by faith in Yeshua, your theology, your exegesis, your eschatology, is skewed and it is in error and impotent and you condemn yourself to a lifeless existence in Time and in Eternity in unbelief (John 8:24).
It’s your “choice,” life in the Spirit or death in a facade of Law Keeping void the Holy Spirit’s anointing (2 Corinthians 3:6; Romans 3:20; Galatians 3:10; Galatians 2:16).
What are “works of righteousness” – “good works” that honor the Father?
“Good works” are only possible through the Holy Spirit as our works are only interpreted by the Father from the vantage point of “relationship.” If you are not born again by faith in Jesus as Lord having established covenant relationship with the Father and you’re therefore absent the Holy Spirit, your works of self-righteousness are NOTHING to the Father – your works done in the flesh void the Holy Spirit are filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6); It’s NOT until such time you have become the Father’s child by faith in His Son that you become “family” and the works done by the anointing of the Spirit given the redeemed in Jesus become profitable; otherwise, you are an enemy of God irrespective of heritage, race, creed, color.
Works of condemnation…
Those who reject Jesus as Lord, rejecting the suffering and death of Messiah Jesus as blood atonement for their sin, are absent the Spirit and are therefore enemies of the Father; these will stand in the resurrection and Judgment of the Condemned and face adjudication in accordance with their “works” done in the body while constrained by Time…these will be adjudicated “guilty” and lose both body and soul in the “second death” in Hell as one’s “works” do not equate to “righteousness” with God (John 5:29; Revelation 20:11-15; John 3:18; Ephesians 2:8-9).
Works of righteousness…
Those who have trusted in Messiah Jesus as their Redeemer and LORD believing that Jesus died to pay their sin-debt owed the Father and have subsequently received the Holy Spirit as Guarantor of covenant relationship (John 3; Ephesians 1:13-14), these are declared “not guilty” by covenant promise (Hebrews 8:12) and they will NOT stand in the Judgment of the Condemned for sin but their “good works” of righteousness performed in the Spirit SUBSEQUENT to redemption will be judged at the BEMA Seat Judgment of Jesus Christ and these works will be tested for authenticity, rewards given for selfless works done in the Spirit and an absence of rewards for works done via selfishness and self-righteousness but they themself will be saved by covenant promise through their faith in Jesus as Lord.
The Accuser of the Brethren seeks Condemnation through legalism…a response,
Loyalty to the Father is love for the Son…the Father is NOT interested in Temples-Laws-Rules-Regulations-Days-Food…the Father is interested in your heart and your faithfulness and intimacy with Him in a loving and enduring relationship, forever.
The Father is not interested in Rome or Sunday or the Sabbath and He does not appreciate legalism and condemnation where it’s not warranted.
Jesus came to destroy the works of the Devil, the Accuser of the brethren (1 John 3:8b) and when you suggest that others must worship as you or align with what you consider to be holiness and righteousness, you err as the Father wants your heart and He knows that when your heart belongs to Him, your will and desires will follow. You chase after the irrelevant peripherals while missing the weightier will of the Father…love, intimacy, peace.
Why did Jesus reject the individuals and their “good works” done in Jesus’ Name?
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matthew 7 (NKJV)
Jesus is speaking to those who sought the Kingdom through works not faith. Jesus’ audience, the multitudes, were most likely overwhelmingly Jewish, those in attendance at the Sermon on the Mount, The Beatitudes, beginning in Chapter 5 of Matthew’s Gospel. This lesson immediately followed Jesus’ admonition that you would know His true followers by their fruit (v. 20).
What are the “works of righteousness” that honor the Father?
When works of righteousness are done in the flesh apart from having first established covenant relationship with the Father by faith in the Son and receiving the indwelling Holy Spirit as the anointing to perform those works…works done apart from the Father void relationship are equated to a bloody, smelly, menstrual cloth in God’s nose as they are works of unrighteousness as far as the Father is concerned.
Self-righteousness seeking God’s approval by works insults the Father and insults the suffering of His Son, Jesus Christ for our sin. These people in Messiah’s lesson sought the Kingdom by self-righteousness as they cited their works done in the Name of Jesus as sufficient for passage to the Kingdom but they were denied access because they never established covenant relationship by faith; therefore, Jesus said “I never knew you!”
So it will be with every soul of man who rejects the sole-sufficiency of Jesus Christ to save the soul by grace (unmerited favor) through faith (trust-belief) in Jesus as Lord apart from self-righteousness through human effort, good works, law-keeping.
Until such time an individual establishes covenant relationship with the Father through faith in the Son (John 3; 1 John 2:23), receives the indwelling Holy Spirit as Guarantor of that covenant (Ephesians 1:13-14), their works of self-righteousness offend the Father and upon death of the body in Time, Jesus will declare, I never knew you, away from Me you who work lawlessness (Ephesians 2:8-9)!
Did Jesus abolish the Law; after all, He told the young ruler to “keep the Commandments?”
A Christian’s explanation,
You must remember that the young man and Jesus were under Law; the Law was the focus of the prevailing covenant and Jews, Israelite’s, converts to Judaism, labored under Law in self-righteousness hoping to attain God’s favor but always fell short of the Law’s mandated perfection (Deuteronomy 27:26). The young man approached Jesus asking “what shall I do to have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16) and in response to the self-righteous intent of the inquiry, under Law, Jesus said “keep the Commandments.” What other response is expected from a Jewish Rabbi under Law? Jesus provided the young man the opportunity to find life through “faith” no less than twice as from The Beginning mankind has found righteousness (a right standing) with God by faith, not works-obedience-law keeping (Hebrews 11).
The examples of “faith” apart from works as Key to God’s heart are undeniably redundant in the Hebrew Scriptures yet those under the Covenant of Law missed or outright denied this most critical eternal truth by pursuing righteousness through Law via self-righteousness, pride, arrogance, self-sufficient superiority through religious heritage.
The young man, much like most every Jew, Israelite, SDA cult member, Hebrew Roots disciple, religionist, that comment in these forums, they believe in the veracity of the Law to save though many will boast that they’re faithful and Jesus is the Way but in reality, they’re conflicted, they’re compromised, they’re miserable, they’re failures, as they place one-foot in the Old Covenant of Law and one-foot in the New Covenant of Grace because they simply cannot find sufficient faith to let it go, to let go of self-righteousness through law keeping (Galatians 3) and allow the complete sufficiency of God’s grace (unmerited favor unattainable through human effort – a gift) through faith (trusting-believing) in Jesus as Lord who died for them to provide complete absolution from sin and guilt and Hell, forever, and by covenant promise (Epheians 1:13-14) allow the Holy Spirit to be their Law through the conscience via sanctification.
The moral law will NEVER pass away…
Once again, ad nauseam, the moral law of God, extant from eternity past, will NEVER pass away (Matthew 24:35) as it is an arbiter of free will and the moral law is of necessity to stymie human extinction in narcissism and as an arbiter of God’s justice through due process. Jesus never said the law was abolished but He, Himself, would fulfill it in all righteousness (Matthew 5:17) and that HIS righteousness in exchange for our sin would be available by faith to everyone who “believes” in Him as Lord (2 Corinthians 5:21; Matthew 26:28)…those who “believe” would NOT be judged (John 3:18) and that He is the only Way to life with the Father (John 14:6); this, apart from the Law of sin and death and condemnation i.e. hopelessness (Romans 8:2).
Commandment/Law Keeping – Self-Righteousness – Legalism – the Rich Young Ruler – the Gospel…a Christian perspective…
Jesus, born of the virgin seed to circumvent the sin-nature passed through Adam (Romans 5:21), fulfilled the moral mandates upon which the Sinai Commandments are based as Jesus is the Living Word and Messiah is also the fulfillment of all that the ceremonial-civil laws foreshadowed (John 1; Colossians 2:16). It is through His perfection that Messiah became the ONLY acceptable blood atonement for your sin (Acts 4:12; John 3; John 14:6; Matthew 26:28).
The moral law under girding the Law Covenant will never pass away (Matthew 24:35) as it has been relevant as an arbiter of free will from the creation of the angels forward (Romans 2:14-15). This same moral law judged Satan and under girded his extrication from the Kingdom (Luke 10:18) which initiated the creation of our Universe, Time, physics, as a repository (Genesis 1); this same moral law judged the Adamic and Noahic generations where all perished in water save eight; this same moral law is the foundation for the Sinai Commandments as Elohim codified, in stone, specific aspects of the moral law concerning Israel’s affiliation with paganism that inundated the Tribes and as a bulwark against same.
The Sinai Commandments given specifically to the Hebrew Tribes and converts to Judaism are NOTHING NEW or novel…just a reiteration of the moral law with specificity, that moral law having been written in the heart of every human being created in the likeness of Elohim as a communicable attribute (Genesis 1:26-28).
Concerning the Rich Young Ruler and Commandment keeping (Matthew 19:16-22),
The rich young ruler approached Jesus and asked him what He MUST DO to inherit eternal life suggesting that he was sufficiently righteous in and of himself to earn God’s forgiveness. Jesus had previously provided the young man a path to eternal life by asking why he called Jesus “good” as no one is “good” but God; in this, Jesus asked the young man if he recognized Jesus as God which would have been the KEY to eternal life (John 8:24) but the young man did not recognize Jesus; therefore, Jesus said…if you want to earn eternal life, “keep the Commandments” The young man, in his self-righteousness” stated that he had kept the Commandments at which time Jesus proceeded to demonstrate to him that he had NOT kept the Commandments by telling the young man if he wanted to be perfect (righteous), go and give his possessions away and come and “Follow ME!”
Again, Jesus provided the young man a path to Eternal Life through belief-faith in Jesus as Messiah but the young man walked away sad because he loved his wealth more than God; in this, Jesus demonstrated that the young man had violated the Greatest Commandment to love God above all else and the one likened to it, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Conclusion,
Jesus knows we cannot keep the Commandments sufficiently to earn our own righteousness (Romans 3:20) as the Law mandates absolute perfection (James 2:10) and we’re sinners under the condemnation of sin (Romans 3:23); therefore, the Law curses anyone who seeks righteousness through it (Galatians 3:10).
The Father, in His unfathomable mercy, sent His Son, Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice for sin (John 3:16; 1 John 4:10) and through faith in Jesus as Lord mankind can receive the imputation of Jesus’ perfection/righteousness IMPUTED into the life of the one who believes by faith that Jesus is Lord and that He died to pay our sin-debt and through faith, the one receiving Jesus as their Lord is declared “not guilty” by the Father via covenant promise…this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21; John 3; Hebrews 8:12).
The Ten Commandments were given SPECIFICALLY to Israel and converts to Judaism as nine of the ten Commandments are based in the moral law of conscience relevant from the creation of the angels as an arbiter of free will (Romans 2:14-15). Elohim provided aspects of the moral law codified in stone with some specificity applicable to the unique needs of Israel’s children wandering through lands inhabited by pagan tribes worshiping pagan gods and almost continually seeking Israel’s compromise with idolatry; therefore, Elohim gave Israel’s children, the Hebrew Tribes, laws prohibiting behaviors practiced by the pagans surrounding them…behaviors that are especially abhorrent to Elohim and potentially directly impeded Elohim’s eschatological plans He would pursue through Israel; specifically, the introduction of Messiah who was to be a blessing to all the families of the Earth (Genesis 12:3b).
The Ten-Commandments are Israel’s exclusive property though my Messiah did infuse the moral aspects of the Decalogue into His ministry and added mens rea to enhance culpability via the thought life. With that said, the Christian does not cognitively or spiritually seek adherence to laws, rules, regulations, commandments, days, dietary edicts, but the Christian seeks obedience to God’s will through the indwelling Holy Spirit via the conscience via sanctification…(Romans 7:14).
"RickeyD" Holtsclaw 