If salvation is a reality in your life by faith, alone…works that substantiate, validated, authenticate, that saving faith will be produced through you by the indwelling Holy Spirit as “fruits of the Spirit”….it is by these fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-23) that the Father is glorified and evidence of your salvation is made manifest to the World. All law (spiritual and codified) is observed and obeyed through the production of Spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:23).
You are saved from the “second death” in Hell by faith (noun) alone….that saving faith (noun) is evidenced by faith (verb) that produces fruit as a result of the indwelling Holy Spirit who is gifted everyone who believes that Jesus is Messiah; this, by faith (noun) (Ephesians 1:13-14; Galatians 2:16).
Someone asked: “Why does the Scripture say that committing one sin makes you guilty of all?” (James 2:10) What alternative exists that makes one “right” with our Holy Creator?
Comment,
James 2:10 is complimented by Galatians 3:10 where we learn that the codified law (Sinai – Moses), in order to attain righteousness (a right standing) with the Father through law-keeping, the law must be kept, obeyed, in absolute perfection (James 2:10) because Elohim is Perfect in Holiness and Righteousness and NOTHING impure will ever enter the Kingdom (Rev 21:27); herein lies the human conundrum, everyone born of Adam’s genome has sinned and fallen short of Elohim’s standard of perfection (Romans 5:12; 3:23).
Therefore, anyone who seeks eternal covenant relationship with Elohim through law-keeping is under a “curse” (Galatians 3:10) because the law only defines our culpability but provides no form of reconciliation with the Father through atonement as mandated by Leviticus 17:11 (Romans 3:20); therefore, the Father, in His mercy and compassion and grace, offers us the righteousness- sinless perfection of His Son, Jesus Christ; this righteousness apart from the law (Romans 3:21); a gifted/imputed righteousness earned for us by Jesus’ perfection is imputed-gifted into and over our lives by faith in Jesus as our Messiah (2 Corinthians 5:21); a divine gifting of righteousness as first pictured in Genesis 3:21 which is an act of pure grace (unmerited favor we did NOT earn) actuated through the simplicity of faith-trust-belief that Jesus is Messiah who died to atone for our sin-debt owed the Father, a sin-debt we could never pay our self through vain acts of obedience to a law, rule, day or diet.
As a result of this gifted-imputed righteousness of Messiah Jesus over our life through faith in Jesus as our Messiah, the Father then agrees, by New Covenant promise, to forgive-forget our sin, eternally (Hebrews 8:12), thereby reconciling fallen humanity back to Himself as we are made “positionally right” with Elohim via New Covenant promise; then, the Father endows the faithful in Jesus with the indwelling Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14) who continues a good work within the redeemed via daily sanctification (Galatians 5:16) where the Spirit enlivens the Spiritual Law written upon the human heart (Romans 2:14-15; 8:2) and mates that Spiritual Law with a redeemed conscience i.e. “the new creation” in Messiah (2 Corinthians 5:17) and the Spirit produces divine “fruit” (Galatians 5:16-23) through the redeemed in Jesus, fruit that fulfills all law, both codified and spiritual; in this, there is eternal peace with Elohim (Romans 5:1).
Therefore, James 2:10 testifies that righteousness (a right standing) with Elohim (Genesis 1:1) is not possible through the law or vain attempts to obey same but that righteousness with Elohim can only manifest through faith in the “Righteous One,” Jesus our Messiah, and this righteousness is gifted-imputed by New Covenant promise and said righteousness cannot be earned through self-righteousness and anyone who seeks covenant with Elohim through self-righteousness is “cursed” (Galatians 3:10).
What is the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Why the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
The Gospel or the “Good News,” its purpose and intent is provided us in Genesis 1-3; John 3; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 2:8-9.
For brevity’s sake, the “Good News” concerning Jesus our Messiah begins “before Time began” (2 Timothy 1:8-10) as our Creation, matter constrained by Time and physics, is the result of an unfathomable rebellion that manifest in the Kingdom of Elohim; a rebellion initiated by a narcissistic, anointed, cherub angel (Ezekiel 28:11+); to make matters worse, one-third of Elohim’s cherished angelic creation followed the rebellious cherub angel in an angelic coup d’état (Revelation 12).
The Creation Narrative (Genesis 1) manifest in response to the angelic coup d’état this coup necessitating a repository for that Kingdom War apart from the Kingdom of Elohim where nothing impure is permitted to exist (Luke 10:18; Rev 21:27). Currently, Elohim is dealing with the Great War that rages through us (Ephesians 6) and around us as every human conflict, every war is rooted in the spiritual.
Elohim commissioned the Son, Jesus our Messiah (John 3:35) and Creator (Genesis 1; John 1; Hebrews 1; Colossians 1), to procure elements from the unseen Spiritual Realm and fashion those elements into matter that can be apprehended by life constrained by Time and physics (Hebrews 11:3). All that we see and perceive with the human eye, the human sensory capabilities, and all that we’re unable to see physically yet is constrained by physics/Time, these find their origin in the Spiritual Realm. This is why the Darwninist-Evolutionist, the Physicist, the Anthropologist, the Cosmologist, will never define origin of life or matter.
In Genesis 3, in response to the Heavenly coup d’état and Adam’s compromise with evil at the behest of his wife via Satan, Elohim draws-out a “battle plan” for us in Genesis 3:15-21. Elohim tells us that an anointed One will enter the Realm of Time via the virgin seed of the woman and do battle with the rebellious cherub angel we know as Satan or Lucifer and the Warrior will be victorious over Satan as crushing the head of the serpent while the serpent would bruise Messiah’s heal (Genesis 3:15).
Elohim’s divine battle strategy, the Gospel,
It is duly noted in the First Epistle of John that Messiah’s primary reason for entering the Realm of Time was “to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8b). Elohim, immediately subsequent enacting a declaration of war against Satan in Genesis 3:15, provides humanity with a word picture of the divine “battle strategy” He would employ to defeat Satan at Golgotha; that is, Genesis 3:21 where Elohim, Himself, sheds innocent blood and clothes sinful Adam and Eve in an imputed “robe of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 5:21) while Elohim rejects Adam’s attempt to cover his own sin and shame by the works of his hands via fig leaves (Ephesians 2:8-9).
The Gospel made applicable in Time,
The entirety of Scripture, from Genesis 3 forward, is the eschatological plan of Elohim to introduce His Messiah into the World who would “destroy the works of the devil” via the Gospel, the “Good News of Victory” and offer the “spoils of war” to humanity via the redemption from sin provided through the Gospel of Grace; that is, Jesus Christ who entered the World via the virgin womb (Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23) and thereby circumvented the sin-nature of Adam’s genome and Jesus walked blamelessly before the Father, the Spirit, humanity, and Jesus shed His innocent blood as blood atonement for our sin, our rebellion, in accordance with the divine mandates of Leviticus 17:11 and through Messiah’s faithfulness He destroyed the works of the devil i.e. death, Hell, the grave while simultaneously providing a divine Path to eternal life with the Father by faith in Jesus as our Messiah (John 3; Matthew 26-28); essentially, the perfection and righteousness of Jesus is imputed-gifted into the life of the one who believes Jesus is Messiah who died for them; this, in exchange for our sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). This “great exchange” is the Gospel or “Good News” of Jesus Christ who conquered death, Hell, the grave, sin, for sinful humanity and freely offers us His perfection-righteousness imputed-gifted into our lives by faith in Him as Messiah and the Father agrees by New Covenant promise to declare us “not guilty” and welcome us into His Kingdom as children of Elohim (Hebrews 8:7).
In conclusion,
Therefore, the Gospel of Jesus our Messiah has manifest in Time as a battle strategy to destroy the works of the Devil as Elohim strives to maintain volitonal love with His cherished angelic creation that did not follow Satan in the angelic coup d’état ; in addition, as an example of Elohim’s selfless, unfathomable, divine love, the Gospel is a strategy of reconciliation between Elohim and sinful humanity whereby Elohim destroyed the works of Satan, death-Hell-the grave and offers humanity eternal reconciliation with Him by faith; this, further demonstrating to the faithful angelic creation the enteral benefits of obedience, sacrifice, holiness, purity, righteousness contrasted with the unsustainable attributes of narcissism, arrogance, self-righteousness. This 7000-years of contrasting the sustainability of holiness and righteousness v. defilement and disobedience will also act as an eternal bulwark against future rebellion in the Kingdom of Elohim, the New Jerusalem, as free will exists in the Kingdom by necessity.
Judaistic-Islamist-Religionist misunderstanding relevant to Messiah’s words “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.” John 14:15
What does Jesus say immediately following John 14:15?
“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, who will stay with you forever. He is the Spirit, who reveals the truth about God. The world cannot receive him, because it cannot see him or know him. But you know him, because he remains with you and is in you.”John 14:16-17
Discussion,
First of all, Jesus IS NOT advocating for or teaching a works based religion or salvation by works in John 14:15 nor is Jesus suggesting that obeying His commands engenders eternal security.
Jesus was speaking to a transitional audience that had lived under the law covenant now transitioning to the Covenant of Grace (New Covenant) and Jesus said that if these former slaves to the written code (Romans 7:6; Romans 6:14) loved Him, they would honor and obey what He has told them, taught them, during His 3.5-year Earthly ministry and in order for these former slaves serving a dead law covenant to actually obey Messiah’s message, they must first comply with the Father’s will and honor Him as Messiah (John 6:29), receive the indwelling Holy Spirit who would remind them of everything Jesus had taught over those years (John 14:26); therefore, if one desires to honor Jesus’ teaching ministry and the edicts He provided, they must first honor the Father by faith in the Son (John 6:29), receive the indwelling Holy Spirit as Guarantor of that New Covenant relationship (Ephesians 1:13-14) and walk by the Spirit in daily sanctification (Galatians 5:16) thereby allowing the Spirit to produce fruit through the redeemed conscience (Galatians 5; 2 Corinthians 5:17) of the faithful in Jesus; this obedience manifests through the spiritual law written upon the heart (Romans 8:2; Romans 2:14-15) as per New Covenant promise (Hebrews 10:16).
Jesus’ “commandments” are fulfilled by walking in obedience to the indwelling Holy Spirit during daily sanctification, sanctification manifesting subsequent salvation by faith and NOT by chasing after letters from a dead covenant of works (Hebrews 8:7) that only defines sin and demanded obedience from a sin nature that could never comply and provided no hope of atonement or life (Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16).
It is the devil, himself, that indwells the blind legalist and hides this truth from the Judaistic – Islamist – Religionist legalist that prowls these forums seeking to enslave the servants of Messiah with cult practices (2 Corinthians 4:4).
"RickeyD" Holtsclaw 