Pleasing Elohim (Genesis 1:1) through works, behavior, obedience?
What is the KEY to pleasing our Creator and engendering New Covenant relationship with Him for Eternity?
Answer: RELATIONSHIP
The Biblical Truth is that mankind can strive, work, labor, to be sufficiently good, lawful, observant, and die in Hell in vain because until a man or woman initiates New Covenant RELATIONSHIP with the Father by faith in the Son (John 6:29), Jesus Christ, they are NOT family, they are not the recipient of New Covenant promise (Hebrews 8:12).
All that which humanity does and seeks and labors for concerning righteousness and appeasing the divine given conscience will ultimately culminate in vanity and chasing after the wind lest one becomes the Father’s child through faith, belief, in the Son and receives the indwelling Holy Spirit as Guarantor and the Seal of New Covenant relationship (John 3:5; Ephesians 1:13-14).
Jesus commands that we be “perfect” (Matthew 5:48); therefore, how does a sinner attain perfection and thereby please the Father?
If man was capable of keeping the Law unto perfection, Jesus died needlessly (Galatians 2:21); therefore, the only “perfection” offered mankind is the sinless perfection of Jesus gifted-imputed into the life of the one who “believes” by faith that Jesus is Messiah who died for them (John 3; 2 Corinthians 5:21) thereby initiating New Covenant promise of forgiveness (Hebrews 8:12) and subsequently a life lived through the indwelling Holy Spirit via daily Christian sanctification (Ephesians 1:13-14; Galatians 5:16), a life producing divine “fruit” that honors the Father (John 15:8) and fruit that will endure the BEMA Judgment of Messiah (Galatians 5:16-23; 1 Corinthians 3:10-15).
Divine Perfection is NOT attainable in this life via human effort as we’re all sinners under condemnation (Romans 3:23; Romans 8:1+); therefore, Jesus offers us His perfection via His blood atonement if we will trust in Him as our “perfect” “sinless” Messiah (1 Peter 1:18-19) and thereby find peace with our Heavenly Father via what Jesus did for us at Golgotha (Matthew 26:28), not what we can do for ourselves through vain attempts to keep laws, days, diets, traditions (Galatians 2:16; Romans 5:1).
Why the Millennial Kingdom? Why 1000-years of World-peace?
The short version is this: the previous 6000-years of horror, war, famine, murder, perversion, discord, hate, all stand as an example to the faithful angelic creation, those that did not follow Satan in the rebellion, and as an example for the faithful in Jesus who will spend eternity with Him in the New Jerusalem, the consequences of disregarding the divine moral law and the divine will of our Creator concerning Messiah and this previous 6000-years of Hell on Earth will act as a bulwark against future rebellion in the Kingdom where free will exists by necessity in the New Jerusalem. The Millennial Kingdom’s purpose extends far beyond the temporary Realm of Time and humanity and Elohim’s divine, intimate, relationship with His faithful angelic creation is at the eschatological root as Elohim restores holiness and peace to His eternal Kingdom disrupted by Satan’s coup d’état…that coup d’état as the root cause for the Genesis creation narrative.
The 1000-years of prevailing peace upon the Earth; this, while Satan is restrained and made impotent; this, during Messiah’s Millennial Kingdom, will provide a stark, undeniable, comparison/contrast to the previous 6000-years of sinful-suffering Hell on Earth; again, providing proof to the faithful angels and observant humanity that Satan is the demonic root of all horror (John 8:44) and it’s important to note that Jesus entered the temporary Realm of Time specifically “to destroy the works of Satan” (1 John 3:8b) via a battle strategy (Genesis 3:15) revealed as the Gospel first in Genesis 3:21 and through Jesus’ victory over Satan’s works (death-Hell-the grave) at Golgotha via the New Covenant (Matthew 26:28); this divine victory via the Gospel was ordained “before Time began” (2 Timothy 1:8-10).
The 1000-years of pervasive peace during the Millennial Kingdom will provide an undeniable stark comparison/contrast relevant to obedience=peace/disobedience=suffering and to add a final evidentiary proof to all living creatures that Satan is the demonic author of all wickedness, Satan will be released from captivity at the culmination of the Millennial Kingdom and once again Satan will deceive the Nations and inspire mankind to rebel against Elohim (Revelation 20:7-9); this time, Elohim will destroy the aggressors by fire; hence, the “Judgment of the Condemned” that follows the final rebellion (Revelation 20:10-15) where Sheol-Hades/Torments will give up the dead via the “resurrection of the condemned” (John 5:29) and those whose names are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will suffer commensurate with their sin committed while in body and ultimately die the “second death” in Hell, the Lake of Fire as the Earth is purified by unconscionable heat (2 Peter 3:10), purified, from which a New Earth and New Heaven will manifest (Revelation 21).
Ultimately, finally, the entirety of the faithful angelic creation will concur with Elohim that their former “boss,” Satan, does indeed deserve suffering-torment forever in the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:10; Matthew 25:41); hence, Elohim will have destroyed evil and restored holiness to His eternal Kingdom via His own selfless love as demonstrated at Golgotha via Messiah (John 19:30).
~1 Peter 1: 19 ~ Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. ~ Revelation 13:8~ Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.
I continue to hear and see Christians intermingling obedience to Sinai’s Commandments as a prerequisite to pleasing Elohim in the New Covenant. The Christian needs to know their position in Messiah Jesus and the divine parameters of the New Covenant as opposed to Moses and the Law Covenant.
First of all, Sinai’s commandments consist of nine-moral laws and one-civil/ceremonial law (#4). Sinai was given solely to Israel’s children and those outsiders who sojourned with Israel’s Tribes seeking the benefits of that Theocracy; this, as Sinai was given to Israel for purely eschatological purposes concerning the coming Messiah; a thwarting of Israel’s compromise with paganism; the Messiah’s defeat of Satan at Golgotha via the Gospel; the Great Commission, the fulfillment of Elohim’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3b concerning Messiah as “a blessing to every family of the Earth.”
Dear Christian,
Dear Christian, if Sinai was a valid-divine path to righteousness (a right standing) with Elohim, Jesus died needlessly (Galatians 2:21). In the New Covenant, Elohim has reemphasized the eternal natural law (Romans 2:14-15) as written upon the human heart (Jeremiah 31; Ezekiel 36; Hebrews 10:16) which is eternally superior to Sinai’s nine-moral edicts as the natural law is comprehensive, complete, eternal, as an arbiter of free will and as an essential component of due process concerning divine Judgment.
Christian, you are not under Sinai or Moses or Torah or Leviticus or Deuteronomy; Christian, you are under grace (unmerited favor) through faith in Messiah Jesus (Romans 6:14) and your “law” is arbitrated by the indwelling Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14; Ezekiel 36:27; John 14:16; John 16:13; Galatians 5:16) who employs your redeemed conscience in Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17) and works through you to produce divine fruit (Galatians 5:16-23), fruit which fulfills all law, the comprehensive law, the natural law, as written upon your heart on Day-6 of Creation (Galatians 5:23; Romans 2:14-15) and this divine fruit is actually what pleases Elohim the Father concerning your works of obedience (John 15:8) as His child; divine fruit that will pass the test for authenticity at the BEMA Judgment of Messiah (1 Corinthians 3:10-15).
Therefore dear Christian, we are free from enslavement to Sinai, days, diets, fabrics, traditions, concerning righteousness with Elohim as we serve the Father by obedience to the Holy Spirit who indwells us and Guarantees our redemption throughout Eternity (Romans 7:6; Ephesians 1:13-14), a redemption that brings peace with our Father through Jesus (Romans 5:1).
In closing,
Sinai’s commandments are beautiful, historical, divine, as they express the perfect Holiness and Righteousness of Elohim. Christian, Jesus our Messiah fulfilled Sinai’s commandments and the comprehensive natural law for us via His perfect obedience and the Father imputes-gifts the divine righteousness of Jesus over our life by faith in Him as our Messiah; this, by grace (unmerited favor) through faith-trust in Jesus as our Messiah; this, by New Covenant promise (Hebrews 8:12).
Walk in peace with Elohim through your daily walk in sanctification via the precious Holy Spirit and you will do well. The “work” for righteousness has been completed by Messiah; therefore, accept that completed work by trusting-believing in Jesus as your Messiah and receive the divine benefits of what Jesus earned for you, forever (1 Peter 1:18-19) a work you cannot perform or earn or deserve but can only humbly accept by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 4:4-5).
1) There is the “eternal law” that has been extant as an arbiter of free will subsequent the creation of the angels, this law judged Satan and the rebellious angels of treason/defilement (John 8:44).
It is the eternal or “natural” law that is written upon the human heart at conception as human kind is created in the spiritual image of Elohim (Romans 2:14-15; Genesis 1:26-28) and therefore possesses certain divine communicable attributes of Elohim, one such example of a divine communicable attribute is the natural-eternal-moral law given humanity by necessity as a bulwark against unrestrained narcissism thereby thwarting societal implosion/extinction and this eternal law is also essential for “due process” at divine adjudication manifesting subsequent Messiah’s Millennial Reign (Revelation 20:10-15).
All of humanity is divinely aware of Elohim’s sovereignty and His moral, divine, will for humanity and all of humanity will be “without excuse” at divine Judgment (Romans 1:18-32).
The codified law given Israel – Sinai’s Commandments/603-Mosaic Laws
2) There is also the “codified law” given specifically to Israel’s children at Sinai as these divine laws are elements of the eternal-natural law written upon the human heart of mankind with a specific emphasis relevant to Elohim’s concerns for Jacob’s children and their propensity for compromise with paganism/the demonic as noted in their behavior at the foot of Sinai and their worship of the golden calf as instructed by Moses’ younger brother, Aaron (Exodus 32); this, while Moses was receiving the codified law etched in stone directly from the hand of Elohim.
Elohim had deep concerns relevant to Israel’s children repeating the moral failures of the Adamic/Noahic generations which mandated worldwide judgment and extinction of human kind save eight; therefore, Elohim codified, in stone, edicts-laws specifically aimed at providing a bulwark against those pagan-demonic behaviors that would promulgate destructive moral compromise; this, being essential as Jacob’s children were ordained a progenitors of Messiah via Judah which is eternally significant concerning Elohim’s eschatological plan relevant “to destroy[ing] the works of Satan” via Messiah (1 John 3:8b) and the divine battle strategy to be employed by Messiah, the Gospel, which was ordained “before Time began” (2 Timothy 1:8-10; Genesis 3:15-21).
The Holy Spirit also inspired Moses to codify 603 civil/ceremonial laws specifically for Israel’s children concerning approved modes of behavior between fellow tribesmen, families, neighbors, temple worship and construction, dietary laws, Sabbath mandates.
So yes, in response to your inquiry, there are TWO-MAJOR forms or formats of “law” articulated within the Holy Scriptures as ordained by Elohim, the Holy Spirit.
Should Christians consume alcoholic beverages or use products where the active ingredient is THC?
The indwelling Holy Spirit who is the Guarantor of New Covenant relationship with the Father subsequent faith in Jesus as Messiah (Ephesians 1:13-14) works through the redeemed conscience (2 Corinthians 5:17) concerning daily sanctification/obedience in the New Covenant.
Alcohol consumption and intoxicants such as Marijuana-Narcotics, in any relevant quantity, negatively diminishes the acuity of the human conscience and therefore diminishes the anointing and control of the indwelling Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian; therefore, the consumption of alcohol-THC-narcotics works directly against our Creator’s will for one’s life in the New Covenant as we are commanded to be holy as He is Holy (1 Peter 1:15-17).
Daily Christian sanctification is the incremental process by which divine holiness is taught-infused within the life of the Christian as the Holy Spirit prepares the Christian for service now in this fallen World and in the New Jerusalem and therefore it is logical and reasonable to conclude that the consumption of mind altering-conscience suppressing intoxicants by the Christian is not wise or prudent. Our daily walk IS our testimony that Jesus is Messiah over our life. Let each be convinced in his/her own mind (Romans 14).
No, “religion” (theologically speaking) is defined as a theological process by which a man or woman earns their way into relationship with a specific deity…religion is “works based” suggesting that mankind can work sufficiently or do something sufficiently pleasing, be sufficiently “good” to earn favor with God.
Christianity is “faith based” meaning that the Holy Bible/the Holy Spirit teaches that all of humanity is under the penalty of sin (Romans 3:23; 5:12), there is NOTHING we can do in and of ourselves to earn God’s forgiveness/acceptance but that Jesus, in HIS divine perfection, paid the required price for our sin on the Cross at Golgotha (1 Peter 1:18-19) and the Father declares that anyone who trusts in what Jesus has done for them will be declared “not guilty” (John 3:16; Hebrews 8:12) based solely on the work of Jesus on our behalf (Romans 4:4-5).
Man is not saved from sin and Hell by works or deeds or behavior but man is saved and enters into covenant relationship with Elohim by faith in the ONE, Jesus Christ, who did the work for us; therefore, the answer to your question is not “religion” but “Christianity” (Galatians 2:16).
Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,
What does Elohim accomplish by burning the unfaithful of humanity in Hell – the Lake of Fire?
Elohim finds absolutely NO pleasure in the first and second death of the unfaithful-wicked of humanity (Ezekiel 33:11). Many ask why a loving Creator would subject His creation to the fires of Hell?
Succinctly explained, Elohim, seeking to honor the necessity of free will, has no other option but allocating the rebellious to the purification and annihilation of fire, why?
You and I are soldiers in the midst of a spiritual war (Ephesians 6), an unfathomable war having been relocated within a temporary battle ground that is constrained by Time and physics i.e., this Earth (Revelation 12:7-12). Elohim removed the destructive war initiated by Satan from the Heavenly Kingdom and commissioned the Son (John 3:35; John 1; Hebrews 1; Colossians 1) to take elements from the unseen Spiritual Realm and fashion those elements into matter that can be apprehended by a life-form (flesh) subject to Time and physics (Hebrews 11:3). As Elohim purifies His Kingdom from Satan’s rebellion, that war rages on around us and through us within the constraints of Time and physics.
This spiritual war directly interfaces with Time and has raged on around us and through us for over 6000-years and you and I are commissioned as soldiers to ally with with Elohim as He destroys the works of Satan via Messiah (Genesis 3:15; 1 John 3:8b) via a battle strategy known as the Gospel which was first introduced in Time in Genesis 3:15-21 and that battle strategy was ordained-commissioned “before Time began” (2 Timothy 1:8-10).
You and I possess the divine attribute of free will and we are commanded to choose whom we will serve, Satan or Elohim (Deuteronomy 30:19; Joshua 24:15). Those who choose to ally with Satan have chosen death in Time and in Eternity as Elohim will not and cannot allow their unrepentant, un-redeemed, iniquity-sin-rebellion-defilement to enter the Kingdom (Revelation 21:27) as to do so would invite a repeat of the rebellion initiated by Satan before Time began and thus create another unacceptable scenario that initiated the creation narrative to begin with.
Elohim, His Holiness, IS NOT GOING TO PERMIT YOUR SIN TO ENTER HIS KINGDOM (Revelation 21:27); therefore, you possess the free will to choose redemption (divine healing) through faith in Jesus and receive a NEW NATURE (2 Corinthians 5:17) that will ultimately be victorious over your Adamic sin-nature (Romans 5:12) and this new-nature when combined with a resurrected body of glory fashioned after the glorious resurrected body of Messiah (Philippians 3:21), you will be prepared to serve in the New Jerusalem with honor and dignity and sustainability throughout Eternity.
Those who choose to reject the new-birth and redemption via faith in Jesus as Messiah, Elohim has no other plausible allocation for your wasteful life and nihilistic existence other than extinction – nullification of your presence in Time. You will NOT be permitted the opportunity to defile the Kingdom in Eternity.
What is the New Covenant? What Commandments does it retain and what Commandments does it nullify?
The New Covenant, as established in Messiah’s blood at Golgotha (Matthew 26:28), is a covenant of restoration, forgiveness of sin, redemption, intimacy, renewal, initiated by faith-belief in Messiah Jesus (John 3:16) as the Messiah who died to pay our sin-debt; that is, a New Covenant between Elohim and mankind engendered by trusting-believing that Jesus is the Messiah as promised throughout the Scriptures (Genesis 3:15; 21; Deuteronomy 18:15; Acts 3:22; John 6:29) who has entered the Realm of Time in order to defeat and destroy the works of Satan i.e., death-Hell-the Grave (1 John 3:8b) via a Gospel (an act of selfless love) which was ordained “before Time began” (2 Timothy 1:8-10). The Father has promised to forgive-forget-forever the sins of the one who trusts in the Son, Jesus our Messiah (Hebrews 8:12), and the Father has promised to endow the redeemed in Jesus with the precious indwelling Holy Spirit who is the Guarantor-Seal of New Covenant promise, FOREVER (Ephesians 1:13-14).
Law in the New Covenant v. Law in the Old Covenant,
Commandments, edicts, rules, days, diets, were all a foreshadowing of Messiah in that these pointed to Messiah who would be the only One capable of keeping them, obeying them, honoring them, with absolute perfection and thus make Himself the only One authorized and anointed to pay the penalty for sin; that is, the Spotless-Sinless-Holy-Undefiled “Lamb of Elohim who takes away the sins of the World” (John 1:29-32; 1 Peter 1:18-19) via obedience to Leviticus 17:11.
The astute and discerning Hebrew understood his/her inability to honor Elohim through perfect obedience due the Adamic sin-nature (Romans 5:12; Ecclesiastes 7:20) and they intuitively understood the necessity for a Messiah to go before them and present them blameless before the Father; hence, they understood the need for faith and trusted in Elohim as the one true “God” (Hebrews 11).
Sinai as a bulwark against paganism,
Commandment keeping – rule keeping – Sinai – Moses’ 603 edicts – these were given specifically to the children of Israel for eschatological purposes concerning the coming Messiah via Judah as the Father was concerned relevant to Israel’s compromise with paganism; therefore, the Father codified certain relevant moral and civil laws and etched the most relevant/crucial edicts into stone tablets and presented them to Moses to be distributed/taught among the Tribes; this, in Elohim’s efforts to stymie/thwart Israel’s compromise with Baal and Molech and the pagan tribes/demonic traditions that surrounded them and thereby Elohim sought to stymie a repeat of the atrocious failures exhibited by the Adamic and Noahic generations where all of humanity was judged unto death by water save eight as these generations defiled themselves with the demonic and thwarted their ordination as progenitors of the Messiah.
In the New Covenant,
In the New Covenant, the Law of Elohim is written upon the human heart (Romans 2:14-15), not etched in stone tablets, and these Laws are arbitrated by the redeemed conscience of those who have trusted in Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17; Ezekiel 11:19, Ezekiel 36:26, Jeremiah 31:33, Hebrews 8:10). No longer does mankind seek righteousness through law-keeping (Galatians 2:16) but in the New Covenant, the indwelling Holy Spirit works via daily Christian sanctification through the redeemed conscience of mankind (Galatians 5:16; John 14:16) and produces divine “fruit” (Galatians 5:22-23) through the redeemed in Jesus and this divine fruit fulfills all Law (Galatians 5:23), even those laws that are not codified for the children of Israel – the moral-ethical-holy Law as written upon the human heart is complete, comprehensive and not fragmented or stymied by codification in letters but wholly addresses the comprehensive will of the Father for humanity; it is this divine fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-23) that actually honors the Father, eternally, and proves one to be a legitimate, valid, redeemed, born-again (John 3:5) servant of Jesus our Messiah and thus the Father is honored, eternally, by those who honor Jesus as their Messiah (John 15:8).
It is written,
Life in the Spirit
8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8 (ESV)
Why did Elohim institute animal “blood sacrifices” under the Levitical Law given Israel’s children?
Animal blood sacrifices could never take away sin (Hebrews 10:4) but their purpose was two-fold:
1) The blood of animals, first exemplified in Genesis 3:21 following Adam’s compromise with evil and later enacted through Levitical Law as per Leviticus 17:11, foreshadowed the only acceptable atoning sacrifice for the sins of humanity; that is, the sinless blood of Jesus our Messiah shed at Golgotha which initiated the New Covenant and provided forgiveness of sin by New Covenant promise actuated by faith (Matthew 26:28; 1 Peter 1:18-19; Hebrews 8:12; John 3:16).
2) From the beginning, “faith” has been the KEY to Elohim’s heart (Hebrews 11); that is, believing that Elohim is true and will do exactly as He has promised in His spoken and written words. It was NOT the blood sacrifice offered by the children of Israel that made one righteous or “right” with Elohim (Hebrews 10:4) but it was the “faith” of the one offering the sacrifice that engendered covenant righteousness (a right standing) with the Father.
With that said, those in the Old Testament who were made right with Elohim through faith were not permitted to enter Elohim’s presence in the Kingdom as the acceptable atonement via Messiah had not yet manifest as “nothing impure will ever enter therein” (Revelation 21:27); therefore, Old Testament saints were detained in Sheol-Paradise awaiting Messiah’s atonement and were subsequently escorted into the Kingdom by Messiah while His body of flesh lie in state for three-days (Luke 16; Psalm 16:10; Luke 23:43) .
In conclusion,
Torah and its laws, sacrifices, covenants, were simply a divine roadmap leading to our need for Messiah Jesus by faith; therefore, Torah was NEVER the destination as Jesus is the only Way, the only Truth, the only Path to LIFE available to humanity as Jesus is the fulfillment of all that Torah foreshadowed (John 14:6; Galatians 3:24). If one perishes in Torah, they perish in Hell in their sin; Jesus as one’s Messiah by faith is the divine Answer and the only acceptable Solution to mankind’s sin problem (Ephesians 4:7-10; Acts 4:12).
"RickeyD" Holtsclaw 