When Yeshua announced that he had been
chosen by Yahweh to be an Anointed One
(Christ) at his hometown synagogue in
Nazareth, he explained what he had been “anointed
to do” by reading Isaiah 61:1-2a:
The Presence of the Master Yahweh is upon me because Yahweh has anointed
me to proclaim the good news (gospel) to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to declare liberty to the captives, the opening of the prison to
those who are bound and to proclaim the year of acceptance of Yahweh.
Later
he taught from Isaiah 58 to reveal more about who the poor, captives and those
who are bound were. God wanted people to “do
acts of TZEDAQAH (righteousness)” to make the Yeshua’s Gospel
a reality. For Yeshua, “doing acts of TZEDAQAH (righteousness)” was the
primary requirement for being a member of
his movement and for entering eternal
life. Isaiah specifically described the following “acts of TZEDAQAH
(righteousness)”:
● breaking
your bread with the hungry
●
bringing the wandering poor you to your house
●
covering one who is naked
● not
hiding from your flesh
The
other primary requirement for being a member of his movement was TESHUVAH (repentance) – turning from
sin and returning to the path of God. Ezekiel introduced TESHUVAH (repentance) to Israelites and Jewish teachers taught people “how to do TESHUVAH (repentance).” The requirements for “doing TESHUVAH
(repentance)” are:
1. experience
genuine remorse for the sin committed
2. cease
doing the sin
3. restore
or repair the damage done to the person harmed by the sin
4. return
to God’s path and follow His Instructions and Laws.
Ezekiel
highlighted the following sins:
1. idolatry
2. adultery
3. oppression
4. failure to return property
pledged by debtor as collateral for a loan
5. robbing people by violence
6. failure to give bread to
the hungry
7. failure to cover the
naked with clothing
8. usury (charging interest
on loans)
9. adding an increase
(adding predatory profits to prices)
One
thing that Yeshua and his Jewish audience clearly understood was that TESHUVAH (repentance) is prerequisite for God’s forgiveness -- God does not forgive sins humans commit
against other humans until after the process of TESHUVAH has been completed.
Therefore if you
bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has
something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way.
First be reconciled to your
brother, and then come and
offer your gift. (Matthew
5:23-24)
Yeshua taught that doing acts of TZEDAQAH (righteousness) and doing acts of TESHUVAH (repentance) are
requirements for being included in the Kingdom
of Heaven and entering into eternal
life. It is essential for Christians today to understand the points below:
1. Yeshua did not give his followers a
free pass to having their sins forgiven without “doing TESHUVAH (repentance).”
2. Yeshua did not exempt his followers
from the requirement of “doing acts of TZEDAQAH (righteousness)” for as long as they lived.
Yeshua
understood and supported what Ezekiel taught:
1. If a righteous person turns from his
righteousness and commits sin, he will die for it; because of the sin he has
committed he will die.
2. But if a wicked person turns away from the
wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his
life.
Why
weren’t Christians taught Yeshua’s requirements for being included in the Kingdom of Heaven and entering into eternal life?
It
is because of a doctrine created by Bishop
Augustine of Hippo (354–430), an early Christian theologian and philosopher
whose writings influenced the development of Western Christianity and Western
philosophy. He is viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers in Western
Christianity. In 412, Augustine
wrote two tracts -- "On the Merits
& Remission of Sins" and the "Baptism of Infants," which included the following points:
1. the
taint of Adam's sin in infants (1, 13, 68)
2. denied
that persons can fulfill the commandments (2,23)
3. attacked
the perfection of Job (2, 17)
4. insisted
that free will must be ascribed to the grace of God (2, 7)
Augustine
reinterpreted the events of the Garden of Eden to support his Doctrine of Original Sin. In Augustine’s
new Christian myth:
1. the
serpent was Satan
2.
this was a cosmic battle between God and Satan for the lives of humans
3.
Adam followed Satan and was cursed by God
4.
all of Adam’s descendants are cursed at birth because of Adam’s sin
5.
infant baptism is required to remove the curse
6.
membership in the Catholic Church is required for salvation
7.
membership in the Church requires participation in Church rituals
The Eastern Orthodox
Church rejected the belief that original sin is passed down through
generations. It bases its position in part on Ezekiel
18:20, which says “a son is not guilty
of the sins of his father.” The Eastern
Church teaches -- in addition to
their conscience and tendency to do good, men and women are born with a
tendency to sin due to the fallen condition of the world.1
Martin Luther’s Protestant Movement followed the Roman
Catholic Church and the second article in Lutheranism's
Augsburg Confession repeats the basic Augustinian formula of original sin as a requirement of
salvation:
Since the fall of Adam all
men who are born according to the course of nature are conceived and born in sin.
That is, all men are full of evil lust and inclinations from their mothers’
wombs and are unable by nature to have true fear of God and true faith in God. Moreover,
this inborn sickness and hereditary sin is truly sin and condemns to the
eternal wrath of God all those who are not born again through Baptism and the
Holy Spirit.2
The actual account of the events in the Garden of Eden
involved Yahweh, Adam, Eve and a snake (a wild animal created by Yahweh).
1. The text
reveals that humans are creatures created “in
the image of God” with an “Earth soul”
(earthly appetites, desires and longings).
2. At one
extreme, humans have the potential of doing acts of TOV like God – acts that
protect and preserve lives, make lives more functional and increase the quality
of life.
3. At the other
extreme, humans have the potential of doing acts like a wild predatory animal
like the snake.
4. In the Garden,
the two humans chose to act like the snake instead of God.
5. God cursed the
snake and the ground, not the humans. They
were never cursed by God!
Bishop Augustine destroyed the Gospel of Yeshua. Life on earth became something to be endured
until believers go to Heaven. “God’s will
being done on Earth” is simply a prayer, not a requirement for members of
God’s Kingdom to fulfill.
Look at the world around you and think about what’s
happening. Now consider the role Christianity collectively plays in what’s
going on.
What
would life on Earth be like if over 2 billion Christians actively engaged in doing
acts of TZEDAQAH (righteousness) and
doing TESHUVAH (repentance) as a
normal part of their lifestyle? What if every church was a center for training
and supporting members as people skilled in doing acts that protect and
preserve lives, make lives more functional and increase the quality of life?
Everyone has a right to believe and say what they want in
America. Those who value the teachings of
Yeshua have the responsibility of making his voice and Gospel are heard too.
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2 Tappert, Theodore G. The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press, 1959.
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