Addressing the Theological and Spiritual Issues of the Broad Messianic Movement
You should be motivated to pursue Messianic things first and foremost, because the Holy Spirit has convicted you and personally shown you that there is indeed “something” to all of this. Your motivation should be wanting to get the most out of your relationship with the God of Israel, pursuing full compliance with Holy Scripture, and living as a disciple of Messiah Yeshua.
How many of you, in being a part of the Messianic community and living a Torah obedient lifestyle like Messiah Yeshua—have ever been accused by various Christian family or friends of being a “Pharisee”?
This article addresses the clause “under the Law” (Grk. hupo nomon), how it is used, and what it means in its appropriate context in view of what both the Tanach and Apostolic Scriptures tell us about the significance of God’s Torah.
In theory, most evangelical conservative Christians claim to honor the Bible as if all of it is the inspired, inerrant Word of the Lord. However, in practice, the same cannot often be said, especially when it comes to many Christians’ attitude concerning their approach to the Law of Moses, or the Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy).
In the annals of Christian teaching, Protestant or Catholic, one common thread often runs throughout: the institution known as “the Church” sees itself as being separate from Israel. As some would dogmatically declare, “The Church is not Israel!”—and depending on your view, this is correct. The Church institution by-and-large does not consider itself part of, or at times even related to, Israel.
In studying the Bible, many Christians unfortunately find themselves only reading the New Testament or the Apostolic Scriptures. Although these important Scriptures speak of the gospel message, testify to the works of our Lord Yeshua (Jesus), and speak of issues that the First Century Believers had to contend with, these writings comprise less than one-third of the Bible. Those whose focus is almost exclusively in this part of the Bible can have an unbalanced approach to our Creator and His plan for the ages.
What is an appropriate, Messianic perspective on the issue of circumcision? How do we avoid the scores of abuses and misunderstandings which have been manifested in Biblical and religious history surrounding circumcision? Hopefully in our discussion, we can have a better handle as Messianic people with this controversial topic.
When many people read the Bible, one of the biggest mistakes that can be made is reading it as though it were written directly to a person living in the Twenty-First Century. Whether we consciously realize it or not, the events of the Bible not only took place in another century, another part of the world, and in another culture—but in different centuries, different parts of the world, and different cultures.
Do the Apostolic Scriptures (New Testament) truly direct God’s people not to celebrate the Biblical holidays? Are the Biblical holidays no longer of any value to us as Believers? What might a closer reading of the Biblical text reveal?
As we tread into the Twenty-First Century, many are expecting prophetic related events to occur, such as the rapture or a great evangelistic revival, so the question “What should we expect?” poses some legitimate concern in light of what many are predicting and anticipating.
What should you expect? The answers can be found in the pages of the Bible.