Tuesday, June 2, 2009

What We Believe

What We Believe



We are seekers of truth who are trying to get back to the true and righteous path that has been lost over generations of tradition and corruption. We do not claim to have all the truth, but we are endeavoring to obey the truth that we have learned so that we might be given more truth. Please consider these words.



“Thy Word Is Truth” (John 17:17b)



First and foremost, in our search for truth we have concluded that the scriptures (commonly called the Christian Bible) contain the truth that we must be seeking.

“...Cursed is the man who trusts in man…”(Jeremiah 17:5)



Though there are many different beliefs among those who claim to follow the scriptures, what would happen if someone set aside thousands of years of tradition, corruption and watered down faith, and just went straight to scripture as their source of truth?

“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” (Mt 10:28)

What if this same person decided that they were not going to care what people thought of them if they found something that was quite unusual or out of the mainstream? This has been our endeavor and we would like to share it with you. We have found many things in Scripture that are not normally accepted. But first:



Salvation



“Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?” (Proverbs 20:9)



“Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Messiah, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. (1 Peter 1:18)



We absolutely do believe that we have all sinned and are in need of salvation through the Messiah. Without Him, we are lost and without hope.



“He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” 1 John 2:6



He is the sure foundation and rock of our salvation. He sets the example that we must follow.



“All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” (Matthew 28:18b)



Because all power in heaven and earth has been given to Him, He is worthy of our praise and honor . Any efforts of love / obedience on our part are in response to the Father’s love for us in giving us His Son.



Truthful Names



“I am Yahweh, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images.” (Isaiah 42:8)



One false tradition we have discovered is the removal of the Heavenly Father’s name from scripture, and the use of a man-made substitute, “the Lord”. It is simple historical fact that this has happened:



“Yahweh, the God of the Israelites, his name being revealed to Moses as four Hebrew consonants (YHWH) called the tetragrammaton, after the exile (6th Century BC), and especially from the 3rd century BC on, Jews ceased to use the name Yahweh for two reasons. As Judaism became a universal religion through its proselytizing in the Greco-Roman world, the more common noun elohim, meaning "god," tended to replace Yahweh to demonstrate the universal sovereignty of Israel's God over all others. At the same time, the divine name was increasingly regarded as too sacred to be uttered; it was thus replaced vocally in the synagogue ritual by the Hebrew word Adonai ("My Lord"), which was translated as Kyrios ("Lord") in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament.” Encyclopedia Britannica, under the heading “Yahweh”.
This tradition continues to this day. But nowhere in scripture do we find where it was Yahweh’s desire to replace His name with a title. In fact, His name is actually in scripture nearly 7,000 times, most often replaced with the title “Lord” in modern translations. While it is true that there are many titles that describe Him, He has only one personal name.


“That they may know that You, whose name alone is Yahweh, Are the Most High over all the earth.” (Psalm 83:18)



We have discovered that the Messiah’s name has also been changed from “Yahushua” to “Jesus”. The name Jesus is so modern that it isn’t even found in the original 1611 King James Bible, which contained no J’s (copy available upon request). The Messiah actually has the same name as “Joshua” (originally pronounced Yahushua), the son of Nun in the “Old Testament.” This is can be proven in your own King James Bible. Look up Hebrews 4:8 and Acts 7:45 and you will see that Joshua, the son of Nun is called “Jesus”! This is because everywhere “Joshua” (or more correctly Yahushua) was in the original text, the translators put “Jesus”. But is it all that important that we use the true names? Scripture says yes:



“Oh, give thanks to Yahweh! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples!” (Psalm 105:1)



“And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of Yahweh shall be saved.” (Joel 2:32a)



“And in that day you will say: "Praise Yahweh, call upon His name; Declare His deeds among the peoples, Make mention that His name is exalted.” (Isaiah 12:4)



“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)



“Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.” (Revelation 14:1)



We are not saying that all who are unaware of this truth are lost, but as truth seekers we must be obedient to the truth that is revealed to us. As we can see from the above scriptures (and there are hundreds more!), it really is important. We must believe what His word says, in spite of this tradition. If it didn’t matter, Yahweh would not have put His name there in the first place. This may seem confusing at first, but they were there originally and we are not about to change them.



The Whole of Scripture



“It is time for thee, Yahweh, to work: for they have made void thy law.” (Psalm 119:126)

“For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against Yahweh: for it is not subject to the law of Yahweh, neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:6-7)



We are unlike Jews in mainstream Judaism who only believe in the “Old Testament” portion of scripture. We are unlike most Christians who only apply the “New Testament” portion of scripture to their life. We believe in the whole counsel of Yahweh. As the Messiah said:



“Then He said to them, "Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old." (Matthew 13:52)



Contrary to popular belief, there is not a single line of scripture to support the abolishment or taking away of Yahweh’s law in the “Old Testament.” In fact, we have found that new testament scriptures support the keeping of His law. The Messiah even warned us:



“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:17-19



We have learned that fulfil means to “do”, not abolish or destroy. For instance, if we asked someone to bring us a glass of water and they did it, then they “fulfilled” what we asked them to do. “Fulfill” does not mean “abolish” or “destroy”. In fact, that would be a contradiction of what He just said (“Think not I am come to destroy the law”). Rather, we are told that whoever does and teaches “these commandments” within the law will “be called great in the kingdom of heaven”.


There are many other scriptures in the “New Testament” to support this. Here are a couple more:

“For not the hearers of the Law are just in the sight of Yahweh, but the doers of the Law will be justified” (Romans 2:12)



“Do we then make void the Law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the Law.” (Romans 3:31)



We believe in doing the law and establishing the law by faith. We discovered that the Law wasn’t just for the Jews. In fact, the Old Covenant isn’t “Jew only” any more than the New Covenant is:



“Behold, the days come, saith Yahweh, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith Yahweh: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith Yahweh, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people.” (KJV, Jer. 31:31, Hebrews 8:8)



So scripture says that the New Testament/Covenant is also with Israel and Judah. In the New Covenant, His law is to be written in our hearts and minds. But how can we claim His law is in our hearts and minds if we are disobedient to it?



For these reasons and much more, we want to show our love toward Yahweh by desiring to keep His whole word. Just a few examples are: keeping the Sabbath on the original day (the 7th day, commonly called Saturday), turning our hearts to our children (Mal. 4:6), walking in “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance” (Gal. 5:22-23), women wearing head coverings (1 Cor. 11) and being keepers at home, and wearing tassels according to Numb. 15:38-40 and Deut. 22:12. In short, we believe that His word is true, His word is applicable, and His word is to be heeded, no matter what year it was written in.



Revelation 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of Yahweh, and the faith of Yahushua.



So we neither rest in the keeping of His commandments alone, nor believing in Yahushua alone. The truth is in both. Yahushua kept the whole law. What would Yahushua do (WWYD)? That is what we believe. That is what we seek. Come and seek with us! Feel free to ask questions. :)


My family and I pray this helps you understand our religion a little better.

YHWH bless you.


Blessings,

Jeff, Amanda, and Family

3 comments:

אהבה said...

Hello, I enjoyed running into your site this evening while reading about blessing my husband. However, I notice that even though you believe in "the whole of scripture," your ways to bless your husband include bacon and country ham. The Bible clearly states that pig is not to be eaten- it is an abomination. There seems to be a contradiction here... Can you explain? (I would have emailed instead of a post, but couldn't find a link.)

Amanda said...

Thank you very much for visiting my website. I am thankful for wonderful people that keep me on my toe.

Yahweh revealed His "Truths" to my family in October of 2008. It hasn't even been a year, yet. We are still baskin in the sweetness of His Grace and Glory. We are in the Word trying to find more and more Truths so we can be more pleasing to Yahweh.

However, before that, we could have eaten swine breakfast, lunch, and dinner and DID. Bacon, ham, and porkchops. Now, I have debated on whether or not I should take the posts off that contradict the "Truth" Yahweh has revealed to us, but that is who we were at the time. We didn't know that we were suppose to be following the laws. Much less clean and unclean food laws. I pray the posts are not a stumbling block for anyone.

Before posting this comment, I read it to my husband to make sure it was okay (like I normally do most of them). He said I should take those posts off of the website and keep them archived for family only since they understand our changes and strangers don't. He did say that it sounds contradictory if you didn't know how new we are to this walk. So, I will be working on going through my posts and editing them or taking them off permanently.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I also didn't realize my email wasn't on the site. I'll take care of that also.

jandagowan@ardmore.net

Amanda

אהבה said...

Thank you for responding quickly. I absolutely understand. The walk is a long one full of new understandings that come, mercifully, as we are able to handle them. I remember the growing pains well. יהוה bless you and keep you as you grow in Him.