By what standard?? Pray tell!

… I can tell you what is NOT the standard!!

The Westminster Confession of Faith is NOT the standard!!
The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith is NOT the standard!!
The Articles of Religion of the Methodist Church are NOT the standard!!
The Confessions of the Lutheran Church are NOT the standard!! ….

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15

The author of the book of Hebrews tells us that Messiah Y’shua was without sin. By what standard was this determination made?

the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. I John 2:3-6

The Apostle John tells us that if we abide in the Messiah, then we will ‘walk as He walked.’ We will ‘do as He did.’ By what standard did He walk/do?

Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. I Cor. 11:1

If we are to imitate Rav Shaul who is imitating Messiah Y’shua, by what standard do we imitate? Continue reading “By what standard?? Pray tell!”

Not my words…

Those who forsake the Torah praise the wicked,
But those who keep the Torah strive with them. Prov. 28:9

Marinate.

A Thought…

Every word!!

Most of us know that when Yeshua/Jesus was tempted of the adversary after fasting for 40 days, the Messiah’s response was Scripture. But do we notice every quote is from Deuteronomy? The Covenant?

Check it out: Deuteronomy 8:3; 6:16; 6:13 and 10:20.

So, while pondering that recently, another thought occurred to me.

³He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. Deut. 8:3

‘Man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh!’

Churchianity constantly pits Paul against Moses, Jesus against God, Law against Gra Continue reading “Every word!!”

Ponder this….

“I am the Way” means….

Growing up I was often pointed to Jesus/Yeshua’s statement, “I am the way, the truth and the life…” I am not sure I ever really pondered what that means. We are going to break this down into several posts.

“I am the way…” From John 14:6.

Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

⁷If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”

⁸Philip *said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” ⁹Jesus *said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.

So, what is the ‘way’ that would be the Father’s works? Continue reading ““I am the Way” means….”

A Parable on Christian Theology…

Been very busy lately and have notes on topics I desire writing about, but have had little time. Thankfully, things should change next week and I’ll be back to regular posting… In the meantime, here is a neat poem by Sam Walter Foss (1858-1911) that, through parable, explains how Christian Theology got so far off the track instead of simple obedience to Scripture.

Ponder this deeply.

_____________________

The Calf-Path

One day, through the primeval wood,
A calf walked home, as good calves should;

II.

But made a trail all bent askew,
A crooked trail as all calves do.
Since then three hundred years have fled,
And, I infer, the calf is dead.
But still he left behind his trail,
And thereby hangs my moral tale.
The trail was taken up next day, Continue reading “A Parable on Christian Theology…”

Kinda funny…. or, not!

A friend who attends the same fellowship I attend sent me an email with a very short message:

“So it used to be sinning was breaking His law…now apparently those of us who are keeping the law are the sinners. This is a sad thought…”

If it weren’t so sad, it would be funny.

They must not have read,

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ ²³And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

²⁴“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵And the Continue reading “Kinda funny…. or, not!”

“… the standard of the law…”

While reading the Book of Acts yesterday, I spotted something you’ve probably seen before, but it jumped off the page for me.

Here’s the quote from Acts 22:12-15:

¹²“A certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, ¹³came to me, and standing near said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very time I looked up at him. ¹⁴And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth. ¹⁵For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard.

I’ve had a running conversation (defense of ‘walking orderly according to the Law’) on another blog. Their presupposition is that the ‘law is done away with’ and ‘following the Law is the path of curses,’ contrary to myriad Scriptures… So, it was fun when Continue reading ““… the standard of the law…””