The Challenge with writing a Statement of Faith is that if you make your statements too short, important things are left out and the well informed are frustrated or making accusations. But if you try to include every important point, the statement becomes too long and overwhelms the curious or beginner. So with that, please understand these are general statements that cannot reflect the fullness of our positions or understanding. Also notice that these attempt to reflect a progression of thought rather than isolated systematic statements.
1. We believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, the Creator of the Universe. He is eternal and without equal. He is Echad, One with the complexity of Father, Son and Spirit as presented in Scripture. He is the Great I AM, ADONAI, the Ancient of Days, HaShem, a name that reflects His desire to Redeem and enter into Covenant with His people. He is holy, righteous, love, just and good.
Ex. 3:15 & Acts 7:32, Gen. 1:1 & Heb. 11:3, Deut. 33:27 & 1 Tim.1:17, Deut. 6:4 & Mark 12:29, Exodus 3:14, Daniel 7:9, Lev. 14:44 & 1 Peter 1:15-16, 1 John 4:8, Ps 34:8 & 100:5
2. ADONAI has revealed Himself in the Scriptures; infallible, God inspired writings useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). The Scriptures are broken down into the Torah, the Prophets, the Writings (Luke 24:44) & the New Testament. Restoration recognizes the traditional canon of the Tanakh and New Testament Scriptures. While the text itself remains the same, the Jewish people group and count 24 books of the Tanakh while Christianity counts 39 Old Testament books. The Torah in the strictest definition, consists of the first five books written by Moses. The New Testament consists of the 27 recognized books: 4 Gospels, the Epistles of Paul and the other General letters.
The Scriptures are the authority we look to for faith and practice. The best source for interpreting any Scripture is other Scripture. Unclear passages must be interpreted in light of clear passages. Right Doctrine (orthodoxy) and Right Practice (orthopraxy) should not be based upon unclear or ambiguous verses or verses taken in isolation or out of context.
Tradition, both Christian (like the Early Church Fathers) & Jewish (Oral Law & Talmud) can be helpful to understand perspectives and historic practices but should not be automatically dismissed nor accepted. In other words, not all Tradition is bad, nor is all Tradition good. Neither should Tradition be considered absolute upon the conscience of the believer or congregation. All Tradition must be tested by and submitted to the Scriptures. If a Tradition does not violate a tenant of Torah or clear command in the Scriptures, then the believer or congregation is free to consider adding it to their conduct. These are to be matters of conviction, not enforcement.
Non-canonical books like Enoch, the Gospel of Thomas and other similar titles are not sources for sound biblical teaching, doctrine or practice.
3. Yeshua is the Word made flesh, the Memra (an Aramaic word found in the Targums – early Aramaic translations of the Tanach). He is the Son of God, the Son of Man, and Messiah. All the Fullness of Deity dwells bodily in Him. Yeshua and the Father are Echad, One.
Yeshua is the Promised Redeemer and the Prophet like unto Moses. He is the Goal of the Torah and Moses wrote about Him. He is the One Abraham looked forward to and believed in, the Memra, that resulted in Righteousness being credited to all who believe. Yeshua is the Author and Perfector of our faith, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Yeshua is the Way, the Truth & the Life and no one comes to the Father except through Him.
Yeshua was crucified and buried as the Passover Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. He was resurrected on the Feast of Firstfruits to demonstrate the Father accepted the offering of His blood and His victory over death.
In the future Yeshua will return in power and glory to set up His Kingdom. At that time, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Yeshua is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father.
1 John 1:14, Mark 1:1, Matthew 26:64, Colossians 1:14 & 2:19, John 10:30, Deut. 18:18 & John 6:14, Rom. 10:4, John 5:46,
Gen. 15:6—Targum Jonathan, Rom. 4:22-24, Heb. 12:2, John 1:29, John 14:6, 1 Cor 5:7, 1 Cor 15:20 & 23, Heb. 12:24, Rev. 19:11-16 & 20:4, Philip. 2:10-11
4. The Creation account of Genesis is true and valid history. All humanity can be traced back to Adam & Eve (Chavah) and are made, male and female, in the image of God. This moment defines sexuality and marriage for all human society.
After the Fall in Genesis 3, every human being throughout history has lived in a fallen world with a corrupted image. Both Creation and Humanity need Restoration & Redemption that can only be supplied by the Creator. In Redeeming humanity, all of Creation will be restored and the Presence of God on earth and access to the Tree of Life will be returned.
Gen. 1-2, Gen. 1:26-27, Acts 3:21, Rev. 22
5. The Covenants laid out in the Torah and Prophets are God’s explanation and mechanism for accomplishing this goal. Believers must proceed through the Covenants in their proper order. Our Redemption takes place under the terms of the Abrahamic Covenant, which is why Abraham is our example of faith. The Mosaic Covenant represents our Sanctification and is meant only for a redeemed people whom ADONAI is showing how to live a holy life, pleasing to Him. Works of Torah are the Fruit of Redemption and in no way establish or earn salvation. The future Glorification in the Messianic Kingdom is represented in the Davidic Covenant, when the King is on the Throne in Jerusalem.
All of these Covenants are fulfilled when the New Covenant, as described in Jeremiah 31:31-34, is fully implemented. The New Covenant was inaugurated and ratified at Yeshua’s last Passover meal with His disciples and the shed blood of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. It will be fully implemented upon His return in power and glory; when the words, “Baruch Haba B’Shem ADONAI – Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the LORD” resound from His people.
Paul states in Galatians 3:15 & 17—"Brothers and sisters, I speak in human terms: even with a man’s covenant, once it has been confirmed, no one cancels it or adds to it. 17 What I am saying is this: Torah, which came 430 years later, does not cancel the covenant previously confirmed by God, so as to make the promise ineffective.”
He clearly states that the Mosaic does not cancel the Abrahamic because it was properly ratified, it was legal. In the same way, the Davidic does not cancel either the Mosaic or Abrahamic for the same reason. Likewise the New Covenant does not cancel or nullify any of the previous because they too were properly ratified and legal. Therefore, all New Covenant believers in Messiah, who come to Yeshua by faith, whether Jew or Gentile, are participating in and agreeing to all of the previous covenants. Every believer, whether fully understood or not, have taken an oath of loyalty to their King and agreed to live by the King’s laws as if saying, “Everything He says we will do”.
Gen. 15 & Ex. 12:14, Rom. 4 & Gal. 3:6-4, Ex. 19:3-14 & Ex. 24, Lev. 11:44, 2 Sam. 7:11b-29, Luke 22:14-20, John 1:29, Psalm 118:26 & Matt. 21:9, Zech. 12:10
6. Thus in the New Covenant, the Torah will be written on the hearts of the Redeemed people. The terms and expectations of the previous covenants, including the Mosaic, have not changed, only their location. The Commandments of God are now inside of the believer in the same way that the Ten Commandments, reflections of ADONAI and His character, were placed inside the Ark of the Covenant. He has placed and will continue to place in our heart what is in His heart. And if we love Him, we keep His Commandments.
Yeshua’s commandments are perfectly consistent with and the same as His Father’s, for Yeshua speaks only what His Father told Him to say. He would never say or teach anything contrary to what the Father has revealed in the Tanakh. Likewise, the Apostle Paul did not teach contrary to Yeshua’s teaching or go in a different direction. Paul encouraged the congregations to uphold the Torah for both Jew & Gentile because it is Holy, Righteous & Good. Which means there is not a new or different standard for the people of God in Messiah Yeshua.
Neither the Torah nor the Prophets have been abolished or nullified. Yeshua Himself came to fulfill them and see the commandments fully lived out in the lives of His followers. That means fully taught and correctly implemented. None of His disciples should willfully break His commandments nor teach anyone else that they have permission to break them either. To say that Yeshua gives His followers permission to disregard the Torah and the Commandments of God is making our Savior, by His own words, the least in the Kingdom.
Accusations that Yeshua broke the Torah, for example healing on the Sabbath, are false charges. Similar charges that Paul taught against Moses and the Torah are similarly false charges as his own actions proved by fulfilling the vow at the Temple in Acts 21:18-26.
Jer. 31:31-34, Exo. 40:20, 1 Kings 8:9, John 14:15, John 12:49, Matt. 5:17-19
7. New Testament arguments frequently revolved around the believer’s relationship with the Mosaic Covenant—whether status before God was determined by or must start with acts of Torah, like legal conversion or circumcision. However, Scripture makes it clear that no one will be saved or justified by keeping the Torah. Instead Salvation & Justification must proceed in the Proper order through the Covenants, starting with faith in the Promise and Provision of the Messiah, just like Abraham.
Instead, believers relationship to the Torah only starts or continues after Justification, when we are no longer under the Curse of the Law (death for disobedience), but the Blessing for Obedience is available. Keeping the Torah is an act of Love for our Savior and loyalty to our King.
For this to work, the Redeemed are given a New Spirit that removes their heart of stone and changes it to a heart of Flesh. The Holy Spirit is the promised Counselor & Comforter. He guides us in all truth and is our heart of true worship. He is the downpayment, the seal, the guarantee of our promised inheritance. The Holy Spirit fills the believer and gives them both the desire and the power to walk in the King’s laws and do them as shown in Ezekiel 36:24-27.
And Yes, we have read Galatians.
Rom. 3:20, Gal. 3:10-14, Deut. 28:1-6, John 14:15
8. Believers in Yeshua are Ambassadors for His Kingdom. We live in this world, but our lives and lifestyle are not of this world. We represent a different Kingdom, a different culture and a different Way. Which is why the way of life described in the Torah is the Way for Believers in Messiah even today. Jews who believe in Yeshua continue to live by the pattern they grew up with. Gentiles who believe are called to leave behind their old ways and move toward the walk of life consistent with the Scriptures.
In the Great Commission, every Disciple is to be taught to obey everything our Savior has commanded. Therefore all true discipleship will lead to greater and greater keeping of the Torah. The Torah is God’s greatest discipleship program. All believers are called to walk in the way of life as Yeshua walked. The future Kingdom of God with Messiah on the Throne will see the Torah go forth from Zion and all peoples will be taught His ways. Since we know that is our future, Believers should conform their lives more and more today.
2 Cor. 5:20, John 17:14-16, John 14:6 & Acts 9:2, Matthew 28:18-20, 1 John 2:6, Isaiah 2:2-3
9. Faith in Messiah Yeshua was never supposed to create a separate religion or organization distinct from the Jewish people and the Kingdom of Israel. Jewish people who believe in Yeshua do not cease being Jewish nor do they have to abandon their culture, upbringing, tradition or history. Salvation is first to the Jew and also the Gentile.
By faith in Messiah, Gentiles are included in this amazing work of God in fulfillment of the promise given to Abraham to bless the nations through him. Gentiles do not replace Israel or the Jewish people, rather Gentiles are added to the ongoing work of God and grafted into the Olive Tree. By faith, and coming through the Covenants in their proper order, Gentiles are made citizens of the Commonwealth of Israel and are given a share in the promised inheritance.
Ephesians 2:12 states that Gentiles, who were not a part of the Commonwealth of Israel nor the Covenants of Promise, are brought near by the blood of Messiah (2:13). Gentiles are added to what God has been building all along, so they are “are no longer strangers and foreigners, but [they] are fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household.” Which is why the practice of the faith should look more like the first century than it currently does.
The Blessing ADONAI promised to extend to the nations when He first called Abraham continues every time a Jew or a Gentile comes to faith in the Jewish Messiah.
John 4:22 & Rom. 1:16, Acts 10:34-48, Eph. 2:8-9 & 12-13 & 19-21, Gen. 12:2-3, Isaiah 14:1, Rom. 11:13-29
10. God has special days, Mo’edim, Appointed Times on the yearly calendar as described in the Torah. These Feasts are necessary for believers in Messiah as they are effective Discipleship tools for future generations as well as powerful Gospel presentations. The first coming of Messiah fulfilled each of the Spring Feasts, from Passover to Pentecost, exactly on each day. The second coming of Messiah is foreshadowed in the Fall Feasts.
By keeping and studying these Feasts, believers will have a better understanding of both the first and second coming. By abandoning these Feasts, the Body of Messiah has lost a yearly discipleship lesson for their children and an annual Gospel presentation for friends and family meant to reinforce the Savior’s work.
Even the Apostle Paul encouraged the Corinthians, a mostly Gentile congregation, to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread in 1 Corinthians 5 because of the lessons learned in the activity. By keeping the Feasts with the Jewish people, we demonstrate a solidarity with them and that our faith is not something new, different or separate. We are also able to come alongside the Jewish people in some of the most important and spiritually significant times of the year.
Lev. 23 & Deut. 16
11. The Sabbath, one of those Mo’edim, reflects God’s pattern found in the first 7 days of Creation and is a governing principle of Messiah’s Kingdom. Our future life in the Messianic Era is based on the idea of Rest as reflected in the Sabbath and described in Hebrews. Keeping the Sabbath then actually reinforces belief in the Creator and our Future Hope.
When the principle that clear Scripture interprets unclear passages or practices, the best definition of “the Lord’s Day” is not Sunday or the “first day of the week”, rather, Yeshua, is the Lord of the Sabbath. That is the Lord’s Day. No person or ecclesiastical body has the authority to change what is clearly set forth in the Scriptures without explicit command. Rightly understood, no New Testament passage explicitly directs the believing community to abandon the Sabbath for another day.
The only thing accomplished by changing the day of worship and community away from the Sabbath is to separate Jew & Gentile from each other and make it seem like we are distinct faiths when God’s goal has always been to make us one new man.
Is. 58:13 & 66:23, Heb. 4, Matt. 12:8
12. We describe our faith as “First century Judaism with the Person & Work of Yeshua the Messiah, His teachings & corrections along with the Apostles and their writings.”
1. We believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, the Creator of the Universe. He is eternal and without equal. He is Echad, One with the complexity of Father, Son and Spirit as presented in Scripture. He is the Great I AM, ADONAI, the Ancient of Days, HaShem, a name that reflects His desire to Redeem and enter into Covenant with His people. He is holy, righteous, love, just and good.
Ex. 3:15 & Acts 7:32, Gen. 1:1 & Heb. 11:3, Deut. 33:27 & 1 Tim.1:17, Deut. 6:4 & Mark 12:29, Exodus 3:14, Daniel 7:9, Lev. 14:44 & 1 Peter 1:15-16, 1 John 4:8, Ps 34:8 & 100:5
2. ADONAI has revealed Himself in the Scriptures; infallible, God inspired writings useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). The Scriptures are broken down into the Torah, the Prophets, the Writings (Luke 24:44) & the New Testament. Restoration recognizes the traditional canon of the Tanakh and New Testament Scriptures. While the text itself remains the same, the Jewish people group and count 24 books of the Tanakh while Christianity counts 39 Old Testament books. The Torah in the strictest definition, consists of the first five books written by Moses. The New Testament consists of the 27 recognized books: 4 Gospels, the Epistles of Paul and the other General letters.
The Scriptures are the authority we look to for faith and practice. The best source for interpreting any Scripture is other Scripture. Unclear passages must be interpreted in light of clear passages. Right Doctrine (orthodoxy) and Right Practice (orthopraxy) should not be based upon unclear or ambiguous verses or verses taken in isolation or out of context.
Tradition, both Christian (like the Early Church Fathers) & Jewish (Oral Law & Talmud) can be helpful to understand perspectives and historic practices but should not be automatically dismissed nor accepted. In other words, not all Tradition is bad, nor is all Tradition good. Neither should Tradition be considered absolute upon the conscience of the believer or congregation. All Tradition must be tested by and submitted to the Scriptures. If a Tradition does not violate a tenant of Torah or clear command in the Scriptures, then the believer or congregation is free to consider adding it to their conduct. These are to be matters of conviction, not enforcement.
Non-canonical books like Enoch, the Gospel of Thomas and other similar titles are not sources for sound biblical teaching, doctrine or practice.
3. Yeshua is the Word made flesh, the Memra (an Aramaic word found in the Targums – early Aramaic translations of the Tanach). He is the Son of God, the Son of Man, and Messiah. All the Fullness of Deity dwells bodily in Him. Yeshua and the Father are Echad, One.
Yeshua is the Promised Redeemer and the Prophet like unto Moses. He is the Goal of the Torah and Moses wrote about Him. He is the One Abraham looked forward to and believed in, the Memra, that resulted in Righteousness being credited to all who believe. Yeshua is the Author and Perfector of our faith, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Yeshua is the Way, the Truth & the Life and no one comes to the Father except through Him.
Yeshua was crucified and buried as the Passover Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. He was resurrected on the Feast of Firstfruits to demonstrate the Father accepted the offering of His blood and His victory over death.
In the future Yeshua will return in power and glory to set up His Kingdom. At that time, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Yeshua is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father.
1 John 1:14, Mark 1:1, Matthew 26:64, Colossians 1:14 & 2:19, John 10:30, Deut. 18:18 & John 6:14, Rom. 10:4, John 5:46,
Gen. 15:6—Targum Jonathan, Rom. 4:22-24, Heb. 12:2, John 1:29, John 14:6, 1 Cor 5:7, 1 Cor 15:20 & 23, Heb. 12:24, Rev. 19:11-16 & 20:4, Philip. 2:10-11
4. The Creation account of Genesis is true and valid history. All humanity can be traced back to Adam & Eve (Chavah) and are made, male and female, in the image of God. This moment defines sexuality and marriage for all human society.
After the Fall in Genesis 3, every human being throughout history has lived in a fallen world with a corrupted image. Both Creation and Humanity need Restoration & Redemption that can only be supplied by the Creator. In Redeeming humanity, all of Creation will be restored and the Presence of God on earth and access to the Tree of Life will be returned.
Gen. 1-2, Gen. 1:26-27, Acts 3:21, Rev. 22
5. The Covenants laid out in the Torah and Prophets are God’s explanation and mechanism for accomplishing this goal. Believers must proceed through the Covenants in their proper order. Our Redemption takes place under the terms of the Abrahamic Covenant, which is why Abraham is our example of faith. The Mosaic Covenant represents our Sanctification and is meant only for a redeemed people whom ADONAI is showing how to live a holy life, pleasing to Him. Works of Torah are the Fruit of Redemption and in no way establish or earn salvation. The future Glorification in the Messianic Kingdom is represented in the Davidic Covenant, when the King is on the Throne in Jerusalem.
All of these Covenants are fulfilled when the New Covenant, as described in Jeremiah 31:31-34, is fully implemented. The New Covenant was inaugurated and ratified at Yeshua’s last Passover meal with His disciples and the shed blood of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. It will be fully implemented upon His return in power and glory; when the words, “Baruch Haba B’Shem ADONAI – Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the LORD” resound from His people.
Paul states in Galatians 3:15 & 17—"Brothers and sisters, I speak in human terms: even with a man’s covenant, once it has been confirmed, no one cancels it or adds to it. 17 What I am saying is this: Torah, which came 430 years later, does not cancel the covenant previously confirmed by God, so as to make the promise ineffective.”
He clearly states that the Mosaic does not cancel the Abrahamic because it was properly ratified, it was legal. In the same way, the Davidic does not cancel either the Mosaic or Abrahamic for the same reason. Likewise the New Covenant does not cancel or nullify any of the previous because they too were properly ratified and legal. Therefore, all New Covenant believers in Messiah, who come to Yeshua by faith, whether Jew or Gentile, are participating in and agreeing to all of the previous covenants. Every believer, whether fully understood or not, have taken an oath of loyalty to their King and agreed to live by the King’s laws as if saying, “Everything He says we will do”.
Gen. 15 & Ex. 12:14, Rom. 4 & Gal. 3:6-4, Ex. 19:3-14 & Ex. 24, Lev. 11:44, 2 Sam. 7:11b-29, Luke 22:14-20, John 1:29, Psalm 118:26 & Matt. 21:9, Zech. 12:10
6. Thus in the New Covenant, the Torah will be written on the hearts of the Redeemed people. The terms and expectations of the previous covenants, including the Mosaic, have not changed, only their location. The Commandments of God are now inside of the believer in the same way that the Ten Commandments, reflections of ADONAI and His character, were placed inside the Ark of the Covenant. He has placed and will continue to place in our heart what is in His heart. And if we love Him, we keep His Commandments.
Yeshua’s commandments are perfectly consistent with and the same as His Father’s, for Yeshua speaks only what His Father told Him to say. He would never say or teach anything contrary to what the Father has revealed in the Tanakh. Likewise, the Apostle Paul did not teach contrary to Yeshua’s teaching or go in a different direction. Paul encouraged the congregations to uphold the Torah for both Jew & Gentile because it is Holy, Righteous & Good. Which means there is not a new or different standard for the people of God in Messiah Yeshua.
Neither the Torah nor the Prophets have been abolished or nullified. Yeshua Himself came to fulfill them and see the commandments fully lived out in the lives of His followers. That means fully taught and correctly implemented. None of His disciples should willfully break His commandments nor teach anyone else that they have permission to break them either. To say that Yeshua gives His followers permission to disregard the Torah and the Commandments of God is making our Savior, by His own words, the least in the Kingdom.
Accusations that Yeshua broke the Torah, for example healing on the Sabbath, are false charges. Similar charges that Paul taught against Moses and the Torah are similarly false charges as his own actions proved by fulfilling the vow at the Temple in Acts 21:18-26.
Jer. 31:31-34, Exo. 40:20, 1 Kings 8:9, John 14:15, John 12:49, Matt. 5:17-19
7. New Testament arguments frequently revolved around the believer’s relationship with the Mosaic Covenant—whether status before God was determined by or must start with acts of Torah, like legal conversion or circumcision. However, Scripture makes it clear that no one will be saved or justified by keeping the Torah. Instead Salvation & Justification must proceed in the Proper order through the Covenants, starting with faith in the Promise and Provision of the Messiah, just like Abraham.
Instead, believers relationship to the Torah only starts or continues after Justification, when we are no longer under the Curse of the Law (death for disobedience), but the Blessing for Obedience is available. Keeping the Torah is an act of Love for our Savior and loyalty to our King.
For this to work, the Redeemed are given a New Spirit that removes their heart of stone and changes it to a heart of Flesh. The Holy Spirit is the promised Counselor & Comforter. He guides us in all truth and is our heart of true worship. He is the downpayment, the seal, the guarantee of our promised inheritance. The Holy Spirit fills the believer and gives them both the desire and the power to walk in the King’s laws and do them as shown in Ezekiel 36:24-27.
And Yes, we have read Galatians.
Rom. 3:20, Gal. 3:10-14, Deut. 28:1-6, John 14:15
8. Believers in Yeshua are Ambassadors for His Kingdom. We live in this world, but our lives and lifestyle are not of this world. We represent a different Kingdom, a different culture and a different Way. Which is why the way of life described in the Torah is the Way for Believers in Messiah even today. Jews who believe in Yeshua continue to live by the pattern they grew up with. Gentiles who believe are called to leave behind their old ways and move toward the walk of life consistent with the Scriptures.
In the Great Commission, every Disciple is to be taught to obey everything our Savior has commanded. Therefore all true discipleship will lead to greater and greater keeping of the Torah. The Torah is God’s greatest discipleship program. All believers are called to walk in the way of life as Yeshua walked. The future Kingdom of God with Messiah on the Throne will see the Torah go forth from Zion and all peoples will be taught His ways. Since we know that is our future, Believers should conform their lives more and more today.
2 Cor. 5:20, John 17:14-16, John 14:6 & Acts 9:2, Matthew 28:18-20, 1 John 2:6, Isaiah 2:2-3
9. Faith in Messiah Yeshua was never supposed to create a separate religion or organization distinct from the Jewish people and the Kingdom of Israel. Jewish people who believe in Yeshua do not cease being Jewish nor do they have to abandon their culture, upbringing, tradition or history. Salvation is first to the Jew and also the Gentile.
By faith in Messiah, Gentiles are included in this amazing work of God in fulfillment of the promise given to Abraham to bless the nations through him. Gentiles do not replace Israel or the Jewish people, rather Gentiles are added to the ongoing work of God and grafted into the Olive Tree. By faith, and coming through the Covenants in their proper order, Gentiles are made citizens of the Commonwealth of Israel and are given a share in the promised inheritance.
Ephesians 2:12 states that Gentiles, who were not a part of the Commonwealth of Israel nor the Covenants of Promise, are brought near by the blood of Messiah (2:13). Gentiles are added to what God has been building all along, so they are “are no longer strangers and foreigners, but [they] are fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household.” Which is why the practice of the faith should look more like the first century than it currently does.
The Blessing ADONAI promised to extend to the nations when He first called Abraham continues every time a Jew or a Gentile comes to faith in the Jewish Messiah.
John 4:22 & Rom. 1:16, Acts 10:34-48, Eph. 2:8-9 & 12-13 & 19-21, Gen. 12:2-3, Isaiah 14:1, Rom. 11:13-29
10. God has special days, Mo’edim, Appointed Times on the yearly calendar as described in the Torah. These Feasts are necessary for believers in Messiah as they are effective Discipleship tools for future generations as well as powerful Gospel presentations. The first coming of Messiah fulfilled each of the Spring Feasts, from Passover to Pentecost, exactly on each day. The second coming of Messiah is foreshadowed in the Fall Feasts.
By keeping and studying these Feasts, believers will have a better understanding of both the first and second coming. By abandoning these Feasts, the Body of Messiah has lost a yearly discipleship lesson for their children and an annual Gospel presentation for friends and family meant to reinforce the Savior’s work.
Even the Apostle Paul encouraged the Corinthians, a mostly Gentile congregation, to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread in 1 Corinthians 5 because of the lessons learned in the activity. By keeping the Feasts with the Jewish people, we demonstrate a solidarity with them and that our faith is not something new, different or separate. We are also able to come alongside the Jewish people in some of the most important and spiritually significant times of the year.
Lev. 23 & Deut. 16
11. The Sabbath, one of those Mo’edim, reflects God’s pattern found in the first 7 days of Creation and is a governing principle of Messiah’s Kingdom. Our future life in the Messianic Era is based on the idea of Rest as reflected in the Sabbath and described in Hebrews. Keeping the Sabbath then actually reinforces belief in the Creator and our Future Hope.
When the principle that clear Scripture interprets unclear passages or practices, the best definition of “the Lord’s Day” is not Sunday or the “first day of the week”, rather, Yeshua, is the Lord of the Sabbath. That is the Lord’s Day. No person or ecclesiastical body has the authority to change what is clearly set forth in the Scriptures without explicit command. Rightly understood, no New Testament passage explicitly directs the believing community to abandon the Sabbath for another day.
The only thing accomplished by changing the day of worship and community away from the Sabbath is to separate Jew & Gentile from each other and make it seem like we are distinct faiths when God’s goal has always been to make us one new man.
Is. 58:13 & 66:23, Heb. 4, Matt. 12:8
12. We describe our faith as “First century Judaism with the Person & Work of Yeshua the Messiah, His teachings & corrections along with the Apostles and their writings.”