Contend Earnestly For The Faith
In Judah (Jude) verse 3, we are
urged to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all
delivered to the saints. Obviously, Judah, the author, Yahshua's
brother, wishes to emphasize for us that the true evangel of salvation
would never be changed. This teaching, the glad tidings, has been
established inflexibly for all time.
| In The end of the age, a people
existing at that time will be keeping the commandments of Yahweh while
maintaining and holding fast the faith of Yahshua the Messiah, explains
the Apostle John. |
What was the primitive Messianic
faith like anyway? What did the Apostles teach and by what teaching did
the Apostolic Assembly of the first century live? Perhaps you have never
considered these penetrating questions or searched for their answers,
assuming only that your denomination personified the accurate, fundamental
faith.
The basic answer to these questions
can readily be ascertained from Matthew 5:17-20. "Think
not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy,
but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, Till heaven and earth pass away,
one yothe or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all
things be accomplished. Whoever therefore shall break one of these least
commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom
of heaven: but whoever shall do and teach them, he shall be called great
in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that except your righteousness
shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in
no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven."
Yahshua the Messiah taught strict
obedience to the sacred Scriptures. The Apostolic Assembly followed in His
footsteps. Paul in Romans 3:31 asked the question,"Do we
then make the Law of no effect through faith! By no means: no, we
establish the Law." Why then do ministers and religious
organizations teach that the scriptural law has been set aside or annulled
when the Messiah died, when the Messiah Himself taught precisely the
converse? It seems that ch-rchianity has established its own agenda and
has developed its unique theology, outside the authority of the sacred
texts.
Mrs. Meyer and I were studying
through the book of Revelation during the summer of 1961 when we
encountered the dogmatic comments found in Revelation 12:17 and 14:12.
Certainly these verses cannot be easily misunderstood. How were we to
perceive them? The commandments of Yahweh are inviolable and sacred. They
continue in force just as they were in Biblical times. In the end of the
age, a people existing at that time will be keeping the commandments of
Yahweh while maintaining and holding fast the faith of Yahshua the
Messiah, explains the Apostle John. Who are these people?
Remember that the keeping of the
commandments of Yahweh demands that all of the commandments are observed,
beginning with the first one that relates to the Name of Yahweh. See
Exodus 20:2. If Bible prophecy is and to be trusted, a group of people
fulfilling this description will be evident in the last days. They will be
keeping the commandments of Yahweh while maintaining a firm belief in the
sacrifice of the Messiah to atone for our sins (thereby fulfilling the
scriptural sacrificial commandments). Who are they?
Then Judah (Jude) sets forth a warning in verse 4,
"For there are certain men who sneaked in secretly, even
they who were of old written of beforehand to this condemnation, lawless
men, turning the grace of our Elohim into lasciviousness and denying our
only Master and Sovereign, Yahshua the Messiah."
Certain false teachers evidently stealthily gained
entrance into the assembly during the apostolic era. They were lawless
people who turned the grace of Yahweh into lasciviousness. In the English
text, the term "lasciviousness" is translated from the Greek
word aselgeia (#766 in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible) and
it means "licentiousness" (license to do as you please).
Yahshua, the Messiah Himself, taught against
licentiousness or lasciviousness. Turn to Mark 7 where He explained in
verses 20 to 23, "And he said, That which proceeds out
of the man, that defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of
men, evil thoughts proceed, fornication, thefts, murders, adulteries,
covetings, wickednesses, deceit, LASCIVIOUSNESS, an evil eye, railing,
pride, foolishness: all these evil things proceed from inside, and defile
the man." In verse 22, we find the word lasciviousness
(meaning licentiousness, license to do as you please), and Yahshua
declares such conduct to be a great evil. Yahshua the Messiah never
approved a doctrine of license, but He included such conduct as evidence
of a defilement of the heart of the evil man.
Grace represents the mercy and lovingkindness of
Yahweh in forgiving the sins of His people. In the Greek dictionary of
Strongs Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible; the term is #5485, charis,
graciousness, "the sublime influence upon the heart, and its
reflection in the life . . . " However, Yahshua has forgiven sins,
and we may no longer return to an evil life. "What
shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound ? By no
means. We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live in it?"
(Romans 6:1-2)
Peter explains, "For if, after they
have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the
Master and Savior Yahshua the Messiah, they are again entangled in it and
overcome, the last state has become worse with them than the first. For it
were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than,
after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to
them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, The dog
returns to his own vomit again, and the sow that had washed, to wallowing
in the mire. " (2 Peter 2:20-22) Why should anyone
become interested in the Bible and True Worship, and then later backslide
again, falling away into unscriptural conduct? Were they ever sincere in
the first place?
< Furthermore, we read in Hebrews 6:4-8,"For
as touching those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly
gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good word
of Yahweh, and the powers of the age to come, and then fell away, it is
impossible to renew them again to repentance; since they impale to
themselves the Son of Yahweh again, and put him to an open shame. For the
land which has drunk the rain that comes often upon it, and brings forth
herbs useful for them for whose sake it is also tilled, receives blessings
from Yahweh: but if it bears thorns and thistles, it is rejected and near
to a curse; whose end is to be burned." Certainly this
warning by the author of the book of Hebrews is quite clear -- the one who
departs from the faith must expect to be thrown into the lake of fire!
Judah continues to expound upon the thought of
falling away from the faith and returning to a life of self indulgence
(self gratification) by referring to the incident of the golden calf
worship in Exodus 32. Having saved His people Israel out of Egypt, Yahweh
afterwards destroyed them that believed not, since 40 days after the Feast
of Weeks (Pentecost) when Israel had ratified the covenant, they held a
licentious, idolatrous service.
The title of this article was taken from 2 Peter
2:15. " FORSAKING THE RIGHT WAY, they went astray,
having followed the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the hire of
wrongdoing." Who would fall away from the true faith,
except religious hobbyists?
Is it not true that many religious organizations only
appear interested in acquiring wealth, like Balaam the son of Beor in
Numbers 22? Balak, king of the Moabites, offered Balaam great wealth if he
would only prophesy against (curse) the nation of Israel. When Balaam
sought a way to justify accompanying Balak the king of Moab to curse
Israel, Yahweh said, ". . . You shall not go with them;
YOU SHALL NOT CURSE THE PEOPLE; FOR THEY ARE BLESSED." (Numbers
22:12)
The name Balaam means "not of the people,"
a foreigner. See the Hebrew dictionary in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
of the Bible, #1109. (# 1110, #1111, Balak means "waster.") This
description became obvious and was fulfilled when Almighty Yahweh sent His
angel to withstand Balaam and keep him from cursing Israel (the people who
were obedient to Him and consequently should be blessed). Finally,
Balaam's ass was given voice and intelligence to speak a warning, wherein
Almighty Yahweh impressed upon Balaam that He could not curse Israel or go
beyond what He had spoken. Later, in Numbers 31:8, we find that Balaam was
slain by Israel in the war of retribution to avenge the difficulties that
Midian had brought upon Israel through enticing them to sin. See Numbers
25. Balaam is again mentioned near the end of the Bible in the book of
Revelation. "Forsaking the right way, they went astray,
having followed the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the hire of
wrongdoing; but he was rebuked for his own transgression a dumb ass spoke
with man's voice and restrained the madness of the prophet." (2
Peter 2:15-16) We also see that Balaam is mentioned as the false prophet
who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel,
getting them to sin and eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit
fornication (Revelation 3:14).
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