Many statements of faith on various church and ministry websites are long drawn out affairs where I think they feel they need to define everything they believe so a would be pew sitter knows what they are getting themselves in for once they attend or join.
The statement of faith here is simple and Solomon wrote it:
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 New King James Version
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
14 For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.
And how do you do that, one might ask…
Psalm 1 New King James Version
1 Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
2 But his delight is in the law of YHVH,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.
In this house, we try to read one full book of the Pentateuch every Sabbath and cover the entire 5 books, once a month. That means we know YHVH’s Law very, very well.
Messiah was very plain about YHVH’s Law:
Matthew 5:17-19 New King James Version
17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fully teach (fulfill). 18 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.19 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.
He said one who breaks even the least of YHVH’s commandments and especially if they teach anyone else to do that would perish into the lake of fire. Understanding that concept will keep a person very humble and watchful for their soul and in constant fear of God, the good kind of fear YHVH speaks about over and over again in the “Old Testament”.
It keeps you completely honest with yourself and everyone around you!
Messiah said it another way here:
Mark 7:6-9 New King James Version
6 He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
7 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’[a]
8 For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men[b] —the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”
9 He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.
Messiah clearly lefts up the commandments of YHVH and throws down anything else!
Here, Paul says the same thing another way:
Colossians 2:6-10 New King James Version
6 As you therefore have received Messiah Yeshua Adonai, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
And what does it mean to “WALK IN HIM”?
The Apostle John answers this question very plainly:
1 John 2:2-7 New King James Version
2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. 6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
7 Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.
Messiah Yeshua kept YHVH’s commandments perfectly and the Apostle John says anyone who claims Him should conduct their lives in the same, exact manner that Messiah did, and that is keeping and Doing YHVH’s Law.
Verse 2 mentions a big, fancy word “propitiation” which if you lived 200 years ago was a more common word. It simple means the remedy or satisfying action that keeps YHVH from judging us harshly. In the “Old Testament” that remedy was to follow YHVH’s Law and do what it said to do when one sinned.
Messiah Yeshua is in fact God’s Law or another way to put it is He is the result of YHVH God speaking Words through His Mouth. He is in fact YHVH’s mouthpiece according to Deuteronomy 18:
Deuteronomy 18:17-19 New King James Version
17 “And YHVH said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good. 18 I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. 19 And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.
The description of Messiah in Deuteronomy 18 is almost as if YHVH is the ventriloquist and Messiah Yeshua is the ventriloquist’s dummy.
So, YHVH created Messiah by fertilizing Mary’s egg with His Words (Torah DNA) and literally:
John 1:14 New King James Version
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Therefore, when Messiah Yeshua refers to YHVH commandments He is referring to Himself as the living, breathing, walking, talking Torah, the Words of YHVH Father God.
It is then no small wonder that these are the very last words of Messiah Yeshua written in the very last book in the Bible, Revelation:
Revelation 22:14 New King James Version
14 Blessed are those who do YHVH’s (His) commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.
Right there, Messiah Yeshua declares the only way to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven is by obeying YHVH’s commandments.
And that is exactly what Solomon said in another way, wasn’t it?
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 New King James Version
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
14 For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.
Another prophet, like Messiah Yeshua, said the very same thing in another way hundreds of years after Solomon and hundreds of years before Messiah Yeshua:
Isaiah 56:6-8 New King James Version
6 “Also the sons of the foreigner
Who join themselves to YHVH, to serve Him,
And to love the name of YHVH, to be His servants—
Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And holds fast My covenant—
7 Even them I will bring to My holy mountain,
And make them joyful in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
Will be accepted on My altar;
For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
8 YHVH God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says,
“Yet I will gather to him
Others besides those who are gathered to him.”
And, Isaiah said the very same thing yet another way just a few verses before this:
Isaiah 56 New King James Version (NKJV)
56 Thus says YHVH:
“Keep justice, and do righteousness,
For My salvation is about to come,
And My righteousness to be revealed.
2 Blessed is the man who does this,
And the son of man who lays hold on it;
Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
And, we need to understand just how YHVH God viewed Abraham when talking to his son Isaac, after Isaac was grown and explaining why and how the promises He kept with Abraham through Covenant would apply to him:
Genesis 26:4-5 New King James Version
4 And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; 5 because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”
And, last, but not quite least, let’s see what Moses said on the subject:
Deuteronomy 4 New King James Version
“Moses Commands Obedience”
4 “Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which YHVH God of your fathers is giving you. 2 You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of YHVH your God which I command you. 3 Your eyes have seen what YHVH did at Baal Peor; for YHVH your God has destroyed from among you all the men who followed Baal of Peor. 4 But you who held fast to YHVH your God are alive today, every one of you.
5 “Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as YHVH my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. 6 Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’
7 “For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as YHVH our Godis to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him? 8 And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day? 9 Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren, 10 especially concerning the day you stood before YHVH your God in Horeb, when YHVH said to me, ‘Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’
11 “Then you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the midst of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness. 12 And YHVH spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; you only heard a voice. 13 So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14 And YHVH commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might observe them in the land which you cross over to possess.
And I am ALWAYS going to agree with Moses, 100%.
Therefore, YHVH’s Torah (Messiah) reigns!