Heavenly Citizenship

Those whose lives are transformed by the gospel im­mediately become citizens of the kingdom of Yahushua. They "are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow­ citizens with the saints, and of the household of Yahuwah." Ephesians 2:19. For, "as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of Yahuwah, even to them that believe on his name." John 1:12. They are gathered by the gospel out of "every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people" (Revela­tion 14:6). They are welded together into a "holy nation." They become "the people of Yahuwah" (1 Peter 2:9, 10).

This transfer of allegiance changes everything. The old desires and lusts are crucified, and the affections are now set on "things above." (Colossians 3:2.) Those things which once were loved are now hated, and in the heart is a desire to do the entire will of Yahuwah. Of this change Yahuwah declares: "I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them Eloah, and they shall be to me a people." (Hebrews 8:10).

The Law in Eden

1. Why did Yahuwah give mankind His commandments?

B. Reveals any lapse from obedience and also reveals the difference between right and wrong. “By the law is the knowledge of sin.” Romans 3:20.

“I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” Romans 7:7.

C. For happiness and long life. "He that keepeth the law, happy is he." Proverbs 29:18. "Keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee." Proverbs 3:1,2.

NOTE: The soul must first be convicted of sin before the sinner will feel a desire to come to Yahushua. “Sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4). “I had not known sin, but by the law” (Romans 7:7). When the commandment came home to Saul’s conscience, sin revived, and he died. He saw himself condemned by the law of Yahuwah. The sinner cannot be convinced of his guilt unless he understands what constitutes sin. It is impossible for an individual to experience Bible sanctification while he holds that if he believes in Yahushua it is immaterial whether he obeys Yahuwah’s law or disobeys it.

2. How does Paul clarify the problem concerning right and wrong understandings of the purpose for Yahuwah’s law?

“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight.” Romans 3:20.

Yahushua did not come to excuse sin, nor to justify a sinner while he continued to transgress that law for which the Son of Yahuwah was to give His life to vindicate and exalt. Had it been possible for the law to be cancelled, Yahushua would have not have needed die. Yahuwah could have taken the sinner back into favour by annulling the law. But this could not be. The law holds the transgressor in bondage, but the obedient are free. The law cannot cleanse from sin; it condemns the sinner. The sinner may stand justified before Yahuwah only through repentance toward Him, and faith in the merits of Yahushua, the Anointed. The law is a great mirror by means of which the sinner may discern the defects in his moral character. But the mirror cannot remove those defects. The gospel points to Yahushua as the only one able to remove the stains of sin by his blood. Though the law has no pardoning power, it is the only means by which to explain to the sinner what sin really is. By the law is the knowledge of sin. Without the law, Paul tells us sin is dead.

3. How does the Bible define sin?

“Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4.

4. What verses are sometimes quoted as alternative definitions of sin?

“Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” Romans 14:23.

“To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” James 4:17.

In the case of Romans 14:23, those who use this verse as a definition of sin are not thinking logically. When the Bible says, ‘Sin is…’ we are likely [though not always] to be looking at a definition. When the Bible says, ‘…. is sin,’ we are more probably looking at an example of sin.

Adam Broke The Law

5. How did mankind come to forfeit eternal life in the first place?

“And Yahuwah Elohim commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” “And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, Elohim hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For Elohim doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as elohim, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” Genesis 2:16-17; 3:2-6.

Answer: Man divorced himself from Yahuwah by transgression. And the reason why man was not destroyed was because Yahuwah so loved him that He made the gift of His dear Son that He should suffer the penalty of his transgression. Yahushua proposed to become man’s surety and substitute, that man, through matchless grace, should have another trial, a second probation, having the experience of Adam and Eve as a warning not to transgress Yahuwah’s law as they did.

6. How does Paul explain the importance of Yahuwah’s law in defining sin?

“I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” Romans 7:7.

Answer: The sense of sin, urged home by the law, drives the sinner to the Saviour. The law and the gospel are in perfect harmony. Each upholds the other

7. Does faith in the blood of Yahushua, shed on Calvary for us, remove the obligation to obey Yahuwah’s law?

“Do we then make void the law through faith? Yahuwah forbid: yea, we establish the law.” Romans 3:31.

Paul employs no stronger negative expression than the one translated as ‘Yahuwah forbid.’

Many also erroneously conclude that grace cancels the [whole] law [nails it to the cross], when he says, “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law but under grace.” Romans 6:14

Paul clarifies this statement later in his letter when he writes - “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Yahushua, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Yahushua hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Rom. 8:1-2) The 'law of sin and death' = 'the wages of sin is death' (Romans 6:23) [The soul that sins, it shall die -- Ezek.18:4,20] This means that while the whole ETERNAL law of Yahuwah remains intact, the believing non-transgressor is no longer under its CURSE/CONDEMNATION i.e. freed from its PENALTY/WAGES [the WAGES of sin is DEATH], because Yahushua paid the penalty on behalf of the now faithful law abiding believer.

Sin has dominion over all outside of Yahushua - they remain under the law [of sin and death]. But the person who is under grace is not under the condemnation of the law because he is not transgressing it. Yahuwah’s people are not under the law because they are not breaking the law; therefore not under His condemnation, but rather under His grace

NOTE: There are two errors against which the children of Yahuwah, particularly those who have just come to trust in His grace, especially need to guard. The first is that of looking to their own works, trusting to anything they can do, to bring themselves into harmony with Yahuwah. It is the grace of Yahushua alone, through faith, that can make us holy. The opposite and no less dangerous error is that belief in Yahushua releases men from keeping the law of Yahuwah; that since by faith alone we become partakers of the grace of Yahushua, our works have nothing to do with our redemption. But notice here that obedience is not a mere outward compliance, but the service of love.

Written On Tables Of Stone

8. How did Yahushua express the enduring nature of Yahuwah’s law?

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Matthew 5:17-18.

Some may argue that Yahushua obeyed the law perfectly and therefore all has been fulfilled, according to verse 18. But fulfilled does not mean abolished, brought to an end or done away with. Read the following verses to understand the Biblical use of the word ‘fulfil.’ In Matthew 3:15 was Yahushua abolishing righteousness (or baptism)? Acts 13:22 talks of David as a man after Yahuwah’s own heart because he fulfilled Yahuwah’s will. Surely, David didn’t abolish Yahuwah’s will. In Romans 2:27, Romans 13:14, Galatians 5:16, Galatians 6:2, Colossians 4:17, James 2:8 & Revelation 17:17 ‘fulfil’ means ‘carry out’ or ‘do’.

9. Why is there general rebellion against Yahuwah’s holy law?

“The carnal mind is enmity against Yahuwah: for it is not subject to the law of Yahuwah, neither indeed can be." Romans 8:7.

Society today lives in rebellion against Yahuwah's law. Everyone acknowledges that it is a good law, but few people want to obey it. Only by the new birth can the carnal mind and heart of man be changed. According to the new covenant promise (Ezekiel 36:26-27), Yahuwah will write His law in our hearts (Hebrews 8:10). But we must be willing. Are we?

Yahushua Exemplifies The Law

10. What warning did Yahushua give to those who try to teach people that some of Yahuwah’s Commandments are no longer binding?

“Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:19.

Those who have despised Yahuwah's law have miscalculated His character. They will discover, in the final day of judgment, that He is an Eloah of justice as well as mercy. Here are the words that He speaks to the despisers of His kingdom and His law:

"Not everyone that saith unto Me, Master, Master, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the Will of My Father which is in heaven. Many Will say to Me in that day, Master, Master, have we not prophesied in Thy name? And in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity." Matthew 7:21-23.

11. How does the apostle John describe those who profess to know Yahushua but refuse to obey the law/commandments of Yahuwah?

“He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” 1 John 2:4.

Yahuwah Supplies The Power

12. What is the Christian’s reason for wanting to obey the Law?

“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.” “And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.” John 14:15, 21, John 15:10, 2 John 6.

Compare Deuteronomy 11:1, Joshua 22:5, Daniel 9:4.

13. How does John define the practical outworking of love to our fellowmen?

“By this we know that we love the children of Yahuwah, when we love Yahuwah, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of Yahuwah, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” 1 John 5:2-3.

14. What promise is held out to those who are obedient to Yahuwah’s holy law?

"Great peace have they which love Thy law: and nothing shall offend them." Psalm 119:165.

Answer: The Christian who has a correct knowledge of Yahuwah will love Him and His law. He will find peace in loving obedience. Isaiah declares that this peace and righteousness that all obedient followers of Yahuwah enjoy is like "the waves of the sea."

"O that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea." Isaiah 48:18.

Do you want Yahushua to come and live in your heart and live out His law in your life?