Articles
Will He Find Faith? Part 6: Coming IN to Faith Followed by GROWING in Faith
Barbara L. Klika, MSW, Undershepherd, Life Coach
October 2022
Written for Wisconsin Christian Newspaper
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6
Our faith is a gift of God, and the basis of our salvation. It gets us in the door of the Family of God. There is nothing more we need do to “achieve” it. If there was, it would ultimately be in our hands, not His.
His Word is to be our plumbline. To be valid, feelings, traditions or teachings of men must all submit to His written Word. ….and the Living Word, our Messiah!
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:1 KJV
This next aspect of the development of our faith then, is about the part of the journey that seems to be neglected, and quite often rejected.
Will He find faith that has deepened from coming INTO faith
to GROWING IN that faith?
It is in the Word that our God has provided His instructions for how we are to live in a way that is pleasing to Him. To live in a righteous way means to live according to His expectations. This is an outcome of coming out of Un-belief into belief/faith. It is a crossing over; out of the worldly way of living into His way of living.
And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:2 KJV
As we know all too well, there are many different ideas about what that means, as reflected by the multitude of denominations and teachings. We look to our assemblies for people who can help us grow in our faith, IF there is even recognition of that need. As observed in a previous part of this article, many of those leaders have come through training that has led them away from the orthodox understanding of the Word as being valid and relevant. Last month’s WCN edition carried a report of Barna research project that again confirmed the large percentage of church leaders who do not hold to Biblical truths.
There is a problem in the larger context as well. Both Christians and Jewish people look to the God of Israel. We look to the same Bible. Many do not realize that the Torah IS the Bible. That term is used most specifically of the first five books, written by Moses, but it also is used in more broad senses. It can refer to the whole Old Testament or to teachings that come from the Torah or reflect Hebraic understanding. Where the word “law” was chosen to represent “Torah” it has created a false picture which influences people to think of the Word in the same manner that they think of laws that are enforced and mandated by civil authorities. There is a sense of punishment and reward in a way that was not the original understanding. The connection between our faith, His ways, and our need to learn them became blurred. Though it is a more unwieldy phrase to use, a more accurate understanding for “Torah” would be “God’s teachings on righteousness.” This has direct bearing on our faith walk.
The original plan for Adam and Eve was for them to be in fellowship and walk with God and teach the generations. When sin entered in, His already established plan was set into motion. Yeshua had already agreed to come as the Second Adam. This time, He started with one man, Abram, which led to one nation of people through whom Messiah was born of the flesh. Priests were to honor His ways and teach the people the difference between the holy and the common. His plan was for His chosen people to declare His Truths to the rest of the world.
And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.
These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
Exodus 19:6; KJV
The nation of Israel, which means “overcomes with El,” was given the directive to teach the nations, which includes both Jew and Gentile. The concept of a priesthood remained a feature, though there are details to better understand this that I can’t include here. He said they were to be made into a “kingdom of Priests.” But ultimately, All are required to be grafted into the family/kingdom by faith, both Jew and Gentile.
When Jesus/Yeshua Messiah was referring to Himself as “the Way, the Truth and the Life,” most do not realize that this is a reference to the gates within the Tabernacle. Salvation: the gate to come in from outside (unbelief) to the outer court (belief) is red and blue, Messiah's colors, and is referred to as "THE WAY." The next gate, beginning the sanctification process, to the Holy Place is called "The Truth" and the final gate, glorification, to the most intimate place, the Most Holy Place is called "The Life." Using the Tabernacles as an illustration provides an asesome teaching on the sanctificaiton part of our faith.walk…all the way to that most intimate place with Messiah, the glorification of His bride, which we understand is also represented by the Fall Feast: The Marriage Feast of the Lamb. Jesus/Yeshua IS the Door/gate to each part of our faith journey.
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9 KJV
The contrast is between unbelief and belief…between darkness—being without His teachings on righteousness, and light—walking in His marvelous light! But how do we know how to walk as His Priests if we are not familiar with the teachings on His righteousness, which are found in the OT? (Again, there are more details not included here.)
Along the way, an additional division clouded the picture: between those of Jewish bloodline/heritage and those of gentile heritage. The perception grew that Messiah changed the plan and formed a “new” church which was different from the church of old. It is said that this happened at “Pentecost” which is really just the Greek Name for the established Biblical Feast of Shavuot. Calling it by a different name doesn’t really change His plan; it just confused His people and made it appear that there was a change! I ask how this could be when Jesus/Yeshua frequently confirmed that He and the Father are One; He only taught what the Father taught. It is the definition of a FALSE PROPHET to change any of our Father’s teachings!
Common misunderstanding:
Jesus/Yeshua did NOT come to save us FROM the Father (of the OT).
He came to RESTORE US TO THE FATHER.
For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Romans 5:10 NKJV
This corrected understanding makes a huge difference in how we understand our walk of faith and the need to grow in it...the sanctification process that follows salvation.
The fear of legalism has kept people from learning much about His teachings on righteousness, which really amounts to falling over into the equal and opposite error of antinomianism: rejecting His law.
How it came about that there was a division of assemblies that did or did not accept Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah; and the impact for today.
The Bible comes to us in our native languages now, but it was presented in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek first. Our understanding of what an assembly is has been influenced by the translator’s choices. The guideline used for which Greek words to use in the New Testament came from the choices that had been made when the Torah/Old Testament had been translated into Greek in Alexandria. Kahal is one word used for assembly in Hebrew. It is related to the word for a Bride, which we who look to Messiah can see included in the New Testament. There was a problem as these words were being chosen because there was a transition happening within the assemblies. There were leaders and people who accepted Messiah Yeshua in the assemblies and those who didn’t.
Paul greeted them and recounted one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. When they heard this, they glorified God. Then they said to Paul, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.
Acts 21:19-20 Berean study Bible
In the assemblies where the leadership did NOT accept Yeshua as Messiah, they made life very uncomfortable for those that did. They began to include prayers of malediction/cursing for those who looked to Yeshua among the benedictions/blessings that were customary. Ultimately, the people groups could no longer meet together and had to gather with those who were in agreement about Jesus; positive or negatively! Internal matters like this as well as the political climate of the time led to a division. As many do not realize, acceptance of Messiah which only later came to be called Christianity in Antioch, was long considered a sect within Judaism.
In a reflection of this division, the NT writers/translators chose two different words to represent kahal, assembly. Ecclesia was used to indicate those assemblies that accepted Yeshua and sunagogue was used for those that did not accept Him as Messiah. This division hardened with much conflict through the centuries so that it came to us seeming to be so sharp a difference that we thought it was normal, necessary, and desirable to remain separate. We thought the “church” and the “synagogue” were entirely separate, never to be united! Historically, the RCC even identified the Jewish people as “Christ killers” and established the direction that anyone who celebrated the Feasts of the OT would be anathema and would be driven out of the church, even killed. That is a detailed story for another time!
Viewing the ecclesia/church as something entirely different from the assembly noted in the OT also creates a confusion as to what God’s teaching on faith in action looks like. Many have believed and taught for centuries that a new church was begun following Yeshua’s resurrection. Thus, there was less attention given to the instructions provided for how an individual or an assembly is to function in the Torah/OT and the information provided in what we call the New Testament was interpreted freely, discarding the foundation of His Word.
So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.
John 7:16 (NASB)
The importance of our walk of faith takes us from unbelief into belief and should not stop there. We need to recognize and walk through the challenges of the sanctification part of the faith walk, which leads to a purifying and strengthening of that faith. Our Messiah/Jesus/Yeshua is coming back for His bride, and He is not coming for a child Bride, but one who has become intimate with Him, and who has grown comfortable to represent Him well, walking in His authority and His ways.
That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Ephesians 5:27 KJV
Salvation and then sanctification lead to glorification! Will He find us in Faith?
Will_He_Find_Faith_Part_6_WCN_Oct_22.pdf