11/29/2002 Sabbath Meeting Transcript

Tonight, I would like to ponder an important question..

We know from scripture that we are not saved by our works..

But let's consider the question, "Can we be saved if we do not respond to salvation with good works?

Scripture makes it very clear that we are not saved by doing the works of the law:

Romans 9:30 - What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.

Romans 9:31 - But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.

Romans 9:32 - Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;

The Israelites were given the law of Yahweh. The law taught the Israelites (and all who joined themselves to Yahweh) the difference between righteousness and sin

The law, without exception has ALWAYS taught, continues to teach and will always teach what the difference between righteousness and unrighteousness.

It is the law that reveals what sin is:

1John 3:4 - Whoever commits sin trangresses also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law.

What does this mean?

Romans 9:32 - Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;

Romans 9:33 - As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

It is very clear that THIS is why they did not "Attain righteousness".

As we will examine in a moment, the Tanakh/Old Testament teaches that we must attain our righteousness from Yahweh through Yahushua the Messiah

continuing in romans..

Romans 10:1 - Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to YAHWEH for Israel is, that they might be saved.

Romans 10:2 - For I bear them record that they have a zeal of YAHWEH, but not according to knowledge.

Romans 10:3 - For they being ignorant of YAHWEH's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of YAHWEH.

There is a certain "righteousness" predicted in the law and the prophets that was going to be given unto men..

However, it is written in the law and prophets that this righteousness was not going to come from the law.

This righteousness was going to come from Yahweh Himself:

Jeremiah 23:5 - Behold, the days come, saith YAHWEH, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

Jeremiah 23:6 - In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, YAHWEH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

He is called "Yahweh OUR Righteousness" because He was the One through whom Yahweh brought us His righteousness!

Where is it written that we will have Yahweh's righteousness? In many places.. but here is one

Isaiah 45:23 - I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.

Isaiah 45:24 - Surely, shall one say, in YAHWEH have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.

This righteousness that we have in Yahweh was predicted in other verses to come through Messiah, Yahushua our Master who is called: YAHWEH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS

When we accept Him, it is not our righteousness that Yahweh sees..but the righteousness of Yahushua the Messiah covering us.

And the righteousness of Yahushua the Messiah is the righteousness of Yahweh. For when one called Him "Good", He said:

Matthew 19:16 - And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Rabbi, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

Matthew 19:17 - And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, YAHWEH: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

Now, if we accept Yahweh's way of bringing us righteousness.. we can say:

Galatians 2:20 - "I have been impaled with the Messiah; it is no longer I who live, but the Messiah lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of YAHWEH, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

John 14:6 - Yahushua saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Thus, Yahushua is called "Yahweh our Righteousness" (Jer 23) or in Hebrew.. Yahweh Tzidkenu

Note that if Yahushua is living in us, then He will be keeping all the commandments that He kept while on earth "IN US".

In this... Yahweh has become our righteousness in Yahushua the Messiah.

Because it was the power of Yahweh that even gave Yahushua the strength to overcome and be without sin

He Himself declared that there is only one good, thus even all His goodness came from the Father. We too should recognize and accept this

With this in mind, let's read Romans 10 again:

Romans 10:1 - Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to YAHWEH for Israel is, that they might be saved.

Romans 10:2 - For I bear them record that they have a zeal of YAHWEH, but not according to knowledge.

Romans 10:3 - For they being ignorant of YAHWEH's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of YAHWEH.

Let's not be ignorant of His righteousness. If we do not submit to His righteousness, we will be going about to establish our own. And if we even try that, the law will simply condemn us!

Romans 10:4 - For the Messiah is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

The fact is that Yahweh's law doesn't make anyone righteous, it only shows/reveals to all their sin because we did not keep this law.

The law cannot make us righteous. It can only show us what righteousness is.

Thus, we need the righteousness of Yahweh through Yahushua the Messiah to be justified in His sight.

Yahushua can not only show us righteousness through His example...

But through Him we can be declared righteous!

Through Him we are "Justified" (a word meaning to be 'declared just/righteous')

This is why Yahweh said in Isaiah:

Isaiah 45:24 - Surely, shall one say, in YAHWEH have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.

Isaiah 45:25 - In YAHWEH shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.

Brethren, there is no other way.. only in Yahweh.. through His righteousness in Yahushua can we be justified (declared righteous, and thus have salvation)

This is not some "Pauline" teaching, this is from Tanakh/Old Testament!

Thus, the Messiah is the end of the law "FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS". The law never made anyone righteous, it only shows us what righteousness is.

Those who reject Yahushua and cling to the Torah are relying on the torah to justify them. But without Yahweh's righteousness in us, we will not be declared righteous!

We need the Righteousness of Yahweh..through Yahshua the Messiah in order for us to appear righteous unto Yahweh. We have sinned.. we can't be declared righteous

So to review, the whole mistake of Israel was that they did not seek the law of Yahweh in faith (through the Messiah). Instead they tried to attain righteousness by their own power.

Continuing in Romans:

Romans 10:3 - For they being ignorant of YAHWEH's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of YAHWEH.

Romans 10:4 - For the Messiah is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

Romans 10:5 - For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.

Live by what? Live by His law, His commandments

So if we do the commandments, we will 'live' (have eternal life) by them

But nobody has ever done them, except one

And you aren't that one

Yahushua is that ONE

Therefore HE LIVES!

The grave could not contain Him!

But when this scripture speaks of "living" in this context, does it mean eternal life?

Consider the words of Yahushua:

Luke 10:25 - And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

Luke 10:26 - He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?

Luke 10:27 - And he answering said, Thou shalt love YAHWEH thy Elohim with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

Luke 10:28 - And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

Meaning you will inherit eternal life because the original question was "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

So let's read this quote again..this time in Leviticus:

Leviticus 18:5 - Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am YAHWEH.

But nobody on judgement day is going to be able to come to Yahweh and say "Look, I'm righteous..see this law I kept?"

No man has ever kept it perfectly from birth until death except Yahushua the Messiah. This is why we need Him so!

We need His Righteousness IN US if we ever want to live eternally

And now, His Torah is to be in our heart

Because Yahushua is to be in us!

Now believe it or not, the law was to be in the heart of Israel even in the "Old covenant"

Deuteronomy 30:11 - For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.

Deuteronomy 30:12 - It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?

Deuteronomy 30:13 - Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?

Deuteronomy 30:14 - But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.

The Word is IN US. Even in our heart!! We must accept Yahushua, the WORD into our heart!

What word? The commandments in the Torah spoken of

And all of His commandments, it is all the "Word"

Then the WORD which IS Righteous, will dwell in us

Romans 10:6 - But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring the Messiah down from above:)

Romans 10:7 - Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up the Messiah again from the dead.)

Romans 10:8 - But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

Romans 10:9 - That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Master Yahushua, and shalt believe in thine heart that Elohim hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

But we must understand completely what is meant by this scripture by moving on to the next verse..

Romans 10:10 - For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

A True Belief will say "The Word, the Messiah and His righteousness is in me!"

If this is true then You will have righteousness within you like Yahushua was righteous.

SO THEN...

Can we forget about walking in righteousness and just trust the Messiah to make us righteous?

Should we live a life of sin anyway, since the righteousness of Yahweh is in us?

Surely not! For it was because of our sin that Yahushua had to come in the first place

It was because we did sin

Why should we who died to sin, continue to live in it?

1John 2:4 - He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

1John 2:5 - But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of YAHWEH is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.

1John 2:6 - He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

Acts 2:38 - Then Kepha said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Yahushua the Messiah for the forgiveness of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And the Spirit of Yahweh does not lead us to disobey Yahweh's torah/law

There is an unclean spirit that leads us to do that!

John 14:26 - But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

And His Spirit, His word, Yahshua's righteousness will come into our hearts and manifest itself.

As Yahweh predicted:

Ezekiel 36:27 - And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

That scripture doesn't say that the Spirit will lead you to some new and exciting law that would be to come?

Not at all, the Spirit will lead us to keeping Yahweh's statutes

His Spirit is supposed to cause us to walk in His statutes, not forget about them and say "Hey, I don't have to do that because I have the law in my heart!"

If the law is in our heart, then it should reflect as such with our obedience to that law

But if we refuse to keep the commandments that Yahushua kept, where is the evidence that He dwells in us? Where is the evidence of His Spirit causing us to walk in His statutes and do them?

How can we say that we truly know who He is?

It is by this we know that we are in Yahushua, and He in us

So if His righteousness is in us, we will be keeping His commandments.. that Spirit in us will guide us to righteousness

Isn't it an awesome thing how His word all ties in together! HalleluYah!

Again I say, works will save nobody (we must rely on Yahushua's works to be forgiven for our law-breaking) but without the good works.. how can one say they have Yahushua abiding in him?

The truth is, they cannot

Yahushua said:

John 15:4 - Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

John 15:5 - I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

John 15:6 - If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

John 15:7 - If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

John 15:8 - Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

John 15:9 - As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

John 15:10 - 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.

1John 2:6 - He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

Now, contrary to popular opinion.. Paul also taught that righteous works are necessary to enter the kingdom:

For an example..

1Corinthians 6:9 - Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of YAHWEH? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

1Corinthians 6:10 - Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of YAHWEH.

Paul never taught against righteousness at all

I say again, there is no commandment keeping that we can do to make up for the times that we DID break His commmandments

However, unless we 'repent' from our sins and do works worthy of repentance, we cannot be saved because we have failed to abide in the Vine! We have failed to even make the first step needed to receive His Righteousness. That first step is confession/repentance/acceptance of Yahushua for salvation

Repentance is necessary

And Paul himself preached that we must do works worthy of repentance

When speaking to Agrippa, he says:

Acts 26:19 - Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:

Acts 26:20 - But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to YAHWEH, and do works meet for repentance.

Yahushua said that He who does not abide "is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."

Without righteous works, where is the evidence of Yahushua being in us?

Is it possible to be saved apart from good works?

Is Yahushua at all concerned about our works?

In these verses, Yahushua was speaking of certain assemblies:

To the assembly in Ephesus He said:

Revelation 2:2 - "I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars;

Revelation 2:9 - "I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

Revelation 2:13 - "I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan's throne [is]. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.

Revelation 2:19 - "I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first.

Revelation 3:1 - "And to the angel of the assembly in Sardis write, `These things says He who has the seven Spirits of YAHWEH and the seven stars: "I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.

Revelation 3:8 - "I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.

Revelation 3:15 - "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.

He said to them: "I know your works", "I know your works", "I know your works", "I know your works", "I know your works", "I know your works", and "I know your works".

Do you suppose that He might have been a bit concerned with their works?

He said it to all seven of them!

And to many of them He warned that they were in danger of losing salvation, and He admonished them to "Overcome!"

Read it, there can be no doubt that works are important

Revelation 22:12 - "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.

Revelation 22:13 - "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last."

Revelation 22:14 - Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.

Else we aren't really the "Body of Yahshua" because when Yahshua walked this earth HE walked in righteousness, perfectly.

Revelation 14:12 - Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of YAHWEH and the faith of Yahushua.

As John said:

1John 2:5 - But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of YAHWEH is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.

1John 2:6 - He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

Did He break the Sabbath?

Did He keep this Winter Solstice/Christmas holiday we see going on?

Did He observe things like Halloween?

Did He eat unclean animals?

Did He ignore Yahweh's feast days?

Did He ever break any commandment found in Yahweh's law?

The absolute truth is "NO".

If He did, He could not be righteous! But we KNOW He was and is

To those who ARE doing these things, I ask:

If Yahushua is "IN YOU", if HIS Righteousness is "IN YOU" and His Word is "IN YOU", and His SPIRIT is "IN YOU"...causing you to "walk in His statutes" (to quote Ezekiel), then why are YOU doing these things?

You want to walk as Yahshua walked? How did Yahushua walk? He kept the Sabbath. He refrained from idolatrous holidays. He did not eat unclean animals. He kept Yahweh's feast days. He never broke any commandment found in Yahweh's law.

Therefore...

If Yahushua is "IN YOU", if HIS Righteousness is "IN YOU" and His Word is "IN YOU", and His SPIRIT is "IN YOU"...causing you to "walk in His statutes" to quote Ezekiel, then it is is necessary that WE ALL do these things, just as He did while on earth

We must "Walk as He walked" if we truly want His righteousness, His word, His Spirit dwelling in us.

Let's abide in Him!

It is time..

It is time to seek Yahweh's righteousness!

Matthew 6:33 - But seek ye first the kingdom of YAHWEH, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Psalms 119:126 - It is time for thee, YAHWEH, to work: for they have made void thy law.

Matthew 5:6 - Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Let Him show you what righteousness is.

He was meek, humble, He laid down His life for us, He did all things in the Torah, weightier and less weighty

Today, the true meaning of righteousness has been confused and muddied by the adversary

One day, it is prophesied that it will be made clear again

Malachi 3:16 - Then they that feared YAHWEH spake often one to another: and YAHWEH hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared YAHWEH, and that thought upon his name.

Therefore, let us speak often one to another and meditate on His name

For there are great promises those who do:

Malachi 3:17 - And they shall be mine, saith YAHWEH of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

Malachi 3:18 - Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth Elohim and him that serveth him not.

It is by His law and by His commandments and His righteousness in us!

Keeping them is evidence of Him in us

Therefore my brothers..

Lets speak often to one another, lets dwell together even more as we see the final day approaching, lets meditate on His name..

letting Yahushua's righteousness in us shine forth..

...revealing the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who truly serves Yahweh by 'believing unto righteousness',

.. and one who does not serve Him at all.

May Yahweh bless you and may He help us and have mercy on us all!