Rejoice and be Thankful 2

 Forgiveness of my Sins.

Do you think it is appropriate to be thankful to God one day a year? Of course not. Some people have a hard time trying to think of something to be thankful for. This is what we are talking about in this series. Being thankful to God, for God, for us, always.

Last time we talked about being thankful to God for the simple reason, well, not so simple really, but for the simple reason that you exist. You are here. You are alive. How about if we rejoice and be thankful that we are forgiven for our sins?

“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness because he had passed over former sins in his divine forbearance. It was to show his righteousness at present so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” Romans 3:21-26

Let us examine this a bit more.

“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.”

What does this mean? Yeshua, as translated as Jesus, made this statement.

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:17-20

What is the Law of God as God gave it to us?

You shall have no other gods before God.
You shall not commit idolatry.
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
Honor your Father and Mother.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery
You shall not steal
You shall not bear false witness
You shall not covet.

Yeshua summed all this up in this way.

“And one of the scribes came up and heard them arguing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, "Which commandment is the most important of all?" Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

And the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.” Mark 12:28-34

Now understand this fact. This is God’s Law. Now the Jewish religion has 613 laws. They include some of this of course. Some examples,

To know God exists.
Not to entertain the idea that there is any god but the Eternal
Not to blaspheme in the penalty for which is death
To hallow God's name

ETC. Others

To honor the old and the wise Leviticus 19:32
To learn Torah and to teach it Deuteronomy 6:7.
To cleave to those who know Him the Talmud states that cleaving to scholars is equivalent to cleaving to Him.

This one I find interesting.

Do not add to the commandments of the Torah, whether in the Written Law or its interpretation received by tradition.

Well? God gave us 10 and the Rabbis gave us 613. So?

It goes on to address things like;

Signs and symbols
Prayer and blessings
Love and brotherhood
The poor and unfortunate
Treatment of Gentiles
Food

ETC. 

It goes on. 613. Could you follow all these? Of course not. This is why when asked, Yeshua summed them up as two.

"The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

Remember, He did not come to do away with the Law. It is still very much in effect. However, there is a difference between being a Jew and being saved by grace through the faith in Yeshua, or Jesus, as the Christ.

Remember, back in the day, the early church was going around circumcising grown men and making the non-Jews of the time follow their law. It became such an issue that Peter and the rest of the Apostles had to settle it.

“But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." After Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.” Acts 15:1-2

It seems like, to me anyway, that it was stopping non-Jews from accepting Christ due to this requirement according to Jewish Law. So they met.

“The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, "Brothers, you know that in the early days, God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.” Acts 15:6-9

Therefore, they came to this conclusion and even put it in writing.

“Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, with the following letter:

"The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell." Acts:15:22-29

First, we must hear the gospel and accept Christ's sacrifice.

“Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.“ 1 John 5:12

Pretty simple. Easy to understand. And of course.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” John 3:16-18

It is just that simple. God made it so simple that mankind sometimes gets lost in the simplicity. Rejoice and be thankful, that even though we are not Jews from birth, even though we do not have the Jewish Laws to learn and follow, God has made the way for us to be equal to the Jews, and fellow children of God.

“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.” Romans 8:16-17

This is the result.

“For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.”

This is the reason.

“This was to show God's righteousness because he had passed over former sins in his divine forbearance. It was to show his righteousness at present so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

Why? “To show God’s righteousness.” Remember what Peter learned.

“So Peter opened his mouth and said: "Truly I understand that God shows no partiality,” Acts 10:34

You are blessed with the ability to accept Jesus and become an heir with the Jews, who also accept Christ, and become heirs with Christ.

“For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.

For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature, do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.” Romans 2:12-16

Rejoice and be thankful that although you cannot be made perfect and acceptable following the Law of the Jewish people and or even the Ten Commandments fully, being born into sin, we can be made perfect and acceptable through the blood that Jesus, or Yeshua, shed for us all. Your sins are forgiven. You are a new creature. A saved being. An heir with Christ Himself. A child of God.

Have you been adopted? If not, say this Prayer. Right now. Wherever you may be, say it in your own words, and do not doubt in your heart. God will hear you. He will send the Spirit of Life to you. Let us Pray.

"Oh heavenly Father, Lord God. I am a sinner. I know this. I know there is nothing I can do to change that. But I know you can. I accept Yeshua's sacrifice for me. I believed He rose from the dead. I repent my sins. Please send the Spirit of Adoption into my life. Help me to get to know the real you. Save me. Please. In the name of Yeshua, Amen!"

That's it. It is that simple. Now go tell someone what you have just done. "That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead, You shall be saved." Romans 10:9. You need to find a Church that God leads you to and be Baptized the way Jesus said to be. You are now a Child of God. A New Creature. You "have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him."Colossians 3:10

The email, if you wish to contact me, is truthbygod1@gmail.com

May the comfort of the Holy Ghost, and the peace of our Lord Yeshua, be with you all. May God bless and be with you, always.

Until next time, be blessed, be a blessing, and Yeshua is Lord!