Romans 22: Be Strong in Your Knowledge About Justification

[Rebbe]

PAUL'S LETTER TO THE ROMAN CHRISTIANS (22)

Analytical Commentary on Romans

BE STRONG IN YOUR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT JUSTIFICATION
or,
RIGHTEOUSNESS AND LIFE

Copyright © BRI 2017 All Rights Reserved Worldwide by Les Aron Gosling,
Messianic Lecturer (BRI/IMCF)

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"It is hardly too much to say that the Greek mind has in no word uttered itself and all that was in its heart more distinctly than in this... It is hardly too much to say that God has in no word uttered Himself and all that is in His heart more distinctly than in this" -- Archbishop Trent discussing the Greek word charis in Romans 5.20 from which we transliterate Grace.


"The Greeks were lovers of beauty, in nature, in their architecture, their statuary, their poetry, their drama. Anything which called out of the heart wonder, admiration, pleasure, or joy, was designated by this word. The word came also to signify the doing of a favor graciously, spontaneously, a favor done without expectation of return but arising only out of the generosity of the giver" -- Greek scholar Kenneth Wuest commenting on Archbishop Trent's observation concerning Grace.

"Faith is the defeat of probability by the power of possibility"
-- Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

TEXT
"Therefore, since we are justified by faith, let us continue to have peace with God through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, through whom as an entree we have obtained permanent access to this Grace in which we permanently stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our turbulent troubles, knowing that turbulent troubles produce endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts flooding them through the agency of the Ruach HaKodesh that has been given to us.

"For while we were still helpless, at the right strategic time the Messiah died for the ungodly. Indeed, very rarely will anyone die for an individual who is legally exact and precise in his observance of the customs and rules of the society in which he lives ,though perhaps for a person who is generous of heart always accomplishing good for other people someone might actually dare to die. But God constantly proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners the Messiah died for us.

"Much more certainly then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by the life he possesses. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

"Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread into and throughout all humankind because all have sinned , sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. Yet death exercised dominion as a king from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a prefigure or type of the One who is to come.

"But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man's trespass, much more surely have the Grace of God and the free gift in the Grace of the one man, Yeshua the Messiah, will abound for the many. And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man's sin. For the judgement following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. If, because of the one man's trespass, death exercised dominion as a king through that one, much more certainly will those who receive the abundance of Grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life reigning as kings through the one man, Yeshua the Messiah.

"Therefore just as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. For just as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be constituted righteous. But law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, Grace superabounded with more added to that, so that, just as sin exercised dominion as a king in death, so Grace might also exercise dominion as a King through justification resulting in eternal life through Yeshua the Messiah our Lord" (Romans 5).

SO LET ME MAKE IT VERY SIMPLE
The first great truth we can glean from Paul's Letter to the Roman Christians is the revelation that we need righteousness. Many of us at this place in the International Messianic Community of Faith (IMCF) are Jewish, and we also have our Gentile brethren (Black, Bronze, White and probably Brindle as well and they all have their own individual sexual expressions, and may God bless them all SUPERABUNDANTLY) in close association with us. All of us NEED righteousness. That is a fact, though there are specific anti-Yeshua Jewish organisations and agencies that promulgate the view that WE can attain God's righteousness and maintain it by our own strength and if we fail at any time our repentance can justify us in the sight of a HOLY God. If you doubt my sanity at this point (because of my assessment) then please travel sometime during your spiritual journey to aish.com and see for yourself WITH YOUR OWN EYES what these characters actually teach.

AND their drivel is not limited to anti-Yeshua pro-Judaistic associations. We find them in the Messianic Movement as well. I will have somewhat to say about one individual in particular in a moment , and the reason I have chosen him out of an entire overripe bunch of putrid bananas is due to the fact that I have had somewhat personally to do with him. Not a close relationship, mind you, but still far too close for comfort! I will explain in a moment.

"Righteous" appears a total of 91 occasions in the Messianic Scriptures and 35 of these occur in Romans. It sort of makes us acutely aware of how important Rav Shaul considered "righteousness." His entire thesis in Romans can be assessed in four themes:

[1] righteousness needed

[2] righteousness supplied

[3] righteousness unattained

[4] righteousness applied in the life of the believer.

There is another great truth concerning the source of Life. Very early in Romans Paul declares of the pagan world, as we have seen in our journey through his Letter to the Roman Christians, "They... are worthy of death" (Romans 1.32). He adds later, "The ration of sin is death" (Romans 6.23). That's the ration as it is in the Greek. Its not "wages" at all because the Dark Lord does not pay wages, but only rations out enough to perpetuate your personal starvation in service to him. In the latter section of Romans, and we shall eventually find our way there, the Rabbi considers Israel and reflects: "What shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?" (Romans 11.15). He then speaks of Messianic believers being offered on a daily basis as "living sacrifices" (Romans 12.1). Life, and the need of life, runs throughout the entire letter of Romans. We do not have life, in its quantified and qualitative experience, so God supplies it; Israel herself is to one day have that life. Ultimately, the believer is to be a living sacrifice on the altar of Grace. And why not? After all if Christ is living his life out through us then that life will be reflective of the same surrender and sacrificial love expressed in Yeshua's life 2000 years past in one form or another.

Righteousness and life are bound closely together: "the just [righteous] shall live [experience life]." Again, "The gift of righteousness shall reign in life" (Romans 5.17). Moreover, "As sin has reigned unto death, even so might Grace reign unto eternal life through righteousness by Yeshua the Messiah our Lord" (Romans 5.21).

Before we go any farther along this route, note please, that Grace cannot reign to eternal life unless it is through righteousness. Such knowledge ought to make us all repent, considering and assessing in self-awareness and self-judgment concerning what we are. Yet God's righteousness provides a way for Grace to reign with the resultant outcome of everlasting life. Paul links life to righteousness once more in Romans 6.13. "Neither yield you your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." He adds, "The Spirit is life because of righteousness" (Romans 8.10). But whose righteousness is he discussing?

Mashiach's!

Rav Shaul is often twisted to say things he never ever intended. There are many Christians of the antinomian kind who insist that the Jewish Rabbi divided , jettisoned , righteousness from life and said that people could live any way they wished and they would still end up possessing life. What astonishing filth is this! What aberration is this! The apostle to the Gentiles makes is candidly clear that FIRST a man must be given righteousness , a STATE of righteousness and be treated by God as righteous, and AFTER he receives it he can then live RIGHT. For, he is alive from the dead and able in resurrection victory to present his bodily members as instruments of righteousness. (1) Righteousness, (2) life, and then (3) righteousness and life together.

There is another great truth presented to us by Paul in Romans. It is the absolute necessity of faith!

The words faith and belief and trust occur a total of 55 times in the entire letter. Paul begins with faith (Romans 1.5) and ends with an emphasis on "obedience to the faith" (Romans 16.26). The Greek in both instances is precisely identical , Romans begins and ends with faith.

"The just [righteous] shall live by faith."

And so they shall.

NOW WE CAN BETTER UNDERSTAND
Now we can better understand why it is that if all men (the entire world and all who have ever lived) have been justified, as Paul made clear in Romans 5.10, why the whole world has not yet experientially partaken of that salvation. John Owen (The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, 1852, reprinted 1989) should have returned to the Jewish roots of the Bible to properly comprehend salvation! All are presently justified, but not all are saved now at this time. For, in God's plan, intention and purpose for the universe the Messianic Community (the ekklesia) comes first. For the Messianic Community (ekklesia), this is OUR day of salvation. This is A day of salvation. It is not THE day of salvation. Today is not the only day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6.1 Gk cf Isaiah 49.8 Hebrew). We are the firstfruits of God's general harvest of all who have gone before and who will eventuate here on earth after us and who are not included in that especial "firstfruit" or "elect" harvest. We read that the apostle Peter said we were "elect according to the foreknowledge of God" (1 Peter 1.2).

And while WE may well understand and comprehend this truth there are some in the Messianic Movement who have demonstrated (again and again) how shallow is their stultified thinking. They are stultified because they are essentially legalists.

And, like the enemies of the apostle Paul, they seem to generate from Jerusalem.

A few short years ago I refused to permit a particularly zealous Jewish man from addressing our IMCF members here at HQ. I refused to allow him to share ANYTHING with our brethren at this place. It is high time I explained the reason why I took the steps I did. I share this information, not because I need to , far be it from me to even desire to recall this gentleman , but his influence stretches these days far and wide. And his message is satanic to the core.

ENTER BRADLEY MARCUS
His credentials are admirable and his force of personality magnetic. A Sephardi Jew by birth, Bradley Marcus early insinuated himself into the Messianic Movement with a gospel about a renewed Covenant, and bequeathing to the Movement a classic reinterpretation on the great Pauline work, the letter to the Galatians. Not a NEW Covenant, but a renewed one. And Galatians? All of Christianity, including its academics and other scholars, had wrongly understood for 2000 years what Paul had been writing about in the Second Temple period. Misunderstood until now... with his arrival!

Marcus now feels the need to call himself Avi ben Mordecai and he has influenced countless thousands of sincere believers with his distortions concerning the Grace of God and the purpose and role of the Messiah, Our Lord Yeshua. His volume on Galatians has destroyed the lives of possibly hundreds of thousands of Messianic believers who once trusted in the Lord Yeshua and his love.

I readily admit that I have never ever had any contact with this individual, I have never addressed an envelope to him, and I have never shaken his hand. I have never done any of these things and quite frankly I would not desire to do so in line with the exhortation of the apostle John in relation to greeting people who bring with them a false Gospel. But I had done my own research concerning him and his activities.

In 2012, I rejected outright an intended visit to our home and Yeshiva of this man who had been invited to teach a BRI/IMCF class by a Jewish legalist who used to attend our meetings and who created agitation, imposed distress, and generated upset among our local members. Originally known by the name of Elaine, she changed her name to a more appropriate (!) Hebrew one and became the root cause of "little ones" new in the Faith leaving our once-sweet fellowship. She had it in her mind that God had raised her up to put everyone else right about His will for their personal lives. And she confided this to a number of our members.

This Jewish racist -- she and a Sinai-oriented wealthy homophobic admirer who also attended our Yeshiva -- circulated disgusting negative email cartoons disparaging the Australian aboriginal people , started introducing dress codes, and pontificated where people sat who were attending our Yeshiva. She was a "control freak" afflicted with Borderline Personality Disorder, and Special Person Misconception (along with a deeply-ingrained Jezebel spirit). She disconcerted the Rebbetzin Glenys on more than one occasion and had our young impressionable daughter Miriam in tears and on the verge of a nervous breakdown with the pressures that were exerted on her by this damnable woman from Jerusalem. Indeed, she would have made a staunch "Armstrongite" leader had she ever heard of Herbert W. Armstrong and had the chance to do so (imo). Rejecting my counsel and gentle correction in her life, refusing to adhere to my instructions regarding respect for other brethren, and finally insisting that gays ought to be executed and presumptuously attempting to invite this Sinai adherent to our meetings brought the axe down abruptly upon her head , and then I got judged by a few believers who thought I should have handled her dismissal in a more appropriate "nicer" "Christian" fashion. Paul would never have let her go as long as I did. I had to learn the lesson that we can be far too nice to some people.

Within days of her dismissal from the BRI/IMCF Student Body, she had contacted Avi ben Mordechai and begged him to allow her to become his disciple. I have copies of her correspondence with ben Mordechai , which she foolishly forwarded to me , and a copy of his reply to her basically calling me a renegade Jewish apostate, a child of Rome, and a member of the "Mother Church Heresy Police Department." I began to realise then just how spiritually immature and stunted he actually was showing himself to be, and since then have discovered so many ill-conceived ideas he has entertained about the Gospel that there is NO WAY I could ever consider him a "brother in the One (Messianic) Faith."

AVI BEN MORDECHAI'S TREATISE
AbM has a number of works bearing his name, but his mammoth analysis of Galatians is his most profound. In fact, within its exhaustive 500+ pages there is much included concerning which I totally agree , including his view on forgiveness and atonement (228) ,  but I must share some of my disagreements right here and now. It is quite relevant to mention as we progress through Romans.

For any who wish to obtain a copy of this disturbing work, its published as Galatians. A Torah-Based Commentary in First-Century Hebraic Context, 2005, and was proudly "Written in Jerusalem, Israel; the City of the Great King" and "Printed in Israel."

AbM in his Preface betrays his essential ignorance of the teachings of Yeshua including essential Sinai reversals under the New Covenant when he states the following "criteria" as vital in his opinion to grasp this letter to the Galatians (on the assumption that Paul wrote the epistle in Aramaic and not in Greek) , and all my students are well aware of the issues I also already happen to have re: Galatians. But my issues with Galatians are not his. He notes: "A tradition must not break a commandment of the written Torah" (Preface ix).

While I happen to be very sympathetic to much of what is penned in AbM's Galatians I must take exception to his overt and acute legalism (as apposite to legal views) and insinuation of mere opinion as dogmatic assertion. Especially is this the case when he constantly interjects his authoritative nuances with constant repetitive qualifications such as "in my opinion," "it seems as if," and the occasional nauseous "my belief is," and "I think" when arguing an articulated (to him) "truth." We literally have to wade through innumerable phrases as "it would appear to me," "it seems probable," "I am suggesting," "leading me to believe," "it is not inconceivable," and along with these uncertainties other phrases such as "it appears," "presumably," "it is likely," "quite candidly I will say [speculate]," "if I have this idea correct," and "what I think was in the mind of Paul." Ad nauseum.

To my mind this is extremely shaky ground on which fragile foundation to build such an imposing edifice to ego as we locate all throughout his 500+ pages of the Galatians commentary. Then he more than suggests "this synopsis now brings us to what the gospel is really all about" (129).

Shades of the cult of Armstrongism! Herbert is risen from the dead and has taken the physical form of AbM!!!

But this is not all. He further admits the following: "So what if we cannot prove." And, "so what if we cannot find." And, "I think," "I think," "I think" with "So, I suppose we could say" (146).

He got one thing correct, well sort of. Mordechai rightly rejects the "cross" as the implement on which Christ died , but ignores the tree in the orchard of Golgoleth in favour of the Armstrongite, JW, and Stern rubbish of "a stake" (147, 158).

Sadly as well as surprisingly AbM seems equally uninformed of the Second Temple rabbinic expectation of a Messianic Torah that would be newly introduced on the basis of the New Covenant with the coming of the Messiah (Galatians p.4) and he is every bit as dumb when it comes to Paul's animosity toward Peter, James and John who to the great apostle "appeared to be pillars" but with whom he had enormous conflict (5). He prefers a kehilah as a reference to the Messianic congregation (6) whereas Josephus finds the Greek word ekklesia -- which is the Greek choice of word in the NT -- as quite appropriate. He speaks of "Messianic Christianity" as Romish (xiv) and the message of Paul to the Galatians as "a freedom to do the law of Moses" (1).

I could not help but be quite astonished that AbM has preconceived notions in relation to Galatians written in Aramaic (which he cannot prove) to Gentile Gauls whom he thinks are remnants of lost Israel! (Galatia/Gaul from galut, exile... 237) In fact he links the lost tribes of Israel with Galatian language similarities in his "Associated Word Plays" but we can accomplish the same by locating apparent Hebraisms in the Mayan tongue, and the Japanese language! We can also find similarities to Hebrew in some Native American tribal words and expressions (See Adair's History of the American Indians, 1775 especially the 1930 Samuel Cole Williams [Editor] edition; also the works of Garcia, Las Casas, Thomas Thorowgood, and the Puritan "apostle to the Indians" John Eliot. We should also include Antonio Montesinos and Manasseh ben Israel, Cotton Mather, Roger Williams and William Penn). But quoting Henry George Rawlinson "19th Century Professor of History at Oxford University" as impressive as it first sounds, won't cut it. Neither will referring to the speculations of E. Raymond Capt, a noted Anglo-Israelite! And, although he seems to want to distance himself from any taint of British-Israelite teaching, he has the audacity to exclaim, "Paul... must have known that large numbers of the Galatians were physical descendants of the Israelite ten tribes, known by other names such as the Celts, Cimmerians, and Scythians..." (196).

Further, AbM is oblivious to the fact that YHWH tore up the failed marriage contract , the Sinai Covenant (355). He writes, "Within the written Torah itself... passages... revealing in no uncertain terms the eternality of the divine [Sinai] Torah... a perpetual contract..." (10). He strives throughout the book to make his case that ol'm means "the idea of unto eternity, forever, perpetuity, permanence" (9). At this point it was confirmed that this "scholar" was being very economical with the truth. He KNOWS better!!! "Forever" (ol'm) can be altered, changed, made redundant, eclipsed and brought to a termination point, and THIS is the verdict of Scripture itself.

Not content with being economical with the truth relating to the Hebrew word ol'm translated often as "forever" he speaks highly of Jacob's character in this manner: "Contrary to Jacob's character, Laban was shady and deceptive" (210). Um, am I missing something here? Wasn't Jacob's nature one of deception according to the biblical revelation? AbM's promulgation of the Nietzsche doctrine, adopted by the Nazis, of the Superman (214ff) -- Jews are extremely special in his opinion and his followers (like the Jewish woman from Jerusalem mentioned earlier) follow suit! Critical of Gentiles, speaking in a derogatory way about them yet when I speak the truth about this sense of racial superiority I am seen to be guilty of unleashing lashon hara -- an evil tongue, evil speech, scandal mongering. Hypocrites , evil masquerading as "righteousness." As it was in Yeshua's day, so it is now. I am not speaking thus of Jews generally, for I am one. I speak of those who wear the Sinai Torah about their person and who look down on Gentiles as "dogs."

Interestingly enough, he enthusiastically muses "According to this eternal Law [he means the Sinai Torah/Covenant] YHWH was in a bind... By His sheer nature, Yehovah could do nothing but to remain faithful to His own Law" and then implies "all Israel must return to the Covenant" and implies that this is to occur as a consequence of restoring an already torn up and shredded original marriage agreement. In writing the way he does AbM sets the stage for the idea of a RENEWED Sinai contract called the "New Covenant." At this point he adds, "Perhaps now, you are getting a glimpse at what the "Gospel" is all about..." (142).

"Paul was able to say with boldness that the house of Israel could now return to YHWH in a renewal of contract" (148) and he repeats the charge with "Paul was a modern-day messenger of this renewal agreement" (149) followed on the same page with contemplative "it seems that," "perhaps," "I believe," "I think," and the classic comment of all comments "If this theory of mine holds true" and moreover "I cannot say this interpretation is sure... it is plausible..." (193).

Referencing Romans 7.4 he speaks of the body of Mashiach as "the [Sinai] Torah" (144) and this is again verified by AbM in these succinct words: "But, through the body of Yeshua, which represents the written Law of Moses" etc.

AbM is dead-set against any idea that the Lord Yeshua was God incarnate in human flesh. He is decidedly against "singing hymns and songs to Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit" (131) and we have met his disciples at our Yeshiva who have insisted that the NT itself should be "thrown out in the trash can."

AND WHAT DOES HE SAY ABOUT JUSTIFICATION?
I will leave this man now to the judgment of God and of the Lord Yeshua , God in the flesh. In his own words AbM condemns himself as one unenlightened by the Ruach HaKodesh. I do not know what spirit he possesses, but it is not the Spirit of God's Righteousness , THAT IS A FACT.

"Righteousness is attainable only by walking in the commandments as they were handed down to us at Sinai" (219) and he tries to establish this position by utilising Hebrew texts that correctly associate "righteousness" with the ideal notion that we must "live in them" , that is, in the commandments (Deuteronomy 6.25; Psalm 119.142; Ezekiel 18.9). AND WE SURELY MUST LIVE IN GOD'S COMMANDMENTS. This is also Paul's position, the position of James, Peter and John. It was the position of Yeshua, and it was the position of the prophets. Of course we must live out our lives in accordance with God's expectations of us. Nobody in their right mind would argue against such a proposition! But the righteousness that we must possess which guarantees GOD'S righteousness (which is higher than any Torah given to humankind) is a RIGHTEOUSNESS (received) BY FAITH and decidedly NOT righteousness received by being faithful to the law of Moses or any other law for that matter. AbM wants to establish his righteousness through obedience to the law of Moses. He rejects the righteousness which is by the faith of Yeshua the Messiah. AbM knows ZERO about justification (righteousness) by faith. He may speak as though he knows all about it. But as I have taught on myriad occasions had Abraham lived in Moses' day would have been dragged into a field and there suffered death by stoning because he was a sinner and married to his half sister. No mercy would have been shown to him.

AbM has displayed the crassest cognitive content of the Word of God that I have ever come across in over 40 years in ministry. But his crowning award comes with this utterance , and I will conclude this analysis of his destructive Galatians thesis with his own words.

He merrily transfers the CHARACTERISTICS of the Ruach HaKodesh , the characteristics of GOD HIMSELF, of "love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, honesty... and the characteristics of YHWH" to "the written Word" (the Sinai law as the bedrock of the Antiquated Covenant) which he thinks will "produce" these fruits (177).

The Scripture speaks of "The stone which the builders rejected" -- "the chief corner stone... he who falls on this stone will be broken in pieces" (Matthew 21.33-46) which is none other than the LORD YESHUA the Mashiach.

What says AbM? "That stone IS "the written Mosaic Torah" as opposed to rabbinic oral traditions (105).

THAT says it all. And from his own mouth. What a scurrilous assertion. THAT tells the whole story of a darkened, unenlightened SINAI-BOUND mind.

THE OUTCOME OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH
In his Volume III of Word Studies in the Greek New Testament Professor Wuest states,

"God's Grace is that matchless, wonderful, marvelous, act on His part when He out of the spontaneous infinite love of His heart steps down from His judgment throne in heaven to take upon Himself the guilt of our sin and the penalty which is justly ours, doing this not for His friends, but for His enemies. Here the word "Grace" goes infinitely beyond its meaning in pagan Greece..."

And specifically on Romans 5.20 he notes: "The word 'abounded' is from a different Greek word than that which is translated 'abound.' The word means 'to exist in abundance.' But the second word which meaning also 'to exist in abundance' carries with it the added idea that the abundance is more than enough. The thing exists in superfluity... In addition to that, Paul prefixes a preposition to the word which means 'to be over and above.' Thus the translation [of Romans 5.20] reads, 'Where sin existed in abundance, Grace was in superabundance, and then some more added on top of that.'"

"God created the sun to give light and heat to the earth upon which we live. But only a very small fraction of that light and heat ever reaches our globe. The rest is lost in space. We need never be concerned that the light and heat of the sun will fail us. God has made an oversize reservoir to serve us.

"There is enough Grace in God's heart to love to save and keep saved for time and eternity, every sinner that ever has or ever will live. And then enough left over to save a million more universes full of sinners, were there such, and then some more. There is enough Grace available to give every saint constant victory over sin, and then some more. There is enough Grace to meet and cope with all the sorrows, heartaches, difficulties, temptations, testings, and trials of human existence, and more added to that. God's salvation is an oversize salvation. It is shock proof, strain proof, unbreakable, all sufficient. It is equal to every emergency, for it flows from the heart of an infinite God freely bestowed and righteously given through the all-sufficient sacrifice of our Lord [on the bloodied tree of Golgoleth]. Salvation is all of Grace. Trust God's Grace. It is superabounding Grace."

While God IS Grace in His Person, His Nature, and His character, Grace did not appear in the Scripture prior to Sinai, nor after it. God has a variety of Administrations and GRACE has never been expressed as one of them. It did not come in the days of Moses, nor did it come through the Writings or the Prophets. It came ONLY when Yeshua embodied GRACE in an earthly form as a human being (anthropos) to suffer and die and to rise again as perfect GOD. It never came by the Rabbis, and never will. In fact I have stated on numerous occasions that the rabbins freely use the term "Grace" (by which they mean mercy and loving kindness) in competition with its use in Christianity in which Grace was originally expressed through Yeshua. Make no mistake! While "salvation is of the Jews" (John) and "Grace and Truth came by Yeshua the Messiah" (again, John) this DOES NOT MEAN that the rabbis have the truth. They crucified the TRUTH 2000 years ago and they ignorantly and in blindness await their own salvation by and from the Source of ALL Salvation ,  the Jew and Son of God, Yeshua.

Salvation never comes by obeying law, whether that law is a written code on parchment like that of Sinai (originally hewn in rock), or the LAW (TORAH) imprinted on the human heart. Law will not save you nor anybody else.

First we are justified by faith and then God Himself treats us accordingly which means in effect that we are recreated into His SPIRIT and made, clothed, enveloped in and without with the very CHARACTER AND NATURE OF ALMIGHTY GOD HIMSELF: "The Many-Breasted One" so that we may nurture and nourish untold billions who have yet to make their justification an activated reality.

May Bradley Marcus be one of them.

THIS CONCLUDES LECTURE 22

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