The Simple Gospel of the Messiah: Book One - Romans Through Colossians

The Simple Gospel of the Messiah:

Book One – Romans Through Colossians

A Verse by Verse Study of the New Testament Epistles

L K Kimble

Copyright 2015 L K Kimble

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition License Notes:

Thank you for downloading this ebook. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

Acknowledgements:

I would like to thank my dad, Delbert Lacey,

without whom this book would not have been possible.

This book is dedicated to my beautiful children,

David, Jared, and Roberta

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans

Romans Chapter 1

Romans Chapter 2

Romans Chapter 3

Romans Chapter 4

Romans Chapter 5

Romans Chapter 6

Romans Chapter 7

Romans Chapter 8

Romans Chapter 9

Romans Chapter 10

Romans Chapter 11

Romans Chapter 12

Romans Chapter 13

Romans Chapter 14

Romans Chapter 15

Romans Chapter 16

The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians

1 Corinthians Chapter 1

1 Corinthians Chapter 2

1 Corinthians Chapter 3

1 Corinthians Chapter 4

1 Corinthians Chapter 5

1 Corinthians Chapter 6

1 Corinthians Chapter 7

1 Corinthians Chapter 8

1 Corinthians Chapter 9

1 Corinthians Chapter 10

1 Corinthians Chapter 11

1 Corinthians Chapter 12

1 Corinthians Chapter 13

1 Corinthians Chapter 14

1 Corinthians Chapter 15

1 Corinthians Chapter 16

The Second Epistle of Paul with Timothy to the Corinthians

2 Corinthians Chapter 1

2 Corinthians Chapter 2

2 Corinthians Chapter 3

2 Corinthians Chapter 4

2 Corinthians Chapter 5

2 Corinthians Chapter 6

2 Corinthians Chapter 7

2 Corinthians Chapter 8

2 Corinthians Chapter 9

2 Corinthians Chapter 10

2 Corinthians Chapter 11

2 Corinthians Chapter 12

2 Corinthians Chapter 13

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians

Galatians Chapter 1

Galatians Chapter 2

Galatians Chapter 3

Galatians Chapter 4

Galatians Chapter 5

Galatians Chapter 6

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians

Ephesians Chapter 1

Ephesians Chapter 2

Ephesians Chapter 3

Ephesians Chapter 4

Ephesians Chapter 5

Ephesians Chapter 6

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Philippians

Philippians Chapter 1

Philippians Chapter 2

Philippians Chapter 3

Philippians Chapter 4

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Colossians

Colossians Chapter 1

Colossians Chapter 2

Colossians Chapter 3

Colossians Chapter 4

Summary

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Introduction

The controversial nature of the Holy Bible cannot be accidental. It is plain that the Holy Scriptures of God have been the source of endless debate even when they were still being written. Why wasn’t the Bible written plainly and so be a source of confirmation and not consternation? Why would God allow such a contentious medium to exist where His Word is concerned? How are we supposed to know what is the truth? Controversy can cause doubt, and doubt causes confusion.

‘God is not the author of confusion’, 1 Cor. 14:33. Confusion comes from Satan, James 3:14 – 16, who uses it to deceive the whole world, Rev. 12:9. If we keep this simple fact in mind, we can understand that all controversy arising from the reading of the gospel derives from the people that Satan uses to thwart God’s Holy purpose, 1 Tim. 4:1 – 2. Logically, the information given to us by our Creator in the verses of Holy Scripture is then not to be interpreted through confusion.

Since the Bible is the only source of instruction we have from Him, we can know that this source must be a means unto itself of that information. In other words, the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures must come from the Holy Scriptures themselves, 2 Pet. 1:20.

The ‘Holy Scriptures’ consist of;

- the writings about the Patriarchs and those of their day who received the Ten Commandment Law and the instructions that go with it from God

- the writings of the Kings, the prophets and their prophecies

- the teachings of the Messiah to the apostles

- the explanatory epistles by the apostles themselves

- and the Revelation vision

We today have the benefit of hindsight, explanation and corroborating information, revealed through many archaeological findings and ancient texts. There should be no confusion as to what the Bible says, and yet there is.

What we see now through reading of the acts of those people of old and their sometimes mistaken views of His words to them, and then of reading the explanations offered by Yeshua and by the apostles and by knowing the definitions of the words used and how they are used we can come to an understanding that will help us to know our creator God.

It is interesting that in the world today, there is such a diversity of opinions and interpretations of the ministry of Yeshua the Messiah. We see some churches hold to a certain belief that is spoken against by other churches and visa-versa. And we are called to the churches under the doctrines prescribed therein, whether it be Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran or another. There are churches that ascribe to just about every interpretation of Scripture, and even those who oppose the truth of the gospel of Messiah. However, if we look to the Holy Scriptures themselves as the only means to the truth of the Word, we quickly see that in these pages, there are no prescribed churches to speak of; no Lutheran, no Baptist, no Catholic or Methodist appear to be in the verses of the Bible.

There are certainly truths that must be understood in order to rightly understand God’s Word to us; some basic facts that can lead to misinterpretation of later verses if we do not correctly understand them. Of course, not everyone will see the clear meaning of some of these fundamentals, and that too, is spoken of in the Holy Scriptures. But, for the purposes of this study, there follows a short list of the most basic truths that are sometimes misunderstood and their plain meanings as told by the Holy Scriptures.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

There has been much controversy over the name of God the Father and God the Son. God, Lord, Adonai, YHWH, Yahweh, Yahuwah, Yehovah, Jehovah, Yeshua, Yahoshua, Yehushua, Joshua, Jesus; the list goes on and on. Does it matter? Some maintain it most certainly does; others, not so much. What does the Bible say?

Jesus Christ is the name which has been translated throughout the New Testament for our Lord and Messiah, the Son of God. The Old Testament frequently uses YHWH, four Hebrew letters which have been translated as ‘Lord’ and ‘God’. Since the original Hebrew had no vowels, which were added at a much later date and appear with different pronunciations in several places within the Scriptures, there have been debates and speculations about this name.

I stipulate that your personal worship of God is just that, personal and none of my business, just as my worship is none of yours. Personally, I use the name ‘Yeshua’ when referring to the Son and ‘Father’ when referring to God the Father, and for reasons that are available to anyone who is interested but that I will not go into here. I will use these in this study and I hope that in no way this offends or hurts anyone’s sensibilities. Please share a tendency for forgiveness for this, and I hope this in no way affects you and that you will continue to read this work.

FAITH - When the Holy Scriptures speak of faith, we must understand that there is more than one faith being referred to.

1. OUR PERSONAL FAITH:

We read at 1 Pet. 1:6 - 9, ‘6) Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7) that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Yeshua the Messiah: 8) whom having not seen, you love; in whom, though now you see him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 9) receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.’

‘Your faith’ is an expression indicating that we have a personal inherent faith. This faith is to be tried and tempted, as indicated in verses 6 & 7. The verses quoted here use explanatory phrases to make the meanings clear;

being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire – explaining how our personal faith is viewed.

whom having not seen, you love; in whom, though now you see him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory – speaking of the Messiah in relation to our personal belief or faith.

If we remove these explanations, what is left is the defining statement of 1 Pet. 1:6 – 9, which then reads as follows:

‘Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a season…you are in heaviness through manifold temptations: that the trial of your faith…might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Yeshua the Messiah…receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.’

Our faith has an end which it must come to at some time before or when the Messiah returns to the earth, which is wrapped up together with salvation. But there is another faith, one that lasts forever.

2. THE FAITH OF THE MESSIAH:

Philip. 3:9, ‘…be found in Him [Messiah], not having mine own righteousness, which is of the Law, but that which is through the faith of Messiah, the righteousness which is of God by faith.’

‘The faith of Messiah’ is another faith. HIS FAITH is what teaches us the spiritual righteousness of God, the spiritual application of the Royal Ten Commandment Law, Rom. 1:16 - 17 & 1 Cor. 2:13.

Gal. 2:16 says, ‘…that a man is not justified by the works of the Law, but by the faith of Yeshua the Messiah…’ And then Gal. 3:2 explains that we actually receive the Holy Spirit through this faith. Verse 3:11 tells us that those who are just are given eternal life by this faith. And then verse 3:22 verifies that those who believe are those who receive this promised Holy Spirit by this faith of the Messiah Yeshua. Finally, Rev. 14:12 – 13 reveals that those who are blessed and whose works will be accounted for righteousness are those who ‘keep the commandments of God, AND the faith of Yeshua.’ This is implicitly informing us exactly what the New Covenant is and what we must do.

This fundamental and basic teaching of the bible about the meaning of ‘faith’, is so clear and yet has been the source of such confusion and controversy. It is not hard to imagine that Satan wants us to be in doubt about understanding the spiritual righteousness of God which brings us to the end of our personal faith and to eternal life and salvation. This leads us to another truth that has been highly debated.

LOSING SALVATION:

‘Don’t let the enemy steal your salvation!’ is cried out in many churches today.

Can we lose our salvation? First we must define what salvation is. The word ‘save’ in the Strong’s Greek Dictionary of the Bible, is word #4991; σωτηρία sōtēría so-tay-ree'-ah; (noun); rescue or safety (physically or morally):--deliver, health, salvation, save, saving. (Strong, James (2011-05-07). Strong's Greek Dictionary of the Bible (with beautiful Greek, transliteration, and superior navigation) (Strong's Dictionary) (Kindle Locations 8283-8285). Miklal Software Solutions, Inc.. Kindle Edition.)

When the Bible speaks of being saved, there is more than one type of salvation.

PRESENT SALVATION:

‘Save’, as shown above, meaning ‘to rescue’ is used in various verses.

Luke 19:10, ‘For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.’

1 Cor. 1:18, ‘For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness; but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God.’

Luke 7:36 – 50 shows us that Yeshua went into the home of one of the Pharisees, named Simon, to eat. A woman, apparently one known to be sinful, came into the home and washed and anointed Yeshua’s feet. The Pharisee judged silently that Yeshua must not know much about her, as He apparently did not understand the sinfulness of the woman He was allowing to touch Him. Yeshua told the man a parable and then said to the woman at verse 50, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’

Rom. 8:23 – 25, ’And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man sees, why does he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.’ Verse 23 here speaks of waiting for the future adoption, the future redemption of our body. Verse 24 explains that we are saved or rescued from Satan’s system by hope.

Rom. 5:2 tells us that we hope for the glory of God. Meaning we hope that God finds us acceptable and is pleased with us and glorifies us. John 13:31 – 35 speaks of this glory which began with the Father glorifying the Son and which will then come to us who are His disciples and who, ‘love one another; as I have loved you,’ verse 34 & John 17:5 & 22. This glory which the Father receives from us, according to verse 32, comes back to us through Him, ‘If God be glorified in Him [the Son], God shall also glorify Him [the Son] in Himself, and shall straightway glorify Him [the Son].

Rom. 2:10 speaks also of this glory as being what God will give to those who ‘work good’ and not evil. (This is referring to the last five of the Ten Commandments. See below for a study on these Commandments and how they relate to the Commandment to ‘love your neighbor as you love yourself’.)

We see that this present salvation is what we get by our own works performed by our own faith that God will honor and glorify us for, but this is not the salvation that is promised in the future. This salvation is in the present, we ARE saved or rescued from Satan’s system of fleshly temptations unto eternal life, 1 John 2:20 – 25 & 5:11 – 12. However, we do not receive this eternal life until our belief has been tested, James 1:12: And we can be confident that we do not need to fail in these times of trial, 1 John 4:4 & 5:4 – 5.

As we saw above, the word ‘saved’ also means to be healed; this pertains to both the physical and the spiritual.

Luke 18: 42 shows Yeshua saying to the blind man, ‘Receive your sight: your faith has saved you.’ This man’s personal faith is what brought him this fleshly salvation of being healed from being blind. His faith wasn’t the healing influence, the Messiah was, however, Messiah can’t heal someone who does not believe He can perform this feat; we can actually prevent this healing by our disbelief, Mark 6:5 – 6.

This salvation is related directly to our personal faith in Messiah’s ability to actually do what He says He can do, Matt. 9:29 – 30 & Matt. 8:5 – 13.

FUTURE SALVATION:

Matt. 10: 21 – 22, ‘And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And you shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endures to the end shall be saved.’

Here we see a future salvation, one that will come after ‘the end of this age’. Much speculation concerning this salvation has been put forth. Let’s attempt to define this a little better.

For this, we need to understand what the Great Tribulation actually is. The book of Zephaniah speaks of this. Chapter 1 starts out immediately explaining that the ‘Day of the Lord’ is a terrible thing to behold, and that it is near, verse 14. Beginning at verse 15 we see that, ‘That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,’ 16, ‘a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.’

Comparing this to 1 Cor. 15:52, ‘...at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed,’ and compared to Rev. 6:16, ‘and [they] said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:’ verse 17, ‘for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?’ All these are speaking of the same thing, and it is called ‘The Day of the Lord’.

This ‘Day of the Lord’ is mentioned quite often in the Old Testament and in the New; and we can easily see a pattern to the language:

Isa. 13:6 – 22 – verse 10, ‘For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.’ Verse 11, ‘I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity.’ Verse 13, ‘I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of His fierce anger.’

2 Thess. 3:7, ‘but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perditions of ungodly men.’ Verse 10, ‘But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.’ The Day of the Lord is also known as the ‘day of judgment’. This makes sense because, ‘How can men be stricken with the wrath of God if they have not been first judged as ungodly and unrighteous?’

Now we compare all this to Rev. 6:12, ‘And I beheld when He had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;’ verse 13, ‘and the stars of the heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casts her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.’ Verse 14, ‘And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.’ Verse 15, ‘And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains’ verse 16, ‘and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,’ verse 17, ‘"for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?’"

The Great Tribulation IS the wrath of God and is instituted by the returning Messiah upon all those who perform ungodliness and unrighteousness and who hold the truth in unrighteousness, Rom. 1:18.

Our future salvation is directly tied into this ‘Day of the Lord’ as it is spoken of at 1 Cor. 5:5 where Paul is speaking of a man who is defying the Law by committing adultery. He says here, ‘…deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the Day of the Lord Yeshua.’ Acts 2:16 – 21 also verifies that our salvation is at this time, verses 20 – 21 tell us, ‘…the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable Day of the Lord come: and it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ The salvation that is obtained in the future is being saved from the awesome and terrible effects of His wrath.

Being saved to eternal life is not the same as receiving this future salvation, for some believers may receive eternal life but still be judged as those who must experience His wrath, Rev. 7:14. This is so that they may come to the truth of the gospel of Messiah and perform the will of God the Father. Acts 2:21 tells us that, ‘…whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ These are not the people spoken of by the Messiah at Matt. 7:21, ‘Not everyone that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven.’ It is those who perform His will, His commandments, who enter into the kingdom, Rev. 7:14, 12:17, 14:12, and 22:14.

Those who receive the future salvation from His wrath are resurrected at the return of Messiah and return with Him, 1 Thess. 3:13. Joel speaks of this ‘army’ that comes with Messiah when He returns. Chapter 2 verifies that it is the ‘Day of the Lord’, verse 1, ‘Blow you the trumpet in Zion’. Verse 2, ‘a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness…’ Verse 10, ‘The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:’ Verse 11, ‘and the Lord shall utter His voice before His army: for His camp is very great: for He is strong that executes His Word: for the Day of the Lord is great and very terrible and who can abide it?’ We can read that the Lord is before His army, meaning that those chosen and saved saints that have returned with Him are behind Him, 1 Thess. 3:13 & Jude vs. 14 – 16.

But the question remains, ‘Can you lose your salvation?’

As has just been pointed out, our future salvation is being ‘saved’ from the wrath of God which is the Great Tribulation of Revelation 6:12 - 17. Unfortunately, Rev. 7:9 tells us that most people must go through the Great Tribulation of His wrath and are ‘a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues…’ This is saying that while the truth of God is put out plainly before them, most people will choose not to believe it, or if they believe it, they will do little to nothing to become righteous and God fearing in their physical lives.

Future salvation from God’s wrath has been confused with being saved to eternal life, and that is unfortunate. We see that eternal life is not something that is out of our reach. John 3:16 affirms that whosoever believes in Messiah, the Son of God, shall not perish but have everlasting life.

However, this is not the future salvation; and that future salvation is determined beforehand, 1 Thess. 1:4, 9 – 10 & Rom. 9:22 – 23. Eternal life, however, is available to anyone who accepts the Messiah’s sacrifice for them in humbleness and meekness, and that is as it suggests, ‘eternal’.

Philip. 1:6, ‘…being confident of this very thing, that He which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Yeshua the Messiah.’ By this it becomes apparent that if we were to say that God gives us eternal life and then takes it back, as some believe, it is a derogatory allegation of His perfect character and grace.

Eternal life was purchased by the Messiah and it is His to give or not to give. It is a free gift as touching the personal faith of those which believe in the Messiah AND alter their lives accordingly, 1 Tim. 6:18 – 19. Heb. 11:6 speaks on this very thing for, ‘…he that comes to God must believe that He is, AND that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.’ So we see that simple belief that God and His Son exist may not be all that this entails.

Matt. 19:16 shows a man asking our Messiah, ‘What good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?’ Yeshua goes on at verse 17 to tell the man, ‘if you will enter into life, keep the commandments.’ Verse 18, ‘You shall do no murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and your mother: and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

Yeshua was using the commandments as a means to show the man that believing IN Him as the Son of God was knocking on the door, but following the commandments was the equivalent of stepping through that door, Matt. 7:7 – 14. Following the commandments would prove that we believe what the Messiah has to say as opposed to simply believing in His existence. It would prove that we hold Yeshua the Messiah’s words from God the Father in honor and respect, just as any child respects their own physical father by honoring their father’s rules, Heb. 12:9 – 10.

By following the commandments, we soon come to understand the necessity of learning to behave righteously, but it is only the very first steps in our ‘works’ for God. From there, the Holy Spirit within us will direct us so that Messiah can produce fruit through that Spirit. How righteous and how holy we are determines the strength we have to bear or hold up that fruit, John 15:1 – 11.

Our ‘work’ begins with becoming as holy and righteous as we possibly can by loving God with all our heart, soul and strength and by loving our neighbor as we love ourselves. And this is confirmed at Matt. 22:35 – 40; Mark 10:17 – 19 & 12:29 – 34; John 14:15 – 18; Heb. 6:9 – 10; 1 John 2:3 – 4 & 5:2 – 3; 2 John 1:6, and over a hundred more verses in both the Old and New Testaments, all claiming the same thing.

RIGHTEOUSNESS –

We see by the verse at Philip. 3:9 that there are also two forms of righteousness, ‘…not having mine own righteousness, which is of the Law, but that which is through the faith of Messiah, the righteousness which is of God by faith…’ These two forms of righteousness are herein defined as, first, ‘mine own righteousness which is of the Law.’ This is the biblical definition of ‘self-righteousness’; better termed as ‘righteousness of self’.

We have come to use the term ‘self-righteousness’ as meaning to be narrow minded with a belief in self-superiority, but this is not what the bible means. The Royal Ten Commandment Law of God is a school master which teaches us the righteousness of personal behavior, but once we learn how to physically act righteous, we have no longer any need for this schoolmaster, Gal. 3:24 – 25: This is not saying that we cast away all we have learned, but that we polish our learning through spiritual experience.

Secondly, once we have learned to behave righteously and become converted, we are then endowed with the Holy Spirit of God, which is the power of God, through the faith of Yeshua the Messiah, and we can then practice His spiritual righteousness. The Royal Ten Commandment Law of God, although once our school master, is no longer our authority and we are not considered to be ‘under’ that Law any longer, just as once you graduated from high school, you were no longer under the authority of your teacher.

Yeshua parallels these two forms of righteousness with old wine and new wine, Joel 1:5. Here, Joel tells fleshly Israel not to be ‘drunkards’ of the ‘old wine’, which was indeed their personal self-righteousness, but which they used to project a superiority of themselves over the surrounding nations. He tells them, ‘Awake, you drunkards, and weep; and howl, all you drinkers of wine, because of the new wine’; for it is cut off from your mouth’ meaning that they could not partake of the spiritual righteousness of God through the faith of Messiah while they hung on to their self-righteousness, the ‘old wine’, claiming it was all they needed to be saved. Most of them are still doing this very thing.

Luke 5:37 – 39 shows that the ‘new wine’ of spiritual righteousness must be put into ‘new bottles’, because the ‘old bottles’ would burst and perish with the pure power of the righteousness of God’s Holy Spirit. This ‘new bottle’ each of us must have is the understanding of our heart-intent of the spiritual keeping the Royal Law, which is now absolutely spiritual, Rom. 7:14; also called the converted soul, which is newly created within each of us as a ‘re-born’ man.

THE LAW OF MOSES; ABOLISHED?

First, what exactly is the Law of Moses?

Most Christians very seldom study the Old Testament, so very little definition is given to this ‘Law’.

Eph. 2:14 – 16, ‘For He [Messiah] is our peace, who has made both one [those who had the law and those who didn’t], and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in Himself, of the two, one new man, so making peace, and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.’

If we were to study this topic in depth there would still be those proponents who claim that the ‘Law of Moses’ is completely done away with and that these verses prove it. They claim that the only ‘law’ we follow now is the ‘law of Yeshua the Messiah’ which is to love God and love your neighbor.

Can this be all there is to it?

Well, what does ‘love’ mean? Is it a warm fuzzy feeling? Is it tithing and going to church? Helping in a homeless shelter or soup kitchen? Murdering thousands in the name of God in a ‘Holy War’? Beating children into submission to show them who God is and what He expects? These definitions have been offered over the centuries from men and women who were very pious and of strong belief. Obviously, ‘love’ needs to be defined and we only have the Bible to show us what this word encompasses.

Now, to seek answers to these perplexing thoughts.

What is the ‘Law of Moses’? Josh. 8:31 and 32 are the first verses to use this phrase to describe the book of the ‘Law of Moses’ which tell us Joshua copied for the Israelites when he lead them into the promised land. Josh. 23: 5 – 8, ‘And the Lord your God, He shall expel them [the pagan nations] from before you, and drive them from out of your sight; and you shall possess their land, as the Lord your God has promised unto you. Be you therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the Law of Moses, that you turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left; that you come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them: but cleave unto the Lord your God, as you have done unto this day.’

This phrase to ‘turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left’ is a reiteration of what God warned the Hebrews at Deut. 5:32; an explanation about how to obey His Ten Commandment Law with all the ensuing instructions. This verse is followed by what the New Testament terms as the First Commandment at Deut. 6:4 – 5, ‘Hear O, Israel, the Lord our God is One Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.’

This same ‘First Commandment’ was what Yeshua verified word for word at Mark 12:29 in an effort to express the spiritual side of the Law of Moses. He followed this at verse 31, with, ‘And the second is like, namely this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is none other commandment greater than these.’

The ‘Law of Moses’ then is defined as the Ten Commandments followed by a detailed series of explanatory statutes, decrees, laws, and regulations. This was given to Moses to give to the people of God at Mt. Sinai. These Ten Commandments are specified throughout the New Testament as the rules that governed these people which Yeshua repeated at Matt. 19:16 – 19 and Luke 18:18 - 23, and which Paul summed up in Rom. 13:9.

These Ten Commandments were given in two tablets, the first five being those pertaining to how man is to relate to God, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, strength and soul,’ and the second five being those pertaining to how man is to relate to his fellow man, ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’ The Law of Moses is in the New Testament and was expressly taught by both Yeshua and the apostles. So, what was abolished?

Let’s go back to Eph. 2:14, ‘For he is our peace, who has made both one [those who had the law and those who didn’t], and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us,’ 15) ‘having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man…’ Herein states that this abolished law was the ‘law of commandments’, but it also goes on to specify WHICH ‘Law of commandments’; the one ‘contained in ordinances’.

This is not referring to the Ten Commandments which was a whole and complete Law unto itself written upon the two tablets of stone and not in ordinances that were considered added on, Eze. 43:6 – 12 & 18 – 27, especially pay attention to verse 11 here which distinguishes between the ‘whole form of the law’ and the ‘ordinances’. Then verse 18 specifies that, ‘These are the ordinances of the altar in the day when they shall make it, to offer burnt offerings thereon, and to sprinkle blood thereon,’ and then instructions ensue for those offerings. So we can plainly see that the ordinances were the altar sacrifices and the blood sacrifices, along with the priestly duties that had to do with all this.

This ‘law contained in ordinances’ was referring to another ‘law’ that was an accessory. The law that was abolished was, according to Heb. 9:1, ‘Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.’ Paul explains later at verse 10 that these ordinances were those ‘which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.’ This added law was instituted for a fixed and predetermined time.

What was the ‘time of reformation’? Verse 11 goes on to explain, ‘But Messiah being come a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12) neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.’

These ordinances, these priestly rules for their duties in the tabernacle, included the washings in the basin, the meat and gift and drink sacrifices upon the altar and all the fleshly, priestly duties of atonement performed by the Levite priests. These were the ordinances that were abolished and rightly so, for now Yeshua is the one who has performed all these to perfection with His sacrifice and has entered into the Holy Place once and for all to make atonement for our sins by the sanctification of His blood, Heb. 10:10 – 14. This was the reformation of the Covenant, the abolishment of the fleshly priesthood; and this is why Paul says at Heb. 7:21, ‘You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.’ So, now, it is the spiritual priesthood of Melchizedek and not the physical Levitical priesthood of Aaron.

Jeremiah speaks at length of the disobedience of Judah and Israel. The King James Version has a poorly understood translation at Jer. 33:17 – 18 and we will here use the NIV version of these verses, which states: 17) For this is what the LORD says: ‘David will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne of Israel, 18) nor will the Levitical priests ever fail to have a man to stand before me continually to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to present sacrifices.’ 19) The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 20) This is what the LORD says: ‘If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night no longer come at their appointed time, 21) then my covenant with David my servant—and my covenant with the Levites who are priests ministering before me—can be broken and David will no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne. 22) I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless as the stars in the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore.’ " [Zondervan (2011-01-09). Holy Bible (NIV) (p. 721). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.]

We readily accept that Yeshua, the direct descendant of David is the king spoken of that occupies the throne of the house of Israel, but listen to what the Holy Scriptures say about the Levitical priesthood at verse 18, ‘NOR will the Levitical priests EVER FAIL to have a man to stand before me continually…’ We can accept that Yeshua is the High Priest, after the Order of Melchezedek and King of Kings after the Order of David; so why do we so casually accept that these Laws are still binding, albeit spiritual, which are ADDED LAWS, and be so willing to ignore the rest of the Law which was WRITTEN ON STONE?

No, the Ten Commandments and the explanatory statutes, regulations and laws have not been abolished. James calls it the ‘Royal Law’ at 2:8, referring to the Law that if you perform ‘according to the Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as yourself, you do well.’ This is particularly revealing in that the New Testament had not been written and ‘the Scripture’ he was referring to had to have been what was in the Old Testament, Lev. 19:18, in the Law of Moses, that he then called the ‘Law of Liberty’ at James 1:12.

So, now that we have laid the groundwork with some clarification of a few of the fundamental truths of the Bible, let’s look at a few dictionary definitions so that we can fully understand what we are reading:

Grace – unmerited divine favor; the state of being considerate or thoughtful; to confer dignity or honor upon.

Salvation - healing; preservation from destruction or failure; liberation; deliverance from danger or difficulty. We must understand that ‘grace’ is not ‘salvation’.

Holy - set aside for a religious observance or reason; clean and pure

Unholy – holding in disregard, that which is un-Godly or not holy; impure, unclean.

Sacrilege – a technical violation or gross irreverence toward a hallowed person, place, or thing.

Glory – that which secures praise, honor or distinction and marks one as beautiful and splendid.

Communion – the exchange of intimate thoughts, feelings, emotions and motivations on a spiritual level.

Now, on to the study.

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans

Romans Chapter 1

1] Paul, a servant of Yeshua the Messiah, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,

The term ‘servant’ in Strong’s Greek Dictionary of the Bible is #1401 δοῦλος doûlos doo'-los; a slave (literal or figurative, involuntary or voluntary; frequently, therefore in a qualified sense of subjection or subserviency):--bond(-man), servant. (Kindle Locations 2338-2340) . Paul was stating he was a voluntary slave to Yeshua the Messiah.

He had been called and chosen to be an apostle of Yeshua on the road to a city called Damascus while on his way to find and persecute, even to the death, any men or women that followed this ‘Way’ that Yeshua’s ministry compelled. Acts chapter 9 tells of this miraculous epiphany in Paul’s life. It serves as a stark example that we cannot know the heart of any man, for Paul was intent in his work to destroy this sect that had been growing, and performed his duty zealously.

A man named Ananias, at Acts 9:13 – 14, speaks to God in astonishment because he had heard of Paul’s infamy and his evil intentions for the members of Yeshua’s followers, for Yeshua Himself charged Ananias with restoring Paul’s sight after receiving this miraculous revelation from the Messiah.

Paul gave testimony concerning this later, at Acts 26:10 – 11, where he was speaking in defense of himself against the Jews who had brought charges against him to King Agrippa. He admitted to imprisoning the worshippers of Yeshua and when the sentence of death had been carried out on these people, Paul had joined in touting their guilt to the crowds in order to suppress others who might follow their example. He explains how he had punished them and was so zealous about this task that he even followed them into cities he did not know.

When Paul uses the phrase ‘separated unto the gospel of God’ he is using it to describe that division that Yeshua said that He would make; the separating of the sheep from the goats, Matt. 25:32 – 33, and this is what is referred to in the next verse which verifies that this was already expected by the Jews who had studied the Holy Scriptures, speaking of Ex. 19:6, ‘and you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak unto the children of Israel.’

This word ‘holy’ in the Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary of the Bible comes from the root word #6942 qâdash kaw-dash'; a primitive root; to be (causatively, make, pronounce or observe as) clean (ceremonially or morally):—appoint, bid, consecrate, dedicate, defile, hallow, (be, keep) holy(-er, place), keep, prepare, proclaim, purify, sanctify(-ied one, self), [idiom] wholly. (Strong, James (2011-05-14). Strong's Hebrew Dictionary of the Bible (Strong's Dictionary) (Kindle Locations 26430-26434).