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...raised into Newness of Life
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the Scriptural Sin Series
I AM Not A Sinner
by haRold Smith
a citizen of the Commonwealth (Ephesians 2:19)
"Already you are clean because of
the Word
that I have spoken to you …the Word that you hear is not mine, but the Father's Who sent me." John 15:3 and 14:24
"Since therefore the Messiah suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for
whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of YaHoVeH." 1Peter 4:1-2
"He shall make
atonement for the holy place,
because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and thus He shall do for the tent of meeting which abides with them in the midst of their impurities." Leviticus 16:16
"I am not a sinner." When people hear this declaration, they often become bemused - as if waiting for the punch line of a joke. When they realize I am serious, they then assume I am arrogant, deceived, or just plain ignorant because they have been taught that nobody is without sin except God. What is not comprehended in this exchange is what the word "sinner" actually means - scripturally. Words mean things and in the context of scripture to be a "sinner" means to be engaged in a continuing activity of sin. So, then,
what is sin?
Sin is any behavior (click on highlighted words to view content))
that separates me from
the Present Presence.
YaHoVeH gave us Ten Words
to ensure that, if we keep them, we do not sin and will remain in His Presence. If I am keeping His Words today, then today - I am not a sinner. Yeshua reinforces that approach in His words of
Matthew 6:34.
It is that simple. Have I sinned in the past? Absolutely. But, if I have
received forgiveness
for those sins they no longer affect my relationship with Him - unless I willingly re-engage in them again. I may continue to suffer the
consequences
of my past actions, but they do not affect my standing in His Presence today. Will I sin in the future? I don't know, tomorrow has not arrived yet. But, Yeshua assures me by His Words above that if I keep the Words of His Father today, then I am made clean by those words - today. This is why He said in Matthew 6:34 to "take no thought for tomorrow…for sufficient to the day is the evil thereof".
What evil
is He referring to? The evil I am given a choice to participate in, or not - today. To
eat of the flesh
of Yeshua is to follow the example He gave in the flesh of how to participate in the denial of evil by keeping the words of the Father in whatever circumstance I find confronting me - today. This is what it means to "suffer in the flesh" when we choose to abide by YaHoVeH's Words in the midst of that circumstance.
"But, I was born a sinner and condemned from birth so I cannot possibly keep the words of someone who is so much holier than I am" is the mantra all of Christendom teaches. However - surprise! - that theology is not found in scripture. So, where did it come from? That thought does not appear anywhere in history until it was formulated in the religious
writings of Augustine
of the fourth century after the Resurrection. Subsequently, his theology was adopted and promoted by Luther and Calvin. Very simply put, Augustine and Luther taught that all men sinned in the sin of Adam. They taught that Adam represented every one of the human race and that when he fell because of
pride,
he took the whole of the human race with him - distancing them from the
Genesis account
that Adam was the first of the Hebrews, not mankind, and was separated because of his disobedience to the Word of YaHoVeH. They claim this disruption of the natural order of creation stripped man of his ability to both know and do good - even though in the Genesis account the tree Adam partook of that caused his downfall was the tree of "the knowledge of good and evil." They believed that since this fall, every human being has been born with this stain of sin (called "sinful nature") and as a result, every human being is guilty from the moment of conception - not simply for that person's individual sins after birth but for the sin of Adam transmuted into the very nature of being human. Furthermore, they also concluded that as a result of this stain, everyone inevitably follows with personal sinful deeds. This is a simplistic rendition of that theology that gets considerably more complicated. But, hear me now - none of those men wrote the scriptures and they were all vigorously anti-Semitic. What they wrote contained an agenda to separate from anything Hebraic in order to promote a universal god of a new religion called Christianity some 300+ years after the resurrection of the Hebrew Messiah. There were no "Christians" around when Yeshua was raised from the dead. Therefore, attempting to view Hebrew scripture through a
filter
that denies the underlying Hebrew perspective of the words requires a RE-definition of the words in order for those words to fit into their preconceived theology. In the end, Augustine's view of sin and justification is based on Greek Platonic concepts incorporated into ROMAN LAW, not from biblical ideas (see My Big Fat Greek Mindset,
part one
and part two for more).
The Hebraic perspective contained in scripture is that man is created innocent and that through his
choices
he causes his character to go in one direction or another. A quick review of
Romans 5:12
(correctly translated from the Greek, not the Latin) will show that death passes to all men because men sin - not because they were born into sin. None of the words of scripture proclaim that YaHoVeH created men to be evil. What an anathema to His Nature! Men
make choices
to either adhere to His Words of Life - or not. Why would the Person you believe to be the Son point to those Words if they were not Truth? What
love
is it to believe that the Father or Yeshua are going to frustrate us with words we are either unable or incapable of keeping?
(John 7:16,
John 8:28,
John 14:23-24,
John 12:49-50,
John 14:10)
"The God of our Fathers raised up Yeshua …to
enable Israel
to do repentance
and have her sins forgiven." Acts 5:30-31
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the Beauty of YaHoVeH's Glory is seen in His Words
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Again, words mean things. These words from the book of Acts were not written precociously - but with the force of meaning behind them. The Tanakh (renamed OT) is a chronology of the HEBREW people. Genesis 1 tells us about creation in general, the heavens and stars, the earth and its inhabitants including mankind, male and female. Genesis 2 is about a specific location on the already mankind inhabited earth, Eden - we are even given co-ordinates, directions about how to find this place. Within that specific place called Eden on the already created planet, YaHoVeH planted a garden and in that garden, He created a specific man, Adam,
the first of the Hebrew race of people
fashioned in the image and likeness of the Father of that family. Adam was not the "first of mankind" or else who did Cain marry when he was exiled
(see One Covenant for details)?
Genesis 5:1
begins with "this is the book of the generations of Adam…" and takes those generations comprising the
status of firstborn
Hebrews from Adam through Noah to Shem.
Luke 3:23-38
retraces that familial lineage from Yeshua back through Abraham and Noah to the first Hebrew, Adam. These are Yeshua's Hebrew credentials that validates His authority to act as
the Kinsman Redeemer
to the house of Israel, not to the world - in whom is the fulfillment of all the promises given to those people, not the world
(Ephesians 2:11-12).
In Isaiah 61:9
the Hebrew word translated as the English "seed" is
zera
and means "seed, sowing, offspring, descendants, posterity, children". The Tanakh is a chronology of the
"status of firstborn"
of ethnic Hebrews passed generationally from father to son. In fact, since all the books contained in the Bible were written by Hebrews, there are only two classifications of people in all of scripture - Hebrews and "others". These others are
Gentiles,
those who do not worship the Hebrew Elohim of Israel (again Ephesians 2). To become a member of the family of YaHoVeH, one must abandon the worship of other Gentile gods and be joined to the Hebrew family of Israel - this is what is meant by "Your people will be my people and your God will be my God"
(Ruth 1:16).
Regardless of what Christian theology teaches, remembering that the Bible was written by Hebrews from a Hebrew perspective to other Hebrews, scripture tells us that it is only by joining ourselves to, being
grafted into
YaHoVeH's family of Israel, that one can be
saved
(see what Salvation
means in scripture).
When asked by others, "how are you?" I will often quip, "perfect". As with the comment about not being a sinner, the reaction from those hearing my comment often raises eyebrows - how can he possibly be perfect? This is a bit of word-play on my part because the verse Yeshua quotes in
Matthew 5:48
actually comes from
Leviticus 19:2
which says, "You shall become holy, as I, YaHoVeH, your Elohim am holy". The word "perfect" was artificially inserted into the Matthew text to conform to Hellenistic standards - that's Greek, not Hebrew. "Holy" is the Hebrew word
kodesh
and means to be "set apart" to Him and His Purposes - to be "complete". The way that is accomplished is to keep His Words in the manner He shows through the Life exampled by His Son. The Hebrew phrase
ruach hakodesh
(reading right to left is Hebrew for "the holiness of spirit") has been used mistakenly as a substitute for the English "Holy Spirit" appearing in their bibles. This is incorrect as there is no capitalization in Hebrew; thus, there is no personification, no third person
"Holy Spirit".
What is the holiness of spirit? Holiness is the Nature abiding in Spirit, Who is YaHoVeH. The holiness of spirit is something that is
cultivated
within an individual by that individual. When Yeshua said to "be perfect even as your Father is perfect" in
Matthew 5:48,
He was not giving us something to do that was beyond our reach - nor was He telling us anything new. He was not giving us a "new" command but, as mentioned earlier, He was actually quoting Leviticus 19:2 (found in the Torah) which says, "You shall become holy, as I, YaHoVeH, your Elohim am holy". The Way to become holy is to keep YaHoVeH's Words. The definition of a "saint" is also someone who is "set apart" - one who becomes holy by keeping the Words of YaHoVeH. There are many "saints" recorded in the Tanakh (OT). The Hebrew word
kadosh
translated "saints" in the Tanakh and a variation of kodesh, is describing those who comprise
the family of YaHoVeH
- those who abide within
His Kingdom.
Becoming holy is very different from what happened on
Yom Shavu'ot
when those who were waiting received the Breath of Life from YaHoVeH. YaHoVeH is not some unreachable, untouchable, unresponsive idol. His Words are not given to
frustrate
us, but are instructions to show us how to become holy - set apart to Him. The Words of YaHoVeH tell us how to come into His Presence without being
consumed.
Yeshua did not come to
set us free
to do whatever we want, but to free us from the
traditional religious ordinances of men
- that we might serve Him with our whole being. That is what Yeshua meant when He quoted
Exodus 33:14,
"…to take His Yoke upon you and He will give you rest to your soul." The Hebrew word,
nephesh
has been translated into the English "soul" because of the influence of the Greek word
psyche
in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Tanakh (OT) known as the LXX) - but there is no Hebrew thought in the Original Writings of a man's soul being separated from the rest of what it means to be human. The division of man into "body-mind-soul" is a thoroughly Greek invention elaborated on by the Greek philosopher, Plato, in his book "the Republic" which Christianity subsequently co-opted into its theology. In the Hebraic perspective, human beings are one homogenized entity - the person, the nephesh. There are no three parts and there is no
Immortal Soul
spoken of in the Original Writings. When the Hebrew Yeshua's words of
Matthew 22:37
were altered to fit the translators preconceived theology, it was in disregard to the actual verse He was quoting from
Deuteronomy 6:5
which reads, "You shall love YaHoVeH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."
"For the law of the Spirit of Life in Yeshua the Messiah has set you free from
the law of sin and of death." Romans 8:2
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The Greek word nomos (translated "law") is used in a variety of ways in the Messianic Writings. Sometimes it is used for an expected social practice of an identifiable community (like we use the words "social more"). Sometimes it is used like we use the word "principle." Sometimes it means the identity marker of being ethnically Hebrew. Sometimes it means Torah. And sometimes nomos is used like the idea of a "universal law of science." Knowing the difference in each instance this Greek word is used makes all the difference in how to interpret the writings the way the authors intended. If we read this verse as though nomos is used for
Torah,
then we will think that the words are saying Torah is sin and death. But this simply cannot be true since Paul says in the same letter that Torah is
good and holy.
So, nomos in this verse must be applied in some other way. In particular, nomos is used here in the sense of "universal rule," that is, something that applies to everyone just like the "law" of gravity. Now let's read this verse again. "For the universal rule of the Spirit of life in Yeshua the Messiah has set you free from the universal rule of sin and of death." Now the verse is saying that, as a result of the Resurrection, the general rule-application of the
Elohim
(Hebrew, God) of Life, exemplified and executed in the Life of Yeshua the Messiah, has overthrown the general rule-application of sin and death. Where once sin always resulted in death (a general rule), now Yeshua's act has overthrown that rule. Sin can lead to repentance and repentance leads to Life. Sin no longer has a final grip on you because you have been given
the power
to be delivered.
This verse has nothing to do with Torah. Torah is not the rule of sin and death. Sin is the consequence of disobeying the Words of Life and disobedience leads to death. You cannot have both Life and death at the same time any more than
Light and darkness
can inhabit the same space at the same time. Torah does not cause death any more than it causes you to jump off a 100 foot cliff. But once you decide to jump off and then actually do so, gravity takes effect and you fall. Once you decide to sin and actually do so, disobedience takes effect and you become separated from the Presence of the Source of Life, Who is Light - and you become dark, you die. YaHoVeH's victory in Yeshua's atonement was to show that Life counteracts death - that is what is known as
redemption.
What law is the law of sin and death? Is it the "law" of instructions which teach us of the Source of Life that are contained in Torah? Or is it the universally applicable rule that
"the soul that sins will die"?
As we have just seen, nowhere does the Bible say that the "soul" is
immortal;
quite the contrary, souls are subject to death. To be
saved
is to be delivered from the natural consequence of the "law of sin and death" by embracing the Life Yeshua exampled - and, therefore, to have
Life abundantly,
today. Yeshua was consistent in His answer to this question about how to have eternal life - He said to "have Life" is to keep the Ten Words of the Father Who
lives in eternity,
what have come to be known as Commandments
(Matthew 19:16-22,
Mark 10:17-21,
Luke 10:25-28,
Luke 18:18-22).
He was quoting
Leviticus 18:5
and He even repeated them so that there would be no misunderstanding as to which Words He was referring to - those of
Exodus 20:1-17
(with emphasis on verse one). To properly understand the words of Paul, his words should be viewed through this prism of Yeshua's words and Yeshua said His Words were not His, but those of His Father
(John 14:23-24).
???Questions???
Please feel free to email me at harold@hethathasanear.com.
While not claiming to have all
the answers, it would be an honor to partake with you of what Spirit is uncovering.
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