Beefstew

INTRODUCTION

In these days of confusion and deception that prevail in the Body of Believers today, there is a need for a body of writings, that try to make clear what the scriptures say on a variety of subjects, without appealing to outside sources. This is true, because the Tanakh, or Bible, must be the final authority on what the Bible says. I am not trying to build an exhaustive work on what the Tanakh teaches, but I am trying to deal with the subjects that are the basics of the faith, and about which there seems to be the most confusion. Even the subjects that I do deal with are not dealt with in an exhaustive manner.

I am trying to lay a foundation on which you can rely and build yourself up in your most holy faith. I am attempting to do this, not as a theologian, or even as a Bible scholar. The highest that I can claim to be is a student of the scriptures; but I believe this to be to my credit. All too often, men have tried to convince the Body of Believers, that the Bible could not be understood by the common man, and all too often the believers have listened to them. However, it is clear that the Bible was written to those who make up what is commonly called the church, and we must remember of whom the church is.

"For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called: But G-d hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise: And G-d hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty: And the base things of the world, and the things which are despised, hath G-d chosen, yea, and the things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in His presence." ( 1 Corinthians 1:26-29).

We see then that the Body of Believers is, in the main, made up of the foolish, the weak, and those of low estate. The only comfort that I can offer the wise, the mighty, and the noble, is that the scriptures say, "not many", they do not say, "not any". Since the Tanakh is written to the Body of Believers, then they must be able to understand it, and that is the job of the Ruach HaKodesh, (Holy Spirit),. "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth." (John 16:13).

Has it ever occurred to you that only in this century has the availability of the Tanakh to the world s masses, coincided with the ability of those masses to read?! The fact that G-d, and it can only be His hand and no other, that has brought this about, has brought these two things together at this time, can only mean that we have more need of His Word now than at any other time in history. This is confirmed by the fact that Yeshua, ( Jesus), warned us clearly that we should "take heed that no man deceive us", (Matthew 24:4). He was speaking in particular of these end times. Therefore, since G-d has provided the Tanakh to us in such abundance, it is incumbent on us to make good use of it. Remember, when you rely on man to tell you what the scriptures mean, you have given man authority over the Tanakh, instead of the Tanakh having authority over man.

The one thing that I believe that has contributed the most to the confusion that now exists within the Body of Messiah is the fact that we have lost sight of the fact that the faith that we all now share is a Jewish faith in it s origins, and cannot truly be understood unless we view it from the perspective of the Jews. It is true that the traditional Jews have denied the faith leading to their blindness, but it is also true that the Gentiles have denied the jewishness of our faith leading to a blindness that is as bad as that of the Jews. It is my purpose to remove that blindness from us.

There is one requirement that you must meet, however, in order to be able to understand what the Scriptures are saying; you must be saved.

If you are not certain about your salvation, let me tell you how one gets saved. First, you must understand that all men are born in sin and sin is rebellion against G-d. Sin is manifested by all the immorality that you see in the world today. However, the fact that you are not living in immorality does not mean that you are saved; many people live exemplary lives, but they are not saved. There must be true repentance of your sin. This is not just regretting that you have sinned, but rather a willingness, nay, a real desire to change and live to please G-d. The bottom line is that if you have not relinquished the control of your life to Messiah Yeshua, so that you now live your life in obedience to G-d, and not according to your own wants and desires, you are lost. However, if you would be saved, it is very simple. You must confess to G-d that you sinned by not living in obedience to Him in the past, and that you want to live in obedience to Him in the future and that you know that forgiveness for your sins and the ability to live in obedience can only be found in Messiah Yeshua; and you want to give your heart and your life to Him. Then Yeshua, who died for your sins, that you might receive the free gift of salvation, will come into your life and make you a new creation in Him.

I hope that these writings will now help you to know the fullness of life in Messiah Yeshua.