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Bob Larson, author of Larson’s Book
of Cults, says:
“Compatibility to Bible doctrine, not
social respectability and the usage of evangelical clichés, should
determine whether or not any religious body is truly Christian. When
making this evaluation, test these five areas of teaching:
1. the
attributes of G-d,
2. the Person of Christ,
3. the nature of man,
4. the requirements of atonement,
and
5. the source of revelation. ...
[There is] a simple, alliterative way to
concisely express the basic faults of most cults: Cults generally
demote
G-d,
devalue Christ,
deify Man,
deny sin, and
denigrate Scripture.”
There are many religious groups today
“which adhere to major doctrines which are pointedly contradictory to
orthodox Christianity.” These are easily identifiable by a cursory review of
their teachings, and can quite neatly be classified as cults, according to
Dr. Walter Martin’s definition of a cult.
There are many other groups, however,
whose deviations from “orthodox Christianity”[NOTE]
are more difficult to spot. When trying to determine whether or not to
classify a particular group as a cult, the crux of the entire matter lies in
the answer to one simple question: “Is it possible for a person to embrace
the doctrines of this group and still be a Christian (a Believer in
Mashiach, whether Jew or Gentile)?”
A “Christian” may be variously defined as
“one who belongs to Christ/Mashiach,” or “one who is involved in a personal
relationship with Christ/Mashiach,” or even more simply stated, “one who is
saved.” (The term “saved” is traditional “Christian shorthand” for
describing a person who has placed themselves under the Lordship of Yeshua
HaMashiach — Jesus Christ — and accepted His completed work of redemption on
their behalf. They have entered into a personal relation with the G-d of the
Bible and will spend eternity with Him in heaven.) Since salvation depends
solely upon one’s personal relationship with the G-d of the Bible
through the Second Person of the G-dhead,
Adonai
Yeshua
HaMashiach
(the Lord Jesus Christ), it is most important for us to have a clear
understanding of what, according to the Scriptures, are the absolute
requirements for salvation.
For example, within the group of those who
consider themselves “evangelical Christians” there is a major division on
the doctrine of eternal security. On one side of the dividing line are those
Christians who believe that the work of salvation is totally dependent upon
G-d, and since G-d cannot change His mind, once one is saved one can never
lose that salvation. On the other side of the line are many Christians who
reason that since salvation is dependent upon one’s faith, if one allows
his/her faith to waiver, or demonstrates lack of faith by a willful act of
disobedience (sin), then that person’s salvation is lost until the faith is
regained or the sin is properly repented of.
One must then decide whether one’s
position on the doctrine of eternal security, although terribly important to
the peace of mind of the believer, is in fact critical to the fact of one’s
salvation.
What, then, are the absolutes?
What teachings must one positively believe in
order to be “saved” (that is, to have eternal life with G-d)? We agree with
Bob Larson, that these are the five “absolutes” — those things which one
must positively believe to be “saved”:
1. the
attributes of G-d,
2. the Person of Mashiach/Christ,
3. the nature of man,
4. the requirements of atonement,
and
5. the source of revelation.
[TOP]
The Scriptures, both the Tanakh (so-called
“Old Testament”) and the B'rit Chadasha (Renewed Covenant, or so-called “New
Testament”) clearly teach the three-fold nature of G-d (ok, we admit that
the teaching is more clearly defined in the B'rit Chadasha than it is
in the Tanakh). According to Yeshua, the most important mitzvah
(commandment) within the entire Bible is this: “Sh'ma Yisra'el! ADONAI Eloheinu,
ADONAI echad. Hear, Israel! ADONAI
our G-d, ADONAI
is one. And you shall love
ADONAI
your G-d with all your
heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your
strength.” However, the Bible also demonstrates
that there are within the one G-d of the Bible three distinct
“Persons” who are eternally the same in substance and equal in power:
Abba (the Father),
HaBen/Yeshua
(the Son), and Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit), each of Whom is
infinite, eternal, unchangeable, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient,
personal, and perfect in wisdom, power, holiness, righteousness, justice,
goodness, truth, mercy, and love. The Personal Name of
hwhy (YHWH) is attributed
individually to each of these “three Persons” in Scripture.
If one is absolutely correct in all other
points of doctrine but in error on this one point, he or she is hopelessly
lost because he/she is worshiping a G-d other than the G-d of Avraham
(Abraham), Yitzhak (Isaac), and Ya`akov (Jacob), the G-d of the Bible.
[TOP]
Unlike any other religion known to man,
Messianic Judaism (true Biblical “Christianity” — that extremely rare and
true form of Judeo/Christianity that is based solely on the doctrines
and standards of the Bible alone, totally apart from the traditions of men)
stands or falls on the Person of its Foundation. Just as there is only one
G-d of the Bible, so also is there only one Mashiach of the Bible (“Christ”
is the Anglicized form of the Greek word christos, which is the
equivalent of the Hebrew word Mashiach — “Messiah” — “the Anointed
One”), Who was always one (Hebrew echad, a plural unity like one
bunch of grapes or one flock of birds) with G-d the Father from
eternity past. He was the Creator of everything that is created. Besides the
G-d of the Bible, there is nothing that exists that was not created by
Mashiach. He has always been fully G-d and He will always be fully G-d.
Out of love for a lost creation, He became
fully human without giving up anything of His deity. He was born of a virgin
through the power of Ruach HaKodesh, He lived a perfect, sinless, human life
in absolute obedience to Torah (the teachings of Scripture, not the
“traditions of the elders”). He gave up His life voluntarily to fully pay
the penalty of sin for all mankind. He was executed by crucifixion, died,
and was buried. He was resurrected from the dead and ascended into heaven in
a glorified version of the same body in which He died. He will return in
that same body to gather His saints (His Miqra/Ecclesia), to judge the
world, to reign physically over all of creation; and ultimately to create an
entire new heaven and earth.
Any “Mashiach” or “Jesus” or “Christ” that
does not match the description of Yeshua Ha’Natseret — the “Jesus” of the Bible — is one of the
false messiahs (christs) that Yeshua predicted would appear in the last days
(Matthew 24:5, 23-26; Mark 13:6, 21-23; Luke 17:23; 21:8; cp. Acts 5:36).
The Yeshua/Jesus we serve must be the same Yeshua/Jesus presented in the
Bible, because:
• If Yeshua HaMashiach is not G-d, then He holds no power to save.
• If He is not one with the Father, then He is a liar.
• If He did not become fully human, then His death did not satisfy judgment
of G-d against sin.
• If he was not virgin-born then He inherited the sin nature of Adam, and
His death did not satisfy G-d’s requirement for a spotless sacrifice.
• If He sinned, then He was Himself in need of a Savior.
• If He did not die, then He did not pay the penalty for sin. (“The wages of
sin is death.”)
• If He was not bodily resurrected, then He does not have the power to
resurrect the Saints (the “Elect,” those who belong to Him).
• If He did not ascend into heaven, then He cannot return.
• If He does not return then He is a liar and not G-d. And if He is a liar,
then the Bible is a lie and mankind has no revelation and no hope.
[TOP]
God created humankind, male and female, in
His own image. Mankind chose to sin against G-d, and in so doing humankind
became alienated from G-d and inherited a sin nature, and is totally
depraved. Humankind possesses no spark of divine life, and, of himself, is
utterly helpless to remedy his lost condition apart from the grace of G-d.
If man is in fact not sinful, then
Yeshua’s death was for nothing and G-d has wasted an awful lot of time and
energy in providing a means of atonement (kiporah). Also, if
man is not sinful, then Yeshua Ha’Natseret (Jesus of Nazareth) is a liar, and the
entire doctrine of Mashiach’s person is jeopardized.
If man does not perceive of himself as
sinful, then he likewise perceives no need of a Savior. If he perceives no
need of a Savior, then he will never turn to HaMashiach for salvation.
If man already possesses the divine life,
then he too may be a G-d; yet the G-d of the Bible expressly states that
there is no G-d besides Himself, that before Him was no G-d formed nor will
any G-d be formed after Him, and that He will not share His glory with
another (Exodus 8:10; Deuteronomy 4:35, 39; 13, et al).
If man is able to save himself, then
Yeshua’s death was in vain, and man must work out his own salvation by
living out his life in total obedience to the absolute letter of the Torah
(“Law”). Since
Yeshua
Ha’Natseret (Jesus of Nazareth) was the only one to every have lived up
to the whole Torah, then no man can ever be saved.
[TOP]
The Tabernacle/Temple sacrifices
foreshadowed the Lamb of G-d, “slain from the foundation of the world”
(Revelation 13:8), Whose shed blood would be the final sacrifice and
cleansing from sin (1 John 1:7). Man, whose sinful rebellion has separated
him from G-d, can now have “peace through the blood of His cross”
(Colossians 1:20) and be “reconciled to G-d” (2 Corinthians 5:19) because of
His vicarious, substitutionary death.
If one is in accord with the essential
elements of the doctrines of the Person of Mashiach and the Nature of Man as
outlined above, then the scriptural description of the atonement is the only
means by which sinful man can become reconciled to a Holy G-d. To reject the
doctrine of Atonement requires one to reject both the doctrines of Mashiach
and of Man.
[TOP]
Since our only reliable source of
revelation is the Bible, then we must look to the Bible to see what it
claims for itself. It claims that it is the Word of G-d, inspired
(God-breathed), inerrant, complete (Revelation 22:18, 19), and the only
infallible rule of faith. It reveals the origin and destiny of all things;
records G-d’s dealings with mankind in the past, present, and future; and
focuses on the Person and Work of Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ). The
Bible inspires faith (Romans 10:17) and will make men “wise unto salvation”
(2 Timothy 3:15).
The greatest possible evidence we can have
for the infallibility of Scripture is the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy
(Jeremiah 28:1-17; Hebrews 1:1-2:4). G-d places His reputation on the line
with Biblical prophecy. G-d requires absolute accuracy from a prophet, and
declares that if a single thing spoken by a prophet in the name of the Lord
fails to come to pass, then everything that the prophet has ever said must
be disregarded (Deuteronomy 18:22, literal). By that criteria, if the Bible
claims to be the Word of G-d (and it does), then one single error in the
entire canon of Scripture would require us to discard the entire Bible.
Therefore, by its own testimony, the Bible
declares that the Believer in Mashiach, whether Jew or Gentile, must accept
the entire Bible “every jot [yod, the smallest letter of the Hebrew
alphabet] and tittle [the decorative embellishments on Hebrew letters]” or
must discard it entirely. That being the case, then all other supposed
“revelation” must be weighed and evaluated in light of the Bible.
Additionally, the Believer must evaluate
carefully everything that is said by anyone claiming to be a “prophet” —
that is, anyone who claims to speak for G-d or on His behalf, to have any
form of special “revelation” or “anointing” from G-d, to have any form of
“special message” from G-d, or to have any “supernatural,” “sign,”
“apostolic,” or “prophetic” gift. To claim to have any of those things is to
claim to be functioning in the prophetic office. Any person making such a
claim must be 100% accurate in every single thing that they teach. The Bible
says that if such a person’s message is ever inaccurate in even the smallest
detail, that person is a false prophet, and the Believer in Mashiach must
totally ignore every single thing taught by that person.
Note:
You will notice that we occasionally use the terms
“Christianity” and “Messianic Judaism” interchangeably on this web site.
That is because we believe that the only valid form of “Christianity”
is that which:
• recognizes both its roots in Judaism and its proper
relationship to the G-d, the People, the Land, and the Covenants of Israel
(i.e., “grafted into”—and therefore a part of—Biblical Israel, not replacing
or superceding Israel in any way),
• recognizes and supports Israel’s undisputed right to the
entire “land grand” that G-d covenanted to Avraham, Yitzhak, and
Ya`akov, which includes all the land from the “River of Egypt” (the
Nile) to the Euphrates, and which
• includes G-d’s covenant people of both the Original and
Renewed Covenants.
Likewise, we believe that the only valid form of Judaism is that
which:
• recognizes Rebbe Yeshua Ben Yosef (Yeshua Ha’Natseret) as the Son of G-d and
Melech
HaMashiach
(Israel’s King Messiah) and which
• includes both Jews and non-Jews who are part of a covenant
relationship with
HaShem, the G-d of Avraham (Abraham), Yitzhak (Isaac), and Ya`akov
(Jacob).
These two terms, therefore, when properly used, refer to exactly the
same body of people. [RETURN]
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