In This Newsletter
Featured Products & Discounts |
Excerpts from Galatians Commentary Assessing Divine Invitation |
A Note from the Director |
Featured Products & Discounts
(The discounts offered below are good from now through April 30th)
For the remainder of April, you can receive 25% off of the regular prices by using this coupon at checkout: gal2010. |
An Assessment of the "Divine Invitation" Teaching – Tim Hegg FREE FOR THE ASKING. Simply add this item to your shopping cart. All you pay is shipping and handling. This is a printed copy of the 69 page review of "'One Law' and the Messianic Gentile", Messiah Journal 101(Aug 2009), previously available only in pdf format. Also included is a CD with the entire booklet read by the author (mp3 format). If you are still wondering about the issues being raised between the "Divine Invitation" teaching and the "One Law" understanding of the Scriptures, this study will provide plenty of answers. Printed Copy with Audio CD – FREE |
310 pages; Indexes (Scripture; Hebrew words; Greek words; Rabbinic Literature; Authors; Subjects) Regular price: $18.95 (Discount does not apply to bulk orders) |
130 pages Regular price: $13.95 (Discount does not apply to bulk orders) |
Excerpt from the Galatians Commentary: Galatians 5:6
(From pages 222–223 of the Commentary)
Gal 5:6 – For in Messiah Yeshua neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.
The verse begins with “For” (gar) indicating that this is the conclusion to Paul’s immediate point: the Gentile believers need not succumb to the pressures of the Influencers, because becoming a proselyte would benefit them nothing. God’s covenant is not based upon group identification. Rather, God’s eternal covenant blessings are the possession of all who are “in Messiah Yeshua.” This characteristic phrase of Paul is found 11 times in Galatians (1:22; 2:4, 16-17; 3:14, 22, 26, 28; 5:6), a phrase which sums up the Apostle’s teaching regarding the covenant God has made with His chosen ones. For all of the blessings of God are ultimately dependent upon the salvation which comes through the work of His Messiah, Yeshua (2Cor 1:20). Moreover, as the ultimate expression of the Servant of the Lord, Yeshua is the zenith of Israel—the final and perfect expression of God’s chosen One. Thus, to be “in Messiah” is to be in Israel, to be sons of Abraham according to the promise (3:29). The real question, then, is not how one “gets into” Israel, but how one “gets into” the Messiah. How does one have such an association with the Messiah that what He has done and is presently doing is reckoned to one’s own account? While the Influencers were considering “being in Israel” the all important issue, Paul was teaching that “being in Messiah” was primary, because “being in Messiah” not only secured a righteous standing before the Father, it also gave the believer membership in the covenant people of God.
This is why “neither circumcision nor uncircumsion means anything.” Once again, we must understand this terminology as meaning “neither Jewish status nor non-Jewish status means anything.” And we must likewise understand this statement of the Apostle within the context in which he gives it. He is not saying that Jewish identity is meaningless, nor is he saying that non-Jewish identity is unimportant. Our station in life is the direct result of God’s divine providence. But the point Paul is making is that one’s entrance into Messiah is not predicated upon one’s lineage or membership in a given people group. God’s salvation is not automatically given to those who trace their lineage to Jacob, nor is it automatically withheld from those who trace their heredity to the nations. God’s salvation is given to those who are “in Messiah Yeshua.”
Paul uses the same terminology in 1Cor 7:18 – 20:Was any man called when he was already circumcised? He is not to become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? He is not to be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God. Each man must remain in that condition in which he was called.
Once again, Paul is not talking about the physical act of circumcision, but of circumcision as the core element in the ritual of proselytism. The point is that a Jewish person is to retain his Jewish identity after coming to faith in Messiah, and a non-Jewish person is to retain his non-Jewish status after coming to faith. The body of Messiah is only complete when both Jews and non-Jews are united together in their both being “in Messiah.” Both Jewish and non-Jewish believers are to jettison those things of their former life which characterized the “old man,” and to cling to that life which God has ordained for His chosen people. Both are to walk in a manner worthy of their calling (Eph 4:1), meaning that the commands of the Torah (God’s teaching regarding righteousness) become the life-style of all who are in Messiah—“what matters is keeping the commandments of God.”
Excerpt from "Assessing the 'Divine Invitation' Teaching"
(Concluding paragraph, pages 68–69)
Furthermore, do not let anyone take away from you the position you have in Messiah. All who are in Him are true sons and daughters, being chosen by Him to bear His name to a watching world. Whether Jew or Gentile, we are equally important and necessary in the family of God, for we have all been purchased with the same price, “with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Messiah” (1Pet 1:19). Moreover, we should be wary of any teaching that tries to convince us that certain of our Father’s commandments are optional, especially when the plain reading of the Scriptures teaches us just the opposite. Let the word of God be your guide, and stand firm in its truth. And take these words of our Savior to heart:
Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
(Matt 11:28–30)
I hope that each of you had a wonderful Pesach and a meaningful celebration of Chag HaMatzot. What a blessing that HaShem commands us to set aside a full Festival week so that we might contemplate afresh the mercy He has shown to us! Truly, "He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" (Col 1:13–14)!
Besides the celebration with family and community, I was privileged again to lead a Seder on the second night of Pesach at a local Correctional Facility. Twenty men, who constitute a recognized Messianic Group within that prison, gathered together in an assigned room to rejoice in their freedom in Yeshua. Each year as I have met on Pesach with this group, we have talked about what freedom really is, that is, the freedom we have in Yeshua our Messiah. Even in their current situation, these men recognize that they can experience true freedom as they walk by the Spirit, seeking to please HaShem in all that they do.
Now, as we count our way to Shavuot, we are called to consider the mission He has given us as His chosen and redeemed people. The first fruits of the barley harvest being brought to the Temple anticipate the ingathering of the wheat harvest, symbolic of the ingathering of the nations. We are part of that unbroken chain of the remnant who are now to take the message of the Gospel to the nations. The mission, given to the Twelve by Yeshua Himself (Matt 28:19–20), was to last "to the end of the age." This means that the commission given to them, to make disciples of all the nations, has also been passed to us. We must carry the Apostolic message, teaching those who become Yeshua's disciples to observe all that He commanded by His words and by His life. What a privilege to be His ambassadors of the Gospel to the nations! And what confidence we have in this mission, for He has sent His Spirit to guide, empower, and enable us to complete the task.
I again want to thank each of you for your support, prayers, and encouraging words. Truly it is because of your faithful support of this work that we are able to continue producing materials and teachings for the wider Torah movement. How thankful we are to HaShem for His faithfulness to supply our needs through your support. In spite of the weak economy, we have met our monthly operating expenses without any difficulty.
Shalom in Yeshua our Messiah,
Tim Hegg, Director