but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. Romans 9: 31-32a NASB By – How are we supposed to live? By faith, of course. But what does that mean? Paul cites Habakkuk in the…
If you know that He is righteous, you know that every one also who practices righteousness is born of Him. 1 John 2:29 NASB Righteous – This is about as close as John comes to describing “born again.” But John’s focus is not on the experience of forgiveness. He focuses on the practice of righteousness. …
Nevertheless I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of My servant David whom I chose, who observed My commandments and My statutes; 1 Kings 11:34 NASB For the sake of – Let’s see now. The usual…
Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, “I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. Then I will take you for My people, and I…
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Matthew 5:6 ESV Hunger and thirst – Are we starving for God? It’s not an easy question to answer. We are inclined to say “Yes” as soon as we hear the question but maybe we need a deeper look into ourselves…
for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. Romans 10:10 NASB Resulting – You’ll need to read a few other English translations of this verse to see the issue. “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses…
Better is a little with righteousness than great income with injustice. Proverbs 16:8 Injustice – Some things we can do without. This proverb tells us that one of those things is belo mishpat. We can do without “without justice.” While our translation provides us with the correct English equivalent, the Hebrew thought is made up…
And because he put his trust in YHWH, He reckoned it to his merit. Genesis 15:6 (JPS translation) To – Yesterday we looked at the passage in Deuteronomy that suggests our meritorious deeds matter. We discovered that tsedaqah (righteousness) is a very old expression of God’s accounting. But one further point must be made. In…
It will be therefore to our merit before YHWH Eloheinu to observe faithfully this whole instruction, as He has commanded us. Deuteronomy 6:24 (JPS translation with name corrections) Merit – After the Reformation, verses like this one are difficult to integrate. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons that Christianity created the chasm between the “old”…
In the last few weeks we have witnessed two wonderful things happen in our little cyber community. First, many people are connecting to a great discussion on Hebraic thinking, patterns, festivals and exegesis. Now, some of them are getting connected beyond this web page foundation. They are deciding to do life together by connecting with…
