Romans 7: 4-6

7:4-6 Likewise, my brethren, you have died to the Torah through the body of Mashiach (Christ), so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for YHVH. ⁵While we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the Torah, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. ⁶But now we are discharged from the Mitzvoth (individual rules), dead to that which held us captive, so that we serve not under the old written code but in the new life of the Ruach (Spirit). 

Why does the world find the 10 commandments so offensive? Why does the phrase, “One nation, under God” cause such a rift?

There is no simple answer. Until a person, by faith, dies with Y’shua-Jesus it is not possible to live by The Ten or to trust YHVH-God. It is a goal that our heart wants to attain but finds utterly impossible. We produce the fruit of death when we long to cultivate the fruit of Life. What is the fruit of death?

Galatians 5: 19-21  Now the works (fruit) of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Matthew compares people to fruit trees and says, every “tree” that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (by the mouth of John the baptizer in 3:10 and from the mouth of Y’shua in 7:19). Matthew 12:33 warns us that we cannot fool anyone, we are known by the fruit of our lives.

 By faith in Messiah we must die to death. Zombies, the walking dead, serve a master, sin. Sin owns us until the day we die. The destiny of souls that are owned by sin is horrible. The only escape is Y’shua the Messiah. By faith we die with him. By the explosive power of YHVH we come back to life with him in His resurrection. The “air” of those who live by this faith is the breath of YHVH, the Ruach- Holy Spirit. We serve YHVH and produce the fruit of righteousness instead of the disappointment of sin in our dead-meat shells, the flesh. In this life from above, we are free to live for YVHV instead of just reading about how it should be done in Torah study.

Personal study of ROMANS 7: 4-6

Romans 7: 1-4

7:1-4 Do you not know, brethren - for I am speaking to those who know the Torah (law) - that the Torah is binding on a person only during his life? ²Thus a married woman is bound by Torah to her husband as long as he lives; but if her husband dies she is discharged from the Mitzvoth (individual law) concerning the husband. ³Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies she is free from that Mitzvoth, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. 4 Likewise, my brethren, you have died to the Torah through the body of Mashiach, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for YHVH. 

Lawfully declared dead. Romans 7: 1-4

Are we subject to Torah or can we walk away? We who are religious or pious are bound to Torah as our standard for living for as long as we are alive. It is the measure of righteousness for the whole of our life. It is like a marriage.

When a woman binds herself to a man, she vows to be faithful until death parts them. If she finds a more attractive man or someone who can give her a better lifestyle, she is not free to violate her vow to her husband without consequences. She will carry the label, adulteress, if she marries someone else. Things are completely different for the widow. If the man she made vows with dies, she is no longer considered a wife, but a widow. She is not bound by the laws of marriage and is free to marry someone else.

Y’shua-Jesus has changed our relationship to the Torah in the same way that the death of a spouse changes the vow of marriage. By faith in the death of Messiah, we have died. We are no longer bound to the righteous standards of Torah. But that is not the end of the story. We are not unattached. Earlier in Romans we learned that the explosive power of YHVH raised Y’shua from death. That has meaning in our life. We do not just die with Messiah, we are also resurrected with him. It is only through faith (amen) in him that we will fertile, able to produce fruit for YHVH. We who believe are no longer shackled by our inability and falling short.

Personal Study of ROMANS 7: 1-4

Romans 6: 20-23

6:20-23 When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹But then what return did you get from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death. ²²But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of YHVH, the return you get is sanctification and its end, eternal life. ²³For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of YHVH is eternal life in Mashiach Y’shua our Adown. 

Is being a slave of one master the same as being the slave of another? If sin is your master, he grants you one freedom, that is the freedom from justification. You cannot not be righteous before YHVH and be a slave of sin.

Is it important to know who you serve? I would argue that it is very important. Our religion and self-righteousness can fool us. Our life may seem static, but it is a path that is taking us somewhere. To be a slave of sin is to be a soldier of sin. Through the years, soldiers have often used the argument, “I was just following orders.” Hitler’s soldiers were nearly famous, perhaps infamous, for the use of that phrase. Following orders did not change the shame of their action. They did what they did believing that no justification was needed until the day they faced a judge. The same will be true for slaves of sin. If sin throws you a bone, gives you rations that seem good at the moment, a time will come when the same rations or wage will be emptiness. Everything you have worked for will be as nothing if you lose what really counts in the end. Hitler’s soldiers experienced this shameful loss, men who build empires feel it when, at the end of their life they have all the steel and concrete the world has to offer but nothing of value with their children or wives. Death is what their life earns for them.

Does it make a real difference to be a slave of YHVH? My life testimony is that there is a huge difference. The believer in Messiah is set on a whole new path in life. We have been granted eternal life, not as something to strive for, but as a gift of kindness (grace). Living a Torah observant life on “The Way” does not earn us a better mansion in heaven or more abundant eternal life on earth. Torah observance is purification toward the fruit of righteousness. Becoming in this life who you were born-again to be. We do not work toward purity, we learn to rest in it. This is the kindness of YHVH, teaching you to live in the justification of our Adown (Lord) Y’shua ha Mashiach (Jesus who is the Christ). Resting in Messiah.

Personal study of ROMANS 6:20-23

Romans 6: 15-19

6:15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under Torah but under Chen _{kindness (}grace)? By no means! ¹⁶Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to any one as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷But thanks be to YHVH, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, ¹⁸and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. ¹⁹I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once yielded your members to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now yield your members to righteousness for sanctification. 

Does believing in Y’shua-Jesus mean that the Torah (Law of God) is nothing to us? Is it really the Torah that the cross sets us free from? This is an important question to us. What was nailed to that cross? What did Y’shua become for us to set us free. For that matter, what is it we are set free from?

If I am reading the prophet Jeremiah correctly, there are two things written on hearts. Jeremiah chapter 17:1 tells me that sin is written on hearts and (vs 9-10) the heart is deceitful. When sin owns a soul, sins mark of ownership is engraved upon that heart. You could say that we sin from the heart because that is our nature. Sinners are helpless, if sin owns our heart, then our body also belongs to sin. Now skip ahead to Jeremiah 31:33. When YHVH sets us free from the slavery of sin, he writes his Torah on our hearts. If we obey from the heart as a believer, then it is the Torah of YHVH that we obey. But you may say, “No, I am not under Torah but follow Jesus.” Tell me then, who is Jesus?

 John 1:14 The Word (Torah) became flesh…

Who is the word that became flesh? It is Y’shua-Jesus. The Word, the Torah of YHVH, became flesh. Follow Y’shua, the Word that became flesh, and you are on  "The Way," the path of righteousness. If the Word, the Torah of YHVH, is written on your heart, then you are on "The Way" to righteousness. It is a journey of faith. You are free to commit your body to what is written on your heart. The Way is hard but you are given what you need to choose to press on by the indwelling Ruach (Holy Spirit). But if you find yourself in a crowded, easy path, beware! Sin owns your heart and you are in need of the freedom Y’shua bought for you. Come, follow Y’shua. His Way leads to life.

Personal study of ROMANS 6:15-19

Romans 6: 12-14

6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. ¹³ Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of raa (wickedness), but yield yourselves to YHVH as men who have been brought from death to life, and your members to YHVH as instruments of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under Torah but under Chen _{kindness (}grace). 

Have you ever said, “I just couldn't help myself.”

I've said it. It is zombie thinking, how we think when we are in the world of “the shadow of death.” I suspect the very idea of being compelled to do something without feeling like you can control the action comes from the wrong belief that sin is an act or action rather than a master. Romans chapter 6 is all about the two world masters. For those who have died to sin through faith (amen) in Y’shua-Jesus, life in YHVH (God) is our master. For those who are dead in sin, sin is the master.

Sin is not an action. Sin is a cruel owner. Zombies (people who are dead in sin) are tools of sin. Their mind is the power center of sin, their bodies are the tools of darkness. They literally cannot help themselves. They sin, not because the devil makes them do anything but because they are controlled by a master of wickedness, sin. When a blood bought believer in Y’shua (Jesus) sins (and we do), it isn't because we are helpless, but because we have yielded our mind to our former master and allowed our body to be sin’s tool. It is pretty gross to actually write about it. Believers have the freedom to repent, to confess that we have “sinned” and to turn control of our life back to righteousness. Zombies do not have that freedom. Zombies (the person who has never come to Y’shua by faith) feel the same guilt that believers feel, they have a conscience, they have the ability to know right and wrong, but when it comes down to choosing to not yield to sin, they do not have that power. Sin is not a choice for them, it is a master. Does that ring  true for you? You have one option for freedom, faith in Y’shua-Jesus.

For the believer in Y’shua, are you clear about who you serve? Do you understand that sin is not an action, it is a master that desires to re-enslave you. You have been set free to righteousness, but sin will put on its best front to seduce you back to the sleep of the dead to take control of your mind and use you as its tool for wickedness. Be very clear about who you serve. We who believe submit to Torah under the kindness of YHVH to be willing, conscious tools of righteousness to the glory of YHVH. Who are you serving today?

Personal study of ROMANS 6: 12-14

Romans 6: 5-11

6:5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷ For he who has died is freed from sin. ⁸But if we have died with Mashiach, we believe that we shall also live with him. ⁹ For we know that Mashiach being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. ¹⁰The death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to YHVH. ¹¹ So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to YHVH in Mashiach Y’shua. 

Death is the only freedom from zombie land (those who are dead in sin). There is no other escape. When I was living in the shadow of death I was afraid that actual death would mean there would be nothing left of me or for me. Sin is a cruel master, the propaganda of sin (this world) told me that living in Messiah (Christ) would make me a mindless robot. Sin did not want to let me free; lies were spoken to my dead heart to put me in fear of freedom. Maybe that is your fear. If you die to self there might be nothing left of you. That is zombie thinking.

If we are united in the death of Messiah, we are also united in His life. Escape from the slavery of sin is not the end game of faith. The slave to sin (you and I) does die in Messiah, but that is not the end of us. Freedom is not death. Freedom is life. If, by faith we die with Messiah through immersion into his death, we, by the same faith, also live His life by faith. The same explosion of power that resurrected Y’shua (Christ) is the power that brings life to us. The resurrection is the utter defeat of death. When YHVH resurrected Y’shua from death, He utterly defeated death. There is no double jeopardy; death will never again have power over Messiah. By faith, the resurrection life is the life that we are united in when we take the plunge and are immersed into the death of Messiah.

What is this life that we are united to in faith? Y’shua rose from death to serve YHVH, which is also our life. Right now, my guess is that your master sin whispers in your ear, what kind of life is that? Being dead to sin is freedom to live in Messiah, the all powerful Prince of Life. The freedom to serve YHVH is the freedom to live the life you were created to live, powerful, focused, with joy. It is beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, praise instead of heaviness of spirit. Rejoice!

Personal study of ROMANS 6: 5-11

Romans 6:1-4

6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that Chen (_kindness) grace may abound? ²By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? ³Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Mashiach Y’shua were baptized (immersed) into his death? ⁴We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Mashiach was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 

YHVH is extremely kind to zombies (the walking dead). Is it that enough for you?

Setting the scene: Grace is translated from the Greek word charis which is translated from the Hebrew word chen, kindness. Sin (not Satan) is lord of zombie land (the walking dead). The Torah of YHVH (God the Father) is able to make two things clear to zombies. 1. Sin is their master. 2. YHVH is very kind to them.

The question: Should zombies remain under the control of sin in order to experience the kindness of YHVH?

The simple answer is NO!

The life of YHVH through Y'shua (Jesus) is so much more then the kindness of YHVH in zombie land. Amen (faith) is the turn around from death to life. Here is the tricky part. You have to die to death before you can live to Y'shua. How do you do that?

Baptism is immersion into Y'shua. When you are immersed into Y'shua, you enter into his death by faith. His grave becomes your grave. Every one who goes down to the grave remains there physically. This is a fact of zombie life, or may I say, a fact of normal human experience.....with the one exception of Y'shua. By the Power of the Glory of YHVH, Y'shua arose from death to Life! If you have been immersed into Messiah, his grave is your grave and it is empty. My tomb is empty. The life of Y'shua IS my life. The same Power of the Glory of YHVH that raised Y'shua raised me to life. Glory for the living is more then kindness for the walking dead. Some days it is easy to live as if you were still a zombie. The kindness (grace) of YHVH is still the way of repentance, not the door for more kindness. Live the life of Y'shua by amen. It is the testimony that YHVH is your Abba (father) and that your heritage is the reality of glory.

Personal study of ROMANS 6: 1-4

Romans 5: 18-21

5:18 Then as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man's act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men. ¹⁹ For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous. ²⁰ Torah came in, to increase the trespass; but where sin increased, /j grace abounded all the more, ²¹ so that, as sin reigned in death, /j grace also might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Y’shua HaMashiach our Adown. 

The zombies are all around you.
Perhaps the apocalypse has not begun, but there are zombies everywhere....in fact you may be one. Consider:

Have you descended from Adam?
If so, then your heritage is death and you are among the walking dead.
Have you come to faith (amen) in Y'shua? Unless you are "born again" death is your heritage. Y'shua's righteous death for you is your only hope of escape from walking death.

Are you a religious person?
Religion is only a door to life, it does not provide life. The Torah (Law) was given to men so that the fall would be clear and undeniable. The details of what is sin shows us that we sin abundantly. We, in fact, are servants to sin, as if sin is our master. Religion is like Pandora's Box. Religion, Torah, reveals and releases every base passion, every nasty sin ever devised. It becomes clear just how horrid and dead our hearts are. There is a desire to slam the lid down on religion as if the Torah was the problem. But like Pandora's Box, there is a voice of hope. Where there is abundance of sin, there is grace (the kindness of YHVH) in even grater abundance.

Do you know who you serve?
Perhaps you are unclear about serving anyone or anything. Then I can assure you that you are a servant of sin and death is your heritage. But if by faith (amen) you have given your life to Y'shua then your life is by the kindness (grace) of YHVH and it is that very kindness that is Adown (lord) of your life. You get to choose. But be aware, your master, sin, will not like it if you choose Life.

Personal study of ROMANS 5: 18-21

Romans 5: 9-11

The Ruach-Spirit of Adonay (the Lord) YHVH is upon me,
because YHVH has anointed me to bring Basar (gospel-good tidings) to the afflicted…. to grant to those who mourn in Zion - to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of YHVH, that he may be glorified. Isaiah 61:1a, 3 RSV

...a garland instead of ashes....
This phrase has deeply affected me. All my hard work to build something beautiful in my life, to affect the lives around me with beauty, has burned out resulting in nothing but a hand-full of ashes, leaving me dirty as they slipped through my fingers, making filth on everything and everyone I touch.

...beauty for ashes.... nkj
My hands are clean, but not by my effort, not by the same kind of washing that Pilot tried to cleanse his hands of, that blood that cleansed me (Matthew 27:24) . My acceptance from YHVH (God) came by the blood of Y'shua (Jesus). It is the same blood that filled Pilots heart with fear that filled my heart with shalom, with peace. That blood is my assurance of salvation when the wrath of YHVH is released upon the earth. By that blood I have been reconciled to YHVH.

What is reconciliation? In Greek it is a compound word; kata (meaning intense) + allasso (to change). The intense change is redemption, my sin is exchanged for the shalom of YHVH. The justice of YHVH did not allow my sinful self to come near Him. My raw sin made me His enemy and I was helpless to do anything about it, try though I might. But YHVH was not helpless. He sent his beloved, willing Son, Y’shua ha Mashiach, to die for me, for you, to pay the price of sin, to open the way of relationship with YHVH! I was changed, YHVH stayed the same. You know about Y’shua-Jesus, that he did not stay dead (Romans 1:4). YHVH raised him to life. His death was my reconciliation, his life is my assurance of shalom-peace when the rest of the world knows only wrath because, like Pilot, they tried to wash their own hands. I know the joy of YHVH, he is my rejoicing!

Personal study of ROMANS 5: 9-11

Romans 5: 6-8

Would you be willing to give your life for someone else?

If a stranger needed your heart, what would you require of them in order to give it? Would they need to be a good citizen? Maybe that isn't enough. Would they need to have your values? That might not be enough either. How about someone you have loved and they had given you everything you ever hoped for. Would that be enough to donate your beating heart to that soul? Maybe that would be enough. Love might be enough. Maybe not.

How about for a reprobate, someone who despises your name, a person who stands against everything you stand for. Would you give your heart for that person? That is exactly what an apparent stranger did for you. Did you know that? When you were too weak from the pleasure of a dark life, when you did not even want to choose to be a good citizen, never mind a religious nut, that is when you were offered a new heart. YHVH-God did not love us because we were good, or even because we lived our lives within the boundaries of religion. He loved us when we were as attractive as the bathroom garbage pail during "that time of the month". When we were drunk with sin and helpless to respond in anyway but an offensive way, he loved us and offered us his heart in the beating chest of Y'shua-Jesus.

How much does YHVH love us? Do the math. Take the base unit (sinners), multiply times all the rejection he knew (and knows) and it will equal you, the one he gave his heart for.

Personal study of ROMANS 5:6-8

Romans 4:13-15

4:13-15 The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they should inherit the world _{Note: not the Land}, did not come through the Torah but through the righteousness of a’men. ¹⁴ If it is the adherents of the Torah who are to be the heirs, a’men is null and the promise is void. ¹⁵ For the Torah brings wrath, but where there is no Torah there is no transgression. 

What is a promise? 

When YHVH-God tells you that something is truth you can depend on it because of who he is, not because of how you live or what you do to receive the promise. YHVH enters into a legal agreement with you (covenant), and that covenant depends completely on him keeping his word. What then is your part to the covenant? Must you act a certain way? Promise to avoid some actions or embrace others?

The moment you see the covenant of YHVH as being dependent on yourself, on what you do, what you will gain is not the promise, but the wrath of YHVH because you WILL fall short of the required ideal. You do have a part in this covenant, it is to Amen the Word of God. This means that you stand in faith.When I say you "amen the Word" I'm not talking about the words in a book, I'm talking about the Word made flesh, Y'shua ha Mashiach- Jesus who is the Christ. Follow him in ?The Way."

Personal study of ROMANS chapter 4: 13-15

Romans 4:1-5

 4:1 What then shall we say about Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? ²For if Abraham was justified _accepted by mitzvoth-works, he has something to boast about, but not before hwhy. ³For what does the scripture say? "Abraham believed hwhy, and it was reckoned (credited) to him as righteousness." (Gen15:6)  ⁴Now to one who works, his wages are not reckoned (considered to be) as a gift but as his due. ⁵And to one who does not work but trusts him who justifies (accepts) the ungodly, his a’men is reckoned (considered to be) as righteousness.

You work hard for what you have. There is never enough to assure the life you desire. You wonder sometimes if your boss even knows you exist. Someone gives you a gift and you experience joy. The gift is acknowledgement that you not only exist, but your life has value.

So it is with mitzvoth (works). You can go down your personal check-list of do's, you can be a pillar in your community and kid yourself into believing that your work is valuable to the community so surly you are valuable to YHVH (the LORD). Yet you feel fear when you read Matthew 7:21-23.

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.  Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'  "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.' 

 Then there are the ungodly, those we like to look down our nose at, as we assure ourselves that we are not like them. Those the church hides their daughters from. Those who are helpless to earn their way to heaven and must trust the gift given, Y'shua ha Machiach (Jesus who is the Christ). Those who say "amen" to the Word instead of "doing", those who celebrate life instead of chasing it. Those who love the giver of the gift are those who are known by YHVH and welcomed into the arms of Heaven.

Personal study of ROMANS chapter 4: 1-5

Romans 3:27-31

3:27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On the principle of mitzvoth-works? No, but on the principle of a’men. ²⁸For we hold that a man is justified (acceptable) by a’men apart from mitzvoth-works of Torah. ²⁹Or is hwhy the Elohim of Jews only? Is he not the Elohim of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, ³⁰since hwhy is one; and he will justify (accept) the circumcised on the ground of their a’men and the uncircumcised through their a’men. ³¹ Do we then overthrow the Torah by this a’men? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the Torah.

Faith is amen. Amen is standing firm on the Word. The Word is Torah.

If Torah observance is a matter of "be" not "do" then the key to Torah observance is keeping my gaze on Y'shua-Jesus. Can it be that simple? Are their habits and traditions to do in living "The Way"? The frustrating answer is keep your eyes on Y'shua. It is also the answer of Joy. Keep your eyes on Y'shua. Anything I can brag to you about is eliminated. There is no mitzvoth (work) I can do that gives me or you any assurance in The Way of Life. Stand firm (be). That is Torah observance. The first step on The Way is something you cannot do; you must be born again.

Personal Study of Romans, chapter 3:27-31

Romans 3:21-26

3:21 But now the righteousness of hwhy has been manifested apart from Torah, although the Torah and the prophets bear witness to it, ²²the righteousness of hwhy through a’men in Mashiach Y’shua for all who believe. For there is no distinction; ²³since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of hwhy, ²⁴they are justified (acceptable) by his /j (Chen- kindness) grace as a gift, through the redemption (liberation) which is in Y’shua HaMashiach, ²⁵whom hwhy put forward as an expiation (payment of penalty) by his blood, to be received by a’men. This was to show hwhy 's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins; ²⁶it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies (accepts) him who has a’men in Y’shua.

Romans 3:21-26 are probably the grandest words of the book of Romans. Righteousness; a requirement for believers, citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. How to attain righteousness is the question.

If Torah (the Law) is a handbook, a how-to for righteous living, then we are doomed. Torah gives an awareness of sin with its sense of guilt. Guilt does not bring righteousness. It turns out that Torah is not of book of "do" but a book of "be". (1 Peter 1: 15-16) The righteousness is YHVH's. He sent me a hero to liberate me from slavery to sin. Liberation is a gift to be accepted (never earned).

Here is where Torah comes in, it testifies of Passover, the blood payment of an innocent for the guilty. The washing of sin (not the suppression of sin through rules), the REMOVAL of guilt. The realization that YHVH is my righteousness. Faith in Y'shua declares it. Every time I stand firm in Messiah I declare that YHVH is Righteous, even in this modern era. Joy!

Personal study of Romans.

Romans 3:9-20

3:9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all; for I have already charged that all men, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, ¹⁰as it is written:

"None is righteous, no, not one;

 ¹¹ no one understands, no one seeks for hwhy.

¹² All have turned aside, together they have gone wrong;

no one does good, not even one."

¹³ "Their throat is an open grave,

they use their tongues to deceive."

"The venom of asps is under their lips."

¹⁴ "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness."

¹⁵ "Their feet are swift to shed blood,

¹⁶ in their paths are ruin and misery,

¹⁷ and the way of peace they do not know."

¹⁸ "There is no fear of hwhy before their eyes."

3:19 Now we know that whatever the Torah says it speaks to those who are under the Torah, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to hwhy. ²⁰For no human being will be justified (accepted) in his sight by works of the Torah, since through the Torah comes knowledge of sin.

What is a fool? Y'shua-Jesus said that we are not to call a person who does dumb things a fool (Matthew 5:21-22). The Scripture specifically says that a fool is someone who says in their heart, "There is no God". Why is that important? In Hebrew, the word for heart is bl "leb," a picto-graph for the shepherd’s house. Fools are often very religious. They can be Torah observant to the extreme. They are careful to do the good works. The problem is they do it apart from God, which makes their whole life a dance with death. The words they say, the fellowship they keep, the things they do are all about death. Anyone dazzled by their lifestyle will put themselves in submission to the service of death.

There is a way of escape. It is through the blood of Y'shua ha Mashiach. (Jesus who is the Christ) The walking dead, the religious crowd, go the easy way. The way of Y'shua is difficult, like a steep, narrow path leading to life. How is that path found? It is found in the Word of God but the Word is not a "how to" manual, it is a person to trust. Don't be a fool. Call on the name of YHVH, walk with His Son Y'shua, be comforted and helped by their Ruach (breath, spirit). Keep your eyes on the author and finisher of our Amen (agreement with the Torah).

Personal study of ROMANS 3:9-20

Romans 2: 6-11

⁶For he will render to every man according to his mitzvoth works: ⁷to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; ⁸but for those who are factious (schemers) and do not obey the tma emt-truth, but obey ur raa -wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. ⁹There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, ¹⁰but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. ¹¹For hwhy shows no partiality.

We live by our choices. Each of us has a moment of awareness, an awakening if you will, when the Ruach (Spirit) penetrates our hard heart and reveals the wickedness we have embraced. It does not matter what position we have attained, who our family is or what our circumstance in life is. Each of us has moments when we know guilt. Christians call it conviction. In that moment, we can turn to Y'shua-Jesus for compassion or turn back to those whose thinking and life make us feel as if we are not so bad after all. May I just say, the old image of the scales of life are not so far off. The wicked, evil, even sinful behavior of our life is stored up on our account. The wrath of YHVH-God will be given to you in full as payment for your choice. But if in the moment you turn to Y'shua-Jesus, who suffered YHVH's wrath on the cross, paying in full your penalty; if you then take steps, even baby steps, toward a life pleasing to Him, there will be peace with honor, even glory, on that same Day of the LORD. Choose wisely.

Personal study of ROMANS chapter 2: 6-11

Romans 1:18-23

1:18 For the wrath of hwhy is revealed from heaven against all uvr resha’ -ungodliness and ur raa -wickedness of ^Lmen who by ^Ltheir ur raa wickedness suppress the tma emet  truth. ¹⁹For what can be known about hwhy is plain to ^Lthem, because hwhy has shown it to ^Lthem. ²⁰Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So ^Lthey are without excuse; ²¹for although ^Lthey knew hwhy ^Lthey did not honor him as Elohim or give thanks to him, but they became futile in ^Ltheir thinking and ^Ltheir senseless minds were darkened. ²²Claiming to be wise, ^Lthey became fools, ²³and exchanged the glory of the immortal hwhy for images resembling mortal man or birds or animals or reptiles.

Most of us know that YHVH (God) loves us so deeply that he gave his only begotten Son as a sacrifice to buy our freedom from the slavery of sin. I wonder if you might also know what YHVH hates.

In my Romans study (1:18-23), I learn that YHVH hates those who suppress truth. YHVH is truth (emet). Y'shua (Jesus), Ben YHVH, the only Son of God,  is truth in the flesh.

 How do mere men suppress truth? It starts with a very simple attitude of un-thankfulness to YHVH. Suppression of truth begins with not being thankful. That is all it takes to start your journey to life as a fool.

Everyone has an idea of what a fool is. We may sometimes feel "foolish" but we do not want to be fools. But what is a fool? A fool is not a stupid person but simply a person who says in their heart, "There is no God" (Psalms 14:1 and 53:1). Without acknowledgement of your loving creator, your thought life becomes dark, senseless, futile. A fool tends to believe that they know the path of wisdom, but wisdom begins with "the fear of YHVH" (Proverbs 1:7), they discover the end of their path is folly. Is there hope?

Thankfulness. In EVERYTHING give thanks (Ephesians 5:20) Thanksgiving is an action that recognizes YHVH's work in your life. Without a thankful heart there is a temptation to believe that enough money, youth, good looks, balance or whatever else seems valuable to you at this stage of your life is the key to success. Thanksgiving is the trail marker on the path of life. I plan to carve out time to be thankful on purpose. What about you?

Not ashamed

Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the Besorah: it is the power of hwhy for salvation to -everyone who has /ma a’men, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷For in it the righteousness of hwhy is revealed through /ma a’men for /ma a’men; as it is written,

"He who through /ma a’men is righteous shall live." (Habakkuk 2:4)

For I am not ashamed of the Gospel (Letter to the Romans, 1:16-17)

Par ici et par la photograph 

Why would Paul even bring up "not being ashamed"? Apparently there was an attitude in the age following the Hasmoneans (Maccabees) to do public mitzvoth (works of Torah/Law). To be pious in the eyes of your community was a matter of pride and diligent work. To not make an effort to do the "things" that proclaim we are righteous seems to open a person up to scorn. 

To "rest" in what Y'shua (Jesus) did for you is a game changer in the religious world. My focus changes to pleasing YHVH instead of "minding my public witness" FREEDOM. Why am I not ashamed of the Besorah (Gospel)? Because my devotion is to Abba (my heavenly father) who sees in secret. And what does he see when he looks my way? The covenant blood of Y'shua, my Salvation, who set me free from the burden of sin and the need to prove I am who I say I am. He proved it, I rest in it.

Note: learning the heritage of Abraham the Hebrew, I use the phrases I am learning instead of the Greek-English when I can. Please do not be frustrated, ask questions if you have them. Deb

Originally posted on FaceBook by Mrs. Hagerty, January 16, 2014