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Yeshua: The Hebrew Word for Jesus |
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Who is the Bride of Christ?ARE YOU SAVED ? How many Christian books do you know begin by asking the reader if he is saved? Traditionally, it is in the final few pages of an evangelical Christian book where an invitation is given to the reader to accept Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior so that he can be saved and go to heaven. So why is this book different? This book seeks to
Biblically answer the question, 'Who is the Bride
of Christ?' The Bride of Christ consists of those people who
are born again, Bible-believing Christians who have accepted Jesus
Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Therefore, this book is
written to all members of the Body of Christ who are saved and will be
in heaven. Because the information contained in this book is written to
Christians who are saved, this book begins by asking the reader if he is
saved. If you are reading this book and you are not saved, let me briefly describe the steps whereby you can be sure that you are saved and will spend eternity with Jesus in heaven. However, before I outline the Biblical steps to salvation, I would like to define what it means to be 'born again.' Not all Christians understand what the term 'born again' means. So, let me explain what it means to be 'born again' and why it is necessary for salvation. Simply speaking, being born again means that you have repented of your sins and have asked Jesus Christ to come into your heart and be the Lord and Savior of your life. In John 3:1-7, Nicodemus came to Jesus and asked Him a question. Jesus answered Nicodemus by saying that he must be 'born again.' In John 3:1-7, it is written:
In John 3:3, Jesus said:
In John 3:7, Jesus said:
In these passages, Jesus tells Nicodemus that unless he is born again, he cannot see (enter) the Kingdom of God (go to heaven). In John 3:4, we can tell that Nicodemus was thinking about being physically born through a mother's womb as it is written:
Jesus answered Nicodemus by saying that He was not talking about being born physically through his mother's womb a second time - which is impossible but was rather talking about being born spiritually. This can be seen when we examine the reply of Jesus in John 3:5-6 as it is written:
Being 'born again' means that You are ' born anew or born from above.' The Hebrew term for being 'born anew ' is expressed through the ceremony of going through a ' Mikvah.' A 'Mikvah' is an immersion bath. From a Jewish context, once somebody has gone through a ' Mikvah' or immersion bath, he goes through a ' change of status.' A person who has a ' Mikvah' is not seen as having the same status after the 'Mikvah' (immersion bath) is completed as when he started the 'Mikvah' ceremony. Once the Mikvah is completed, he has gone through a 'change of status.' Spiritually speaking,
this is what it means to be 'born again'
or born anew or born from above. Spiritually, whenever an unbeliever
decides to repent of his sins and ask God to forgive him of his sins by
asking Jesus Christ into his heart and life and making Him his Lord and
Savior, he becomes 'born again' or
born anew or born from above. Spiritually, when this is done, he
experiences a 'change of status.' He
goes from being an unbeliever and a sinner who was on the road to hell
and destruction to being a Christian whom God has promised will be in
heaven with Jesus for all eternity. Why is it necessary to be born again or accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior? When God created Adam in the Garden of Eden he had personal fellowship with God. Because God is a Spirit (John 4:24), in order for Adam to communicate with God, Adam could only communicate and have daily fellowship with God on a spirit-to-spirit basis (1 Corinthians 2:10-12). However, God warned Adam that in the day that he sinned that he would die. (Genesis 2:17). When Adam ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he did not die physically because Adam lived to be 930 years old (Genesis 5:5). However, when Adam sinned by being disobedient to the commandments of God, he died spiritually. The Bible tells us in Romans 5:12 that because of Adam's sin, spiritual death passed to all people who would be born after Adam as it is written:
Therefore, every human being who is born after Adam inherits Adam's sin nature and sin causes us to be spiritually dead. In Ezekiel 18:4 it is written:
In Romans 6:23, it is written:
Under these conditions, the Bible tells us in Romans 3:10 as it is written:
For these reasons, Jesus instructed Nicodemus that he must be "born again.' In other words, Jesus taught us that something needed to be done about the sin problem in our lives. In Acts 17:30 it is written that God has commanded all men everywhere to repent. The commission of John the Baptist was to preach repentance from sin. In Mark 1:4, it is written:
The Bible tells us in Hebrews 9:22 that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission for sin. When Jesus took the cup at his last supper he spoke these words in Matthew 26:28:
Therefore, from these things, we can see why we all need to be 'born again.' When Adam sinned, he died spiritually. Spiritual death is separation from the presence and life of God. We are separated from God because of our sins as it is written in Isaiah 59:2:
In Romans 3:23 it is written:
Because all mankind has inherited the sin nature of Adam and the spiritual death that was imparted unto him because of his sin of eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, all mankind are sinners and need to repent of their sins. Jesus came to this earth and shed His blood on the cross for the remission of sins for those people who would repent of their sins before God. Upon repenting of our sins and asking Jesus Christ into our heart to be our Lord and Savior, we will be saved. In Romans 10:9-12 it is written:
The Bible tells us how we are saved. We are saved by God's grace (his unmerited favor toward us) through faith and not by our own good works. In Ephesians 2:8-9 it is written:
In 1 John 3:4, it is written:
In Romans 3:20, the Bible tells us that we are not saved by obeying the law or by our own works as it is written:
In Romans 3:28 it is written:
So, the Bible tells us that we are Justified (saved) by grace through the redemptive work of Jesus when He shed His blood on the cross for our sins. In Romans 3:24-26, it is written:
In Galations 2.16, it is written:
In Romans 5:8-9, it is written:
When Adam sinned by disobeying God and eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam spiritually died and passed spiritual death to all mankind. Sin is transgressing the law of God and disobeying His Word. Sin separates man from God and sin causes both physical and spiritual death. In order to be reconciled back to God, man needs to confess his sins before God and accept God's plan of salvation for man. God's plan of salvation for man was accomplished through the death of Jesus on the cross and the shedding of His blood for the remission of our sins. By repenting of your sins and asking Jesus to come into your heart and life so that He can be your Lord and Savior, you are saved by God's grace through faith. You are not saved by your good deeds or being a good person. (Ephesians 2:8-9) Before we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our spirit is spiritually dead (separated from God). When we repent of our sins by asking Jesus to come into our heart and lives and be our Lord and Savior, our spirit man becomes 'born again' and undergoes a spiritual 'Mikvah' which is a 'change of status.' When this happens, we change from being a sinner to being a saved Christian who will go to heaven and spend eternity with God. Are you saved? If you have not repented of your sins and asked Jesus to come into your heart and life, I urge you to do so today. If you have already done this, then the rest of this book is written to you as we will answer the question, 'Who is the Bride of Christ?' Because most people who are reading this book have already repented of their sins and have asked Jesus Christ to come into their hearts and lives, they are saved and will be in heaven. However, by being saved,
will you be the Bride of Christ? I have been attending church regularly since I was five years old. Currently, I am a pastor of an independent non-denominational church. In addition, I am the President and Founder of Hebraic Heritage Ministries International which is a ministry devoted to teaching the Hebraic roots of Christianity to Christians all over the world. From being associated with Christianity and by being saved since I was a child, I was always taught that everyone who is saved is the Bride of Christ. However, is this what the Bible teaches? Are all saved Christians the Bride of Christ? In the following chapters, I will outline and detail the characteristics described in the Bible concerning who is the Bride of Christ. The conclusion might be shocking to many Christians. Nonetheless, the answer of who is the Bride of Christ and what will be her commissioning in the age to come will be scripturally discussed, outlined, and presented in a step-by-step manner in the upcoming chapters. As we describe the Bride of Christ and are able to outline and define her characteristics in the following chapters, we will not only be able to understand who the Bride of Christ is but we will also be able to know her when she is unveiled to this present evil world. God is beginning the process of unveiling the Bride of Christ in these final years before the soon return of the Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, and she will be revealed to the world in glory and majesty. Let us continue our study together so that we may examine for ourselves in a step-by-step, theme-by-theme, characteristic-by-characteristic, scripture-by-scripture manner so that we can answer together the question, 'Who is the Bride of Christ?' using the Bible as our basis for all authority on this subject.
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Yeshua from Genesis to Revelation
This DVD series reveals Yeshua in the entire Bible (Psalm 40:7, Luke 24:44). Yeshua is in the Torah. He created the heavens and earth, made covenant with Abraham, led the children of Israel out of Egypt, gave the Torah at Mount Sinai, is the bridegroom of Israel and the glory of God that filled the tabernacle. Yeshua died on the tree to unite the twelve tribes of Israel (John 10:16-17, 11:49-52). Yeshua will gather the twelve tribes of Israel during the tribulation period and be glorified. He will reign during the Messianic Era as King over the whole earth teaching the Torah to all nations. While revealing Yeshua from Genesis to Revelation, this DVD series also teaches the basic principles of the Hebraic roots of Christianity, including who is the house of Jacob, Torah is for all believers in Yeshua, and Two Houses and the New Testament. Finally, this DVD series gives a Hebraic perspective of the end of days. In all, twelve hours of power packed teaching!
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