[Music] what must I do to be saved this is an ancient question that men have been asking since after the fall and the garden that was when mankind became separated from paradise which contained the Tree of Life man was expelled from the presence of the creator because of his disobedience and ever since that time mankind has been subject to a curse known as death just how to get back into paradise and out from under the curse of death is the question that many religions and denominations claim the answer to the Scriptures actually provide the solution they show the straight and narrow path that leads back to life but those texts are often twisted and misunderstood the Christian religion offers an interpretation of the scriptures and it presents the answer through a process known as salvation now most people are concerned about where they go after they die where they will spend eternity and Christianity teaches that if a person is saved they will go to heaven and if they're not saved they will go to hell Christianity teaches that when a person becomes a Christian they also become saved and according to them salvation is an assurance that you will go to heaven when you die so this belief system involves two very important concepts first the process of salvation and second the fate or final destination of those who are saved it answers two very important questions what must I do to be saved and where do I go when I die now the ultimate question is whether their answers are correct according to the scriptures in this teaching will examine the concept of salvation we already talked about maintains which is death the desire of all mankind should be to avoid the fate of death right now we're separated from the creator and the Tree of Life so we all undergo of physical death because of this separation the question is whether we can avoid death and permanent separation from the Creator who is the source of life if man had not sinned he would have had eternal life because he would always have had access to the Tree of Life in the garden it was in the garden that man could walk with the Creator and be in his presence but man's existence in the garden was conditioned upon his obedience he chose to disobey and he was cast out because of that disobedience now the Scriptures tell us about the creator's plan to restore mankind to a covenant relationship that covenant flowed from Abraham to his rayel and Israel was provided with the instructions the Torah often referred to as the law those instructions revealed the way to blessings and life through obedience and they also revealed the way of curses and death through disobedience the Israel was supposed to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation Israel was supposed to show the nations the way back to the Creator through obedience and blessings instead Israel chose to disobey and fell under the curse exactly as Adam had done the Israel was exiled from the promised land just as Adam was exiled from the garden instead of drawing the nations to the Creator the Israel was divided into two separate kingdoms and then separated exiled and scattered among the nations the prophets foretold of a time when the Israel would be regathered and restored through the Messiah and through a renewal of the broken covenant the Messiah came according to those promises to deliver a people from the curse by renewing the covenant through his blood he was resurrected and broke curse of death that had plagued mankind since the fall in the garden he sent his disciples into the nations to share this good news and point people to the Messiah the way the truth and the life by following the Messiah mankind could be restored to the garden now this is where it's important to distinguish between tradition and the truth contained within the scriptures Christian tradition essentially teaches that you are immediately saved by an internal decision or a prayer upon receiving this good news but the Scriptures do not support such a notion salvation is not simply a prayer it's a transformative and lifelong process while Christianity teaches salvation as a starting point of the faith the Scriptures revealed that salvation is something that occurs in the end in fact it's the end result of the Covenant journey the Covenant renewed by the Messiah so Christianity essentially has a backwards salvation occurs at the end not at the beginning in fact Paul referred to our journey of faith as a race and we read about that in first Corinthians 9:24 27 of course a race is something that you must finish if you want to win the prize and the prize is everlasting life and that is the purpose of salvation now in the strictest sense to be saved is to be saved from death when you die and that's when you finish the race and that's when a person receives salvation because salvation means to be saved from the curse of death so then we're left with the question what must I do to be saved and we read that very same question was being asked in acts 16:30 through 31 it says and he brought them out and said sirs what must I do to be saved so they said believe in the master Yeshua Messiah and you will be saved you and your household now in English Bibles it says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ but that's not what would have been spoken in the original text and there's a lot more to this than simply a prayer or a decision the first step is belief in the Greek we read pissed you ol and piss you all means to have faith in upon or with respect to a person or a thing to entrust the believe commit to put trust in so what does it mean to believe and to have faith is it simply a thought feeling an emotion or an internal decision not according to James he specifically stated faith by itself if it does not have works is dead but someone will say you have faith and I have works show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works you believe that there is 100 heem you do well even a demons believe and tremble but do you want to know a foolish man that faith without works is dead so the point is that your actions demonstrate what you believe belief is not just an internal decision it must have a corresponding outward expression as we saw from pistou ol belief involves commitment and Trust it's not simply that you believe there is a God or that Yeshua existed in the past if you truly believe in Yeshua then you do what he says otherwise you do not have believed and he specifically stated in John 14:15 if you love me keep my Commandments so the way you express your belief is through your obedience now the next thing is to acknowledge that you Shaw is the master and the Messiah and of course if someone is your master then again you must obey them the Messiah was the Promised One who would restore the covenant people of Israel into the Covenant that they had broken so if you believe that Joshua is the master and the Messiah then you must understand the Covenant you must be part of the Covenant that he renewed with Israel at the Last Supper which was a Passover meal and you must obey the terms of the Covenant which is the Torah so expressing faith or belief in Yeshua it's not simply acknowledging that he lived it's believing what he said and did expressed by the way you live you do not have faith in Yeshua if you do not do what he said your actions are what you do they're your works and as James said faith without works is dead so if you're not obeying the commandments then your faith is dead so salvation according to the Scriptures is not the same as the message taught by Christianity many are being misled into thinking that they're saved simply by becoming a Christian by saying a prayer and attending church services that does not equate to salvation salvation is the result of following and obeying Yeshua as he points out the narrow way back into the garden he specifically warned in Matthew 7 13 through 14 enter by the narrow gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and there are many who go in by it because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life and there are a few who find it in fact the schewe specifically addressed the question of eternal life on a number of occasions in Luke 10 25 to 29 we read and behold a certain scribe stood up and tested him saying teacher what shall I do to inherit eternal life he said to him what is written in the Torah what is your reading of it so he answered and said you shall love your hue your Elohim with all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself and he said to him you have answered rightly do this and you will live of course the scribe was repeating what you schewe had taught as recorded in mark 12 28 through 31 and Matthew 22 40 when he stated that I'm these two Commandments hang all the Torah and the prophets so Yeshua was directing the scribe to the commandments for eternal life in Luke 18 18 to 23 we read another example it says now a certain ruler asked him saying good teacher what shall I do to inherit eternal life so Yeshua said to him why do you call me good no one is good but one that is Elohim you know the commandments do not commit adultery do not murder do not steal do not bear false witness honor your father and your mother and he said all these things I have kept from my youth so when Yeshua heard these things he said to him you still lack one thing sell all that you have and distribute to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me but when he heard this he became very sorrowful before he was very rich now in this case is schewe again referred to the commandments and even though this man claimed to be obeying Yeshua revealed that the man was coveting his wealth and he was not loving his neighbor among other things so in each case Yeshua said if you want eternal life obey the commandments but not just outwardly we must have the Torah in our minds and written on our hearts and that is what it means to have your heart circumcised and this was the promise of the renewed covenant that we read about in Jeremiah 31:31 234 says behold the days are coming says you well when I will make a renewed covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah not according to the Covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to the the land of Egypt my covenant which they broke though I was a husband to them says you who are but this is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days says yahuwah I will put my Torah in their minds and write it on their hearts and I will be their Elohim and they shall be my people no more shall every man teachers neighbor and every man his brother saying no ewa before they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them said yahuwah for i will forgive their iniquity and their sin i will remember no more this is the renewed covenant that Yeshua came as promised by the prophets and knowing the father and the son is critical and it is how we inherit eternal life we read in John 17 one two three women yoshua said father the hour has come glorify your son that your son also may glorify you as you have given him authority over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him and this is eternal life that they may know you the only true Elohim and Messiah Yeshua whom you have sent now knowing the Creator involves a relationship and that relationship is through the covenant with Israel renewed by the son just as we read in Jeremiah 31 and it involves the Torah being in our hearts and written in our minds and this is very different than what Christianity teaches Christianity teaches that the Creator replaced Israel with the church and that the Messiah came and did away with the Torah this is specifically despite the fact that the Messiah stated in Matthew 5:17 through 21 do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the prophets I did not come to destroy but to fulfill for assuredly I say to you till heaven and earth pass away one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the Torah till all is fulfilled whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these Commandments and teachers men so shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven but whoever does and teaches them he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven for I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven so the Christian message is directly opposed to the Messiah in the scriptures because of the belief that Messiah abolished the Torah most Christians do not obey the commandments which makes them lawless therefore there are many Christians who currently think they know the Creator and his son because they said a prayer or they go to church but they do not know him and this is what Yeshua warned of in Matthew 7:15 through 23 when he said beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they are ravenous wolves you will know them by their fruits do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles even so every good tree bears good fruit but a bad tree Bears bad fruit a good tree cannot bear bad fruit nor can a bad tree bear good fruit every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire therefore by their fruits you will know them now not everyone who says to me Lord Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of my father in heaven many will say to me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in your name cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name and then I will declare to them I never knew you depart from me you who practice lawlessness and there are many Christians who think that they will inherit eternal life because they prophesy cast out demons and perform wonders but they remain flawless without the Torah and as a result of Messiah says he does not know them and they will be cast away there are many false prophets and false teachers telling people that you xual abolish the Torah and you don't have to be obedient because Christians are under grace this is a lie and deception grace is literally unmerited favor but it's not an excuse for disobedience our relationship with the father and the son is defined by and through the covenant grace is the free gift offered by the Messiah that allows us to get back into a covenant relationship with the Creator it's the second chance that were provided through his atoning blood he washes us from our sins and frees us from the curse of death but the terms of the Covenant have not changed obedience is still a condition for staying in the Covenant relationship with the Creator now with that proper understanding it puts certain confusing texts such as Ephesians into a proper perspective for by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is a gift of Elohim see Grace in this passage literally means an undeserved gift the text is simply stating that we don't deserve to be saved no one can obtain atonement through their works and we cannot earn our salvation it's a free gift for those who believe but that belief is demonstrated by a person's actions their works so we're not saved by our works but our works demonstrate our faith in Matthew 25 you sure described his final judgment when he separates the sheep from the goats and it's very telling because it is all about what we do in his life and we read beginning in 34 then the king will say to those on his right come you blessed of my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world for I was hungry and you gave me food I was thirsty and you gave me drink I was a stranger and you took me in I was naked and you clothed me I was sick and you visited me I was in prison and you came to me then the righteous will answer him saying Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink when did we see you a stranger and take you in or naked and clothed you or when did we see you sick or in prison come to you and the king will answer and say to them surely I say to you it is my you did it to one of the least of these my brethren you did it to me then he will also say to those on the left apart from me you cursed into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels where I was hungry and you gave me no food I was thirsty and you gave me no drink I was a stranger and you to that take me in naked and you did not clothe me sick and in prison and you did not visit him then they will also answer him saying Lord when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister it to you then you will answer them saying assuredly I say to you in as much as you did not do it to one of the least of these you did not do it to me and these will go away into everlasting punishment but the righteous into eternal life so this final judgment is all about what we did for the Messiah the righteous are the ones who are obeying the commandments and therefore they're loving elohim and their neighbors the message is the same in the end as it was from the beginning obedience the book of Revelation describes the end in revelation 22 we read about the restoration of mankind to paradise represented by the renewed Jerusalem and in revelation 22:14 it says blessed are those who do His commandments that they may have the right to the Tree of Life and may enter through the gates into the city so it's clear obedience to the commandments is critical for those interested in eternal life those who obey the commandments get into paradise they are the ones who can partake of the Tree of Life now mankind was expelled from paradise due to disobedience now we can return through the obedience of Messiah and his shed blood but we must believe and that belief is demonstrated by whether we truly follow him by walking and living as he did in obedience the Commandments someday in the future will you stand before him he will judge us and decide if he knows us if you have a relationship with him then you can enter into the kingdom that is when we are saved [Music]