It's A Process People, Not a One-time Gig!

"...to open their eyes; so that they will turn from darkness to light, from the power of the adversary to G-d, and thus receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who have been separated for holiness by putting their trust in Me." ~ Shaul (Paul), taken from Acts 26:18 CJB (Complete Jewish Bible)

"But we are not among the timid ones on the path to destruction, but among the faithful one on the path to the preservation of the soul" Hebrews 10:39 Tree of Life (new Messianic Translation)

First of all it is to be noted that the first quote was taken from a discourse given by Shaul to the standing Roman Authority of that time, and is a defense of his new found faith in Yeshua as the long awaited Messiah, for which he had been arrested as a trouble-making heretic by his Jewish peers.

The other thing to which I want to direct your attention, is that in this sentence he effectively outlines the two major "works of grace" for us. The first being "remission from sins", or "deliverance from the power of sin"; and the second, being that we are "made an heir unto the Kingdom of G-d in Messiah". Meaning that we would become a recipient, by faith, of His power and resources.

The second quote reiterates the line of thought that I frequently pursue because I think it is pivotal to our understanding and success in how all this works, and that is that this whole thing, this whole Salvation gig, is a process, (a path) and not just a "decision". The "decision" gets the ball rolling and precipitates the process, it unlocks the gate to the "path" for us, it is, therefore, a prerequisite of the process, but it does not constitute, as many have sadly proclaimed, the entire process!

So from these two small "truth-bites", we see that first of all there is a progression and a process, and that we who have chosen (decided) to believe must now follow Messiah in those processes if we want to get all the way through this program (be saved) successfully.

The observant among us may also have realized that this "path to the preservation of the soul" may often be fraught with difficulty and even danger! (Please note that Shaul had been incarcerated, and was up against charges that would eventually cost him his life as well as his freedom, for example.) However, being made an heir to the anointing and resources of the Messiah, indeed of G-d Himself, is to be thought worth any earthly loss we might make in pursuing this process of holiness. Hence we are admonished to "count the cost" before investing in this process of Holiness/Salvation.

We get so caught up in the lingo! "Holiness" describes both the goal and the process - of staying on this "path". In G-d I have found that one of His delightful mysteries is that to Him the process, if you stay invested, is the same as the goal, since the process is working to achieve the goal! That is why He measures us by the motives of our heart instead of by our outward performance! Outward performance can be influenced by many things, but our motivations are often known only to Him. Sometimes we are not even sure what is motivating us! But we need to know, and are responsible to find out! Hence my daily struggles toward truth!

So, what I want you see is that Holiness is simply a state of being preserved, or set apart, for the process! But it is also called by many other names; it is righteousness and purity, it is dedication, it is refinement, it is the consolidation of all our parts into one direction, which is what produces wholeness and goodness, and is, therefore, the true meaning and source of any real Love! It is what is required for us to be able to 'see G-d". We tend to think of that, "seeing G-d"in literal terms, like "when we all get to heaven", but I think it means on , any level, spiritually or physically, now, by the spirit, or later face to face!

And it is becoming clear to me that what He uses to set us apart for this process is Observing Torah. Again I must say this (I think because I can still hear the religious spirits of my westernized "Christian" upbringing arguing against that thought), that when I say "Observing Torah" I amnot referring to "being in bondage to the Law"! I am not advocating, nor supporting the Rabbinic, Pharisaic, nor the Catholicised, or Protestantized versions of that Law, nor any other ultimately religious - air-choking, life-smothering, joy-stifling set of man-interpreted rules that being simply translated means"if it feels good don't do it"! (as I heard one comedian define his faith of upbringing, lol ) I say that it is "becoming clear" because I am in a learning curve, another religious sort and pitch session, struggling to balance what I thought I knew about this Book - the Holy Scriptures- that is, what I had been taught most of my life, with what I am learning, in this new discipline of Jewish/Messianic studies! Oy vey! What a shmuck I have been!? But I am still involved in this process, so no worries!

However, I am now concerned that in avoiding all those religious traps we may be tempted to "throw the baby out with the bath water"! Which will lead, has led, to a whole other array of traps, pits and prisons to hack our way out of!

Somehow we must be able to understand that Torah was given, not merely to restrict life, but that we might have Life! Yeshua came to get that point across to us! He came, by His own testimony, to fulfill it to that ultimate conclusion, not to annihilate it! He came to demonstrate the heart of G-d in writing it! He came to show us how to use it to our benefit, since we obviously were, and are, totally inept at that! He came to explain, demonstrate and assist with the process! He came to BE the "path", to walk it with us, to guide us in it! He left behind His Spirit, as an administrator of His anointing, as a facilitator of His grace, and as an instructor in Torah, for the purposes of the processes of Holiness/Wholeness!

What part of that sounds objectionable to you? Me neither! So what is our problem? If we ask Him, He will show us. But the catch is, that we must be willing to change. That is usually where the rub comes in. Most deception springs from the desire to "have our cake and eat it too", in other words, we want the inheritance, but we don't want the responsibility attached to it. Ultimately, however, we must choose, and choose we will, either deliberately and consciously, or by procrastination and default.

I am the proactive sort, and was "blessed" with little to no passivity about anything! So my life and times are consumed in trying to sort out the real options from the bogus ones, and from keeping my flesh from actively choosing things that will kill me! Hence the daily struggle that the ones who read this stuff, bless them, are trying to keep up with. I promise, I am not bi-polar! Not now at least, now, it is just the struggle between the spirit-man and the flesh-pot and it is a fight to the death! I am pulling for the spirit-man within me, for I have seen that it is the one that resides on the side of wisdom! But, alas, I find that I still feed my flesh way too much, a problem which I am trying to rectify. And so as we whirl into 2012 headlong, the process continues, the fight goes on, and the marathon has paused for another training session!

That being so I wish you all a Blessed Process and a Holy New Year! May you emerge closer to your goal, and may you know the security of His Divine will and the protection of His favor.

Shalom!

1/10/12 SCD