The question is…
…can a person who has been saved return back to Egypt (metaphorically speaking that is)?
In order to find the answer, all we have to do is look at the pattern established right here in the Torah.
I’m gonna get right to the point here.
The Torah makes it clear one’s salvation can indeed be reversed due to disobedience.
And in the New Testament there are tons of examples of people who declared allegiance to the God of Israel through their faith in Yeshua and then walked away to the point where they found themselves right back in Egypt.
That’s right.
HASHEM sent them right back into slavery to sin and satan.
Let’s take a look at Yeshua’s famous parable of the seeds that specifically addresses this issue.
“Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.”-Luke 8:13 (NIV Version)
The Complete Jewish Bible says the following.:
“The ones on rock are those who, when they hear the word, accept it with joy; but these have no root — they go on trusting for awhile; but when a time of testing comes, they apostatize.”-Luke 8:13 (The Complete Jewish Bible)
And the King James version says the following:
“They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.”-Luke 8:13 (King James Version)
In order to properly understand what Rabbi Yeshua was saying here, we have properly define what to “fall away” means.
Well, actually, the Complete Jewish Bible nails it right on the head.
“To fall away” means to apostatize.
It means that the trust you had in God has withered away to the point where you can no longer be considered a follower of the God of Israel.
Again, the evidence of one’s salvation is to ask yourself…
…does the person in question obey the Lord’s commands?
Don’t misunderstand me here.
I’m NOT saying the source of one’s salvation is obeying the commands.
I’m saying the evidence of one’s salvation is obeying the commands.
This is a HUUUUUUGE difference!
Remember God saved Israel first and afterwards gave them His Torah.
Second, the modern gentile church is categorically wrong when they say this parable is actually referring to those who never really were believers in the first place.
The church claims that those who “fell away” were only “pretenders”.
I have to tell you point-blank that is NOT what Yeshua is saying.
You could scour the whole New Testament with a magnifying glass and nowhere will you find someone who fell away from the faith as being a person who never actually believed.
Think about it for a second.
How in the heck can you “fall away” from something you never had in the first place?
By definition, to “fall away” from something means you had to have had it in the first place.
Let’s take a look at what Paul had to say on the matter.
“Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.”-Romans 11:22
Paul is quoting the good old Mosaic formula of “IF, THEN” here in reference to the conditional nature of the covenant.
IF you continue trusting God, THEN you’ll stay attached as one of the branches to the Olive Tree which represents Israel.
That’s right folks!
I’m telling you right now that the New Covenant is a conditional covenant.
It is NOT like the Abrahamic Covenant where it was only HASHEM who walked between the cut up animal carcasses.
However, when I say the New Covenant is a conditional covenant, I’m not saying one of the conditions is that your behavior has to be perfect.
No, what I’m saying is you must continue to trust and have faith in HASHEM, otherwise as the New Testament warns, you will be cut-off or KARET from the source of your faith.
And again when you maintain your trust in HASHEM, your faith will more often than not result in joyous obedience to His Commands!
We’ll continue this discussion some more the next time we meet.
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