Repentance and Faith Part 2

A.The Messiah Had To Suffer Before Entering His Glory

²⁷ Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, ²⁸ so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (Heb 9:27–28 NIV)

¹⁰ Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that would come to you searched and carefully investigated. ¹¹ They inquired into what time or what circumstances the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when He testified in advance to the messianic sufferings and the glories that would follow… ¹³ Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be serious and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Pe 1:10–13 HCSB)

²⁵ He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (Lk 24:25–27 NIV)

A. Early Witness

⁵ The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. (Gen 6:5 NIV)

²¹ The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. (Ge 8:21 NIV)

B. Eschatological Witness

⁹ What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; ¹⁰ as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; ¹¹ There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; ¹² All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.” ¹³ “Their throat is an open grave, With their tongues they keep deceiving,” “The poison of asps is under their lips”; ¹⁴ “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”; ¹⁵ “Their feet are swift to shed blood, ¹⁶ Destruction and misery are in their paths, ¹⁷ And the path of peace they have not known.” ¹⁸ “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” ¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; (Ro 3:9–19 NASB95) ^[1]

C. Man’s Desire For Self-governance And Boasting

⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. (Ge 3:4–6 NIV)

• ³ You turn man back into dust And say, “Return, O children of men.”^{… 7} For we have been consumed by Your anger And by Your wrath we have been dismayed. ⁸ You have placed our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your presence. (Ps 90:3–8 NASB95)

¹ “All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to give to your forefathers. ² “You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart (LXX ‘that the things in your heart might be made manifest’), whether you would keep His commandments or not. (Dt 8:1–2 NASB95)

^[1] Paul uses 6 different passages from the OT to explain that God will ‘judge the world’ in righteousness and without partiality on the day of the Lord. The first passages are Ps. 53, 5, 140, and 10. These four Psalms share the context of an eschatological army of oppressors who have ‘encamped’ (cf. Ps. 53:5) against Israel.

The second group of passages, Is. 59 and Ps. 36, both reference Jewish guilt since they have turned away from God and therefore His eschatological judgment of them is merited.

A. Torah Leading To Justification By Faith

²⁴ Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. (Gal 3:24 NASB)

⁸ We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. (1Ti 1:8 NIV)

B. OT Survey Of The Grace Of God

¹³ Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace (LXX ‘χαρις’) in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace (LXX ‘χαρις’) in Your sight. … ¹⁹ Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” (Ex 33:13–19 NKJV)

• ¹⁶ And of His fullness we have all received, and grace (Gk. ‘χαρις’) for grace (Gk. ‘χαρις’). (Jn 1:16 NKJV)

⁶ Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; ⁷ who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” (Ex 34:6–7 NASB95)

• ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (Jn 1:14 NASB95)

⁹ Then he said, “If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance.” (Ex 34:9 NKJV)

²³ But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this day he has been unwilling to destroy them or banish them from his presence. (2 Kings 13:23 NIV)

¹⁷ They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. (Nehemiah 9:17 ESV)

⁷ Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me! ⁸ You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, LORD, do I seek.” ⁹ Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help. (Psalm 27:7-9 ESV)

⁸ The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. ⁹ The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. (Psalm 145:8-9 ESV)

¹⁸ Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. ¹⁹ For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. (Isaiah 30:18-19 ESV)

C. The Tutor Of The Passover

¹⁵ And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. ¹⁶ For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”^{… 20} In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. (Lk 22:15–20 NIV)

²⁸ This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (Mt 26:28 NIV)

⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (Jn 1:29 NIV)

¹² ‘For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments–I am the LORD. ¹³ ‘The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. ¹⁴ ‘Now this day will be a memorial to you… ²² Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. (Ex 12:12-22 NIV)

D. The Tutor Of The Sacrificial System

²⁰ and do with this bull just as he did with the bull for the sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for the community, and they will be forgiven. (Le 4:20 NIV)

²¹ He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. ²² The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness. (Le 16:21–22 NIV)

² “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When anyone among you brings an offering to the LORD… ⁴ You are to lay your hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on your behalf to make atonement for you. (Lev 1:2-4 NIV)

In all private sacrifices, except firstlings, tithes, and the Paschal lamb, hands were laid on, and, while doing so, the following prayer was repeated: ‘I entreat, O Jehovah: I have sinned, I have done perversely, I have rebelled, I have committed (naming the sin, trespass, or, in case of a burnt-offering, the breach of positive or negative command); but I return in repentance, and let this be for my atonement (covering).’^[1]

²⁵ And he did not enter to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the sanctuary year after year with blood that is not his own, ²⁶ for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the consummation of the ages to put away sin by his sacrifice. ²⁷ And just as people are appointed to die once, and then to face judgment,²⁸ so also, after Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, to those who eagerly await him he will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation. ¹ For the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those who come to worship.² For otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers would have been purified once for all and so have no further consciousness of sin? ³ But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year after year. ⁴ For the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins. (Heb 9:25–10:4 NET)

^[1] Edersheim, A. (2003). The Temple, its ministry and services as they were at the time of Jesus Christ. (p. 114). Bellingham, WA

A. From Alien To Proselyte – The Transition In The Diaspora

¹⁷ “For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe. ¹⁸ “He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien (HT ‘ger’, LXX ‘proselyte’) by giving him food and clothing. ¹⁹ “So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. (Dt 10:17–19 NASB95)

1731 גֵּר (gēr): n.masc.; ≡ Str 1616; TWOT 330a—LN 11.55–11.89 alien, stranger, foreigner, i.e., one who is of a different geographical or cultural group, often with less rights than the reference group (Ge 15:13), see also LN 85.67–85.85; note: for NIV text in Isa 5:17, see 1531^[1]

4670 προσήλυτος (prosēlytos), ου (ou), ὁ (ho): n.masc.; ≡ DBLHebr 1731; Str 4339; TDNT 6.727—LN 11.54 proselyte, a convert to Judaism (niV), (Mt 23:15; Ac 2:11; 6:5; 13:43^[2]

B. The ger And The Land Of Israel

³³ “‘When a foreigner (HT ‘ger’) resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. ³⁴ The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God. (Le 19:33–34 NIV)

²² “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God.’” (Le 23:22 NIV)

⁸ “Say to them: ‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice ⁹ and does not bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to sacrifice it to the Lord must be cut off from the people of Israel. ¹⁰ “‘I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people. (Le 17:8–10 NIV)

• ¹³ If a young man or an old man from the house of the family of Israel, or from the strangers who settle down to dwell among you, catches as prey an animal or a bird that one may eat, he shall pour out its blood when slaughtering it, and, if its slaughtering was not defective (alternate translation has, ‘by strangling’), he shall cover it with dust. (Le 17:13 Targum Pseudo-Jonathan: Leviticus) ^[3]

²⁶ But you must keep my decrees and my laws. The native-born and the foreigners residing among you must not do any of these detestable things (cf. Lev. 18:6-23, sexual immorality defined), (Le 18:26 NIV)

²¹ Do not eat anything you find already dead. You may give it to the foreigner residing in any of your towns, and they may eat it, or you may sell it to any other foreigner. But you are a people holy to the Lord your God… (Dt 14:21 NIV)

C. The ger And The Age To Come

¹¹ Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)—¹² remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ… ¹⁹ Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, (Eph 2:11–19 NIV)

• ²¹ “You are to distribute this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. ²² You are to allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the foreigners residing among you and who have children. You are to consider them as native-born Israelites; along with you they are to be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. (Eze 47:21–22 NIV)

⁶ This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. ⁷ I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. (Eph 3:6–7 NIV) ^[4]

• ³ Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely separate me from His people…⁶ “Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, To minister to Him, and to love the name of the Lord, To be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning the sabbath And holds fast My covenant; ⁷ Even those I will bring to My holy mountain And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.” ⁸ The Lord God, who gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares, “Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered.” (Is 56:6–8 NASB95)

D. The Circumcision Group – School Of Hillel Vs. School Of Shammai

¹ Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” ² This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. (Ac 15:1–2 NIV)

• ¹¹ When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. ¹² For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles.^[5] But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. (Ga 2:11–12 NIV)
• ²⁸ Peter said to them, “You know it’s forbidden ^[6] for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a foreigner. But God has shown me that I must not call any person common or unclean. (Ac 10:28 HCSB)

E. Acts 15 – The Traditionalist Stand

¹ Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” ² This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question… ⁴ When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them. ⁵ Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.” ⁶ The apostles and elders met to consider this question… ¹³ When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. ¹⁴ Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. ¹⁵ The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: ¹⁶ “‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, ¹⁷ that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things’— ¹⁸ things known from long ago. ¹⁹ “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. ²⁰ Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. (cf. Lev. 17-18) ²¹ For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.” (Ac 15:1–21 NIV)

F. Justification By Faith

¹⁵ “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles ¹⁶ know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified. (Gal 2:15-16 NIV)

²¹ But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, ²² even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus… ²⁷ Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. ²⁸ For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. (Ro 3:21–28 NASB95)

¹⁹ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead–since he was about a hundred years old–and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. ²⁰ Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, ²¹ being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. ²² This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” ²³ The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, ²⁴ but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness–for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. (Rom 4:19-24 NIV)

^[1] Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

^[2] Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

^[3] ‘But some men, with open mouths, carry even the excessive luxury and boundless intemperance of Sardanapalus to such an indefinite and unlimited extent, being wholly absorbed in the invention of senseless pleasures, that they prepare sacrifices which ought never be offered, strangling their victims, and stifling the essence of life,²⁶ which they ought to let depart free and unrestrained, burying the blood, as it were, in the body.’ – Yonge, C. D. with Philo of Alexandria. (1995). The works of Philo: complete and unabridged (p. 628). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson.

^[4] Throughout the OT the ‘inheritance’ promised to the Israelite was a portion of the land promised to Abraham. (cf. Num. 26:62, 32:32, 33:54, 34:2; Deut 3:28, 12:9)

^[5] There is no command in the Torah to abstain from eating with Gentiles. This is a command given by the more influential of the two schools of Pharisaic thought in the 1st century. This school taught that Gentiles will not be raised from the dead unless converting.

^[6] ἀθέμιτος – This term refers prim. not to what is forbidden by ordinance but to violation of tradition or common recognition of what is seemly or proper. Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 24). Chicago: University of Chicago Press

A. Acts 10

⁴² “And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³ “Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.” ⁴⁴ While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. ⁴⁵ All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. ⁴⁶ For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered, ⁴⁷ “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” (Ac 10:42–47 NASB95)

• ¹³ And when you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation)—when you believed in Christ—you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit,¹⁴ who is the down payment of our inheritance ( 2 Cor. 1:20-22; 5:4-5), until the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory. (Eph 1:13–14 NET)

¹ You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. ² I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? ³ Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? (Ga 3:1–3 NIV)

B. The Spirit And The Nation Of Israel

¹⁰ Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, ¹¹ trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. (1 Pe 1:10–11 NIV)

² “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, ³ and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— (Ex 31:2–3 NIV)

¹⁸ So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; (Nu 27:18 NASB95)

• ⁹ Now Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; and the sons of Israel listened to him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. (Dt 34:9 NASB95)

²⁵ Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took some of the power of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but did not do so again. (Nu 11:25 NIV)

• After the later prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi had died, the Holy Spirit departed from Israel… (Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 9b)
• (I)n five things the first Sanctuary differed from the second: in the ark, the ark-cover, the Cherubim, the fire, the Shechinah, the Holy Spirit, and the Urim-we-Thummim…(Babylonian Talmud Yoma 21b)

C. The Witness Of The Spirit

¹ “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. (Is 42:1 NIV)

• ¹⁶ And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; ¹⁷ and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Mt 3:16–17 ESV)

¹ A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. ² The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord— (Is 11:1–2 NIV)

• ²⁸ But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. (Mt 12:28 NIV)

¹ When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind (cf. Eze. 3:12) came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Ac 2:1–4 NIV)

A. Repentance From The Heart

²⁸ The priest is to make atonement before the LORD for the one who erred by sinning unintentionally (LXX ‘unwillingly’), and when atonement has been made, that person will be forgiven… ³⁰ “ ‘But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or foreigner, blasphemes the LORD and must be cut off from the people of Israel. (Num 15:27-30 NIV)

• ²⁶ If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, ²⁷ but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. (Hbr 10:26-27 NIV)

B. Exclusive Allegiance To The God Of Israel

⁷ ‘Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God (heb. ‘elohim’); and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. (Ex 6:7 NASB95)

• ³ “You shall have no other gods (heb. ‘elohim’) before Me. (Ex 20:3 NASB95)

¹⁸ Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God (heb. ‘elohim’) to go and worship the gods (heb. ‘elohim’) of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison. (Dt 29:18 NIV)

• ⁵ For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord (Heb. ’YHWH’) made the heavens. (Ps 96:5 NIV)

⁹ for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, (1 Th 1:9 NIV)

⁶ Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. ⁷ Do not be idolaters, as some of them were… ⁸ We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. ⁹ We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. ¹⁰ And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. … ¹² So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! ^{… 14} Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. (1 Co 10:6–14 NIV)

⁵ Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. (Col 3:5 NIV)

²⁹ “Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. ³⁰ “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, ³¹ because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” (Ac 17:29–31 NASB95)

• ¹⁸ When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.” (Ac 11:18 NASB95)

²⁰ You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. ²¹ I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. (Ac 20:20–21 NIV)

²⁴ Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁵ As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.” (Ac 24:24–25 NIV)

⁴⁶ and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, ⁴⁷ and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. (Lk 24:46–47 NASB95)

A. Continuing In Faith

²² yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach– ²³ if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister. (Col 1:22-23 NASB)

• ⁴ You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. ⁵ For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. (Gal 5:4-5 NASB)
• Therefore, “it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now, the statement “it was credited to him” was not written only for him, but also for us to whom it is going to be credited, to those who keep on putting their faith in the One who raised Jesus our Lord out from among the dead. He was given over to death for the sake of our trespasses, and was raised to life for the sake of our acquittal! (Rom. 4:22-24 BHT)

³⁶ You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. ³⁷ For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.” ³⁸ And, “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” ³⁹ But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved. (Hbr 10:36-39 NIV)

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes (PAP; lit. ‘keeps on believing’) in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life … ¹⁸ “He who believes (PAP; lit. ‘keeps on believing’) in Him is not judged; he who does not believe (PAP; lit. ‘not keep on believing’) has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. … ³⁶ “He who believes (PAP; lit. ‘keeps on believing’) in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (Jhn 3:16, 18, 36 NASB)

²⁴ “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes (PAP; lit. ‘keeps on believing’) Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. (Jhn 5:24 NASB)

⁴⁷ “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes (PAP; lit. ‘keeps on believing’) has eternal life. (Jhn 6:47 NASB)

¹² “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes (PAP; lit. ‘keeps on believing’) in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. (Jhn 14:12 NASB)

⁴³ “Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes (PAP; lit. ‘keeps on believing’) in Him receives forgiveness of sins.” (Act 10:43 NASB)

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (PAP; lit. ‘keeps on believing’), to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Rom 1:16 NASB)

¹¹ For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES (PAP; lit. ‘keeps on believing’) IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” (Rom 10:11 NASB)

¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe (PAP; lit. ‘keep on believing’)… (Eph 1:18–19 NASB95)

⁵ Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes (PAP; lit. ‘keeps on believing’) that Jesus is the Son of God? (1Jo 5:5 NASB)

⁸ What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. ¹⁰ I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. ¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, (Php 3:8–13 NIV)

⁶ For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. ⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appear