The difference between Grace, Righteousness and Holiness

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GRACE, RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND HOLINESS:

As most of us know, “GRACE” has always been around; it’s all about what YHWH can and will do for us. For instance, He gave “grace” to Adam and Eve after they sinned, by allowing them to continue living by exiling them from the sanctuary of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:22-24). He could have killed them on the spot, but He didn’t.

Same thing for Noah and his family; the Bible tells us Noah was the only righteous man on earth at the time, and YHWH spared him from the flood that killed everyone else on earth (Genesis 6).

And much later, He sent us His Divine Son, Messiah Yeshua, to proclaim, preach and teach the Kingdom of Elohim (Luke 4:43 and 8:1), and do everything his Father commanded John 6:35-40), and then to die as our Redeemer, Substitute, Salvation (Matthew 1; Luke 2, Matthew 27). Those things are all examples of His “Grace” and love for us!

“RIGHTEOUSNESS” refers to the fact that we should be conducting ourselves according to YHWH’s Torah (Divine Rules for Holy Living/Instructions in Righteousness, found in the first five Books of the Bible). Obedience to His Rules is what sets us apart from the world where evil abounds.

RIGHTEOUS LIVING IS WHAT MAKES US HOLY! That “holiness” (the quality or state of being holy, or to be “godly” or “devout”) is imparted to us after we accept YHWH and His Divine Rules for holy living, His Messiah, and His generous offer of Eternal Life.

And there you have it: GRACE, RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND HOLINESS go hand-in-hand. It’s NOT a “one-way street”; it is a relationship!

1 John 4: 12. No one has ever seen Elohim; but if we love one another, Elohim abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 13. And by this we know that we abide in him and that he abides in us, because he has given of his Spirit to us. 14. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son, a Redeemer for the world.

15. Whoever confesses Y’shua to be the Son of Elohim, Elohim abides in him and he abides in Elohim. 16. And we have believed and known the love which Elohim has towards us: for Elohim is love, and whoever abides in love, abides in Elohim. 17. And hereby is his love perfected with us; that we may have open countenances in the day of judgment; because as he was, so also are we in this world.

18. In love there is no fear; but perfect love casts out fear; because fear exists in peril, and he that fears[*] is not perfected in love. 19. Let us, therefore, love Elohim; because he has first loved us. (AENT)

FOOTNOTE: This refers to the fear of man, the fear of loss and every other form of fear, except the Fear of YHWH. The Fear of YHWH helps to perfect the love of YHWH. A young child is taught about boundaries to protect and sustain the child’s welfare. The more wisdom and understanding a child has of their boundaries and environment, the more likely they will not fall into danger. Young children do not have the knowledge that their parents do; neither does mankind have all the knowledge that YHWH has. Only a fool would overstep the boundaries established by YHWH, this is not done by wise and understanding individuals.

May ADONAI bless you all as you continue to strive to be holy and righteous in His Eyes!

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ADDENDUM:  A Christian posing as a Messianic believer on Facebook decided to challenge my teaching above - and, honestly, I already knew how it would end up, but I decided to give it a try in hopes that SOMETHING might stick.  I am posting our brief exchange below.  If you’re interested, please read on….

CHRISTIAN’S REPLY TO MY ARTICLE ABOVE:  2 Corinthians 5:21.  He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

I do believe we are to follow our Father's instructions on how to live a set apart, holy life. But that is not what makes us righteous.

MY RESPONSE: Thanks for your response. Could you tell me in your view what makes us righteous?

CHRISTIAN’S REPLY: Our Faith in the shed blood of Messiah as an atonement for sin. As it says in 2 Corinthians 5:21.

MY RESPONSE: Oh yes, that is absolutely true! However, in the meantime, we are expected to repent and turn from our sins and, unless we walk in the way that Yeshua walked, we cannot possibly be what YHWH expects us to be. We cannot be holy if we’re walking in our own way and still behaving in a carnal way, etc. The only way to be truly holy is to be obedient to YHWHs divine rules. 

For instance, once we accept Yahweh and Yeshua, we are supposed to start keeping the seventh day of Sabbath and all the feasts - which are commanded. We are also supposed to be eating only clean foods. The church doesn’t teach that, which is a real shame because they are actual commands that apply to all.

CHRISTIAN’S REPLY: Yes, I agree. But that is AFTER we're made righteous by the shed blood of the Lamb by faith, else we could say our obedience saved us, we cannot ever be obedient enough, all OUR righteousness is as filthy rags. We obey by the power of the Holy Spirit not by our own will. 2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

 MY RESPONSE: You seem to be all about Yeshua and the NT writings - and not about YHWH and "the whole picture." I do get what you are saying, but you are adhering to the much-misunderstood writings of Paul. I mean, how did Enoch suddenly disappear to be with God in Genesis 5:24? And Elijah in 2 Kings 2:10-11? How did Noah - the only man on earth at the time - get saved from the Flood? (Gen 6) Yeshua hadn't died yet to remove anybody from their past sins!

Same thing with all of our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and a whole host of others. They were considered righteous and holy BECAUSE they obeyed YHWH's Rules for holy and righteous living. Righteousness and holiness go hand-in-hand.

Simply "believing" and having faith, doesn't get you into Eternity.  That is a myth that is taught in Christian churches.  Satan "believes" and "has faith" - and his future is in the Lake of Fire!  (He – someone who had apparently forgotten that he was just a “created being” had so much faith that he tried to take over the whole corporation because the idea of becoming and even BEING God was really appealing to him!)

The Truth is, WE MUST DO something to BE holy and righteous!   There are tons of passages in Torah that show this.  How do you know you're being righteous unless you adhere to the things written and commanded by God in the Torah?  Both Yeshua and Paul attested to that fact over and over again, and everything they discussed referred back to the Torah and the commands written therein.

Isaiah 57:1 The righteous person perishes, and nobody gives it a thought. Godly men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous person is taken away from the evil yet to come. 2 Yes, those who live uprightly will have peace as they rest on their couches. (CJB)

Please re-read verse 2 above, and then carefully look at what Yeshua said, below:

Matthew 5: 17 Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. 18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah - not until everything that must happen has happened. 19 So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot (words/commands) and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness is far greater than that of the Torah-teachers and P'rushim, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. (CJB)

Has everything happened that must happen? Have heaven and earth passed away yet? Yeshua even said He didn't come to abolish but to complete/fulfill. That did not mean "put an end to" having to DO the things that comprise holy, moral, righteous living...

Rev. 12:17 - And the dragon was enraged against the woman; and he went to make war upon the remnant of her seed who keep the Commandments of Elohim AND have the testimony of Y'shua. (AENT)

Rev. 14:12 - Here is the patience of the Set Apart believers who keep the commandments of Elohim, AND the faith of Y'shua. (AENT)

Leviticus 20:26 "...you people are to be holy for me; because I, Adonai, am holy; and I have set you apart from the other peoples, so that you can belong to me." (CJB)

How can you be "set apart" (holy and righteous) UNLESS you're adhering to more than just that last fourth of the Bible called the New Testament? What did Jesus remove there, except our certificate of debt of our PAST sins?

Leviticus 15:31 "In this way you will separate the people of Isra'el from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in a state of uncleanness for defiling my tabernacle which is there with them." (CJB)

Numbers 19:20 "The person who remains unclean and does not purify himself will be cut off from the community because he has defiled the sanctuary of Adonai." (CJB)

You have to DO something to "purify" yourself from the filth of "the world." Even the Priests (who certainly "believed and had faith") who entered the Holy of Holies out in the wilderness had to wash themselvesbefore entering the Tent...

1 Peter 1:15 13 Therefore, get your minds ready for work, keep yourselves under control, and fix your hopes fully on the gift you will receive when Yeshua the Messiah is revealed. 14 As people who obey God, do not let yourselves be shaped by the evil desires you used to have when you were still ignorant. 15 On the contrary, following the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in your entire way of life; 16 since the Tanakh says, Be holy for I am holy...

Now check out the following. Myriads "believe" and "have faith in Jesus" - yet they can't be bothered with keeping the following COMMANDED Appointed Times:

Exodus 31: 13 "Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: 'Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you."

Exodus 31: 16 "Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.'"

The Mo'edim/Appointed Times/Feasts are outlined in Leviticus 23 which states after each feast: "it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations." Yeshua didn't come to remove those. Why would he? They serve to make us holy AND righteous in YHWH's Eyes!

Only those who live righteous and holy lives will enter the Kingdom. And YES, we tend to fall off the Path sometimes - but that's where Grace comes in, for we are forgiven whenever we repent and return to continue being righteous and holy. 🙂

“You are to be holy because I am holy.”

Revelation 22:14 Blessed are they who DO His (Master YHWH's) Mitzvot, that they may have a right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city. (AENT)

CHRISTIAN'S REPLY:  (She started quoting tons of passages out of Galatians in hopes of showing me the error or my ways ... which I'm not posting here because it will make this article twice as long as it already is.)

MY RESPONSE: 

I knew this is how this would end up!  You're free to believe whatever you wish. Just know that ALL you've done is to quote from the NT, complete with a Greek, NT-only mindset in hopes of showing me "the error of my ways." There is an indepth response on my website to anyone who attempts to use the Book of Galatians to “prove” that “Jesus trumps” all, including his Father’s Torah – which, by the way Yeshua TAUGHT! 

CHRISTIAN’S REPLY: LOL I was in NO WAY arguing against Torah. The fact you see the NT as you do tells me all I need to know.

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COMMENT TO MY READING AUDIENCE:

I didn’t bother to respond to that person anymore. (It's frustrating to see that people never actually ANSWER my questions; rather, they simply slough over them and continue posting THEIR arguments, replete with twisted Scripture passages.)

Be that as it may, I’m sharing this exchange here because it is a perfect example of the kinds of challenges that believers in YHWH/Yeshua/Torah get to deal with constantly.  I chose to come out of Christianity nearly 30 years ago, and all my teachings reveal that fact – and yet, “they” continue to crawl out of the woodwork” in hopes of either converting me AWAY from the “whole Bible concept” altogether, or at least "enlighten" me to the fact that NOTHING but "Jesus" matters, in the grand scheme of things.

The bottom line is that, if someone is convinced of their own beliefs (even those that in no way line up with Scripture) there is absolutely NOTHING you can say or do will change their minds.  Nothing.  Not even direct quotes from Yeshua, or Father YAH Himself.

 

They’re not “Jewish feasts,” they are “eternally mandated Feasts of YHWH!”

I DON’T FOLLOW A SINGLE “JEWISH FEAST” IN THE TORAH; I follow the “eternally mandated Feasts of YHWH.” His festivals all have special meanings, and – just as the Seventh Day Sabbath is our “weekly date with God,” those seven feasts/festivals are our yearly “dates” with Him. Why would anyone wish to reject a “date” with our amazing ELOHIM?

When you read the Torah in context, you will see that those feasts are His feasts, NOT for the Jews alone, because – as you can see in Exodus 12:37-50 - a mixed multitude came out of Egypt (and they were expected to adhere to the same rules); and thus, Abraham's generations blessed the world. God’s Holy Days and ways are what sets HIS people APART from the the world...

YHWH expected ALL who accepted Him to do exactly as HIS people did – and that did not change, just because “Jesus died” – because he didn’t come to abolish the Torah or bring any “religion” designed to make up its own rules and ignore the ones His Father commanded. Take a look:

Numbers 15: 13 "'Every citizen is to do these things in this way when presenting an offering made by fire as a fragrant aroma for ADONAI. 14 If a foreigner stays with you - or whoever may be with you, through all your generations - and he wants to bring an offering made by fire as a fragrant aroma for ADONAI, he is to do the same as you.

15 For this community there will be the same law for you as for the foreigner living with you; this is a permanent regulation through all your generations; the foreigner is to be treated the same way before ADONAI as yourselves. 16 The same Torah and standard of judgment will apply to both you and the foreigner living with you.'" (CJB)

Please note that “do the same as” His people is mentioned FOUR times in the passage above. Multiple mentions of something means we really need to pay attention because it’s important to YHWH!

Also note that the “mixed multitude” who came out of Egypt with Moshe, describes most of us today! Once we accept YHWH as our ELOHIM and Yeshua as His Divine Messiah who died to remove our past sins, we are obligated to do just as HIS people do:

1 John 2:3 The way we can be sure we know him is if we are obeying his commands. 4 Anyone who says, "I know him," but isn't obeying his commands is a liar - the truth is not in him. 5 But if someone keeps doing what he says, then truly love for God has been brought to its goal in him. This is how we are sure that we are united with him. 6 A person who claims to be continuing in union with him ought to conduct his life the way he did. (CJB)

(And how did Y'shua walk? IN TORAH! Everything he taught refers back to Torah!)

1 John 2:7 My beloved, I write no new commandment to you, but the old Commandment which you had from the beginning; and the old Commandment is the Word which you have heard. (AENT)

And what is “the Word” which we have heard? Torah commands!

Believers are expected to keep YHWH’s feasts because He commanded them to be kept – and Messiah Yeshua has so far fulfilled the first four of the seven! (Please see our article which contains all the pertinent scriptures: https://therefinersfire.org/feasts3.htm
We see passages the entire Bible that support what YHWH commanded and His Messiah (and, yes, even the much-misunderstood Paul) taught:

Proverbs 28:9 If a person will not listen to Torah, even his prayer is an abomination. (CJB) (See also 1 Peter 3:12, Proverbs 15:29, James 5:16, Isaiah 59:2, James 4:3-8, James 1:6-7, John 15:7, Revelation 21:8, etc.)

Romans 10: 12. And in this, it discriminates neither Jews nor Gentiles. For there is one, Master YHWH, over them all, who is abundantly generous towards every one that calls on him. 13. For everyone that will call on the name of Master YHWH, will have life. (AENT)

John 14:15 If you love me, you will keep my commands; (CJB)

Revelation 12:17 And the dragon was enraged against the woman; and he went to make war upon the remnant of her seed who keep the Commandments of Elohim and have the testimony of Y'shua. (AENT)

Ecclesiastes 12: 13 Here is the final conclusion, now that you have heard everything: fear God, and keep his mitzvot; this is what being human is all about. 14 For God will bring to judgment everything we do, including every secret, whether good or bad. [Here is the final conclusion, now that you have heard everything: fear God, and keep his mitzvot; this is what being human is all about.] (CJB)

People, loving our ELOHIM means we must OBEY His Divine Rules, as they are the ONLY blueprint for moral holy living that He has always expected of those who believe in Him! As mentioned above, His festivals all have special meanings, and they are our yearly “dates” with YHWH.

Halleluyah! What an amazing, gracious God we serve!

Abstaining from all kinds of evil…

THE WORD COMMANDS US TO ABSTAIN FROM EVIL OF ALL KINDS. We've all experienced what happens when we've been introduced to, invaded by, and/or overtaken by "evil" at some point - and it's usually (but not always) because we've ALLOWED it to enter.

(A personal example is that I’ve belonged to at least three congregations over the course of the last 25 years, which ultimately fell apart because the leaders allowed “evil” to enter. YHWH is always watching and, while He does give us time to “set things right,” He will eventually cause a congregation to implode if the evil is not expelled, and/or the perpetrator(s) causing the problems are not properly dealt with. We cannot be a light to the world if we are behaving “like the world!”)

As you know, evil” includes all manner of willful, deliberate sins. It includes acts that are morally reprehensible, offensive, sinful and wicked, causing discomfort or repulsion. It often consists of something that brings sorrow, distress, or calamity. (The scripture passages below will include many examples of what God considers “evil.”)

Be that as it may, those who truly know ADONAI, His Divine Messiah and His Word - from Genesis to Revelation - are better able to discern evil whenever they encounter it, and will squash it, or at least confront the person(s) causing it; thus stopping evil in its tracks.

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the Bible amply instructs us to ABSTAIN from evil. The following (presented in no particular order) are some passages that perfectly outline things our Heavenly Father views as “evil”:

Jonah 2:8 "Those who worship vain idols give up their source of mercy… (CJB)

1 Corinthians 10:14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. (CJB)

Galatians 5:19. For you know the works of the flesh, which are these: adultery, impurity and lasciviousness, 20. idolatry, witchcraft, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, stubbornness, treacheries, heresies, 21. Envy, murder, drunkenness, revelry and all like things. Those who do things like these, they will not inherit the Kingdom of Elohim. (AENT)

Colossians 3:5 Therefore, put to death the earthly parts of your nature - sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed (which is a form of idolatry); 6 for it is because of these things that God's anger is coming on those who disobey him. (CJB)

1 Thessalonians 4:3: For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality.... (CJB)

1 Corinthians 6: 9 Don’t you know that unrighteous people will have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don’t delude yourselves — people who engage in sex before marriage, who worship idols, who engage in sex after marriage with someone other than their spouse, who engage in active or passive homosexuality, 10 who steal, who are greedy, who get drunk, who assail people with contemptuous language, who rob — none of them will share in the Kingdom of God. (CJB)

1 Timothy 1: 8 We know that the Torah is good, provided one uses it in the way the Torah itself intends. 9 We are aware that Torah is not for a person who is righteous, but for those who are heedless of Torah and rebellious, ungodly and sinful, wicked and worldly, for people who kill their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral — both heterosexual and homosexual — slave dealers, liars, perjurers, and anyone who acts contrary to the sound teaching 11 that accords with the Good News of the glorious and blessed God. (CJB)

1 Timothy 1:28 In other words, since they have not considered God worth knowing, God has given them up to worthless ways of thinking; so that they do improper things. 29 They are filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and vice; stuffed with jealousy, murder, quarreling, dishonesty and ill-will; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God; they are insolent, arrogant and boastful; they plan evil schemes; they disobey their parents; 31 they are brainless, faithless, heartless and ruthless. 32 They know well enough God's righteous decree that people who do such things deserve to die; yet not only do they keep doing them, but they applaud others who do the same. (CJB)

YHWH has always been very adamant about unholy (evil) behavior. Unholy behavior has consequences, as we see right from the beginning in Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden for their disobedience to His Divine Instruction to not “eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And by Genesis 6, He destroyed the entire earth (except for Noah and his family, who were the only “righteous” people) via a flood BECAUSE of their evil ways!

The bottom line is that YHWH expects HOLINESS – always has! We can see this in passages such as the following:

Leviticus 19: 1 ADONAI said to Moshe, 2 "Speak to the entire community of Isra'el; tell them, 'You people are to be holy because I, ADONAI your God, am holy. (CJB)

Leviticus 19: 19 "'Observe my regulations.... (CJB)

Leviticus 19: 37 Observe all my regulations and rulings, and do them; I am ADONAI.'" (CJB)

Leviticus 20: 7 Therefore consecrate yourselves -you people must be holy, because I am ADONAI your God. 8 Observe my regulations, and obey them; I am ADONAI, who sets you apart to be holy. (CJB)

We are to be holy because HE is holy, and come Judgment Day, there will be no “halfhearted” people entering into Eternity! EVIL DOES NOT EXIST IN YHWH’s REALM!

WHENEVER WE ENCOUNTER EVIL OF ANY KIND, we need to pray for the guidance lovingly provided by the Holy One of Israel who gave us His Torah to live by – a divine set of rules for moral, holy living that echo into the “New Testament” and our very souls; and can heal not only individual lives, but entire congregations of set apart people who understand the need for HOLY living in this lost and doomed world …

Galatians 5:16. I say then: you should walk through the Spirit and the lust of the flesh will not subdue you.  17. For flesh desires a thing that is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires a thing that is against the flesh, and both of these are opposed to one another so that you are not able to do as you wish. 

18. If, then, you are led by the Spirit, you are not under Torah; [1] 19. For you know the works of the flesh, which are these: adultery, impurity and lasciviousness,  20. idolatry, witchcraft, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, stubbornness, treacheries, heresies,  21. Envy, murder, drunkenness, revelry and all like things.  Those who do things like these, they will not inherit the Kingdom of Elohim.

22. The fruits then of the Spirit are these: Love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faith,  23. Meekness, self-control.  Against these there is no instruction [2] put in place.  24. And those who are of Mashiyach have put to death their flesh with all its passions and lusts.  25. Let us therefore live by the Spirit and surrender to the Spirit.  26. And let us not be of vacant glories that cause us to ridicule one another and envy one another. (AENT)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The idiomatic expression “under the Torah” refers to a false teaching that has never been true.  The Dead Sea Scrolls confirm that this phrase “under the Torah” refers to strict religious halacha, not obedience to Torah itself.  Torah has not at any time saved anyone! YHWH saves when His people demonstrate a sincere obedience to His Righteous Instructions (Torah).  Blind ritual (or religion) alone without the love of YHWH profits nothing.  YHWH is “the Spirit” of the Renewed Covenant that writes Torah upon the heart. 

[2]  In this context, namusa, the Aramaic cognate for torah, is better understood at its root level, meaning “to instruct,” rather than as a formalized title.  Otherwise, Rav Shaul might be construed as saying that these “Fruits of the Spirit” are not taught in Torah, when (the fact is) they are.  His point is that there is no instruction against fulfilling these fruits of the spirit.

MAY ABBA RICHLY BLESS ALL OF YOU as you continue to learn and grow in His Word!