Q&A – WHAT IS SIN? Part 2

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Q&A – WHAT IS SIN?   Part 2

Matthew 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

The Pharisees were a political sect of the Jews that were meticulous keepers of every “jot and tittle” of the law; and yet they were the ones that could not comprehend the fact that the long-awaited promised Messiah was standing right in front of them.  The very next verse in this passage begins the first of five times that Yahushua says, “You have heard it said…but I say unto you.”  Five times, the Master tells them what the letter of the law (the Torah) said; but then goes on to explain what the spirit of the law was.  The Pharisees kept the letter of the law, but not the spirit of the law.  They could refrain from committing adultery, but they could not refrain from looking at a woman with the desire to commit adultery.  They could refrain from killing someone; but they could not keep from hating that person, etc.

2 Corinthians 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

In this portion of the “sermon on the mount, among other things, ”Yahushua was explaining the difference between obeying IAUE’s laws and obeying IAUE.  Anyone can choose to abide by the law, in the same way a person can choose not to exceed the posted speed limit on the roadway. It does not keep a person from wanting to speed.  You see, the law by itself becomes about us, not about IAUE.  If I abide by the speed limit, but I want to speed, then I am not delighted that the Father has set that speed limit for the good of myself and others; and take joy and comfort in the knowledge that exceeding that speed is not in the best interest of myself and of those around me.  Such is the case for every aspect of the Torah. If the Pharisees saw the law as an expression of the love of IAUE, they would have understood the spirit of the law.

The proof of this is demonstrated in the testimony of the Scriptures about the Pharisees.  These meticulous law-keepers were intent on everyone knowing they kept the law more carefully than others.  They insisted on wearing clothing that showed their law-keeping as they broadened their phylacteries; and they prayed in public to be seen and heard of men; they insured the coins they tossed into the treasury of the temple made noise so others would take notice of their giving, etc.  They were on display for their law-keeping; and Yahushua assured them they that “they had their reward” in the praise and awe of their fellow-man; but they had no treasure with IAUE; and were only storing up wrath in the day of the wrath and vengeance of IAUE.  They were whited sepulchers (white-washed burial tombs), pretty on the outside but full of dead men’s bones on the inside.

How does this answer our question, “What is sin?”  It helps us to understand that when the Scripture says that Yahushua came to “save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21), it was referring to rescuing his people from something that alienated them from IAUE.  Sin, as man thinks of sin, is not the things that make them feel guilty. That notion is all about self and has no view of the offense their words and deeds are to IAUE; consequently, there is no mourning or grieving over the wickedness of their hearts before a holy Creator.

Matthew 3:6  Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,

6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

Do not think they silently prayed to IAUE to confess their sins.  No, the context here suggests they declared publicly the reason why they were in need of repentance and the baptism of John.  Can you imagine a church service in the USA, where a pastor would require someone coming to “accept Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour” to confess publicly to the congregation their sins and to openly grieve over the wickedness of their heart and life before IAUE?  (That would very likely “out” the people in the congregation with whom they were committing sin.)  Instead, what we see often is, “I want every head bowed and every eye closed.  I will do nothing to embarrass you.  If you want to receive Christ today as your personal Lord and Saviour, just quietly lift your hand, then bring it back down.”  Voila, conversion via abject anonymity.  No repentance.  No confession of sins.  No grieving. Nothing is allowed that would assault the sensibilities of the flesh.  In the book of Acts, the new believer was immediately and publicly baptized.  The very act of baptism was a public declaration that they were unclean and needed to be cleansed of law-breaking.  It was definitely a blow to pride; but then, pride is not permitted entry into the Kingdom of Heaven.

The gospel was a self-crushing message. It obliterated one’s ability to have Messiah on the one hand and hold to sin on the other hand. We can only serve one master.

1 John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.

7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

Here we see sin being called “the transgression of the law;” but we have already seen in the Scripture that keeping the law is not enough.  Messiah said our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees; and they were meticulous keepers of the law.  David broke the law when he led his men into the holy place to eat the showbread that only the Levites could eat.  The entire nation of Israel broke the law when they marched around the city of Jericho on the Sabbath day.  The woman with the issue of blood broke the law when she, an unclean person, walked among the crowd and touched the hem of Yahushua’s garment; and yet in each of these occasions, they were rewarded for their act.

Here we also see that Messiah coming to “save us from our sins” means he came to “take away our sins.”  If one’s sins are taken away, the result is “doing righteousness.”  Now, we begin to understand what sin really is; because a tree is known by its fruit. If righteous acts are the fruit of the life of one who has had his sins taken away, then sin is unrighteousness.  So, if sin is the transgression of the law, why isn’t keeping the law enough?

Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified (made righteous) by the works of the law, but by the faith of Yahushua Messiah, even we have believed in Yahushua Messiah, that we might be justified (made righteous) by the faith of Messiah, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified (made righteous).

Keeping the law as an end in itself is only about self.  It is about how we are perceived by others.  It is not about how we are perceived by IAUE.  The kind of law-keeping that pleases IAUE must come from the heart that honors the love and integrity of IAUE’s commandments; and that is only achieved by what Yahushua did on our behalf.

 2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of Elohim in him.

This verse describes the process of Yahushua taking away our sins in order to replace unrighteousness with his own righteousness; but this post is not about the doctrine of righteousness.  It is about defining sin.  By now, I think we can see that the Scripture characterizes sin as that which is unrighteous; and that it is absolutely possible to keep the law and keep being unrighteous at the same time.

What is the word “sin” in the Greek?  It is “hamartia,” and it literally means “to miss the mark.”  It was a word called out by the spotter in an archery competition when the archer failed to hit the bullseye of the target.  In short, you failed.  You missed accomplishing the objective.  What is it we are expected to do, that we are obligated to do?  It is the will of IAUE.  We have seen however that it is not doing His words only; but obeying the intent behind His words.  It is not just refraining from doing or not doing something; but it includes the reason behind doing or not doing. Sin is violating the moral purity of the will of IAUE.

Luke 1:73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,

74 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,

75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.

In Zacharias’ prophecy at the naming of his son, John (Yohannes), he describes the condition of the people of IAUE once they have been “saved from their sins,” after the Messiah has “taken away their sins.”  They are delivered from all of the enemies which prevented them from serving IAUE in holiness and righteousness.  It is a condition that is separated from unrighteousness, separated from violating the moral purity of IAUE’s nature as seen in Him personally, and as seen in His words and His commandments to man.

Sin is any word, thought or deed that bears the nature of unrighteousness. It is anything that “misses the mark” of righteousness.  Righteousness is defined as the moral purity of IAUE. It is demonstrated by the joyous obedience to the good and perfect and acceptable will of IAUE that proceeds forth from a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2).  

Romans 6:1  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

2 Elohim forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

Q&A – WHAT IS SIN? Part 1

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Q&A – WHAT IS SIN?   Part 1

Matthew 1:21  And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Yahushua: for he shall save his people from their sins.

All my life, I have heard preachers and so-called evangelists giving their “invitation” for people to “accept Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.”  Nowhere in the Scriptures is the gospel presented as an invitation. It is a command. Nowhere in the Scriptures is it suggested that anyone should “accept Christ” much less to accept him as a “personal Lord and Savior.”  This is traditional nonsense, the origin of which very likely cannot even be traced; and yet, the church ignores the book of Acts and presses on with passing down this traditional idea from generation to generation.

One of the intrinsic elements of this “invitation” to accept Christ as one’s personal Lord and Savior is the need for the person to say that they are “sorry for their sins;” and to ask Jesus to forgive them of their sins.  To this I would suggest one read:

2 Corinthians 7:9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.

10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

The word for “sorry” and “sorrow” and “sorrowed” in this passage is all the same word (lupeo) and it means “to be pained, to grieve.” Have you ever known or seen anyone who, in response to an invitation to accept the Messiah, actually grieved over their sins?   It is always just a verbal formula they are lead to say when they are praying “the magic prayer.”  There is never even an explanation as to what sin actually is; so how can they comprehend what it is they are telling Messiah they are sorry for having committed?

Most people will admit that they have sinned; but what do they mean?  Realistically, sin, to a typical person, is whatever they have done that, afterwards, made them feel guilty. In other words, to most people, sin is defined as the violation of their own sensibilities. It is all about them and has nothing to do with Elohim.  If I grow up in a culture where it is a learned trait to deceive others in order to make a deal, then such guile and craftiness will be honored as a prized skill; and not something that would cause one to feel guilty, and surely not grief or sorrow.

Matthew 1:21  And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Yahushua: for he shall save his people from their sins.

This is the first time the word “sin” is used in the New Testament. This verse defines the very mission of the Messiah.  He shall “save” his people from their “sins.”  The Greek word translated “save” here is “sozo” (pronounced “sode-zo”); and in this context it means to rescue or deliver one from the danger and grave consequences of something…here, it is to be delivered from sins.  Common sense would tell you that IAUE did not send His Son to make his appearance into the world as a child, grow up, be killed and rise from the dead to separate man from the things he has done that make him feel guilty.  That would just give mankind a new starting point to begin the rest of their life doing more things that make them feel guilty…to continue living their self-centered life.

So, what is sin?  Let’s look at the first time this word appears in the Scripture.

Genesis 4:3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to IAUE.

4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. IAUE looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 

5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

6 Then IAUE said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

Abel did what was right before IAUE.  Cain did not do what was right. This is a very important “first usage” of this word for it demonstrates a significant distinction between “sin” and “a sin.”  Let me explain.  “A sin” is a singular act, one of many acts that are “not right” before IAUE. “Sin,” however, is anthropomorphized in this verse. It is depicted as a living entity that is “crouching at your door” desiring to have the mastery over your life. The Hebrew word for “crouching” (ravats) is a word that describes the posture of an animal that is lying on its stomach with its legs curled up underneath, like a horse does when it lies down.  In this verse “sin” is postured this way “at your door,” or literally, at the entry way into your life.  In the very next verse, Cain kills his brother.

The apostle Paul confirms this idea in his letter to the Romans.

Romans 7:7  …I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”

8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. 

9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 

10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 

11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.

A wrong act on our part is behavior resulting from a choice we make.  It is “a sin.”  Our wrongful behaviour did not “sieze an opportunity”  It did not “deceive us.” That which seized the opportunity to deceive us was a force working upon us to MAKE the choice to do wrong. It was an enemy crouching at the entrance to our heart to bend us to its will. IAUE told Cain that he was responsible to not permit sin to rule over him.  He must rule over it.

Romans 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto Elohim, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto Elohim.

14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? Elohim forbid.

16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

This is a very enlightening passage of Scripture.  Here we see Paul expressing that sin (that thing that is crouching at the entrance to your life) wants to reign, to have the rule over your mortal life.  Sin wants you to obey it.  This is not referring to a wrong act, or acts.  It is an evil spiritual entity.  Paul goes on to instruct the Romans not to yield their bodies unto sin but to Elohim.  Elohim is a living being.  Paul is not contrasting serving a wrongful act, or a “principle” of wrong with serving the Creator. He is contrasting two would-be masters of our life; both of which desire our implicit obedience.  Because of the grace of IAUE, sin (the evil thing crouching at your door) shall not have dominion (rule, domination) over you.  Why is this?  If you remember from our last post, grace is the power IAUE gives to us that enables us effortlessly to do His will.  Because grace is acting upon our lives, we are rendering our mortal bodies as instruments of righteousness to serve the will of IAUE.  This keeps sin at the door, crouching, and not pouncing.  He is given no passage to lead us into servitude to him.

                     

John 8:34  Yahushua answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin (the wrong act) is the servant of sin (the evil entity crouching at the door).

If we humble ourselves to submit in faith to the Master Yahushua Messiah, our life becomes all about Yahushua in us; and the Father pours out his grace upon us and we are empowered to do His will.  If we stand up from that humble posture and make life about us, then sin enters through the doorway and our service to him is manifested by our committing sin. It is really quite that simple.  When life is about “us” it leads us to commit sin.  When life is about Messiah, it leads us to obedience to IAUE.  James tells us this.

James 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Man can only be tempted when some desire inside of him is titillated…when something moves him to make life about what he wants. When he acts on that desire, it produces sin, a wrongful act. Notice that the tempter is called “sin” (the entity, not the wrongful act), and he will work that self-centered desire in you until it results in your death; all the while enjoying his dominion over you.

So, we have distinguished the difference between “sin” and “a sin.”  We still have not actually defined what “a sin” is.  We will do that in our next post.

Q&A – WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE “SAVED?” - 6

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Q&A – WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE “SAVED?” - 6

Ephesians 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of IAUE:    

I suppose many people who would endeavor to answer our question, “What does it mean to be saved?” would begin with this verse.  The problem with starting here is that it would not break you free from the traditional western Christian mindset to enable you to see the broader picture of what the Scriptures really declare. I have heard scores of teachers and preachers begin with this verse and add to it “Ye must be born again,” and conclude that salvation is a “free gift” that is an eternally secure ticket to Heaven. One must simply “accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior,” and you will be born again, and Heaven-bound.  This mindset is alien to the Scriptures and to those who penned them.

Christianity has become so divorced from its Hebrew root that most people sitting in church pews every Sunday have never even had a fleeting thought about the fact that IAUE sent His Son to die to deliver us from continuing to live in sin, not simply to forgive us of sin. Because of this Gentile Christian theological mindset, one can read the New Testament regularly for the rest of their life and never recognize the relevance of the constantly repeated exhortations to the believer to walk in the light, to cease the works of the flesh, to lay aside the sin that so easily besets us, to replace pride with humility, to have no part with the unfruitful works of darkness, etc. 

Let’s take a closer look at this verse that most Christians can quote in a sing-song manner without even thinking of what it really says.

Ephesians 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of IAUE:    

First, we are saved by grace.  What is grace?  Have you bought into the western Christianity definition that it is “unmerited favor?” It is much more powerful than that. Grace is power.  More specifically, it is the power that IAUE gives that enables man to do His will. Apart from this power of IAUE upon our lives we can go through the motions of obedience, but it will be a work of the flesh, rather than a fruit of the Spirit. Grace makes obedience effortless.  It can be illustrated by a vacuum cleaner.  If you run a vacuum cleaner over the floor, it will not pick up the dirt leaving you with a clean floor no matter how hard you work at it; but when you turn the power on the unit, the vacuum cleaner does what it is supposed to do effortlessly.  The power is what enables the vacuum cleaner to do what it is designed to do.  Even so, grace is the power that IAUE gives us that enables us to do what we are designed to do…the will of our Father. It is what enables us to live our lives without the dirt.

Secondly, we are saved by grace THROUGH faith.  Faith (Greek: pistis) means “conviction that comes from having been fully persuaded.” Its root (peitho) means “to persuade.”  Faith, then, is a belief upon which our lives rely and depend without question or doubt because we are fully persuaded. This faith is the catalyst that produces the grace by which we are saved. Faith must come first.  Grace follows.  Salvation is what that produces; and THAT is a righteous life, a life lived free from sin, doing the will of IAUE effortlessly.

Thirdly, this process is not something we can work or do of ourselves.  Only IAUE can make it happen.  No one comes to Messiah but that the Father first reveals His Son to them.  No one can live free from sin, apart from the faith that brings us the grace by which we are empowered to live righteously. All such efforts to please IAUE by our works is nothing more than sweeping with a vacuum cleaner with the power turned off. The dirt remains.

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Messiah: for it is the power of Elohim unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

17 For therein is the righteousness of IAUE revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

The gospel is the message that “persuades” man to have the belief, the conviction and the confidence that Yahushua is the Son of IAUE, that he died to remit the penalty of our sins, to bring us into relationship with IAUE; and to position us to receive the grace of IAUE unto a life lived in righteousness.  Our faith must be in Yahushua for this to occur.  Herein is the main problem of western Christianity.  Once a person prays “the magic prayer” and is born again; we are told, “Now that you are born again, you are saved,” and almost immediately our confidence is removed from the person of Yahushua and is placed upon the subjective experience of the new birth.  This is misplaced confidence; and the Father does not pour out his grace upon one whose faith is in having been born again; and it is by grace that we are saved. Faith in Yahushua places us in the river of IAUE’s grace.  Faith in the new birth does not.

Galatians 5:4  Messiah is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

This is a perfect illustration of what it means to move one’s confidence in Yahushua alone to something else. Here it was a belief that if they kept the law of Moses, they would be justified, that they would be made righteous.  Notice that it is being made righteous that was their objective. Paul tells the Galatian disciples because their faith was moved away from Messiah; they were removed from the flow of IAUE’s grace, the ONLY thing that empowers man to live righteously before IAUE.  You cannot walk in the light.  You cannot walk uprightly before IAUE apart from the provision of His grace; and you are not a candidate for His grace if your confidence is in anything other than His Son, Yahushua Messiah.  It is for this reason that we see such exhortations in the Scripture:

2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Yahushua Messiah is in you, except ye be reprobates?

Romans 11:19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.

20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:

21 For if Elohim spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.

22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of Elohim: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

Hebrews 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living Elohim.

13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

14 For we are made partakers of Messiah, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; 

Colossians 1:21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled

22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

The writer of the book of Hebrews provides us with another interesting take on how we can miss out on the provision of the grace of IAUE (by which we are “saved”).

Hebrews 12:14  Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Master:

15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of Elohim; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

A root of bitterness can defile one’s faith in Messiah and cause him/her to step out of the river of IAUE’s grace.  If we contemplate that, we can imagine that whatever can make one bitter probably is based on blaming IAUE or Yahushua for some hardship or injustice.  The flesh reacts to it, blames IAUE, and faith in Messiah is halted (at least for the time being).  Without present continuous confidence and reliance upon Messiah, we cease being recipients of IAUE’s grace.  Our deliverance from a life of unrighteousness is absolutely dependent upon this grace by which we are empowered to walk uprightly.

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of IAUE is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

Being born again equips us to walk in grace through faith in Messiah.  It is not an end in itself. We can look at it as the installation of a transformer that receives the power/grace of IAUE and enables us to convert that flow of power into an effortless obedience to His will.  IAUE is looking for a righteous people, not just a born-again people.  We are born again UNTO a righteous life.

This misunderstanding of what it means to be saved is the foundation for the sinful lackadaisical condition of contemporary Christianity.  Churches are filled with people who believe that having prayed “the” prayer, they are going to Heaven; that they are “saved.”  Being saved means we have been delivered from all that has prevented us from walking righteously before IAUE, and we are responding to the grace that IAUE gives us because we trust in, rely on, and have confidence solely in His Son, our Messiah.

Q&A – WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE “SAVED?” - 5

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Q&A – WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE “SAVED?” - 5

Mark 13:13  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

                

I have attempted, these past four posts, to make a case for the difference between the western mindset and the mindset of the writers of the Scripture.  The “Christian” church has made a product of salvation; something that is received and held as an acquired item via a specific event…generally, the “magic prayer.”  Once prayed, a person is deemed to be “saved.”  Not so in the mind of the writers of the New Testament epistles, the very ones who initially propagated the gospel to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth (Acts 1:8). To them, being saved meant to be delivered from the conditions and circumstances that had prevented them from obeying the commandments of IAUE.  That was their rescue.  It was being set free from darkness unto a life of righteousness brought to them by the light of IAUE through His son, Yahushua Messiah.  A “believer” who was continuing to walk in sin was by no means thought to be “saved” by the early apostles and disciples; and they were not deemed worthy of inheriting the Kingdom of Heaven at the return of the Messiah.  Like Paul said in Romans 6:12-16, our King is identified by the one we serve.  If we are serving the flesh and unrighteousness, when the Master returns, we shall have no part in His kingdom. He will assign us the portion designated to our king and all his followers.

Though I think commenting on the following passages of Scripture might be helpful to the reader; I prefer to think leaving you at the mercy of the Holy Spirit will be even more helpful.  Following are a LOT of verses in the New Testament that, though clearly removed from the larger context of the letters from which they are extracted, demonstrate a better sense of how the early disciples thought about being saved and of salvation.

2 Corinthians 13:5  Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Yahushua Messiah is in you, except ye be reprobates?

Galatians 5:4  Messiah is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

Romans 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against Elohim: for it is not subject to the law of Elohim, neither indeed can be.

8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please Elohim.

12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.

13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of Elohim, they are the sons of Elohim.

1 Corinthians 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of Elohim? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of Elohim.

Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of Elohim.

Ephesians 5:5  For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Messiah and of Elohim.

Hebrews 12:14  Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Master:

15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of Elohim; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

Hebrews 12:7  If ye endure chastening, Elohim dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of Elohim:

17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of Elohim, and joint-heirs with Messiah; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

Romans 11:17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;

18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.

19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.

20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:

21 For if Elohim spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.

22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of Elohim: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

1 Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

Galatians 3:3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.

Colossians 1:21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled

22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

2 Timothy 2:11 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:

12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

Hebrews 3:6 But Messiah as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

Hebrews 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living Elohim.

13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

14 For we are made partakers of Messiah, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; 

Hebrews 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

Hebrews 6:4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit,

5 And have tasted the good word of Elohim, and the powers of the world to come,

6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of Elohim afresh, and put him to an open shame.

Hebrews 10:26  For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

Hebrews 12:25  See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:

James 2: 17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

James 5:19  Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;

20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

1 Peter 4:16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify Elohim on this behalf.

17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of Elohim: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of Elohim?

18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of Elohim commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

2 Peter 1:10  Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

¹¹ For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Master and Saviour Yahushua Messiah, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

Revelation 14:9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,

10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

Revelation 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his Elohim, and he shall be my son.

8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

As much as I wanted this to be the last post dealing with this question, there is yet one more passage of Scripture that is imperative that we analyze to fully understand the mechanics of our salvation.