For Which Faith Do You Contend?

By Brother R. Michel Lankford

When people hear me talk about Whole Testament theology, many questions spring to mind. Are you simply advocating another Hebrew roots movement? Are you turning Jewish? Isn't it just messianic Judaism? Are you trying to be saved and justified before God by your own works of obedience to the Law instead of being saved by God's grace?
Each of these questions is valid and understandable in some respects. Each one of these deserves its own paper, and so I will divide most of these questions into separate documents. For the moment I will concentrate on the questions, "Are you simply advocating another Hebrew roots movement? Are you turning Jewish? Isn't it just messianic Judaism?
In all honesty, none of those labels truthfully fit. The fact is that both messianic Judaism and traditional Christianity have at times fallen into obeying the traditions of men rather than obeying the word of God, which Messiah says is the equivalent of worshiping God in vain, (Matthew 15:1-9; Mark 7:1-13; cf. John 4:24). So what I advocate is not merely Hebrew roots, it's not merely Messianic Judaism, neither is it traditional Christianity but instead, it is deliberately Whole Testament, Biblical Christianity of the first century. So what's the difference?
Basically most of the traditions that are accepted and commonly practiced in modern-day Christendom today come from the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church which largely began in the 300s to 600's A.D.
By circa 600 A.D, Pope Gregory I, officially ordered that all ancient pagan religious rites and practices could be modified, adapted, and were to be officially enveloped into the 'normal life of the church.' now much of this was being practiced for almost 300 years by human tradition, but it was given the popes official seal of approval in the early 600s A.D.
The problem is this. Such a decree from Pope Gregory I, runs directly 180° contrary to the written Word of God, in BOTH Testaments of Scripture; (Leviticus 23; Deuteronomy 4:2; 6:4-9; Deuteronomy 8:3, 12:1-4, 8, 29-32; Joshua 1:7-8, Jeremiah 10:1-2; Psalm 1; Matthew 5:17-20; Mark 7:6-9; John 14:21, 15:14; Acts 5:29-30; Romans 10:31; Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:20-21; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; Colossians 2:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22; 1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy 3:1-17; 1 John 2:3-8; 3:22-24; 4:21; 5:2-3; James 1:19-27; Jude 1:3; Revelation 14:12; Revelation 17:1-18:4; Revelation 22:18-19). That is not an exhaustive list, but clearly, we are expressly told to obey the commands of Almighty God throughout the Whole Testament of Scripture.

To Whom Will You Belong?

Romans 6:15-16 ¹⁵ What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Absolutely not! ¹⁶ Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one you obey—either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness? (Romans 6:15-16 HCSB)
It is through the decrees of the popes that the above Scriptures were disobeyed, replacing the Sabbaths with Sunday worship, and replacing the appointed times of meeting for rehearsal which God commanded in the Scriptures with the idolatrous traditions of Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day and Halloween/harvest festivals Etc. etc. were adapted into the normal life of the church, in spite of the fact that Scripture in both Testaments expressly forbids incorporating pagan idolatrous religious traditions and practices into the life of a God follower. It is expressly forbidden in Scripture, but modern-day Christendom still does it based solely on human tradition and the decrees of the Roman Catholic popes.
Here is the question that every honest Christian must face. Does the Pope have the legitimate right to change or abolish any part of God's written Word? Make no mistake about it. That is the real debate, and it is still at issue today.
If you truly believe that the popes can cause sin to become righteous, and that the popes can cause righteousness to become sin, if they can make it acceptable before God for us to violate God's expressly written Word, if you're willing to bank your immortal soul that God will honor the decrees of the popes ahead of His own Word, then by all means continue to honor Roman Catholic papal tradition and continue to violate God's expressly written Word. I seriously advise AGAINST that choice, but if you're going to do that, you might as well become Roman Catholic, and trust the Pope and the Virgin Mary for your salvation which is what Roman Catholics are required by Roman Catholic law to do, even though it is forbidden by the Scriptures ( i.e. John 3:36; 14:6; 17:3; 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 John 2:2, 4:10 Cf. Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Jeremiah 17:5).
On the other hand, if you wisely decide to agree with the Scriptures and to trust Almighty God and the Messiah that He has sent for your salvation, then why would you ever continue obeying Roman Catholic tradition and doctrine, and why would you continue to disobey God's Commands in order to keep honoring the commands and traditions of the popes?
According to God's Word, we belong to whatever we choose to honor and obey. If we obey our sinful nature, we belong to our sinful nature. If we obey the traditions of human beings, and disobey God's Word to do so, then we belong to the world. If we obey the teachings of Almighty God, and Jesus Christ the Messiah, then we belong to God and the Messiah. In God's economy, we belong to whatever we choose to obey, (Romans 6:16; Galatians 6:7-9).
When I uphold the LORD’s Sabbaths, feasts and appointed times of meeting which Almighty God established as an everlasting regulation, and at the same time I devoutly disregard the idolatrous pagan inspired traditions of the Roman Catholic Church, then I am making a living declaration that I belong to Yahweh Almighty God, and Yeshua the Messiah, and that I intend to worship God in spirit and truth, and not according to the traditions of men (John 4:24; Exodus 31:13; Exodus 20:12; Exodus 20:20; Revelation 14:12). It's that simple.

Seeking to Return to the Ancient Paths

Jeremiah 18:15 'For My people have forgotten Me, They burn incense to worthless gods And they have stumbled from their ways, From the ancient paths, To walk in bypaths, Not on a highway, (Jeremiah 18:15 NASB77)
Jeremiah 6:16 Thus says the LORD, "Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; And you shall find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.' ( Jeremiah 6:16 NASB77)
Any religion, faith, tradition, or practice which runs contrary to Scripture is at the very least in error, at the very worst heresy and false religion, no matter which race of peoples came up with the tradition.
Legitimate Whole Testament theology understands that there have been serious mistakes in religious and rabbinical Judaism, just as there have been in religious and traditional Christianity. Both sides are wrong inasmuch as they violate the expressly written Word of God in order to perpetuate their own traditions. Disobeying or violating the explicit word of God in order to keep so-called Christian traditions [which are usually in fact Roman Catholic attempts to "Christianize" pagan idolatrous traditions], is biblically sinfully wrong. On the other hand, disobeying and violating the explicit Word of God in order to maintain Jewish rabbinical religious traditions is equally wrong, and equally sinful according to God's word.
Some Hebrew roots movements seek to identify with Israel so badly that they actually repeat some of the horrible mistakes that Israel has made in disobeying God. Conversely, many Christian groups and organizations are so eager to disassociate themselves from all things Hebrew; they fall into copying the traditionally pagan and idolatrous religious traditions of the Roman Catholic Church, in order to be, "Christian." Neither of these crooked paths is good. Both extremes are equally sinfully ridiculous.
Whole Testament theology recognizes the all too human propensity of people in congregations to replace God's Word and Commandments with our own human traditions. Recognizing this human weakness as the sin which it truly is, genuine Whole Testament theology makes a diligent and conscious effort to avoid falling into observing human traditions wherever it happens to violate the Word of God.
Acts 5:29-30 But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had murdered by hanging Him on a tree. (Acts 5:29-30 HCSB)

 

 

Tradition….Tradition!!

Mark 7:8-9 "Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men." 9 He was also saying to them, "You nicely set aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. (Mark 7:8-9 NASB77)
Mark 7:13 thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that." ( Mark 7:13 NASB77)
In fact for those who claim that it is okay to uphold the traditions of men because they are a so-called "New Testament Church, and therefore under grace," I would caution these theologians to be extremely careful that they do not speak foolishly. Moreover I would caution them to look at the New Testament more carefully because if you are authentically a true New Testament church, you would wholeheartedly refuse to hold fast to the traditions of men even on the basis of the New Testament alone. Why do I say that?
If you do any search on the word tradition in the New Testament, you will find that the word appears between 13 and 14 times depending on your English translation. Here's the key point. Of all the times the word tradition is mentioned in the New Testament, ONLY ONCE IS IT USED IN ANY POSITIVE CONTEXT. In every other instance traditions of men are condemned by God in the New Testament. So, if you do not care to reject the traditions of men in favor of upholding God's Word, then in that case you are not even being true to the New Testament either. So please do not deceive yourself.
"Tradition*" in NASB95 (Matthew 15:2-6; Mark 7:3-13; 1 Corinthians 11:2; Galatians 1:14; Colossians 2:8; 2 Thessalonians 2:15; 2 Thessalonians 3:6)

 

For Which Faith Are Christians Commanded to Contend?

Jude 1:3 Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was already once for all handed down to the saints. (Jude 1:3 NASB)
True Whole Testament theology seeks to return to the Christianity that was once delivered to the Saints and taught by the apostles in the first century.
In short, within the first century, the apostle Jude declared that faithful disciples [which is what Christians claim to be] should earnestly contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3).
The fact is that in the faith which was already delivered to the saints in the first century, the saints were taught to honor the Biblical Sabbath on the seventh day. In the faith that was delivered to the saints in the first century, believers were earnestly taught not to mix the practices of idolatrous paganism into their worship of Almighty God and following His Son Jesus Christ; (Jeremiah 10:1-2 cf. 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; James 1:21-27). The practices such as Sunday worship, Lent, Easter and Christmas were correctly thought to be idolatrous paganism, and they were not even incorporated into Christian worship until well into the 300s A.D. and beyond.
On the contrary, believers in the first century were taught to respect the feasts of the LORD described in Scripture (Deuteronomy 16; Leviticus 23), and how each one pointed to the Messiah. By the same token, first century Christianity strictly observed the written Word of God while soundly rejecting pharisaical rabbinical oral traditions of men which the Pharisees erroneously taught and believed was equal to or greater than the written Word of God. First century Christians rejected this idea, much the same way that true Biblical Christians today should correctly reject the edicts and traditions of the popes.
Please notice some very important things in Jude's admonition.
1. First, Jude was writing in the first century about our need to earnestly contend for the faith that was already completely delivered to the saints "once for all" by the first century, and even then he was warning people to contend for that particular faith, because obviously people were already beginning to stray from the faith delivered to the saints, and it obviously concerned Jude greatly.
2. In order to contend for the faith that was already once for all delivered to the saints in the first century, we have to have an idea of what that was. When where the traditions that we now accept originally adopted into Christian doctrine and practice? Since God does not change, do the practices and traditions and doctrines which we accept by practice today, do they match what God had already required previously in the Scriptures? If they don't, then obviously we are not practicing the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints, to which Jude referred.
Therefore if any of the traditions that we hold dear teach us to do the opposite of what the apostles would have done in the first century, then we cannot possibly be upholding and contending for the same faith that was once for all given to the Saints.
The key difference is that while genuine Whole Testament theology does have a strong Hebrew roots component, it diligently seeks to avoid stumbling into following after the traditions of men on the Hebrew side of things, just as we earnestly try to avoid falling into obeying the traditions of men on the so-called Christian side of things.
Disobeying the Word of God in favor of following the religious traditions of men is equally wrong, whether those religious traditions come from the Catholic Church, Protestant church, or rabbinical Judaism.
Disobeying God's Word in order to keep our own traditions is sinfully wrong, no matter which race came up with the tradition. Whole testament theology seeks to avoid the ditch on either side of the road, and we want to walk the path that Yahweh lays out according to the clear directions of His Word. So Yes, we follow Hebrew roots, but only inasmuch as we can prove it by the rightly divided Whole Testament of Scriptures.
Brother Michel Lankford