Statement of Faith

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Joseph Shulam

October 24, 1987

 

Introduction:

 

Some points of clarification are needed when an important document such as this is being written. 

 

1. 1. The need for a "Statement of Faith" should be made clear. In a typical community committed to living by a "Constitution," no personal paper of "Position" is needed. The assumption is automatically accepted that living in this community is an acquiescence of consent. However, this is different from the situation in Israel! We are plagued by denominational sectarianism imported by "Well-meaning Christian missionaries" who have brought with them the divisions and religious rivalry from their home countries.

2. Jews who have come to Israel to escape the religious bigotry of "Euro-Christianity" when they have accepted Jesus as the Messiah have naturally bought into the particular denomination that taught them the "Good News." In so doing, these Jews also were infected with "Creedlism" and sectarian attitudes, which are foreign to the very Spirit of Israel.

3. If we, as Jewish people, could be satisfied with the study of the Word of God and allow it alone to be our constitution, we would not need a "Statement of Faith." However, since this is not the general situation in Israel, I feel that it is the right time and the need is great for an explicit "Statement of Faith" from Joseph Shulam.

4.  As a Jew who believes in Yeshua as his Lord and Savior, I do not feel that everyone has to agree with the conclusions that I have arrived at from the Holy Scriptures, but to examine them in the light of the text itself, and the proper exegetical rules. I also do not feel that I have to agree with every point of doctrine and Statement of Faith that someone else has produced to be pleasing to God and retain my status as a disciple of Yeshua. The worst thing that can happen in the Lord's body in Israel is a development of the spirit of the Inquisition and the dogmatism of the new waves sweeping the "Religious" world of our day.

 

Thus, this Statement reflects only my personal faith. It does not represent the beliefs of Netivyah as a congregation or as an organization.

 

Every Statement of faith is a response to a need of the times. Every Statement of faith is also incomplete and partial since the Word of God alone contains the whole counsel of God. Therefore, anyone could find things that he thinks should be in such a document but are not. Some people might even think that things in this document should not be clearly stated. Nevertheless, since this is my personal "Statement of Faith," these are the subjects that I feel should be addressed in it.

 

Let me share with you the Preface of Raymond Brown's new book, Jesus God and Man. I believe that in this short section, Dr.Brown, a renowned scholar of the Catholic Church in America, captures the spirit of the problem.

"In A.D. 325 the Council of Nicea solemnly defined the divinity of Jesus; in 451 the Council of Chalcedon solemnly defined his full humanity (in everything except sin). Since that time the church has stubbornly reaffirmed against all opponents her faith that Jesus is true God and true man. There has been much opposition to each of these truths, opposition that has arisen respectively in different ways. Opposition to the belief that Jesus is true God has been more articulate in scholarly circles: philosophers, scientists, historians of religion, and biblical critics have at one time or another rejected the divinity of Jesus as impossible or as popular legend. For that reason, in her public statements about the incarnation the church has had to be insistent on the divinity of Jesus - a necessary situation that has had the unfortunate side effect of creating the impression that divinity is the only important issue. Yet there is also widespread opposition to the humanity of Jesus, an opposition that is often neglected because it is unconscious or not formally articulated. Many Christian believers do not sufficiently appreciate the humanity of Jesus. They transfer the picture of the glorified Jesus back into his public ministry, imagining him to have walked through Galilee with an aura and a halo about him. They cannot imagine him as being like other men; and they are embarrassed by the Gospel vignettes of Jesus as sometimes tired and dirty, annoyed and tempted, indistinguishable in a crowd, treated as a fanatic and a rabble-rouser. How pervasive is this attitude toward the humanity of Jesus becomes evident in vociferous opposition to any new translation of the Gospels that strips away the hallowed jargon of "Bible English" and has Jesus speak in everyday manner.

In our own generation the unending struggle to preserve the twofold truth about Christ is inevitably affected by the church's acceptance of modern biblical criticism, an acceptance that in Roman Catholic circles has taken place in the past twenty years and whose impact will be felt keenly in the years to come. Perhaps in this day of exaggerated advertising it would be wise to caution from the first that I do not mean that biblical criticism will or can cause the church to reject what was proclaimed at Nicea or at Chalcedon. But this criticism can make us better understand the implications of those proclamations and what they did and did not settle. Too often in Catholic theological circles biblical criticism is treated as if it were frosting on the cake - it looks nice and lends a scientific flavor, but it does not affect fundamentals. But we cannot compartmentalize our knowledge and our faith into hermetically sealed units. The belief that Jesus is God and man involves a whole complex of understanding, a complex in which the biblical evidence has a very important formative role...."

 

The personal description of my faith in Yeshua the Messiah.

By Joseph Shulam

 

A. The immutable principles of my Faith.

These are the things that a Jew would be willing to die for and not transgress. In Hebrew, they are called  ״יהרג ובל יצבוד. There is One God - (Deut.6:4-9, John 17:3,1 Cor.8:4,6.) - Monotheism is an immutable Biblical dogma. Anything less than Faith in One God is idolatry and would cut a person from the commonwealth of Israel.

2. The Bible (Gen.- Rev.) is the inspired Word of God. There is not given unto men any other book, document, or revelation by which God might direct a man's life so that he may have the assurance of eternity in God's presence.

3. "Yeshua is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God," and there is no other way to the Father except through the Son. Yeshua is the only agent of Salvation for all humanity. - John 3:16-17, 14:6, Acts 4:12.

4. The committing of outrageous sin ( הטא של כרח) by force. It would be unthinkable to commit such things as incest ormurder, even for the survival of a person's flesh.

 

B. The things about which I would feel a compulsion to take an intransigent stand.

1. The one God is the Creator and Father of all men. 

"The Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Spirit is eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son." (John 1:14,18, John 15:26, Gal.4:6) 

The Father is revealed to us through His works and His Word in all the ages of man, but in this last generation, He is revealed by Yeshua, His only begotten Son. This God is unique and holds all power in His hands -- there is none other besides Him. (Isaiah 45:5-7)

 

2. Yeshua is the Son of God, eternally begotten of the FATHER. (Luke 3:22, Prov.30:4, Acts 8:37.)

a) He was born by Mary, who conceived Him from the Holy Spirit.

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b) Yeshua was in God before the beginning of the world. (John 8:58, Col.1:17, John 1:10.) In the course of Christian history, a great debate on the issue of the nature of the Messiah before the creation of the world has ranted the camp. I believe that the Messiah has always been in the LORD, and there was never a time in which the concept of God has not included the concept of a messianic savior for all humanity.

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c) Yeshua, in His divine nature, was not created and was, from eternity, a manifestation of the nature and character of the Father. (((It should be noted that throughout this document I will use the convention of "LORD" to denote the Hebrew Tetragrammaton.)))

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d) Yeshua is One with the "LORD" and equal to Him in Character, Mission, Nature, Purpose, Intention, and Authority. This is so because of the Nature of God as the Sender and Yeshua as the "Sent one." There is total equality between the "LORD" and Yeshua and at the same time, there is also a hierarchy in that the "LORD" is called "Father." Yeshua is called "Son." (( Please see John 14:28.)) The same hierarchy is seen in the fact that Yeshua voluntarily put on flesh. "God is a Spirit," and Yeshua has to be acknowledged as Flesh. (See Philippians 2:6-11, I John 4:1-2.) This hierarchy is clear from the mission of Yeshua as it is described in John 6:38, "For I came down from Heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me." Yeshua and the Father must have a relationship of "Sender" - "Sent," and Yeshua is not both the "sender" and the "sent" at the same time.

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e) Even in the Flesh, Yeshua retained that special relationship with the "LORD," which made him equal to God (Col.2:9). However, that Equality does not in any way change the Oneness of the "LORD" and does not alter the "Unity" of God. The "ONE LORD" is such a cardinal teaching of the TANACH and of Judaism that I can never see myself teaching or even hinting at more than one God. The New Testament writers all reaffirm in their writings the "ONE LORD," the God of the Jews and the Gentiles. This "ONE LORD" has chosen to reveal Himself to the world through Yeshua, "his only begotten son" (Heb 1:1). This Son is the picture of His Father, the equal to His Father. The Son is also called the "Word of God," which is God; this passage of scripture from John 1:1 is to be understood in light of the Targum, which is the agency through which the Father created the whole world, and therefore identified with the Messiah.

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f) When all of the above is considered, it ought to be evident that The Father, the Son, and the Spirit of God are all included in the Biblical concept of God. The relationship between the Father, Son, and Spirit is sometimes hard to define, and their role and function interchange. What the Father does is attributed to the Son and, at times, to the Spirit; all possible combinations are found in the Scriptures. The reason for what seems to be "confusion" is embedded in the very nature of the LORD, who is "all" in "all."

 

3. I believe that a state of "Salvation" can only be achieved through Faithfulness to God and His Grace. Man cannot, alone or in a community, reach God's standards of righteousness. The work of Grace, which God has accomplished through the atonement of our sins in the sacrifice of Yeshua, is the only way to attain righteousness. Yeshua, our Messiah, has died for our transgressions as the prophet Isaiah predicted; we accept this sacrifice through faith and commit ourselves as a living sacrifice to serve God with all our heart and might, walking on the narrow path to eternal life. Our commitment to Yeshua is the faithfulness that God requires after the work of Yeshua on the cross. Any attempt at, or even thought of, "salvation" through keeping any commandments is a negation of the work of God in Yeshua, His Son. This principle is an immutable truth in the Old and New Testaments. Orthodox Judaism also holds that any salvation will only be possible through the grace of God. "

 

4. There is a judgment at the End of Days, in which the same standard will judge all men, the righteous and the evil - the Words of God in the New Testament. Yeshua will be the judge (Acts 17:31), and faithfulness will be the requirement of all men. This faithfulness will encompass both things of the heart and our obedience to God's commandments. The New Testament faith is not words alone. It requires that we produce some fruit. If we love Yeshua, we will also keep his commandments.

 

5. I believe that Israel is the Elect people of God and has been the Elect people of God since Abraham's days. The Torah was given to Israel alone and does not obligate the Nations. However, the nations have obligations from God's general commandments for all humanity, as elucidated in the New Covenant Scriptures. And, if people from the Nations live within the camp of Israel, they ought to have the same "Laws" and the same privileges as Israel. The advent of the Messiah has not changed the status of Israel with God: although Israel went to exile, they were still the people who are close to God's heart for the sake of the Fathers. There is a clear promise in the Scriptures for the salvation of Israel, and we believe that such Salvation will happen through obedience to Faith in Yeshua. ((( The term "obedience to Faith in Yeshua" is used to instruct that we must be obedient to God and have faith in Yeshua as our Messiah. The commands of the Torah require us, as Jews, obedience to God; a part of that obedience is faith in God and His "Anointed One." )))

 

6. The Kingdom of God is now in effect in the Body of the Messiah. We have a King now, and the church is His Kingdom. He rules and makes salvation and protection of His authority available to those who accept Him as King. There is peace and harmony between the subjects in His Kingdom, and Satan can not prevail against it. The world does not recognize that a better Kingdom is available now in Yeshua. Yeshua is now ruling over His Body and serving as its King. I see the doctrine of Premillennialism as essentially non-biblical, and all that is said in this connection is in the realm of the speculative at best. Therefore, it is my opinion that we as Jewish believes ought to adopt the principles that Maimonides gave in Hilchot Melachim 12: That is, we wait for the Messiah every day as if He is coming now, and stop speculating over things that were not revealed to us by God in clarity.

 

C. How does a person become a disciple of Yeshua, the Messiah?

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1. Faith in God and Yeshua as the Messiah, Son of God, is an explicit New Testament command and requirement. However, it is clear from God's Word that FAITH is not just a question of proclamation but an attitude of trust and security in God's character and promise. Faith must be accompanied by those actions prescribed in the Word of God in order to be a valid faith.

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2. Repentance is also a clear and mandatory step in the process of "SALVATION." Repentance is both a change of mind and a change of direction, which must be evident in the lifestyle and attitude of the person who comes to the Messiah. A person who claims he is a follower of Yeshua cannot be accepted without some outward evidence of his intent and true nature, which constitutes REPENTANCE.

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3. Confession in public of a person's faith is also a part of the process of salvation and cannot be eliminated for convenience. Especially in places where faith in Yeshua can be costly, we must take care that we do not take it upon ourselves to water down the requirements of the Scriptures to accommodate the weakness of the flesh. That does not mean that a person who becomes a believer ought to go up on the rooftops of Jerusalem and shout that he believes in Yeshua, but it does necessarily mean that at least some people ought to hear the words come from his mouth:"! believe in Yeshua the Messiah, the Son of God, with all my heart, body, and soul."

 

4. Baptism in water is the final and ultimate step in the process of initiation into the Body of Yeshua. The normative step of Faith is the willingness of a person to die with the LORD and be raised with Him into the newness of Life. Especially when we deal with Jewish people, for whom Baptism in water presents a historical difficulty, it ought to be made clear that the New Testament requires Baptism as an essential step of participation with the Messiah in the act of salvation. It is only in Baptism that we "enter into the Messiah".... ((( I should make a parenthetical statement on this subject -- I firmly believe that all those who teach that a person can be saved by saying or repeating a little prayer of "Salvation" are deceived and deceive others about the true requirements of God's Word. I cannot judge any individual's status before God and his position concerning Judgment Day. However, I can teach the full council of God's Word, which clarifies that "Purification from Sin" is an essential part of our approximation toward God and always involves symbolic washing with water. ))) All the above statements are based directly on Biblical texts and can be substantiated upon request. However, because this Statement is only an outline, it is not the place for a lengthy excursus.

It must be made clear that people can do all of the above and still not give their lives to the LORD. They need help to do so through their own rationalization of His commandments. Instead, they must obey His commandments and adhere to His ways of doing things as the Word of God prescribes them.

 

D. The History of Christianity and the Jewish People.

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1. The Jewish people have been persecuted and denied basic human rights throughout most of their Exile History. The Christian Church in all its branches has been less than Yeshua the Messiah would have required of it, both in doctrine and conduct. Therefore, I believe that the Christian Church has forfeited the right to "Preach" to the Jewish people with an air of condemnation. The only right that Christendom has left concerning the Jewish people is the showing of Love and understanding and the facilitation of Jews preaching to their own race. I say these things on these bases:

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a) The rejection of Israel as the "Elect of God" is a persistent doctrine in most of the so-called "Evangelical" circles of Christendom. This doctrine is directly opposed to the plain teaching of the holy scriptures. (((See Romans 11:1, 27-28)))

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b) The majority of the "Christian Churches" have a divisive and sectarian spirit, which tends to destroy the unity of the body of the Messiah and even the unity among Jews who embrace the particular church dogma of the said denomination. Yeshua's wish and prayer to the Father is that His body would be one. "One church, one baptism, one Father" is the wish of God for all his children. Any body of people or teaching which perpetuates the divisions and denominational structure of Christianity is not of God.

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c) The majority of the "Christian Churches" teach against "doing" of Torah and justify this teaching by their doctrine of "Grace." The teaching of Yeshua is clear on the issue of Grace and Law, and it is in full accord with the teaching of the prophets of Israel. All Salvation comes free from God by His Grace, and all our deeds are as filthy rags. However, this does not mean that a child of God does not need to continue to obey him.

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d) I do believe that the Lord's body is made up of Jews and non-Jews and that both are equal before God and in the Body of the Messiah. This Body of the Messiah is called by many names in the Bible and can continue to be called by any of these names. It is possible that culturally and ethnically, the outward nature of the Body of the Messiah might differ from place to place. However, it will remain essentially One Body with Yeshua as its head.

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2. I do not feel compelled to accept "Christian History" as a part of my Messianic experience in Yeshua. Therefore, I do not feel that the Creeds and Statements of Faith developed in "Christian History" have any authority or validity for my walk with the LORD. From Genesis to Revelation, the Word of God is the fullest possible constitution for my life in the Messiah. Therefore, as a Jew whose forefathers stood at the foot of Mt. Sinai, the Word of the Lord alone is sufficient for me. Any additions or detractions from what we call the CANON today would be of no authoritative value for my walk with God.

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3. Present-day Judaism as a system and a creed is not equal to the faith Moses delivered at Mt.Sinai, reflected by the prophets of Israel. The present evolvement of modern Judaism is a Galut experience and ought not to hold any divine authority for the followers of Yeshua. Nevertheless, the Talmud and Jewish literature are a part of our Jewish heritage, and we ought to know and respect them for what they are.

 

E. Things we, as Messianic Jews who live in Israel, ought to take to heart.

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1. The study of God's Word in the traditional Jewish way and dedication.

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a) We ought to be dedicated to studying and understanding the Word

through the unique background of the New Testament since this is the

world in which these things were written.

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b) Our study ought to develop a Messianic HALACHA, a practical New Covenant living system among the Jewish community.

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c) Every community member should study and teach the Word in some setting. By "some setting," I would mean any place where people would be willing to learn. Teaching can occur at home, meeting places, bus stops, or work.

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2. The Jewish believer's family life should reflect his faith in Yeshua and his adherence to the Jewish people.

a) The home of the believer in the land of Israel ought to be such a home that any moderate Orthodox Jew would not feel intimidated to enter and partake of food.

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b) The dress of the believer ought to be in accordance with the respectable norms of the Jewish community in Israel.

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c) The conduct of the Jewish believer ought to be above the expected standards of the community in Israel. ("Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and the Pharisees, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.") If we cause the Jewish community to condemn us based on not keeping the Traditions and Laws of Judaism - then we cut ourselves off from the community that we so desperately wish to bring to Yeshua. That does not mean that we should place ourselves "under the law," nor should we cut ourselves from the Grace of God. But it does mean that we should strive to be like the Early Church.

 

F. The question of the Charismatic Movement and Messianic Judaism.

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It should be clear that the Holy Spirit is an active force in the commonwealth of God. The Holy Spirit has always been used by God as the communicative agent of God to His people and as the force by which God gives unique gifts. He is promised in the Torah and given in the New Testament, and the most serious sin, according to God's Word, is the sin against the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we ought to be extremely cautious when discussing the Holy Spirit. Moreover, in this spirit of things, I express my honest and sincere understanding of the issues involved.

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1. No person can be a follower of Yeshua, our Messiah, without the help and agency of the Spirit of God. ((( A study will show any person that the use of the term "HOLY SPIRIT" is a euphemism for "SPIRIT of GOD."))) Unless the Spirit of God draws a person to God, he will not come to God.

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2. Every "believer" must receive the SPIRIT which is given to him as for the "things to come," i.e., a person can in no way be a "believer" if he does not receive the Holy Spirit of God.

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3.  The Holy Spirit has a person's hypostatic characteristics. He is described in the scriptures as "the comforter" and the "advocate." He has, at times, actions attributed to it, which are identified as the acts of God, which is why, in "Christian" circles, the Holy Spirit is called "a person" in the context of the Trinity. It is promised to all people by the prophet Joel, and that promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost after the resurrection of Yeshua. Reception of the Holy Spirit is the reception of certain power from God. We receive the power to know the truth, we receive the power to resist sin in our lives, and we receive the power to communicate with God. All these and more come to the "believer" through the agency of God's Spirit. It is, however, evident that the first-century Apostles had additional authority, which can be deduced from their writings and which we would assume ended with their death. We deduce this additional authority from the story in Acts 8, in which Peter and John had to be called into Samaria for the explicit purpose of imparting the Holy Spirit on the people of Samaria, and from Romans 1:11, in which the Apostle Paul wanted to come to Rome to "impart some spiritual gifts" to the Romans. This kind of authority related to the Holy Spirit is not evident in Christian History after the end of the first century.

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4.  I believe that God is always able to give any man those gifts which He sees fit. In no passage of the Scriptures has God limited himself to the tools or the people He will use to accomplish his purpose. Therefore, I do not believe that God has forever closed the door to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. However, after prolonged and extensive observation, it has not become evident to me that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit are operational today as they were in the first century and that neither the nature of the gifts nor the intensity is the same as in the first century. On the other hand, I do not believe that the close of the CANON of the New Testament is that "perfect which is to come". I believe that the use of what is called "the gifts of the Spirit" today has, in the majority of cases, been outside of the realm of the divine gifts of God and in the realm of Religious charlatanry. Just because a person makes supernatural claims of healing and prophecy, it does not make things true or even divinely ordained.

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5.  I believe that God has never stopped or changed His attitude toward prayer. God has always answered prayer and, if need be, also reversed His decree toward the sick or nature because faithful people have called upon him in prayer and interceded. The Holy Spirit is often the agent of God for the answer to prayers. We, especially as Jews, must believe in the power of God to change the natural course of history and prevail over evil by the power of prayer.

 

Some concluding remarks:

As stated at the beginning of the document, it is not intended to be exhaustive in terms of all issues and tenets of my faith. It intends to give some pictures of my personal and private views on Yeshua and other related subjects. If questions arise in the reader's mind about the content of this document, the right thing to do is to come right back to me, and we can talk, study, or correspond about the matter. The wrong thing to do is gossip and slander me for my faith and views about Biblical issues. Let us not fall trap to the age-old ploy of Satan and destroy each other with the dogmatic fanatic excuse of the purity of faith. Let us study and show ourselves that God approves of us in Yeshua.