RECURSOS DE FORMACION: principios de fe firts fruits of zion

FIRST FRUITS OF ZION  WHITE PAPER

Statement of Faith

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FIRST FRUITS OF ZION  WHITE PAPER

Statement of Faith

“By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.”

(1 Timothy 3:16)

Words fall short of adequately describing God’s nature, and any theological formula is a mere stammering in the face of the unsearchable. messianic Judaism has an uncomfortable relationship with the traditional creeds of the Gentile Christian Church. The church councils that adopted the creeds were the same councils that severed relationship with Judaism. The creeds they created use language that sounds foreign to Jewish ears. Nevertheless, statements of faith are necessary, especially in the midst of the chaotic world of the Hebrew Roots reformation. At First Fruits of Zion, our statement of faith has never changed:

 We believe in one God, as he has revealed himself in the Scriptures. “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.” (Deuteronomy 6:4)

 We believe that Yeshua is the Son of God, the messiah, the Eternal One in whom all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form, and who is the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us, and whose

glory we beheld, the glory of the uniquely begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth. ( John 1:1–14; Colossians 2:9)

 We believe that the Spirit of God comforts, teaches, leads, indwells, and empowers all whom God regenerates. (Acts 9:31; 1 John 2:27; John 16:13; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 2 Timothy 1:7)

 We believe that the Bible, both the Tanach (Old Testament) and the Apostolic Scriptures (New

Testament), are the only inspired, infallible, and authoritative Word of God. (2 Timothy 3:16–17)

 We believe that all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

 We believe Yeshua’s death and resurrection accomplished the atonement for all who place their faith in him. Whoever trusts in God, in his work alone, is made a new creation in Yeshua, indwelt by the

Spirit of God, and is transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his own Son. (Ephesians 2:8–9, Romans 5, 6)

 We believe in justification by faith through the grace of God alone, and not by human efforts. One may not earn, merit or keep this eternal salvation by his own efforts. A new creation is the work of God

alone. (Ephesians 2:8–10; Romans 8:29–39)

 We believe in the spiritual unity and equality of all believers in Yeshua the messiah. (Ephesians

2:11–22)

 We believe in the continuity of God’s covenants with the Jewish people, the physical people of Israel

( Jeremiah 31:35–36 and parallel passages). Part of the fulfillment of these covenants is the physical

return of the Jewish people to their promised land. (Deuteronomy 30)

 We believe that all non-Jewish people who trust in Yeshua are grafted into Israel. While this does not make them Jewish, they are full and equal participants in the covenants of promise. (Ephesians 2:12;

Romans 11:11–24; Jeremiah 31:33)

 We believe that the Torah is a revelation of the righteousness of God and a description (along with the rest of Scripture) of the lifestyle of the redeemed community. (matthew 5:17–19; 2 Timothy 3:16–17)

 We believe in the literal, physical return of messiah to rule and reign upon the throne of David in

Jerusalem. We hold to a premillennial view of his return. (Zechariah 14; Revelation 19–20)

In addition to the above, simple statement of faith, we have adopted the following statement, which goes into greater detail and clarifies our theological position. As an endorsed educational organization of the Union of messianic Jewish Congregations (UmJC), First Fruits of Zion has adopted their statement of faith in addition to our own. Expressions and statements of faith should come from the wider and diverse messianic Jewish community of which we are a part. Doctrinal trouble and error tends to creep in when individuals or groups are disconnected and isolated from a larger faith community.

We affirm the following:

There is one God, who has revealed Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Every divine action in the world is accomplished by the Father working through the Son and in the power of the Spirit. This God has revealed himself in creation and in the history of Israel as transmitted in Scripture. (Genesis 1:1; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 4:4–6)

God is the Creator of the heavens and the earth. He created humanity in the divine image to serve as creation’s priest and ruler. God’s intention for creation involves an order of differentiation, interdependence, and mu- tual blessing. (Genesis 1:26–28; 2:15; Ephesians 1:4–6)

Through the exercise of free will, human beings disobeyed God, tarnished the divine image, and abandoned their privileged vocation. As a result, God’s consummating purpose for creation met with initial frustration, and all relationships within creation became subject to violence and disorder. (Genesis 4:8; 6:5–7; Romans

8:20–22)

God chose Israel, the Jewish people, and entered into an everlasting covenant with them so they might be the firstfruits of a renewed humanity, who would mediate blessing and restoration to all the nations of the world. In gracious love, God gave to Israel the holy Torah as a covenantal way of life, and the holy Land of Israel as

an inheritance and pledge of the blessing of the World to Come. (Genesis 12:1–3; Jeremiah 31:34–36, 35–37; Romans 11:28–29)

In the fullness of time, the Divine Son became a human being—Yeshua the messiah, born of a Jewish virgin, a true and perfect Israelite, a fitting representative and one-man embodiment of the entire nation. He lived as

a holy tzaddik, fulfilling without blemish the mitzvot of the Torah. He brings to perfection the human expres- sion of the divine image (Isaiah 7:14; John 1:14; Galatians 4:4; Hebrews 1:1–4; 4:15)

Yeshua died as an atonement for the sins of Israel and of the entire world. He was raised bodily from the dead, as the firstfruits of the resurrection promised to Israel as its glorification. He ascended to heaven and was

there enthroned at God’s right hand as Israel’s Messiah, with authority extending to the ends of creation. (Isaiah

53:4–6; Psalm 110:1; matthew 28:18; mark 14:61–62; 1 Corinthians 15:3–8; Philippians 2–9–11)

God poured out the Divine Spirit on the community of Yeshua’s followers, so that they might be joined inti- mately to the messiah as his Body and become the preliminary representation of the New Covenant fullness promised to Israel. To this early Jewish community God added partners from among the nations, who heard the news of God’s work in Yeshua and responded to the good news with faith. (Isaiah 66:20–21; Acts 2:1–21;

10:44–48; 15:8–9; Ephesians 1:13; 2:11–22)

messiah’s community is a single community expressed in diverse forms within the Jewish community and among the nations. All are called to a dedicated life of worship, neighborly service, and public testimony to Yeshua. Unity and love throughout the entire community confirm Yeshua’s role, as the One sent by the Father, and God’s purpose in messiah for Israel and the Nations. ( John 17:20–21; Acts 21:20; Galatians 2:7–8)

Spiritual life is grounded in godly family units within the relational framework of congregations, whereby persons are to be encouraged, trained, and disciplined. Families in messianic Jewish congregations should be strengthened and established in their Jewish calling to covenant life. messianic Jewish congregations are

4  STATEmENT OF FAITH

called to connect in messianic Jewish associations, where they will find mutual enrichment and accountabil- ity. (matthew 18:15–18; Galatians 6:1–2; Romans 9:1–5; 1 Corinthians 7:17–20)

The Torah is God’s gift to Israel. It serves as the constitution of the Jewish people and thus also of the messi- anic Jewish community, which comprises Israel’s eschatological firstfruits. The Torah does not have the same role for messianic communities from the nations, though it does provide spiritual nourishment as a witness to the messiah. The Torah also provides universal norms of behavior and practical life teaching for all. The Torah is to be applied anew in every generation, and in this age as is fitting to the New Covenant order. (matthew

5:17–20; 2 Timothy 3:16–17; 1 Corinthians 7:17–20)

Forgiveness of sins, spiritual renewal, union with messiah, the empowering and sanctifying presence of the indwelling Ruach Ha Kodesh, and the confident hope of eternal life and a glorious resurrection are now avail- able to all, Jews and Gentiles, who put their faith in Yeshua, the Risen Lord, and in obedience to His word are joined to him and his Body through immersion and sustained in that union through messiah’s remembrance meal. Yeshua is the mediator between God and all creation, and no one can come to the Father except through him. (matthew 28:19–20; Luke 24:46–48; John 14:6; Romans 6:22, 23; 1 Corinthians 11:23–27)

messiah Yeshua will return to Jerusalem in glory at the end of this age, to rule forever on David’s throne. He will effect the restoration of Israel in fullness, raise the dead, save all who belong to him, judge the wicked not written in the Book of Life who are separated from His presence, and accomplish the final Tikkun Olam in which Israel and the nations will be united under messiah’s rule forever. This restoration will bring everlasting joy for those who belong to him. They will live forever in an order of mutual blessing and fellowship with God, in a cosmos perfected beyond description. (Isaiah 9:4–5/5–6; Romans 8:18–19; Revelation 20:11–15; 21:1–4)

The writings of the Tanach and Brit Hadasha are divinely inspired and fully trustworthy (true), a gift given by God to His people, provided to impart life and to form, nurture, and guide them in the ways of truth. They are of supreme and final authority in all matters of faith and practice. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17; 2 Peter 1:19–21)

The Jewish tradition serves as the living link that connects us as contemporary Jews to our biblical past and provides resources needed to develop a messianic Jewish way of life and thought. Furthermore, the Christian theological tradition offers riches of insight into the revelation of the messiah and His will, and messianic Jews need to draw upon this wealth. (1 Thessalonians 2:15, Romans 13:7; Jude 3)