Emet - Biblical Portal
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." Deuteronomy 6:4-5
"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" John 14:6
WHO IS GOD YHWH?
God YHWH is the Creator of heaven and earth and everything that is in them. He also created man in His image and likeness. He is the Almighty God. The Creator has His unique name — YHWH (commonly pronounced as "Yahweh" or "Jehovah").
God revealed Himself through the Holy Scriptures — both Hebrew and Greek parts — and also through His Son, Jesus Christ. Everything that God created was good. However, through the disobedience of the first man, death entered the world.
God in His goodness and love for people gave His law, revealed His judgments, which are to teach people to walk in the paths of righteousness, so that evil does not spread further on earth.
However, the greatest gift that humanity received is the Son of God — the man Jesus Christ, who through His pure life and shed blood redeemed us from eternal death and eternal separation from God, which is the result of our sins.
Isaiah 42:5; John 5:24–29; John 8:51
WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT GOD IS ONE?
In the Book of Deuteronomy, God says to Israel:
"Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one."
This is a very clear and unambiguous statement that God the Creator is one person — not two, not three — but one. YHWH is one and there is no other God besides Him.
Deuteronomy 6:4
WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT GOD IS THE HOLY SPIRIT?
God YHWH, the Creator of heaven and earth, is called in some places in the Bible the Holy Spirit. This designation has meaning — it distinguishes the Almighty God from pagan deities.
Pagan deities were presented as material beings: statues, sculptures, figurines — often in the shape of people or animals. God YHWH never likened Himself to His creation. He does not reveal Himself to man in any form and forbade people to create His image.
God is not a material being, but a spiritual one, and matter is not able to convey His greatness, power and glory. Often pagan gods showed human characteristics: lust, betrayal, quarrels, envy, injustice.
God the Creator, on the other hand, is perfect, pure, holy and righteous. The term "Holy Spirit" distinguishes our God YHWH from deities created by man, which — though imagined — reflect the characteristics of human, fleshly and impure nature.
Genesis 1:2; Deuteronomy 4:12–19; Deuteronomy 6:7; Deuteronomy 32:3–4; John 4:24
IS THE TRINITY A BIBLICAL CONCEPT?
Throughout the Holy Scriptures, there is no concept such as "Trinity" — it was invented for doctrinal purposes.
The Bible clearly states that God is one and there is no other God besides Him. There is also one mediator between God and men — our Lord, the man Jesus Christ.
Deuteronomy 6:7; 1 Timothy 2:5
IS JESUS OF NAZARETH GOD?
To answer this question, one must first understand the concept of "god."
In Hebrew, in which part of the Bible (the so-called Old Testament) was written, the word elohim (god) means "mighty one." God the Creator — the Almighty God — is one. However, the word "god" does not refer exclusively to the Creator.
Angels were also called gods (elohim), as well as judges and priests in Israel. God called Moses a "god" to Pharaoh and a "god" to Aaron. The Almighty God also said to Israel: "you are gods."
So answering the question: is Jesus God?
Yes, he is a god — on the same basis as Moses.
However, he is not God the Creator. He is not YHWH.
Exodus 4:16; Exodus 7:1; Exodus 22:28; Psalm 82:6
"Do not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people" — Exodus 22:28
DOES THE BIBLE COMMAND TO BAPTIZE INFANTS?
Infant baptism is a tradition that does not originate from the first Christians. This ritual is quite contrary to what God teaches us. First of all, the Bible nowhere mentions the baptism of children, let alone that baptism should wash away the so-called "original sin."
God did not plan for man to be born with sin. God's law from the very beginning is as we read in the Book of Genesis, when God said to Adam: "In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2:17). And He says exactly the same to every person coming into the world. Man himself chooses sin, thereby making himself guilty of death.
The fact that small children die is not caused by their sin, because they are born innocent. It is caused by the fact that we inherit mortal bodies from Adam.
The baptism with which John baptized was a conscious act and concerned only adults. However, this baptism did not wash away any sin, but was a baptism of repentance, aimed at acknowledging and confessing one's guilt and sin, while pointing to the need for cleansing.
True cleansing becomes possible through the blood of Jesus Christ. The disciples were also baptized in the name of Jesus.
Matthew 3:11; Acts 2:38; Acts 8:12; Acts 10:47–48; Romans 6:3–4
SHOULD ONE GIVE TITHES?
The function of the tithe was to enable the performance of temple service. The tithe was given by God to the Levites. Because of their faithfulness to God during Israel's sin with the golden calf in the wilderness, the Levites maintained purity — and as a reward for this, God chose their tribe for service at the temple. When they possessed Canaan, they did not receive an inheritance in the land, because God was their inheritance. Instead, He gave them Levitical cities. In exchange for their service, Israel was to give them tithes.
In the new covenant, all believers are to be priests. There is no longer a division between Levites and laypeople, there is no longer a stone temple or the need to offer sacrifices. Every Christian is to serve God and give his life to Him. God is to be the inheritance for every person in the Church. Therefore, tithing is no longer current.
SHOULD ONE CONTINUE TO OFFER SACRIFICES AND OBSERVE JEWISH FEASTS ACCORDING TO THE LAW OF MOSES?
What was in the Law of Moses foreshadowed the things of Christ. The Law was a shadow of things to come. Since we now have the reality, which is Christ — there is no longer a place for serving the shadow. The Law had a specific task: to bring the people to Christ!
God Himself prepared Israel for changes and gradually extinguished the Law of Moses. Along with the return of the people from Babylonian captivity, the ark of the covenant did not return, and with it the stone tablets. The testimony of the covenant made and the giving of the Law was removed by God!
The prophets foretold that after the return from Babylon, the people would no longer say: "How God brought us out of the land of Egypt," but rather: "How He brought us out of the land of Babylon" (cf. Jeremiah 16:14–15), and also: "They shall no longer say: The ark of the covenant of the LORD — it shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they visit it, nor shall it be made again" (cf. Jeremiah 3:16).
The Law of Moses itself lasted until the conclusion and sealing with the blood of Jesus the Messiah of the new covenant. This does not mean that God's law has passed away — absolutely not! God's law is eternal, given to man so that through it he might learn to walk in righteousness. God gave His law to humanity from the very beginning — and it is current to this day. Moreover, God announces that in the new covenant He will put the law within man and write it on the fleshy heart — not on stone tablets.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT JESUS IS THE "SON OF MAN"?
Jesus Christ calls Himself the Son of Man to show that He is a man — exactly like we are, except for sin. Yes, He was conceived from the seed of God and had the Spirit of God in Him from birth — and thanks to this He did not fall in anything. But He was still a man. He was born of a human — Mary. He was subject to the same toils and labors of earthly life as we are. He was mortal — which was revealed on the cross. He had free will and His will was to submit to what comes upon Him — and to give His life for His brethren.
IS THE CONCEPT OF CONFESSION A BIBLICAL CONCEPT?
Confession as the confession of sins to another person, through whom the penitent receives absolution, is not a biblical concept.
Yes, we should confess our sins and ask for forgiveness, but of God Himself — the Creator. God has given no one else the power to forgive sins, only to His Son, Jesus Christ.
We will receive forgiveness of sin if we also make amends to the person against whom we have sinned. We should also ask him for forgiveness.
The essence of the cyclical nature of confession, which does not assume that a person stops sinning, is not according to the spirit of God. The goal of Christian life is to live in purity and perfection, not in sins.
Also in the case of a sin committed against a person, we should not wait for the "next confession," but we should repair the wrong as soon as we understand and acknowledge our sin.
1 John 1:9; Matthew 5:23–24; Mark 2:7; Luke 5:21; James 5:16
DOES HELL EXIST?
Hell as a place of eternal suffering for the unrighteous, where people would be tormented in fire by Satan and demons — does not exist.
God mentions nothing about such punishment for man. God, creating man, said to Adam: "In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Genesis 2:17). In another place God says: "I have set before you life and death, choose life, that you may live" (Deuteronomy 30:19).
There is no mention of hell here. The punishment for sin is death, not eternal suffering. The punishment for unrighteous people will be death forever. However, the reward for the righteous is eternal life in fellowship with God.
In the Hebrew part of the Bible, yes, there is mention of Sheol, but Sheol is nothing other than the grave — the place of rest for the dead.
Genesis 2:17; Deuteronomy 30:19; Romans 6:23; Psalm 6:6; Ecclesiastes 9:10
CAN SIN BE OVERCOME IN CHRISTIAN LIFE?
The sin of the first man, Adam, separated him from God, and moreover — brought death into the world. And so after Adam, all have sinned and all die. Christ came into the world to reverse this state, to overcome death and sin. Thanks to Jesus, we have hope for resurrection, and also hope for overcoming sin in our lives!
As Christians, we build ourselves into the body of Christ — should we then remain sinners? Absolutely not! Christ was not a sinner, so we, who follow in His footsteps, must also be free from sin. Now, thanks to Jesus' sacrifice, this is possible. This is the good news that our Savior brought — that we can be freed from sin, which separates us from God! Thus we have hope that as God raised Jesus from the dead, so He will raise us to eternal life.
CAN ONE BE HOLY NOW, HERE ON EARTH?
God YHWH from the beginning calls man to holiness. He calls the nation of Israel, which is to be a kingdom of priests, a holy people. In fact, God's people prove to be disobedient to God, stubborn, far from holiness. But God's promises do not fail — He has a plan to lead His people out of the bondage of sin to true holiness. This happens through the blood of His Son, shed on the cross.
Jesus overcomes sin in the flesh, and to those who believe in Him, He gives power to become children of God — holy, pure, without sin. God's promise to create a holy people, a kingdom of priests, became reality at the moment of Jesus' death and resurrection. Now is the time for every person to become part of God's kingdom, if only he believes in the work of Jesus and wants to give his life to God. God promises that He will take away the heart of stone and give a heart of flesh. He also promises to help us achieve holiness and be born again of the Spirit of God — as children of God.
SHOULD A CHRISTIAN BE BAPTIZED?
In the Acts of the Apostles we have many examples that the newly converted — both Jews and Gentiles — are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
Paul in his letter compares baptism to immersion in death. Jesus himself, speaking about John's baptism, said that "it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." (Matthew 3:15)
If he said this about John's baptism — how much more should we fulfill all righteousness and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 3:15–16; Acts 2:38; Acts 8:36–38; Acts 10:47–48; Romans 6:3–4