Nazarene Israelite Two House Congregation of Port Elizabeth

Immersion and the Passover.

 

When reading the command regarding the annual Passover in Leviticus 23: 5, we notice that it is to be kept on the 14th of the first month on the Hebrew calendar at twilight.  But, a pertinent question at this time is, who is eligible to partake of Messiah’s memorial Passover? To find the answer to this important question, we read from Colossians 2: 9 – 13: ‘For in Him (Yahshua) all the fullness of Deity (meaning Elohim) dwells in bodily form, (10) and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;  (11) and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Messiah; (12) having been buried with Him in immersion, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of Elohim, who raised Him from the dead. (13) And when you were dead in your transgressions and the un-circumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions.’ We see here that immersion has become the ‘circumcision of Messiah’.

 

We read further about the subject from Galatians 3: 27 – 29: ‘For all of you who were immersed into Messiah have clothed yourselves with Messiah. (28) There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Messiah Yahshua. (29) And if you belong to Messiah, Then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.’ The promise to Abraham was an eternal covenant, which is between YHVH and Abraham and his descendants through Isaac and Jacob, as recorded in Genesis 17: 12 – 14, in this way: “And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants. (13) A servant who is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. (14) But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.’ The blessing for obedience to the covenant is recorded in verse 8 of Genesis 17 as follows: “And I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their Elohim.” We see therefore that the covenant of circumcision has nothing to do with salvation, but it has to do with living in the land of Canaan eternally.

 

Rav Shaul gives us more detail regarding immersion into Messiah in Romans 6: 1 – 8, saying: ‘What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? (2) May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? (3) Or do you not know that all of us who have been immersed into Messiah Yahshua have been immersed into His death? (4) Therefore we have been buried with Him through immersion into death, in order that as Messiah was raised from the dead through the esteem of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. (5) For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, (6) knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; (7) for he who has died is freed from sin. (8) Now if we have died with Messiah, we believe that we shall also live with Him.’ Our father in the faith Abraham was circumcised when he was 99 years of age. However, we see in his case that he believed YHVH before he was circumcised, as witnessed from Genesis 15: 6 as follows: ‘Then he believed in YHVH; and He (YHVH) reckoned it to him (Abram) as righteousness.’ When he was circumcised as a sign of the covenant between YHVH and him, his name was changed to Abraham. Since then all Israelites and their children were circumcised at the age of eight days old. However, many of us from the lost ten tribes of Israel, who lost our identity, faith, culture and language became like the Gentile nations amongst whom we were scattered because of idolatry and stopped circumcising our children since we were taught by the Roman Catholic Church and her protesting daughters that the Torah was done away with, by their false Messiah. Similar to Abraham, those of us who are returning to the covenant with Elohim through Yahshua, our renewed belief in Messiah also came first and as per the ruling discussed in more detail in Acts 15 below, the circumcision of male believers are pending. 

The great discussion in Acts 15 concerning circumcision was brought about by some Pharisees who believed Yahshua to be the Messiah. They taught the brethren in the last part of verse 1, saying: ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’  However, we see that Rav. Shaul and Barnabas disputed with them regarding the matter in verse 2, and it was decided that Shaul, Barnabas and certain others would go to Jerusalem to get the opinion of the Apostles residing there. But when they presented their case, some of the Pharisees who believed insisted that the Gentiles should be circumcised in order to keep all the laws of Moses (verse 5). Then finally after a further discussion, Rav Yaa’cov (Yahshua’s half-brother) gave the ruling as recorded in Acts 15: 14 – 21, saying: “Simeon has related how Elohim first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name. (15) And with this the words of the Prophets agree, just as it is written, (16) ‘AFTER THESE THINGS I will return, AND I WILL REBUILD THE TABERNACLE OF DAVID WHICH HAS FALLEN, AND I WILL REBUILD ITS RUINS, AND I WILL RESTORE IT. (17) IN ORDER THAT THE REST OF MANKIND MAY SEEK YHVH, AND ALL THE GENTILES WHO ARE CALLED BY MY NAME,’ (18) SAYS YHVH, WHO MAKES THESE THINGS KNOWN FROM OF OLD.’ (19) “Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning (or returning) to Elohim from among the Gentiles, (20) but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. (21) For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him (Moses), since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” This is essentially saying that when new believers come into the faith, we should not demand that they be circumcised as soon as they come to believe in Yahshua, but that they will eventually learn to obey all of Elohim’s Torah teachings, by attending local Jewish synagogues or congregations such as ours.

When new believers come to believe that Yahshua is their Savior and Passover Lamb, they should be immersed into His Saving Name for the forgiveness of their sins, as instructed by Rav Kepha in Acts 2: 38 as follows: ‘And Kepha said to them, “Repent, and let each of you be immersed in the name of Yahshua Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Set-apart Spirit.”’ Repentance is a process, in that, as we walk with YHVH according to the way Yahshua conducted His life, we will learn to obey YHVH more fully as we learn and start applying Elohim’s Torah teachings in our lives. Rav. Shaul, who was personally and privately taught by Yahshua according to Galatians 1: 15 – 18, made it clear that he did not teach circumcision as a requirement for salvation, or as (initially) necessary for new converts, since as Rav Yaa’cov ruled, they will eventually as they attend the synagogues on the Sabbath, learn to obey the Torah teachings of Elohim more fully. We are also aware that Abraham obeyed the Torah teachings of YHVH well before it was given to Moses on Mount Sinai, as is confirmed in Genesis 26: 5 as follows: ‘Because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, and My commandments, My statutes and my laws.’ Is this not interesting? Most ministers in Christianity have taught for many years that the commandments, statutes and Laws of YHVH, came through Moses, who only came on the scene more than 400 years after Abraham. But here the Scriptures confirmed that the Torah was known and practiced by Abraham well before Moses recorded it.

The original covenant made with Abraham is the same covenant renewed at Mount Sinai with Moses and the Israelites. The only difference being, that because of the sin of the golden calve, the Sacrificial Law practiced by the Levitical Priesthood was added. The only thing that was different is not Torah, but how the administration for the remission of sins was carried out. The sacrificial law, which was the tutor mentioned in Galatians 3: 16 -19 was added 430 years after the covenant with Abraham, to attend to the problem of sin until Messiah became the sacrifice – to firstly bring the lost sheep of the house of Israel back to the commonwealth of Israel, in order for the Kingdom of Elohim to be established during His millennial rule, after which He will also save the rest of mankind during the Great White Throne judgment period. We continue to read about the covenant made with Abraham in Genesis 17:  7, 10, 11 and 13, in this way: “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be Elohim to you and to your descendants after you. (10) This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you; every male among you shall be circumcised. (11) And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. (13) A servant who is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.”

This is rather interesting, because when people speak against circumcision, they speak of it as if it originated in the Torah given to and through Moses. However, we know that the covenant between YHVH and Abraham was sealed with a sign of circumcision, 430 years earlier. It had nothing to do with the sacrificial law, as so many who teach against circumcision asserts. Our father Abraham was a man of faith and as Yahshua told the Jews in John 8: 56, saying: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” Abraham a man of faith translated his faith into works as we read in James 2:  21 as follows: ‘Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? Brethren, Abraham heard the gospel and knew the grace of YHVH, even as we do; yet, as we have read before, he obeyed the Torah fully. Abraham and his children were circumcised, but so were Moses and the children of Israel likewise circumcised. We also know that Yahshua was circumcised on the 8th day after His birth as may be read in Luke 2: 21. The sacrificial system was changed and not Torah. Circumcision was never part of the sacrificial system. The book of Hebrews explains this and is a key to understanding the book of Galatians, showing how remission of sin through the payment of debt through animal sacrifices was replaced with justification through the blood of Yahshua. This means that anyone who comes to believe in Yahshua as the Messiah has to be immersed to receive the promise of the Set-apart Spirit.

Whereas the very first Passover was to save the first-born children of Israel, meaning those who were to become a royal priesthood from death, Messiah’s memorial Passover will save the first-fruit believers from both houses of Israel to be the first to be born-again as kings and priests under Messiah at His return. We see from Exodus 12: 43 - 49 that all the males who partook of the first Passover was required to be circumcised, as follows: ‘And YHVH said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: no foreigner is to eat of it; (44) but every man’s slave purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat of it. (45) A sojourner or a hired servant shall not eat of it. (46) It is to be eaten in a single house; you are not to bring forth any of the flesh outside of the house, nor are you to break any bone of it. (47) All the congregation of Israel are to celebrate this. (48) But if a stranger sojourns with you, and celebrates the Passover to YHVH, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it. (49) The same law shall apply to the native as to the stranger who sojourns among you.” Now, since we as returnees from the lost ten tribes who are returning to the original covenant that we made with YHVH together with the house of Judah, through Yahshua, the one who paid the penalty due to us for transgressing Elohim’s Torah, need to be both immersed into Yahshua’s saving name as well as be circumcised in the flesh.  We know that both Yahshua our Messiah and Rav. Shaul, being Jewish were circumcised when they were only eight days old. Even so, both of them were also immersed. We read about Messiah’s immersion In Matthew 3: 16 as follows: ‘And after being immersed, Yahshua went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of Elohim descending as a dove, and coming upon Him.’ We also read about Rav. Shaul’s immersion in Acts 9: 18, in this way: ‘And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he arose and was immersed.’

Rav Shaul was taught for three years after his immersion, to become one of Yahshua’s apostles, as witnessed in Acts 9: 22 – 23, in this way: ‘But Shaul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Yahshua is the Messiah. (23) And when many days (three years[1]) had elapsed, the Jews plotted together to do away with him.’ We read accordingly from Galatians 1: 1, as follows: ‘Shaul an apostle (not sent from men, nor through the agency of man, but through Yahshua Messiah, and Elohim the Father, who raised Him from the dead).’ It took three years for Rav. Shaul to learn the Halacha that Yahshua taught, even though he was a Jew by birth. The other apostles were similarly taught by Yahshua for about three and a half years, before they were ready to immerse other believers and teach them His way of applying Elohim’s Torah teachings (Halacha) – bearing in mind that they were also mostly Jews by birth (and therefore already circumcised). As Rav Shaul was inspired to write in Romans 2: 25 – 29, saying:  ‘For indeed circumcision is of value, if you practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become un-circumcision. (26) If therefore the un-circumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his un-circumcision be regarded as circumcision? (27) And will not he who is physically un-circumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law? (28) For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. (29) But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from Elohim.’

At this time YHVH is calling people out of the darkness of this world into His marvelous light. He is calling us by the word of truth to be first fruits[2] among His creatures, who if we make it into the Kingdom will become kings and priests under Yahshua for a thousand years and into eternity. We read about this in Revelation 5: 10 as follows:  “And Thou hast made them to be a kingdom and priests to our Elohim; and they will reign upon the earth.” For a second witness to this we read in the last part of Revelation 20: 4 ‘And they came to life and reigned with Messiah for a thousand years.’ To tie up the loose ends, we read from Galatians 5: 1 – 7, in this way: “It was for freedom that Messiah set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. (2) Behold I, Shaul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Messiah will be of no benefit to you. (3) And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. (4) You have been severed from Messiah, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. (5) For we through the Sprit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. (6) For in Messiah Yahshua neither circumcision nor un-circumcision means anything, but faith working through love. (7) You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?” This sounds like as if Rav. Shaul is saying that anyone who allows himself to be circumcised has lost his salvation. Does it not? However, he is saying that the so-called Judaizers were teaching salvation by works, and not by grace. This is not easily understood. We cannot work for our salvation and yet we cannot be saved without ‘works’[3] – which proves our faith. Commandment keeping on its own will not bring salvation. We as returning Israelites including some Gentiles must also have Yahshua’s grace to forgive us our past sins. It takes both – obedience and Yahshua’s grace to bring us to salvation.

 Immediately after the Jerusalem Conference, where circumcision were discussed in Acts 15, we notice that Rav. Shaul goes on to have Timothy his disciple circumcised. This is recorded in Acts 16: 1 – 3 as Follows: ‘And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, (2) and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. (3) Shaul wanted this man to go with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. “Do you believe that Rav. Shaul caused Timothy to lose his salvation by having him circumcised? From his writings it appears as if Rav. Shaul was against circumcision. However, we see here that he actually upheld the covenant of circumcision. Remember that Rav. Shaul’s writings about circumcision have been misread, misunderstood and taken out of context, essentially ‘giving’ him the ‘power’ to change the Torah, which he in fact never had. He was never supposed to be a ‘law giver’[4].  We find that the anti-law teachers similarly twist Rav Shaul’s teachings about the Sabbath, clean food and the annual Set-apart Days. In fact Rav Shaul never spoke against Torah on any of these subjects, despite the many un-learned arguments to the contrary.

Next, let’s discuss the subject of circumcision of the heart. Immersion is believed by many to be the new (or rather renewed) covenant circumcision – the circumcision of Messiah. We know that this is true, as we have read it earlier in the Scriptures. However, when we look into the Scriptures we find that circumcision of the heart was already mentioned in Deuteronomy 10: 16 as follows: “Circumcise then your heart, and stiffen your neck no more.” We read more about this in Deuteronomy 30: 6 as follows: “Moreover YHVH your Elohim will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love YHVH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live.” Other scriptures talking about circumcision of the heart may be found in Jeremiah 4: 4 and Jeremiah 9: 26. We who are called during this age and who know that Yahshua is the Rock of our Salvation are according to the teaching in 1 Peter 2: 8 & 9, a chosen race (the Israel of Elohim), a royal priesthood, a Set-apart Nation, a people for Elohim’s own possession. It is also for this reason that both our ladies and men wear head coverings during worship services. Men also put on tallit’s similar to the ones worn by congregants attending rabbinic synagogue services. The original priests in the Tanach were given white linen garments and turbans to reflect their glory and honour. They were to serve as a substitute garment until the resurrection of the body.  The white linen garments were to be worn by the priest who was righteous and could serve in the Temple of Elohim. Adam and Eve were created in the image of Elohim and like Elohim were originally covered in light, similar to the light Elohim is covered with, as described by the Psalmist in Psalm 102: 1 & 2, saying: Bless YHVH, O my soul! O YHVH my Elohim, Thou art very great; Thou are clothed with splendour and majesty, (2) covering Thyself with light as with a cloak, stretching out the heaven like a tent curtain.’ After Adam’s sin they lost their light covering and became naked, at which time YHVH gave them coats of skin. The skin they were given is good for the body, but not for the soul (life). As a result they became unfit to serve as priests within the Garden of Eden, which environment the Tabernacle was to recreate to allow the Presence of Elohim to dwell amongst His people. The skin given to mankind after Adam’s sin essentially condemned them to return to the dust from which they was made. However, those in the first resurrection will be given garments of light which is indicative of eternal life, as Rav Yochanan describes in 1 John 3: 2, saying: “Beloved, now we are children of Elohim, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is.” The white tallit’s worn by men (and the scarfs worn by women) as a head covering is a temporary replacement and symbolic garments to show our fitness for the priesthood. All these were given to us by Elohim as temporary symbolic substitutes, or a shadow of things to come, until the reality manifests.

But in Ezekiel 44: 1 we read about the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces the east and was shut. In verse 2 we read: “And YHVH said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for YHVH Elohim of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut.” In verse 3 it mentions the prince Yahshua who shall enter by way of the porch of the gate, and shall go out by the same way. This is a scene of the future when Yahshua will have returned already. In Ezekiel 44: 7 - 9 we read: ‘When you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, even My house, when you offered My food, the fat and the blood; for they made My covenant void – this in addition to all your abominations. (8) And you have not kept charge of My Set-apart things yourselves, but you have set foreigners to keep charge of My sanctuary.” (8)‘Thus says YHVH Elohim, “No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary.’ This quote from Ezekiel should make us think - it is a thought provoking end-time prophecy about Messiah’s millennium rule. If we who believe that we are already a kingdom of priests, think we are circumcised in heart and refuse to be circumcised in the flesh, is that not rebellion? Can we truly have a circumcised heart and yet refuse His commandment for a fleshly one, too? It is just a matter of which comes first. We have seen that Abraham was circumcised in heart, first. His obedience and faith in YHVH preceded his fleshly circumcision. But, when YHVH gave him that requirement – when He said, “cut off your foreskin, you and all your males for all generations”, Abraham didn’t quibble.

From the above we come to the conclusion that all new believers in Yahshua have to be immersed. After immersion they have to learn Torah and observe all that Yahshua commanded His disciples. It is whilst Gentile believers learn Torah, that they will be taught that, if they belong to Messiah, they are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. They will also learn that as Abraham’s offspring they will have to be circumcised as specified in the covenant given in Genesis 17: 10 – 12, bearing in mind that circumcision was never part of the sacrificial system. In addition we know that the covenant between YHVH and Abraham was never abolished. The Passover points toward Yahshua's sacrifice to pay the death penalty that we incurred by our law-breaking, as we read in 1 Corinthians. 5: 7 - 8 as follows: ‘Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For  Messiah our Passover also has been sacrificed. (8) Let us therefore celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.’ By His shed blood Yahshua reconciled us to the Father, making it possible for us to have direct access to the throne of YHVH. We believe that repentance; immersion in Yahshua’s Name and accepting His sacrifice constitutes a covenant with YHVH. The terms of which is sealed with the shed blood of Messiah Yahshua and is renewed yearly when we partake of the Passover, as we read in Hebrews 9: 11 – 12 & 15: ‘But when Messiah appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; (12) and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. (15) And for this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, in order that since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.’ Yahshua’s Passover during the night that He was betrayed constitutes the new covenant in His blood as we read in 1 Corinthians 11: 23 – 26, as follows: ‘For I received from the Master that which I also delivered to you, that the Master Yahshua in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; (24) and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” (25) In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it in remembrance of Me.” (26) For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Master’s death until He comes.’ We the returnees from the house of Israel  will most probably keep Messiah’s Passover the way He instructed us, until He returns, at which time we might revert back to the way the house of Judah keeps it?

As the Non-Jewish part of Israel, most of us were in the wilderness of false doctrines for almost 2000 years since Yahshua our Messiah became our Passover lamb. We have over the past decade (some for three to four decades) returned to the way (Halacha) of YHVH the Elohim of all Israel. We started keeping the Torah teachings of YHVH; by observing the Sabbath, the clean and unclean food laws and the Set-apart Days of YHVH our Elohim. When the Israelites came out of the wilderness they were circumcised, before partaking of the Passover, as we read in Joshua 5: 3 – 5 and 10: ‘So Joshua made himself flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth (the hill of foreskins). (4) And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: all the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, died in the wilderness along the way, after they came out of Egypt. (5) For all the people who came out were circumcised, but all the people who were born in the wilderness along the way as they came out of Egypt had not been circumcised.’ (10) ‘While the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal, they observed the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho.”

 It is at this time also required that we return to the rest of the Torah teachings of YHVH our Elohim and according to Torah (the entire Scriptures) both be circumcised in the heart and the flesh (in preferably that order, for Gentile believers), to partake of Yahshua’s Passover - the annual memorial of His death. Yahshua came specifically to bring a remnant of the lost ten tribes back to the original covenant that they made together with their Jewish Brothers at Mount Sinai. Jewish believers who remained Torah observant and were accordingly circumcised at eight days old, need not be immersed in Yahshua’s Saving Name to partake of the Passover as may be seen from Acts 2: 39, as follows: “For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, as many as YHVH our Elohim shall call to Himself.” If we bear in mind that the house of Israel, are the ones who were scattered into the nations of the world because of idolatry, and the house of Judah, remained close to YHVH even during their 70 year exile in Babylon (as per Daniel 9: 7), the house of Israel are the ones that are ‘far off’; so only those who YHVH calls at this time from the house of Israel, need be immersed (both male and female believers) and circumcised (male believers only). Think carefully about it! 

 

 

[1] Galatians 1: 17 & 18 (Rav. Shaul talking) ‘Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus. Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days.’

[2] See James 1: 18 ‘In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be, as it were, the first fruits among His creatures.’

[3] See James 2: 26 ‘For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.’

[4] James 4: 12 ‘There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?’