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We
view our responsibilities as a congregation and as individual Believers in Mashiach to be as
follows:
Our Responsibility Toward G-d
Our Responsibility Toward Our Family
Our Responsibility Toward the Body of Mashiach
Our Responsibility Toward the Lost
Our Responsibility Toward Israel
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We agree with the Westminster Shorter Catechism that “Man’s primary purpose (‘chief end’)
is to glorify G-d, and to enjoy Him forever.” We accomplish this
responsibility toward G-d first and foremost by loving Him. When we truly
love Him above all else, we will give Him our unquestioning obedience in all
things. He will be glorified by our love and obedience.
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When a scribe asked Yeshua, “Which mitzvah [commandment] is the greatest of
all?” Yeshua answered, “The greatest is, ‘Hear,
Yisra'el, the LORD our G-d, the LORD is one: you shall love the LORD your
G-d with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and
with all your strength.’ This is the first mitzvah. The second is like this, ‘You shall
love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other mitzvah greater than these.”
(Mark 12:28-31 HNV)
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Anyone who does not love G-d as Yeshua commanded is under G-d’s
divine curse. “If any man doesn't love the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, let him be accursed.
Maranata!” (1 Cor. 16:22 HNV)
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The Bible says that Yeshua HaMashiach became obedient to Torah so that the Gentiles would
glorify G-d. “Now I say that Messiah has been made a minister of the
circumcision for the truth of G-d, that he might confirm the promises given
to the fathers, and that the Goyim might glorify G-d for his mercy. As it is
written, ‘Therefore will I give praise to you among the Goyim, And sing to your name.’” We
believe that because Yeshua was obedient to Torah, and we claim that we follow Him, then
we are likewise called to be obedient to Torah. (Rom. 15:8-9 HNV)
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The Bible says that because He has bought us out of bondage to sin, we live to glorify
Him. “For you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify G-d in your body
and in your spirit, which are G-d’s.” (1 Cor. 6:20 HNV)
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Yeshua said that if we love Him we will obey Him (John 3:36; 14:23,24), and the Epistles
confirm that we are to obey Him (Acts 5:29,32; Rom. 2:8; 6:16; 2 Thess. 1:8; 3:14; Heb.
5:9; 1 Pet. 1:2; 4:17). This glorifies G-d. (Rom. 15:6)
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The Bible says that we have become the Bride of Mashiach and that we will reign with Him
forever. (Rev. 19:6-9; 21:1-22:7)
HNV = Hebrew Names
Version of World English Bible
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Because G-d created the family millennia before He created His Miqra, we
believe that our responsibility toward our family comes second only to our responsibility
toward our G-d. Yeshua set this model before us in that as He hung dying on
Calvary’s cross, He committed the care of His mother into the hands of the beloved
Disciple. G-d’s Torah, which our Lord declared as unchangeable, provides for
strong family bonds and responsibilities, and our Lord taught that the man who fails to
care for his family is worse than an infidel.
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Concerning relationships within the Family:
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Rabbi Sha'ul taught that Yeshua is the head of the husband and the
husband is to be subject to Yeshua, and that the husband is the head of the wife, and
the wife is to be subject to her husband (Eph. 5:22-33; Col. 13:18; 1 Pet. 3:1-6; Titus
2:5).
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The Bible also teaches that the husband is to love his wife just as
Mashiach also loved the miqra and gave Himself up for her, and to treat her gently, “as
a weaker vessel” (Eph. 5:25-33; Col. 3:19; 1 Pet. 3:7).
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The Bible teaches that a husband and wife are to “become one flesh” (Eph.
5:31).
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The Bible teaches that children are to be obedient to their parents and
honor them (Col. 3:20; Eph. 6:1-3), but that fathers are not to exasperate their
children or provoke them to anger “but [are to] bring them up in the discipline and
instruction of the Lord” (Col. 3:21 Eph. 6:4).
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Parents are to instruct their children in the Torah of G-d
“that they should put their confidence in G-d, and not forget the works of
G-d, but keep His commandments.”
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Parents are also to teach their children the praises of the LORD,
not just His judgments (Psalm 78:1-8; Deut. 4:10; 6:4-9; 11:18-21).
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We therefore commit that in all the teachings and functions of this congregation, we will
keep the family foremost, that our families will be built on the sure foundation, which is
Adonai Yeshua HaMashiach and His Word.
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When speaking about the greatest of all commandments, Yeshua said, “The second is like this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.’ There is no other mitzvah greater than these” (Mark 12:31
HNV). Yeshua also said, “This is my mitzvah, that
you love one another, even as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that
someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do whatever I
command you. … I command these things to you, that you may love one another” (John 15:12-17 HNV) We are commanded to fervently love each other (1 Pet. 1:22;
4:8-9; 1 John 3:11,23; 4:7-12; 2 John 1:5).
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This kind of love means placing the well-being of others before that of ourselves. (Rom.
12:10; Phil. 2:3,4; 1 Thess. 3:11-13; 5:15)
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We are to meet one another’s needs. (Rom. 12:13; 2 Cor. 9:12-14)
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We are to obey our congregation leaders and submit to their authority over us. (Heb.
13:17)
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We are to be devoted to one another. (Rom. 12:10-13)
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We are to “pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.”
(Rom. 14:19-20)
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We are to “be of the same mind with one another according to Mashiach Yeshua.” (Rom. 15:6)
and to accept one another. (Rom. 15:7)
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We are to admonish one another. (Rom. 15:14; Col. 3:16)
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We are to give honor to one another (1 Cor. 12:24-26; 1 Thess. 5:13).
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We are to “show forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Eph. 4:1-6) We are to lay aside all falsehood and
speak truth to each other (Eph. 4:25; Col. 3:9) We are to be kind and tenderhearted to
each other (Eph. 4:32). We are to forgive each other as G-d in Yeshua forgave
us (Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:12-15).
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We are to submit to each other (Eph. 5:18-21). We are to comfort one another (1 Thess.
4:17-18) We are to encourage one another (1 Thess. 5:11; Heb. 3:13; 10:25). We are to
build each other up (1 Thess. 5:11). We are to live in peace with each other (1 Thess.
5:13) We are to “stimulate one another to love and good deeds” (Heb. 10:24). We are to
confess our sins to one another and pray for one another (James 5:16). We are to serve
each other (1 Pet. 4:10). We are to act humbly toward each other (1 Pet. 5:5-6). We are to
have fellowship with each other (1 John 1:7; Heb. 10:25).
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We are not to judge one another or to put obstacles or stumbling blocks in each
other’s way (Rom. 14:13). There are to be no divisions among us (1 Cor. 12:25). We
are not to “bite” one another (Gal. 5:13-16). We are not to become boastful,
challenge one another, or envy one another (Gal. 5:26). We are not to repay evil
with evil (1 Thess. 5:15). We are not to forsake our own assembling together (Heb.
10:25). We are not to complain or speak against each other (James 4:11; 5:9; 1 Pet.
4:8-9).
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We believe that at His ascension, Yeshua commissioned the eleven Shliachim
(Apostles) to “Therefore go, and make talmidim [disciples] of all nations, immersing them
in the name of HaAbba [the Father] and of HaBen [the Son], and of Ruach HaKodesh [the Holy Spirit], teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you.” (Matt. 28:16-20). He also told them, “But
you will receive power when Ruach HaKodesh has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me
in Yerushalayim, in all Yehudah and Shomron, and to the uttermost parts of the earth” (Acts 1:8). We believe that commission was given directly to the Apostles and
that they literally fulfilled that commission prior to their deaths before the end of the
first century.
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However, we believe that the principles of our Lord’s teachings are clear and require us,
as ambassadors for Mashiach, to carry on the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-21)
by availing ourselves of every opportunity to present the Gospel of Yeshua HaMashiach to a
lost and dying world, “Go[ing] out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel[ling]
them to come in, that my house may be filled.” (Luke 14:23) As the lost are won to
Mashiach, it is our responsibility to make talmidim [disciples] of them, immerse them, and
teach them the teachings of our Lord and of His shliachim, “for the equipping of the
saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Mashiach; until we all
attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of G-d, to
a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Mashiach.”
(Eph. 4:12-13)
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The Bible teaches that Israel has been elected by G-d out of all of the
families of man to be His chosen people, to serve as a light to the Gentiles and as an
example to the world of His love, compassion, providence, and righteous judgment.
Moreover, G-d chose Abraham and his descendants to be the human family from
which His own Son, Yeshua HaMashiach (the Lord Jesus Christ) would be born after the
flesh, to be Israel’s Messiah and our Redeemer.
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The Bible teaches that Israel fell from her exalted position because of her repeated
idolatry and her corporate rejection of Messiah when He first appeared [though
tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of faithful Jews gladly received Him then], and so
G-d chose to include the Gentile nations in the call to be His Miqra and to
serve as His example to the world and to make Israel jealous (Rom. 11:11) so that as a
nation she might awaken from her spiritual slumber and acknowledge Yeshua HaMashiach as
Lord and G-d, and as Israel’s long-awaited Messiah. While we believe that
Ruach HaKodesh is now calling out tens of thousands from all the tribes of Israel, we
believe that the national awakening will fully come under the ministry of G-d’s
144,000 sealed Israelite bond-servants following the “Rapture¨ of the Miqra (Rev. 7).
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We believe that G-d has made numerous unilateral, unconditional, and
irrevocable covenants with the household of Avraham that have not yet been fulfilled, and
that because of His unchangeable nature He is faithful to fulfill all His promises. We
therefore accept as self-evident that G-d is not yet finished with His chosen
race until such time as they are all again living in fellowship with and obedience
to Him. We believe that the Gentiles are heirs to salvation and to the wonderful promises
of G-d only because G-d has seen fit to adopt them
into Abraham’s family, who alone are the rightful heirs of those covenants. (Romans 11)
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Those who are Gentile “Christians” therefore own a never-payable debt of
gratitude to those who are the sons of Avraham, Yitzhak, and Ya'akov after the flesh, and
they owe it to Israel and to Adonai Yeshua to do all
within their power to lovingly lead Judah and Israel back into faith and obedience.
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Additionally, when Mashiach returns to establish His earthly kingdom, all nations of the
earth will be judged by the way they have treated Israel (Matt. 25:31-46). So all the more
do the Gentile nations have an obligation to treat Israel righteously, for they are the
brethren of Yeshua HaMashiach.
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We therefore believe that we have a responsibility toward G-d to provide our
unconditional support to the Nation of Israel and her struggle to regain the entire
Promised Land (including all the territory from the Nile River to the Euphrates River) as
their eternal possession.
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http://familybible.org/About/Responsibility.htm
was last revised at
06:53 PM on
Thursday, 11 September 2008 |