The Dynamics of Salvation By Grace Through Faith Leading to Good Works Explained

This is a dry, meaty, theological article intended for those of you who are deeper studiers of the Word of Elohim and want to understand how the deep things of YHVH relate to one another. The Word of Elohim does not contradict itself. Only the twisted and contorted humanistic philosophies of men turn the Bible into a confusing jumble of incongruent concepts. Make no mistake, the fault for this is not with Elohim, but rests squarely with carnal men and the false teachers among them. In this article, we show how both the Old and New Testaments are totally congruent on the subject of salvation, works, righteousness and faith as demonstrated by the life of Abraham and the writings of Paul. Please enjoy. — Natan

What is faith and how does it relate to salvation and the good works of Torah-obedience? Is a person saved by faith and grace alone, or by a combination of faith, grace and good works? Moreover, what is the nature of faith, how does it grow therefore deepening one’s spiritual relationship with YHVH Elohim? We will primarily study the example of Abraham, the father of the faithful and then see how Paul, the apostle, relates this to the basic salvation model of salvation by faith through grace leading to good works as stated in Ephesians 2:8–10. We also learn about the dynamic nature of faith as it relates to one’s relationship with the Creator.

First, let us define the word faith. The Epistle to the Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” What does this mean? Faith is a biblical Hebraic concept and is rooted in the rich, concrete, and practical nature of the Hebrew language. 

In Hebrew, the basic word for faith is emun from the root verb aman. The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (or TWOT) says this of aman: “At the heart of the meaning of the root is the idea of certainty. And this is borne out by the NT definition of faith found in Heb 11:1.” The TWOT goes on to state that the basic root idea of aman is “firmness or certainty.” In the qal form (the simple or plain form) of the Hebrew verb, aman expresses the concept of “support” and is used in the sense of the strong arms of the parent supporting the helpless infant. The idea is also seen in 2 Kings 18:16 where it refers to pillars of support. In the hiphel (causative) form of the verb, aman basically means “to cause to be certain, sure” or “to be certain about.” This verb form is used in Genesis 15:6 where we read that “[Abraham] believed in[ Heb. aman] YHVH; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”

The ArtScroll Bereishis/Genesis Commentary in its notes on Genesis 15:6 states of aman “It suggests total submission in the sense that one places his total confidence and seeks all his guidance and attitudes in God. In the same vein, when one responds amen to a blessing, he avows that he will be guided by the thought expressed in the blessing.”

The Jewish Torah scholar, Samson R. Hirsch in his commentary on Genesis 15:6 states, “Aman is not belief, by which word one robs this central idea of Jewish consciousness of its real conception. Belief is an act of the mind, is often only an opinion, is always only believing something to be true by reason of judgment and the assurance of somebody else. In making religion into a belief, and then making the cardinal point of religion believing in the truth of these quite untenable to the intelligence, religion has been banned from everyday life and made into a catechism of words of belief will be demanded as a passport for entry into the next world.” He goes on to say that to believe in the words of another is never expressed in the Hebrew word aman/believe in; it is not a mere submitting our theoretical mind to the insight of another, but rather is placing the full confidence, setting our whole theoretical and practical hold, or guidance, our strength and firmness on Elohim. Hirsch stresses the practical nature of aman. When Scripture says that Abraham believed in Elohim, Hirsch states that he had given himself over completely and unconditionally to the direct guidance of Elohim, who had raised him above the sphere of conditions on earth, where things are bound by the cause-and-effect laws of nature, to look at a concrete existence directly proceeding from the will of Elohim. This faith caused Abraham to believe YHVH’s promises which for them to come to pass would require supernatural intervention.

So what was the nature and dynamics of Abraham’s faith, so that Moses included Genesis 15:6 in the Torah, and David seems to reference it in the Psalms 32:1–2, and Paul uses it as the basis for his entire theology regarding a believer’s faith in Yeshua and salvation (see Romans chapter four)? The answer to this question is grounded in the living and dynamic faith Abraham had in YHVH. This is something worth studying, for it gives us insights into how to mature spiritually and to grow in one’s own faith walk and relationship with YHVH.

Abraham’s walk of faith is first mentioned in Genesis 12:1 where YHVH tells Abraham to leave his home in pagan Babylonia and to trek across the desert to a distant land that Elohim would show him. At the same time, YHVH gives him the hope of physical blessings (verses 2 and 3). Abraham takes that first step of faith and leaves Babylon for this remote country (verse 4). The dynamic we see here is that Abraham took the first step of faith to obey YHVH, and after the first step of faith was taken, YHVH revealed to him which land he would give him (verse 7). This was a giant step of faith for Abraham to take. He was an old man living in perhaps the most cosmopolitan city of the time. He was well-known, and a mighty prince such that his reputation even extended hundreds of miles from Babylonia all the way to Canaan (Gen 23:6). Additionally, he was a brilliant military leader and strategist as evidenced by his defeat of the five Babylonian king and their armies (Gen 14) with his own private army of 318 men. Abraham was willing to leave much behind in Babylon—his reputation, his family, and any material possessions that were not transportable and follow YHVH. Abraham’s walk of faith confirms James statement later that faith without works is dead (Jas 2:17). If Abraham had not left Babylon for Canaan (a difficult journey on foot of hundreds of miles), he would not have become the biblical giant of faith that we know.

Abraham’s literal journey because of his faith in Elohim’s promises teaches us that faith is not just mental assent or theoretical in nature, but is active and backed up by action as indicated by the Hebrew word aman, which describes the faith of Abraham (Gen 16:5).

Next we pick up Abraham’s faith journey in Genesis chapter 15. Here YHVH again reveals himself to Abraham and this time the focus of YHVH’s blessing on Abraham is not physical, but spiritual in nature, for YHVH states in verse 1 that he will be Abraham’s spiritual shield and great reward.

Little-by-little, Abraham is learning to walk with and to trust in YHVH. This is a process that has nothing to do with merely a theoretical belief system, but has everything to do with action. Biblical faith is a walk, not a thought! A thought can occur without subsequent action, while a walk requires not only thought, but action as well. 

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Exodus Chapters 33 to 34—Natan’s Commentary Notes

Exodus 33

Exodus 33:1–2, YHVH…my Angel/Messenger.Who is YHVH and who is the Angel? If YHVH is the preincarnate Yeshua, then who is this Angel?

Exodus 33:7, Moses took his tent.There comes a time when the anointed servant of the Most High can no longer tolerate the sinfulness and faithless of the people he is leading. Even Yeshua, in frustration, despaired on several occasions at his disciples for their lack of faith. Once, in desperation, he cried out, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?” (Matt 17:17). Holy men (and women) of Elohim are in a different place spiritually than the people they lead. As anointed and divinely appointed leaders, to lead YHVH’s people higher, they must be ahead of the people and their walk should be a little, if not a lot, higher. Their job is to lead people into a higher and deeper walk with YHVH. Sometimes, in frustration when they feel they have been less than successful in their mission, they must remove themselves from the people for a season to draw closer to YHVH for strength, wisdom, guidance and spiritual renewal as Moses did in this case.

A man who is holy or set apart unto YHVH can’t abide in an unholy situation. It’s anathema to him and causes every fiber in his being to cry out in frustrated disgust. He is in a different, higher world that carnal people know nothing about. This is why Moses had to separate himself from the Israelites—a stiffnecked and rebellious people who didn’t have a heart to follow Elohim.

Exodus 33:12–13, Grace.The mainstream church places a great deal of emphasis on the message of grace. The biblical doctrine of grace finds its roots in this chapter in the Torah and not in the apostolic writings as the mainstream church teaches. 

The noun grace (Heb. chen) is found six times in chapters 33 and 34. The adjective gracious (Heb. chanan and channuwn)as an attribute YHVH’s character is found three times in chapters 33 and 34. Six is the number of man and three is the number of Elohim. That is to say, the grace of the entire Godhead covers man completely even when his children turn away from him and give into golden calf worship. His grace for his people rejoices or triumphs over his fiery and consuming judgments (Exod 33:4; Jas 2:13; Pss 85:10; 89:14; Mic 7:18; Eph 1:7; Rom 5:8) that they deserve for their stiff-neckness and sinful rebellion against his commands (Exod 33:3).

The Hebrew word for grace is chen/IJmeaning “favor, grace, charm, acceptance.” The Hebrew word chen (found 69 times in the Tanakh), which is translated as grace, in this verse is equivalent to the Greek word charis/cariV, which is found 156 times in the Testimony of Yeshua and is translated as grace 130 times in the KJV.The equivalency of these two words is confirmed by the translators of the Septuagint (the Greek Tanakh) who used charis in place of chen when translating the Hebrew Tanakh into Greek beginning in the third century b.c. 

According to The TWOT, in the vast majority of occurrences of chen in the Tanakh, the focus of attention is not on the giver, but on the recipient. The emphasis is on the relationship of the superior to an inferior (e.g. a king to his subjects). What this teaches us is that despite sin and rebellion against him, YHVH (the king) is gracious (to humans, his subjects). Contrary to what many in the church have been led to believe, the grace of Elohim is a very prominent theme in the Tanakh. Examples of this include Noah who found grace in YHVH’s eyes (Gen 6:8), or the children of Israel although dead in their sins in Egypt and deserving of YHVH’s wrath, they were saved by the blood of the lamb. There are a number of other references to the grace of Elohim in the Tanakh as well (Gen 18:3; Exod 3:21; 33:16,17; 34:9; Ps 84:11; Zech 12:10).

Exodus 33:14, My Presence will go with you.YHVH’s Presence led the Israelites through the wilderness and into the Promised Land. Yeshua will lead his people through the wilderness of life and into the Promised Land of their eternal inheritance in his kingdom. Where is his Presence today in and among his people?

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What is true grace by biblical definition?

Romans 1:5, By whom we have received grace. Through Yeshua, this God-Man by which his deity was proven as indicated in verse four, humanity has been extended grace.

Grace … for obedience. Grace is the Greek word charis. The word grace has several subcomponent meanings. It is the removal by Elohim from the individual of guilt caused by sin—the wiping clean of the slate containing a man’s past sins. It is a divine and unmerited favor or pardon of Elohim toward sinful man. 

Grace also indicates favor on the part of the giver (Elohim) and thankfulness on the part of the recipient (man) and is to be distinguished from mercy which is the pardoning or removal of the penalty or consequences of sin. 

Grace removes guilt, mercy removes misery. But grace is also the divine influence or enablement upon the heart of man (see Strong’s Expanded Concordance). But grace is not only unmerited divine favor, but is also the divine enablement or empowerment to walk righteously before Elohim. It is “the merciful kindness by which Elohim, exerting his holy influence upon our souls, turns men to the Messiah, keeps, strengthens, increases them in faith, knowledge affection, and kindles them the ability to exercise righteous virtues (see 2 Cor 1:12; 4:15; 6:1; 12:9; 2 Thess 1:12; Acts 11:23; 13:43; 18:27; Rom 6:14; Gal 5:4; Col 3:16; 1 Cor 15:10) according to Thayer’s Greek -English Lexicon of the NT

So in summary, we see that grace is not only the unmerited divine favor that wipes away our past sins, but the divine empowerment or enablement to walk in such a state of righteousness and virtue before Elohim so that one does not sin (i.e. transgress the Torah-law of Elohim — 1 John 3:4) thus incurring upon oneself the penalty for sin (death) and hence the need, once a gain, for unmerited divine favor or pardon.

 

Surprise, surprise! The concept of grace DID NOT originate in the NT

Exodus 33:12–13, Grace.The mainstream church places a great deal of emphasis on the message of grace. The biblical doctrine of grace finds its roots in this chapter in the Torah and not in the apostolic writings as the mainstream church teaches. 

The noun grace (Heb. chen) is found six times in chapters 33 and 34. The adjective gracious (Heb. chanan and channuwn)as an attribute YHVH’s character is found three times in chapters 33 and 34. Six is the number of man and three is the number of Elohim. That is to say, the grace of the entire Godhead covers man completely even when his children turn away from him and give into golden calf worship. His grace for his people rejoices or triumphs over his fiery and consuming judgments (Exod 33:4; Jas 2:13; Pss 85:10; 89:14; Mic 7:18; Eph 1:7; Rom 5:8) that they deserve for their stiff-neckness and sinful rebellion against his commands (Exod 33:3).

The Hebrew word for grace is chen/IJmeaning “favor, grace, charm, acceptance.” The Hebrew word chen (found 69 times in the Tanakh), which is translated as grace, in this verse is equivalent to the Greek word charis/cariV, which is found 156 times in the Testimony of Yeshua and is translated as grace 130 times in the KJV.The equivalency of these two words is confirmed by the translators of the Septuagint (the Greek Tanakh) who used charis in place of chen when translating the Hebrew Tanakh into Greek beginning in the third century b.c. 

According to The TWOT, in the vast majority of occurrences of chen in the Tanakh, the focus of attention is not on the giver, but on the recipient. The emphasis is on the relationship of the superior to an inferior (e.g. a king to his subjects). What this teaches us is that despite sin and rebellion against him, YHVH (the king) is gracious (to humans, his subjects). Contrary to what many in the church have been led to believe, the grace of Elohim is a very prominent theme in the Tanakh. Examples of this include Noah who found grace in YHVH’s eyes (Gen 6:8), or the children of Israel although dead in their sins in Egypt and deserving of YHVH’s wrath, they were saved by the blood of the lamb. There are a number of other references to the grace of Elohim in the Tanakh as well (Gen 18:3; Exod 3:21; 33:16,17; 34:9; Ps 84:11; Zech 12:10).

 

What is grace? It’s much more than “unmerited pardon”!

Romans 1:5, Grace … for obedience. Grace is the Greek word charis. The word grace has several subcomponent meanings. It is the removal by Elohim from the individual of guilt caused by sin—the wiping clean of the slate containing a man’s past sins. It is a divine and unmerited favor or pardon of Elohim toward sinful man. 

Grace also indicates favor on the part of the giver (Elohim) and thankfulness on the part of the recipient (man) and is to be distinguished from mercy which is the pardoning or removal of the penalty or consequences of sin. 

Grace removes guilt, mercy removes misery. But grace is also the divine influence or enablement upon the heart of man (see Strong’s Expanded Concordance). But grace is not only unmerited divine favor, but is also the divine enablement or empowerment to walk righteously before Elohim. It is “the merciful kindness by which Elohim, exerting his holy influence upon our souls, turns men to the Messiah, keeps, strengthens, increases them in faith, knowledge affection, and kindles them the ability to exercise righteous virtues (see 2 Cor 1:12; 4:15; 6:1; 12:9; 2 Thess 1:12; Acts 11:23; 13:43; 18:27; Rom 6:14; Gal 5:4; Col 3:16; 1 Cor 15:10) according to Thayer’s Greek -English Lexicon of the NT

So in summary, we see that grace is not only the unmerited divine favor that wipes away our past sins, but the divine empowerment or enablement to walk in such a state of righteousness and virtue before Elohim so that one does not sin (i.e. transgress the Torah-law of Elohim — 1 John 3:4) thus incurring upon oneself the penalty for sin (death) and hence the need, once a gain, for unmerited divine favor or pardon.

 

The concept of grace comes out of the OT? That’s not what I’ve been taught!

Exodus 33:12–13, Grace. The mainstream church places a great deal of emphasis on the message of grace. The biblical doctrine of grace finds its roots in this chapter in the Torah and not in the apostolic writings as the mainstream church teaches.

The noun grace (Heb. chen) is found six times in chapters 33 and 34. The adjective gracious (Heb. chanan and channuwn) as an attribute YHVH’s character is found three times in chapters 33 and 34. Six is the number of man and three is the number of Elohim. That is to say, the grace of the entire Godhead covers man completely even when his children turn away from him and give into golden calf worship. His grace for his people Continue reading


 

Saved By Grace Unto Good Works

Exodus 24:1, Worship you far off. This verse clearly tells us that man can approach to worship YHVH only on the basis of the blood of the Passover lamb, but not on the basis of his own works of the law, since YHVH had not yet given the full Torah to the Israelites (that would occur later at Mount Sinai in Exod 24:12).

That is not to say that the works of the Torah are not essential in one’s spiritual walk. Rather, they simply are not the basis of our salvation, but rather a guide to lead us in the paths of righteousness once we are saved, and to keep us on the path of righteousness until we die (Eph 2:8–10).

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

not of works, lest anyone should boast.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Furthermore, Yeshua taught that our works will determine our level of rewards in his kingdom (Matt 5:19), though not our initial salvation.

Some have misunderstood Paul’s teachings to mean that since we are not saved by keeping the law, we therefore no longer need to keep the law. This is not what Paul taught! In numerous places in Paul’s writings, he upheld the validity of the Torah in the life of the redeemed believer, and even confessed that he was obedient to the law in his own life.