Welcome to the first of what I hope to be a weekly ongoing class on seeking to walk as our Savior walked.

I want to say first of all that I am one who believes that we are 100% saved by grace, and we can do nothing of ourselves to earn salvation or earn acceptance from heaven. Our own righteousness will not be enough for any of us to deserve anything other than damnation on that final day. But we have a Savior that bore our sin for us, so that we might be completely cleansed of all unrighteousness, as it says in 1st John 1:9

He is so good to us! So very good to us! However, I am also quite aware that His goodness must lead me to repentance, as it says in Romans:

For those who do not know, the term “Elohim” is the Hebrew word commonly translated “God.” Later I’ll explain why I use that term instead of God.

But anyway, to repent literally means to “turn.” Turn away from our own ways and begin walking as our Savior walked. He was a sinless and perfectly obedient man, meaning that He walked in perfect love. And because He lives in me, and because His love for me is inspiring, I want to know all there is to know about Him, so that I can live like Him.

Thus, the purpose of this class. As part of a repentant attitude, I want to know every nuance of how He lived… so that I might live like Him, and so that when others see me, they don’t see “me,” but Him who lives in me.

So, with that, I want to say, first and foremost that I have no expectations of anyone in this room. This is not a class where I compare anyone with anyone, nor do I look down on anyone who believes differently than me. We all stand, shoulder to shoulder, as equals…and the only one we should really be comparing our lives to is the life of our dear Savior that we love and want to emulate.

So I would just like to encourage everyone to take that same attitude. Our goal is to be discipled, not by man’s ideas, but by the teachings of the holy scriptures. Thus, we are calling this a discipleship class.

I will share some thoughts on each biblical concept and precept given, then we will open the floor for comments and discussions, questions, and hopefully through everyone comparing notes and sharing their points of view, we will all be more like our Savior at the end than we were when we started.

So, what is the goal of this class? To do just what 1John 2:6 says.

For everyone to learn more about how our Savior lived His life, so that we might be more like Him at the conclusion of this exercise than we were at the beginning.

And if that’s all that we accomplish here, we have met our goal.

So, let’s get started….

Start with the beginning

If we are going to learn how our Savior lived His life, I truly believe that there is no better place to start than at the very beginning.

One thing we do need to understand about our Savior is that He was not an American Christian. And the bible is not an American document. He was Jewish, and the bible is a middle eastern document. For this reason, if we are really going to understand how He lived His life, we are going to need to understand how our Heavenly Father told the Jewish people to live their lives.

The only place we are going to be able to find an accurate record of this is by examining the various commandments that was given to Israel in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

They tried but they could not find a single fault in him. Pilate tried also but he also said:

This means that He kept every commandment that was given to Israel… perfectly. He did not fail to keep a single one. If He ever did, He would be a sinner and in need of a Savior Himself. But He did not sin. He did not transgress a single law.

Therefore, if we are going to know how He lived, we have to study the commandments, and I understand that some who are attending this class may believe that certain commandments He observed are no longer required of us.

But even so, what we are about to learn is how He lived His life. And I hope that because you love Him, you will still benefit because you are learning about Him.

Principles, not just Precepts

As we study the commandments in the Old Testament, we want to interpret them the way our Savior Himself interpreted them… by looking at the principles, not just the precepts. In other words, we want to understand the spirit of the law, not just the written text.

For instance, He said:

These are classic and famous examples of the way we need to look at our Heavenly Father’s commandments. Our Heavenly Father doesn’t just want the correct mechanical actions coming from our bodies, He wants our hearts. That’s how our Savior lived, and that’s how He taught us to live.

A lot of times we will find that very thing taught within the Old Testament scriptures themselves. He already said:

So, it was already about the heart, from the very beginning. The scribes and Pharisees didn’t care about their heart condition. They were only looking to put on a show. For this reason, He said that one’s righteousness needed to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. Otherwise, we will not be pleasing to our Heavenly Father, who wants all of our hearts!

Another example:

In these scripture verses we see that the command to not muzzle the ox also, by the principle being taught, to give proper honor to elders. There are many things like this we will discover throughout this series.

Having ears to hear

Our Savior would often say, “To him who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Our Heavenly Father’s word is speaking to those who have the ears to hear it.

To hear it, we need to do what the Messiah said to do:

This means that we really want to be corrected, we really want to do our Father’s will, we really want to walk as our Savior walked and thereby show this world an example of who He truly is.

The author of Psalm 119 had it down:

And if this is our longing, our desire… it will be granted to us. For this longing isn’t a longing for legalism, it’s a longing to be what our Heavenly Father created us to be, from the heart. It’s a longing to live our lives in such a way that we manifest our Savior’s life in our community, in our homes, and in our personal thought life.

Our love for Him should be so very great, that we want to be just like him.

If we have this hunger, this thirst for righteousness within our souls, we will be filled. He will not hide His commandments from us, as we learn, and then apply the things we have learned.

Our growth in Messiah is a process. Sanctification is a process of hearing, learning, applying.. but it all starts with having ears to hear… and that all starts with hungering for the things of Elohim:

Use of the true names

Now before I start, I want to say that in my desire to search for our Heavenly Father and His ways with all of my heart, I have come across some information that caused me to speak differently than some of you may speak.

I have come to understand that our Heavenly Father has a name, and that name is Yahweh.

Whenever “the LORD” is in the text, I restore this to “Yahweh”

Even some modern translations went ahead and put “Yahweh” in the translation in some places. For instance, the New Living Translation has:

And whenever the term “God” is used in most translations, I go back to the original as well, preferring to call Him “Elohim” instead of “God.

At the very beginning of Moses’ ministry to the Israelite people. He was out there tending his sheep, when one day he sees a burning bush. And our Heavenly Father introduces Himself to Moses:

The first thing you want to know when you meet someone is to know their name.”Yahweh” is the name that Yahweh chose to attach to Himself, and be the word chosen to bring remembrance to His character. Since He said he wants me to remember it, and His name was removed from most of our English bibles, I put it back where it was before.

Simple as that, and again, this is just my own preference. What you do is your choice, but here is a full review of this topic.

The Ten Commandments

Moving on, we are going to take a look at the Ten Commandments. We know for sure that our Savior lived by the Ten Commandments, so it is a good place to start.

The very first of the Ten Commandments, and we’re going to read from the New King James Version here.. says:

On the surface, it sounds like He is saying that there are other gods, but as long as He we don’t put any other gods ahead of Him, we are ok.

What does this mean, are there really gods other than Yahweh? The way it is worded here, He kind of speaks as if there are, but just to make sure that He is number one.

This is where I have found great benefit in looking into the Hebrew Language. It provides us with insights that we can’t see in our English text. I’ve heard it said that reading scripture in English is like reading it in black and white, while reading it in Hebrew is like reading it in color.

And if you have been to Israel and visited the places that scripture talks about… you might even get a chance to read it in 3D.

The Hebrew word translated “Gods” in this verse is that word I used earlier, “Elohim,” but notice in these scriptures the Hebrew word “Elohim” is not translated “God.”

So we see that in the last two verses it is translated “judges.” These were the men in power, so they had power and might. Unlike the English term “God,” which is in reference to the Supreme Being, the Hebrew term Elohim can legitimately refer to men and any powerful thing or anyone who has power.

Now, let’s bring this back to our text in Exodus 20:

So what does this insight into the Hebrew text teach us? To have no other mighty one against His face or before His face, as in allowing anything to stand in between us and Him.

Therefore the Principle is this: No man, no earthly judge, no righteous or fallen angel, no one is to be compared to Him and/or placed in between us and Him. Yahweh always comes first! He IS first, and we must live as though He is.

Probably the biggest problem man has, is a failure to put Him first.

It is the reason why King David was chosen over King Saul:

And it’s the reason why the sometimes stumbling and spiritually immature apostles were chosen over the Scribes and Pharisees:

Our Savior summed up the principle and spirit of the first commandment when He said:

So don’t even put ourselves before Him. We can very easily think that we are doing all things by our own power. By our own might. We can fall into this delusion pretty easily.

The truth is, there is only one source of power and might. All things are coming from the Father, the one who is the source of all things. He is #1, and in this first commandment He is expecting us to live as though He is.

That means we cannot put anything else in that #1 spot. Not men, not even ourselves. So to sum up what He asks from us:

Loyalty!

To put man in that #1 spot is for us to be disloyal to the only one who deserves to be there.

To put our carnal pleasures, or worldly possessions in that spot is to be disloyal to the only one who deserves to be there. And many fall into that trap:

Anything that takes the place of HIM and what He wants to be in our lives can be idolatry. Anything.

Anything that has a hold on us can be dangerous spiritually. We don’t want to be brought under the power of any. I think there is a Scripture about that.

In other words, we don’t want to be brought under the power of anything. We don’t want any earthly thing to have a hold of us. I don’t care if it is drug addictions, or cigarette addictions, if something has a hold of us, and we can’t let it go, even Internet addictions or computer addictions, or game addictions.

Whatever addictions may have hold of us, we have to set it aside and say, ‘No, only my Heavenly Father is the One that has a hold on me. I’m not going to be brought the power of anything else, ‘ The verse after this one even talks about food. So food can be an addiction. We don’t want to be powerless to any element of the world.

If anything has us in a position where we really feel like we can’t make it very well without it, then I think we are in a place of danger there, of putting other things in the place of our our Father in Heaven.

To anything we should be able to say, “If I want to let it go. I can let it go easily.”
Thankfully, I’ve never been addicted to cigarettes, but those I know who are, whenever they are upset, when they’re angry, when they can’t seem to manage things, they go light one up. I think Yahweh our Father is jealous of that. He is jealous. He wants to be the One that we turn to when we are having a rough way to go.

So a person can have this idol in their heart, while at the same time they want to hear the Word of Yahweh. They want to inquire of Him. They want to hear what He has to say, but they’ve got these little idols in their hearts, and they end up separating themselves from Elohim because of these idols. We have to be on guard and look for things that are keeping us from progressing spiritually. They are stumbling blocks as the Scripture says, setting up these things that cause us stumble into iniquity.

If we try to inquire of Yahweh, and we have these idols in our hearts, He may choose not to hear us.

Are there things in our life that are taking the place of what Yahweh wants to be?

Probably the biggest idol really is man. It all comes down to man. Whether it be the “self-man” or some other man.

They had an idol in their hearts. The honor and praise that comes from men.

The world is selling us things on the basis of comfort, of ease, of convenience.

We buy cell phones to make it easier to talk to anyone anywhere we want to pretty much. We buy these plush chairs to make our lives comfy, and luxury cars and luxury houses. We are conditioned to look for ease, for comfort, for convenience. For stroking the needs of our flesh. And it’s real easy to carry that over into our faith if we’re not careful.

It is not fun going against the grain. It is often uncomfortable. It is often uneasy. It is often inconvenient and sometimes downright painful, but I think of this: We should put Him before ourselves, because after all:

Our Savior put us before Himself!

If He loved us enough to leave the ease and comfort of the heavenlies and bear our diseases, bear our sin, bear our wickedness and bear the weight of the entire world on His shoulders so that we could be delivered from the pit which we dug ourselves….

If He could bear the weight of the world, bear a crown of thorns on His head, and put us ahead of Himself….just to show us how much we are loved….

Is it too much to ask, that we perhaps may suffer a little bit, in order to love Him in return?

Are we willing to endure “a light affliction” as the Scripture calls it? Are we willing to lay down our lives for Him, as He did for us?

Are we willing to, as one man put it:

Give up what we cannot keep, to obtain that which we cannot lose?

Are we willing to regard the praises that come from our Heavenly Father to be more important than the opinions of men, the opinions of our neighbors, the opinions of our relatives, the opinions of our spouse, or even the opinions of the church members that we value?

Are we willing to suffer at the hands of men in order to put Yahweh first and do the will of our Father in Heaven? In other words, are we willing to walk as our Savior walked?

Are we willing to come to Him as a little child and say to Him, I will follow you. I will walk as You walked, I will live as You lived, because I love You Dearest Savior. There isn’t anyone more worthy of following, no one more worthy to praise, no one I want to spend eternity with more… than Him.

Therefore, as the scripture says: