Our Beliefs
When the idea for Tree of Life Fellowship was first being tossed around the Spirit spoke to me through a few passages of Scripture. John 17:19-21 “And for their sakes, I sanctify Myself. So that they also may be sanctified through the Truth. “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who shall believe in Me through their word, “so that they may all be one; as you, O Father, are in Me, and I in you. And that they may also be one in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.
In this passage, Yeshua is praying that all believers would be so close that we would work together as ONE, not with denominational separations, and people within those groups, constantly arguing over every little point of doctrine with those that they disagree with!
The requirement for salvation is this, that people confess and repent of sin, they are baptized, as Peter said in Acts, baptism is in water and in the Spirit. Then Romans 8:9; Paul states, "That if you confess with your mouth Yeshua as Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, You will be saved!" It does not say that you have to believe some creed or doctrinal position!
It is time for the church to be THE church! A place where regardless of your doctrinal or creedal beliefs Messiahians can be strengthened, love, worship, serve and grow as ONE!
GOD, HIS SPIRIT & Yeshua
1. There is one God, that is Yahweh. He is our Father and the Creator of us all (Isaiah 44:24). He is almighty, eternal, and sovereign of the universe. Yahweh said, For I am God, and there is no one else. I am God, and there is no one like me (Isaiah 46:9). Yeshua said to his Father, “You are the only true God” (John 17:3).
2. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of the Father (Matthew 10:20). It is the Father’s own power and presence. By a miracle of His Spirit, God is the Father of Yeshua the Messiah (Matthew 1:18&20; Luke 1:35). God also anointed Yeshua with His Spirit and power for ministry (Acts 10:38). He was filled with the Spirit of God, and it empowered him to do all that he did (Luke 4:1,18-20).
By that same Spirit, God and His son Yeshua now works in the lives of believers through the gifts of the Spirit. There are seven motivational gifts found in Romans 12; preaching, serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, ruling, and mercy. Paul in 1 Corinthians 12 adds nine more gifts of the Spirit; word of knowledge, increased faith, the gifts of healing, the gift of miracles, prophecy, the discernment of spirits, kinds of tongues, interpretation of tongues.
The apostle Paul wrote, That God may grant that you will be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit (Ephesians 3:16).
3. Yeshua is the Messiah. He is the virgin born son of God (Luke 1:34-35, Galatians 4:4). When he asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” the Apostle Peter responded, You are the Messiah, the son of the living God (Matthew 16:16). Yeshua said that his Father is “the only true God,” and that he himself is the “Messiah,” God’s Messiah (John 17:3).
By God’s intention and plan, and by Yeshua’ choice to do his Father’s will (Luke 22:41-42), he became the savior of his fellow human beings (Galatians 1:4, Revelation 5:9). God anointed Yeshua/Yeshua with the Holy Spirit and power and made him “Lord and Messiah” forever (Acts 2:36, Psalm 110:1).
Humanity & Salvation in Messiah
1. Human beings are entirely mortal – subject to death. All need salvation. Adam was created in the image of God and without sin (Genesis 1:27). However, having the free will to choose between obedience and disobedience, he rebelled against God and chose disobedience. For that reason, sin and death entered the human experience (Romans 5:12).
2. Where Adam failed, Yeshua succeeded. By depending on God, he chose obedience (John 5:30), lived a sinless life (Hebrews 4:15) and gave himself as a ransom for us (Matthew 20:28). Because of Yeshua, God has extended immortality (eternal life) to human beings. However, immortality is conditional: It is dependent upon a person being “in Messiah.” For as in Adam all die, so in Messiah all will be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:22). Also note Romans 5:17-21.
3. Yeshua proclaimed the hope of everlasting life and the gospel of the Kingdom of God (John 3:16, Luke 4:43). He died and was buried, but God raised him from the dead (Acts 17:31, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4). The Apostle Paul explains – because of Yeshua, and because of God’s love for him and us, God “put the Messiah forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood for the forgiveness of sins which is effective to us through faith” (Romans 3:24-25).
Yeshua, by his own words, is the only way to God, Yeshua said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
4. We come into a saving relationship with Yeshua by believing in him and his word; repenting and receiving water baptism (by immersion) in his name (Acts 2:38, 4:12, 8:12, Galatians 3:27). Yeshua is Lord and the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him and his Father (Matthew 7:21, Hebrews 5:9).
THE KINGDOM OF GOD - OUR INHERITANCE
1. Yeshua the Messiah, as God’s son, will be given the entire earth as his everlasting inheritance. God said to him in prophecy, You are my son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the ends of the earth as your possession (Psalm 2:7-8).
2. Those who are the people of Yeshua the Messiah, are his co-heirs. They will inherit the earth with him, If you are children of God, then you are heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Messiah— if so be, that we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him (Romans 8:17).
The psalmist said, “The righteous shall inherit the land and live in it forever” (Psalm 37:29, Also note vv. 9, 11, 22 and 34). Yeshua himself said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).
3. Yeshua will return, and his kingdom will be established on the earth (Acts 1:11, Revelation 11:15). At his return, the first order of business will be to raise back to life those who have died “in Messiah.” The Apostle Paul wrote that they are sleeping in death (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). In a resurrection like his (Romans 6:3-5), they will be awakened to never die again. Messiah has been raised from the dead; he is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Messiah. But each in his proper order: Messiah the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Messiah (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).
His people who are still alive when he returns, together with those “in Messiah” which will be raised from the dead, will then enjoy their eternal inheritance. They will rule and reign with him on the earth (Revelation 3:21, 5:10).
4. When Messiah returns, the blessings that God promised to Abraham will be ultimately fulfilled (Genesis 12:1-3). Those blessings include that the land God showed him will be an everlasting inheritance to him and his descendants (Genesis 15:5-7, 17:6-8, 18:17-18). At Messiah’s return, there will be the restoration of the kingdom to Israel. Yeshua himself will sit on the throne of his father David, forever (Luke 1:31-33, 1 Kings 9:5). The Apostle Peter spoke of the coming day in which God will send the Messiah appointed for you, that is, Yeshua, who must remain in heaven until the time of restoration of all things that God announced long ago through his holy prophets (Acts 3:20-21).
5. In the Kingdom of God on earth, righteousness, peace and joy will be everlasting (2 Peter 3:13, Romans 14:17). This will be the new heavens and earth, and the ultimate fulfillment of God’s new creation in Messiah Yeshua (2 Corinthians 5:17). God himself will once again dwell with human beings. He will have fellowship with Messiah and his people as he did with Adam and Eve in the beginning (Revelation 21:3-5).
Then, death itself and even the grave, together with all that are evil, will be finally expunged in the lake of fire spoken of in the book of Revelation (Revelation 20:14-15).
HOW SHOULD WE LIVE NOW?
1. While we wait for the return of the Messiah to the earth, we pray and look with joyful anticipation for his coming (1 Thessalonians 1:10). During this time, we share our hope of resurrection and unending (eternal) life with the people of this present age. We are representatives of Yeshua the Messiah, encouraging everyone to come to peace with God through him (Romans 5:1). We are ambassadors for Messiah. God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Messiah, be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:20).
2. Till Messiah returns, the great plan of God and His will for us is revealed in the Word of God – the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. The Apostle Paul writes: All Scripture is inspired by God and is beneficial for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). Also note 2 Peter 1:20-21.
3. Even now, while sitting at the right hand of God, Yeshua our Messiah is our advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1). He is our high priest (Hebrews 4:14) and appears in the presence of God for us (Hebrews 9:24). He is our mediator with God, There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Messiah Yeshua (1 Timothy 2:5).
4. We seek to live a “Kingdom Life” now. We must conduct ourselves before God as is appropriate for those who are the people of Messiah and co-heirs with him in his kingdom
(1 Thessalonians 2:12, 2 Thessalonians 1:5). We must choose to emulate the life of Yeshua in which he walked in the Spirit, depended on God, and obeyed his Father in all things. As our example, we should and can, “walk as he walked” (1 John 2:6). As disciples of Yeshua, we hear and keep his words (John 8:31-32) and live according to the new covenant which he introduced, and ratified by his own blood (Luke 22:20, Hebrews 13:20-21).
5. We must no longer live according to the ways of this present age: An age which is “passing away” (1 John 2:17, 1 Peter 1:14-15). The Scriptures are intentional in identifying the works of disobedience. The apostle Paul delineates those works and consistently tells believers that those who do such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 5:3-5, Colossians 3:5-10, etc.). The writer of Hebrews also warns believers against being like Esau, who for evil reasons gave up his birthright and lost his inheritance (Hebrews 12:14-17).