DON’T FORGET TO REMEMBER TESHUVAH
Recently I was reminded of something important.
Someone told me; “Don’t forget to remember.”
She was reminding people of how Jesus told us to “remember” in so many passages of the New Testament. Just out of curiosity, I did a search for how many times the word “remember” is written down in the New and Old Testaments. One article referenced 352 times with 550 variants.
Now that is a lot of reminders to remember.
I think we would do well to remember to remember to remember.
God clearly wishes for us to do so.
COMING INTO THE SEASON OF TESHUVAH
My main point in our discussion for today is a reminder of the fact that we are about to enter the Hebraic season called Teshuvah.
Most people think of this time as only a Jewish season of remembrance. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
God chose the tribes of Israel to form a nation from which would come a clear pattern of what He wanted the rest of the world to follow. They were to be the shining example of how to live before God. Our Father had the same pattern in mind for ALL of us. We were to see how He wanted us to live through the ways of His Holy chosen Nation first.
Israel was the first of all nations who was supposed to set the best example for us. We are to pattern our lives after what God taught them first. In teaching them; God was teaching all of us. The process was to trickle down through all generations, just as it has done.
That makes Teshuvah (and any other traditionally Jewish observances) also acceptable for Christian observances. No one owns God all to themselves!
There is one difference though.
Christians have even more to remember and honor. This is true because we know and believe that Jesus Christ is Messiah. The Jewish people have not seen that far yet. The day will happen when they will.
We will share the gift of salvation with them during the end-times and all the people of the earth who are willing to listen to God’s truth will join together.
In the meantime, our Christian observances now should have even more fullness, because of the amazing relationship we share with our Messiah.
These facts are all a part of the logic behind what I have come to call “The IN SEASON Lifestyle.” It is a lifestyle that comes as close as possible to honoring God by choosing to follow the laws and statutes God first set out for Israel to follow, only through the love of Messiah and God’s Holy Spirit He sent down to us instead of duty.
LOVE STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART
With this further knowledge of knowing Messiah has come, Christians can now keep these days, laws, seasons and times from the perspective of love which comes straight from the heart, instead of a burdensome duty. Search the scriptures and see which meanings speak out to you from the pages. God will show you how. Feed your brain and your soul, but learn how to keep God’s ways from the heart, because He gave them to us in love.
If you become convinced to keep God’s Holy Days and some well-meaning but miss-led person points their finger at you and accuses you of legalism, just smile at them as ask who is pointing the accusing finger?
Nothing that comes straight from the heart with love and honor is legalism. Legalism is something you do because you have to. Love is something you do because you choose to and want to. If you feel keeping the days are a burden and you can’t see that they are a gift sent straight to you from Your Beloved God, you probably should just stop reading now.
Those who come to these days with loving worship, honor and respect, not out of obligation or dreaded duty, are the ones who receive God’s blessings for any holy or sacred times of worship.
IMMITATING OUR SAVIOR’S ACTIONS
In other words, we can keep what our culture may see as the traditional Jewish seasons and days (which God DID command and put inside His calendar in the sky when He gave us life at the time of Creation) in the same ways that Jesus Christ did. We (Christians) have every right and are even commanded to do so.
Are you with me so far?
If so; you might want to study the season of Teshuvah for yourself in light of Christianity. That is the way this blog-site wants to present these times and observances to any of our readers who are sincere in following a holy lifestyle patterned after the way that Jesus Christ lived while He traveled on this earth.
As you read our articles, please understand that we (The IN SEASON Lifestyle blog and its followers) are NOT a new denomination, so please don’t misunderstand. There is no church where we all gather together and meet, though many of us DO know each other and some of us DO worship together.
There is no certain religious organization that watches over or supervises us. We are made up of believers in Jesus Christ who are scattered all around the world.
We DO have an authority figure we answer to here though. He is God The Father. All that we are trying to do is in honor of Him. We honor and respect the authority of God to the very best of our ability.
Humans often fail; but we do try to correct our mistakes when they are pointed out to us. We are simply a group of humble, human lay-people (who do make mistakes from time-to-time, though unintentionally) who are doing our best to walk through life following the footsteps of Christ.
This is where we have chosen to share the thoughts that not many existing churches seem to be sharing anymore. There are still a few; God bless them and keep them. We need more. It is our hope to simply share the truths we have been called to live out with others who have been called to walk in this same direction. The places for us to meet and greet one another are few and far between these days. It has been a happy occasion for most of us to find one another here.
That is our total motivation in writing the articles we write and publish. God has called us to share His truth with one another.
IRON SHARPENS IRON
We simply want to go where Jesus would choose to go, do what He would choose to do, and live out our daily lives in the true way we think He would be living life out in our current culture based on what we know and have learned from what we know He did during those times when He walked the earth.
All and any denominations are welcomed to join in with us. From time to time we may tread on your toes and question things you have always accepted. You must be open-minded and willing to change if you decide to join in with us. As far as we are concerned the word “denomination” does not even exist. This group doesn’t honor any glorified pedigrees or think-alike country club memberships. We are well aware of the fact that no one group of people has ownership of God’s love, grace and mercy. Jesus died for ALL of us. There are no labels here. No one is going to knock on your door and tell you we have a better way. God does our recruiting. We leave all of that up to him.
You will not go to hell if you choose not to read or follow our advice. Only God can answer that question; we would never touch it. We are NOT a political movement. It could be stated that we are simply a small group of every-day people choosing to honor God as best we can by choosing to do what we perceive to be scripturally right.
Truth is VERY important to us. Liars are not welcomed.
Scripture is EXTREMELY meaningful and important to our group. Correct interpretations also matter. If you can’t believe the bible, you will not be comfortable here. We would never be mean or hateful to you, but our words might hurt your ears, because we try our best to keep them scriptural.
History matters to us. We like TRUE history, the type that has not been tampered or changed by society in order to fit their current needs.
Every breath we take strives to rest upon God’s Holy Scriptures with proven, intelligent and well-studied interpretations.
This is a place where iron sharpens iron. We aren’t afraid to admit when we are wrong, or to change our mind, point-of-view or actions when proven wrong. As a matter of fact, this same attitude is probably why most of us are here. Someone changed our mind one day. Somehow we saw how important it was to worship in spirit and truth. Our goal is to live out truth, whatever it may be.
We want to live out what we have learned from the best and highest of our ever-changing and improving but human interpretations that have been inspired and called forth from God.
Everyone who tries to live perfectly before God will fail miserably and we know that. We trust God to guide us anyway. This is called faith. When we fall we have learned that God picks us back up and puts us back on track. It is a major miracle to know such a Great God. We glorify His name and keep on walking down each path He chooses to reveals to us.
PRAISE AND WORSHIP ARE VITAL
Our goal is more about praising God, and NOT at all about criticizing all of his followers. Different people are in different stages of spiritual life and we understand that. We want to keep our eyes focused strictly on God and His ways. Time has proven to us that this works for everyone in every phase of life on earth. Love is the key. It is very clear that mankind will always fail us and let us down. Fortunately, we know that God is the One in control.
Can you handle something so simple; yet so complicated? If so, you are in good company here.
How we spend our time and why we do so is very important to us here. We follow God’s original clock which we believe is the Hebraic Calculated Calendar. This is the calendar God gave to His people originally when He first set them traveling down the path to becoming a holy nation that all nations would pattern themselves after. This pattern/clock of God which honors a 7th Day Sabbath and sets aside appointed times and holy days includes a season called Teshuvah.
A YEAR FULL OF HOLY TIMES AND SEASONS
Getting back to the subject of Teshuvah, since that is the season we are fast approaching and pondering today; we want to be prepared to go through this season in the most beneficial and mindful of ways.
Here are some of our thoughts about this season:
THOUGHTS ABOUT TESHUVAH FROM A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
On the Gregorian calendar (which our present world uses and relates to) we will map out the dates for Teshevah from the Calculated Hebraic Calender, which combines The Month of Elul with The Ten Days of Awe which are framed within The Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) and The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur.) This year (on the Gregorian calendar which many use) these times run from September 3, 2024 at sunset till October 2, 2024 at sunset.
In September we will begin preparing to enter a very holy season which we observe every Fall.
We are coming so much closer to this season which we think God wants to remind us to remember.
When I taught young children from lessons called Godly Play we used to prepare those children to come into our classrooms. We would say “it is time to get ready to come closer to God.” Getting ready helped them to come into a listening and paying-attention mode. They put away their distractions and entered the doorway of the room with intentions to listen to what God had to say to them on that particular day.
We are now approaching a similar time for adults.
I loved the whole technique. Our teachers found it to be very effective, helpful and fulfilling for all of us; both the teachers and the children who were there to learn.
That is very similar to how we all should come into this coming season of Teshuvah, which lasts for 40 days consisting of the 29 days of the Hebraic month of Elul and then the observance of the Ten Days of Awe which lead us straight into and end with The Day of Atonement, the most sacred day of God’s calendar.
REMEMBERING TO REMEMBER TESHUVAH
So; how does one remember to remember Teshuvah?
Do you even observe Teshuvah?
It is simply a form of “remembering and turning.”
Teshuvah is a time of examining our hearts and minds. We look back over the last year of our lives and consciously try to remember all the ways we have sinned or hurt the heart of God and/or our fellowman. The whole process is not to bring condemnation unto ourselves, but it is to stretch our abilities to improve through God’s help. We ask God for strength and knowledge and the ability to turn away from sins and face our goals toward a better way of living.
JUDGEMENT DAY WILL HAPPEN
It is mentioned in the bible that all of our sins are written in books of judgment for which we must one day give account. The Day of Atonement, however, was our gift from Jesus. The ancient blood of animals symbolize what He would come to do. Jesus fulfilled the ancient meaning and made the purpose of it all so clear to us. As our selfless and holy sacrifice, Jesus provided a sacred atoning with his own life blood that would be able to completely blot out every sin contained in these books of judgment which our enemy, Satan, will bring before God to hold against us on the Day of Judgment.
If we follow Christ, we will have no sins in that book. They will be all blotted out! Only the blood of Jesus can do this. It is applied once forever when we decide to become Christ-followers and are saved.
So why do we need to keep repenting after we are saved?
The next part of Teshuvah is to bring all of these sinful things we remember from the last year before God and ask for forgiveness.
In the ancient tabernacle and temple, once a year the ancient animal sacrifices were offered at the temple or the tabernacle for annually removing the sins of men. They were temporary sacrifices that had to be renewed year-after-year. They were offered by the priest inside the Holy of Holies.
Now we know that the blood of Jesus has removed our sins FOREVER and ALWAYS. We do not bring these temporary sacrifices today. We simply believe in and follow Jesus. He provides our atonement.
REPENTANCE AFTER SALVATION
Part of following Jesus though is to offer repentance after when we sin. This is necessary. All of our sins were cleansed when we became saved, but then we sinned again. It is like washing feet. Our sins have been forgiven forever, but we still live in a sinful world where the dirt of the earth falls upon our feet as we walk on, even if we are trying to walk in holiness. Sometimes our feet get dirty. We go to Jesus and confess our sins. He removes the dirt of the world from us.
When we examine our souls and find we are still doing things wrong before God, even when we are living and walking around in today’s temples of God’s Holy Spirit, we must ask God to help us to have the strength to turn around and correct all that we did that was wrong since coming to Jesus and believing. That happens annually in the process of going through Teshuvah. It isn’t simply about repentance, it is also about turning around and doing right again as we learn, stretch and grow and leave the wrong choices behind.
Teshuvah is more about DOING than SAYING.
We confess with our mouth what we vow to DO with our hearts, minds, souls and bodies.
When doing Teshuvah the goal is to have all sins totally confessed annually before The Day of Atonement arrives. This honors and respects the sacredness of the perfect, life-giving atonement that Christ has so bountifully applied to us. He has made us free. This type of freedom is far above all other types of freedom. It requires honor, respect, holiness and obedience. We must repent every year of our lives in order to remain holy before God. We are always saved and bound for ever-lasting life with God, but in order to be sanctified; we must continue the process of repenting of sins, turning around and reaching higher toward the path of righteousness than we have ever reached before.
THE PROCESS OF SANCTIFICATION
So many Christians think the season of Teshuvah is only a Jewish observance. If you are saved you don’t need to keep repenting; right?
Well, of course you don’t need to repent again of the sins you repented of at the time Jesus saved you. That would surely show a lack of faith in His ability for salvation. No need to go there again. Those sins are removed as far as the East is from the West. They are blotted out of God’s book by the blood of Jesus.
However; have you been living perfectly ever since the day you became a Christian? If so; I would love to know how you managed to rise above all of the rest of humanity.
Having Jesus in our lives DOES make us stronger. Much of what we did wrong in the past is no longer our desire and we are able to avoid such things now. We ARE stronger, but; to say we haven’t sinned since the day we first became a Christian would be a sin. It would be a lie. No one (except Jesus) has ever been able to attain that state.
Hence, Christians should strongly consider the reasons for this good season called Teshuvah. It is a time of repentance and returning to God.
LOOKING AT THE EARLY CHURCH
Not many of today’s Christians still understand the meaning of Teshuvah. The early church did observe it. There are numerous examples.
Do you recall reading of Jesus going out into the desert for 40 days and 40 nights before He began his ministry? It wasn’t that He ever sinned. He was showing us, through these examples of his actions, the right paths to take. He was fasting and praying to the Father in order to prepare His soul to become our Savior.
This act of Christ was a strong example of the right thing to do. We must remember to always follow His ways.
The ancient Church, made up of the first people to follow Christ, observed Teshuvah. They made it a point to imitate Jesus in all that He did. He observed this time of examination before God.
Look at the things that John The Baptist did. He was following the patterns which Jesus set later on. John paved the way. He was led by God to pave the way. John spent many long periods of time fasting and praying. Later; Jesus confirmed those good traditions by His own actions. It seemed good to both of them to set aside long periods of time for examination, meditation and prayer unto God for spiritual guidance and strength to carry on their purpose for future ministry.
It seems so ironic that the same Christ-followers who all have the amazing gift of salvation as believers of Jesus Christ can’t tell you much of anything about the annual practice of Teshuvah. Yet; any observant Jew could tell you exactly what this season means.
The Jews, who don’t even believe Messiah has come spend this 40 day season repenting before God. Christians who have been given the knowledge of a Savior who cared enough to die for their sins totally ignore this season of repentance.
That is very ironic and it needs to change.
Of all people living today, Christians should be the most enthusiastic group of people seeking God’s mercy and forgiveness for their constant and on-going sins. The process of change should help to transition them to higher levels in their faithful walk with God.
When we ignore the season of Teshuvah, we ignore the very basic beliefs that we hold to be true and dear.
TESHUVAH IS NOT LENT
The Catholic Church has tried to substitute this long period of time or examining the soul into their worship by observing a season called Lent. I believe in fidelity to the original though. Catholics claim to be the original church, yet; they don’t observe the same days or follow the same practices of the original church which was formed at the time of the life of Jesus.
The Catholic Church has changed the original dates and times from that of the early believers. They LOOK correct and holy at first. However, these times aren’t the times that the original church observed. The seasons are different. Dates and times of men have been substituted. They have chosen mankind’s ideas and mankind’s clock and calendar over Gods.
I don’t believe in changing the times and patterns of God’s clock. He made it the way He made it. God’s original clock was set at Creation to work best the way He set it. Mere men can’t change God’s clock. Only He would know how to do that. God’s clock controls the whole motion of the earth. When men try to change the weather patterns they tamper with God’s ways. You can’t do this without eventual disaster. God set his clock to work with everything that He alone knew of our futures. We try to change God’s ways and it simply changes our world into future chaos. It doesn’t work.
Jewish followers of God DO faithfully repent to God during the season of Teshuvah. They recognize and follow the season, but they still do not understand all of the Christian meaning of this season. Christian believers should have a deeper meaning which carries Christian travelers of earth a bit further down the road than the ancient Jewish meanings set before the coming of Christ. At least the Jewish followers of God can give you a good definition of Teshuvah. They have been faithful to preserve God’s ways through many generations. If not for them, we would have no record of how things began or transpired over the centuries.
A TIME FOR RETURNING
A Jewish person would tell you that Teshuvah is “returning.” They would say it is returning to God through repentance and turning away from sin.
Teshuvah is the time of the year in which to examine your soul and observe the act of repentance. This period of time in which the Jews bare their souls before a merciful God is a time period that leads up to The Day of Atonement.
Atonement is Divine Forgiveness.
Is Divine forgiveness not a Christian practice? It is one of the MOST Christian of practices.
Again, the Catholic Church has created a day called Divine Mercy. The season is different. It is a day in which they believe God offers divine mercy. Of course He does. God offers Divine mercy to anyone who asks for it any time that they decide to do so. Still; they have changed the dates and the times of this seasonal reminder of the fact to fit their own schedule. It doesn’t conform to God’s clock which the hand of God set at Creation.
Even though they do not yet know Messiah, the Jewish people do understand the meaning of atonement. They take it very seriously. They know Messiah will provide it. They just don’t realize that Jesus is Messiah. That day will come. The bible is full of such prophecies for the future.
Do Christians realize the same?
Do we take our atonement from the precious blood of Christ seriously, or do we take it for granted?
Sacred things should never be taken for granted.
They are holy.
Any sacred act of The One True God of Heaven and Earth is to be respected, held high and observed seriously by followers of Jesus Christ. Careful preparation and mindful observance of such a season would be a Christian thing to do.
So what does this season mean to Christians?
THE FORGOTTEN ART OF GETTING READY
For most congregations of today – it does not mean much at all. To admit this, and to say it out loud, truly breaks my heart.
Not many Christian congregations observe this period of time set aside for preparation for the Fall Holy Days which is called Teshuvah. That happens simply because Christians seem to have forgotten, or have let the world change, God’s clock.
If you are in doubt as to the fact that God has a clock which He hung in the sky on Creation, you might want to do an intense study on this subject. The revelations are out there and they are amazing. We will be writing more and more about this fact in the future.
The Jewish people have observed God’s clock since the days of Adam and Eve. Or to make that statement more exact; before there were ever any people called “Jews.” Abraham wasn’t “Jewish” when he first began to believe in God and received the promises. The nation of Israel came from his children, but the tribe of Judah was only one of those children. In the beginning, the people who the Jews follow now were once simply known as ancient people who knew God and kept His ways. They were a lot like us.
THE SACRED GIFT OF TIME
Our gift from God called time is sacred. It should never be perverted or changed by mankind.
On the fourth day of Creation; God gave us the gift of time. It was a great gift, a gift with a beginning and an end. Only God knows the beginning, and only God knows the end. Our gift of time should never be taken lightly. It is sacred and precious. Every man created has been allotted so much of this time.
God hung the sun, the moon and the stars in the sky at Creation. Jesus was with Him. A careful study of the scriptures can prove these facts. These days on God’s clock were created to help us to know and keep His calendar. He gave us a way to count our days. The phases of the moon were designed by God to help us to know how He tells time on the clock and calendar He has chosen from which to allow us to enter time.
God set aside special days in which He enters our time with us. He is always with us, but on these special days He is totally focused only on being with us. These are appointed times which God has set aside for His people.
The Hebrew people were the first to learn the above stated facts. They observed times and seasons which were centered on the harvests that the providence and abundant blessings of God made available to them.
THE FALL SEASON
Every year, from the days of Adam and Eve, men have brought God offerings in the Fall of the year. Some of these offerings or sacrifices were given for the atonement of sins. At first it came in the form of animal sacrifices and substitution, where a man would lay hands on the sacrificial animal and transfer his sins to that animal. The animal would be substituted for the man and sacrificed in the man’s place in order that the animal’s life-blood would atone for the man’s sins. The life is in the blood. Only blood can atone for sin. Only blood can blot out our sins from God’s books.
Then Jesus died, once for all.
Jesus Christ provided the sacrifice to end all sacrifices. Animals were no longer needed or desired by God. His Only Begotten Son had given His very life to save all of humanity. It was enough forever. Nothing would ever be as sacred to God as this. Man’s part in this plan of The Godhead was simply to repent and believe. The gift of salvation became free.
KEEP THE APPOINTED TIMES
Many have repented and many have believed, but somewhere along the way Satan has changed the days and seasons of God’s annual calendar and kept man from knowing how God wishes for us to bring our repentance before Him annually during God’s appointed times.
God still requires that we do this. There is no longer a need for animal sacrifices, but to stay covered by the precious blood of Jesus, there is still a constant need for repentance. Teshuvah is our annual reminder of this fact.
It isn’t just about us repenting, it is about God giving us a whole season in which to change from any sins that we have neglected to remove from our lives during the preceding year. This is for our own good, for our growth and a way for us to have a better, more vital and fulfilling life on this earth.
SALVATION AND SANCTIFICATION ARE NOT THE SAME
Salvation is about Jesus saving our lives. It happens once, forever, for all believers.
Teshuvah is about God changing our hearts. It happens annually, and is an on-going process.
Teshuvah isn’t about salvation; it is about sanctification. It is about holiness before God.
Our repentance and humble attitude that comes from our love for God The Father instead of from duty, prepares us to be able to come before God on the most sacred day of the year, The Day of Atonement, as clean and holy and forgiven people.
This is the day we remember how the blood of Jesus was used to blot out our sins forever. Our sins are written down in a book which is reserved for judgment day. If they are left un-repented, we will be judged for them.
However, when we do repent, the blood of Jesus is applied to this book. Our sins are blotted out by the very drops of blood from our Savior. The records of our sins can no longer be seen by God. If we are followers of Jesus Christ we will not be judged on this day, but welcomed into God’s everlasting Kingdom.
On the Day of Atonement the precious blood of Jesus covered our sins. This is the day it was provided forever for all.
COMING BEFORE GOD WITH ALL OF OUR DAYS
Annually, this happens again and again until the end of time has come and all of God’s books are opened and we stand before Him with all of the deeds of our lives. The bible speaks of Abraham dying and coming to the end of his life. It says that Abraham came before God with all of his days. So too will we.
If you have spent a lifetime of doing Teshuvah annually, you will have no worries on that day.
You have remembered to remember.
This means that you have not taken the sacred blood of Jesus for granted. You will have repented of all of your sins because you will have consciously gone through a time of examination of your soul before God every year of your life.
Teshuvah is important.
God cares about your repentance.
AN IMPORTANT SEASON TO REMEMBER
It is a season in which we should never forget to remember. As we go through the 40 days leading up to The Day of Atonement; we will find that we are growing closer and closer to God. As we go through the whole year we often lose track, we get distracted; but now we are reminded to focus. The mornings awaken us to a whole new day of living with God. We are turning and correcting all of the mistakes we have made toward God and our fellowman. God is with us and He is helping us to turn. He provides the strength that we need when we take the time to ask Him.
GOD MENDS OUR BROKENESS
God is glad when we do this. Do you not realize that He knows how broken we are? This is how we will look for him and find Him, in our own brokenness.
God mends broken hearts.
He doesn’t just want to hear our confessions and forgive our sins, He delights in how we correct things and turn our ways around. Teshuvah is all about making the world a better place in which to live. It strengthens our love of God and our love toward our fellowman. Teshuvah observance on an annual basis sets things right and puts our daily lives and thoughts back in order again.
But not many Christians observe these days anymore.
As I said before, it is because mankind took things into their own hands and decided to invent their own calendar. Even after the days in which God set the calendar for us again, that time in the wilderness when He sent the manna down to the people because slavery in Egypt had made them forget God’s calendar observances; mankind still overlooks this amazing tool called Teshuvah for walking closer to God annually. We forget that God gave us a clock and calendar to use inside this temporary gift of time He gave us upon our creation.
The whole world seems to be wrapped up and totally absorbed by mankind’s own invention of the calendar. God’s way is sadly set aside and forgotten.
All of those things have long been forgotten, changed or substituted with something else that men have devised just as happened with so many other observances of the true early church.
Does it matter?
Let’s begin to think that through.
DOES IT MATTER
We can start with some clarification as to what happens in this period of time called Teshuvah.
The tradition of old is to begin Teshuvah on the first day of the month of Elul on the Hebraic Calculated Calendar. The Christian meaning starts with the same meaning as the Jewish observances, that of returning to God through the repentance of sins.
God showed the Hebrews how He calculated His calendar. They have kept it and the Jewish people still observe the same calendar. It is as close as we can get to perfect, as far as a calendar calculation which exists historically. The Jews still observe the right calendar.
However, it is the Christians who recognize that this atonement both people groups are seeking by the end of the month of Elul and The Ten Days of Awe has already been provided as a free gift to us by Jesus Christ. He is our Savior. His life, given for us, was the real fulfillment of the ancient Day of Atonement which today’s Christ-followers are preparing to come into through the acts of Teshuvah.
IS LACK OF OBSERVANCE A SIN?
You won’t go to hell if you fail to observe Teshuvah…..well….maybe not.
Perhaps you will repent some other time, some other way. It IS about repentance though, and we do know that you cannot escape hell (separation from God) unless you have Salvation through Jesus Christ, which is a process that always begins with repentance. Teshuvah is about repentance throughout your whole lifetime.
You see, God is very willing to forgive our sins, but in order for this to happen we do have to confess and repent.
It is a two-way street.
TURNING
Repentance isn’t genuine unless the person repenting is willing to change, turn and leave the sin they have repented.
The sins must have been confessed to God from a sincere heart. If you have done this, you are a genuine Child of God. You are saved by the merciful and loving blood atonement of Jesus Christ. He died for you and me so that we could be able to attain such atonement.
Salvation is a great miracle and a most precious gift from God.
So if you are saved, you don’t ever need to do Teshuvah, right?
Well, you have to think this through a little further too.
ONCE SAVED; ALWAYS SAVED?
When you began to follow Jesus He forgave you of your sins. The blood of atonement was applied to your sins once and for all. They were blotted out of God’s book of remembrance all the way back to your birth. However; as we continue through this life on earth, even after we have been saved, we are still human. We still sin.
God’s books are still open. Recordings are being made and will continue right up until the day that Jesus Christ returns to us here on earth. Jesus was able to live perfectly without ever sinning and that is what we are asked to try to do too. We are to imitate Him in all that we do for the rest of our lives.
Yet; we all fall short.
None of us can escape an occasional sin.
THE DIRT OF THE WORLD
We are traveling through this world full of dirt and some of it is going to spill over on us, even though Jesus has forgiven us and blotted our sins out of God’s book of remembrance. These daily sins that we slowly accumulate again, like the dirty feet of a traveler walking down a dusty road, still need to be removed or cleaned. This traveler doesn’t need a whole new bath. He just needs to wash his feet.
Remember how Jesus washed the disciple’s feet?
They were saved through belief in Messiah, but they had gathered the dust of the world despite that fact. Jesus was helping them to come completely clean by washing their feet.
Teshuvah is like washing your feet, only it is the annual washing of your soul.
AN ANNUAL WASHING OF YOUR SOUL
You have been cleaned well once by Jesus, but sometimes you pick up dirt again. This may not be much, but to continue in holiness it needs to be removed. If you remove it annually, it will be so much easier to clean than if you wait until the end of your days and you have deep long-lasting stains that are very hard to get out because you forgot to examine yourself and repent annually.
This annual reminder of Teshuvah helps us to remember to continue to ask God to remove all sins as they happen throughout our lifetime, even after salvation.
We do not come to be saved again. Our salvation is always secure in Christ. This time of Teshuvah is our coming before God for sanctification. It is how we begin to walk further than Salvation. We do this to be able to stand in holiness. Sanctification is how God uses our salvation to bring us into holiness. It is a deep cleansing of the soul that is a continual process after we have been given the free gift of salvation.
Salvation is free. Jesus does it all.
Sanctification will cost you. You MUST give up your sins and turn.
THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION
So does this time of examination called Teshuah go against the old saying of “once saved, always saved?”
No, not really.
You have been “saved” if you have come to Jesus, confessed and repented of your sins, and you have come to truly believe that Jesus is The Messiah.
No one will ever be able to take that salvation from you. It is a free gift from God.
However, you can get that new garment of white linen you receive when the sacred blood of Jesus covers your soul dirty again, if you sin after you have been saved. When this happens, it is time to repent again.
Salvation is a one-time process that lasts forever, but repentance is a daily process which is on-going.
If you want to stay clean and holy before God, you must continue to confess your sins. You must turn from them and you must try to overcome.
OVERCOMING IS A LIFE-LONG PROCESS
Overcoming is a life-long process that every Christian is called to do.
Jesus warned us of this.
He told us we must be careful to realize it. Sin creeps up on all of us. The enemy of God wants us to be deceived. One of the last things Jesus told us to remember was the commandment to be overcomers.
We all fall from grace each and every day.
When this happens true repentance is required and must be done. That is why Teshuvah is set on God’s calendar as an annual reminder. By the time of the Day of Atonement, we all want to be clean and holy before God.
TEN DAYS OF AWE
This 29 days of the month of Elul, The Feast of Trumpets, The Day of Atonement, and the Ten Days of Awe are the right times to be concentrating on such things. God gave them to us as a reminder and a way to not forget to remember. They are how we prepare for better days and bigger things that God has in store for us in the future.
You achieve most important things in this life by taking one step at a time in the right direction. One day of the calendar at a time into the next for 40 days is a good way to come clean before God and step into holiness.
This amount of time allows for such periods of examination.
Again, I remember how Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness before his ministry officially began. I stop to remember how Moses had to climb Sinai again and spend 40 days with God after the sin of the Golden calf. True repentance requires self-examination and that takes time. It isn’t something that you can do in one hour. God says that we are to be holy as He is Holy. This annual reminder is preparation for how He will make us holy before Him.
A LIFESTYLE TO HONOR GOD’S APPOINTED SEASONS
Teshuvah and The Days of Awe are part of The IN SEASON Lifestyle which we honor here in this blogging community. The IN SEASON Lifestyle is all about honoring God’s times and seasons. We love to follow the clock He gave to us at our creation. We love to honor His times and seasons. It always brings us to a place of unspeakable joy and abundance.
But what if you have never done this before and you don’t understand where to start or where to go next?
We follow the ancient patterns, but we do that in light that Messiah has come.
What does that mean?
First it is good to understand. Stories and illustrations are very helpful when one wants to understand. What are some stories that illustrate the act of Teshuvah?
I have written down 29 days of devotions for just this purpose. You can purchase my book called CHRISTIAN MEDITATIONS FOR ELUL at Amazon.com. The book’s preface explains more of this special season of preparation than this article. 29 days of devotions follow the explanations. These daily devotions help to prepare our hearts to arrive at the Fall Holy Days with hope and anticipation.
People who have purchased my devotions in the past have loved them so much that I’m actually working on Volume 2 for next year. In the meantime order your book of CHRISTIAN MEDITATIONS FOR ELUL by Gail Landgraf for the soon coming season. You will be ready and prepared for God’s blessings of this season. The daily articles will inspire you to focus and continue through this journey. I hope you will enjoy these daily devotions and that your fall Holy Day Season is full and abundant!
If you truly take the time to examine your soul, and come before God in prayer during these 40 days you are going to feel so blessed as the Fall Holy Days approach.
There is nothing more wonderful than reaching the Hebraic month of Tishri and turning the Hebraic Civil calendar’s page for a new civil year and realizing that your soul is clean and prepared for the growth and experiences which God is going to lead you into in the year to come. You can go to The Feast of Tabernacles (five days after The Day of Atonement) and lift holy (clean) hands up before God in worship and adoration with great joy.
As the years pile on top of each other and you are faithful to follow God through many years of Teshuvah you will look back and be amazed at how God has changed your life.
If not for these seasons of deep meditation and thoughtful preparation in our years, we would not grow and change and the world would continue to have its way with us. Yet; when we bend and change and are flexible to be obedient to following God into new areas that we had not ever realized were available; we can grow and add many new adventures with God. I am ever thankful for the years I have observed these seasons in my own life. I’m not sure how things would be had I not taken the time to do so.
Serving God is a conscious decision we make which we have to back up with our actions. These days have helped many people to move forward in their worship and relationship with God The Father.
God bless you all as you continue down this amazing path of life.
God has given us so much!
Let’s be thankful and come before Him prepared with joyful and thankful hearts as we make our way to the Fall Season this year. So much is waiting for us there. I pray that God bless you with great changes and reversals, just as He blessed Ruth and Naomi because of their obedience and their willingness to follow God into a place of return, even when it was a place full of great unknowns.