We Believe - Tehilat Yah

Tanakh and the New Testament

The Tanakh (Old Testament) and the New Testament were written by inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit, and there is no fault in them. They reveal the fullness of God’s nature and His plan with mankind, from day zero to eternity. They are true for all generations and have full authority in the life of man and woman. Only the Word of God can guide us in paths of righteousness, and build and enable the believer to become more like Yeshua. (2 Tim 3:16-17)

Sin

All men sinned and naturally there is no fear of God in them. The wage of sin is death. God, however, did not want anyone to perish, but for all men to gain eternal life. (Romans 3:23)

Yeshua, the Only Way

Yeshua, the Messiah, is the way, the truth and the life and that no man can come to the Father but through Him. (John 14:6; Acts 4:12) In other words, there is no salvation, no way into the Kingdom of God, and no eternity with God but through Yeshua.

Baptism

Water baptism or immersion is a one-time event for every believer to experience after he has repented and invited Yeshua to be Lord of his life. Baptism is God’s sealing and an outward expression of our obedience to Him, through which we exhibit outwardly what happened in our hearts. In baptism we identify with the death and resurrection of our Messiah, part with our previous life under the seal of sin. As we exit the water we enter into a new life of righteousness and victory made possible to us through the power of God’s Spirit in our lives. (Rom 6:4)

Holy Spirit

That the Holy Spirit dwells in the hearts of all believers and seeks to sanctify them and lead them into all truth. He is our counselor, helper and teacher, our comforter and the advocate of our souls.

Filling with the Holy Spirit

The filling with the Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is a process which takes place many times. This infilling, in fact, is needed for the fullness of our walk with God and comes as the believer consistently renews his surrender to Yeshua in faith through prayer. (Eph 5:18-21)

Body of Messiah

The congregation is the body of Messiah – a building made of living stones! (1 Peter 2:5) Yeshua the Messiah is the cornerstone. We believe in one congregation which includes all believers in Yeshua, Jews and Gentiles together. Yeshua broke down the dividing wall that separated Jews and Gentiles, making the two into one. (Eph 2:13-16). The goal of the local congregation is to glorify God, and to guide and build the body of Messiah, serving one another in the spiritual gifts. The spiritual gifts are given to every believer according to God’s will, for the well-being of the congregation. Each believer has different gifts and this shows our dependence on one another. Everyone can express his spiritual gifts within the different ministries of the congregation. (1 Cor 10:12) The congregation is a mantle of protection for the believer. When believers meet together, the presence and blessing of the Lord abounds in them. (Ps 133)

Plan of Salvation

God’s people Israel are the people through which God chose to bring light to the nations (because of God’s unconditional covenants and His promises to Abraham; Jer 31:31-37; Ro 11:1-2) In spite of their disobedience to God, He did not abandon His people and left a remnant. Because the Jewish people rejected Yeshua, He revealed himself to the Gentiles in order to arouse the Jews to jealousy (Rom 11:4,11). We believe that when the number of the Gentiles will reach fullness, all Israel will be saved. (Rom 11:25) Neither did God abandon the land of Israel because of His promises to Abraham; (Ps 105:5-11) it is and remains the Promised Land.

God of Israel

In the God of Israel, the only true and living God. He is all in all, our Father in Heaven; Yeshua, our Messiah, God’s first begotten son; and, God’s Holy Spirit. (Philippians 2: 5-6)

Yeshua

Yeshua is the only-begotten son of our Father in Heaven and that God sent Him as redeemer for Israel and for all nations. This was the fulfillment of the promises given to our fathers through the mouths of the prophets. The virgin Miriam of the house of King David became pregnant with the Messiah Yeshua through the power of the Holy Spirit. Yeshua left His glory in Heaven and became man. He was crucified and died for our sins, was buried, but resurrected on the third day. He overcame Satan in order to make us righteous before God. Yeshua ascended into Heaven where He is now seated on the right hand of the Father, clothed with dominion and authority. He came to destroy the works of Satan and He will descend again from Heaven, in the fullness of glory and splendor, in order to establish His Kingdom, which will last for all eternity. (Phil. 2:7-11)

New Birth

The new birth is a one-time event which takes place in the life of everyone who believes in his heart and confesses with his mouth that Yeshua is the Lord. The result of the new birth is forgiveness of sin and salvation. (Rom 10:9) In his death on the cross Yeshua fulfilled what was written in the Torah. Hence every human being can obtain God’s righteousness by power of his or her faith in the Messiah. No one can gain righteousness and holiness through keeping the laws of the Torah. Faith is the true goal of the Torah, which is at work in us through the love God poured into our hearts. (Hebrews 11:7; Ro 5:5)

God is Spirit

God is Spirit and he who wants to truly serve Him has to serve Him in Spirit and in truth. These are the believers our Father in heaven seeks. (John 4:23)

Baptism in the Holy Spirit

The baptism in the Holy Spirit is a supernatural delegation of power from Heaven intended to equip the believer. It provides abounding power needed for the believer to serve and be a witness at given times, for the expansion of the gospel, for more holiness, more gifts and worship to God. Though not in all cases, a common evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit is the gift of new tongues which is given by the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:13-14). The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a one-time event which God orchestrates in His mercy to everyone who seeks to be filled with Him with all his heart, in order that he would become a spring of living water. (John 4:14)

Substitution

Based on the principle of substitution on the cross Yeshua died, took on Himself our diseases in order that we could receive healing. “By his stripes we are healed” (Is 53) As a result, the believer has the authority to lay hands on the sick in the name of Yeshua and “they will recover”. (Mark 16:17-18)

Leadership

The Lord assigned to the body of Messiah: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. (Eph 4:11) The Lord puts deacons and elders in authority over the congregation. The responsibility of the deacons is to serve at the tables and the elders are called to focus on prayer and God’s Word (Acts 6:2-4). These leaders are men and women filled with God’s presence to fulfill the conditions listed in I Tim 3 and Titus 1 and they are to serve the body of Messiah. The congregation, on the other hand, is called to obey and place itself under the authority given to the leadership by the Lord, and to honor, respect and pray for the leadership. (Heb 13:17)

Fulfillment

God’s plan of salvation of the whole world will come to fulfillment when Yeshua will return to rule all things. He will raise the dead. The righteous will rise with a new body and will rule alongside Yeshua forever. The unrighteous will be separated from God and will be given to eternal punishment. (Mal 3:18)