Acknowledging and not Denying Belief in God and in Yeshua

G2

We are to acknowledge and never deny our belief in God and in Yeshua the Messiah.

Category: God & Yeshua

Type: Positive

Form: Implied

Source dataset: Old Testament

Uniqueness: Not unique

Classical commandment: Yes

New Covenant Literal Application

Applies to Person Categories: Everyone

Literal Application: mandated

More explanation about New Covenant Literal Application

The New Covenant Literal Application Code (NCLA) is an interpretive guide used by the authors to indicate which person categories a mitzvah applies to, and at what level of literal compliance.

It combines person categories such as Jewish, K'rov Yisrael, and Gentile, together with male/female distinctions and an application level such as mandated, recommended, optional, or prohibited.

This code reflects the authors' interpretive opinion and is provided for prayerful consideration. On this page, the technical code is summarized into plain language to help new readers understand it more easily.

Read the full explanation from the source

Bible references

Key NT Scriptures

1 John 2:23
1 John 4:2-3
1 John 4:15
Matthew 10:32-33

Key OT Scriptures

Daniel 3:13-18
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Deuteronomy 10:20
Deuteronomy 11:18-20
Deuteronomy 11:22-23
Job 1:13-22
Numbers 15:38-40

Supportive NT Scriptures

Luke 22:31-34
Mark 6:56
Matthew 28:16-20
2 Peter 2:1
Philippians 2:9-11

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Commentary

Rabbi Michael Rudolph

The undeniable weight of Scripture is that we are to always acknowledge our belief in God and in Yeshua the Messiah, and never deny it. Denial can be by lying or through silence that is misleading. The most common reasons that men deny their faith in God or Messiah are fear or to gain some advantage. Temptations to deny our faith predate the Torah itself. Consider how Job was consistently urged to curse God, but he did not. That book was preserved for us in Scripture, that we might follow Job's example when hard times, danger, or even benefit befall us where logic and common expectation tells us that we will fare better and safer if we lie or mislead someone about our Messianic faith. The story of Job is one of success. Centuries later, the story of Peter is one of failure, as he denied that he knew Yeshua and that he was one of Yeshua's disciples - not once, but three times. The temptation to deny the Lord can be subtle, and can come in many forms. Usually it comes from someone we want to please or someone we do not want to anger. It can occur when a co-worker blasphemes the name of the Lord and we do not (at the very least) walk away. It can occur when our employer makes a rude remark about the Lord's chosen people and we do not correct him or admit that we are one of them. It can occur when we go along with a joke that mocks marriage, sex, or other things that the Lord gave us and cares about deeply. It can occur when we hold back from witnessing to our parents, or when, as Jews, we acquiesce to eating treyf in order to be social. It can occur when we mislead another about our belief in Yeshua in our attempt to pursue Jewish conversion or apply for aliyah to Israel. The Scriptures cannot be clearer, from the earliest in the Tanakh to the most recent in the B'rit Chadasha . The mitzvot to wear fringes (and by traditional understanding phylacteries) for all to see, to display m'zuzot on one's doorposts (again for all to see), and to cleave to God and love Him with all of our heart, being, and resources, are the antithesis of denying Him. Regarding Yeshua, the New Covenant Scriptures make it very clear that our responsibility is to preach the Good News of His Messiahship, and that there are dire consequences if we hide it or deny it.

Classical commentators

In their respective mitzvot , Maimonides, Meir, and HaChinuch interpret "clinging" or "cleaving" to God in Deuteronomy 10:20 and Deuteronomy 11:22 as "associating" with wise men. Although in his 12 th Article of Faith, Maimonides warns against not believing in Messiah's coming or denying Messhiah's greatness, he makes no reference to it in his Sefer HaMitzvot .

Related Law of Messiah commandments

Classical sources

Maimonides

Maimonides (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, 12th century) organized all 613 Torah commandments into a structured list. These linked items show where this Law of Messiah commandment overlaps with that classical framework.

Meir of Rothenburg

Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg (13th century, Germany) was a leading Talmudic authority. These reference numbers link this commandment to his halachic rulings.

MP10, MP8, MP9, MP16, MP12

Source and License

Based on The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective by Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster.

Volume 1 & 2 | Volume 3

License: CC BY-ND 4.0 (Attribution required, NoDerivatives). CC BY-ND 4.0

Disclaimer: the original content is authored by Rabbi Michael Rudolph and Rabbi Daniel Juster; additional notes or implementation details on this website are not part of their original work and do not represent their views.

Record source: The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective - Volume 1 & 2

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