What is Salvation? (Part 1)

(Part 1 of 2) What is "Salvation"?
Is "Salvation" an unconditional covenant promise or is it conditional?
(PART 1 ~ this post) The UNCONDITIONAL promise given our father Abraham of DESCENDANTS (which is you and me in the Savior)
~~verses~~
(PART 2 ~ tomorrow's post) The CONDITIONAL covenant REQUIREMENT to INHERIT THE LAND given our father Abraham (the geographical location of the coming Kingdom on Earth).
This is the most important understanding for any believer to grasp:
Is "salvation" UNCONDITIONAL or CONDITIONAL?
Question ~ have you noticed that there are no teachings on this topic in either the "Torah" community or "Christian" community?
Most Christians are comfortable rolling with a doctrine of "once saved always saved", and the Torah people are completely disconnected at the root of this topic as well most believing: "keeping 'Torah' doesn't save you but we keep 'Torah' BECAUSE we are saved".
Really? Can we not gain a better, more sure, and more concrete answer than both groups concluding: "we are all good to go" as long as we believe in the Savior.
My question to the Torah people: "Why keep 'Torah' and tell others they must do so if we don't gain anything by obedience?"
PART 1 OF 2: the UNCONDITIONAL COVENANT PROMISE spanning 400 years of DESCENDANTS (NATION) guaranteed to Abraham to inherit the LAND promised him
PART 2 OF 2: the CONDITIONAL COVENANT REQUIREMENT of Abraham's descendants to INHERIT this LAND guaranteed to Abraham & OBEDIENT descendants.
After reading both Part 1 and Part 2 through examining the COVENANT terms and conditions you should be able to see how "SALVATION" is ***both*** UNCONDITIONALLY GUARANTEED to Abraham and CONDITIONALLY REQUIRED for the "HEIRS" of these same promises (you and me in Messiah) given him.
(IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE: you must set aside Heaven/Hell theology for the sake of reading this post. Neither "Heaven" nor "Hell" is the final destination of believers We must tackle that subject on another post)
The catalyst for this two part series:
Question from our covenant brother Chad Gardiner:
"In a Covenant, God lays out what He will do, or the Promise, and also, what are the conditions of the Covenant, what we do.
When He says "I will write My laws upon their hearts".....well that seems like a Promise of the Covenant, not so much a condition.
If having the Commandments on your heart is a condition of the Covenant, then, it is God Who fulfills the Covenant condition in us."
STATEMENTS WE WILL EXAMINE:
1) "A Covenant, God lays out what He will do, or the Promise"
2) "and, what are the conditions of the Covenant, what we do."
3) "When He says "I will write My laws upon their hearts"... well that seems like a Promise of the Covenant, not so much a condition."
4) "If having the Commandments on your heart is a condition of the Covenant, then, it is God Who fulfils the Covenant condition in us."
These are excellent questions to begin this two part study. We will bring up these 4 STATEMENTS later on in our study, but first I need to develop a covenant foundation to demonstrate the answers for you. We must measure a question of COVENANT (The New Covenant) by COVENANT. Hopefully that makes sense. This is our revelation from Yah of how this all works together. (we have lots of material available for you to study). Please hang in there with me as I will be bringing only major bullet points.
(both PART 1 and PART 2 will be simplified for purpose of these two studies to help you see the subject matter)
Lets begin PART 1.
PART 1 OF 2: the UNCONDITIONAL COVENANT PROMISE OF 400 years guaranteed to Abraham.
Chad, quotes our Covenant with the Savior, the New Covenant, in Jeremiah 31:31-33/Hebrews 8:8-10 of "putting My laws on their minds and writing them on our hearts". We are going to breakdown the New Covenant in PART 2. We must first lay our covenant foundation to see this subject clearly and answer Chad's questions.
In the chapter right before the New Covenant quoted in Hebrews chapter 8 we read that Abraham was carrying "the promises".
HEBREWS 8:6 ...he (Melchizedek) whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and BLESSED HIM WHO HAD THE PROMISES.
The blessing of Melchizedek to Abraham was in Genesis chapter 14 which occurred after Abraham first received the "promises". What promises did Abraham have?
GENESIS 12:1-2 Now Yahuah had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, TO A LAND ***PROMISE*** that I will show you. I will make you A GREAT NATION ***PROMISE***; I will bless you and make your name great
TWO PROMISES GIVEN ABRAHAM:
1) A LAND
2) A NATION (DESCENDANTS)
We must understand here that these promises OF LAND and DESCENDANTS are made exclusively to Abraham. There is a separate CONDITIONAL COVENANTAL agreement to take place at Mt Sinai which we will cover in PART 2. The events which occurred during Moses making SEVEN TRIPS up Mt Sinai (4 more trips than necessary initially due to the people FEARING His voice) sits the entire New Testament and New Covenant foundation.
Let's forward to immediately AFTER Melchizedek had blessed Abraham (Genesis chapter 14) who carried these two promises in Genesis 15:
THE FIRST PROMISE GIVEN IS SPEAKING OF DESCENDANTS:
GENESIS 15:5-6 He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE.” And HE BELIEVED IN YAHUAH, and HE ACCOUNTED IT TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Summary: In the verses prior (Genesis 15:1-4) Abram was told he would have a son naturally at the age of 75 after Yahuah rejected Abram's thought that his servant Eliezer would be his HEIR (one who would inherit). Abram looks in the sky and BELIEVES Yahuah's PROMISE.
PLEASE NOTE: THIS PROMISE OF DESCENDANTS (as numerous as many of the stars in the sky) IS UNCONDITIONAL and EXCLUSIVE TO ABRAHAM (this PROMISE has nothing to do with his descendants or with us ~ we simply become "a star in the sky" upon our entry into covenant by believing in the One who rose from the dead)
(the rest of this study on PART 1 will focus on this UNCONDITIONAL PROMISE OF DESCENDANTS TO ABRAHAM as this is the answer to Chad's questions of how the New Covenant is UNCONDITIONAL as it relates to THIS PROMISE OF DESCENDANTS)
THE SECOND PROMISE IS LAND (this PROMISE is unlike the other UNCONDITIONAL PROMISE of descendants because this PROMISE OF LAND which is CONDITIONAL as it is bound by BLOOD COVENANT)
(immediately following Abram's belief) GENESIS 15:8 And he said, “Yahuah Elohim, how shall I KNOW I WILL INHERIT IT?”
NOTICE THE QUESTION: Abram believes now in the PROMISE OF DESCENDANTS which was an UNCONDITIONAL PROMISE but he asks about INHERITING THE LAND.
(enter YAHUAH MAKING BLOOD COVENANT WITH HIMSELF to settle all doubts for Abram)
Now, the KEY for understanding this COVENANT in Genesis 8:9-21 is to properly identify the TWO PARTIES OF THE COVENANT.
GENESIS 15:17-18 And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared A SMOKING OVEN and A BURNING TORCH that PASSED BETWEEN THOSE PIECES. On the same day YAHUAH MADE A COVENANT with Abram, saying: (granting the land of Canaan)
PARTY A is THE SMOKING OVEN
PARTY B is THE BURNING TORCH
This is bound by BLOOD COVENANT and is MADE BY THE FATHER as the "Smoking Oven" and THE PRE-INCARNATE SON (who then immediately begins showing up as "THE MESSENGER (ANGEL) OF YHWH" from this point on all throughout the Old Testament.
These TWO PARTIES (FATHER & SON) are making A CONDITIONAL BLOOD COVENANT on BEHALF OF ABRAM. It is THE BURNING TORCH (as the Goel Kinsman redeemer) making covenant on behalf of Abram & his descendants because there is no man that could enter covenant with Yahuah and keep it ~ resulting in death of the offending party. Breaking a blood covenant requires DEATH of the party that made it (see Hebrews 9:15-17 which graphically explains this was THE SON who made this covenant and He DIED to give away His inheritance/LAND which is the CONDITIONS granted to Abram).
HERE ARE THE SPECIFIC TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT:
1) Abraham’s descendants would be enslaved and mistreated 400 years
2) YHWH would punish that nation who enslaved them
3) They would leave with great possessions
4) The Sin of the Amorites reach full measure
The first three terms were FULFILLED “on the day” of that 400 year time period expiring. This statement by Moses is a huge COVENANT statement:
EXODUS 12:40-41 Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt WAS FOUR HUNDRED AND THIRTY YEARS. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years—ON THE VERY SAME DAY—it came to pass that all the armies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.
The 4th term of "The sin of the Amorites reach full measure" was their trigger to take the LAND which they FAILED causing a DELAY to that 400 year timeline ~ an inevitably resulting in the New Covenant 1500 years later (more details in PART 2).
THE CONDITIONAL PROMISE (to INHERIT THE LAND given Abraham) is directly ASSOCIATED with the CONDITIONAL COVENANT OFFER to ABRAHAM'S DESCEDNANTS first given those who left in the exact timeframe of 430 years from the promise (400 years after he had a son who was mistreated). Yahuah performed His part of delivering Abraham's descendants after 400 years of being mistreated, punishing that Nation (Egypt) and also having them leave with great possessions to meet the Elohim (God) of their fathers at Mt Sinai to CONDITIONALLY OFFER THEM the following most prestigious position in all of eternity:
~~ "a Kingdom of Priests" and
~~ "a Holy Nation" and
~~ "His special treasured possession"
This covenant OFFER FAILED MISERABLY as "HE FOUND FAULT WITH THE PEOPLE" (Hebrews 8:8), not His covenant (The Ten Words/Commandments). Next week we will integrate the SEVEN TRIPS of Moses into PART 2 to see how the New Covenant RENEWS this covenant offer (1 Peter 2:9) of:
~~ "a Kingdom of Priests" and
~~ "a Holy Nation" and
~~ "His special treasured possession"
In PART 2, we will look at THE CONDITIONAL ASPECT requirement o "Obeying His Voice" and "Keeping His Covenant" this agreement was broken by the sin of the golden calf. We will also define the scriptural phrase “The Law of Moses” which occurred on TRIP# 7 Moses made which was an ALTERNATIVE COVENANT ARRANGEMENT as result of the blood ratified agreement making Moses lawgiver after Yahuah showed gave him His glory.
After concisely describing THE UNCONDITIONAL PROMISE let's now partially answer Chad's questions itemized at the beginning of this post:
STATEMENTS WE WILL EXAMINE:
1) "A Covenant, God lays out what He will do, or the Promise"
ANSWER:
THIS IS TRUE ~ however there are TWO PROMISES. We must view each of them separately. 1) UNCONDITIONAL PROMISE OF SEED: we become Abraham's descendants and enter covenant relationship when we believe and place our faith the Son in the same way Abram did 2) CONDITIONAL OF LAND: we then become "an HEIR" (one who may inherit) of the PROMISE OF INHERITING THE LAND PROMISED HIM (see PART 2 tomorrow) as shown in Galatians 3:29
GALATIANS 3:9 if you are in Messiah, then YOU ARE ABRAHAM'S SEED, and HEIRS according to the promise.
2) "and, what are the conditions of the Covenant, what we do."
TWO ANSWERS ~ TWO PROMISES:
*** as it relates to PROMISE ONE of becoming Abraham's descendant we SIMPLY BELIEVE IN THE SON WHO DIED FOR YOU and UNCONDITIONALLY are brought into His family as a "star in the sky" (do you get that? you are very significant but what you become is one of hundreds of thousands of STARS in the SKY fulfilling this unconditional promise given Abraham)
*** as it relates to PROMISE TWO of INHERITING THE LAND PROMISED ABRAHAM you must be found KEEPING HIS COVENANT (see PART 2 posting tomorrow). Remember, the LAND is bound by covenantal terms (both by Father and Son in guaranteeing the promise to Abraham and also to determine which of Abraham's descendants receives their inheritance)
3) "When He says "I will write My laws upon their hearts"... well that seems like a Promise of the Covenant, not so much a condition."
ANSWER:
TRUE! This is a "Promise of the Covenant". What actually occurred is His Spirit became the tool by which he engraved the COVENANT (The Ten Commandments) on our minds and hearts and gave us A DOWN PAYMENT called a DEPOSIT:
EPESIANS 1:14 (Speaking of the Holy Spirit) who is A DEPOSIT guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
Receiving the DEPOSIT of the Spirit is what made also made us an HEIR (one who may inherit) of the promise. In the same way a person places a down deposit on an item requiring a full to be made payable in the future is the same analogy of RECEIVING OUR INHERITANCE. Our lives we live according to His covenant is our full payment. The FAITHFULNESS to "KEEPING MY COVENANT" and "OBEYING HIS VOICE" (quoting Exodus 19:5-6) are the identical conditions which the first generation broke at Mt Sinai is also our conditions as well.
This is why there are so many New Testament reminders tying in what occurred at Mt Sinai and the 40 years of wondering in the desert before the SECOND GENERATION (the first generation died in the wilderness) finally (partially) received their INHERITANCE but under a COVENANT OF CURSES (called the Book of the Law) which was a witness against them. One of the reminders to us:
JUDE 1:5 But I WANT TO REMIND YOU, though you once knew this, that Yahuah, having SAVED THE PEOPLE out of the land of Egypt, AFTERWARD DESTROYED THOSE WHO DID NOT BELIEVE (broke His covenant).
4) "If having the Commandments on your heart is a condition of the Covenant, then, it is God Who fulfils the Covenant condition in us."
ANSWER:
While it is true that it is God who "wills and to do for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13) His Spirit is only our Helper. Again, this "condition" is EXCLUSIVE to Abraham or ELSE Abraham would be left with just a few people to dwell with in the future in His LAND. He cannot work with a rebellious person who does not want to "Obey His Voice" and walk with Him.
PRAISE YAHUAH THAT WE HAVE A CHANCE WHILE WE ARE STILL ALIVE AND YOU ARE READING THIS MESSAGE!
Those who QUALIFY FOR THEIR INHERITANCE by being faithful to our blood covenant JOIN those in "the Hall of Faith" (Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob) as they are AWAITING US!
HEBREWS 11:39-40 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, DID NOT RECEIVE THE PROMISE (THE LAND PROMISED ABRAHAM), Elohim (God) having provided something BETTER FOR US, that THEY SHOULD NOT BE MADE PERFECT APART FROM US.
Hallelujah!