THE LIFE-CHANGING TEACHINGS OF YAHSHUA/JESUS

For the past few weeks we have been examining and discussing some of the most powerful teachings of Christ. Our scriptural reference has been taken from chapter 5 of the Gospel According to St. Matthew. 

We discussed how we are not to change a "jot", the smallest letter (in the Hebrew alphabet) or a "tittle", the stroke that changes one letter into another; for example, a capital "P" into a capital "R", of God's Word.  We reminded you that changing God's word can be deliberate and intentional on our parts, or it can be the result of others doing it for us. Take paraphrased bibles, for instance... bibles like the Living Bible and the Message Bible. A paraphrase bible, by merely defining what a paraphrase means, are bibles that reword something written or spoken by someone else. Now there are versions of the bible that also challenge the command of Christ to not change anything given to man by God. Versions like the NIV (New International Version) omit whole words, sentences and verses from other scriptural manuscripts. An example of this can be found in comparing the King James Version and the New American Standard Version with the NIV.  In both the KJV and the NASB, there is a verse 21 in chapter 17 of St. Matthew, in the NIV, this verse is completely omitted. The verse says, "Howbeit, this kind (mustard-seed faith) goeth not out but by prayer and fasting." The NIV, and the learned theologians who created it, thought this verse  not important enough  to include it. Other passages omitted are, Matthew 18:11, Mark 11:26 and Acts 8:37, to name but a few. Christ also established a broader standard of living then either the Torah or Tamid.

Tonight we will be turning our attention to chapters 6 and 7 of St Matthew's Gospel, in order to discover further life-changing truths, taught by our Lord and Savior, Yahshua Ha Mashiach/ Jesus the Christ.