It is common for Christian congregations and ministries to have a statement of faith that lists doctrine to which all members and leaders adhere. Hallel Fellowship doesn’t have such a statement. Rather, our speakers teach from the Bible, and those who listen are free to challenge the biblical and spiritual veracity of those teachings.
Here are four of Messiah Yeshua’s statements that guide this fellowship:
Doctrine = ‘every word’ from God
“It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”
Matt. 4:4 NASB, quoting Deut. 8:3
‘I did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets’ (Matthew 5:17–20)
“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Matt. 5:17–20 NASB
First, study of the use of the Greek word for fulfill in the Bible will reveal that pleroo means “fill full,” rather than “end.” Key examples: pleroo (Strong’s lexicon No. 4137) is used in “fulfill all righteousness” in Matt. 3:15 and the “filled” fishnet in Matt. 13:47-48.
Second, Yeshua said the Law and Prophets would remain in force “until heaven and earth pass away,” which is well past the time of Yeshua’s death and resurrection.
Third, Yeshua sent Saul of Tarsus, called Paul, to bring the good news of the Kingdom of Heaven to the nations. Given that Paul was a faithful disciple and apostle of Yeshua, Paul’s words, and those of Yeshua and the other apostles, need to be understood through Yeshua’s clarifying statement in Matthew 5. In other words, Paul didn’t come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, just as Yeshua said He didn’t. If Paul were to have taught that, he would have no longer been following Yeshua’s teaching.
‘Weightier provisions of the Law’
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.”
Matt. 23:23
While the Law and Prophets will remain in full effect “until heaven and earth pass away,” both are filtered through “the weightier provisions of the law.” Said another way, God’s grace and mercy through the Messiah free one from the penalties of sin, transgression and iniquity “under the Law,” but not from the Law itself.
Doers of the Law have the heart of God as they do
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; “depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness”‘ [Psa. 6:8]. Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.”
Matt. 7:21–25