What is Sin?

If I should start this blog with a question - Is YHWH an evolutionist? I wonder what responses I would get:  Many and varied I am sure, but there is one thing I am quite sure of and that is that most of us may never have really considered this question.  I mean why should we, He is after all ELOHIM (GOD) is He not and if we believe that He is ELOHIM (GOD) that is enough – do not question Him – that is the work of the professional clergy, certainly not ours – we have to just trust in the Name of YESHUA HAMASIACH (Jesus) to be saved?  Or that is what we have been told by the clergy and those who have learnt about ELOHIM at seminary or university and we should mindlessly trust them to tell us the truth!

Why then have I asked the question – Is YHWH an evolutionist?  Well because I believe it is a rather important question we should ask ourselves, and I believe, even more importantly that we each as individuals need to arrive at OUR OWN answer.

What is evolution?  Well in its simplest form it is the gradual development over many years of plants, animals & humans, from a simple to a more complicated form – (we all came from a lump of slime in a biological soup sort of thing).  So at a very basic level an evolutionist believes in evolution (from chaos to perfection – sorry no more second law of thermo-dynamics here). 

I hear all our believers saying now – no, no ELOHIM is a Creationist!  What then, at its most basic level does creation mean?  Well it means the act of making something that is new, or to cause something to exist that did not exist before.  So again at its very basic level of understanding a creationist believes in creation.

Right, so there we have it YHWH is a Creationist & everything that He created was good (Heb Tôb – best - well that is if you believe what is written in Gen 1).  No more problems, question answered, in fact what a stupid question to ask believers in the first place – as our younger generation would say …Dah!

SO WHY DO WE TREAT YHWH AS IF HE WAS THE AUTHOR OF A HUMANISTIC (MAN ABOVE ELOHIM) & EVOLUTIONARY GOSPEL OF SALVATION?

Again I hear the faithful cry out, “THAT IS NOT TRUE!”

Well, I believe it is true, – my reasoning being as such: Evolution is the birthing place of our Humanistic Greco mindsets is it not?  Is man, through education and thought, not evolving to a higher plain of enlightenment?  Is the Bible (Old Testament Laws) not just for the uneducated, unhygienic and simple minded Jew of days gone by?  Do we not now know better so we can abandon the laws of diet and worship and festivals laid out in said Old Testament and which are essential to His Covenant encapsulated in the Torah  (Instructions) of Moses? 

Hmmm…. Reminds me a little of Genesis 3:2-5 “And the woman said unto the serpent: 'Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, Elohim hath said: Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.' And the serpent said unto the woman: 'Ye shall not surely die; for Elohim doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as Elohim, knowing good and evil.'

We obviously, being as enlightened as we are today, know Elohim did not really mean we would die if we did not obey His Word.  I mean I am a good person, I do what the Church says I should do don’t I, and anyway God has said we are no longer under the Law didn’t He?

Well it certainly looks that way because we are by-en-large taught that:

·         YWHW saw fit to save the “Jews” of the “Old Testament” by works of the Law.

·         YHWH now sees fit to save us Gentiles (and any Jew who might perchance come along) by faith in Yeshua HaMessiach.

·         The “Jews” of the “Old Testament” were not able to keep the Law properly, so they needed to offer animal sacrifices for forgiveness.

·         We today are saved by Messiah’s Yeshua’s sacrifice on the cross.

·         The “Jews” were forced to keep TORAH (Moses’ writings given him at Sinai) on pain of death.

·         We must not keep TORAH (Moses’ writings given him at Sinai) on pain of death.

·         YHWH made an Eternal Covenant and promise for all of eternity with Abraham as the Father of Israel and with his descendants, The House of Israel.

·         YHWH has broken His Eternal Covenant & promises to Abraham & The House of Israel and given an abridged form of it to the Gentile Church.

So my summation of the few points listed lead me to conclude that YHWH must have evolved His ways and Laws to better suit us because the Original Law was too difficult to keep (although He seems to say the exact opposite in Deut 30:11 through Moses – read this whole chapter, and again through Paul - Sha’ul in Romans 10:4-10 NB vs. 10 – Christ is the end (G5056 – Telos – goal) of the Law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. 1 John 5:3).

HE (YHWH) realised that HE had made a mistake when choosing Israel as HIS Covenant People so had to move the goal posts, so to speak to us Christians, and at the same time write off all the House Of Israel who were unable to keep these impossible Laws.  However again I find that this does not gel with my understanding of Scripture – (Mal 3:6; Heb 13:7-8; Jas 1:17 & Num 23:19 ff – YHWH does not lie – in fact if one reads this portion of Numbers one will see that Balaam actually suggests that Balak cause Israel to break TORAH so that YHWH will have to curse them – so serious was this action that Scripture makes mention of it in Jude and Revelation 2! And very importantly YHWH says in the Torah He hates uneven scales - Lev 19:33-37; and we are sternly warned against any form of favouritism.  We are instructed in Psalm 119 :9 that for a person to cleanse his path he must take heed of the Word: Prov 1;2-9; 4:2-27 and so on).

YHWH, if I am to understand what I have noted above correctly, decided that sin according to the Old Testament and as laid out by Him Face to face to Moses and written with HIS Own Hand, was no longer sin (i.e. Torah keeping – so we now no longer need to keep Sabbath as a specific day – 7^th day; or any of the Leviticus 23 Feast Days – which YHWH said were His very own Feast Days; or Dietary Laws Leviticus 11 and so on).  In fact we are now entitled (humans I mean) to add and subtract from the Word of YHWH, which HE said we may never ever do (Deut 4:1-2; Prov 30:5-6; Rev 22:18-19 – taking that which is written in Deut 4 & Prov. 30 I believe Rev 22:18-19 applies to both the Book of Revelation and the entire Word) even thought Messiah Yeshua kept the whole Covenant perfectly and was without sin?

YHWH no longer holds HIS Word (remember Who His Word is..? John 1:1ff) in absolute eternal esteem despite what He inspired through His Ruach (Spirit which shall lead us into all Truth) and as recorded in Ps 89:34:

I will not profane My covenant, nor change what goes from My lips.

Or in Ps. 105: where He says:

He has remembered His covenant forever; the Word He commanded to a thousand

generations; which He cut with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac;  and He confirmed it to Jacob

for a statute, to Israel for a perpetual covenant; saying, to you I will give the land of Canaan,

the portion of your inheritance;

Thus we no longer have any solid guide-lines as to what sin is or is not…? But I hear it said, “God has written the Law on my heart, I will be led by His Spirit through my heart, I am in the New Covenant.”(Read Jer. 31:31ff about whom the New Covenant is promised to and its conditions and time frame–it may surprise you).  My question thus is twofold:

(a) Why does Jeremiah tell us in Chapter 17:9 that all our hearts are deceitful above everything and that YHWH has to test them to recompense us accordingly?

(b) So if my heart is so wicked and devious that YHWH has to keep testing it how shall I know what is right in His Eyes, after all I cannot trust my heart?  SIMPLE, HIS RUACH (SPIRIT) LEADS ME INTO HIS WRITTEN WORD WHICH TELLS ME WHAT IS RIGHT AND WHAT IS WRONG! 

Ps. 119:105 – Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

John 16:13-15 But when that One comes, the Spirit of Truth, it will guide you into all Truth, for

it will not speak from itself, but whatever it hears, it will speak; and it will announce the

coming things to you.  That One will glorify Me, for He will receive from Mine and will

announce to you.  All things which the Father has are Mine. For this reason I said that He

receives from Mine, and will announce to you.

SO HOW DO I TRUST MY ETERNITY TO SUCH AN EL? HOW WILL HE JUDGE ME? WHAT CRITERIA WILL YESHUA USE TO JUDGE ME? 

Dare I say it? This appears to be a God who, like His Apostle Sha’ul, seems to be an untrustworthy liar at best and to all intents and purposes a schizophrenic at worst:

Schizophrenia: a mental illness in which a person becomes unable to link thought, emotion and behaviour, leading to withdrawal from reality and personal relationships.

Now obviously this cannot be true of an Elohim Who allows and invites us to call Him ABBA (Father); Redeemer; Husband; Truth; Way; Life; Prince of Peace; Rock of Ages:  An Elohim and Redeemer Who first loved us and gave Himself as a Sacrifice for us before the foundations of the earth were laid; Who say to us – Come to Me all of you weak and heavy laden I will give you peace; take on my yolk because My yolk is light; Who says to us that we shall know the Truth and that Truth, that Word (Messiah Yeshua) will make us free!   AN ELOHIM WHO CHANGES NOT: Hallelujah!

The Word tells us that what the heart is full of is what we talk about mostly:  It (The Word) also says that the same source cannot provide both brackish and sweet waters.  We all have a “heart’s desire”: It motivates; it inspires – it gives life a purpose and direction.  Well YWHW Who is the Creator made us in His Image – He too has a Heart’s Desire – to call, according to His standards, the perfect Bride for His Son – HE IS LOVE.  But because He is also HOLY (Kadosh – dedicated, set aside for His and only His use) and Holiness is THE VERY ESSENCE OF YHWH (Is 6:3) He requires His Son’s Bride to also become Holy, dedicated, set aside for His Use, become one with His Son ACCORDING TO THE STANDARDS SET UP BY ABBA – The Bride is to become one without mark or wrinkle, clothed in White – The New Jerusalem who shall rule with her Husband!  A House divided against itself will fall – One is Worshipping and being worshipped on a Sabbath, the other is worshipping on a Sunday or any other day they please.  One says to eat certain foods is an abomination; the other says “Hey we eat what we want; we are emancipated (liberated) now.”  One says, My Birthday is during Sukkot, the other says, no it’s not, it’s Christmas – I think you get the message.  We would do well to once again be reminded that our hearts though are wicked, whereas YHWH’s is pure. Our hearts will never be totally pure this side of the return of Messiah Yeshua, that dear reader is why we need His written Word and Ruach working in conjunction to guide us!

ABBA YWHW did not leave the route and methods of such a massively important process for His Son’s Bride up to the minds and hearts of us humans no matter how illogical or contrary His Way may seem to us.  He wrote it all down for us to see; He sent His Son to show us how to walk the walk; He then allowed His Son to die and rise again 3 days later (not Friday to Sunday – but that is another teaching) to pay the demanded price by a Just Elohim for all our SINS - and then He sent His Ruach to lead us according to His will and designs into our individual walks back to Him to arrive at our Goal – to be just like Yeshua HaMessiach.  YHWH is the perfect Father, Husband and Councilor; He is the complete and perfect Truth from eternity to eternity.  He gave us that fullness of Truth in the Torah (Instructions) and covenant by covenant He builds on that Truth – He never annuls His Truth because that would mean annulling Yeshua HaMessiach the Eternal Truth (Matt 5:17).  He revealed all in the beginning for us to know Who He is, and has spent the rest of His Word and Time bringing us back to that Truth of being, a being in accordance and united in one to His Image (His Sons likeness) –

Isa 33:22 For YAHWEH is our judge; YAHWEH is our lawgiver; YAHWEH is our king; He will save us.

Isa 46:9-10 Remember former things from forever, for I am El, and no other Elohim exist, even none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from the past those things which were not done, saying, My counsel shall rise; and, I will do all My desire;

So the crux of this blog…. WHAT ARE SINS?  Or should I rather ask WHAT IS SIN?  James tells us in chapter 2 verse 10 of his Epistle that if we break just one point of the Law (Torah) we break the whole Law (Torah).      

John (The Apostle Yeshua loved) writes in 1 John 3:4 that whoever commits sin transgresses the Law (Torah) because sin is the transgression of the Law (Torah).  Sha’ul writes in Romans 3:20 that:  Because by works of the Torah not one of all flesh will be justified before Him, for through the Torah is the full knowledge of sin. (Emphasis mine)

So my question is:  Where do we get off deciding for YHWH what is and is not sin, and what is and is not acceptable to Him?  If the Law has been done away with, then so has sin as defined by YHWH Himself and we err on the side of Humanism and Evolution to tamper with His Word and that is an abomination to YHWH and He will judge us harshly – See Lev 26; Deut 28; Mat 7:21-23; Rev 22.  I believe the basic differences between Theocracy and Humanism is in Theocracy we believe there is an El (GOD) Who knows everything and we bow and worship Him in His entire revealed way. In Humanism we rely on the arm of flesh (humans and their capabilities) and trust Elohim to fall in line with our patterns of Who we believe Him to be – Read Jer 17:5-10.

Brethren may I be permitted to humbly but severely caution each and every one of us to prayfully read Jude and ask the Ruach to lead us into all Truth and Righteousness and to earnestly contend for the Faith (Greek - pistis – fidelity – loyalty, faithfulness) which was once delivered unto the Saints (Greek – Hagios – consecrated, sacred, Holy – set apart ones).

Once again please, do not trust what I have penned here – check everything I say out with Scripture and prayer.

Shalom in Messiah Yeshua.

The Body of Messiah

I am hoping to share something here today that has been on my mind and in my prayer life for a rather long period of time, and now seems to be formulating into a more solid idea.

Firstly however I wish to make it abundantly clear that this blog, as outlined in the main presentation, is what I believe is happening and how I believe the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) is moving.  I do not claim a main line exclusive link to ABBA, however when I have ideas impressed on my spirit, and these specific ideas remain and seem to be reinforced, by whatever means I feel are being presented to me, means that are never sought or pushed but come naturally – so to speak – I start to take them much more seriously.  These are the sort of opinions and subject matters I wish, ABBA willing, to share on this blog page.  Please never just accept what I have said, check it out against the Word diligently with prayer.  We are all learning to walk this path of Kingdom Rule – Elohim forbid that we may think we have it all together!

Finally, before sharing my thoughts for this particular entry, I would dearly welcome comments and, where thought necessary, criticism, hopefully though the criticism – and there will be I am very sure – will be in a loving and constructive manner.

Now to the essence of what I hope to present today:

I believe that there is a move afoot to bring the Body of Messiah Yeshua together.  His Body is so fragmented and self-centered right now as to be almost ineffective for Him or His Rule on Earth. If we look at the Word we see that the Body has never come together in times of prosperity and peace, the Body has needed persecution to force it to cry out to YHWH and ask for His deliverance (Israelites in Egypt; in Babylon; in Jerusalem under the Romans – Acts 2; and of course the long preached about and expected Great Tribulation).

What I am seeing right now is that there is approaching, and I believe very shortly, a massive break down of World systems accompanied by wars, famines, political upheavals etc (no crystal ball needed for this) BUT for the Believers to survive in this chaos and destruction the Rule of YHWH will have to be experienced and seen to be operating by both His Body and those still needing to come into the Kingdom – but this Rule of YHWH will have to be exercised through His Body, however His Body must be walking according to His Will and Kingdom Principles, not denominational doctrines or our own ideas of what is right or wrong as we are doing now, before it is to be accorded this responsibility and privilege of carrying His Glory, a Glory which He will share with no other person, thing or doctrine.  The only way we shall arrive at a point of being able to walk in His Will and Principles shall be once we have had every crutch & support which is not of Him removed – then, and unfortunately only then, shall we truly have no option at all but to seek Him in Spirit and Truth – then Scriptures such as Proverbs 3:5-6; 27: 7; 30:7-9; Matthew 6:19-34 and II Corth 12:19 will become a rallying cry of His Body.  Then, and only then shall we pray unto Him and seek Him with our whole heart and then as a Body shall we be able to Love Him with all our hearts, with all our souls and with all our might.  Then and only then shall we do the works that Messiah Yeshua did and greater:  Then and only then shall the Sons’ of Elohim be revealed! 

1Pe 4:1 Therefore, Messiah having suffered for us in the flesh, also you arm yourselves with the same thought, because he having suffered in the flesh has been made to rest from sin, 2 for him no longer to live in the lusts of men, but to live the remaining time in the flesh in the will of Elohim. 3 For the time of life having passed is sufficient for us to have worked out the will of the pagans, having gone on in wantonness, lusts, drunkenness, parties, indecent singing, and lawless idolatries;  4 in which they are surprised that you do not indulge with them into past excesses and they blaspheme against you;  5 who will give account to Elohim, who is to judge the living and dead.  6 For to this end also the good news was preached to the dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but might live according to YAHWEH in the Spirit. 7 But the end of all things has drawn near. Be of sound mind then, and be mindful of prayers;  8 and above all things having fervent love to yourselves, "Because love will cover a multitude of sins." (Prov. 10:12) 9 Be hospitable to strangers without murmurings,  10 so let each one of you according to the gift he received from Elohim, minister the same to your fellowman as good stewards of the manifold grace of YAHWEH. 11 If any man preach, let him preach the word of YAHWEH; if anyone ministers, let him do so according to the ability that YAHWEH has given him that in all things that you may do, YAHWEH may be glorified through Yeshua Messiah; to whom belongs glory and honor forever and ever. Amen. 12 Beloved, do not be astonished at the fiery trial happening among you for your testing, as if a surprise were occurring to you;  13 but rejoice, that you participate in the sufferings of the Messiah, that so you may also rejoice and exult at the revelation of his glory.  14 If you are reviled in the name of Messiah, you are blessed, because "The glorious Spirit of YAHWEH rests upon you." 15 For do not let any of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evildoer, or as a meddler in the affairs of others. 16 But if one suffers as a Christian, do not let him be ashamed, but to glorify YAHWEH in this respect. 17 Because the time has come that judgment must begin with the house of YAHWEH; and if it first begins with us, what will be the end of the ones disobeying the good news of Elohim?  18 And "if the righteous is scarcely saved, where will the wicked and sinner appear?" (Prov. 11:31) 19 Wherefore, let them who suffer according to the will of YAHWEH, commit their souls to him in well doing, as to a faithful Creator.

 I close this blog off with the fervent hope that each and every one of us shall prayerfully consider Psalm 51 – we shall only survive and spend eternity with our Messiah Yeshua if we take up our stake and follow HIM:

Psa 51:1 [To the chief musician, A Psalm of David when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.] Let your grace be to me, O Elohim, according to Your loving-kindness, according to the multitude of Your tender mercies; blot out my transgressions.

Psa 51:2 Wash me completely from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

Psa 51:3 For I know my transgressions; and my sin is ever before me.

Psa 51:4 Against You, You only, I have sinned, and done evil in Your eyes; that You might be justified in Your speaking and be clear when You judge.

Psa 51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.

Psa 51:6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden parts You teach me wisdom.

Psa 51:7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Psa 51:8 Cause me to hear joy and gladness; the bones You have crushed will rejoice.

Psa 51:9 Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

Psa 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O Elohim; and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Psa 51:11 Do not cast me out from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Psa 51:12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Psa 51:13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways; and sinners will turn back to You.

Psa 51:14 Deliver me from the guilt of shedding blood, O Elohim, O Elohim of my salvation; my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.

Psa 51:15 O YAHWEH, open my lips and my mouth shall declare Your praise.

Psa 51:16 For you do not desire sacrifice, or I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering.

Psa 51:17 The sacrifices of Elohim are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O Elohim, You will not despise.

Psa 51:18 Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion; build the walls of Jerusalem.

Psa 51:19 Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole offering; then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.

Amen and Amen.

Galatians and Marriage

I wonder if Sha'ul (Paul) ever realised how often, and positively erroneously, his name would be used and mentioned through the course of Church History to defend diverse and contrary theological meanings and opinions?  His writings cause him to oscillate between the extremes of almost being supreme, or at the very least equal to Messiah Yeshua Himself by being granted by most theologians the authority to change the very Covenant of Yeshua made with Israel, a Covenant which Yeshua Himself did not ever change or violate in essence; and then skidding across to the opposite extreme being attributed with the characteristics of a liar and a cheat (characteristics attributed to hasatan himself);  and in between these poles he is furthermore labeled as a coward who is trying to appease his Jewish Apostolic brothers, at the same time is gifted with the symptoms of a psychotic.  Not bad for a writer of the Inspired Word who was supposed to have been instructed by the Messiah Himself.

The Epistle which I believe most theologians hold up as a thesis to substantiate their take of Sha'ul's theology is Galatians and the central theme being found in chapter 3 verse 13 "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,....." - this now means we can eat as we wish (no more Leviticus 11), worship as and when we wish (no more Sabbath – every day is Sabbath), do not have to keep the Jewish festivals of Leviticus 23, are absolved from the curses (and by default receive the blessings) of Leviticus 26; do not have to walk as our Messiah walked, need not pick up our cross (stake) and carry it to follow Messiah (A Messiah who was after all a Jew from the House of David  Who walked in Covenant as laid out by Moses and received from YHWH), we need not show our love by obeying His commandments (John 14:15,21: 15:10)!

With this approach no wonder there was friction and division between the emerging Christian Church and the existing Judaic system.

I believe of course that what Sha'ul was saying in His Epistles was that we are not saved by works of the Law, whether they be of Covenant Law, Levitical Law, Oral Law, Traditional Laws any laws – BUT Sha'ul was saying that we are saved by re-birth in and through the Messiah ONLY and then, and only then, keeping the Covenant Laws codified at Mt Sinai and recorded by Moses (Moshe) are applicable as a righteous and pleasing lifestyle to YHWH.  An aside here, I further believe that the Word gives us evidence to show that the Mt Sinai Covenant was around from Creation, and was codified (recorded) at Sinai.

But back to Sha’ul; the Religious Jewish leaders of his day would only accept induction or grafting into the House of Israel of an inductee after said inductee had undergone a ceremonial ritual including circumcision and mikvah (baptism).  This applied Jewish ceremonial practice obviously makes the completed and perfect works carried out by the Lamb of Elohim not sufficient for entry into the House of Israel or for qualification and receipt of the promises made to Abraham by YHWH regarding physical re-born Israel and those grafted in through Messiah. To this ritual practice, which Sha’ul as Saul of Tarsus vehemently adhered to prior to his Damascus road experience, the re-born Sha'ul screams out a resounding NO, our acceptance of the Free Will offering made by Yeshua on the stake is all that is required for our being freceived into the Family of YHWH, and then, and only then, do the House Rules / Marriage Covenant (TORAH) come into effect. 

If we could look at this scenario plausibly it may become more clear what I am trying to explain here: - In an attempt to be adopted by my next door neighbour or to receive some form of favour from my neighbour, favour only reserved for his family members, I proceed to mimic his way of life, eat as he eats etc. etc; but I never enter into a truly loving relationship with him or comply with the conditions as stipulated by my neighbour for adoption,  we all know the chances of me being favourably accepted and adopted by him and brought into his family are basically nil – so this is what Sha’ul by implication poses  : - Will living my "adopted" lifestyle make me family of my next door neighbour?  To which he again answers - NO IT WILL NOT!  But on the other hand should I comply with what my next door neighbour requires from me to make me eligible for adoption, he can then adopt me AND I NOW start to live out his lifestyle and home rules and now they benefit me and make me a blessing to my new family and when I do err and/or make a mistake my new father forgives me and instructs me in exactly how he wants me to live out his house rules (GRACE) and thereby a deeper and more meaningful relationship develops between the father and I, his adopted son – thus my adopted father’s house rules are now becoming second nature – I am living by them - they are being written on my heart!

Let's have a quick look at another of Sha'ul's letters, Ephesians:  This Epistle in general and chapter 5 in particular speak of the marriage between a husband and wife here on earth being a copy or a visual representation of the heavenly marriage between Messiah and His Bride (sorry I see no marriage between same genders being condoned or allowed here, or anywhere else in the Word for that matter).  Let’s strip this down a little shall we? Firstly, if the allegory used above (adoption by the neighbour) is used here we, I believe, are presented with the following situation:

1.      If we have not been born again no matter what we do through works will not make the earthly marriage acceptable to YHWH or make us or it part of His Family unit.

2.      However should we be born again through Messiah Yeshua, He and He alone qualifies us for a marriage, He and He alone condones and makes an earthly marriage legally binding for eternity – THAT IS TO SAY THAT:  

2.1.   NO contractual arrangements;

2.2.   NO religious ceremonies (which are not ordained or instructed in the Word and which often cause people to use the Name of YHWH Elohim in vain as they do not have Covenant status - WHETHER THEY HAVE BEEN BAPTISED AS INFANTS OR NOT!);

2.3.   NO, definitely NO State Legislation, which in many countries now reduces the Biblically mandated, creation instituted marriage to the same status as a same-sex/gender marriage/union will add to the validity of the marriage (as with the Marriage of the Lamb)

HOWEVER by placing the marriage under Church/ State/ Civil sanction places such marriage under the law which has been applied to said marriage and said marriage no longer is of YHWH!  YHWH will never share His Glory with anybody and neither will He allow His works to be mixed with anything not of Him.

So what am I saying?  The Church Fathers of yesteryear, and their congregants of today continually accuse the Jews of Sha'ul's time of placing the people under the law - a statement which I do not wholly believe is without merit when being applied to the Pharisees and Scribes of the day, but is not applicable, or in any way attributable to any of the Scripture writers, especially Sha'ul - however this is an entirely separate subject for another day.

The Scribes, Pharisees et el built fences around the Torah in an effort to try and protect It (Torah) from being broken and prevent the people from breaking It (Torah) - thus the birth of the Oral Torah (which Messiah spoke against).  Instead of allowing the Hebrews to came into a circumcised heart relationship with YHWH, where each person through Covenant is answerable to Elohim him/herself (Deut 10:12-22; Deut 30) they (Scribes etc) tried to shepherd and force the Assembly the way they thought was best for them by Oral Traditions thereby adding too and taking away from the Word (The Word being Yeshua in His Glory).  Has the same not happened today with the Denominations and the Marriage Ceremonies they (The Church) have instituted?  Are they not guilty of building up walls (oral traditions and laws) instead of letting the Assembly (born again people – The temple of YHWH; A Generation of priests a royal priesthood - 1 Pet 2:9) enter into a courtship relationship through and with Messiah Yeshua and then portray it through their own earthly marriages as directed by to the Ruach (Spirit) according to the dictates of the Royal Law (Torah) James 2:8?  Have we not today mixed the marriage of YHWH with the State and then even more seditiously made the State (or our Religious Customs) more important than the Word and thereby made the Word of Elohim to no avail - Mark 7:6-13.