When asked what we believe, as true followers of Messiah, it can often become a complex answer to give, although it is very simple indeed!
Our basic answer, is simply that we believe ALL Scripture to be the Truth that equips us to be set-apart and perhaps the best summary to define our belief, can best be expressed by the words of Sha’ul in:
Ma’asei/Acts 24:14-16 “And this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the Elohim of my fathers, believing all that has been written in the Torah and in the Prophets, 15 having an expectation in Elohim, which they themselves also wait for, that there is to be a resurrection of the dead, both of the righteous and the unrighteous. 16 “And in this I exercise myself to have a clear conscience toward Elohim and men always.”
This certainly summarises our belief and can, in many ways, be our ‘statement of faith’, yet in order to expand a little more on this, we can say that the following key statements may help anyone in understanding a broader definition.
Our belief includes and is not limited to the following:
We believe that the True Name of the Creator is (יהוה) YAHWEH and that He is our Elohim and we are to have no other mighty ones before His face.
We are not to bring His Name to nought, but are to proclaim, revere, worship and call upon His Name.
We believe that He is our Saviour and that He was born in the flesh in order to take away the sins of the world
We believe that יהוה came forth, as of a Son brought forth of a Father and was called (יהושע) Yahushua, which means, יהוה is our Saviour,
We believe that יהוה is the Messiah – the One who saves! (Please see the article called “YHWH our Saviour – YHWH our Messiah“, under the articles menu on our site)
We believe that יהושע is יהוה in the flesh and that He is, as prophesied, the Son who shall be called Everlasting Father, and that He is our Master and Elohim.
We believe that יהוה and יהושע are One, not two or three! (for more on YAHWEH and YAHUSHUA being ONE, please see articles dealing with this on our site under the articles menu (https://atfotc.com/category/articles-and-news/)
We believe that יהוה does not change – He is the same yesterday, today and forever
We believe that He did not come to do away with His Torah, but that He came to fully meet its requirements and fully proclaim how we are to walk in His Torah and stay in Him; and that our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees or else we shall not enter into His reign! (Mattithyahu/Matthew 5:17-20)
We believe that ALL Scripture – from Berěshith/Genesis to Ḥazon/Revelation is breathed of Elohim and is used for teaching, for reproof, for setting straight, for instruction in righteousness (Timotiyos Bět/2 Timothy 3:14-16)
We believe that we are not to add or take away from Scripture. (Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 4:2 and Ḥazon/Revelation 18:22). Doing away with the need to observe His commands is a breaking of His Word!
We believe that the definition of righteousness is summed up in Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 6:25 which clearly tells us that it is righteousness for us ‘to guard His commands’ and Ḥazon/Revelation 19:8 tells us that the fine linen of the set-apart ones is our righteousness, confirming our need to guard the commands of Elohim!
We believe that we are to guard His commands as a proper expression of our love for Elohim (Yoḥanan Aleph/1 John 5:3)
We believe that the Sabbath was set-apart by Elohim from the very first Sabbath of Creation and is applicable for all mankind to observe (Berěshith/Genesis 2:1-3 and Qoheleth/Ecclesiastes 12:13)
We believe that we are to guard/keep His Sabbaths and Feasts (Shemoth/Exodus 31:13 and Wayyiqra/Leviticus 23:2-4 and Ḥazon/Revelation 14:12)
We believe that there forever remains a ‘Sabbath-observance’ for the people of Elohim (Iḇ’rim/Hebrews 4:9) and that we are to delight ourselves in His Sabbath and call it a delight, not doing our own ways or thinking our own thoughts or speaking our own words but setting the day apart in Him as a delight! (Yeshayahu/Isaiah 58:13-14)
We believe that it is through proper Sabbath observance that one learns how to be set-apart, as one hears the Torah, Prophets and Renewed Writings that are read each week in the Sabbath assembly and applies their belief in action from what they hear!
We believe that belief/faith without works is a dead belief and the works of our belief are expressed in true obedience to the Torah and commands of Elohim. (Ya’aqoḇ/James 2)
We believe that sabbath observance and obedience to His Torah is critical to working out one’s salvation with fear and trembling. Anyone who breaks that Sabbath shall be cut off and not enter into the reign of Elohim.
We believe that His Sabbaths (including all His Feasts) are a sign upon our hands and foreheads and observance of His Feasts shows that we are His and that it is He who sets us apart. (Shemoth/Exodus 13:9&16 and Shemoth/Exodus 31:13 and Yeḥezq’ěl/Ezekiel 20:20)
We believe that we are to guard and perform all His Sabbaths and Feasts as described in Wayyiqra/Leviticus 23.
The observance of the Sabbath and Feasts of יהוה are for those who observe the Torah of Elohim and is therefore not simply an occasion for ‘some extra bible studies’ for those who are unwilling to submit and adhere to walking in and guarding all the commands of Elohim.
The Sabbath is a set-apart gathering for like-minded Torah observant believers who are the true body of Messiah and outreach to others is a way of life that happens during the rest of the week.
We believe that the observance of a false sun-day worship system, along with other pagan rooted feasts of Christianity or any other man-made religious practices are abominable worship practices and are not acceptable before יהוה.
We believe that we are to not have false names upon our lips and will not use generic terms adopted by the corrupted Christian practices of following erroneous rabbinic teachings that have nullified the proper speaking of the Name of יהוה and have wickedly substituted His Name with man-made titles that misrepresent our True Creator.
We believe that the only means of being grafted in to the Covenants of Promise is by a proper repentance and immersion/baptism in the Name of יהושע Messiah. Without true repentance and immersion in the Name of יהושע Messiah, one is a stranger to the covenants made with Aḇraham (Abraham), Yitsḥaq (Isaac) and Ya’aqoḇ (Jacob) and shall therefore not enter into the reign/Kingdom of Elohim.
Immersion into a false name or the falsified titles of a trinitarian doctrine is not a true immersion into Messiah and His covenants of promise. Immersion is a dying to self and being raised to new life in Messiah, having hearts that are circumcised from above.
We believe that the partaking of the Passover meal can only be done by those who have been immersed in the Name of יהושע Messiah and it is not for ‘outsiders’ to the covenants of Promise and that by partaking in the Passover Meal we ‘eat of His body and drink of His blood’ as a remembrance of His death and the life that we have in His resurrection, being filled with His Set-Apart Spirit. Unless we eat of Him we have no part in Him and therefore we recognise how important the Passover Meal and the guarding of His Feasts are, emphasising how important immersion/baptism is, for without immersion no part can be had in Messiah!
We believe in a proper adherence to the clear food laws as given in Wayyiqra/Leviticus 11 and Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 14 and that these have in NO way been changed or done away with. Therefore, those who continue to eat items that are not deemed as clean for us to eat, such as pork, crayfish, calamari etc. are eating what is an abomination to יהוה and are being lawless, rendering them unable to draw near to Him, unless they repent and are immersed and turn away from such abominable eating practices.
We believe that there in only one way – the narrow way – that leads to life and there are not ‘many ways’ to the Father! The narrow way that leads to life is to walk in and stay in יהושע Messiah, which is to walk according to His Torah and fully observe and obey His commands.
We believe that being ‘in’ Messiah we become Yisra’ĕl His servant, of which He is the head and we are His body. Yisra’ěl means, ‘he who prevails or overcomes with El’ and therefore represents His body that prevails and has overcome and shall rule with Him.
We believe that men are not to shave their beards and are to keep their hair well-trimmed and tidy
We believe that women are to cover their heads when praying or prophesying and that can be best summarised as follows: praying is a ‘talking to our Master’ and prophesying is a ‘talking about our Master to someone else’.
We believe in observing months and years as determined by the cycles of the sun and the moon.
We believe that a day starts and ends at sunset
We believe that a new (renewed) month starts when light begins to be illumined upon the moon
We believe that the year begins with the new moon closest to the equinox, starting the month of Abib, which marks for us the season of Spring in the northern Hemisphere, with the confirming signs of spring showing us that the barley is ripe in the head
We believe that the cycle of the moon follows that of the sun and there is a lagging of 10 days per year, giving us the need for a 13th month every 3 years or so. If you require more details on this please ask and we will show you Scriptural evidence for such observance.
We believe that the ‘order of the priesthood’ was changed from the Lĕwitical order to the order of Malkitseḏeq, under which we now operate with יהושע Messiah, our Righteous King, as our High Priest under whom we serve as a set-apart priesthood unto Him.
We believe that it is יהושע Messiah who has given (appointed) some as emissaries, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as shepherds and teachers for the perfecting of the set-apart ones, to the work of service to a building up of the body of the Messiah (Eph’siyim/Ephesians 4)
We believe that we are able to learn from the pattern of the service of the Lĕwitical priesthood, on how we are to serve Messiah and that those who are appointed by Messiah to teach and lead are to be supported by the body of Messiah through tithes and offerings.
We believe that the giving of tithes to those whom Messiah has appointed, is a requirement for all believers and is an active expression of obedience and worship unto יהוה. All other voluntary offerings and contributions that are desired to be given are to be given over and above prescribed tithes
We believe that when one dies they ‘sleep’ and remain as such until they are awoken and raised up by Messiah. There is a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous and blessed are those having part in the first resurrection. For more on this please ask us.
We believe that all who claim to live in Messiah must walk in complete set-apartness, even as He walked (Yoḥanan Aleph/1 John 2). Messiah guarded the commands, kept the Sabbath and Feasts and maintained proper dietary laws, giving us a clear pattern for true obedience!
The above statements are in no way a limitation of what we believe but simply summarise some key points to our belief/faith and merely highlights our desire to please our Master and Elohim as we seek to live set-apart lives unto Him through a diligent meditation and practical observance of His Word that is a light for our path!