If These Qualities Are Increasing In You

“Zeal leads to cleanliness, cleanliness to ritual purity, ritual purity to self-control, self-control to holiness, holiness to humility, humility to fear of sin, fear of sin to saintliness, and saintliness to the Holy Spirit.” (Sot. IX:15) (Quoted from Everyman’s Talmud, “Revelation”, page 121)

I know that people are overwhelmed with book opportunities, but one worth considering is Everyman’s Talmud by A. Cohen. This book is stuffed with passages that find strong parallels in the New Testament. Everyman’s Talmud contains many quotes we often hear in the Jewish roots commentary and is written in a topical manner, which is relatively easy to follow given our Greek style of thinking.

One theme that is clearly evident in the book is the availability of the Holy Spirit to all Jewish believers since the days of Moses. Contrary to what I was taught, contrary to the beliefs I have long held, the Jewish Sages clearly understood that the Holy Spirit was available to all who achieved a high level of righteousness through the process described above. The prophets are evidence to this fact. The men who received the Spirit on the day of Pentecost were righteous men, disciples prepared for over three years at the feet of Yeshua to receive the Spirit. When Cornelius and his family received the Holy Spirit, those with Peter were “astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles,” (Acts 10:45). The reason for their astonishment, these Gentiles had not gone through the process required to receive the Holy Spirit, namely “cleanliness, ritual purity, self-control, holiness, humility, and saintliness.”

Although Cornelius was considered to be a godly individual, there is no evidence he followed the ritual purity laws. A strong case can be made that Cornelius was not following the ritual purity laws since he was a Roman centurion and Peter needed to receive a vision before entering Cornelius’ home. The fact that the LORD would give the Holy Spirit to people who had not prepared their lives to receive the Spirit seems contrary to the Holiness of the Creator that demands separation from sin.

We should not be surprised that Jewish people receive the Holy Spirit. What should amaze us is that Gentiles, living unprepared lives, also have the opportunity to receive the Spirit. It makes no sense. How is such a thing possible?

“In Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith,” (Gal 3:14).

As has been pointed out in the past by Bryan, the phrase “through faith,” can more correctly be translated from the Greek as “through the faithfulness of Christ.” It is not by our righteous actions, but by the righteousness of Yeshua that a door is opened to receive the great gift of the Spirit. How do we acknowledge such a great gift as this? We live a life worthy of receiving that gift. Listen to the words of Peter and then compare them to the words from the Talmud above.

5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness , 7 and in your godliness , brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:5-8)

The Talmud (Sot. IX:15) / The New Testament (2 Peter 1:5-8)
Zeal leads to cleanliness / applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence
cleanliness to ritual purity / your moral excellence, knowledge
ritual purity to self-control / in your knowledge, self-control
self-control to holiness / in your self-control, perseverance
holiness to humility / in your perseverance, godliness
humility to fear of sin / in your godliness , brotherly kindness
fear of sin to saintliness / in your brotherly kindness, love
saintliness to the Holy Spirit / For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Although the comparison is not identical, the words of Peter have a strong corollary to the Talmud. Diligence (Zeal) leads to moral excellence (cleanliness), leading to knowledge (ritual purity), leading to self control (self control), leading to perseverance and godliness (holiness), leading to brotherly kindness (humility and fear of sin), leading to love (saintliness), leading to the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (Holy Spirit).

I would even go so far as to say that I understand the passage from the Talmud better than the words of Peter because I see more concrete steps of action I am called to take. I have some understanding of the laws of cleanliness and ritual purity because we have studied them. However, I do not know the specific steps that lead to moral excellence. I understand that holiness is sanctification from the worldly nature, but I am not sure if godliness has the same meaning. Even self control is defined by specific actions in Rabbinic thought.

As Teresa and I try to live a more structured life consistent with the Torah, time and experience are beginning to show us the benefit of such a life. For example, I see that the laws of Sabbath and Kosher teach us greater self control, an attribute greatly lacking in our life and in our society as a whole. Self control is one of the first steps on the road to righteousness that leads to the gift of the Holy Spirit. To the level we achieve self control, we exercise authority over the flesh and open the door to the Spirit.

A recent article in the news speaks to the benefits of self control. Raquel Welch, the iconic image of the 1960’s, apparently turned down the opportunity to trump the 50th anniversary of the birth control pill. When asked why she declined the opportunity, she said that the birth control pill taught generations of people that they did no longer needed to exercise self control.

Unlike the birth control pill, the Torah teaches self control and self-control leads to holiness. Holiness leads to righteousness, righteousness opens the door for the dwelling of the Holy Spirit. In His mercy, the LORD did not require us to achieve a level of righteousness to receive the Spirit, He only required us to accept the faithfulness of the one who went before us who is righteous. We are then called to live as righteous people. If we choose to live worldly lives, we can grieve the Spirit by our actions (Eph 4:30), but righteous living can also open the door for a closer relationship and greater indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Scott