Beliefs
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” (John 14:15,21 NASB)
ARIEL accepts the entirety of Scripture, from Genesis to The Revelation, as the revealed will of God, the all-sufficient rule of faith and practice. This includes keeping The Ten Commandments as well as other commands of YHVH in the first five books of the Bible, or the Torah.
For the purpose of maintaining general unity, ARIEL adopts the following statements of faith and doctrine.
- God: We believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). We believe in the one, true and only living God and rest on the cornerstone of the Shema: “Shema Yisrael, YHVH Elohaynu, YHVH echad.” (Hear, O Israel, YHVH is our God, YHVH is one.)
- The Sabbath: We believe that the seventh day of the week has been made holy (set apart) as the Sabbath, according to the fourth of The Ten Commandments, and that it is eternal in nature. The Sabbath was instituted at the beginning of creation (Genesis 2:2-3). We believe that the Creator commands that we rest and have a holy convocation (set apart gathering) on the Sabbath. The holy days (moedim) outlined in the Torah are the only holy days of God, and are also eternal in nature and are to be observed annually at their appointed times.
Messiah: We believe that Yeshua, as He was named by His Hebrew parents (Yehoshua, Yahshuah, Joshua) is the promised Messiah of Israel and “the Word of YHVH made flesh.” We believe that He was fulfilling the prophecies in the Tenach regarding the suffering servant, and that He was miraculously resurrected by the Father from the dead.- Sin: We believe that man’s disobedience to God has caused a separation between mankind and God and that it is only through His Word that we have been given a way back.
- Torah: We believe that the Torah is eternal and that Yeshua has made it very clear that it has not been replaced (Matthew 5:17-19). We believe that the people of Israel are the chosen people of God and that people from other nations who come into relationship with God through His Word are grafted into the tree of Israel and become part of Israel.
- Salvation: We believe that there is eternal life in the presence of the Father for those who place their trust in His Word. We believe that salvation is a process of change whereby we are being made good/complete by God. It is based on a relation with our Father where He extends His mercy and truth, and we learn to trust and obey Him and surrender to His will.
- Mikvah: We believe that the mikvah (immersion) in the name of the Eternal God is an outward sign of the changes our Father is making in our life and thus not a onetime event. It is also a sign of our obedience to the call to repentance and a testimony to His great work.
- Israel: We believe in the prophetic promises of the return of the tribes to the land of Israel, the restoration of the land, and the eventual salvation of all of Israel.
These are just a few tenets of the faith that we hold to be true at ARIEL. However, we are always learning as YHVH continually reveals His Word to us in these interesting times. Certainly, we know that some of our Scriptures are even “sealed up” until the last days when more will be made clear. Therefore, we try not to be too emphatic about controversial theological positions knowing that even our modern translations must be carefully checked against the original Hebrew texts to discern the intended meanings.
At ARIEL, we welcome you to join us in our journey of learning, discovery and ever drawing closer to our Father in Heaven as He opens our eyes and our hearts to love Him and one another.
