Letters to the Churches

Then, having conceived, the desire gives birth to sin; and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.

Don’t delude yourselves, my dear brothers.

Every good act of giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father who made the heavenly lights; with him there is neither variation nor darkness caused by turning.

Having made his decision, he gave birth to us through a Word that can be relied upon, in order that we should be a kind of firstfruits of all that he created.

Therefore, my dear brothers, let every person be quick to listen but slow to speak, slow to get angry;

for a person’s anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness!

So rid yourselves of all vulgarity and obvious evil, and receive meekly the Word implanted in you that can save your lives.

Don’t deceive yourselves by only hearing what the Word says, but do it!

For whoever hears the Word but doesn’t do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror,

who looks at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

But if a person looks closely into the perfect Torah, which gives freedom, and continues, becoming not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work it requires, then he will be blessed in what he does.

Anyone who thinks he is religiously observant but does not control his tongue is deceiving himself, and his observance counts for nothing.

The religious observance that God the Father considers pure and faultless is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being contaminated by the world.

My brothers, practice the faith of our Lord Yeshua, the glorious Messiah, without showing favoritism.

Suppose a man comes into your synagogue wearing gold rings and fancy clothes, and also a poor man comes in dressed in rags.

If you show more respect to the man wearing the fancy clothes and say to him, “Have this good seat here,” while to the poor man you say, “You, stand over there,” or, “Sit down on the floor by my feet,”

then aren’t you creating distinctions among yourselves, and haven’t you made yourselves into judges with evil motives?

Listen, my dear brothers, hasn’t God chosen the poor of the world to be rich in faith and to receive the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him?

But you despise the poor! Aren’t the rich the ones who oppress you and drag you into court?

Aren’t they the ones who insult the good name of Him to whom you belong?

If you truly attain the goal of Kingdom Torah, in conformity with the passage that says, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.

But if you show favoritism, your actions constitute sin, since you are convicted under the Torah as transgressors.

For a person who keeps the whole Torah, yet stumbles at one point, has become guilty of breaking them all.

For the One who said, “Don’t commit adultery,” also said, “Don’t murder.” Now, if you don’t commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the Torah.

Keep speaking and acting like people who will be judged by a Torah which gives freedom.