Is “being saved” different than the idea of having “salvation”?
We’ve been taught for many generations and many centuries that being saved and having salvation are one and the same, and are not two separate things. However, if we study the scriptures, we find the two concepts are different, and have different qualifying criteria.

Let’s take a quick look at a couple scriptures that help to define the idea of being in the Kingdom of Heaven.
This is a direct quote of Yeshua Messiah (Jesus):
Matthew 7:21
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”
This is but a short statement, but we can learn much from it:
1 – Calling Jesus our Lord does not get us into the Kingdom.
2 – There are people who believe in Yeshua Messiah (Jesus) that will not be in the Kingdom.
3 – In a very straight forward and concise manner, Yeshua Messiah tells us exactly who will be in the Kingdom of Heaven:  “he who does the will of My Father in Heaven.”

Uh-oh, we have a big problem here.
Churches teach that anyone who believes in and accepts Jesus as their Savior will be in the Kingdom, inheriting all the promises of the Good News of the Gospel.
What shall we do?
Will we believe what countless churches teach?
Or will we believe what Messiah says?
We have to choose one or the other, because they do not teach the same exact thing.

As for me and my house, we will listen to what Yeshua Messiah says and believe Him.
He said this:
John 10:27-28
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them everlasting life, and they shall by no means ever perish, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.”

If we want to be His sheep, we have to do these things:
1 – Hear His Voice
2 – Be known by Him
3 – Follow Him
— Then, He gives everlasting life
— Then, they shall not perish
— Then, they shall not be snatched from Him

We must hear and know His voice.
Again, what did He say?
‘those who do the will of the Father in Heaven will be allowed into the Kingdom.’

Well, this is very subjective, right?
It means something different to each and every person. The will of the Father is different depending on each person’s circumstances, correct?
Does that idea make any sense?
We are speaking of eternity here.
We are speaking of the very most important thing to us.
Does it make sense that the criteria for each and every person should be different, based on subjective ideas and thoughts?
Or is there a level playing field?
Is the standard the same for all?
How does scripture define the will of the Father?

Psalm 40:8 in various translations:
ISR2009 Scriptures
I have delighted to do Your pleasure, O my Elohim, And Your Torah is within my heart.
King James Version
I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.
English Standard Version
I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.
Complete Jewish Bible
Doing your will, my God, is my joy;
your Torah is in my inmost being.
The Passion Translation
I delight to fulfill your will, my God,
for your living words are written upon the pages of my heart.
Young’s Literal Translation
To do Thy pleasure, my God, I have delighted, And Thy law [is] within my heart.

We are told that the will of the Father is to keep His Torah instructions.
What is that exactly?
It is what is commonly referred to as the Old Testament Law.
Our churches teach that the Old Testament Law is done away with, that it was nailed to the cross.
Can we believe this to be true?
How is it possible that Yeshua Messiah (Jesus) would give us a criteria to be in the Kingdom, only to then believe that criteria is obsolete and done away with?
The law in fact was not nailed to the cross, but our sin was.
Scripture defines sin for us:
1John 3:4
ISR2009 Scriptures
Everyone doing sin also does lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.
New King James Version
Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.
Complete Jewish Bible
Everyone who keeps sinning is violating Torah — indeed, sin is violation of Torah.

With this in mind, consider this:
If the law is done away with, and the law defines sin, then sin is also done away with.
If sin were done away with during Yeshua’s time (Jesus) then no one has ever sinned since His time on earth.
If no one has sinned, then none of us need a Savior.
Does this make sense?
The law was not done away with, nor was it nailed to the cross.
Yahweh (God) says it is forever, for all generations.
It is not obsolete.
It is still used to define what sin is, and it is like a mirror, showing us where we have strayed. It’s purpose is to show us that we have fallen short of the glory of God.
We are forgiven for those trespasses by Messiah, and this forgiveness is a free gift of grace, and not of our own works.
But then, we are baptized into this new life, this new truth.
We are immersed as a sinner, covered in death, which is the wage for sin.
We come up out of the water forgiven and clean, given robes of righteousness by our Messiah. Our old self is dead and gone, and we rise as a new being.
Romans 6:1-4
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may abound? ² May it never be! How can we who died to sin still live in it? ³ Or do you not know that all of us who were immersed into Messiah Yeshua were immersed into His death? ⁴ Therefore we were buried together with Him through immersion into death—in order that just as Messiah was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

“Inheriting eternal life, being in the Kingdom of Heaven, being granted salvation”
Remember, we are not talking about an insignificant thing here.
We are speaking about eternity, and whether or not we will be in the presence of Yahweh (God) for all eternity.
This is a very big deal.
There is nothing bigger.
So I ask this…
Are “being saved” and “being in the Kingdom of heaven” synonymous?
Are they the exact same thing, or are they different?
If we believe the very words of our Messiah, the two have to be different.
We know that we are saved by grace, which comes through faith, and not of works so that no man should boast.
Being saved is a simple matter of faith.
It is a matter of belief.
It is a matter of recognizing we have sinned [violating or transgressing the Law, the Torah instructions], and knowing we need to be forgiven for that sin.
And when we confess our sin and repent of our sin, we are forgiven by the only One who can do so. Yeshua Messiah (Jesus).  We are saved from the wages of sin which are death.
But then what?

Then…
We begin our race.
We work out our salvation in fear and trembling.
We begin the process of sanctification.
We begin our journey towards salvation, inheriting eternal life, and being in the kingdom of heaven.
Salvation has different criteria than being saved.
We are not taught this, but if we know the Voice of our Messiah, it is quite evident.

Do you know His Voice?
Yeshua Messiah said these things:
Matthew 7:21-23
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

John 14:15
“If you love Me, you shall keep My commands.”
John 14:21
“He who keeps My commands and guards them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I shall love him and manifest Myself to him.”
John 15:10
“If you keep My commands, you shall stay in My love even as I have guarded My Father’s commands and stay in His love.”

Matthew 19:16-17
Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

Revelation 22:14
Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. 

I fully understand what I’m showing you is different than what we have all learned. Not just what ‘we’ learned, but also our parents, our grandparents, our great-grandparents and so forth.
This is very difficult, but we have to decide whether we will listen to the Voice of our Messiah and know Him (and be known by Him), or if we will hold to the traditions of men.
What does Yeshua Messiah say about the traditions of men?
Mark 7:6-8 (another direct quote of Messiah)
He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men…” 

Did you know that Yeshua (Jesus) spoke of exactly what I am speaking of?
He is not fond of the men who reject the commandments of Yahweh (God) in favor of the teachings of men.
1 – He calls them hypocrites
2 – He says their heart is not near to Him
3 – They worship Him in vain (without results)
These are not good things.
But this is what men and women are taught in our churches, and this is what has been taught for many generations, too many to count.
Is that addressed in the scriptures?
Absolutely.
Yes.
It was foretold long ago:
Jeremiah 16:19-20
O Yahweh, my strength and my fortress,
My refuge in the day of affliction,
The Gentiles shall come to You
From the ends of the earth and say,
“Surely our fathers have inherited lies,
Worthlessness and unprofitable things.”
Will a man make gods for himself,
Which are not gods?

“Being saved” is a free gift that comes by grace through faith.
“Being in the Kingdom of Heaven” has different criteria, and requires us to do something
James 1:22-25
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
We are taught that “having to do something” is blasphemy, and that it tramples the work done on the cross.
What did Yeshua Messiah (Jesus) tell people after he forgave them or healed them?
“Go and sin no more.”
They were told by Messiah Himself to do something: sin no more.
Is this blasphemy, for Yeshua Himself to expect something of us?
James says we must do something.
Messiah (Jesus) says we must do something.
What must we do?
The Word. The Torah.
The will of the Father.
The things that Yahweh told us to do.
And He said these things are forever, for all generations, and are for both the native born Hebrew and the stranger among them. It is for everyone, for all time.
Not sure about that?
James tells us in this narrative:
1 – Look at the perfect law of liberty
2 – And continue in it
3 – This one will be blessed.
Do we have to be perfect in doing these things, the will of the Father?
No. If we sin, we have an advocate with the Father, and that is Yeshua Messiah (Jesus).
1John 2:1-2
My children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Intercessor with the Father—the righteous Messiah Yeshua. ² He is the atonement for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world.
What follows this reminder that Messiah atones for us?
1John 2:3-6 (remember, we must know Yeshua and He must know us in order for us to be His sheep)
Now we know that we have come to know Him by this—if we keep His commandments. ⁴ The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵ But whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God is truly made perfect. We know that we are in Him by this— ⁶ whoever claims to abide in Him must walk just as He walked.

I fully realize everything I’m saying here is foreign to you.
It was foreign to me as well.
Church leaders will call this idea blasphemy.
Church leaders will call the Old Testament Law a burden and a curse.
What does the New Testament tell us about it?
1John 5:3
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

Do you believe the scriptures?
Or do you believe the traditions of men.
Please pray about these things.
Do not believe anything I say.
Open your bible to page one and read it.
Take note of the things that God says are forever, never ending, a perpetual covenant, and for all generations.
Understand that if He proclaimed these things, that Paul does not have the authority to override Him [See 2Peter 3:14-17 where we are warned of this mistake].
Study and show yourself approved.

Psalm 17:7-9
ISR2009 Scriptures
The Torah of יהוה (God) is perfect, bringing back the being; The witness of יהוה is trustworthy, making wise the simple;
The orders of יהוה (God) are straight, rejoicing the heart; The command of יהוה (God) is clear, enlightening the eyes;
The fear of יהוה (God) is clean, standing forever; The right-rulings of יהוה (God) are true, They are righteous altogether…
New King James Version
The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.