Yeshua, and yet, nowhere in the entire Tanakh (Old Testament) do we even have a hint that salvation is tied directly with knowing WHO Messiah is? If the identity was so central to salvation, wouldn’t there be more importance placed on knowing the Messiah’s identity in the Tanakh?

When Yeshua was asked about eternal life he didn’t stress the importance of knowing who the Messiah was, rather he stressed the importance of keeping the commandments.

Matthew 19:16-17

16 And, behold, one came and said to him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
17 And he said to him, “Why do you call me good? There is none good but one, that is, God: but if you will enter into life, keep the commandments.”

As we have discussed earlier, the commandments or “laws” are God’s instructions for us. If we follow those instructions our lives will go better. If we do not follow God’s instructions then we are “missing the mark,” we are not on target.

The Hebrew word chata and the Greek word hamartia mean “to miss the mark.” They are usually translated into the English word “sin.” In the original language, to live your life "without sin" does not mean that you never make mistakes.  Rather, it means that you are focused on the objective; you do not "miss the mark".

This is much like when the Bible says that Noah or Abraham were "perfect". The Bible is not telling us that Noah and Abraham never made a mistake. 

John describes sin in 1John 3:4 this way:

4 … sin is transgression of the law


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