Our Beliefs

Joshua Perez is the founder of Branch of Messiah Ministries, an organization aimed at restoring the 1st century Orthodox Messianic faith. His organization is focused on recognizing Yeshua (Jesus) as Messiah son of Joseph, preaching the gospel to Jew and Gentile alike, and bringing all nations to repentance under Hashem through the power of Torah and hallacha of Orthodox Judaism. Listed below is an in-depth synopsis of our theology.

13 Principles of the Jewish Faith:

1. Belief in the existence of the Creator, who is perfect in every manner of existence and is the Primary Cause of all that exists.

2. The belief in G‑d's absolute and unparalleled unity.

3. The belief in G‑d's non-corporeality, nor that He will be affected by any physical occurrences, such as movement, or rest, or dwelling.

4. The belief in G‑d's eternity.

5. The imperative to worship G‑d exclusively and no foreign false gods.

6. The belief that G‑d communicates with man through prophecy.

7. The belief in the primacy of the prophecy of Moses our teacher.

8. The belief in the divine origin of the Torah.

9. The belief in the immutability of the Torah.

10. The belief in G‑d's omniscience and providence.

11. The belief in divine reward and retribution.

12. The belief in the arrival of the Messiah and the messianic era.

13. The belief in the resurrection of the dead.

Messianic Principles

1. Belief in that the Messiah is an agent of G-d, but not G-d Himself.

2. Belief that Messiah is a biological paternal son of David as promised.

3. The belief that Messiah was and will be in alignment with the Halachah of Rabbinic Judaism.

4. Belief that Jesus came to fulfill the role of Messiah, but only fulfilled the role of Messiah of Joseph. He called everyone to repent, and Israel (collectively) did not, resulting in the destruction of the 2nd temple due to baseless hatred.

5. Jesus' death and resurrection are the primary reasons the nations turned away from polytheism and circulated Torah in all languages around the globe (albeit without the full understanding yet - as his role is to pave the way for the Messiah of David, not complete it). This started a global process of teshuvah (repentance) and tikkun olam (repairing the world).

6. We believe Jesus lived as a living example of the Word (the Torah), as should be the goal of every Jew.

7. We believe the Torah is the divine revelation of G-d, His righteousness, and the description of the Holy (separate from the world) lifestyle for His people and the community of believers.

8. We believe in the validity of the oral traditions and rabbinic authorities - and they do not contradict the teachings of Yeshua as established Halacha.

9. We believe in the Biblical canon of the Tanakh as scripture and the writings of Jesus' apostles as a combination of historical documentation and instructional guidelines for the communities to which they were written.

10. We believe that all non-Jewish followers of Yeshua are “grafted” into Israel. While this does not make a person legally Jewish, they are equal participants of the covenant promises.

Clarifications:

1. We believe in the authority of the Hebrew scriptures, and that all of it is applicable, and relevant to our lives today (2 Timothy 3:15-17). We believe in the foundation of the Torah (the 5 books of Moses), and that the prophets (Nevuim), and writings (Ketuvim), expound upon and further reveal its teachings. Concerning the New Testament, we view it as a combination of historical writings (like the Ketuvim), prophecy (like the Nevuim), and a type of "christian hallacha" for Jewish and non-Jewish believers in Yeshua.

2. We uphold the belief of Biblical Unitarianism, which is the belief that Christians have one unique God (Eph. 4:6; 1 Cor. 8:6; 1 Tim. 2:5; Deut. 6:4), whom the Messiah Yeshua called "his father, and our father" (John 20:17). We belief the Father is the one who alone created the heavens and the earth (Gen 1:1; Isa 42:5, 44:24), and is the only person worthy of worship, honor, esteem, and glory as the Almighty God (Rev 4:11). We believe that there is none other beside him who shares in the fullness of his deity.

3. We believe G-d’s Holy Name (the Tetragrammatan) should remain unpronounced, and that all titles of G-d should be treated with reverence.

4. We believe in the covenants G-d made with the Jewish people to be continuous eternal promises, and the Jewish people cannot be replaced.

5. We believe that Christians also have one unique Lord/Master (Eph. 4:5; 1 Cor. 8:6), God's human Messiah Jesus Christ (Yeshua Ha'Mashiakh). 

• We believe God has exalted Jesus to his right hand, and has put all in subjection under him (Psa. 110:1; Heb. 1:3, 2:7-8; Matt. 28:18; 1 Cor. 15:27; Phil. 2:7-9; Rev. 3:14).

• We believe that Jesus will eventually give the kingdom back over to his Father (1 Corr. 15:23-28). 

• We believe that Jesus possessed genuine humanity, did not have a divine nature (Matt 1:1), and was tempted as we were tempted yet knew no sin (Heb. 4:15). 

• We believe that Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life according to God's Torah (1 Pet. 2:22; 1 John 3:4) due to being empowered by God's spirit (John 3:34)

• We believe Jesus was crucified for the forgiveness of our sins (Matt 26:28), spent 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth (Matt. 12:40), was risen from the grave by God (Acts 2:24; Rom 10:9)

• We believe Jesus after his ressurection was given all power and authority in heaven and earth (Matt 28:18)

• We believe Jesus sat down at the right hand of God, and currently awaits the day of his return (Heb. 1:3, 9:28)

• We believe Jesus eternally atoned for our sins once and for all in the heavenly tabernacle (Heb. 9:11-12), and serves as high priest and mediator between God and man (1 Tim 2:5; Heb. 4:14). 

• We believe Jesus is a legitimate son of David through his earthly father Joseph (a biological son of Solomon, and a legal son of Nathan - see article here for further details). 

• We believe Jesus fulfilled the criteria of Messiah of Joseph (the suffering servant), 

• We believe Jesus will usher in a literal and physical Kingdom of G-d and the future Messianic Era as The Messiah Son of David (Moshiach ben David), and will rule from the throne of David in Jerusalem. (see our article covering The Two Messiahs)

6. We believe that because of the perfect life of Jesus that he offered up on our behalf, we now have direct access to the Father by the gift of his spirit (Acts 2:38; Rom 8:15-16; Eph. 2:18, 4:4). We believe that the gift of the holy spirit is something all Christians are filled with in accordance with the New Covenant promises, and that God's spirit convicts us and guides to live an obedient life according to his law which he has written on our hearts (Eze. 11:19-20, 36:26-27; 2 Corr. 3:17-18). Ultimately, God the father is "holy", and he is "spirit", and is often referred to as the "Holy Spirit" (Isa. 6:3; John 4:24). We do not see "the holy spirit" as a seperate person to that of the Father, rather, we believe it is his power and presence on the earth (the shekhinah). The power of which we have access to due to Yeshua's atoning work on the cross (2 Peter 1:4; Eph. 3:19).

7. We believe in justification by grace through faith alone as a gift of G-d that cannot be earned (Eph. 2:8-9).

8. We believe that God's Torah (instruction) is eternal (Psalm 111:7-8, 119:152), and was, is, and will always be relevant to lives of the people of God. We believe that it is the perfect guide for living a righteous life (Deut. 6:25; Luke 1:6; Rom 10:5), and that it is our way of showing God we love him. We believe that on Mount Sinai, two Torahs were given to Moses: A Written Torah, and an Oral Torah. We believe both Torahs are dependent on each other, and are both necessary in understanding the full instruction of God. We recognize that the Torah itself gave authority to the Sanhedrin in all matters of Torah observance, and that we should be careful to obey all of their rulings concerning it (Deut. 17:8-13; Matthew 23:1-3). We believe God's law prophesied of Yeshua (the prophet like unto Moses), who we all must hear and obey (Deut. 18:15). We believe that Yeshua did not come to abolish the law; but rather uphold, fulfill, and fully teach it the way Hashem originally intended (Matt. 5:17-19; Luke 24:44). As, teaching against the law would have disqualified him from Messiah-ship, and made him a false prophet (Deut. 13:1-5). We believe in keeping God's law to the best of our ability, and that when we sin (transgress the law - Rom 3:20,7:7; 1 John 3:4), there is grace. As we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2:1).

9. We believe Jews and non-Jews should hold steadfast to the practices, customs, and hallacha of Orthodox Judaism. The Master himself stated that the scribes and Pharisees sit in the seat of Moses; which we believe to be a circumlocution for the Sanhedrin (Matthew 23:1-3; see article here for further details). The Sanhedrin disbanded at the end of the 4th century AD; however their rulings can be found in the discussions contained in the Mishnah and Talmud. To honor our Messiah's commandment today, we recognize the rulings of the Rabbinate of Orthodox Judaism (the direct descendants of the Pharisees) as the proper way to uphold Torah.