Many people TODAY - both Christian AND non-Christian alike - take such a "liberal" view when it comes to God's law in the Old Testament! They try telling themselves that they no longer have to follow the 10 commandments since "Jesus already payed for the law on the cross" and that The Old Testament "was for the Jews, ONLY!" But what does Jesus HIMSELF teach on the matter? Let us turn to the bible for the answer!
Many people don't know this (and even I MYSELF didn't know this until a couple years ago) but Jesus actually made SEVERAL appearances in the OLD TESTAMENT as a pre-incarnate. He was ALL THE FOLLOWING:
Next, I'd like to examine SEVERAL bible passages concerning the ETERNAL NATURE OF JESUS/GOD:
Okay, now that we've established that God/Jesus is ETERNAL, what about his WORDS? His LAW? Are THEY eternal? Once again, let us examine the evidence:
In Matthew 24:35, Jesus is telling us that his WORDS will LAST FOREVER! In Matthew 5:17-18, Jesus is telling us that he DID NOT come to destroy the law! And in John 14:15, Jesus is quoted as saying that IF we love him, to KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS! Therefore, that certainly doesn't SEEM in any way, shape or form that Jesus wants us to NEGLECT the 10 commandments (or their original "intent") under ANY circumstances!!!!! But rather, he seemed to want us to OBEY them!
Acts 10:34, Ephesians 6:9, and Romans 2:11 etc. all show us that Jesus is not a God of "partiality!" In other words, he is a FAIR and CONSISTENT God and a FAIR and CONSISTENT Judge! So THAT being said, does it REALLY make any sense that God/Jesus would tell the Jewish people ONE thing/ONE set of commandments and then turn around and tell the Christians ANOTHER thing/ANOTHER set of commandments or NO commandments?
God/Jesus did NOT go to the Jews of Old Testament and tell them that THEY had to follow the 7th day Sabbath, the 7-8 Biblical Holidays and the BIBLICAL dietary laws and then turn around during the times of the New Testament and say to the Christians that they were free to do, celebrate and eat WHATEVER THEY WANTED! For if he did, A) He wouldn't be God, and B) That wouldn't be fair! And we KNOW from the scriptures that Jesus is a FAIR and CONSISTENT God and a FAIR and CONSISTENT JUDGE! Because if he wasn't, he'd be a liar and JESUS CAN NOT LIE!
Hebrews 13:8"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."
Therefore, if Jesus Christ is ETERNAL, and DOES NOT CHANGE, and said HIMSELF that he DID NOT come to destroy the law, we can safely conclude that neither has Jesus's LAW ever changed, either! In fact, the Sermon on the Mount (talked about in Matthew chapters 5-7 in the New Testament) seemed to ENHANCE the biblical law!
From my best spiritual understanding, we are saved by grace through faith PLUS obedience! (John 14:15, Matthew 7:21-23, etc.) For if you have obedience WITHOUT faith, the obedience is in vain! And if you have faith WITHOUT obedience onto the Lord's commandments, that's also vain, too! But if you have FAITH + OBEDIENCE, then you have been truly "born again" by the spirit of God/Jesus Christ through GRACE!
However, there are still those who claim that Jesus's quote in Matthew 26:26-28 during the last supper about "making a new covenant" means that we no longer have to REPENT (that means to "make amends" for/pray for forgiveness OF) sin! But if we go to the King James version, we have the word TESTAMENT instead of COVENANT. Every version from NEW King James Version and on translates the word as COVENANT. And both the words have slightly different meanings! A "covenant" is like a "marriage contract" for instance. But a "testament" is something that lasts forever!
The Authorized King James Version and King James Version are the most closest bible translations, as it pertains to the Hebrew and the Greek. The NEW King James Version and on distort MANY, MANY words and phrases [http://www.av1611.org/nkjv.html] And in fact, THE APOCRYPHA wasn't even taken out of the King James Bible until the late 1800's or so! [https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Apocrypha-Books/]
[IMPORTANT: As a side note, I have found these GREAT publications of the KJV that also INCLUDE the Apocrypha:
Many Christians today seem to want to "pick the best bible version that WORKS FOR THEM, the "best church that WORKS for them", the "best denomination that WORKS FOR THEM". In other words, they seem to asking the question: "What works BEST for ME?", instead of asking the fateful question: "What does GOD/Jesus WANT/EXPECT from ME and FOR me, as it pertains to obedience and worship?" In other words, they're not asking the fateful question: "Where does GOD/JESUS want ME right now?"
But regardless, even when a person is in/currently attending the INCORRECT church, reading the TAINTED bible version(s), and in the WRONG DENOMINATION(S), Jesus can still use that experience to TEACH a person (by means of the Holy Spirit) what IS and what IS NOT the true gospel (provided that person has a TRUE HEART to want to know what is of God and what is NOT of God!)
Note: Jesus did that with ME, with both the Catholic and Mormon churches in the past and he can most certainly do that with OTHERS, as well! In other words, he might sometimes purposely PLACE a person in the WRONG CHURCH in order to teach them what the TRUE CHURCH *is*, if that makes any sense? Let me elaborate. When I was a "baby Christian" (after I had started reading the gospel for myself ALL THE WAY THROUGH around the ages of 19-21 or so), I still had NO IDEA what alot of the gospel meant by the ages of 23 on on. So I was "easy fodder" for both the Catholic and Mormon churches to "deceive me" at that time.
However, AFTER I prayed to the Lord Jesus for SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING and SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT, I once again read the King James Bible straight through, cover to cover and then gained a "newfound understanding" about what IS and what is NOT the gospel. And it wasn't until about the age of 30 or so that I FINALLY began to see just how EVIL and WRONG and INACCURATE the Roman Catholic Church and "institutionalized Christianity" REALLY IS! And sadly, it wasn't until the age of about 33 or so that I gained the FULL KNOWLEDGE that I have now that the "Judeo-Christian" path is the ONLY fully CORRECT bible interpretation and way of life!
From the outside looking in, it seems "harsh" or "narrow-minded" to say (in retrospect): "This is the ONLY fully correct bible interpretation and way of life". But it's true. I have not been able to find ONE error in the Judeo-Christian path so far, NOT ONE! And I am a MOST DILIGENT seeker of God's Word (Jesus) and God's Written Word (The Bible). The several scriptures that I've shared with you are to PROVE that we still need to honor the BIBLICAL SABBATH (the 7th Day) and the BIBLICAL HOLIDAYS (Passover, Tabernacles, First-fruits, etc.!)
Also....please remember: The Roman Catholic Church and today's "institutionalized church" write them off as "Jewish holidays, ONLY". But they are NOT "Jewish holidays" only, they are BIBLICAL HOLIDAYS. And not only that, but they weren't only for Jewish people and "biblical times", they were meant for ALL of the Lord's people, for ALL time! (Note: Did you know for example that Jesus will STILL have people celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles etc. during the New Millennium? It's true! Read your bibles!)
That now being said, there's a couple verses that I want us to now take a closer look at....
Many Christians today want to interpret Peter's vision of the animals on a sheet in Acts 10 as a sign that ALL FOOD IS CLEAN and OK to eat. HOWEVER.....Peter later understands the ANIMALS in the vision were used to represent PEOPLE (as in, different groups of PEOPLE). Therefore, that's when Jesus showed Peter in a vision that ALL PEOPLE were meant to receive the gospel of Salvation in Jesus Christ and NOT JUST the Jews!!!!!
And in Matthew 15:16-20, the Pharisees were asking Jesus why he and his 12 disciples did not "ritually wash" their hands before eating, so Jesus was explaining to them WHY He and his disciples DID NOT have to ritually wash their hands before eating! In other words, He was emphasizing to the Pharisees that THE WORDS that come out of a man are what DEFILES a man and not HIS UNWASHED HANDS! Jesus never said diet wasn't important, He just emphasized that more emphasis is placed on the WORDS of man, rather than his "ritual practices" before eating.
As for Colossians 2:16-17, Jesus is telling US (the Messianic Jews/Judeo-Christians) to not let ANY Christian/NON-Christian/NON-Judeo-Christian/NON-Messianic Jew judge US (the Judeo-Christian/Messianic Jew) *FOR* following the BIBLICAL 7th Day Sabbath (Saturday), the 7 BIBLICAL holidays (Passover, Tabernacles, Pentecost, etc.) and the BIBLICAL dietary laws (NO PORK, SHELLFISH, ETC.) Make sense?
One does not have to go far to see all the "adversity" towards "Judeo-Christians/Messianic Jews" today. You'll often hear things such as the following:
Those are some of the most common arguments against "Messianic Judaism/Judeo-Christianity". However, I'd like to examine a few more bible passages that explain how and why Jesus works on a "continuum". He doesn't start something without finishing it.
Philippians 1:6 states: "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:"
Here, the "day of Jesus Christ", in my humble opinion, is talking about the 2nd arrival of Jesus upon the Earth in his holy, fully-glorified form. So in other words, the law and the work that was done in ancient Israel by Jesus Christ will be FULLY COMPLETED in the "New Israel", if that makes any sense? Everything works on a "continuum" in the Kingdom of God. This is a passage that has a two-fold meaning.
On the one hand, it's talking about the SPIRITUAL nation of Israel (as a WHOLE) ALL THROUGHOUT TIME and on another hand, it's talking about each INDIVIDUAL person that comprises the SPIRITUAL NATION OF ISRAEL (if that makes any sense?) Because remember that not ALL physical Jews living in Israel at the time of Jesus embraced God's Laws and God's Messiah (Jesus).
Those ones were considered "children of Israel" in name ONLY but NOT in SPIRIT! (Remember the various Old Testament passages where it said "the children of Israel once again turned to idols/idolatry", etc.?) And I want to be VERY CLEAR on this as well: a Jewish person themselves IS/WAS a part of the SPIRITUAL nation of Israel if and when they fully accept(ed) Jesus as Messiah and obeyed his commands!
Now, let us examine a few more bible passages concerning the "continuation" of Jesus's law:
"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away" - Matthew 24:35
Okay, so what can we gather from that? We know from several other scriptures (Isaiah 65:17, Revelation 21:1, Revelation 21:23) that the CURRENT heaven and Earth will BE DESTROYED and/or FOLDED UP LIKE A SCROLL, while a NEW HEAVEN and a NEW EARTH will be CREATED and BROUGHT DOWN TO EARTH. However, the WORDS OF GOD shall EXIST FOREVER! Therefore, it stands to reason: if his WORDS last forever, then that must also mean that his LAW lasts the ENTIRE BIBLE (beginning to End) - minus the animal sacrifices from Old Testament as soon as Jesus came to Earth the first time!
Matthew 5:17-18 has something to say about the matter: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."
Therefore we know that there's still PLENTY of stuff to be fulfilled: The Mark of the Beast, The Antichrist, The War of Armageddon, The New Heaven and New Earth, The Great White Throne Judgement, etc.] So what that passage is saying is that UNTIL everything is fulfilled and I mean, E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G., the BIBLICAL HOLIDAYS and BIBLICAL LAW **STILL APPLY!**
The only reason the biblical LAW will be done away with at the very END of Revelation 22 is because it will NO LONGER BE NEEDED for ALL who live in New Jerusalem at that time will be considered righteous, holy and untainted/WITHOUT SIN!
But a couple other passages that REALLY speak to my spirit concerning the matter are the following:
Please note that this first passage is said in FOUR different ways: Mark 7:7-9 and verse 13, respectively:
Mark 7:7 IMMEDIATELY makes me think of all the "traditions" floating around today, that "the church" has taught over the years (Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day, LGBT infiltration of schools/churches, "the law has been done away with" movement, "church entertainment", etc). And think about it for a minute. WHAT or WHO has created all those "traditions?" They most certainly didn't come from Jesus or his RIGHTEOUS ANGELS!
Jesus and the disciples never ONCE celebrated Christmas or Easter! Jesus and his disciples never ONCE welcomed practicing sodomites into the synagogues or made services all about the music and "entertainment", rather than the MESSAGE! If John the Baptist or Paul were walking around today, observing how FAR all the modern-day churches have STRAYED from Jesus and his gospel, they'd be one of two things: RIGHTEOUSLY ANGRY, CRYING BITTER, BITTER TEARS or BOTH!
But two of the things they'd likely be MOST TROUBLED ABOUT is Paganized, masonic churches meeting on Sunday, the FALSE man-made gospel, rather than the TRUE biblical gospel (Saturday, the 7th day) and OPEN SODOMITES in the church and the "embracing" of OPEN SODOMY! They'd probably quickly run outside to throw up, their righteous spirits would be SO disturbed by what they saw! Therefore, it stands to reason: if Jesus and his disciples would be "disturbed" or "confused" by what they saw going on in modern-day churches today, then should mankind BE doing those abominable things? It begs of question!
In Matthew 7:13-14, JESUS HIMSELF said the following: "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for WIDE is the gate, and BROAD is the way, that leadeth to DESTRUCTION, and MANY there be which go in thereat: Because STRAIGHT is the gate, and NARROW is the way, which leadeth unto LIFE, and FEW there be that find it".This isn't unlike another passage in Luke 16:15 which states: "And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God".
So lets unpack these two bible passages a bit. In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus is telling us that VERY FEW people find the STRAIGHT and NARROW gate (i.e. SPIRITUAL DOORWAY) which leads to LIFE! What is LIFE? It is JESUS HIMSELF! Jesus says in John 14:6:".......I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by ME". Put differently, Jesus is more or less telling us in that bible verse that he's the ONLY way to Eternal Salvation/Eternal Life/Eternal Life with Him in "New Jerusalem" someday.
However, in telling us that the spiritual doorway/pathway to HIM and his ETERNAL TRUTH is NARROW, STRAIGHT and HARD TO FIND, He is ALSO telling us that the spiritual doorway/pathway to ETERNAL DESTRUCTION is VERY BROAD, WIDE, and VERY EASY to find! That's why MOST PEOPLE will take THAT (i.e. the "easy") way in life, instead of the STRAIGHT and NARROW way. Therefore, the NUMBER of people who will TRULY be saved by Jesus is very, very SMALL....a SMALL REMNANT:
"Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" - Luke 12:32
In other words, it is God the Heavenly's Father GOOD PLEASURE to give the eternal kingdom of God to the SMALL REMNANT who TRULY believed in Jesus, obeyed him and called upon His name, instead of taking the more "popular" way in life! Meaning, they were willing to suffer persecution for Jesus's name and for righteousness's sake!
They were WILLING to suffer persecutions at home, in the workplace, abroad, online. They were WILLING to be mocked, laughed at, scorned, arrested on false "hate" charges, etc. They were WILLING to be imprisoned, killed, tortured and/or maimed for Jesus's sake! They were WILLING to keep preaching the gospel in spite of low number of subscribers, low number of listeners and/or watchers and/or low number of congregants!
On the other hand, Jesus is letting us know right there in those passages that many, many, MANY people are on their way to hell/the lake of fire (even many whom call themselves "Christians":
"Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away" - 2 Timothy 3:5
(Note: does the above passage remind anyone of famous televangelist preachers and/or the Pope? Or the "holier than thou Christians" seen in many churches and Christian online communities today? I sure hope so!)
"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity" - Matthew 7:21-23
In other words, just because you "call" yourself a Christian DOES NOT MEAN that you are truly born again per say, in JESUS'S EYES! Just "calling" yourself Christian or a believer in Jesus isn't enough! You have to do the "talk" AND walk the "walk!" Meaning, you MUST obey Jesus's commandments, and NOT just merely "believe" in him! Luke 21:36 states: "Watch therefore, and pray ALWAYS that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
And moseying on over to Luke 16:15, that passage is letting us know that what's POPULAR among mankind in today's world (i.e. think the "worship" of celebrities, vlogs, TicToc, Instagram, Facebook, LGBT "rights" and "propaganda", "abortion", "sodomy", "pre-marital sex", Youtube, videogames, "eating pork/shellfish/unkosher foods", reality shows, secular movies/music/books, "socialistic ideals", "trends", etc.) is abomination in the sight of God. Jesus doesn't like us worshiping celebrities etc. because it has the potential to damn our souls to eternal condemnation if we don't REPENT (that means, to give up) such "worldly things" and "worldly behavior".
Therefore, whenever you see a "popular trend" among mankind, or see people just ranting and raving about how good this show is, how good these chips are, how good this movie is or how good that book is, you can almost be certain that that very "thing" is an abomination in the sight of God. However, interestingly enough, I DO NOT think the same criteria of Luke 16:15 applies to good CHRISTIAN things/music/materials. Because if something TRULY glorifies Jesus, why would Jesus NOT glory in it? Ya know?
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Yet another passage I'd like to share is Isaiah 29:13 which states: "Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid"
So here, we can see from this passage that many "Christians" and "Jews" and even many "Judeo-Christians" THEMSELVES, honor Jesus with their LIPS (going around saying "Praise God", "Praise Jesus, etc.) but yet, their SPIRITUAL *HEART* is far FROM him!
"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" - Matthew 6:21
Therefore, BECAUSE their spiritual HEART is far from him, he's gonna CONFOUND (that means CONFUSE or LEAD ASTRAY/INTO CIRCLES) those who consider themselves "wise" or of whom others consider to be "wise" and he's gonna HIDE the true gospel and TRUE biblical teachings from those who refuse or desire NOT to see them (i.e. mockers/scoffers, lukewarm Christians, the prideful/arrogant, the staunch atheists, the apathetic, etc.)
We see alot of that in the modern-day churches (and even modern-day Christian music industry, today). People substitute the word "God" for "Jesus" in alot of places, and try to make that "god" an all-encompassing god (i.e. claiming the God of the bible is the same as "Allah", etc.) Well folks, the God of the bible is NOT in any way, shape or form the same god as "Allah" or any OTHER lower-case g god! The God of the bible is the ONLY true God! This is expressly spoken all throughout scripture!
There's also alot of people that "go to church" once a week, but then NEGLECT Jesus and his gospel the rest of the week. These are the people who "praise Jesus" in church but then revert back to their OWN lives the rest of the week! These are the people who say: "Sure, I believe in Jesus, he was a great moral teacher" or "Yeah, I believe in Jesus so I'll automatically go to heaven just for believing in Jesus, ALONE". Their LIPS praise Jesus but their HEARTS are far from Him!
Let us examine Matthew 6:21 in a bit more detail: Where is your TREASURE? What are you MOST FOCUSED ON in life? What do you spend your MONEY on? (Most biblical scholars agree that your "treasure" is biblically and spiritually defined as what you most spend your MONEY on!)
In fact, there is SO much pressure in today's society to "fit in" that people will buy things just to PROVE they have money and just to PROVE they're not poor! And that's where you get the concept of people "treasuring" material things/wealth MORE than they "treasure" Jesus/the gospel!
So in conclusion, in order to FULLY obey God/Jesus Christ, one must follow and obey the COMPLETE bible, not just HALF the bible! And to follow ALL the bible, we must have a true spiritual HEART for the bible! (Meaning, we must consider God's Law above ALL other worldly things in our lives!) For HALF the bible is only HALF the truth! Please remember that Jesus is revealed IN the law and IN the biblical Sabbaths and IN the biblical feasts! Jesus is TRUTH! Only following HALF of the bible or HALF of the law is SPIRITUALLY HALF-HEARTED!
Think about it, folks! If we only obeyed the laws of the New Testament and not the Old, we've done ourselves a SERIOUS disservice! Same if we ONLY followed the laws of the Old Testament but not the New! We can’t just use the bible as a cafeteria line and pick which parts we want to follow and which parts not, it doesn’t work that way! Scripture determines scripture, FEELINGS don’t determine scripture!
For more information and more resources, please prayerfully consider the following:
Closing Prayer:
Numbers 6:24-26 "The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace". |
Sunday, March 22, 2020
By: https://yeshua777.wordpress.com/2020/01/11/important-the-torah-still-applies/
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