Chapter 2 New Testament Christians.
" Do not think that I have come to abolish the law..."
A couple of years ago, an acquaintance was telling me about a perspective girlfriend's spirituality. The conversation went something like this:
He said," Yeah, she's really cool; she's really into the bible and into her church."
I said," So have you tried talking to her about some of the things that you and I have discussed?"
He responds," Well, yeah, but she says they [her church] don't really deal with the old testament. They're a "New Testament Church".
I go into a tirade.
Actually, I know that I had heard the terms " New Testament church" and "New Testament christians" before then, but up until this conversation I had never given them much attention. But, to show how " New Testament christianity" works, the young lady mentioned previously rejected my acquaintance completely, opting instead for a pornography addicted, non-believing coworker because, "he was cute".
See? Whatever she presumably believes in is whimsical at best. Her beliefs can be molded around whatever she personally wants.
Without a standard, you're just making it up as you go.
Now, of course, new testament christians will quote scripture to confirm their stance, but only in part, never in context, and always twisted ever so slightly [ and sometimes not so slightly ] to get it to bend in the direction they need it to go. How else can they justify their various doctrines in the glaring light of scripture in it's entirety.
The translators of the bible worked some very curious deeds, even in regards to the new testament. The majority of the time when some aspect of the law was being discussed, rather than look more deeply at what was being said in a passage, they simply used the "catch all" term the law. However, "the law" was a compilation of elements. First there were the commandments. Most are familliar with the Ten Commandments, but are blissfully ignorant of the fact that there are many more. Then there are the statutes, judgements, and ordinances.
"Now blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way,nailing it to His cross." Colossians 2:14
Preachers and ministers love to trumpet the charge," Christ has nailed the law to the cross." But this isn't true. The actual scriptural referrence clearly states that Christ nailed the handwriting of ordinances to the cross. Why the translators couldn't have been as concise throughout their translations, is beyond me.
Now, let's look at that phrase" handwriting of ordinances". Handwriting, from Strong's # 5498 ch ei ro graphon- something handwritten, i.e. a manuscript [ especially a legal document]. So this handwriting had legal significance. Next, ordinance, from# 1378 dogma- a law [ civil, CEREMONIAL, or ecclesiastical].
Let's do a little comparative shopping now. " You shall have no other gods before Me" That seems rather straightforward. Is there anything CEREMONIAL about this commandment? No. It is a commandment.
Now let's look at Deuteronomy 16:21-22. " Do not set up any wooden asherah pole [ grove in the K.J.V.] beside the altar you build to Yahweh your God, and do not erect a sacred stone, for these things Yahweh your God hates." Is there anything ceremonial here? No. This is still in regards to worshipping other gods. This expounds on the commandment, giving you an example of what not to do. This is a statute.
" If you hear it said about one of the towns Yahweh your God is giving you to live in, that wicked men have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying,' Let us go and worship other gods' [ gods you have not known ] then you must enquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly. And if it is true and it has been proven... you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. Destroy it completely..." Deuteronomy 13:12-15. Anything ceremonial here? I should say not. This is still in regards to worshipping other gods, but in the sense of how to deal with it if it is discovered. This is a judgement. [ It also tells us quite a bit about Yahweh's idea of "freedom of religion", doesn't it?]
"Moses said to Aaron," Come to the altar and sacrifice your sin offering, and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and the people; sacrifice the offering for the people and make atonement for them, as Yahweh commanded." Leviticus 9:7.
Does that sound ceremonial? Bingo! So, we see that the ordinances had to do with rituals, atonements and sacrifices. Now, going back to Colossians 2:14, what makes more sense; that Christ nailed the commandments or the statutes or the judgements to the cross, or rather nailed the rituals, atonements and sacrifices to the cross? Upon the cross He was acting as the final atoning sacrifice, " the Lamb slain from the foundation of the earth".
Now let's consider another individual: righteous Abraham. " Because that Abraham obeyed My Voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws." Genesis 26:5. Here we have Yahweh's own testimony concerning Abraham, and it includes the keeping of commandments, statutes and laws. What does this tell us? That Yahweh's law has always been Yahweh's laws, they didn't just "appear" at Mt. Horeb in the Sinai desert. No, as in most ancient things, the Divine law was passed down orally from generation to generation. Moses only codefied it or wrote it down. He didn't "come up" with it.
However, there was one thing missing from Yahweh's testimony of Abraham; rituals or ordinances. Why do I mention this?
" What I mean is this: the law, intoduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God [ with Abraham ] and thus do away with the promise." Galatians 3:17. Now we know that Abraham was already keeping the law 430 years before Moses parted the Red Sea, so what is being referred to here as a "law" introduced 430 years after Abraham?
" What then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressors, til the seed to whom the promise referred had come." Galatians 3:9. And what part of the law pertained to transgressions? The atonements, sacrifices, rituals; the ordinances. Are we seeing a pattern yet?
To be perfectly honest, Christ's sacrifice on the cross didn't really "abolish" even the rituals. It fullfilled them. You see everytime a spotless lamb was sacrificed, every turtledove, every goat and bullock, they all were pointing the way to the Perfect Sacrifice.
The plain problem with most people is that generic term, "the law". It can mean any element of what Christ referred to as "the law and the prophets".
Let's try this. Let's look at some new testament scripture from the King James in which law is used generically, and parallel them with the Ferrar Fenton translation which uses the specific term "ritual". [ You can find this in the pamphlet," America needs the Divine Law", by Dr. J. Franklin Snook from Kingdom Identity Ministries].
Galatians 4:21
K.J.: Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?
F.F.: Tell me, you who wish to be under a ritual, do you not hear the law?
Galatians 5:2-4
K.J: For I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace.
F.F.: And I assert again, to every circumcised man, that he is bound to practice the whole ritual. Whoever of you are made righteous by a ritual, you are detached from Christ, you are fallen from the gift.
Galatians 5:18
K.J.: But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
F.F.: But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under a ritual.
Concerning Galatians: the church in Galatia was being led into believing that in order to be saved, they must reinstate circumcision amongst themselves by jewish deceivers. Circumcision was to be a point of identification and was under the rituals or ordinances section. However, circumcision of the heart was always Yahweh's true will for His people, and was expressed in the old testament as well.
Romans 3:20-22
K.J: Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.
F.F.: Therefore by the practice of a ritual, none can be made righteous; yet however, a recognition of sin comes by means of law. But now, without a ritual, a Divine righteousness is exhibited, attested by the law and the prophets.
Romans 3:27-28, 31
K.J.: Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified without the deeds of the law...Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
F.F.: Where is our pride? It is banished. By what law? By the rituals? No! but by the law of faith. Therefore we have argued that a man may be righteous by a faith distinct from a law of rituals...Then you will say we destroy the law for the sake of the faith? Never! On the contrary, we corraborate the law.
Romans 9: 31-32
K.J.: But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness...Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law.
F.F.: But Israel pursuing a ritual for righteousness, has not entered into a righteousness law. For what reason? Because they sought it not as by faith, but as if from rituals.
As concerning the above verse, how many " christians ", both catholic and protestant, try to earn their way into heaven through church attendance, prayers, charity, etc..Doing these things does not cause you to go to heaven, going to heaven causes you to do these things. So it was with the rituals.
As for any other scriptures that I may not get to in this study, try our above experiment for yourself. When reading a passage which seems to be abolishing the law, try simply reading ritual or ordinance in place of the word law. You may be greatly surprised at how vastly improved your understanding of scripture becomes. At this point I honestly hope to have at least started some "New Testament" christians thinking and studying. Now let us examine another idea: works.
Faith and works.
One of the worst treated toics in todays "New Testament" churches is the concept of faith. But a look at the book of James clears up a lot of nonsense.
Chapter 2 verses 1-7 show James attacking the issue of favoritism, or partiality toward the rich. It may surprise many "New Testament" christians to learn that this is an issue dealt with extensively in Yahweh's law.
" You shall not pervert justice from the destitute when he pleads." Exodus 23:6 F.F.
" Do not regard social station in deciding, whether low or high. Listen not in fear of the station of a man; for justice belongs to God Himself." Deuteronomy 1:17 F.F.
When James points out the injustices being perpetrated, he assigns the guilt to the rich, a theme echoed throughout Psalms and Proverbs.
But in verse 8 he says," If you really keep the Royal law found in scripture,' Love your neighbor as yourself', you are doing right." The Royal Law. James was not referring here to some new fangled idea that was being spread, for he plainly says that this royal law is found in scripture.
What was scripture to James? James didn't have a pocket new testament. Neither did Paul or Peter or Yahoshua. The only thing that these men and our Messiah had to refer to as scripture was the Law and the Prophets.
So this royal Law had already been in existence for quite some time, thousands of years actually. The Royal Law was none other than THE LAW. God's Law, and according to James, if you were really keeping it, you were doing right.
We continue," But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted of the law as lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For He who said ,' do not commit adultery' also said 'do not murder'. If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker."[:8-11]
I have actually heard preachers attempt to use these verses to show that we are not under the law and that the law is somehow detrimental to our existence. But if you read this honestly, you can plainly see that that is not what James is doing. He is using logic [ maybe that's why this verse gets lost on so many people ]. Remember, his initial issue here was showing favoritism [ which is expressly forbidden by the law . James is attempting to show his readers how serious a matter this really is. By showing favoritism they were no better than an adulterer or a murderer, for they all are sin and transgressions of the law.
Verse 12: " Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgement without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgement!"
Here again, some have used the above verse to somehow discredit God's Law. Yet mercy was always at the heart of the matter. When Christ said," Ye hath heard that it hath been said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth...", this was of course, in the law. Exodus 21. God's Law requires retribution. This was actually stated, however, to prevent abuses of the law, i.e. cutting off someone's head for having knocked out a tooth. Punishment was not to be excessive."... But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil [ not of course, actual demonic evil, but an injustice which we would naturally perceive as evil because, well, it happened to us ] but whosoever would smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." Matthew 5:38-39.
Very quickly, Christ was not promoting pacifism here, for He also told His disciples that if they did not have a sword, to sell their coats and buy one. Neither was He abolishing any law, He was not changing any law; He was trying to get His chosen people to treat each other with mercy. Remember King David? Scripture tells us that David was a man after God's own heart. This is incredible considering some of David's monumental screw ups, and I'm not just rehashing Bathsheba here.
David was constantly overlooking wrongs done to him by people who deserved death, even his own children. This from a man who wrote that he "delighted in the law of Yahweh" and that he " meditated on Yahweh's law day and night". Yet he rarely avenged himself on his enemies, even when he had a legal right. Why? Because he saw Yahweh's mercy in that law. I am so tired of the so-called christian preachers and teachers who speak of Yahweh's law as if it were a club always beating us. That law brought David closer to Yahweh's heart than any other name in scripture, and thus it made him merciful.
Christ was rebuking people for using His law as a club, rather than as a means of righteousness.
Back to James. Notice that he tells us to live and act as people who will be judged [ by what?] by the law that gives freedom [ K.J. says law of liberty]. This law that gives freedom, this law of liberty, is not some new thing found only in the new testament. It is the same law, the law and the prophets, that makes judeo-christians everywhere cringe at it's very mention, even though few are actually even lightly familiar with it. But James says that it gives freedom, and if a nation practices the law of Yahweh God, that is exactly what that nation enjoys - freedom and liberty to all it's citizens, from all oppression and abuse. If an individual walks in this law, remembering mercy, you will walk in freedom and liberty from all the oppression of evil.
This thing called the law, which the majority of so-called christians are taught to belittle and refuse, was to James, something beautiful.
And to think, James was one of the very first "New Testament" christians.
Verse 14: "What good is it my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds [ works in the K.J. ]? Can such a faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him,' Go, I wish you well, keep warm and well fed', but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." Here again, the law is replete with how we are to act towards those who are in dire straits, actions, deeds, works that we are to do to help alleviate the suffering of our brethren.
Verse 18: " But someone will say,'You have faith. I have deeds.' Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do." Now we are getting into the real meaning of faith." You believe that there is one God, good! Even the demons believe that - and shudder."
In today's "name it and claim it-blab it and grab it" culture, there is no real faith. There is lusting, covetousness, ingratitude, greed, but not faith. The emphasis is on you, not Yahweh God. God is supposed to be doing all the work while we sit back and just watch the blessings roll in. This isn't faith.. Countless so-called christians throw scripture in God's face as if He has somehow forgotten them. This isn't faith.
Take a good look at James' last statement. Even the demons believe in The One God. They have to, they were in His literal, physical presence. They know better than we the majesty, glory and power of the Ever Living God, Yahweh. Yet they are His enemies, rebels against His law, His will, His kingdom.
Real faith is this. You not only believe in Yahweh God, but you trust Him. We trust Him to know what's best for us, better than we do. If He says we are not to eat pork chops [ no matter how well cooked ], we just plain trust Him and don't eat them. We don't try to prove how that this is an outdated concept because of modern advancements in farming, storage, and cooking. We believe that He created a pig, although not for our consumption, and thus He knows the genetic predisposition of pork to be a poison to our bodies. We trust Yahweh. We don't eat it.
When we observe the sabbath, pay our tithes and study His word so that His law and righteousness might be upheld in our lives, it is not out of some vain attempt to be "good enough" to get into His kingdom, nor do we do so begrudgingly, wishing in our hearts that we could indulge ourselves in some forbidden pleasure. We do these things because Yahweh is our Father, and we know that He really does love us and care for us individually as well as corporately. We must trust Him enough to obey Him. He need not explain Himself [ although in times of weakness we all wish that He would ]. He is the Creator, we the simple creations. We submit to His authority, we seek to conform to His image, rather than some ego-centric image of this world, and we must just trust in His nature, for it is perfect.
Verse 20: " You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offerred Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And was fullfilled that says,' Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,'and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does, and not by faith alone."
In using Abraham as an example, James ties works or deeds to the law, for as we have already seen, Abraham kept Yahweh's charge, commandments, statutes and laws. He was doing that long before Isaac was even born. In fact, it was only because of Abraham's lifelong obeidiance that he could lay Isaac on that altar. A lifetime of keeping Yahweh's commandments, statutes and law were a part of Abraham's relationship to his God as well as his covenant. This trained Abraham to trust Yahweh, unconditionally.
You can say that you love someone, but do you trust them? Most modern christians proclaim a love for Christ only because of a "get something in return" mentality. Take away everything that they hold dear and important, what kind of faith will they have then? The pulpits of today preach a Santa Clause gospel. To follow a creed, philosophy or teaching because it offers you something in return, is not faith. To get your head chopped off for refusing to renounce your belief takes faith. To reject the majority of this world's pleasures, comforts and rewards, often being placed in physically undesireable conditions, perhaps even poverty, sleeplessness, ridicule, animosity, defamation, rejection by family and friends, loss of material possessions and convieniences, and yes even death, requires faith. It requires trust.
Do you trust Yahweh, the One True God, enough to just obey Him?
Upon reading James 3:2 we read," If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man able to keep his whole body in check." James is now exposing the hazards of loose lips. "The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil...but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison."
Finally in James 4:11," Brothers do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but setting in judgement on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But you, who are you to judge your neighbor?"
It would seem that those who have pronounced the law as " dead and abolished" haven't read the book of James, as he has quite a bit to say concerning it; and according to him, it is still valid. In the above quotation, James is not proclaiming some "new law", this is not a "new testament thing". For proof, go back and reread all that James had to say about the tongue and all the admonitions against running our mouths, then look at Leviticus 19:16," Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among the people..." For more on talebearers [ gossips, slanderers, etc.] see Proverbs 11:13, 18:8, 20:19, 26:20, 26:22.
Now let's consider bearing a false witness, another sin committed with the tongue. First we have the commandment:"thou shalt not bear false witness"[ Exodus 20:16 ]. Next we have the statute,"Do not spread false reports. Do not help a wicked man by being a malicious witness. Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, and do not show favoritism to a poorman in his lawsuit [ Here, notice that Yahweh abhors favoritism even to tthe poor, not just to the rich ]. Exodus 23:1-3. Here the statute expounds on the commandment, showing various ways a false witness can be manifested.
Finally there is the judgement." One witness is not enough to convict a man of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses." Deuteronomy 19:15. Here Yahweh recognizes the propensity for evil in human nature and installs a safeguard. One person running his mouth is not enough to convict a man. How utterly unlike today's corrupt legal system.
Verse 16:"If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse a man of a crime, the two men involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of Yahweh before the priests and judges who are in office at that time. The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against his brother, then do to him, as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from among you."
If you had accused me of stealing from you, say a sheep, now you must render unto me 4 sheep, which is the penalty for stealing a sheep. If you accused me of murder, adultery, or blasphemy, you can now be put to death. So we can see that James' admonitions in the new tesament, are deeply rooted in the old testament. You cannot argue with or spiritualize away James' clear and concise teaching, that Yahweh's law is still in effect, and just as much a part of the new testament [ or rather covenant ] as it was a part of the old.
Romans.
The book of Romans is full of dissertations on the law, many of which we have already dealt with. But so much is left that in order to fully cover Romans it would require another book altogether. At this point I ask you the reader to, well, read. Read the book of Romans taking notice where the word ritual might be better used in place of the generic term "the law".
Also keep in mind that the law is just that, law. If you attempt to keep Yahweh's laws without actually believing in Yahweh, are you saved? Of course not. The law is for Yahweh's faithful. We do not abide by His law to become His sheep; we abide in it because we are His sheep.
Lastly, remember that we are in need of His help in keeping His law, especially if we are to remember mercy and love. This creates a dependancy upon Yahweh God and His Spirit of Holiness, to empower us beyond our frail abilities, and atone for our failures.
2010-01-15 @ 12:35:27 pm
by Carlie
Behold,I will create new heavens and ...
2008-10-25 @ 05:54:03 pm
by brotherdarren