Posted on 02/16/2015 12:58:16 PM PST by NRx
I'm sure this is what you've been taught.
I prefer to actually see the textbook; but that's just me.
I’m afraid we have reached an impasse. This is not what I have been taught - this is what scripture says. Jesus was not married, did not receive last rights, was not confirmed, etc. Thus, for me, these are not mandatory. But the two he did take part in are. However, that does not diminish the power of the remaining five sacraments, as they are appropriate for our lives. This is probably not an important distinction, but not all sacraments are required, some are just available.
1 What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2 He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. 4 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. (Galatians 4)
None of the previous covenants apply any longer. They were all temporary until - in the fullness of time - He came, to free us of the obligations of the law. This is not the covenant of Moses, but the covenant of Christ. He fulfilled (completed) the requirements of the covenant of Moses (as foretold in Ezekiel) and established a new covenant - with the laws written in our hearts, not on stone or paper.
THIS is the Good News!!!
Not an impasse; but a disconnect.
This is not what I have been taught - this is what scripture says. Jesus was not married, did not receive last rights, was not confirmed, etc. Thus, for me, these are not mandatory. But the two he did take part in are.
Then; by your reasoning, SCRIPTURE should have the last word; right?
5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”
6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”
12 The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. 13 When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. 14 Simon[a] has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. 15 The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:
16 “‘After this I will return
and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
and I will restore it,
17 that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
even all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’[b]—
18 things known from long ago.[c]
19 “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21 For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”
The apostles and elders, your brothers,
To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:
Greetings.
24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.
Farewell.
30 So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. 31 The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. 32 Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. 33 After spending some time there, they were sent off by the believers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. [34] [d] 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.
Mine is deceitful above all things.
Jeremiah 17:9
“26 A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statues and be careful to observe my ordinances.” (Ezekiel 36)
This is accomplished in the New Covenant!
I see nothing about a NEW covenant in these Old testament verses you posted.
Please try Ezekiel 34:25 and Jeremiah 31:31. God has always planned to “complete” (fulfill) the old covenant which man could never live up to - it was the only way God could restore a right relationship with his beloved man.
Good question. Hebrews quotes Jeremiah 31, then explains it:
6 But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises. 7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8 But God found fault with the people and said:
“The time is coming, declares the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.
10 This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11 No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
12 For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear. (Hebrews 9)
Then Paul shows us the application in Galatians 4:
1 What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2 He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. 4 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. (Galatians 4)
So, under the new covenant, we have moved form “children” under the care of the law, to full “sons” and “heirs”, with all of the responsibilities and joys that entails.
THAT is the Good News!!
I am seeing a great deal of discussion that suggests few of the commenters have actually read the work.
This is true; but WHERE is the New Covenant?
If you consider the Bible as another site; then YES.
The new Covenant is actually reveled in two steps. The first is by Jesus on earth during the last supper:
27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
30 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. (Matthew 26)
This is a covenant of forgiveness. Then it is sealed in Heaven - and not even the Father could open it.
I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 4 I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.’ (Revelation 5)
Thus, the scroll of the covenant is opened.
This is the new covenant:
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars – their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” (Revelation 21)
Unfortunately, many teach that this is yet to come. Yet, if it has not come, then Jesus’ work was not finished and He came for nothing! It is fitting that the final covenant with man is opened in Heaven. Man had nothing to do with it. We have now been fully restored to our place before Our Maker, just as Adam and Eve were before they sinned. Hallelujah!!
It's easy to see why!
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
In Israel there was nothing more feared than the sea. Israel never even had a Navy nor traded by sea. This is an expression of relief that their was nothing more to fear. I must admit, the hardest part in reading the Bible is when it is speaking literally and when figuratively/poetically. In this case,I believe it is the later.
Others have the same problem with Jesus when he tells the disciples:
34 I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 34 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (Matthew 24)
In this case, his disciples had asked when will the end come, and Jesus told the “this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.” I believe he meant what He said, others treat it as figurative.
Jesus did not come to do a partial job, but to fully restore us with the Father - and this cannot happen until the rest of the story in Revelation takes place - and I believe that happened as the Beast is slain - the destruction of the temple and the Jews who did not accept Him in 70 AD.
Impossible. Revelation wasn't even written until 96AD. Preterism demands history be re written.
That is certainly not a unanimous opinion:
James Glasgow: The Apocalypse Translated and Expounded (1872 PDF) - Early Dating Advocate, Sets at AD 51. “Daniel’s prophecy of the seventy weeks presents an irrefragable proof that the whole of the New Testament, the Apocalypse included, must have been written before the fall of Jerusalem and the end of the Jewish kingdom.” “When did the seventy weeks end ? No date later than that of the fall of Jerusalem (a.d. 70) can with any truth or plausibility be supposed, for these weeks were “determined on the holy city.”
Interesting debate - please do close it off with “facts” that have yet to be established.
Jesus did not leave some of his work to be fulfilled thousand of years later - He came to Finish it!! - and thus re-unit man and God. THIS is the new covenant. Rejoice!!
And the "Holy City" is once again being built and inhabited with the people of the tribes of Israel being regathered just as God prophesied it would happen. In 1872 Glasgow would have had no reference as the prophecy was shut up until now as God told Daniel.
There is absolutely no record of anyone being banned to the Isle of Patmos in 51AD but there sure were in 96AD. Three is a definite break between the 69th and 70th weeks of Daniel's prophecy the last week of which must be 7 years. The events of those 7 years is still future.
>>please do close it off with “facts” that have yet to be established.<<
The preterist errors have been shown so often on these threads I'll not wast my time again.
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