Posted on 02/03/2018 4:03:21 PM PST by SoFloFreeper
The organization, though started by good men, seems to have become increasingly enamored with the social liberalism.
There are still good elements, but use discernment.
This article is one of the good ones...note, however, it is a few years old.
“This article is one of the good ones”
Tim Keller, the author of the article, is indeed one of the good ones. He has very good Bible studies if you want to look them up.
Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren:
And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment: It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth.
For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.
Acts 15:22-29
These are the basic moral laws that Christian Gentiles are to follow.
You might notice that sexual laws are mentioned while other laws are not.
It is written out very clearly and yet, for some reason you would think it was an obscure and convoluted bit of scripture.
This is kind of a "Christianity 101" that isn't taught real often in churches. It should be. A whole lot of non-Christians love to use these supposed "inconsistencies" to bash the Bible and Christians. They plainly have no idea what they're talking about, but too many Christians aren't equipped with proper Biblical knowledge to confront the lies.
My heavens, that's the most irresistible Free Republic title ever.
LOL.
I learned a lot from messianic Jews. This article has some good points, but saying the penalty for adultery was a civil and not religious remedy under the Old Testament is bunk.
Jesus lived under the Old Testament, as did the last OT prophet, John the Baptist.
The New Covenant or New Testament didn't begin until after the Cross, when the Holy Spirit was poured out on all mankind at Pentecost.
And that's why Mary was in the upper room when the Holy Spirit fell, along with the other disciples.
But to say that adultery and other sins were civil punishments is bunk...
Again, the Jews stoned Stephen, and tried to stone the woman caught in adultery , tried to stone Jesus, etc...
Weird article that needs absolute correction by actual Christians...
It helps to know when He is speaking to the Jew and when He is addressing the church - it’s called ‘rightly dividing the word of truth’
The laws about depraved sex acts all just say, "It is an abomination", as in, an objective, universal fact.
Well, Peter and Paul clarified that gentiles (they would not have called us goyim, that is a Talmudic curse on gentiles, btw) were not under dietary and other non essential laws, but were to adhere to laws about sexuality.
Chrstians have brought this on themselves.
If you read the whole chapter you find that all of the apostles and elders were united in this teaching.
But if you read this article you will not find one mention of Acts 15 in it.
And if you read another dozen articles about this issue it is doubtful even one will mention it.
It is like the book does not exist.
Is it because it is too clear?
“Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat. I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth. “The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
Acts, 11:7-9
God, Himself set aside the dietary laws
“Your Word is Truth, and every one of your righteous statutes is everlasting.” Psalm 119:160.
“Think not that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you that until Heaven and earth pass away not one jot or one tittle shall pass from the Law till all is fulfilled.” Matthew 5:17-18.
The Torah, all of it, is still in effect, and must be observed, especially by those who claim to be the Talmidim (disciples) of Yeshua (Jesus). John tells us in his revered letter “He who says that he abides in Him ought himself to walk even as He walked.” 1 John 2:6
How did Yeshua walk? He walked in perfect, yes Perfect Observance of all of the Torah; every jot and tittle. See his statement above in Matthew.
The Torah is A living fire! It is Life! And it is Eternal. Now go and learn what this means!
Of course.
But Peter had to relate the story for posterity... and Paul confirmed.
This is just plain wrong. This vision came to Peter 14 years after Pentecost!
What took him so long? Didn’t he actually walk and live with Yeshua? He says “Nothing unclean has ever entered my mouth.” Peter was stunned and perplexed. But as he was trying to figure it out men came to invite him to the house of Cornelius. Peter goes there and teaches them Yeshua, and as he does the Ruach HaKodesh falls on them “as it did on us” (the Jews). And suddenly Peter and his astonished friends realize that “G-d is no respecter of persons, but every nation that works righteousness (i.e. Keeps Torah) is accepted by Him.” The vision was not about food! G-d was using the unimaginable idea of eating unclean food to break the ancient Jewish exclusion of Gentiles from the Covenant. The commandments are forever. Get used to it. Not one of them is going away.
They would have referred to the conclusions of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, which they both attended.
I was just pointing out that the restricted application of the dietary laws was in view from the outset, as was the universal sanction against porneia.
And "goyim" is the normal Hebrew word for "nations" in the Tanakh. It's not necessarily a curse. The word Peter and Paul used on the written record was ethne, which is Greek. (What they used at home I can't say, since I never learned Aramaic.)
The authority of Peter and Paul’s writings as the actual Word of God is what I was referring to...
That’s neat you know the languages, and it is interesting that the strange rituals of the Talmudic mindset altered all of these terms, because gentiles who believed in Christ were now grafted into the vine.
And the Holy Spirit which once was behind the Veil in the Temple, was now poured out on all His “maidservants and menservants” as per the prophet Joel, at Pentecost.
Good comments but consider this: There is no such thing as “The Old Testament”. Who died? G-d? The used of the term is for one’s Last Will and Testament. The use of that term connotes that the Torah is old, dusty, and belongs in a museum. This is deceptive and untrue. As for the term “New Testament” the same holds true. There is a “New Covenant” not a new testament. And this New Covenant is defined by the Bible in Jeremiah 31:31: “And this is the new covenant that I shall make with the House of Israel. In those days I will write the words of my Torah upon their hearts. And they will all know me”. You should really study and walk out the Torah, and you too can partake of the only New Covenant that can be found in the Bible.
great expository
The Shellfish/Mixed Fiber Gambit reminds me of a quip of Solomon’s:
“Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him;
Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.”
Proverbs 26
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