Posted on 01/07/2005 7:47:31 PM PST by DouglasKC
I agree with you, except the ten commandments. They are frequently referred to as the tables of the (old) covenant, which has been replaced with a new covenant, and new commandments.
Jesus didn't come to destroy the law, but to fulfill and set us free from the law.
Hebrews 8:13 - "In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete." In like maneer, He made the old commandments obsolete by giving us a New Commandment in John 13:34.
Actually, they are in the Old Covenant (Gen 12:3, 18:18), and the New (Gal 3:8) :In thee shall all nations be blessed."
There is no doubt that the new interpretation of the Old Covenant is the New Covenant and that the old is to be discarded (Heb 8:13)
Moses law was written in a book and was to be placed at the side of the Ark of the Covenant. The ten commandments were written by the finger of God on tablets of stone.
Deut 31: 24: And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,
25: That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying,
26: Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.
The 2 tablets of stone were place inside of the Ark.
These need not to be confused.
"Hebrews 8:13 "In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." [KJV]
"By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear." [NIV]
Jesus reduced the entire OT to two commandments (from the Old Testament) -- love God with all your heart and soul and mind; and your neighbor as yourself. If you could, you would not have to worry about the rest.
Again, it is not the OT testament but its interpretation that was discarded and made obsolete. The circumcision is not of the flesh but of the heart, and the blood of animals cannot atone for our sins. The Hebrews were given the right stuff but had it wrong. Christianity is defined by the New Testament, which interprets the Old in the way the Hebrews didn't. Therefore, the OT, as interpreted by the Hebrews, is discarded, because it was made imperfect (corrupt) by the Hebrews
"For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people..." [NIV, Heb 8:7-8]
Through the NT we recognize that "the Law made " [NIV, Heb 6:19]
Again, read Matthew 5:38 and see where Jesus directly reinterprets Exodus 21:24 and renders it null and void.
Read also Luke 13:14 for a better insight into the Hebrew's mindset: you can't be sick on a Sabbath; you will just have to pick another day!
"There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”
Need we say more?
Good article. I tend to think the preoccupation with which physical day is the Sabbath is contradictory to the rest of the article, however, I also find the rest of the article to be well founded.
Off the top of my head, the 'pillar of fire' generally references the 'Shekinah glory' associated with the presence of God to the children of Israel.
I applaud the article for its insightful reference to PLEROO. The term might be also understood as a fulfilling or filling to perfection of a deficiency. All Christians upon salvation are still instructed to continue in faith and further fill ourselves in faith or doctrine. Same word is used.
A tremendous amount of insight is gleaned from word studies of PLEROO and PISTIS.
This article is a chapter from a larger booklet. The author states this in the next chapter, Does the New Covenant Abolish the Commandments?
I also find it interesting that no where in the article does the author mention grace. John 1:15-18 "the Law came through Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.".
The purpose of the chapter is to show how and what Jesus taught about God's law, not about grace.
The author also fails to state that the strength of sin is in the law. (1 Corinthians 15:51-57)
I don't see your point. He doesn't mention lots of things including:
Rom 7:12 Wherefore the law [is] holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
First, your comments are irrelevant to my question concerning the number of laws and the purpose of the "10 Sayings".
My comments were intended to show you that the new covenant and Jesus sacrificial death obviated the need for Christians to keep the 600 or whatever laws you mentioned. As for the 10 ommandments, I think that biblically they were much more than just sayings. They were carried around inside the ark of the covenant. They were the only things uttered directly by God to the Israelites. They were the only thing written directly by the finger of God on the stone tablets.
Second, what you state is contradictory to what the author has stated in the article:
I think you're reading things into the authors position that aren't there.
Good points, thanks.
http://www.ucg.org/about/fundamentalbeliefs.htm
The above link is the statement of beliefs of the United Church of God, which posted the article on their website.
I wouldn't go so far as to declare somebody as not being Christian, but I agree the above site is incredibly careful not to attribute the Son as part of the Godhead, hence tend to follow a mistaken path.
It's funny, they do present a very articulate and well studied and faithful perception of the spirit, and perhaps the Father. Perhaps if they added a doctrine of kenosis, they'd fall closer to how I understand Scripture to teach us about our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus.
They are not Jewish feasts, they are God's feasts:
Lev 23:4 These [are] the feasts of the LORD, [even] holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.
And since God tells us they're his feasts, and Christ kept them as an example, then there's no doubt that the first Christians honored God by observing his feasts.
It is the belief of the UCG that the father and the son comprise the Godhead. You can't get much clearer than this statement:
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who is the Word and has eternally existed. We believe that He is the Messiah, the Christ, the divine Son of the living God, conceived of the Holy Spirit, born in the human flesh of the virgin Mary. We believe that it is by Him that God created all things and that without Him was not anything made that was made. We believe in the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of God and of Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the power of God and the Spirit of life eternal (2 Timothy 1:7; Ephesians 4:6; 1 Corinthians 8:6; John 1:1-4; Colossians 1:16).
It's funny, they do present a very articulate and well studied and faithful perception of the spirit, and perhaps the Father. Perhaps if they added a doctrine of kenosis, they'd fall closer to how I understand Scripture to teach us about our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus.
You developed this judgment without really looking too deeply into it. Belief in the deity of Christ is a cornerstone of UCG.
Agreed. I always believed that the concept of overcoming and growing in faith was a basic tenet of Christianity. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that a large segment of Christians don't subscribe to that view.
One method I've seen taught to discern between initial faith and a mature faith has been an association of initial faith with a salvation faith and a continuing walk, further filling of the spirit by doctrine (doctrine being the meaning of PISTIS in continuing post-salvation sanctification).
When reading the 1Co 10:1-5 passage in the Greek New Testament, I'm amazed at the migration from SOMA to BROMA to POMA all being associated with PETRA of CHRISTOS. The passage seems much more poetical is the original Greek. It also provides enormous insight. One of the more beautiful passages I've read.
Thanks.
Thanks for pointing that out. I'm slowly picking up Greek through my bible studies but have a long way to go before I'm not dependent on concordances and other references. I can't imagine studying a passage without at least taking these steps.
Let me try to explain how I see this by starting with scripture:
Rom 13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
Rom 13:9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if [there be] any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Rom 13:10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love [is] the fulfilling of the law.
What I believe Paul is saying is that if we love our neighbors as we should, then we can't help but keep these commandments. In other words, the ten commandments are the written expression of a perfect, internal, holy love of God and others.
Do you have any examples that you could sight for me in the NT?
Also, what would your thoughts be on circumcision and dietary restrictions as practices by the Jews?
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