[DouglasKC]

What is your response to Acts 15, where the apostles and Church elders met in Jerusalem and decided that Gentiles need not observe the Law of Moses, but to only abstain from things sacrificed to idols, fornication, drinking of blood, and eating strangled meat. They said if you follow this, you will do well. There was no mention of observing Holy Days, dietary customs, or cleaning rituals.
If these Holy Days and dietary customs needed to be observed, then why not put them in the letter. In fact the letter they sent listed the essential items, yet no reference to the things you preach.

Is it your position that the letter included anything and everything that the gentiles were to observe and anything else was up to them?

For example the letter mentions nothing about not killing, nothing about having false gods, nothing about hating your neighbor and nothing about greed. In fact, there are thousands of things NOT mentioned that any Christian would recognize as sinful behavior.

The answer of course is that this letter didn't occur in a vacuum. The gentiles WERE being taught to obey and observe the basic tenents of Judaism and early Christianty...in other words they were being taught about the sabbath, holy days and ten commandments. Thankfully God left us clear scriptural record that this was so:

Act 15:20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
Act 15:21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.

See there...verse 21? Every sabbath the gentiles were learning about God's law in the synagogues.

You can't have it both ways on this. If you are saying that omission of specific instruction in the bible is permission to disregard the bible on God's holy days then it's also permission to disregard the bible in every other moral precept and law that God enumerated in the old testament.

[JohnnyM]

"If you are saying that omission of specific instruction in the bible is permission to disregard the bible on God's holy days then it's also permission to disregard the bible in every other moral precept and law that God enumerated in the old testament."

This is a false dichotomy.

This letter was in regard to the Jews wanting the gentiles to observe the law. These holy days were something that were unique to judaism. This letter was directed toward this issue of the gentile having to observe the things of the Law or not. There is no mention in this letter of the ceremonial cleansing, the dietary laws, or the holy days. Things that should be essential according to you, but it seems the Holy Spirit saw otherwise.

Also, verse 21 is not even included in the letter.

The entire book of Galatians deals with this issue. After having been saved through faith are you now trying to be perfected by the Law?

JM