Posted on 04/10/2009 10:32:45 AM PDT by DouglasKC
Consider these important facts. First, Easter Sunday is traditionally revered as the day of Jesus' resurrection—although the Bible clearly states that He had already risen before Sunday dawned in the city of Jerusalem.
Second, even though Good Friday is generally observed as the traditional day of His crucifixion, Christ Himself told the disciples that He would be in the grave for all of three days and three nights. How can three days and three nights possibly fit between a Friday-afternoon crucifixion and a Sunday-morning resurrection?
Third, the word Easter is not found in the Greek New Testament. Nor is there biblical mention of or instruction to observe Lent.
Finally, unlike the specific instruction to commemorate Christ's death, there is absolutely no commandment in the New Testament to observe the date of Jesus' resurrection. Yet today's religious customs are so ingrained in the church calendar that many would consider it heretical to question them.
Most of the world is scarcely aware that the original apostles did not institute or keep these customs, nor were they observed by the early Christian Church. Try as you might to find them, Lent, Good Friday and Easter are not so much as mentioned in the original Greek wording of the New Testament. (The word Easter appears only once in the King James Version of the Bible—in Acts 12:4—where it is flagrantly mistranslated from the Greek word pascha, which should be translated "Passover," as most versions render it.)
The justification for the Lenten 40-day preparation for Easter is traditionally based on Jesus' 40-day wilderness fast before His temptation by Satan (Harper's Bible Dictionary, "Lent"; Matthew 4:1-2; Mark 1:13). The problem with this explanation is that this incident is not connected in any way with Jesus' supposed observance of Easter. The 40-day pre-Easter practice of fasting and penance did not originate in the Bible.
Many people still follow such practices, assuming that such activities honor God and are approved by Him. But, we should ask, how does God regard such extrabiblical customs? Consider God's instructions to those who would worship Him:
"Take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.' You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it" (Deuteronomy 12:30-32, emphasis added throughout).
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia notes: "The term Easter was derived from the Anglo-Saxon 'Eostre,' the name of the goddess of spring. In her honor sacrifices were offered at the time of the vernal [spring] equinox" (1982, Vol. 2, "Easter").
Many battles were fought over its observance date, but the Council of Nicea finally fixed the date of Easter in A.D. 325 to fall on the first Sunday after the full moon on or after the vernal equinox (March 21).
Not generally known is that "the preparation for Easter season, beginning on Ash Wednesday and continuing for a week after Easter Day, was filled with pagan customs that had been revised in the light
of Christianity. Germanic nations, for example, set bonfires in spring. This custom was frowned on by the Church, which tried to suppress it . . . In the sixth and seventh centuries [monks] came to Germany, [bringing] their earlier pagan rites[,] and would bless bonfires outside the church building on Holy Saturday. The custom spread to France, and eventually it was incorporated into the Easter liturgy of Rome in the ninth century. Even today the blessing of the new fire is part of the Vigil of Easter.
"Medieval celebrations of Easter began at dawn. According to one old legend, the sun dances on Easter morning, or makes three jumps at the moment of its rising, in honor of Christ's resurrection. The rays of light penetrating the clouds were believed to be angels dancing for joy.
"Some Easter folk traditions that have survived today are the Easter egg, rabbit and lamb. During medieval times it was a tradition to give eggs at Easter to servants. King Edward I of England had 450 eggs boiled before Easter and dyed or covered with gold leaf. He then gave them to members of the royal household on Easter day. The egg was an earlier pagan symbol of rebirth and was presented at the spring equinox, the beginning of the pagan new year.
"The Easter rabbit is mentioned in a German book of 1572 and also was a pagan fertility symbol. The Easter lamb goes back to the Middle Ages; the lamb, holding a flag with a red cross on a white field, represented the resurrected Christ [rather than the sacrifice of His life, as a fulfillment of the Passover lamb, that paid for the sins of the world (John 1:29)]" (Anthony Mercatante, Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, 1988, "Easter").
Easter traditions are embraced by many who profess Christianity. Yet none of these practices are found in the Bible or the customs of the early Church. Jesus and His apostles did not establish or perpetuate such practices, which obscure the true biblical meanings and observances of this time of year. In fact, a fourth-century church historian, Socrates Scholasticus, wrote in his Ecclesiastical History that neither the apostles nor the Gospels taught the observance of Easter, nor did they or Jesus give a law requiring the keeping of this feast. Instead, "the observance originated not by legislation, but as a custom" (chapter 22, emphasis added).
Even as early as the close of the second century, the theologian Irenaeus bore witness in his letter to Victor, bishop of Rome, that some early Roman bishops forbade the observance of Passover on the 14th of Nisan. This was the date of the biblical observance practiced each spring by Jesus and the apostles. At the time that the Nisan 14 Passover observance was banned, ecclesiastical authorities introduced Lent and Easter into Christian practice.
A century later the Syriac Didascalia recorded the attempts of teachers in Rome to reconcile Jesus' words that He would be entombed "three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:40) with a Friday-afternoon crucifixion and a Sunday-morning resurrection. According to their reasoning, Jesus' sufferings were part of the three days and three nights of Scripture. Friday morning from 9 to noon was counted as the first day, and noon to 3 p.m. (which was darkened) was considered the first night. Three in the afternoon to sunset was reckoned as the second day, whereas Friday night to Saturday morning constituted the second night. The daylight part of Saturday was the third day, and the night portion to Sunday morning was the third night.
In other words, the three days and three nights in the grave that Jesus said would be the sign that He was indeed sent from God were transformed into a period of two days and two nights, or a total of no more than 48 hours. This has subsequently been reduced even further in modern times by figuring from late afternoon Friday to early Sunday morning, which takes away another 12 hours or more. Such reasoning has to discount or somehow explain away Jesus' clear promise that He would be entombed three days and three nights.
Easter and Lent are nonbiblical and were not observed by the apostles or the first-century Church. The biblical record shows, however, that the early Church diligently kept other observances, the New Testament Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread, just as Jesus and the apostles had done (Matthew 26:17-19; Acts 20:6; 1 Corinthians 5:8; 11:23-26). These were supplanted in later years by the customs and practices of Easter and Lent.
Passover is an annual reminder of Jesus' sacrificial death to pay the penalty for our sins (Matthew 26:26-28). The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a celebration that focuses on a Christian's need to live in sincerity, truth and purity (1 Corinthians 5:8). The nonbiblical festivals of Lent and Easter, added decades after the time of Jesus Christ and the apostles, only cloud the true significance of Christ's life, death and resurrection and the purpose of His coming.
The Passover, instituted in Exodus 12, continues by Jesus Christ's example and command—but with a change of symbols. Jesus' death fulfilled the symbolism of the sacrificial Passover lamb (Matthew 26:17-28; John 1:29). However, the New Testament Passover has been improperly replaced as an annual memorial of the death of Christ by Easter. We are commanded to commemorate Christ's death, not His resurrection (1 Corinthians 11:23-28).
Jesus Christ's promise was fulfilled exactly as He said, a fact that is made clear when we study and compare the Gospel accounts. These records give a clear, logical explanation that is perfectly consistent with Christ's words. Let's focus on Jesus' last days on earth to gain the proper perspective and understanding of how and when these events occurred.
Jesus said that, like the prophet Jonah, He would be entombed three days and three nights and that He would be raised up the third day after His crucifixion and death (Matthew 12:39-40; 17:23; 20:19). Putting these scriptures together, we see that He was resurrected at the end of the third day after His death. Luke 23:44 shows that He died around the ninth hour (Jewish reckoning), or 3 p.m. He would have been buried within the next few hours so that His body could be entombed before the approaching Sabbath (John 19:31).
Jesus' resurrection could not have been
on a Sunday morning because John 20:1-2 shows that He had already risen before Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning, arriving "while it was still dark." Therefore, neither could His death have occurred Friday afternoon, since that would not allow for His body to be in the grave three days and three nights. Clearly, the Good Friday-Easter Sunday explanation and tradition is without scriptural foundation.
Notice also that John 19:31 mentions that the Sabbath immediately after Jesus' death was "a high day"—not the weekly seventh-day Sabbath (from Friday evening to Saturday evening), but one of the annual Sabbaths, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (see Leviticus 23:6-7), which can fall on any day of the week.
In fact, two Sabbaths—first an annual Holy Day and then the regular weekly Sabbath—are mentioned in the Gospel accounts, a detail overlooked by most people. This can be proven by comparing Mark 16:1 with Luke 23:56.
Mark's account tells us, "Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him" (Mark 16:1). However, Luke's account describes how the women who followed Jesus saw how His body was laid in the tomb. "Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils" for the final preparation of the body. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment" (Luke 23:56).
Mark tells us that the women bought the spices after the Sabbath, "when the Sabbath was past." Luke, however, tells us that they prepared the spices and oils, "and they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment." How could the women have bought spices after the Sabbath, yet then prepared them and rested on the same Sabbath?
That is obviously impossible—unless two Sabbaths are involved, with a day between them. Once we realize this, the two accounts become clear (see "The Chronology of Christ's Crucifixion and Resurrection," p. 18). Christ died near 3 p.m. and was placed in the tomb near sunset that day—a Wednesday in the year 31. That evening began the "high day" Sabbath, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which fell on Thursday that year. The women rested on that day, then on Friday purchased and prepared the spices and oils for Jesus' body, which could not be done on either the Holy Day or the weekly Sabbath. They then rested again on the weekly Sabbath before going to the tomb before daybreak on Sunday morning, at which time they discovered that Christ had already been resurrected.
The fact that two Sabbaths are involved is confirmed by Matthew 28:1, where the women went to the tomb "after the Sabbath." The Sabbath mentioned here is actually plural in the original Greek and should be translated "Sabbaths." Some Bible versions, including Alfred Marshall's Interlinear Greek-English New Testament, Ferrar Fenton's translation, Green's Literal Translation and Young's Literal Translation, make this clear.
Once we realize that two Sabbaths were involved—first an annual Holy Day, which was observed from Wednesday evening until Thursday evening, and the normal weekly Sabbath from Friday evening to Saturday evening, the fulfillment of Christ's words becomes clear.
The Savior of all humanity died near 3 p.m. on Wednesday and was buried shortly before sunset that day. From Wednesday sunset to Thursday sunset is one day and one night; from then until Friday sunset is two days and two nights; and from then until Saturday sunset is three days and three nights. Jesus Christ was resurrected at the end of this three-day and three-night period, near sunset on Saturday. Thus He was already risen long before the women came to the tomb before daylight on Sunday morning.
Jesus Christ's words were thus perfectly fulfilled, as verified by the Gospel accounts. He was not crucified on Friday afternoon, nor was He resurrected on a Sunday morning. The biblical evidence shows the Good Friday-Easter Sunday tradition to be a fabrication.
A correct harmonization of all the facts demonstrates that Jesus died near 3 p.m. that Wednesday afternoon, was entombed near sunset and was resurrected near sunset on Saturday, exactly three days and three nights later—just as He had stated. These are the facts, the correct biblical chronology that verifies the identity of Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
The chart on page 18 gives a day-by-day chronology of these events as described in the Gospel accounts.
Actually, the principal festivals and holidays observed by mainstream Christendom are a poor and pale reflection of true biblical teachings. Easter and Lent are a poor substitute for the wondrous truths revealed by keeping God's feasts.
The New Testament Church continued to observe the annual Passover to commemorate the death of Jesus Christ, but used the new symbols of bread and wine that He instituted (1 Corinthians 11:23-28). Today the members of the United Church of God commemorate this eminently important event in the same manner, in accordance with Christ's instructions. Again, the Bible contains no record of the Church observing Easter or Lent during the time of the apostles, nor any biblical command to observe Good Friday or Easter Sunday, especially since Christ did not die on Good Friday and was not resurrected on Easter Sunday. Instead, the apostles faithfully followed Christ's instructions to observe the biblical Passover "in remembrance" of Him (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24-25). GN
People will bend the word to fit their assumed constructs. Amen !
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
This stuff gets pretty tiresome. Thanks for the ping, but it’s not really worth commenting on. No point in arguing with invincible ignorance. Only God can deal with that.
Sometimes it falls that way, this year for example. But the Passover/Easter controversy is old. I'm a quartodecimast myself.
The word sabbath means 'rest' and Christ became our rest not a day of the week. How does one spend 6 days out of Christ and then make it up on one particular day of the week? Does that not make it one day worshiping instead of having Christ as the point of importance in ones life every day?
Yawn.
Yes, I think it's important to have a day set aside to hallow, hold holy unto The Lord. I think most of the Church of The Christ Universal is grossly negligent in our reverencing God in such a fashion. Most members still go about their own agenda rather casually with only nodding fractional observances on the chosen day of worship.
I think the lack of HEART HOLDING GOD DEAR over such a 24 hour span--MORE DEAR OVERTLY than busy lives usually allow the other 6 days--the LACK OF THAT HEART WORSHIP in a day set apart is likely far more disturbing to God's sensibilities and priorities than which particular calendar day it is.
Excellent article.shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiachGood debate.
Name calling as expected by the usual suspects.
No, to believe otherwise is to accept scripture in its context. The feast here is the agape' or love feast celebrated by the early church which included the Lord's supper. Allowing rampant sin as the Corinthians did eroded the fellowship. Look close at the second part of the statement - but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. that is not a component of passover in any of my readings but when in context with sinful behavior through vs 6 and restating it in vs 9 does not make this a teaching directing to keep jewish holydays - but the Lord's supper.
LOL if the instruction was so clear/b>, there would have certainly been more meat to it than a passing mention of an "unnamed" Jewish feast. Face it Doug, you are beating a dead horse - this feast is the Lords supper/agape' meals, it is the only thing that fits the context with out destroying the passage.
Show me in scripture where the Lord commanded that his holy days had to be observed in the temple in Jerusalem. I'll save you the trouble. It's not there. It was a man made rule.
I already did once already. There were three feasts where all Jewish males were required to appear before the Lord in the Temple.
Ex24:14 Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.
15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)
16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.
Deut 16:16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:
Now if you bother to study these, they involve offering sacrifices at the only place authorized for such - at the temple, and the only temple was in Jerusalem.
You're simply wrong. Those verses you quote say nothing about a requirement to celebrate the feast days in a temple OR at Jerusalem. There's no other way to say it than that you're mistaken.
Sorry if scripture counters you belief system.
The "faith" of the son of God means that Paul has faith enough to let Christ live through him and Christ full fills the law.
Why thank you so much for making my point for me!!!! Christ has fulfilled the Law. Jesus fulfilled the types of ALL the feasts Doug. Why go back and try to celebrate the old - when we have Christ!
More specifically it denotes a stoppage of activity, a "ceasing". Rest sounds too much like taking a nap. Christ causes us to "stop" relying on our own will and let him do his will.
How does one spend 6 days out of Christ and then make it up on one particular day of the week? Does that not make it one day worshiping instead of having Christ as the point of importance in ones life every day?
Nobody spends 6 days "out of Christ". But God knows that as physical beings we're apt to get involved in the cares and worries of the world so he designated the sabbath as a way to center us spiritually.
The sabbath is also a weekly reminder of who our the Lord God really is and a testament to his creation:
Exo 20:8 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exo 20:9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
Exo 20:10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.
Exo 20:11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
Thanks for your kind comment.
LUB
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
INDEED.
Well, I KNOW you're wrong and you THINK I'm wrong so we're at an impasse on 1 Cor 5:8. :-). And I was making a little joke there in case the smiley face didn't come through.
Now if you bother to study these, they involve offering sacrifices at the only place authorized for such - at the temple, and the only temple was in Jerusalem.
This is what you're not seeing. THERE IS NO REQUIREMENT IN SCRIPTURE. IT IS PART OF THE JEWISH RELIGIOUS TRADITION. Quote the requirement if it's there. It's not.
Why thank you so much for making my point for me!!!! Christ has fulfilled the Law. Jesus fulfilled the types of ALL the feasts Doug. Why go back and try to celebrate the old - when we have Christ!
You're not understanding what I'm saying:
Mat 5:17 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
The word translated "fulfill" means to " to make full, to fill up, i.e. to fill to the full". It literally means to fill something full.
So tell me, when you full fill your gas tank, where does the gas tank go? Is it no longer there? Of course it's still there. What you've done is to fill it up and use it for it's intended purpose. But the gas tank is still there.
In the same way, God's law is still there. When we have the indwelling of Christ, he "fills full" the law. He uses the law for it's intended purpose. He lives through us and literally, if we let him, keeps the law. He doesn't throw OUT God's law. In his words, he's not destroying it. We don't rip out the gas tank and say "we have gas, we can destroy the tank". He gives us the capability and keeps the law for us.
Excellent post!
Translations of convenience is what we have in many cases. Changing “the first of the weeks” into “the first day of the week” was certainly convenient for the pagans.
Further, with the changes done to the ‘calendar’ over the generations NO person with certainty can say which day of the week is literally the continuation of that initial 7th day. The Heavenly Father allowed that to take place, which tells me that Christ is the focus not a particular day of the week.
Now it also tells me that which day of the week Christians are able to come together for a lesson is NOT what is as important as the instruction they get from the WORD. And day worship does not lead one to Christ.
So when you read remember the ‘sabbath’ to keep it holy that can only be to us Christians, Christ, not a day of the week.
True, but September 29 would be a hard sell to the pagans that control these things! ;o) Really, keeping people from respecting God's appointed times is Job One for Satan.
Do you have a scriptural reference for that statement?
Further, with the changes done to the ‘calendar’ over the generations NO person with certainty can say which day of the week is literally the continuation of that initial 7th day. The Heavenly Father allowed that to take place, which tells me that Christ is the focus not a particular day of the week.
Calendar changes change dates, not the order of every 7 days. The correct day of the sabbath was established once in creation:
Gen 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
Gen 2:3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
The correct day of the sabbath was reaffirmed to Israel after they left Egypt, but BEFORE the old covenant was instituted at Mt. Sinai:
Exo 16:23 And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, Tomorrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake today, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.
The sabbath was kept by Israel. Later it was kept by the Kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel. The Israel tribes were assimilated into pagan cultures, but Judah evolved into the religion of Judaism and they have been diligent about keeping the same 7 day cycle throughout history even as to maintain their own calendar.
Now it also tells me that which day of the week Christians are able to come together for a lesson is NOT what is as important as the instruction they get from the WORD. And day worship does not lead one to Christ.
Not necessarily , but it's part of God's plan and God blesses those who keep his sabbath:
Isa 56:2 Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
As I said, the sabbath also indicates who really is the creator of the universe. Now it also tells me that which day of the week Christians are able to come together for a lesson is NOT what is as important as the instruction they get from the WORD. And day worship does not lead one to Christ. So when you read remember the ‘sabbath’ to keep it holy that can only be to us Christians, Christ, not a day of the week.
You may think you have, but in reality you haven't. You have show that the early church utilized the Jewish calendar to keep track of events and date - but nothing further. You have tried to show by ripping verses out of context Paul admonishing gentiles to keep an undefined "feast" (clear teaching, you said), when the best supported interpretation is the agape' feasts of Christianity. Oh, yes, they based the celebration of the resurrection into the 3d century off the Jewish calendar - because it was associated with passover.
What I have shown is that the decision in Jerusalem in Acts 15 released any bondage to the laws of moses except for some limited requirements. I have shown that Paul, time and time again taught that gentiles were not required to come under Jewish customs and laws, in fact the letter to the Galatians is predominantly on that topic.
God's holy days are OUTSIDE of the covenant. They were given BEFORE the old covenant and they are observed AFTER the new covenant. They are guarded and celebrated today by those who wish to honor and obey the Lord.
Which holyday that you are keeping predates the Mosaic covenant???? References please.
I trust you've already read Diego's excellent response to this.
And it has been ripped to shreads by myself and a many others.
If "common use" means two references that don't actually say "kyriake hemera" then you're right. In the Didache the phrase "kyriake de kyriou" (Lord's of the Lord) is used. Some have latched onto this in order to mistranslate John.
The better translation of "kyriake de kyriou" is "On the Lord’s own day"
Ignatius (Magnesians 9:1) in 108 AD wrote If, therefore, those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer keeping the Sabbath but living in accordance with the Lord’s day, on which our life also arose through him and his death...” (mhketi sabbatizontes alla kata kuriakhn zwhn zwntes, en h kai h Zwh hmwn aneteilen di autou kai tou qanatou autou).
Letter of Bishop Dionysius of Corinth to bishop Soter of Rome (c. 170): “Today we have kept the Lord’s holy day (kuriakh agia hmera)
In the Epistle of Barnabas , which dates around A.D.135, the author states, “Wherefore, also we keep the eight day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead. ”In addition, he stated that Jesus Christ abolished the Sabbath
Justin Martyr First Apology, chapter 67 (between 130 and 150 AD)And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; . . . . . But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration.
Doug, I have cited numerous passages that show that there were three required feasts for all males to attend. The sacrifices offered at these feasts could only be offered in one location - the temple. Those requirements are all associated with the passages I provided to you. There is no evidence of Jewish ceremonial sacrifices being conducted except for Jerusalem. The temple in Samaria was not an approved temple - Jesus made note of that, as well as the elephantine 'temple'. Synagogues were not authorized to perform these sacrifices either. Now either you are following these same laws and customs documented in the OT or not. They are not the traditions of men. Read the references first before you shout at me.
So tell me, when you full fill your gas tank, where does the gas tank go? Is it no longer there? Of course it's still there. What you've done is to fill it up and use it for it's intended purpose. But the gas tank is still there.
That is a pretty lame example Doug. Take a little time and digest the word used here pleroo for "fulfill" It is more than filling a gas tank. It is to complete its purpose. He was the end of the law. It was a "schoolmaster to bring us to Christ" (Ga 3:24), but "after faith is come we are no longer under the schoolmaster" [Ga 3:25]. He did this by delivering men through grace from the curse of the Law.
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