Dd-45. HAS GOD’S LAW BEEN ABOLISHED? Part 1 DOWNLOAD to SAVE as a PDF Doc to read OFFLINE.
Dd-49. HAS GOD'S LAW BEEN ABOLISHED? PART 1 HAS ANY OF GOD'S LAW BEEN ABOLISHED? Well, HAS GOD'S LAW OF CIRCUMCISION BEEN ABOLISHED? Now, almost every Christian has no problem understanding that the law of God concerning CIRCUMCISION in the FLESH made with hands has indeed been ABOLISHED, or more precisely, has been FULFILLED by our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. However, there are some Christians, who are being deceived by the 119 Ministries and some other Hebrews Roots Movement groups, which are wrongly teaching that Christians must KEEP ALL the law of God including keeping the law of God concerning being CIRCUMCISED in the flesh. Most all Saturday seventh day of the week Sabbath keeping Christians teach that Christians must, without fail, keep the FOURTH commandment in order to receive eternal life in the world to come. But SOME seventh day of the week Sabbath keeping Christians do NOT stop with the fourth commandment but continue to add more and more of the Law of Moses upon a believer, a little at a time. The purpose of this study is to show you, the reader, the seeker of the TRUTH, how or the WAY in which, the 119 Ministries and over Saturday Sabbath keeping church denominations have made ERRORS in their interpretation of the word of God. Now they are sincerely convinced that they are NOT in error and thus they are DECEIVED. Some have become deceived so much that they cannot see the truth of the whole word of God to return to obeying the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ. This is why I ask my readers to be OPEN and honest to yourself and to God before whom you stand or fall. It is YOUR eternal life on the line. You can either trust your church denomination and HOPE that they are teaching you the truth of the WHOLE word of Almighty God, or you can search the word of God for YOURSELF. Sorry, but I myself trust no man and I do not expect you to trust ME, seeing that I am a man as well. But I do expect you to TRUST the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you into all truth as God's word promises us that he will do what he said he would do. So, all I ask my readers to do is to lay aside what your church denomination has taught you and approach the word of God as if you are reading it for the first time allowing the Holy Spirit to open your eyes of understanding. Take a moment right now and ask the Lord to teach you HIS truth. And, obviously, we must also trust the meanings of words that man has assigned to those words. To say this another way we must trust in both secular dictionaries and in Bible dictionaries. For you see, if words do not mean what they say then there can be no truth. And by this, I mean that there could be no truth that we could ever agree upon because everyone would be placing their OWN meaning upon the words that we all use. I will quote from the article posted on the 119 Ministries website called “Did Paul Teach Against Circumcision?” And I will use a different font style so that you can easily distinguish between the arguments of the 119 Ministries from what I am showing you from the WHOLE word of God. So then, let us begin this study in God's word by starting off with the arguments of the 119 Ministries that they use to try and prove that NONE of the law of God has been ABOLISHED including the law of circumcision. In other words, the 119 Ministries falsely teach that Christians are indeed to be CIRCUMCISED in the FLESH as an OUTWARD showing of your INWARD FAITH of the circumcision of your HEART made by God. Here is what the 119 Ministries argues as the REASONS for why they believe that Christians are to keep ALL the Law of Moses contained in some 613 carnal ordinances written in the OLD Testament, INCLUDING being CIRCUMCISED in the FLESH. FAQ – Galatians 2:3-5 – Did Paul Teach Against Circumcision? Does Paul teach against circumcision and thus teach against God’s law? Please notice that the enemy of our soul, Satan the Devil, always uses QUESTIONS as the WAY to bring doubt to the believer. In the garden, Satan proposed the QUESTION, has God said? So then, the QUESTION is asked by the 119 Ministries, does Paul teach AGAINST circumcision? And if so, then does this also mean that Paul is teaching AGAINST God's law? Even in their questions, they know deep down that Paul is, in fact, teaching AGAINST circumcision. The word of God makes these facts blatantly CLEAR. So then, in order to try and prove that God has NOT ABOLISHED even one jot or tittle of the LAW as INTERPRETED by the 119 Ministries, then they must raise the QUESTION as to whether or not Paul is teaching AGAINST the law of GOD. And to do that, that raise the question, could Paul just teaching against the commandments and traditions of MEN? In other words, since circumcision in the flesh is a jot and tittle of the law and not even one jot of tittle has been abolished, then according to the INTERPRETATION of the 119 Ministries, then HOW could Paul be teaching against circumcision in the flesh. You see, if Paul is TRULY teaching AGAINST the law of CIRCUMCISION in the flesh, then that would mean that Paul is a FALSE teacher in THEIR interpretation of Matthew 5:17-19. They do not consider that their INTERPRETATION of Matthew 5;17-19 COULD BE wrong. So then, right from the start, the Christians that teach that Jesus did not abolish one jot of title of the law, including the one jot or title of the law of CIRCUMCISION, must place two QUESTIONS or two seeds of doubt in your mind. What IF Paul is WRONG? And what if Paul is only teaching against the TRADITIONS of men? Please read the studies Dd-68. Is the APOSTLE PAUL a FALSE TEACHER? and Dd-69. Do the TEACHINGS of PAUL CONTRADICT JESUS? Also, all the LINKS in BLUE like the two above are mine. Again, the words in the different font style are the words of those from the 119 Ministries, which is a Saturday seventh day of the week Sabbath keeping church denomination. I am simply letting my readers know that I did not change any of their wording. Rather, I have simply added emphasis to their article on occasion to show the reader that there are more things to consider than just the points that they FOCUS upon. Let us continue with the verses they use to try and support their teaching the Paul did NOT teach AGAINST CIRCUMCISION in the FLESH. Galatians 2:3-5 Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage), to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. The issue of circumcision is perhaps the most complicated subject to study in the New Testament. This is not really because the matter is complicated, but simply because most have not studied the debates surrounding circumcision in the first century. Some Jewish sects made it a requirement for salvation and a mark to enter their doctrinal denomination. Scripture (and Paul) teach that circumcision is to not be practiced in such a WAY that we should only practice it how God commands it to be practiced, that is what matters. Please notice that they have made their argument CHANGE from an issue of circumcision not being ABOLISHED, to a DIFFERENT issue of rather HOW circumcision is to be PRACTICED. They bring into their argument that both the SCRIPTURES and PAUL are actually teaching the WAY in which circumcision should be PRACTICED and that the WAY in which circumcision is to be PRACTICED is what truly matters, And the TRUTH of the matter is that they are CORRECT on the point that the WAY in which we KEEP the law of circumcision has indeed CHANGED. For you see, it was the law contained in ORDINANCES that Jesus abolished at the cross and NOT the law of circumcision ITSELF that Jesus abolished. And NOW, under that NEW COVENANT Jesus has become our CIRCUMCISION that is not made with hands in the flesh. So then then WAY in which we KEEP the law of circumcision is by our faith in Jesus as being our TRUE circumcision. However, they have ERRED in the WAY that it has changed. Let me explain what I mean by this. THEY are claiming that a Gentile believer MUST still yet be circumcised in the FLESH made WITH human hands AFTER they accept Jesus as their Savior as an OUTWARD showing that you were SPIRITUALLY circumcised by their FAITH in Jesus. But is their interpretation of the words of Paul the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God? Are we as Christians to PRACTICE the law of being CIRCUMCISED in the FLESH made with human hands? Keep reading and you will clearly see that this is NOT what the Scriptures and the Apostle Paul are truly saying. Let us continue looking at the arguments of the 119 Ministries. This topic will require covering a lot of material in an effort to fully cover all possible confusion surrounding this topic. Galatians 2:3-5 is often cited to “prove” that converted Gentiles are no longer to be circumcised according to the Law of God. Supposedly, it is the “false brethren” that were observing the Law of God and the “false brethren” were successfully compelling the Galatians to observe God’s law which of course brings them back into “bondage,” contrary to the freedom they have in Christ. Apparently, Paul and Titus did not yield to those compelling them to keep the Law of God so that the truth of the gospel would continue. Let us read Galatians 2:3-5 again with some emphasis added to clearly show you, the reader, that there was NO SUPPOSEDLY and NO APPARENTLY stated or even implied in the text. But in truth, there were indeed real and genuine false brethren coming in unaware to compel Christians away from the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ. And the TRUE gospel clearly teaches us to NOT be circumcised in the flesh made with hands. The TRUE gospel clearly teaches is that Jesus is our circumcision, according to Colossians 2:11. In other words, there WERE indeed false brethren back then, and even are TODAY there are false brethren, who are COMPELLING Christians to keep ALL the law including being CIRCUMCISED in the flesh, made with hands. And just as Paul was WARNING Christians to NOT be DECEIVED by false brethren compelling them to keep the Law of Moses there are teachers today who are still WARNING Christians to not allow false brethren to judge us for NOT keeping the Law of Moses contained in ORDINANCES today. Also, that there was NO APPARENTLY or supposedly about Paul and Titus NOT being DECEIVED by these false brethren to become circumcised in the flesh made with hands and thus depart from the TRUTH of the gospel. For you see, the CLEAR simple word of God PLAINLY states this to be a FACT with no interpretation needed. Paul did not SUPPOSEDLY say these things. But rather, Paul did, in fact, teach these things to the church. Galatians 2:3-5. “But NEITHER Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised: (This is a statement of FACT leaving absolutely NO DOUBT that NEITHER Titus was deceived by these false brethren to be compelled to be circumcised in the flesh. The word “NEITHER” tells to us that there were OTHER brethren as well that were being compelled along with Titus that were also NOT deceived into being circumcised in the flesh made with hands. Paul was a JEW, so he was already circumcised in the flesh made with hands when he was eight days old, as was the custom of the Jews. Titus was a Gentile Christian who was a GREEK. In other words, before Titus became a Christian he was a Gentile converted to the Jewish religion, but he had never been circumcised in the flesh) 4. And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily (Or stealthily as a spy) to spy out our liberty (Or freedom) which we HAVE in Christ Jesus, that (Or in order that) they might bring us INTO bondage: 5. To whom we gave place by subjection, NO, NOT for an hour; (In other words, Paul and Titus and the other faithful brethren did not even blink an eye to yield themselves to this false teaching concerning being CIRCUMCISED in the FLESH. No! Not even for one minute or one second, as we would say today, did they doubt the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Ask yourself WHY did they not give in to this compelling to be circumcised?) THAT (Or in order that) the TRUTH of the gospel might CONTINUE with you.” So then, the TRUTH of the GOSPEL is made quite obvious in this passage of Scripture leaving us NO DOUBT that Paul is teaching AGAINST the old covenant law of God concerning CIRCUMCISION in the FLESH made with hands. Again, the TRUTH of this whole matter is that there is NO DOUBT and there is NO INTERPRETATION NEEDED to understand this clear, plain, and SIMPLE TRUTH from God's word, that it is NOW God's WILL that we be circumcised with the TRUE SPIRITUAL circumcision, through our FAITH in His Son Jesus, which is NOT made with hands, as in our OWN hands circumcising the FLESH. In other words, God did NOT ABOLISH the LAW of circumcision through His Son, but rather, Yahweh FULFILLED the law of circumcision THROUGH His SON Jesus at the CROSS. And we, as Christians, ARE keeping the LAW of circumcision by our FAITH in Jesus, the SON OF the living God, who suffered and died on the cross for our sins. Jesus is our TRUE circumcision that the law of circumcision in the flesh was a SHADOW pointing to Jesus. None the less, SOME still try to argue that we must keep the all the Law of Moses and not just simply the law of circumcision in the FLESH made with hands as instructed in the Law of Moses. So then, let us continue looking at the arguments given by the 119 Ministries to try and support their teaching that Christians must keep ALL the law written in the OLD Testament under the OLD covenant. And please understand that they do so, because they have incorrectly interpreted Matthew 5:17-19 where Jesus says that not one jot or tittle shall pass from the law till all be fulfilled. I cover these errors in the study called Dd-72. 119 Ministries ERRORS of interpretation Part 2 in great detail, but I also have a newer and even more in-depth study specifically devoted to that one passage of Scripture. So also please read Dd-23. MATTHEW 5:17-19 SABBATH TRUTH!. But for now, just know that Jesus did not come to COMPLETELY abolish the law. Rather, Jesus did indeed come to ABOLISH or REPLACE some of the law by his FULFILLING part of the CEREMONIAL law at his FIRST coming. Jesus came to change the WAY in which we NOW KEEP the law of God under the NEW COVENANT. For you see my dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Greek word “KAYTALYO” which is translated as destroy in the King James Version and as abolish in the New International Version also means completely or utterly destroy and abolish the whole law. In other words, Jesus did not come to abolish the COMMANDMENTS of Almighty God, but rather, Jesus did in fact come to ABOLISH some of the law such as the ANIMAL sacrifices and the law of CIRCUMCISION in the FLESH. But again, the actual LAW of sacrifice ITSELF was not abolished like we understand the word abolish to mean, as in, completely done away with, never again to be a LAW. In other words, Jesus FULFILLED the law of animal sacrifices for the atonement of sins by BECOMING the sacrifice for our sins. And thus, Jesus has become a replacement of the WAY in which we now KEEP of the law of sacrifice for sins. That is the simplest way to explain what the word ORDINANCE means. It was ONLY the law contained in ORDINANCES that Jesus abolished on the cross, according to Ephesians 2:8-15, in order to replace the WAY we now KEEP the commandments of God under the NEW COVENANT written in the New Testament. Please continue weighing the evidence from both sides. In other words, we ARE KEEPING the LAW of sacrifice by our FAITH in Jesus as being the atonement for our sins. And thus, we are NO MORE under the Law of Moses to have the need for animal sacrifices in order to be KEEPING the LAW of God. Can you not see that we ARE still KEEPING the law of God under the New Covenant by our FAITH in Jesus having FULLFILLED the law? And thus, we are keeping the law of God under the new covenant BUT the WAY or the HOW we keep the law of God to receive forgiveness of sins has CHANGED to FAITH instead of the ritual WORKS of offering animal sacrifices. And in the same WAY, we ARE keeping the LAW of circumcision under the New Covenant by our FAITH in Jesus who has become our TRUE spiritual circumcision not made with hands to cut away our sins. And thus, there is NO MORE need to be circumcised in the FLESH to be KEEPING the LAW of circumcision to the LETTER of the law. Jesus is our circumcision. So by our FAITH in Jesus, we ARE keeping the LAW of God to be CIRCUMCISED in order to be in a covenant relationship with God. Let us continue to unveil the errors of the misguided logic of Sabbath-keeping Christians and their errors of interpretation of the Scriptures made by all seventh day of the week Sabbath-keeping Christians. Thus it is concluded that observing God’s law is bondage and against the gospel. This is what seminaries teach, that God’s law is bondage. This is another tool used to deceive. For you see, once any single solitary teaching from the seminaries or the mainstream churches can be shown as NOT being Biblical, then it is easy to cast doubt on ALL the teachings of the seminaries and the mainstream churches as being FALSE teachings by focusing upon their ERROR in one area. I agree that some seminaries have many errors in what they teach but that is NOT to imply that EVERYTHING the seminaries and the mainstream churches teach is FALSE teaching. Clearly, the reader should understand that just because some seminaries and some churches have ERRORED in SOME of their teaching, this does NOT mean that EVERYTHING they teach is false. This is just another tactic to get your eyes off the REAL issue that Paul himself is teaching us in Galatians 2:3-5. So then, the real issue is that the SCRIPTURES themselves teach us that the Law of Moses contained in ORDINANCES is BONDAGE. We are not reading someone's comments here in the Bible. But rather we are reading a direct quote from the Bible itself with no interpretation needed. Please read Galatians 2:4 again. “And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our LIBERTY which we HAVE in Christ Jesus, that they (Speaking of these brethren who were indeed FALSE brethren. We do not need to interpret the meaning of the word “FALSE”. We do not need to interpret that they were wrongly COMPELLING Christians in the early church to be CIRCUMCISED in the FLESH so that THEY) might bring us INTO BONDAGE:” And we do NOT need to interpret the word BONDAGE. I understand that Paul's usage of the strong word “BONDAGE” offends some of you who are Saturday seventh day of the week Sabbath-keeping Christians. But Paul's words are SCRIPTURE being inspired by the Holy Spirit. Paul is not talking about the MORAL commandments of God being bondage. Paul is speaking about the Law of Moses contained in ORDINANCES as being BONDAGE or being grievous. Rather, Paul is making a comparison to the hard work of the old covenant to the LIBERTY of the NEW COVENANT. Which is more WORK in your eyes? Is traveling to the city of Jerusalem to offer a choice lamb without spot or blemish to be forgiven of your sins or simply repenting and confessing your sins BELIEVING in the sacrifice Jesus made? Paul is saying that being IN Jesus Christ and under the NEW Covenant is LIBERTY compared to being in BONDAGE of the Law of Moses contained in ORDINANCES. We are not saved by the WORKS of the Law of Moses. We are save BY FAITH in the NEW Covenant that is established in the shed blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. Please read the words of the Apostle Peter in 2 Peter 3:16. “As also in ALL his epistles, (Speaking of ALL the teachings of the Apostle Paul where Paul is) speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the OTHER SCRIPTURES, unto their own destruction.” Again, this is not the “seminaries” teaching this, in that, they are teaching FALSE doctrine because the SCRIPTURES agree with what the seminaries teach on this particular point concerning the law of CIRCUMCISION in the FLESH being ABOLISHED or replaced by Jesus as being our true circumcision. Now, I myself have personally been in one of the home study groups of the 119 Ministries and have been an eye witness to see how these brethren have been HURT by the mainstream church from which they came out. It was very easy to see that they no longer trust any of the teachings of the mainstream church denomination nor their denominational seminaries. I can relate to this myself. But I have faith in the Holy Spirit that HE will lead and guide those of you who are truly seeking the TRUTH that your eyes of understanding will be opened and you will return to the true gospel of Jesus Christ to walk in the LIBERTY that Jesus has provided for you. Let us continue. If the above understanding is valid then the following should pass the scriptural test: 1) The doctrine of the group influencing the Galatians observes and keeps the Law of God. It is reasonable to conclude that these FALSE brethren did, in fact, keep the Law of Moses to be CIRCUMCISED in the FLESH. Otherwise, WHY would they COMPEL other Christians to be CIRCUMCISED in the FLESH and keep all the Law of Moses in order to be saved? It should also be noted that these were most likely JEWS who came to believed in Jesus as their Messiah. And thus, they themselves were ALREADY circumcised. So then, on this particular issue, the pronoun “they” here is speaking of the Jewish Christians that Paul calls FALSE brethren. They were indeed Christians, but they are teaching a FALSE gospel on how to be saved and receive eternal life in the world to come. For you see, had the pronoun “they” only referred to the PERSECUTION of the JEWS in the JEW'S religion, then they would not have been called brethren that were FALLEN from grace. So in TRUTH, the real issue here is centered on keeping the law concerning being CIRCUMCISED in the FLESH as the Jews under the OLD covenant in order to be saved. I just want to point this out to you, the reader, and seeker of the TRUTH, because all through this long drawn out study presented by the 119 Ministries is nothing more than to try and bring CONFUSION as to what Paul is TRULY teaching. In other words, they are trying to make it SEEM as if Paul is teaching something different than what the PLAIN, CLEAR, and SIMPLE word of God is teaching using statements of FACT with NO INTERPRETATION needed. But at the same time, it is true that we need to remember that the scribes and the Pharisees did not always DO what they taught others to do. Let us continue. 2) Observing God’s law is bondage. Sorry, but this is a FALSE and a misleading statement. Again, the topic under discussion is concerning the law of God in relation to being CIRCUMCISED in the FLESH in the SAME WAY as the Jews under the OLD covenant. Paul is NOT talking about the MORAL laws of God being bondage. Rather, Paul is referring to the Law of Moses contained in ORDINANCES as being BONDAGE. There are TWO covenants that WE need to understand. The FIRST covenant is the covenant that God made with the CHILDREN of ISRAEL for THEM to keep throughout THEIR GENERATIONS, which is the OLD covenant called the LAW of MOSES. Yes, it is the law of God because God gave it to Moses to give to the children of Israel. The Law of Moses was NOT given to the Gentiles. It was only given to the children of Israel who had a covenant relationship with God by the PROMISE that God gave to Abraham. Even the Apostle Peter himself calls this FIRST or OLD covenant a YOKE. Please read Acts 15:7-12. “And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. 8. And God, which knows the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; 9. And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts BY FAITH. 10. Now, THEREFORE, WHY TEMPT YOU GOD, to put a YOKE upon the neck of the disciples, which NEITHER our fathers NOR WE were ABLE to BEAR? (Sounds to me like the Apostle Peter AGREES with the Apostle Paul that the keeping of all the Law of Moses was indeed a YOKE of BONDAGE which neither they nor their fathers before them could BEAR) 11. But WE believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. 12. Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them.” The context of Acts 15 is the settling of the matter of whether or not the church should place upon the Gentile Christians the LAW of MOSES written in the OLD Testament under the OLD covenant in order to be SAVED. And the subject of discussion is the particular PART of the law of God to be CIRCUMCISED in the FLESH. So, Paul is clearly stating in the word of God, with no interpretation needed, that it is BONDAGE to be circumcised in the FLESH. Again, no interpretation needed! Please read Galatians 2:4 again. “And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we HAVE in Christ Jesus, that they (Speaking of these false brethren that are incorrectly COMPELLING you to be CIRCUMCISED in the FLESH so that they) might bring us (Who are obeying the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ) INTO BONDAGE:” There is nothing in the CONTEXT that even remotely says that the MORAL commandments of God are bondage. One must INTERPRET the word “LAW” to specifically mean the Law of Moses. And then, they must INTERPRET the phrase “the Law of Moses” to specifically mean the WHOLE Law of Moses to include the MORAL commandments of God. But the law of circumcision is NOT a MORAL commandment of God. So let us keep the CONTEXT in mind when trying to discern the true meaning of the Scriptures. Now your options are to either believe that Paul is indeed a TRUE apostle of Jesus Christ who was called by Jesus himself to be his apostle to the Gentiles. And thus, by choosing this option, Paul's teachings are TRUTH being inspired and taught to him by the Holy Spirit. OR you can join those Christians who CLAIM that Paul is a FALSE teacher. But before you make the WRONG choice to join those Christians who CLAIM that Paul's teaching CONTRADICT the teachings of Jesus, I implore you to read the studies Dd-65. Is PAUL a TRUE APOSTLE of JESUS?, Dd-68. Is the APOSTLE PAUL a FALSE TEACHER?, and Dd-69. Do the TEACHINGS of PAUL CONTRADICT JESUS?. But for now, let us continue with this study at hand to see if any of God's law has been abolished. 3) The freedom that we have in Christ Jesus (Yeshua) is freedom from God’s law. Again, FALSELY misleading. The topic under discussion is NOT pertaining to every jot and tittle of God's law, as in, God's MORAL law. But rather, Jesus is speaking of the HIDDEN prophecies of HIM contained in the CEREMONIAL law which were SHADOWS pointing to HIM. So NO, we as Christians are not free from the law of God concerning the commandments of God pertaining to the MORAL laws of God. And I qualify the term commandments to the nine commandments of God that are repeated and taught in the NEW Testament under the NEW Covenant that we are indeed taught to KEEP by WORKS. Jesus did indeed keep the MORAL laws of God but not so that we could continue to live in sin. Jesus did not FREE us from keeping the MORAL laws of God. Please read the studies called Dd-12. WHY ONLY NINE of the TEN COMMANDMENTS? and Dd-21. SABBATH-SATURDAY, SUNDAY, or NEITHER! Also, please read Dd-40. ACTS 10 PETER'S VISION OF CLEANSED MEATS? for a deeper understanding that the Sabbath day has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ for believers. The issue at hand in this particular study in God's word is DID PAUL TEACH AGAINST CIRCUMCISION? Yes or no? This is a very simple question to answer. Clearly, the SOUND BIBLICAL answer is YES! Paul did, in fact, teach AGAINST any Christian being CIRCUMCISED in the FLESH for any reason. 1 Corinthians 7:18,19. “Is any man called being circumcised? (Or if you are a circumcised Jew who answered the call of the gospel of Jesus Christ to be saved) let him NOT become uncircumcised. (In other words, do not be worried or concerned that you were circumcised under the old covenant Law of Moses to be circumcised in the flesh) Is any called in uncircumcision? (Or if you are an uncircumcised Gentile who answered the call of the gospel of Jesus Christ to be saved) let him NOT be circumcised. 19. Circumcision is NOTHING, and uncircumcision is NOTHING, but the keeping of the commandments of God.” Please notice that Paul is saying that the keeping of the LAW of God to be CIRCUMCISED in the flesh is NOTHING. But rather, it is the keeping of the COMMANDMENTS of God that is everything. WHAT commandments? The TWO commandments of Jesus un the New Covenant written in the New Testament. It is the keeping of the MORAL commandments of God that we MUST do in order to have the right to eat of the tree of eternal life when Jesus returns. And we keep all that God Himself REQUIRES by our faith in Jesus and our obedience to walk in LOVE toward one another. Let us continue to look at the arguments given by the 119 Ministries that are trying to prove that Christians must keep ALL the Law of Moses in order to receive eternal life in the world to come. 4) Observing God’s law is against the gospel. Again, this statement is FALSELY misleading. My argument is the same as above. For you see, by throwing everything God said into the one phrase called “THE LAW OF GOD” is misleading. In other words, it is wrong and misleading to interpret the word “LAW” to always be referring to the law of God. Yes, the Law of Moses is also the law of God. But the law of God is not ONLY the Law of Moses. For you see, even the Gentiles keep the law of God being written on the CONSCIENCE. Romans 2:12-16. “For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; 13. (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. 14. For when the Gentiles, which have NOT the law, (Speaking of the Law of Moses that was given ONLY to the children of Israel for THEM to keep throughout THEIR generations) do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: (The Gentiles did NOT do or keep the Law of Moses contained in ORDINANCES. But the Gentiles did at times KEEP the MORAL laws that were also contained in the Law of Moses as well. Keep in mind that the Law of Moses was ADDED because the children of Israel kept disobeying the LAW of God. The law of God, in this case, is speaking of the MORAL commandments written on their CONSCIENCE and on the stone tablets. The Gentiles were NOT given the stone tablets nor taught what the ceremonial laws teach the Jews. Rather it was by NATURE that they knew the MORAL laws. So their conscience was the MORAL law of the Gentiles. So it is NOT the MORAL laws that Jesus ABOLISHED as some Christians FALSELY teach. But rather, it was only the law of commandments contain in ORDINANCES which Jesus abolished and nailed to the cross. God writes His MORAL law on our hearts without any knowledge of any ceremonial Jewish law given ONLY to the children of Israel as a SCHOOLMASTER to lead them to Jesus) 15. Which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) 16. In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.” So again, the one phrase called “THE LAW OF GOD” is misleading. For example, God's WORD shall never pass away. And God’s word is what God commanded. In other words, if God said it, it must be his WORD, and if it is his word, then it must be GOD'S LAW. So, therefore, GOD'S LAW shall never pass away until ALL be fulfilled. And ALL things have definitely not been fulfilled because heaven and earth have not passed away. And even though heaven and earth will indeed pass away God's WORD shall never pass away. Therefore, God's LAW shall never pass away. This is circular reasoning and leads to errors in many areas of God's word because you must keep in mind that just one verse is NOT the WHOLE word of God. We have already seen that the keeping of the LAW of CIRCUMCISION is NOTHING and the KEEPING of the LAW is everything. This sounds like a contradiction ONLY to those that wrongly claim that the word, “law” and the word “commandments” ALWAYS means the commandments of God that God gave to Moses to give to the children of Israel that are written in the Old Testament. For example, Leviticus 9:1-10 is, in fact, God's WORD. Almighty God did, in fact, SPEAK these words to Moses. In fact, we read that God COMMANDED these things. But the TRUTH of the matter is that this one passage of Scripture is NOT ALL of God's WORD. So yes, God did COMMAND his people to offer sacrifices for their sins. But under the NEW COVENANT we are NOT under the law of offering animal sacrifices for the forgiveness of our sins. The actual LAW of a sacrifice being required by God is still in force. But the WAY in which we KEEP that law of sacrifice for sins has CHANGED under the NEW COVENANT. God now accepts our FAITH in his Son Jesus and the only requirement to be forgiven of our sins. God NO LONGER accepts the sacrifice of animals to be forgiven of sins. You would be FALLEN from the new LAW of GRACE if you were to offer animal sacrifices for your sins to be forgiven. You would be WEAK in your FAITH if you try to keep BOTH the Old Covenant along with the NEW COVENANT. So then, ACCORDING to the INTERPRETATION of Matthew 5:17-19 by those in the 119 Ministries, not one jot or tittle of Leviticus 9:1-10 has been abolished or FULFILLED by Jesus. And thus, toe THEM all of the Old Testament law of God is still yet in FORCE and will NOT pass away until the END of the 1000 year reign of Jesus, which is when the heaven and the earth will pass away. However, according to the WHOLE word of God, Almighty God ALSO prophesied in His WORD that he would raise up from among the people a SAVIOR. And we know that Jesus has FULFILLED those prophecies to become ONCE and for all time the ONLY ATONEMENT for the sins of the world. And God fulfilled His spoken word of prophecy so that whosoever in all the world BELIEVES that Jesus is the Christ, the SON OF the living God, who suffered and died on the cross for their sin, shall be saved. So then, did God CHANGE? Did God change His MIND? Did God's WORD CHANGE? No, not at all. The truth of the matter is that part of what God said in His word was for His people Israel at a particular time. But when the promised Messiah came, then that PART of the word of God ceased to be in force. And the reason that some things ceased to be in force, is so that or in order that, those NEW things which God also prophesied in His word could be placed into force. I mean what would be the purpose of Jesus FULFILLING the law if NOTHING changed? So now, we observe God's law according to the NEW TESTAMENT, the word of God written in the NEW COVENANT, as opposed to keeping the LETTER of the Law of Moses written in the OLD Testament which are the words of the OLD Covenant. What do you fail to see about the very simple words “OLD” and “NEW”? If a contractor gives a covenant agreement or a contract to the one who signed this agreement for him to build their house then that contract is in force until both sides fulfill that contract or covenant. But if ONE side breaks that covenant agreement, then the other party is free from that contract. In other words, if the covenant contractual agreement states that the homeowner must make scheduled payments after certain parts of the work is completed and they BREAK that contract by disobeying their agreement to make those payments, then the builder in no longer OBLIGATED to finish building the house. And then a NEW covenant agreement must be made and if the NEW PAYMENTS cannot be made according to the NEW contract agreement, then whole deal is scraped and everyone loses. And in a similar manner, Israel BROKE the first covenant. So rather than scraping His creation, God promised Israel that he would make a NEW COVENANT with them. A NEW Covenant is a NEW Covenant. A New Covenant is NOT a second chance to keep the OLD Covenant. But rather, a NEW Covenant is a DIFFERENT covenant than the first covenant. Now, the New Covenant MAY or MAY NOT have some of the same things that the OLD covenant had. God did indeed KEEP all of the MORAL laws in force under the Old Covenant which carried over to the NEW covenant. But in truth, God made some of those MORAL laws STRICTER than they were under the Old Covenant. For example, hating your brother became equal to murder. However, ALL the CEREMONIAL laws contained in ORDINANCES were BLOTTED OUT and taken OUT of the WAY being NAILED to the cross. More on this further on in this study in God's word. Also, it is MISLEADING to say that everything God said in the OLD Testament is the GOSPEL of Jesus Christ. This is done so that they can equate ALL the law written in the OLD Testament as being one and the same as the GOSPEL of Jesus Christ written in the NEW Testament, which is simply NOT the truth of the whole word of God. More on this as we continue. 5) Paul taught against circumcision because it is part of the Law of God. Paul taught against CIRCUMCISION in the flesh made with hands because it was part of the law that Jesus came to ABOLISH or REPLACE at the cross by his FULFILLING of that part of the Law of Moses contained in ordinances. And the reason is not just because it was PART of the LAW. You see, the 119 Ministries is trying to confuse the real issue at hand by arguing that non-seventh day of the week Sabbath-keeping Christians DIVIDE the law of God into MORAL laws and CEREMONIAL laws contained in ORDINANCES. They argue that to them it makes no sense for God to give TEN commandments in the Old Testament and then in the New Testament turn around and require us to only keep PART of the ten commandments under the new covenant. And I can understand that WONDERING on HOW can this be? But there is no need to MOCK other Christians who do indeed UNDERSTAND that we are NOT commanded to keep the weekly Sabbath day under the new covenant. Paul did not teach against the LAW of God in relation to ANY of the MORAL commandments of God. This is where the DECEPTION comes into play. There are some Christians that are DECEIVING other Christians that they do NOT have to keep ANY commandments in order to receive eternal life in the world to come. Those Christians teach the doctrine known as once saved always saved or the eternal security doctrine which wrongly teaches that Christians can never lose their salvation no matter what they do or do not do. Then there are Christians that go to the other extreme that wrongly teach that we must keep all the Law of Moses in order to receive eternal life in the world to come. So then, do we keep PART, ALL, or NONE of the Law of Moses to receive eternal life in the world to come? Now, the Sabbath-keeping Christians can clearly show you, the reader or listener of THEIR teachings that the COMMANDMENTS of God are still in force. This is made blatantly clear throughout the entire New Testament. But we need to understand what the NEW TESTAMENT means by the word “COMMANDMENTS” of God. For you see, the seventh day of the week Sabbath-keeping Christians are trying to convince you that the word “COMMANDMENTS” ALWAYS means ALL the law of God, as in, ALL of the written word of God in the OLD Testament under the OLD Covenant are His COMMANDMENTS and they are ALL are still in force and must be kept by Christians. And if they can convince you that ALL the Old Testament is still in force by TWISTING the words of Jesus to DECEIVE you into FALSELY believing that not even one jot or tittle of any part of the God's WORD has been ABOLISHED, then they can easily compel you to keep ALL the Law of Moses written in the Old Testament under the OLD covenant. But we KNOW that this is NOT the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of God, because we KNOW that the LAW of God pertaining to ANIMAL sacrifices has indeed been ABOLISHED or replaced WITH Jesus BECOMING our sacrifice for sin at the CROSS. A CHANGE has been made by Almighty God HIMSELF as to the WAY in which we NOW KEEP the LAW of sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. And most of us also know that the law of God concerning being CIRCUMCISED in the FLESH has ALSO been ABOLISHED or replaced WITH Jesus at the cross where Jesus has now become the TRUE circumcision of our heart not made with hands. Most of us could stop here and know that those in the 119 Ministries have ERRED in their INTERPRETATIONS of the Scriptures. But they have given many more arguments for why they believe that it was Paul who ERRED in his teachings or that we have erred in properly our understanding of Paul's teachings. So then, let us continue looking at the arguments of the 119 Ministries in PART 2. Simply click on this link to continue reading the sound Biblical reasons of why the 119 Ministries have ERRORED in their INTERPRETATION of the Scriptures. Dd-46. HAS GOD'S LAW BEEN ABOLISHED? PART 2 Thanks for reading and may God bless you richly as you continue to read ALL the studies that I gave links to throughout this study concerning this subject on Sabbath TRUTH. My heartfelt prayer is that all Christians RETURN to the TRUE FOUNDATION of the church that is taught by the very Apostles of Jesus in the first century. So let us all come into the UNITY of the faith and return to what Jesus and his Apostles taught us in SIMPLICITY in the New Testament.
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If you have any questions, please feel free to write to me. My contact email is MarkatAMatterOfTruth@Gmail .com. Some Sabbath-keeping Christians CLAIM that the early church kept the Sabbath as the Jews, but I assure you that the early first-century church was accustomed to gathering together BEFORE the light of daybreak on the FIRST day of the week that THEY called the Lord's day. Please read all the studies linked within this study and all the studies linked below. This study was just the TIP of the iceberg of exposing the ERRORS of interpretation made by the Saturday seventh day of the week Sabbath-keeping churches, and the Sunday first day of the week Sabbath-keeping Christians. All of the studies listed under the subject heading >>>Dd-0. What is the TRUE Sabbath?<<< And also read Dd-20. Did The Early Church KEEP the Sabbath day to learn the truth of what the early church believed. Thanks again for reading and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the truth of the whole word of Almighty God.
Your Brother in our Lord Jesus Christ, Brother Mark.
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