Author	Thread: Part 2 Works of the law
Admin	Part 2 Works of the law Posted : 27 Oct, 2009 02:32 PM The difficult words of Paul James literally said that the law of Moses � that is, the law of God � was being �read in the synagogue every sabbath day� (Acts 15:21). Why would he even bring this up, unless the point he is making is that the Gentile brethren would be HEARING this instruction from the rest of the law of God every Sabbath day, in the synagogue? The Galatians� Problem This same problem of some believers insisting Gentiles had to be circumcised and keep all the requirements of Judaism, surfaced also in the province of Galatia. The apostle Paul was deeply concerned about this �Judaizing� problem, this "yoke of bondage" being forced upon Gentile believers by false brethren from the Pharisee party (Gal.5:1). He lamented to the Galatians, saying �there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ� (Gal.1:7). What was Paul talking about? Notice! Paul points out to them that 14 years after his own conversion and calling (Gal.2:1), he had to go up to Jerusalem, as Paul put it, �because 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).� These Pharisees said the new converts had to be circumcised, and to keep all the halachic principles of Rabbinic teaching, and their legalistic interpretations of the Law of God! (Gal.2:4). Paul did not put up with this nonsense for one minute (verse 5). The Galatians, unfortunately, had been subjected to this false teaching of salvation through physical circumcision and the keeping of the law, and were in danger of falling away from the truth of God. Therefore, Paul felt constrained to write to them about the problem, and in doing so, he explained the TRUTH about the �Law� and its place in our lives. Notice! The apostle Paul wrote: �And this I say, that the Law, which was 430 years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect� (Gal.3:17). Paul was here speaking clearly of some aspect of the law of Moses. What was this which was �added�? The Law of Moses Let�s go back into the days of Moses, for a moment, and see. Moses, you will remember, was the one whom God used to lead the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage. He was a type of Christ, who delivered us from sin. After crossing the Red Sea in awesome glory, the Israelites came to the Arabian desert, and the hot sweltering sun. They began to murmur and complain, bellyache and grumble. It was not long before men openly began complaining and plotting rebellion against Moses, and against God (Exo.16:2-8). They were riled up, and in a flagrantly sinful attitude of mind! What does God say? Notice! �And the Lord said unto Moses, How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws?� (verse 28). Notice! This was two whole weeks BEFORE they came to Mount Sinai! Yet, already, plainly, God�s laws were in force � and the Israelites were found breaking the Sabbath commandment, and being disobedient and rebellious. Consequently, God did two things. He reiterated the basic spiritual Laws He had given mankind � the Ten Commandments, and statutes and judgments (Gen.26:5). Then He added an entirely NEW Law � a law involving the Levitical Priesthood, which He brought into service, and laws concerning rituals, sacrifices, washings, and ordinances involving the Sanctuary or Temple. This law was added because of DISOBEDIENCE to God�s spiritual Law � it was added to TEACH them the habit of OBEDIENCE, and LESSONS regarding the enormity of sin, and its forgiveness. The entire body of Law was called �the Law of Moses,� because God used Moses as His mediator with Israel. The whole body or corpus of Law came through Moses. However, it was divided into two distinct parts � one consisting of statutes and civil laws for the community, based on the Ten Commandments. The other was the ceremonial laws involving the Levitical priesthood, sacrifices offerings, and rituals. Thus there were TWO PARTS to the Law given at Mount Sinai � the Ethical Law, or Moral Law, governing man�s relationship with God and his neighbor � and an �ADDED� part of the Law � the part relating to rituals and sacrifices! The sacrificial part of the law consisted of ceremonial washings, various laws of sin offerings and sacrifices, and carnal, physical ordinances enjoined upon the people and the Levitical Priesthood. It was not a spiritual law. It could save no one. Speaking of it, the apostle Paul declared in the book of Hebrews, �It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience � concerned only with foods and drinks [offerings], various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed UNTIL the time of reformation� (Hebrews 9:9-10, NKJV). That part of the Law was a temporary law, imposed until the �time of reformation.� So why was it given to ancient Israel? Let the apostle Paul give us the answer! [What purpose did the ritual law serve?] �It was added because of transgressions, till the seed [Christ] should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator� (Galatians 3:19). Did you catch that? That Law which was added � the Levitical Priesthood with all the sacrifices and rituals � was added � �BECAUSE OF TRANSGRESSIONS�! For one law to be �added� because of �transgressions,� then means that there had to be another Law which was being transgressed, being broken, by the Israelites! What Law? Remember, God had said, �How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?� (Exodus 16.28). They had been breaking God�s eternal spiritual law, the Ten Commandments � as well as all those Laws which are based on and derived from the Ten Commandments! Specifically, they broke the SABBATH commandment (Exo.16:23-27). Because Israel had been breaking God�s Law, He added another special law � the laws involving the whole Levitical Priesthood, sacrifices and offerings! WHY? � to teach them the lesson of repentance and of obedience! To teach them to acknowledge their sins, He gave them certain ceremonial washings, sin and other offerings, and commanded sacrifices, and carnal ordinances, as a foreshadow of things to come. What things? The coming of the true sacrifice for our sins, Christ Jesus Himself! And the Holy Spirit which cleans us up spiritually within. These duties, sacrifices, washings, taught them their need for a coming Savior and God�s Holy Spirit. As Paul tells us in Hebrews, this new law �stood only in meats and drinks [meal and drink offerings], and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them UNTIL THE TIME OF REFORMATION� (Hebrews 9:10, KJV). These rituals, ceremonies, and sacrifices were �a FIGURE for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience� (Heb.9:9). Paul also wrote of this sacrificial law, �For the law having a SHADOW of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not cease to be offered? because that the worshipers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. For in those sacrifices there is a REMEMBRANCE again made of SINS every year� (Hebrews 10:1-3). The sacrificial law did not atone for sin � but it REMINDED THE PEOPLE of their sins, and their need for proper, true atonement! Paul goes on: �For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins� (Heb.10:4). Rather, the sacrifices of the law pointed to the one supreme sacrifice � the sacrifice of Jesus Christ Himself, the "Lamb of God"! (Heb.10:5-13). What about the �Schoolmaster� or �Tutor�? Paul goes on, in Galatians, saying, �But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.� �Therefore the law was our tutor (KJV, �schoolmaster�) to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor (schoolmaster)� (Galatians 3:24-25, NKJV). The Greek word for �schoolmaster� or �tutor� here is paidagogos, meaning a �boy leader�, i.e. a servant whose office it was to take the children to school. By implication, a �tutor,� �instructor,� �schoolmaster� (Strong�s Exhaustive Concordance, #3807). The NKJV translates the word as �tutor.� Says Thayer�s Greek-English Lexicon, �a leader, a tutor, i.e. a guide and guardian of 48 boys. Among the Greeks and Romans the name was applied to trustworthy slaves who were charged with the duty of supervising the life and morals of boys belonging to the better class. The boys were not allowed so much as to step out of the house without them before arriving at the age of manhood.� Vine�s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words says of paidagogos: � �a guide� or �guardian� or �trainer of boys,� lit., �a child-leader� (pais, �a boy, or child,� ago, �to lead�), �a tutor,� is translated �instructors� in I Cor.4:15, KJV (RV, �tutors�).� So the �Law� Paul said was a �tutor,� �instructor,� or �teacher� � a �guide� for the children of Israel. It �showed the way� to go. It was a �protector,� and �guardian� to save them from troubles, danger, or perils. Therefore, the �Law� was like a tutor or guardian for ancient Israel, to guard and protect them from danger, to safeguard their moral conduct, to teach them proper conduct and the enormity of sin and its severe penalty. In this respect, we are speaking of the entire �Law� of Moses, including the rituals, washings, and sacrifices. Now that Christ has come, we are no longer guided by the precepts of the Law alone � we are NOW guided by Christ Himself, and by the Holy Spirit of God! That is the meaning here. This does not mean the Law of God is done away with � but now, added to it, is CHRIST � the Saviour and Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit � which God sends upon those who accept and believe in Christ (Acts 5:32). Post Reply
View Profile History	Part 2 Works of the law Posted : 28 Oct, 2009 08:22 AM Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, "THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH." 3:12 However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, "HE WHO PRACTICES THEM SHALL LIVE BY THEM." 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us--for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE "-- 3:14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. 3:15 Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man's covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it. 3:16 Post Reply
View Profile History	Part 2 Works of the law Posted : 28 Oct, 2009 08:29 AM Answers- I am sure are messianic friends will confirm this. When a jewish family who is true to the faith will do this. You have accepted christ? You are dead,you are no longer of gods people. Then the faithful go to a cematary,this is the day you died.The day your family found out about your belief in christ.A tomestone with your name is put on it.You can never go back to your family because you are dead.:stop: Post Reply
View Profile History	Part 2 Works of the law Posted : 28 Oct, 2009 08:31 AM The law is truly a burden , in fact is intended to be such a burden that man can not bear it. It is supposed to break the back of the proud/arrogant man and turn him to The messiah prophesied through-out the Torah and our old testament. Therefore every man/woman's only hope is CHRIST crucified and resurrected... In Christ steven Post Reply
DontHitThatMark View Profile History	Part 2 Works of the law Posted : 28 Oct, 2009 07:15 PM The apostles kept the law...God's chosen people kept the law...I'ma try to keep it. Jesus kept the law perfectly. We're supposed to walk as Jesus walked. Even in our sinful state, we're supposed to try. Jesus' blood covers our mistakes and makes us perfect. :peace::peace: Post Reply
View Profile History	Part 2 Works of the law Posted : 29 Oct, 2009 02:38 PM 6. (12-14) Jesus then warns His disciples that only what is of God and of truth will last and be secure. Then His disciples came and said to Him, �Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?� But He answered and said, �Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.� a. Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying? This is a humorous scene. The disciples came to Jesus, saying something like this: �Jesus - did you know that you offended those guys?� Of course Jesus knew that He offended them! He intended to offend them and the way they valued man�s tradition too highly. b. Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted: This applied directly to the religious leaders and all like them. Their commandments of men will not last, because they are not rooted either in God or truth. i. �There was no need for the disciples to combat the Pharisees, they would be uprooted in the natural order of things by the inevitable consequences of their own course.� (Spurgeon) ii. Yet this principle should make us examine ourselves, to see if we imitate the Pharisees in making traditions commandments. �Here, then, we find the test of all human teaching however well-intentioned. If it be not based upon and rooted in the Word of God, or if it depart in any degree from the true intention of that Word, it is without pity to be rooted up. By this test we need ever to try our traditions, customs, habits, rules, regulations.� (Morgan) c. Let them alone: Jesus did not organize a focused �Anti-Scribe and Pharisee� committee. He knew that their efforts would fail under the weight of its own legalism. d. They are blind leaders of the blind . . . both will fall into a ditch: We sense that Jesus said this with sadness, and perhaps with more sadness for those who are led by the blind than the blind leaders of the blind. i. �Though the Pharisees and teachers of the law had scrolls and interpreted them in the synagogues, this does not mean that they really understood them. . . . The Pharisees did not follow Jesus; so they did not understand and follow the Scriptures.� (Carson) ii. �I pity the poor people, for whilst the blind lead the blind they both fall into a ditch. An ignorant and unfaithful ministry is the greatest plague God can send amongst a people.� (Poole) iii. In these words of Jesus we see the guilt of those who are blind leaders of the blind. We also see the responsibility of followers to make sure their leaders are not blind. 7. (15-20) The condition of the heart is what really defiles a person. Then Peter answered and said to Him, �Explain this parable to us.� So Jesus said, �Are you also still without understanding? Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.� a. Explain this parable to us: In Matthew 15:12-14 Jesus didn�t really speak in a parable (except for the brief illustration of the blind leading the blind). Yet because the disciples did not understand Him, they asked for an explanation (Are you also still without understanding?). i. �The disciples� request to have the parable explained does not reveal them as being more obtuse than the Pharisees but shows that, in common with most Jews at the time, they held the Pharisees in high regard and therefore wanted to be certain of exactly what Jesus had said that had offended them so badly.� (Carson) b. Those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man: Jesus amplified the point first made in Matthew 15:11. We are defiled from the inside out rather than from the outside in, and this is particularly true of ceremonial things like foods. i. Jesus boldly said that these evil things come from our innermost nature. They aren�t accidents or mere �mistakes�; they reveal how corrupt we are in our fallen nature. �The heart is the source of man�s true character, and therefore of his purity or impurity . . . it is not merely the seat of emotion, but the true person as he really is, not just as he appears outwardly.� (France) ii. � �Murders� begin not with the dagger, but with the malice of the soul. �Adulteries and fornications� are first gloated over in the heart before they are enacted by the body. The heart is the cage from whence these unclean birds fly forth.� (Spurgeon) iii. Said plainly, many people who worry about external habits . should care more about the condition of their heart than What day to worship on. In Christ Steve Post Reply
View Profile History	Part 2 Works of the law Posted : 29 Oct, 2009 05:09 PM Amen brother Steve! It is like that song "I just wanna be a sheep". If you don't know it, let me send it to you. I can tell by your writings that you would get a kick out of it. It takes shots at the saducees and pharisees...Hence, just be a sheep--a follower. Post Reply
DontHitThatMark View Profile History	Part 2 Works of the law Posted : 30 Oct, 2009 09:39 AM *sigh*....I don't keep the sabbath to "show off", I keep it because I believe it is what God wants. If you believed God wanted you to take off your shoes every time you came into the church, would you do it if you loved Him? Well, God says to remember to keep the 7th day holy, right after "1. Have no other Gods", "2. don't make idols", and "3. don't be called a christian if you're not following me". If you keep the letter of the law on the first 3, then I would say keep the next one. God said to do it. I'm going to do what God says. The only real verse you have to support the belief that it "doesn't matter anymore" would be "let no man judge you on the sabbath days", and I still say...but what if God is judging you? He said to keep the seventh day, and never said He changed it. You aren't breaking a tradition of man, you're ignoring a commandment of God. I just think it's dangerous, and I wish everyone could see that. I'm not trying to step on your toes. I think we're getting close to the end of all this and I think it's an important topic. The ones that make it to the end will be keeping all the commandments of God out of love for Him. I want everybody to make it. :prayingm::prayingm: Post Reply
View Profile History	Part 2 Works of the law Posted : 30 Oct, 2009 04:24 PM poo poo Post Reply
DontHitThatMark View Profile History	Part 2 Works of the law Posted : 30 Oct, 2009 04:49 PM *fabreze fabreze *....warn me next time dude... Post Reply

First

<< Previous  10

Page : 1 2

Last