Posted in Feast and Festivals • Holy Spirit • Law • Pentecost • Righteousness

Pentecost 2013

By Comments:

Pentecost is a time for celebrating the gospel given at Mt. Sinai and the Spirit given after the resurrection of the Christ. The good news at Sinai was that God was going to be with us. He gave His Law as part of the preparation. The Spirit accompanies His Law because the Law is truth. God is indeed with us in Truth. Let us celebrate the reversal of the banishment from His presence with His Spirit in a heart of flesh walking in His statutes, keeping His rules, and obeying them.

Your righteousness is righteous forever, and your law is true. (Psalm 119:142, ESV)

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. (John 14:16–17, ESV)

And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. (Ezekiel 11:19–20, ESV)

Posted in Law • New Testament

The Second Sermon on the Mount

By Comments:

From ‘Whole Bible Christianity’ chapter 7 The Second Sermon on the Mount

Matthew in chapters five, six and seven of his gospel account records for us the second Sermon on the Mount. Yeah, I said second because the first was at Mt. Sinai with Moses, who relayed it to Israel. The second is similar to the first; even identical. Since Jesus actually gave both sermons, we would expect they would sound alike, which they do. In fact, what we really have here is Jesus cutting through man’s false teachings about what He set down at Sinai. He repeats His message over and over and over and over in the Bible. Man’s interpretations or applications of the Law to that point were lacking, so Jesus corrected them.

In 5:17 He says He did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill. The word ‘abolish’ is clear – it means eliminate (or destroy, or change). As in ‘I did not come to eliminate the Law.’ It wouldn’t make very much sense for Jesus to say, “I did not come to abolish the Law, but to abolish it.” The word ‘fulfill,’ used as the opposite of ‘abolish,’ means to interpret correctly so that words are given their proper meaning. It’s clear in this context Jesus is saying He would not destroy the Law through wrong interpretation. So we can read this statement as, ‘I did not come to remove or destroy or change the Law, but to correctly interpret it so it would be put back on a firm foundation.’

The word ‘fulfill’ by itself also means to ‘fill up full,’ as in filling up the foundation forms of a house with cement. Jesus cements His intention by telling us that even the tiniest part of God’s Law will not change until heaven and earth pass away. Some try to make the phrase “until all is accomplished” to mean Jesus changed the Law through the resurrection. But heaven and earth certainly did not pass away at that time. Therefore the Law still stands, placed on firm foundation by the Giver and Interpreter. It is still absolutely applicable to everyone.

Whole Bible Christianity book draft

Posted in Bible Verse • Law • Old Covenant • Old Testament • Whole Bible Christianity book

Law Before Law

By Comments:

From ‘Whole Bible Christianity’ chapter 4 section on Law before Law.

At least 40 observances of Law, implicit and explicit, before the Law was ‘given’ at Sinai.

Genesis 2:2-3 – Sabbath
Genesis 2:17 – Choose life not knowledge Deut. 30:19.
Genesis 2:23-25 – One man, one woman for marriage.
Genesis 3 – Redemption, blood sacrifice, and atonement.
Genesis 4:3-7 – Offering first born of flock and fat Deut. 12:6, 15:19
Genesis 4:4 – acceptable and unacceptable sacrifices
Genesis 4:10 – manslaughter penalties; avenger of blood; see Numbers 35.
Genesis 6:5, 11-13, 17 – Flood destroys innocent people?
Genesis 7:2, 8 – clean and unclean animals on the ark.
Genesis 8 – Noah’s burnt offerings, uses clean animals.
Genesis 9:4 – Don’t eat blood Lev. 3:17, 7:26; Acts 15:20
Genesis 9:6 – Don’t murder; equal justice; compare to Numbers 35:33.
Genesis 9:20-27 – Uncovering father’s nakedness Lev. 18:7, 20:11
Genesis 14:20, 28:22 – Tithing or giving.
Genesis 17:13-14 – Circumcision given as sign of covenant made in chapter 15.
Genesis 19:4-7 – Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed for homosexual sins.
Genesis 20:3 – Adultery wrong.
Genesis 22 – No sacrificing children.
Genesis 22:13 – Abraham makes a burnt offering.
Genesis 24:3, 28:1 – Don’t marry Canaanites Deut. 7:3.
Genesis 26:4, 5 – Abraham obeys God’s charges, commandments, statutes, laws
Genesis 27, 29:26 – Firstborn inherits Deut. 21:15-17; Genesis 48:18.
Genesis 30 – wrong to cheat a worker of his wages Lev. 19:13.
Genesis 31:35 – Rachel prevents finding idols while in the ‘manner of women.’ Compare to Lev. 15.
Genesis 31:54 – Jacob sacrifices.
Genesis 35:2 – Jacob has the family put away gods, purify themselves and change garments. Compare to Exodus 19:10, 14; Lev. 14:9, 15:3; Numbers 8:7; John 13:12; Heb. 10:22.
Genesis 35:14 – Jacob and drink offering with an altar and oil.
Genesis 38:6-26 – Er & Onan and an heir for a brother (Deut. 25:5)
Genesis 46:1 – Jacob sacrifices again.
Exodus 4:26 – Circumcision again.
Exodus 11 – Passover
Exodus 12 – additional mentions of circumcision.
Exodus 13:2 – The firstborn belong to Adonai, compare to Exodus 22:29, 27:26; Numbers 3:12, 13, 16-18.
Exodus 13:16 – “It shall be for you a token upon thy hand…”
Exodus 16:4 – Manna, “that I may prove them, whether they walk in my law or no.”
Exodus 16:26-28 – “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments & laws?”
Exodus 18:16 – Moses uses and teaches God’s laws before Sinai.

Posted in Authority • Feast and Festivals • Gospel • Holy Spirit • Law • Pentecost • Tongues

Pentecost and Sinai

By Comments:

A few days ago, we posted from Exodus 19:16-20 where Israel meets God. “There were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast,” as well as smoke and flame as God descended. The day of Pentecost was at the same time of year, and similar things happened.

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1–4, ESV)

The gospel was preached at Sinai, and it was preached again at Pentecost.

And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” (Acts 2:8–12, ESV)

For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. (Hebrews 4:2, AV)