(returns added... I'm quoting the parts I'm addressing)
1. That's not even what John 3:12 means, in context.
John 3:10-12 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? 11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you heavenly things?
2. I'm aware of those human testament verses... they never made sense to me. The word for Testament is also translated as Covenant. Jeremiah 31:31-33 says Israel broke the Covenant... not God. The Father gave them the Law at Sinai... not Jesus. In fact, Jesus says His Kingdom Law is also from the Father, John 12:50.
3. Jesus says He raised Himself, John 10:18.
The death of the body of Jesus was necessary because the Passover Lamb of God is defence against the destroyer/accuser, and for the Resurrection Jesus brings to cancel Death and crush the head of the serpent.
Heavenly Jerusalem doesn't come to Earth until after the Millennium, Revelation 21:2. The Kingdom of God comes down in Revelation 14.
4. Grace is the forgiveness of debt. And since y'all believe Romans 10:9, therefore you have no debt, and you don't need any more grace.
So, the only people who will always need grace on this Earth are those who follow the Gospel of the Kingdom; for us, repentence and forgiveness is essential Kingdom Law.
1. I used to believe we should read and quote according to the context of the writings, but I later realized it is not about the context but the foundation/logic of its context. If I remember correctly, almost all OT quotes in NT are out of context. For example, Matthew 2:15 quotes Hosea 11:1-2, and this is out of context. Likewise, Jesus quoted Psalm 22 on the cross. They didn't quote by the context but by the foundation which forms its context. The foundation here is, man can hardly understand spiritual things without earthly things.
2. Israeli can break the covenant, but they can never release themselves from the covenant unless the husband dies (this part of the law, Romans 7:2 & 1 Corinthians 7:39). Jesus said He is one with the Father, John 17:22, John 10:30. And Gospel of John introduces Jesus as the Word, in which through the Word, everything was created and fill all things (does 'all things' includes the law? If yes, Jesus is the one who gave the Law with the authority from the Father) [Colossians 1:15-17]
3. I agree with the Passover portion. According to Paul, Heavenly Jerusalem is the covenant [Galatians 4:24-26, These things serve as illustrations, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present-day Jerusalem because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother ] Jesus also claimed KOG is in our midst, Luke 17:20-21. In Matthew 12:28, Jesus declared, "But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you," in which Jesus drove the demon by the Spirit of God, so the kingdom is already here (spiritually) but not with observable signs.
4. Repentance means acknowledging our imperfection plus striving to improve ourselves through the understanding of the perfect law that helps us to be perfect. Repentance without later improvement is not repentance at all. Jesus is the One who instructed us to be perfect, Matthew 5:48. Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" and John 15:8 "This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, proving yourselves to be My disciples." Our debts are not achieving perfection as instructed, and God's grace forgives our debts.
1. I think that the verses quoted are to draw us to their context. What do you think happened to Joseph and Mary and Jesus in Egypt? When did Jacob find God in the house of On, chapter 12? Context is everything, and so is audience in the New Testament. John 3:10-12 points out that a teacher of Juda didn't believe even what they saw, because they weren't born from above... and didn't even know what it meant. And they'd had David as a witness, along with the prophets they'd murdered.
Psalms 22:1 O God, my God, attend to me: why hast thou forsaken me? ... 12 Many bullocks have compassed Me: fat bulls have beset Me round. 13 They have opened their mouth against Me, as a ravening and roaring lion. 14 I am poured out like water, and all My bones are loosened: My heart in the midst of My belly is become like melting wax. 15 My strength is dried up, like a potsherd; and My tongue is glued to My throat; and Thou hast brought Me down to the dust of death. 16 For many dogs have compassed Me: the assembly of the wicked doers has beset Me round: they pierced My hands and My feet. 17 They counted all My bones; and they observed and looked upon Me. 18 They parted My garments among themselves, and cast lots upon My raiment. 19 But Thou, O Lord, remove not My help afar off: be ready for Mine aid. 20 Deliver My soul from the sword; My only-begotten one from the power of the dog. 21 Save Me from the lion's mouth; and regard My lowliness from the horns of the unicorns.
Jesus tell what His dying felt like... this must literally be what happens to your body when you're crucified. And He wanted His audience to know, so He sent them to look at the context. He also tells them that Judah is like a lion, a bull and a dog... Pilate judged Him righteous, remember, so he is not the dog.
The same can't be said of the out of context verses Paul uses. For instance, Psalms 14:1-3 is about atheists, and this is true of all of his OT verses that I've ever checked.
2. Jeremiah 31:31-33 says Israel broke the Covenant. Break means this:
parar = a primitive root; to break up (usually figuratively, i.e. to violate, frustrate:--X any ways, break (asunder), cast off, cause to cease, X clean, defeat, disannul, disappoint, dissolve, divide, make of none effect, fail, frustrate, bring (come) to nought, X utterly, make void.
Therefore, God disregarded them, says the LXX.
God didn't make a last will and testament and name Israel the beneficiary, He made a contract with them. In contracts, which Paul is talking about (with the whole human understanding thing), if one party breaks the contract, the whole contract is void. They didn't hold up their side of the covenant, they dissolved it. This is when God sent them into captivity via Assyria and Babylon. Why does Jesus use the language He uses in Matthew 23 and John 8 against them? Even John recognizes the Pharisees as fleeing from Babylon as vipers to be baptized by him.
3. Sarah was under the Law, Hagar was just a slave. And where was Sinai in Arabia? Ancient Greeks called Arabia East-Ethiopia. Acording to Jesus Heavenly Jerusalem is coming down after the Millennium. Luke wasn't there, so his book is hearsay. The Gospels of John and Matthew are first-hand witnesses, approved by Jesus (John 15:26-27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with Me from the beginning). The Gospel of the Kingdom is still being preached all over the world by those who keep His Commandments. The Kingdom is announced with the death and resurrection of the two witnesses. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven... finally happens when the dragon is cast to Earth... then shall the end come. This Kingdom comes to Earth when Jesus comes to cast the dragon and his people from the Earth, as well. Without the King in house, the Kingdom is not visible, by their fruits ye shall know them...(not Paul's fruits)...these fruits are of the Kingdom that the two Gospels witness.
4. The context... 3:21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
Do you know where, in the law and the prophets, these "without the law" verses might be?
In context, "My words remain in you"... fruit always begins with thinking. The invisible church becomes clean from the inside out, it's not a whitewashed tomb. Remember that Jesus says some of those laws were allowed by Moses, because of their hard hearts.
They asked for Moses, instead of God. They asked for Kings, instead of God. They asked for a temple sacrifice, instead of the sure mercies of David. The OT law was a test they failed over and over again... finally failing to keep even their own hardhearted laws. God said He was testing them, straight up. Did that make them cautious or caring? No. They apparently forgot. So the Old Testament became a cautionary tale. The message: Learn the character/authority/name of God.
Last of all, He sent His Son, saying they will reverence My Son. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
