Soyeong
Well-Known Member
- Mar 10, 2015
- 12,433
- 4,605
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Messianic
- Marital Status
- Single
We agree on this portion.
It will take some time to work through your other posts. However, to generalize just to make sure I am getting what I see so far, you are of the view everyone is to observe the Torah, including gentiles, and that the Acts 15 requirements were essentially training wheels, correct?
Yes, Jesus taught obedience to the Torah by word and by example and following Jesus is not just for Jews, but for Gentiles too.
There are 1,050 commandments in the NT, so if the four laws listed in Acts 15:19-21 were an exhaustive list of everything that would ever be required of a mature Gentile believer, then that would exclude over 99% of the commandments in the NT, including the greatest two commandments. However, the moment you try to say that other commandments are obviously included, the then the list loses all power to limit which laws Gentiles should follow. Paul taught more than just those four commandments to Gentiles, such as in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, so it seems pretty clear to me that they were not an exhaustive list for mature Gentiles, but as stated, it was a list intended not to make things too difficult for new believers.
To use an analogy, when an employer hires a new employee, they don't start by having them memorize everything that they will need to know about how to do their job on day one, but rather they start with just the basics with the understanding that they will continue to learn the rest on the job. This is also mirrored by the fact new Christians today are still taught how to follow the Bible over time, and we are all taught a sermon each week. Many Gentiles were coming out of paganism and were unfamiliar with Christianity, so with a sudden influx of Gentiles, it became important to get everyone on the same page about which things were necessary to teach right away and which things could be taught over time in order to avoid overwhelming them.
Last edited:
Upvote
0