Christian newby questions...

[Another_uniqueUsername]

Depends on a definition and a vast majority of people use "choice" and "will" intuitively and change one term for another without noticing it.

I believe we are able to make choices, but these choices are based and dependant on various reasons. Our decision making is not free, unbased, uncaused or independent.


I do not know. Is the Old Testament crucial for you?

The old testament is crucial to me yes.

 

[solid_core]

The old testament is crucial to me yes.

Why?

 

[Another_uniqueUsername]

It is important to keep in mind that when we speak of freewill and/or predestination, these terms apply only to the matter of what gets us saved. It is not about every decision, every action, we may take in life.

Hi Albion
I believe every action (even every idle word muttered in private) will have to pass by the law as it is written and as Jesus told us.
I believe each individual has to earn his salvation based upon obedience to LAW.
"If you love the father keep his commandments"
If not .....then who could we possibly be showing our love to instead?

The passage is Mark 7:14-23, and Mark 7:1-13 is the event that prompted the teaching. Jews have an ancient method of ceremonial washing before they eat certain meals, which has no real sanitary value. It was part of the Jewish oral tradition, and if I'm not mistaken, it originated with Solomon. Religious Jews take oral tradition very seriously, and part of what Jesus was doing was correcting the corruption that had taken place in their oral traditions - in this case, by not washing, he set the stage for his rebuke in verses 6-13. And a little later in verses 14-23, he expanded on the heart of his teaching, and why he was doing all this. The point about food is secondary to what he said real defilement comes from - sin in your heart. That's the main thrust of what Jesus was teaching in verses 1-23 of that chapter, similar to what he was getting at on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7.

Now that we have the context, we can look at your food question. He's talking about foods, not bodily fluids. There are some Messianic teachings among the Jews that say that when the Messiah comes, all foods will be permitted to eat again (see quotes and footnotes here). Since Jesus is the Messiah, he began to inaugurate that. Besides, non-Jews outside of Israel are not held to the kosher standard in the Jewish law anyway.


This mainly goes to my point above - Pharisees engaged in quite a bit of "fence-building" and legalism which drew people away from the heart of what God did command and want for his people. They conflicted over this, and it's why they wanted Jesus killed. Since Paul, out of religious zeal, fiercely went after the church before he was converted, I'm sure he was no exception. After he converted, he was a different man. He seemed to honor the law privately insofar as it didn't conflict with Gospel, but always preached the Gospel first, and he even chastised Christians who were getting dangerously close to following the law to the detriment of the Gospel in their lives. Paul was also commended by Peter (2 Peter 3:15-16).


Every time Paul speaks or writes of his activities in persecuting the church in the New Testament, he does so with recognition of how deeply evil it was. This would strongly infer "yes".


No.


Yes, but see Acts 15. We must love God and do what he requires of us, and love people (Matthew 22:37-40). But God never required Gentiles to do many things in the law, so rather than do all 613 mitzvah, we have a much shorter list of what we are to do. Loving God means doing that well.

Hi sketcher
So how did Paul evade punishment for his crimes, why did he not offer himself up or turn himself in to the authorities confessing his sin and repenting of it immediately?
Even today, a murderer is apprehended for their crime even if not put to death are imprisoned so they cannot repeat their crime so to protect the law abiders?

 

[Another_uniqueUsername]

Why?

Because of the example given to me by Jesus. We cannot be "holy" by doing wrong and to know wrong is to know what the law forbids?

 

[solid_core]

Because of the example given to me by Jesus. We cannot be "holy" by doing wrong and to know wrong is to know what the law forbids?

But the Old Testament was not given to the whole world, only to one small nation - Israel - and only to the time of Christ, so it was temporary even for them.

This law is outdated by 2,000 years now...

 

[Another_uniqueUsername]

But the Old Testament was not given to the whole world, only to one small nation - Israel - and only to the time of Christ, so it was temporary even for them.

This law is outdated by 2,000 years now...

You believe "thou shalt not kill" etc is outdated?

 

[Sketcher]

Hi sketcher
So how did Paul evade punishment for his crimes, why did he not offer himself up or turn himself in to the authorities confessing his sin and repenting of it immediately?
Even today, a murderer is apprehended for their crime even if not put to death are imprisoned so they cannot repeat their crime so to protect the law abiders?

Paul was careful to act with the blessing of the Jewish authorities, who tried to cooperate with Rome. Under that system, the Jews would rule themselves, with limitations, and escalate to the Romans when necessary. Who would he turn himself in to?

 

[solid_core]

You believe "thou shalt not kill" etc is outdated?

As Jesus said:
"The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached"
Lk 16:16

Not every sentence from the Old Testament is invalid just because the Law as a legal document is not actual or for us. Some parts are restated in the New Testament and some moral laws are simply in a general moral codex of humanity.

 

[Another_uniqueUsername]

Can I ask you then what do you think Jesus meant when he said:

"For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."
?

All nations on earth will come under the judgement of God and the laws of his creation..

 

[Another_uniqueUsername]

Paul was careful to act with the blessing of the Jewish authorities, who tried to cooperate with Rome. Under that system, the Jews would rule themselves, with limitations, and escalate to the Romans when necessary. Who would he turn himself in to?

Good question.
If Paul was aligned with serving two masters then it should be asked which one did he love and which one did he hate.
His conscience still allowed him to write 1/3 of the NT even after Jesus had already covered instructions for mans salvation.

 

[Sketcher]

Good question.
If Paul was aligned with serving two masters then it should be asked which one did he love and which one did he hate.
His conscience still allowed him to write 1/3 of the NT even after Jesus had already covered instructions for mans salvation.

Paul literally preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was spreading it to people who had not known about it. Why wouldn't he have written those churches, when he knew how to write?

 

[Albion]

Hi Albion
I believe every action (even every idle word muttered in private) will have to pass by the law as it is written and as Jesus told us.
I believe each individual has to earn his salvation based upon obedience to LAW.
"If you love the father keep his commandments"
If not .....then who could we possibly be showing our love to instead?

Hmm. Is there a Christian denomination/church body which teaches what you've outlined here?

 

[Another_uniqueUsername]

Paul literally preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was spreading it to people who had not known about it. Why wouldn't he have written those churches, when he knew how to write?

Im not sure. Because if John "the greatest prophet who ever lived" had to decrease to allow Jesus to increase, then Paul must of had his own plan to win converts to the Roman faith? He was certainly zelous, some have said he even lied to gain converts, I only have his own letters to know the answer.

 

[Sketcher]

Im not sure. Because if John "the greatest prophet who ever lived" had to decrease to allow Jesus to increase, then Paul must of had his own plan to win converts to the Roman faith? He was certainly zelous, some have said he even lied to gain converts, I only have his own letters to know the answer.

John the Baptist was the greatest prophet of the Old Covenant. He pointed to Jesus, and Paul spread the Gospel of Jesus. Jesus did not decrease so that Paul would increase. Paul didn't even want people to think for a second that he should be listened to over Christ, rather he was a servant of Christ. He made this very clear in 1 Corinthians.

 

[Another_uniqueUsername]

Hmm. Is there a Christian denomination/church body which teaches what you've outlined here?

Jesus' is the head of his church and I quoted him because I suspect as king he has the authority to judge, authority given to him by the father (the living God).
The problem with denominations is that they are defined by their differences, not their unification, so which one is "the way"
?

 

[BrotherD]

Can I ask you then what do you think Jesus meant when he said:

"For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."
?

All nations on earth will come under the judgement of God and the laws of his creation..

You are right my friend, the food laws is still in effect. The law of God is still in effect. The only things we don't do is the sacrificial laws. If you are getting your answers from the bible, keep going you are on the right track. Pray and ask God and he will reveal.

 

[Another_uniqueUsername]

John the Baptist was the greatest prophet of the Old Covenant. He pointed to Jesus, and Paul spread the Gospel of Jesus. Jesus did not decrease so that Paul would increase. Paul didn't even want people to think for a second that he should be listened to over Christ, rather he was a servant of Christ. He made this very clear in 1 Corinthians.

He did your correct, but Paul did say in 2 Timothy 1.11 he was a teacher while Jesus said you only have one teacher. So what did Paul teach that Jesus hadn't already or did Paul mean something totally unrelated when he called himself a teacher? Luke said the pupil is not above his teacher.

 

[Another_uniqueUsername]

You are right my friend, the food laws is still in effect. The law of God is still in effect. The only things we don't do is the sacrificial laws. If you are getting your answers from the bible, keep going you are on the right track. Pray and ask God and he will reveal.

Thank you for your kind words of encouragement brother my bible, its instruction and prayer is what I have, I have a very isolated journey so it brings me joy to recieve such encouragement.

 

[Albion]

Jesus' is the head of his church and I quoted him because I suspect as king he has the authority to judge, authority given to him by the father (the living God).
The problem with denominations is that they are defined by their differences, not their unification, so which one is "the way"
?

I am not saying that you'd better join any, but are you saying that you know of no Christian church that agrees with what you have outlined as your personal view of the matter?

If there are none, that should tell us something about how to understand the relevant Scriptures.

 

[BrotherD]

Thank you for your kind words of encouragement brother my bible, its instruction and prayer is what I have, I have a very isolated journey so it brings me joy to recieve such encouragement.

My journey is isolated as well but remember the promise.

Hebrews 8:10-11
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

Blessings, With Love, In Christ