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It was part of the ceremonial laws which is you read the whole text Paul defines what really matters (God's laws -the Ten). 1 Corinthians 7:19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what mattersCircumcision was a commandment of God.
It was part of the ceremonial laws which is you read the whole text Paul defines what really matters (God's laws -the Ten). 1 Corinthians 7:19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters
If it were more than "ceremonial" as are the Ten Commandments, it would not have all been abolished (Ephesians 2:15), the Mosaic Covenant made obsolete (Hebrews 8:13) and replaced with a New Covenant (Hebrews 8:8-9), the mediator/lawgiver, the priesthood and the law all changedWhat we define ceremonial or not, God never defines it that way.
He never says, you shall do this, but it is only ceremonial.
They are a legitimate way to distinguish between the temporary and the permanent.Ceremonial laws are a mans way of defining something.
Circumcision was the sign of the Abrahamic Covenant covenant of grace, given about 450 years before the Mosaic ceremonial laws, as baptism is the sign of the New Covenant of grace (Colossians 2:11-12).Paul was simply saying the act of circumcision was nothing, precisely because the male body is going to return to dust and the actual physicality of whether the flesh is there or not won’t matter.
It was to point forward, to Christ. The same as all His laws.
Now, if someone is not circumcised in the heart, by God, then that means He is not Gods.
This is applied to all of Gods commandments.
Thank you for the nice response.I think it's good to hammer away if you are wanting to understand Truth.
You are referring to Romans 14 when it says should you esteem one day above another. Romans is one book many really misunderstand and its easy to misinterpret, especially if you are looking for a way to disobey one of God's commandments. God made only one day Holy, the seventh day from Creation Genesis 2:3. He said His Sabbath is a perpetual covenant Exodus 31:16 and all of His Ten commandments will be eternal Luke 16:17, Psalms 89:34, Psalms 111:7-8 and than you have God who says He changes not Malachi 3:6 and Sabbath being the day of worship like He promised would be eternal is the same in the New Earth Isaiah 66:23. So when you look at the amount of evidence how His covenant can not be changed, you have to know Romans 14 is not referring to the seventh day Sabbath. Nothing in Romans 14 says the seventh day Sabbath has been abolished. Paul is referring to the yearly festivals and ceremonial holidays, not the seventh day Sabbath in God's eternal commandments. That would be very inconsistent and confusing and we do not have a God of confusion. There is a sermon on this very topic if you want I can give you a link that goes into much more detail. Knowing the Truth is important.
Jesus was always doing the will of God. Jesus said He came not to do His will but the will of His Father. John 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
I also think it's important to always do the will of God. Sometimes it hard to hear God's voice. Look on these threads how confusing religion is. This is all the work of "the other spirit" and not God. Satan wants you to be confused. Keep seeking God and doing His will. The Holy Spirit will never lead you to sinning (not keeping God's laws) always keep that in mind. John 14:15-18
I hope this is helpful.
God bless
Well, the new creation is us!What do you mean by rejoicing in God's New Creation every day of the week? Are you referring to the New Earth after Jesus comes? We can rejoice daily now for all of God's blessing, I worship Him daily now, but I keep His seventh day Holy as the commandment states Exodus 20:8-11 which will continue on the New Earth Isaiah 66:23.
If it were more than "ceremonial" as are the Ten Commandments, it would not have all been abolished (Ephesians 2:15), the Mosaic Covenant made obsolete (Hebrews 8:13) and replaced with a New Covenant (Hebrews 8:8-9), the mediator/lawgiver, the priesthood and the law all changed
(Hebrews 7:12).
They are a legitimate way to distinguish between the temporary and the permanent.
Circumcision was the sign of the Abrahamic Covenant covenant of grace, given about 450 years before the Mosaic ceremonial laws, as baptism is the sign of the New Covenant of grace (Colossians 2:11-12).
God made man on the six day Genesis 1:26 and the very next day was Sabbath. Genesis 2:2-3, which is why Jesus said Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath Mark 2:27.Well, the new creation is us!
We are not free to violate the Ten Commandments in the New Covenant (Matthew 22:37-40; Romans 13:8-10).The entire old covenant was replaced with the new.
Everything, as in “everything” prior to Jesus being here, in the flesh, was to point toward Him and what He would do.
Circumcision, just happens to be one of those things.
God never defined something as ceremonial or temporary.
It doesn’t mean we cannot. I’m simply stating He does not.
In fact, we know that what took place with the Children of Israel back then was to teach us.
1 Corinthians 10:6 (ESV) Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.
Well, the ancient churches, east and west, upheld the requirement for man to obey the ten commandments from the beginning. We see these and other moral commandments supported in the New Testament as well, while the ceremonial commandments are treated primarily as legalistic at that point, having nothing directly do with actual holiness anyway. So because of that continuous practice, aka "Tradition", we know that the churches believed that man was still obligated to be personally righteous even as it's understood that this possibility exists only for the redeemed, those who live and remain in God and He in them. We're not saved by "works of the law", of any kind, and yet if the moral law isn't being fulfilled in us by God-if no is change is taking place- then our relationship with Him would be awfully questionable.So I can understand what you're saying,
When you talk about God upholding the law through Christ in you,
the laws you are talking about are things as they are interpreted and understood by the Catholic Church?
That would include things like every Sunday being a holy day of obligation, as opposed to every Saturday.
(I'm not saying those interpretations and understanding are right or wrong, and as you alluded to, this really wouldn't be the right thread to talk about that.)
I agree with much of this. I’d only say that man was not made to be a sinner; everything God creates is good and man has a perfection, at least potentially, which is proper to his nature just as a dog has a perfection proper to being a dog. Man’s perfection is attained, however to the extent that he loves God with his whole heart, soul, mind, and strength and his neighbor as himself. Man’s problem is that, yes, he wasn’t satisfied with just being himself but wanted to be more, wanted to be God, which is the essence of the pride and self-righteousness that is the seed of so much sin and harm in this world. A teaching I’m familiar with puts it this way,Maybe it's just the terminology you use, so maybe I misunderstand you and you missunderstand me, however, I try to use the absolute best word(in our modern language) to talk about things of God.
With that said, sin has been overcome because of what Christ did. "We" do not overcome it, we resist it. And yes, that resistance will forever be there until the day we leave this body of flesh.
It has been said, if you are not struggling(at war) with something then it means you are not opposed to it.
That is the problem these days. The thought is that "I" overcome sin and gradually I will not have to resist it anymore. This is the state that Jesus finds fault with the Laodicean church.
No one who has His Spirit will remain in imperfect behavior(sin). Why? Because those who have the Spirit will be following Him, and He will never lead us into imperfection. But we have no clue what perfection is until He leads us in it.
The point of all of this, our humanity, is to drive home the message that we are not perfect and He is perfect. What happens is the lie of Satan continues on to this day that somehow we can be perfect as He is - apart from Him.
And the very food that feeds this rebellion against God is the words that were spoken so long ago in that Garden;
[Gen 3:4-5 ESV] But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
This is a lie. It was back then, and it is still today. It's trickery and so many people still fall for it. Satan, from the beginning, has taken God's words and twisted them. He still does that today as is manifested in how people interpret what they want to see/hear from the Bible.
Mankind continues on with this corrupt mindset that somehow we can be like God, knowing good and evil as He does. God does not want that for us. He did not want it for them, and He did not change His mind after.
God gave us this choice, still gives us this choice, so that in the end He will have a people who fully are devoted to Him - dependant on Him. That is our perfection.
Hi fhansen,Well, the ancient churches, east and west, upheld the requirement for man to obey the ten commandments from the beginning. We see these and other moral commandments supported in the New Testament as well, while the ceremonial commandments are treated primarily as legalistic at that point, having nothing directly do with actual holiness anyway. So because of that continuous practice, aka "Tradition", we know that the churches believed that man was still obligated to be personally righteous even as it's understood that this possibility exists only for the redeemed, those who live and remain in God and He in them. We're not saved by "works of the law", of any kind, and yet if the moral law isn't being fulfilled in us by God-if no is change is taking place- then our relationship with Him would be awfully questionable.
And, yes, both the eastern and western churches view Sunday as fulfilling the sabbath commandment, with the obligation constituting the recognition of man's vital need to place God first before all else as per the first 3-5 commandments depending on the numbering system-and to keep our communion with Him continuous, regular. The Eucharist, the Lord's Supper, is the central focus of the celebration as it was at the beginning along with the reading of the Word because in both we partake of and nurture that relationship with-Him.
God to see you again, fhansen.Well, the ancient churches, east and west, upheld the requirement for man to obey the ten commandments from the beginning. We see these and other moral commandments supported in the New Testament as well, while the ceremonial commandments are treated primarily as legalistic at that point, having nothing directly do with actual holiness anyway. So because of that continuous practice, aka "Tradition", we know that the churches believed that man was still obligated to be personally righteous even as it's understood that this possibility exists only for the redeemed, those who live and remain in God and He in them. We're not saved by "works of the law", of any kind, and yet if the moral law isn't being fulfilled in us by God-if no is change is taking place- then our relationship with Him would be awfully questionable.
And, yes, both the eastern and western churches view Sunday as fulfilling the sabbath commandment, with the obligation constituting the recognition of man's vital need to place God first before all else as per the first 3-5 commandments depending on the numbering system-and to keep our communion with Him continuous, regular. The Eucharist, the Lord's Supper, is the central focus of the celebration as it was at the beginning along with the reading of the Word because in both we partake of and nurture that relationship with-Him.
I would agree with you also that man was not created to be a sinner. I would disagree that after the fall man could ever be perfect.I agree with much of this. I’d only say that man was not made to be a sinner; everything God creates is good and man has a perfection, at least potentially, which is proper to his nature just as a dog has a perfection proper to being a dog. Man’s perfection is attained, however to the extent that he loves God with his whole heart, soul, mind, and strength and his neighbor as himself. Man’s problem is that, yes, he wasn’t satisfied with just being himself but wanted to be more, wanted to be God, which is the essence of the pride and self-righteousness that is the seed of so much sin and harm in this world. A teaching I’m familiar with puts it this way,
“…he [Adam] wanted to "be like God", but "without God, before God, and not in accordance with God".
Adam would need to learn something, something of the infinite difference between Creator and created, and of the undeniability of man’s need for his Creator. The consequences of Adam’s sin, exile into this world where God is effectively missing and man’s will rules the day, can serve as a teacher for us to learn how deprived and lacking we are in our “freedom”. Anyway, there are lots of ways to put it. We can, with the help of grace, come to learn the value of love over the pride that opposes it, and come to embrace that love, that light, when its shown to us. Then we can begin to be perfected by the only One who can accomplish that in us, to be who we were created to be.
I see. Yes, the church has that authority, as guided and granted by God. This matter didn't originate in the west BTW, but in the whole church. The charge is made that the big bad Catholic Church, being so evil and everything, set about to change the law but for some reason only changed this one commandment while upholding the rest as obligatory as written (while some Protestants, er, protest this teaching, incidentally). But in both the east and the west the ten commandments were taught while the nascent church had a new view on sabbath keeping. The 7th day was still observed to some extent apparently but not with the same "religiosity" as before while the 1st day, the day of Christ's rising, found a new place in their hearts-and this was the main day when they gathered and read the word and partook of the Lord's Supper (as is still done today in the ancient churches BTW).God to see you again, fhansen.
The part I was getting at was that
the Church views Sunday as fulfilling the Sabbath commandment.
And the Church is also confident that those teachings arrived at by the whole church are directed by God, as first seen when the apostles and elders gathered in Jerusalem.
So in the church's view, it's not a matter of an individual finding a passage in the Bible and then concluding that the Sabbath is supposed to be on Saturday.
At first I was thinking this was outside the scope of this thread, but maybe it isn't.
If the charge is that a person or group is removing the laws of God, the claim of a group that it has authority from God to alter/clarify/expand on the laws of God is highly relevant.
Okay, so maybe a bit off topic from the thread,I would agree with you also that man was not created to be a sinner. I would disagree that after the fall man could ever be perfect.
Consuming that fruit altered man in a way that corruption was then passed to all because we are all his descendants. Perfection is the absence of corruption, therefore we can never be perfect until we shed this flesh.
We are, as you know, able to be changed in our mind conforming to His perfection - but fully perfect we will never be until all corruption is gone.
It is this very corruption that is the reason for Gods Law.
As Jesus would show, mankind is corrupt in his view of Gods perfect law. For one, they believe they are capable of fulfilling it. And for another, they decide how to fulfill it.
Jesus put this to rest by teaching the depth of our corruption by showing us that even being angry is murder, that looking with desire is adulterous, and that He was Lord of the Sabbath.
Those are just three examples of how our mind is corrupt when trying to discern good from evil. All the result of the consumption from that tree.
The only way to do good is to follow His lead. When we do that we put to death the corruption of ourselves, and put on His perfection. His way is love - mercy not sacrifice.
I see. Yes, the church has that authority, as guided and granted by God. This matter didn't originate in the west BTW, but in the whole church. The charge is made that the big bad Catholic Church, being so evil and everything, set about to change the law but for some reason only changed this one commandment while upholding the rest as obligatory as written (while some Protestants, er, protest this teaching, incidentally). But in both the east and the west the ten commandments were taught while the nascent church had a new view on sabbath keeping. The 7th day was still observed to some extent apparently but not with the same "religiosity" as before while the 1st day, the day of Christ's rising, found a new place in their hearts-and this was the main day when they gathered and read the word and partook of the Lord's Supper (as is still done today in the ancient churches BTW).
The early church had a new view on the law in general. There was a new-found freedom now, freedom from the strict observance of the law by the letter but not licentiousness by any means such that, while the moral law was still to be fulfilled it was fulfilled in a new way, the way of the Spirit, the way of love: God's way. Externally acted out, ceremonial laws no longer demanded or compelled their attention while internal change, life by the Spirit, did. And it was believed that the Sabbath law was still observed in this new way but fulfilled now on the 1st day, the Lord's day, the most important day to Christians. None of it began with some authoritative command of a human but rather was just the way it was done, as it was received, by the early church.
I know you didn't ask me but thought I would jump in. There was no sin before Eve eating the apple. Because Adam and Eve ate from the one tree God told them not to, this introduced sin in the world. Sin caused humans to be separated from God, which was never God's intention. I think the whole Bible is a manual on how to get back in the presence of God. Following His Word, we are told we will be re-united and live with our Savior when He comes again.Okay, so maybe a bit off topic from the thread,
But why did eating the fruit give Adam and Eve temporary knowledge of Good and evil but permanent corruption which continued through all their descendants?
I'm not Catholic, but as I understand it, the only official sources for Catholic teaching are ecumenical councils and possibly papal decrees. I think that's where we would want to look to see what they claim officially.These quotes from the Catholic church tell a different story on the change. They state there was no biblical authority to change the day of God's seventh day Sabbath and want you to know if you worship on Sunday it is a commandant of the Catholic Church, not God's commandment.
It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and all other Christians, that the Bible does not support them anywhere in their observance of Sunday. Sunday is an institution of the Roman Catholic Church, and those who observe the day observe a commandment of the Catholic Church.
—Priest Brady, in an address, reported in the Elizabeth, NJ ‘News’ on March 18, 1903.
Protestants ... accept Sunday rather than Saturday as the day for public worship after the Catholic Church made the change... But the Protestant mind does not seem to realize that ... in observing Sunday, they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the Church, the pope.
—Our Sunday Visitor, February 5th, 1950.
A. Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her; —she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the Seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.
—Rev. Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism; New York in 1857, page 174
There is no reference in the entire Bible that Jesus gave the Catholic church permission to change God's laws or anything for that matter. We are told God's covenant can not be broken and He changes not Luke 16:17, Psalms 89:34, Psalms 111:7-8 Malachi 3:6. Jesus warned us and told us not to keep traditions of man, but only the commandments of God. Mathew 15:3-9 And we are not to change one Word. Proverbs 30:5 If there was a change on God's Sabbath the scriptures were silent, but God already told us it is a perpetual covenant Exodus 31:16 which is why on the New Earth the seventh day Sabbath, not the first day will continue to be God's day of worship. Isaiah 66:23.
The pope is not above God. The Holy Spirit we are told is given to help us keep God's commandments, not break them. Acts 5:32, John 14:15-18
God bless
I'm not Catholic, but as I understand it, the only official sources for Catholic teaching are ecumenical councils and possibly papal decrees. I think that's where we would want to look to see what they claim officially.
A thing that gives me pause is that the very same people that were altering or expanding upon the Sabbath were also the ones deciding which documents would be in the Bible.
You don't seem to understand what happened there. or maybe you don't wish to. The practice of Sunday observance is a Christian practice. It was already in place before the Church of Rome existed. And that's why, incidentally, the practice is virtually the same in the eastern churches.These quotes from the Catholic church tell a different story on the change. They state there was no biblical authority to change the day of God's seventh day Sabbath and want you to know if you worship on Sunday it is a commandant of the Catholic Church, not God's commandment.
It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and all other Christians, that the Bible does not support them anywhere in their observance of Sunday. Sunday is an institution of the Roman Catholic Church, and those who observe the day observe a commandment of the Catholic Church.
—Priest Brady, in an address, reported in the Elizabeth, NJ ‘News’ on March 18, 1903.
Protestants ... accept Sunday rather than Saturday as the day for public worship after the Catholic Church made the change... But the Protestant mind does not seem to realize that ... in observing Sunday, they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the Church, the pope.
—Our Sunday Visitor, February 5th, 1950.
A. Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her; —she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the Seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.
—Rev. Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism; New York in 1857, page 174
There is no reference in the entire Bible that Jesus gave the Catholic church permission to change God's laws or anything for that matter. We are told God's covenant can not be broken and He changes not Luke 16:17, Psalms 89:34, Psalms 111:7-8 Malachi 3:6. Jesus warned us and told us not to keep traditions of man, but only the commandments of God. Mathew 15:3-9 And we are not to change one Word. Proverbs 30:5 If there was a change on God's Sabbath the scriptures were silent, but God already told us it is a perpetual covenant Exodus 31:16 which is why on the New Earth the seventh day Sabbath, not the first day will continue to be God's day of worship. Isaiah 66:23.
The pope is not above God. The Holy Spirit we are told is given to help us keep God's commandments, not break them. Acts 5:32, John 14:15-18
God bless
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