Are Christians Required to be Torah Observant?

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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We are gonna pray and then we're gonna get started. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, again, as we open up your word, we ask through your

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Holy Spirit to help us to rightly understand what is revealed there so that we may properly believe, confess, and do according to your

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Holy Word we ask in Jesus' name, amen. Today we're doing a specialty topic, a special request topic, and I will note this, that from time to time we do cover this at least once every two years in our catechism class, but some of y 'all have been confirmed in the faith for a long time, and so this is not a topic that I've covered in this

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Sunday School, and as a result of the question coming up, I think it would actually do us some good to do that.

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You'll note that this is the time of the year when you have people who are claiming that their

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Christianity has returned to the Hebrew roots of Christianity, and that as Christians we need to stop eating bacon, bologna, we do not, that's kind of a weird way of putting it, or that we are required by God's law to circumcise our children, no we're not, and that we're required by God's law to go back and observe the

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Passover, the Feast of Booths, the Feast of Trumpets, and all this other stuff, haggwash, okay, and I'm saying that in strong terms because there are such clear passages against it, but the question is is that how do we think biblically, and how do we give a biblical answer to friends and family who may have fallen into this error, and who are,

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I would say, trapped in this belief that Christians have to be, quote, Torah observant, when in fact we are not

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Torah observant in the truest sense. Huh? And it's impossible to be

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Torah observant, by the way, there's this little thorny issue of a temple missing, but what do I know,

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I just work in, yeah, the ark is missing, and things like, yeah. All right, so let's take a look at our first text today on this, and we'll work our way through this biblically so that we can learn how to think our way through this topic.

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So in Acts chapter 15, we learn that there was conflict in the church, in fact the church had to call a church council for the purpose of resolving the conflict, and it's fascinating what the presenting issue was.

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Here's what the text says. Some men came down from Judea and they were teaching the brothers, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.

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Does that sound like Christianity to you? No. And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension, this is kind of funny, so why they translate it so understatedly does not make any sense to me.

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Let me show you this here, so stasis here in the

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Greek, when it comes to conflict, lack of agreement, respecting policy, strife, discord, disunion, this is, it's not small dissension, this is like get in your face, face is turning red, they're being revolt and anger, okay, when there was no small dissension.

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Paul and Barnabas, they gave zero ground to the

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Judaizers, and that's an important point for us to keep this in mind. They gave zero ground, and there's a reason why they gave zero ground, because to give any ground at all is to lose the gospel, and that's the point that Paul makes in the entire book of Galatians.

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So after there was no small dissension, debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.

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So being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the

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Gentiles and brought great joy to all the brothers. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them.

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But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees, terrible party, by the way, and I wouldn't want to go to that one either, they rose up and they said, it is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.

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Note, it's not merely a question about circumcision, but that they must also then be

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Torah observant, okay?

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So note, the question on the table is not merely about circumcision, but are we then required as Christians to live like we are under the old covenant, under the

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Mosaic covenant? The answer is no. So the apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider the matter.

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After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, brothers, you know that in the early days,

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God made a choice among you that by my mouth, the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.

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And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us.

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And this is before none of them were circumcised, okay? And he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts, how?

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By faith. Now therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?

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But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, just as they will.

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And all the assembly fell silent and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders

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God had done through them among the Gentiles. After they finished speaking, James replied, brothers, listen to me.

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Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for his name.

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And with the words of the prophets, they all agree, just as it is written, after this I will return and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen.

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I will rebuild its ruins and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the

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Lord and the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.

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Therefore, my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God.

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Can you imagine how difficult evangelism would be if we basically said, now that you believe in Jesus, we need to get you baptized and circumcised?

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Okay, yeah, trouble the Gentiles indeed, okay? But we should write from them to abstain from the things that are polluted by idols, from sexual immorality and from what's been strangled and from blood.

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For from ancient generations, Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he's read every

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Sabbath in the synagogues. So then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders with the whole church to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.

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And they sent Judas called Barsabbas and Silas, leading men among the brothers with the following letter.

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The brothers, both the apostles and the elders to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia.

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Greetings, since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, it has seemed good to us having come to one accord to choose men and send them to you with our beloved

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Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we have therefore sent

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Judas and Silas who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the

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Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, from blood and from what has been strangled and from sexual immorality.

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If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well, farewell. Who lost that day?

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The Judaizers. And they lost badly. Not only are Christians not, according to the apostolic first church council convened and conducted by the apostles of Jesus Christ, not only are they not required to be circumcised, they're not required to keep the law of Moses.

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Now, that does not mean they're free then to go out and commit sexual immorality or to steal or to lie or to covet, okay?

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Because when we talk about God's law, you have to make distinctions in it.

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And the distinctions, when you look at the Mosaic covenant, is that you have moral laws, you have ceremonial laws, and you have civil laws that are based off of the moral laws, if you would, okay?

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So that being the case, there is no civil, I would say there is no civil theocracy of Israel even to this day.

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The current government that is in the nation state of Israel is not the theocracy of Israel of old.

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And so, and they don't even, not even close, they don't even practice the civil laws of the

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Mosaic covenant. The ceremonial laws are all types and shadows that point to Christ.

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In fact, I'll show you a text that explicitly says that, and that would make sense then. The ceremonial laws regarding the worship practices of the

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Mosaic covenant are pointing to Christ, who then is the one who will fulfill them. The Passover, notably among them, is fulfilled in Christ.

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Same with the day of atonement and other things like this. So the idea then is that we're not required to keep those.

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However, we are required to keep the moral law. We're not allowed to have other gods or idols.

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We're not allowed to take God's name in vain. We are not allowed to dishonor our parents.

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We are not allowed to murder. We're not allowed to commit adultery. We're not allowed to steal. We're not allowed to lie or to covet because the moral law is something that lasts forever, if you would, and you'll note that in the

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New Testament, the moral laws are reiterated. See the tail end of several epistles, most notably the

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Book of Romans, and you'll see that the Old Testament moral laws are restated as being binding on Christians in the

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New Testament, in the New Covenant. So then what are we to make then of the other, of like the

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Mosaic covenant regarding circumcision or keeping the Sabbath and things like this? You know, there are people who actually claim that you need to worship on Saturday because that's the

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Sabbath, and you're not keeping the Sabbath day by keeping it holy and things like this. So if you remember, was it the year

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I came here? Was it 10 years ago now? I debated Jim Staley of Passion for Truth, who's a notable leader within the

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Hebrew Roots Movement, and shortly after I debated him, he went to prison for like five or six years for bilking old ladies out of their money, like to the tune of like $1 .5

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million, but he's since returned to ministry now that he's out of prison, and he has a very popular video right now claiming that God is declaring judgment on the

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United States because of the eclipse that's happening tomorrow. It's just nonsense. But you can't make this stuff up.

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It's like, ugh, crazy. But let's take a look at what the Scripture says in these regards then. So notably, we're gonna start with just a portion of the book of Galatians and see how this plays into this question because Paul, after he planted all of these churches in the region of Galatia, the

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Judaizers, the party of the Pharisees, came in after him, and they were saying,

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Paul isn't really even a true apostle. He never went with Jesus. He didn't see Jesus walk on the water.

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He didn't see Jesus multiply the loaves and fishes. He's not even an eyewitness of the crucifixion of Jesus.

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He's only an eyewitness of the resurrection. So they were challenging his apostolic credentials as an apostle of Christ, and then they went on to say that because of that, he didn't tell you everything.

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And so you boys here in Galatia, y 'all need to be circumcised, otherwise you're not gonna be saved.

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This is what they said. So Paul starts off his epistle, and this is the most tersely written epistle in all of the

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New Testament. And terse is not even a way of putting it. It's like, that's even understatement. So Paul starts off by giving his apostolic credentials.

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Paul, an apostle, not for men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the

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Father. If you have any questions about that, please talk to Peter. Even Peter recognizes that Paul is an apostle.

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Who raised him from the dead and all the brothers who are with me. Grace to you and peace from God our

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Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our

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God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever, amen. And here it comes. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel.

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Not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

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But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel that is contrary to the one we preached, let him be accursed.

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Anathema here is more akin to damned. Okay, that's how strong the word is. Let him be damned. As we have said before, so I say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be anathema.

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Let him be damned. For am I now seeking the approval of man or of God? Or am

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I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel.

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I did not, for I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it. I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

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So Paul got his gospel from Jesus directly. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how

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I persecuted the church of God violently, tried to destroy it, and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people.

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So extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born and who called me by his grace was pleased to reveal his son to me in order that I might preach him among the

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Gentiles, I didn't immediately consult with anyone, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away to Arabia and then returned to Damascus.

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Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him for 15 days, but I saw none of the other apostles except for James, the

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Lord's brother. In what I am writing to you before God, I do not lie. So then I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and it was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.

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They only were hearing it said, he who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy, and they glorified

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God because of me. Then after 14 years, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me.

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I went up because of a revelation and set before them, though privately before those who seemed influential, the gospel that I proclaim among the

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Gentiles in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. Next, hang on a second here.

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There we go. Then after 14 years, I went up again to Jerusalem. We got that run in vain.

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Let's see here. But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised.

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So notice here, Titus, who is a Gentile convert to Christianity, when

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Paul went up to talk to the apostles, the apostles didn't say, you know, Titus, it's time for you to have the snip -snip procedure.

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We know that you're baptized, but there's more that needs to happen here. So note, not even the apostles, 14 years after Paul's conversion to Christianity, they didn't require

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Titus to be circumcised at all. If we're required to be

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Torah observant, then why didn't the apostles then force Titus to be circumcised? It doesn't make sense.

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So even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek, yet because a false brother secretly brought in who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus so that they might bring us into slavery, to them, we did not yield in submission even for a moment.

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You'll note that normal conflict that oftentimes happens in the church is that you get like two opposing sides, and oftentimes the truth is somewhere in the middle between the two of them, you know?

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But in this particular case, there was no truth to be conceded to the

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Pharisees, to the Judaizers. And so Paul gave them zero ground, and that's the point.

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And the reason why is actually stated here. To them, we did not yield in submission even for a moment so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.

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That's what was at stake. And from those who seemed influential, what they were makes no difference to me.

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God shows no partiality. Those, I say, who seemed influential, they added nothing to me.

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On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised, for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the

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Gentiles. And when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave me the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the

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Gentiles and they to the circumcised, only they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing that I was eager to do.

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So you'll note that Paul says that he's the apostle to the uncircumcised. How can you have an apostle to the uncircumcised if Christians are required to be circumcised?

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That doesn't make any sense. And they gave him the right hand of fellowship and said, yep, brother, that's your job.

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That's your assignment from Jesus. We affirm that that's what you're called to do. And so we'll keep going to the circumcised. You keep going to the uncircumcised and you continue to minister to them.

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And Paul's big fight then with the Judaizers is they were telling his Gentile converts that they had to be circumcised and Paul was saying, uh -uh, no way.

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Because the gospel itself is at stake. It becomes a false gospel, a gospel of grace plus works.

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How many people said, well, I thought that my salvation was a free gift of God and I'm not gonna be a

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Christian if I'm required to be circumcised. I'm sure it destroyed the faith of some. Unfortunately, Satan is the one who brings this kind of turmoil and strife and false doctrine into the church.

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Now, funny little anecdotal story then that Paul tells, he says, when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned.

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Well, there goes papal infallibility right there. Okay, that's out the window.

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Okay, for before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles. I want you to think this out, okay.

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So Peter visits Antioch and none of the folks who are also Jews are there.

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And so what's Peter doing? And the Gentiles say, hey, would you like some bacon and English muffins for breakfast?

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And he says, sure, I'll have that. And he eats with them. And he eats what they place in front of him.

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And he doesn't say a word, okay. But then all of a sudden, when some guys show up from James, Paul says, but when they came, he drew back and he separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.

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Hmm, hmm. So he's acting contrary to the gospel, is he not? Yep, so there's

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Paul. You'll note that Paul tacked, it was not his long suit. Okay, he was known to be just a wee bit direct, right.

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So, and the rest of the Jews, they acted hypocritically along with Peter, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

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But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, hey

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Peter, if you though a Jew live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force Gentiles to live like Jews, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm?

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And you could just hear all the wind being sucked out of the room, right, right.

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We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ.

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So we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law, no one will be justified.

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How many people are gonna be justified by keeping Torah? Zero. But if in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, and we are, is

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Christ then a servant of sin? Well certainly not, for if I reveal what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.

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For through the law, I died to the law so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer

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I who live, but Christ who lives in me, and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the

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Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then

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Christ died for no purpose. Right? So you'll note here, we are not required to keep these things.

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Paul then goes on, it gets a little stronger in chapter three. Oh foolish Galatians, foolish.

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Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.

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So let me ask you this. Did you receive the Spirit, you know, the Holy Spirit, by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?

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What's the answer to the question? By hearing with faith. Are you so foolish, having begun by the

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Spirit, are you now trying to be perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain?

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Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and work miracles among you do so by works of the law, by hearing with faith, just as Abraham believed

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God and it was counted to him as righteousness? No then, it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham, and the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the

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Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham saying, in you shall all the nations be blessed.

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So then those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. All who rely on works of the law are under a curse.

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Now notice, it doesn't say all who strive to obey and keep

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God's law are under a curse. There's a difference and you have to make the distinction. It's all who rely on them.

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Are you relying on your sanctification in order to be saved? Then if you're not, then you're only relying on Christ.

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As Dr. Rosenblatt would say, and he always would use these salacious illustrations, I love him for it.

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He says, if Christianity were a roulette wheel, salvation were a roulette wheel,

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I'm betting all the blue chips on Jesus knowing that on the last day, the ball's gonna fall on Jesus, okay?

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And he's not gonna hedge his bets and spread his chips around. All the blue chips, all the chips on Jesus, right?

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Okay, that's what we're talking about here. Now as Christians then, do we keep God's law? Yes, but we don't keep the ceremonial and civil laws, we keep his moral law.

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Do we keep it perfectly? No. Is there a day that goes by that you don't have to pray, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us?

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I haven't had a day go by where I haven't had to pray that yet. Usually I can go about four, no, maybe three, no, two, about a one and a half seconds without having to pray that, right?

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You kind of get the point. So all who rely on works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the things written in the book of the law.

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And you have to kind of grab the Greek here, this active infinitive to basically say, keep on, keeping on, keeping on doing them, okay?

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Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for the righteous shall live by faith. The law is not of faith, rather the one who does them and keeps on doing them shall live.

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But Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree, so that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the

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Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised spirit through faith, okay?

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That's the clearest text on this. And then Paul would go on and make the comparison between Hagar and Sarah, and talk about the two covenants and the distinction, and that those who believe in Christ are the sons of Abraham the same way

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Isaac was, because they are children of promise. Big distinction here. So then what are we to make of the ceremonial laws?

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What is their standing? What was their purpose? And thankfully we have a very clear text along these lines.

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So let me show you a section from Colossians chapter two, and I'm going to note then that all

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Christians are circumcised. I want you to kind of think this out with me, biblically.

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At least all baptized Christians are circumcised. So Paul in Colossians two says this, starting at verse nine.

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In him, the whole fullness of the deity dwells bodily, talking about Christ.

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And you have been filled in him who is the head of all rule and authority. And listen to these words.

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In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of flesh by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God.

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Now, wait a second. Wait a second here. Paul is saying that every one of us who are baptized, that that's the circumcision of Christ.

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That's the circumcision of note. In other words, the circumcision of the Old Testament always pointed to the reality that would be in the

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New Testament. And the substance is what? It's found in Christ. And so the circumcision of the Old Testament is a type and shadow pointing to baptism.

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That's correct. That's right. You might read your Bible, son. Baptism is not merely a symbol of an outward change that has occurred inside of your heart.

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Paul here says that baptism is the circumcision performed by Christ.

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That's the circumcision that needs to be, that's the circumcision of note. So listen to the words again. In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands.

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You're gonna note this applies then to boys and girls. By putting off the body of flesh by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God who raised him from the dead.

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And you who were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh,

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God has made you alive together with Christ having forgiven us all of our trespasses by canceling the record of death that stood against us with its legal demands.

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This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers, the authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him.

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Okay, good stuff. So we can sit there and go, oh wow, there's not even a record of debt that God's gonna see,

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Christ is gonna see on the day of judgment. And you'll note what happened to that record of debt, it has been set aside, it has been nailed to the cross.

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So it's not in your book. On the day of judgment when God opens the books, there's gonna be a whole section where the pages are ripped out.

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That whole section has been nailed to the cross. So when God looks at your book on the day of judgment, will he see even one sin that you've committed in this lifetime?

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Nope, all he's gonna see are all the good works that you've done. Wow, okay.

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How is that possible? Because Christ has died for the whole record of debt, all of your sins, beautiful, okay.

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So then watch what Paul then says to the church at Colossae, which is a Gentile church.

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Therefore, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food, drink, or with regard to a festival, or a new moon, or a

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Shabbat, a Sabbath, okay. Why would he have to say such things to Gentiles?

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Because of the Judaizers, who are gonna come along and say, you Gentiles need to be circumcised, you need to follow the

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Mosaic food laws, you need to observe the feast days. Because remember, it wasn't, at the council that met in Acts 15, it wasn't merely a question of circumcision.

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That was the one thing that was presented as the compliance to the whole of the keeping of the law of Moses, right.

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Therefore, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food, drink, with regard to a festival, a new moon, or a

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Sabbath. Watch what he says. These are a shadow of the things to come, the substance belongs to Christ.

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The reason why we are not required to keep the Passover is because the Passover was a type and shadow meal pointing to Christ's sacrifice.

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Behold, our Passover lamb has been slain. And how we are saved from the destroyer by the blood of Christ.

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That's what the whole Passover is about. And so, in the types and shadows, it prefigured

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Christ's death for us as our Passover lamb. And now that he's come and fulfilled that, we don't have to go back to the

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Passover. We're not required to keep it. Circumcision was a type and shadow pointing to baptism.

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Now that we have baptism, we're baptized into Christ's death and his resurrection, and our baptism is the circumcision performed by Christ upon us, we don't need the physical one anymore, okay.

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Now, if you want to have the physical one for health reasons, that's totally fine. But if you believe that unless somebody is circumcised, they can't be saved, well then, we've got a problem, okay.

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And if you don't want to eat bacon because you think that pigs are gross, go right ahead and don't eat bacon.

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I will pray for you, okay. But if you're gonna tell me because I'm a Christian, I'm not allowed to eat bacon,

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I say anathema, you know. Right, right, and what am

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I required to do then for those who say I can't eat bacon? We're having a big old bacon barbecue, and oh man, we're gonna have a big old feast day, right.

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With some shrimp and lobster. Yeah, we're just gonna go hog wild here, pun intended, yes.

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I will tell you, not only the ancient Judaizers, but the modern Judaizers do something very interesting with Paul.

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So in the ancient church, the Judaizing heresy lasted well into the second century, and they called

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Paul the man of lawlessness. I kid you not, okay.

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So all Judaizing sects have this wonderful thing that they do, they attack the

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Apostle Paul, and basically say he's not really somebody we can trust. So they're the ones that gave us feminism?

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Right, something like that, okay. So does that make him worse than Christ in their eyes?

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Well, it makes Paul like the Antichrist. Okay, because he's the man of lawlessness.

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Because he's saying we're not required to keep the Mosaic covenant ceremonial laws, but we're not.

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And I would note, read the entire book of Hebrews. The entire book of Hebrews takes great pains in showing how the temple worship of the old covenant is a type and shadow whose fulfillment comes in Christ, and his once for all sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins.

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He is our high priest, he is our sacrifice, and the temple itself all points to him.

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But I'll show you then how the Sabbath then plays into this, because the Sabbath is kind of a sneaky way that people try to introduce people into this idea of Torah observance.

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And so they'll say, it says in the scripture that the Sabbath is forever, olam, it's forever, ever, ever, ever.

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And they'll say things like this, but I would always point out that olam also means as long as the institution that was established to produce it is still in existence, okay?

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It's not in perpetuity forever and ever and ever and ever. I would note this, that did Abraham keep the

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Sabbath? No, Isaac didn't keep the Sabbath. And it was only revealed later, okay, much later, regarding the requirement to keep the

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Sabbath. And here's the reason why. When we talk about covenants, every covenant has a sign. So the

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Noahic covenant, the sign of the Noahic covenant is the rainbow. The sign of the Abrahamic covenant is circumcision.

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The sign of the Mosaic covenant is the Sabbath, okay? And so the

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Mosaic covenant was never given to be permanent. It was always considered to be like a temporary thing until the

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Messiah would come. Read the rest of Galatians, it bears that out. But when we talk about the Sabbath, there's an article

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I wrote and put on my blog years ago this is back in 2014. Holy smokes, we're coming up on the 10 year anniversary of me writing this.

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This was in anticipation of my debate with Jim Staley. So people today who say that we have to be

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Torah observant, they'll say that means we're required to worship on Saturday. Okay, this is what they claim, okay?

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I would note that anybody who claims that they're Torah observant and that they're keeping the Sabbath, they're lying.

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Because they do not understand what is required in order to keep the Sabbath. So you can find this on my

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Fighting for the Faith website in my captain's log. If you just type in Sabbath, you'll see it there.

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So here's what I wrote 10 years ago. The Torah and the Torah only defines what it means to keep or to break the

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Sabbath. So here's what it teaches. The Sabbath must be observed from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday.

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From evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath. And you're gonna note here, I would argue that Galatians is very clear that the

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Mosaic Covenant was always designed to be temporary. It was never designed to be eternal. It was always to be in place until Christ showed up.

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That being the case, let me ask you, if you wanna be Torah observant and you live in Anchorage, Alaska, or you live in the northern climes up there, what happens when the sun sets on a

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Friday and doesn't come back until three months later? Yeah, okay.

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And I would note here, you are not allowed to light a fire on the Sabbath. Sorry, freeze to death.

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Yeah, so does God require you to freeze to death because you can't ignite your furnace, okay?

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So Leviticus 23 says this. From evening to evening shall you keep your

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Sabbath. No work can be done on the Sabbath. It is wholly a day of rest.

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Six days shall work be done, but the seventh is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to Yahweh, Exodus 31.

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Now, if you turn your furnace on during the winter on the Sabbath, you are a Sabbath breaker. You shall kindle no fire in all of your dwelling places on the

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Sabbath day. And I would note, this is a problem for people who are Orthodox Jews to this day, because if they forget to turn their furnace on, they have to ask a

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Gentile kid or a Gentile neighbor to come and turn their furnace on for them, okay?

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Well, he's going to hell anyway, so he can turn my furnace on, okay? And many modern day furnaces and stoves have a

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Sabbath day setting on them, okay? But those things have to be checked to make sure that they're in line with the latitude and longitude that you're living at, and when daylight savings time begins and stuff like that, those have to be maintained properly, because if you get off even by an hour, you're in trouble, okay?

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So you shall kindle no fire in all of your dwelling places on the Sabbath day. If you bake or boil food on the

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Sabbath, you are a Sabbath breaker. Exodus 16 says this. On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each, and when all the leading congregation came and told

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Moses, he said to them, this is what Yahweh has commanded. Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy

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Sabbath, to Yahweh, bake what you will bake, boil what you will boil, all that is left over lay aside to be kept until the morning, okay?

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You are not allowed to cook on the Sabbath. If you travel far from your home, you are a

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Sabbath breaker. And a Sabbath day's journey is a short journey.

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Believe me when I tell you, short. So if you're driving down the freeway on a Saturday, you know, you're heading off to Dodger Stadium, and you're gonna catch a ball game on your day of rest, and it's more than a mile, you're a

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Sabbath breaker. You're not allowed to travel far from your home, okay? That's correct.

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They basically focus on, well, we need to worship on Saturday, but they ignore all the rest of the details, okay?

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There's more to it. If you don't keep the Sabbath unless you enforce the

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Sabbath with the death penalty. Don't tell me how serious you are about the Sabbath if you haven't stoned somebody to death in your congregation for breaking it, okay?

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Here's what the text says, okay? Exodus 31, 15, whoever does any work on the

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Sabbath shall be put to death, okay? That sounds pretty serious, okay?

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And then note, this is enforced in the scripture. Numbers 15, 32 to 35, while the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the

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Sabbath day, and those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron to all the congregation. They put him in custody because it had not been made clear what should be done to him, and so Yahweh said to Moses, the man shall be put to death.

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All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp. The guy was put to death for gathering sticks on a

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Saturday, so don't tell me you're serious about Sabbath keeping if you're not gonna take it to its biblical conclusions and enforce all of it.

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Oh, and there's one other thing. You do not keep the Sabbath unless your priest sacrifices two lambs every

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Sabbath. Here's what it says in Numbers 28. On the Sabbath day, two male lambs a year old without blemish and two tenths of an ephah, fine flour for a grain offering mixed with oil and its drink offering.

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This is the burnt offering of every Sabbath besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.

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So here's my question. Based on how the Torah defines what it means to keep the Sabbath, who can say that they're a

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Sabbath keeper? Is there anyone on planet Earth today that is? Not one person, not one person, but what did

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Paul say? Don't let anyone pass judgment on you in questions of food, drink with regard to a festival or a new moon or a

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Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come. The substance belongs to Christ.

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So then that being the case, what is the type and shadow of the Sabbath pointing to? It's pointing to Christ, but in what sense?

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It's actually spelled out for us very clearly in Hebrews four. Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest,

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God's rest, still stands, let us fear any of you should seem to have failed to reach it, for good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard, it didn't benefit them because they were not united by faith with those who listened.

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For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, as I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest.

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Although his works were finished from the foundation of the world, for he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way.

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And God rested on the seventh day from all of his works. And again, in this passage, he said, they shall not enter my rest.

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Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience.

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Again, he appoints a certain day, and that's today. Saying through David, so long afterward in the words already quoted, today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.

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For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on.

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So then there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works, as God did from his.

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Let us therefore strive to enter that rest so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

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For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two -edged sword, piercing to the vision of soul and spirit of joints and marrow, discerning the thoughts and the intentions of the heart.

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And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him whom we must give an account.

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So what does the inspired author of Hebrews tell us that the Sabbath is pointing to?

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Answer, salvation by grace through faith apart from works.

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That's what the Sabbath was always pointing to. It finds its terminus in Christ, and we who believe and trust in Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, we have entered into God's rest, into the eternal

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Sabbath. And so you'll note, two very notable parts of the

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Mosaic Covenant. The Sabbath and circumcision, both are directly attacked by New Testament theology and shown that people who claim that they are

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Sabbath keepers or circumcision is required, both of them are repudiated by the

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New Testament. And the whole endeavor of the Mosaic Covenant feast laws are shown to be types and shadows that find their fulfillment in Christ.

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And Paul tells the Gentiles in Colossae, don't let anyone pass any judgment on you regarding these things, right?