For Clear Understanding (RE: The Fool Refuter)

 The format of this blog is a continual series. The New and Old Covenant post are an introduction to a series of post on false religions that use the Old Covenant to promote false teachings, power, and monetary gain. Also, I never once nor ever will claim to be a prophet! That is generally done by the founders of the religions I plan on talking about. I strive to get the most accurate information about a group, so as to not falsely accuse. However, I do this knowing that there will always be opposition, whether justifiable or unjustifiable and I plan to address as many issues as I can, so as I am clear.

  My intent of this blog is not to cause strife. There is no need for sarcastic antagonism. "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Ephesians 4:32  Also, there is no righteousness in calling others a fool, and I am concerned by this action. Jesus himself said, "... but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." Matthew 5:22  I don't wish this upon you at all, but rather the opposite, that you may be enlightened. I forgive you, and wish you nothing but great fellowship with God. I dedicate this blog to the glorifying of God and His Word, and that we may have a better understanding of His will without  unnecessary indignation. I by no means am stating to be "Holier than thou" for it is not glorifying to God to be boastful. I'm just passing on the message from the Holy Bible to others, that they may be aware of false teachings.

 I never stated damnation toward anyone and don't know where you get this accusation from. I stated exactly what the Bible said; don't follow the teachings of man but rather the teachings in God's Word, don't let people rule your life, and people should be convinced in there own mind. I just stated what the Bible said. There can be no hypocrisy in the Bible for it is absolute truth. The statements of damnation was something made up by you and I don't appreciate those words being put in my mouth. Let the record show that I did not make those statements. Please reference both of my blog post and anyone will see the fallacy of those claims.

  I did state what the Holy days and feast were for, and it is apparent that you did not read my post, but rather skimmed over it to pick it apart for a want of argument. You argued back to me some of the points of my own, as if to try to turn my own words against me, but on the contrary you defiled your own. This proves to show that things done with malice, never work out. I'm doing this for the glorification of Jesus and to show the full reason that He came. I want people to take this blog as a chance to learn and discuss the Bible and to show how religions use it, not to try to provoke each other to anger.

  The Old Covenant is also known as the Mosaic Covenant, Mosaic Law, or Sinaitic Covenant. The term "Old Covenant" is mistakenly believed to be the entire Old Testament, but rather, it refers to the specific Covenant for the Israelites in the first five books of the Old Testament ; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. As I stated before, the Ten Commandments in Exodus are the eternal law of God because they were written by His hand, not Moses', and later reinforced by Jesus in the New Testament. Christ was the fulfillment of the law of prophecy in the Old Testament. Again, He did not come to abolish the Ten Commandments but to fulfill the prophecies. 

  

  Should we follow the old laws? Think on these things; 

  "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator."  

Galatians 3:16-19 

  

  What is this passage saying? Well, it says that the promise of the law was not made to the descendants of Abraham, but rather to Christ, a descendant of Abraham, and Abraham himself. The Law was given to Moses 430 years after the Covenant, or promise between God and Abraham, was made. That's why the Law was given to Moses, because it was a promise. It asks the question, "Should we then serve the Law?" Then explains, it was added because of sin, until the Seed(Christ) came, to whom the promise was made. It says it was ordained by the angels and brought forth through a mediator (Moses). This verse is clearly stating the Mosaic Law was for the Israelites until Jesus came. This was not to take away the importance of the Old Law, but to set precedence for a better one.

  

  If we are to follow the Old Covenant, why would the entire letter to the Galatians be written to rebuke the Galatians for wanting to follow the Old Covenant? It was written because following the Old gives no glory to the New. Hebrews Chapter 8 talks about the New Covenant and says it's not like the old which was written down like a list of rules, but it is set in our hearts. Meaning, we are led by the Spirit in truth, not by the letter. Truth is placed in us. For instance, God can place a personal conviction in our heart. If we ignore this conviction, that is a sin. This is an example of how the New Covenant directs us in God's will far better that the written letter of the Old. It is a personal covenant. 

  Salvation, made possible by the New Covenant, is not done by works, but by faith. With faith comes good works not the other way around. The New Covenant is the Law of Faith not of works. Under this covenant, everyone outside of God's will is in sin. To be in God's will you must accept Jesus Christ as your saviour and follow His Word. You are not saved if you falter from this obligation. The New Covenant salvation is not a way to get closer to the law, but to get closer to God. It is not about being a perfect practitioner of the law, but rather being strong in your faith. With faith comes a personal relationship with God, which is the ultimate purpose. Abraham had great faith and because of that, he had a personal relationship with God. Without faith, we have nothing and are doomed.

   The Old Covenant is important because it is part of our history. The New Covenant needs the Old because it shows us why we needed the new. The whole story of the covenants is the greatest story, because it shows us God wants a relationship with us. Jesus was willing to die for a personal relationship with us. He doesn't want to just see one person once a year behind a veil. He want's to be with all of us, all of the time, and guide and direct us as we strive to be in His will. He rejoices to see our faith. I hope this is more clear.

The Glorious New Covenant

The Old Covenant was established to give direction and civility to the Israelites, but it was void of direct fellowship with God. Therefore, something needed to be done so fellowship with God could be shared with all mankind and not just the High Priest once a year behind the vail. The Bible says that not just man but all of creation was in torment until Jesus came.(Romans 8:22) Obviously, the New Covenant was needed greatly. The rules of bondage in the Old Covenant were created because of our sin,and left all of mankind unsatisfied and longing for more. Hebrews 7:8 says, "For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second" Under the Old Covenant we were under the bondage of death.(Romans 7:6) Truly, something had to be done and thank God it was. 

What changed with this New Covenant? Well, everything changed. We all know that animal sacrifice is no longer needed, because Jesus became our perfect sacrifice for all sin. However, that's not all he did. These other aspects of the New Covenant are rarely talked about, and shame on us for not sharing this message! The old law of works was ended by Jesus and the new law of righteousness by faith was established (Romans 10:4) 

Under the New Covenant, we no longer have to worry about clean or unclean, because it doesn't affect our spiritual relationship with God, as stated by Jesus himself. (Mark 7) Therefore, the laws of cleanliness are of no effect in the New Covenant. Under the New Covenant, there are no unclean foods, such as meats, as long as it's received with thanks toward God. (1 Timothy 4:4-5)

There is no requirement of us to follow Holy days or feasts in the New Covenant. We are told not to make rules about feast, Holy Days, and meats, because those rules are of the past. (Colossians 2:16-17) However, if we do observe a day, we are to be fully persuaded in our own mind whether we are going to observe it, or we are not going to observe it.Everyday is God's anyway. The key thing is that it be in your mind and not from the teachings of others, that you make your decision. (Romans 14:5-6)  So it doesn't matter what days you observe for God, just don't let people tell you what days to observe. Otherwise, if you start letting people put those rules over you, you'll creep back under the bondage of the Old Covenant.

The Old Covenant was under the blood of animals, but the New Covenant is under the blood of Jesus. Therefore it is an eternal covenant that is without fault. "In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." Hebrews 8:13  Unlike outward works of obedience, the New Covenant is inside us and we follow it with joy and freedom. If we don't follow the New Covenant we are doomed to a great punishment. (Hebrews 10:28-29) Therefore, we need to spread the news. We are cutting what Jesus did short if we don't share the glorious news of the New Covenant. We need to spread the news and revive the teachings of the New Covenant, so people don't get themselves stuck under the curse of the old. 

The Glorious New Covenant and the Burden of the Old (The Old Covenant, Part one)

 Introduction

  Many people have asked the question,"Why don't we still follow the laws of Moses?". Even I asked the question at one point in my life. I then quickly realized after just opening my eyes while studying the Bible, that the answer is everywhere and straight forward. Then I asked, "Why are there people still following these laws, since it's so clear they are void?". There are numerous people burdening themselves under these laws. I then found most religions based on following these laws have questionable intent. One of the largest and most influential of these religions is Armstrongism. However, there are multiple others that follow the Old Covenant. I will give the history and list of major fallacies in each of these religions, after giving reasons why not to follow the Old Covenant.

The Old Covenant

  The Old Covenant or Law of Moses were rules given to the Israelites by Moses in the Old Testament to help give order and guidelines to follow while in the wilderness and thereafter. Moses was given the authority by God to write these laws for the Israelites. These rules guaranteed the Israelites success because of it's strict rules on cleanliness, foods, and government. There were also ceremonial laws put in place to give the Israelites a feeling of unity with each other and with God, such as feasts' and holy days.
  These six hundred and thirteen Laws of Moses or the 613 Mitzvot did ensure the survival of the Israelites up until the birth of Jesus. However, they still were in bondage and even said to be under a curse because of these laws. (Gal 3:11-13, Gal 4:9-11) The problem was, the emphasis was put on following the rules and there was no spirituality to be found in them. Think about it, How many people start feeling patriotic after reading the law books? This was the same problem with the Old Covenant. It was a judicial standard void of forgiveness, comfort, and grace.
  Now of these laws Jesus stated the ones that were kept and ones that were changed. For example, the Ten Commandments written by God's hand which gave them more significance than the cleanliness and ceremonial laws that were written by Moses. Thus the reason why the Ten Commandments were reinstated in the New Covenant by Jesus.
  Are they useless? Well, many of the Laws of Moses have been use to create an international standard of law regarding nation's leaders, judges, and people. Furthermore, a standard for farming is also found in these laws, has proven to be a very productive method. Washing of hands, how to handle sickness and death, and other things can be taken from these laws to better are selves in life. However, Jesus himself stated that cleanliness is not Godliness, for that is a statement of the old law. (Mark 7).
  Was the Old Covenant necessary? Of course, the jews would have been lost without it, but one needs to realize that the New Covenant is a fulfillment of the Old. It replaces the burden with comfort, the rules with forgiveness, and the curse with grace.