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Why Christians
do not keep the commandments?
History:
First to look at this subject we will start in the scripture
to see what was taught to the Jews and Gentiles about the Law of God or the
Law that God gave to the Jews. Then we will move on to the early history of
the church.
Important as we go forward: The Bible (Word) was from God (inspired), given to the Jews,
written to the Jews about the coming King of the Jews. Why? God has set up
the Kingdom for men to be ruled by Yeshua (Jesus Christ) and His law is for
every man to live and follow. Why? Breaking the law results in sin. Every
kingdom, organization, business must have laws/rules/guidelines, as they
are required to establish order. We are not to be a lawless people under
God’s dominion. Lastly, we will be judged based on the commandments of God
at the judgment seat of Christ. God
is not about double standards and will not have one law (measure) for Jews
and another law for the gentiles to be judged by.
(1John 3:4 [KJV])
Whosoever (everyman) committeth
sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the
transgression of the law.
What did Yeshua say about the law/commandments or prophets:
(Matt 5:18-19 [KJV])
18 For
verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle
shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
19 Whosoever
therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men
so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever
shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the
kingdom of heaven.
What did Paul, the apostle say to us (Gentiles):
(Rom 3:31 [KJV])
Do we
then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
Establish
in the Greek also means to continue (not start but continue with what you
are already doing).
What must we do to be saved (keep law and believe/trust
Yeshua):
(Matt 19:16 [KJV])
And,
behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I
do, that I may have eternal life?
If
you follow the scripture on from verse 16 you will understand what the
young man understood; he needed to keep ALL the law (he was a Jew, so all
meant all the commandments from God). Christ then finished by saying, He
must be believed in and put first as Lord (the young man was told to sell
all that he had).
What identifies
the saints in heaven (keep law and believe/trust in Yeshua):
(Rev 14:12 [KJV])
Here is the patience of the
saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the
faith of Jesus.
Patience
was also translated in the Greek: KJV: enduring, patience, patient
continuance.
NOW WHAT
IDENTIFIES CHRISTIANS THAT ARE REJECTED OR CAST AWAY BY YESHUA?
(Matt 7:23 [KJV])
And then
will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work
iniquity.
The
above are people that are very involved in the church and calling upon the
Lord. Yeshua tells them that He never knew them. Why? They work iniquity.
Iniquity is the breaking or transgressing the law of God. Many “believers”
today do not teach or do the commandments/law of God. They are not or want
to be obedient to what Yeshua commanded.
Greek
meaning of Iniquity: KJV: iniquity, X transgress(-ion of) the law,
unrighteousness
Conclusion:
So in scripture we are told to
keep the commandments and teach them by Yeshua, Paul too tells us to
continue in them, the young man was told to keep the commandments and
believe in Yeshua and lastly the patience of the saints in the book of Revelation
is to keep the commandments and have their faith in Yeshua (Jesus). However,
them that transgress the law or not keep the commandments (work iniquity)
will be told to depart from Yeshua.
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Let us now look at the earliest believers in the New Testament (New
Covenant)
The disciples kept the sabbath after Yeshua’s day of death:
(Luke 23:56 [KJV])
And they returned, and prepared
spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the
commandment.
The disciple did not eat unclean meats (not called food as
you would not find -eg:ham- in an orthodox Jewish supermarket)
(Acts 10:12-14 [KJV])
Wherein were all manner of four
footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls
of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him,
Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. 14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have
never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.
If
you read on you will notice that our Lord was not telling Peter to eat
unclean meats (again, not called food), but rather it was a message to
embrace the gentiles that converted to following Yeshua. So Peter never did
eat unclean meats according to the law.
The Apostles/disciples kept the feast days:
(Acts 18:21 [KJV])
But bade them farewell, saying, I
must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will
return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus.
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Now let us look at history after the New Testament and go into the
early history of the church.
Apostolic Christians, such as
Polycarp and Polycrates who had been taught
directly by the apostles, still observed the feasts, refusing to
accept the counterfeit pagan celebrations (Easter, Christmas etc).
“The great question of dispute
between the churches of Asia Minor and the rest of Christendom was whether
the paschal communion should be celebrated on the fourteenth of Nisan [on
the Biblical calendar], or on the Sunday of the resurrection festival,
without regard to Jewish chronology [time-keeping]. The Christians of Asian
Minor, appealing to the example of the apostles, John and Phillip, and to
the uniform practice of the Church, celebrated the Christian passover always on the fourteenth of Nisan, whatever
day of the [pagan Julian] week that might be. . . . The Roman Church, on
the other hand, followed by all the rest of Christendom, celebrated the
death of Christ always on Friday, and his resurrection on the Sunday
following the first full moon after the vernal equinox”. (Christian
Classics Ethereal Library, footnote #1687 to Eusebius, Church History, Ch.
XXIII.)
The
above is just one example on the feast days from the history books as we at
TTGM would want you to be encouraged to study and know for yourself. Why?
With your eternal salvation trust no one (not even us), as you stand before
the King of kings, it would be you alone on that day to answer for your
life on what you believed and what you did.
On the Sabbath day.
Constantine
created the earliest Sunday law known to history in AD 321. It says this:
“On the venerable Day of the sun
let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all
workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in
agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits: because it
often happens that another Day is not so suitable for grain sowing or for
vine planting: lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the
bounty of heaven should be lost”.
Chamber’s
Encyclopedia says this:
Unquestionably the first law,
either ecclesiastical or civil, by which the Sabbatical observance of that
Day is known to have been ordained, is the edict of Constantine, 321 A.D.iii
Following
this initial legislation, both emperors and Popes in succeeding centuries
added other laws to strengthen Sunday observance. What began as a pagan
ordinance ended as a Christian regulation. Close
on the heels of the Edict of Constantine followed the Catholic Church
Council of Laodicea (circa 364 AD):
“Christians shall not Judaize and
be idle on Saturday (Sabbath), but shall work on that Day: but the Lord’s
Day, they shall especially honour; and as being Christians, shall, if
possible, do no work on that day. If however, they are found Judaizing,
they shall be shut out from Christ”.
Taken from (Sabbath)
After the two edicts were passed, to this day most
Christians no longer observe the Sabbath as instructed by God in His word.
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TTGM Comments:
God gave commandments and over
time men abolished God’s law based on his own fleshly needs. God is Spirit
and He must be followed in the Spirit of His Word/Commandments.
If we are to worship God, we as
believers must do it in Spirit and in Truth.
(John 4:23-24 [KJV])
But the hour cometh,
and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in
spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such
to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship
him in spirit and in truth.
The nature of satanic forces is to
drive man away from our loving God by changing times and laws as prophesied
here.
(Dan 7:25 [KJV])
And he shall speak great words
against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and
think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand
until a time and times and the dividing of time.
More
history on the way soon..
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