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Trust in the Gospel.This is what I have been telling all along. If you are not sure of what the Apostles meant check with what Jesus Christ said. I know of many people who quote Paul and ignore what Jesus Christ said. Even in my previous cell group I had told them to go back to what Jesus Christ said and not what Paul or James or any of the apostles said. Double check with what Jesus Christ said. Unfortunately they would not listen and insisted on quoting Paul without the understanding. At that point the Lord told me, in his exact words, "Cut and get out" so I left the cell group. Trust in our Lord God. Set free of dietary lawsLet me first say that our Lord Jesus Christ set us free of the dietary laws of the Jews by saying in Matthew 15:11 'What goes into someone's mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them." Furthermore he says Mathew 15:16-20 "Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them. "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person's mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts-murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them."' In Acts 10: 15 'About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat." "Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean." The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."' This is very important because the Old Testament Laws stated that we could not consume blood. Leviticus 7:26-27 "And wherever you live, you must not eat the blood of any bird or animal. Anyone who eats blood must be cut off from their people.'" And the reason for this is in Leviticus 17:11 'For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life.' That is the reason we take the Blood of Jesus Christ - for the forgiveness of sins. Being allowed to eat anything is the most important law / instruction in the Bible. In the New Testament we are set free of these dietary laws so that we can take the Blood of Jesus Christ. The Jewish LawsYou will notice that I said "Jewish Laws" and not the Ten Commandments or the Law of the Lord God. If you look at the history of the Jewish Laws they 'improved' them over the years. One reference of the difference between the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud is https://en.m.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Jerusalem_Talmud. I have the sneaking suspicions that the Jewish Rabbis had lots of discussions and debates over the various laws and expanded them into new areas. Every little thing that the Jews did was based upon additional interpretations of the original Mosaic Laws given by the Lord God. From my personal experience I would think that all these laws would have made life difficult and miserable and full of negative consequences. My personal experience is being born into a Hindu family. Almost all of my relatives were full of ideas of what can be done and what cannot be done - like they were following some kind of law. They had followed the panchangam - a calendar of, in simple terms, good times and bad times, see https://en.wikipedia.org /wiki/ Panchangam. Just awful stuff. If they had to go to see a doctor they consulted the panchangam to see which day and at what time that was good to see the doctor. If you had a fever did it matter whether you saw the doctor during a good time or a bad time, right? The doctor has the medicine to cure you whatever time you meet him. If you just bought a new car you could not reverse it into your carpark, the first time you park the car, as probably everything in your life will go wrong after that. When Hinduism began there were no cars. Your job interview appointments had to follow the panchangam, so do the marriages and just about everything else. The priest were worse. They made everything look like a big problem as if your life is over and you had to do ceremony after ceremony to counteract those bad luck situations. They will tell you Monday you cannot do this, Tuesday you cannot do that, Wednesday you cannot do the other stuff, Thursday you cannot do another thing, Friday you cannot do another thing, Saturday you cannot do something else and on Sunday other things are prohibited. Everyday seemed to be bad for something. Life was a really misery living under such conditions. In the end I told them to go and die. If you have read 1 Samuel you will know that Eli's sons were very bad in ancient times. 1 Samuel 2:12-16 Eli's sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord. Now it was the practice of the priests that, whenever any of the people offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand while the meat was being boiled and would plunge the fork into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot. Whatever the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. But even before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the person who was sacrificing, "Give the priest some meat to roast; he won't accept boiled meat from you, but only raw. If the person said to him, "Let the fat be burned first, and then take whatever you want," the servant would answer, "No, hand it over now; if you don't, I'll take it by force."" 1 Samuel 2:22-25 'Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. So he said to them, "Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. No, my sons; the report I hear spreading among the Lord's people is not good. If one person sins against another, God may mediate for the offender; but if anyone sins against the Lord, who will intercede for them?" His sons, however, did not listen to their father's rebuke, for it was the Lord's will to put them to death.' What do you think the rabbi are doing now? Come on, look at some of the pastors of today. From personal experience they lie cheat, backstab worshippers, are greedy for money and have no godliness' in them. I wouldn't be surprised that the Old Testament priests became like this. Your life was in danger or bad things are to happen and you need to make sacrifice after sacrifice, right? They all want money, wealth and prosperity. The more complicated and convoluted the law became the more you had to consult with them. You will sin against the Lord if you do not follow their, the rabbi's not the Lord God's, enhanced and convoluted laws. It would have been a misery to live under those conditions - the misery was the "wrath" of God. Paul was a learned Rabbi that was probably why he knew how difficult the law had become. In 12:1-2 'At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."' Can you see how wicked the Pharisees had become? The Old Testament says you have to rest on the Sabbath so you cannot work on the Sabbath. The Jewish term for work has slightly different meaning in Hebrew and can mean work, labour, crafts, see https://en.m.wikipedia.org /wiki/ Activities_prohibited _on_Shabbat#. If you look at what the Pharisees said "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.". How can feeding yourself or your children or handicapped people or the sick be unlawful on the Sabbath? Your chicken, sheep, goats, cattle have to be set free to feed for themselves too, right? They cannot be set free on Sabbath because freeing them would be considered work? Pastor Jon Ngin mentioned that the lifts in New York go every floor by floor so that the Jews do not have to press the button. What type of law is this? See https://www.nytimes.com/ 2012/03/06/nyregion/ on-jewish-sabbath-elevators- that-do-all-the-work.html and https://www.theatlantic.com/ technology/archive/ 2014/06/ sabbath-elevator-object-lesson /372741/ The explanation the Jews give is that there may be an electric spark and the switch and everything in the room may catch on fire. Which means the Jewish fire brigade needs to work on the Sabbath. Can you imagine that? What happens when their door have electric locks then they cannot leave their homes on the Sabbath? Did Moses know about electricity to create such laws? How convoluted their laws have become. The Jewish laws have become nonsensical. This is probably the reason Paul said "because the law brings wrath" because as a learned rabbi he thought the convoluted Jewish laws would bring the wrath of God if not obeyed. It is not the Law that brings wrath but the Pharisees who misguided everyone into thinking that disobeying their convoluted law of the Rabbi's brought about God's wrath. Jesus corrected that in Matthew 12:3-6 'He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread-which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven't you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.' God's Law is righteous. That is why we follow Jesus Christ. The subsequent laws of the rabbis is a misery to live under which Paul experienced and will not bring God's wrath. Remember what the voice said to Peter when he saw the animals he could eat. 'The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."' For heaven's sake stop misunderstanding the Lord God. His Laws are for our benefit as obeying them brings blessings and is a reflection of our faith. - Dr. Peter Achutha, 9th December 2019 Please do show me your appreciation of this article by Buying me a coffee. And do get the "I Won" t-shirt
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