| Author | Message | ||
| Taylor |
Martin is not a fraud. He is one of the few people with enough conviction and ethics to post his phone number. If he is blocking your e-mail, I suggest you post your e-mail here so we can critique it for you. I would guess it was offensive or otherwise outside the bounds of Christ. Martin is a child of God and acts accordingly. | ||
| Steve |
Hi Taylor, I have tended to trust "Martin's" over the years. Of course, I could point to Martin Luther, the great reformer. Then there's Walter Martin, the wonderful, and very honest man, whose teaching kept me from many errors (except SDA). And now we have Mark Martin, one who has apparently been delivered to Jesus Christ from grave error. The very little I know of Mark Martin would make me hesitant to label him a fraud, as our friend Ken has so willingly done. Ken, some of us have come to the conclusions we have come to after MANY YEARS of study, prayer, and fellowship. Mark Martin also came to his conclusions after many years. For you to make one single statement on this discussion board that he is a "fraud" makes me wonder. What evidence do you have that he's fraudulent? Does he teach people to love an organization, or an organization's understanding of scripture over the scripture, and the Lord of the scripture Himself? I have read many things on this, and other, Internet sites. Those who are trying to lead you to Jesus Christ are not frauds. Those who are trying to lead us AWAY from Jesus Christ, to a Day can be nothing but frauds, in the most severe and hellish sense. Continuing in Him, who is my Day, Steve | ||
| jtree |
Hi Ken Ken>Mark Martin is a fraud! I e-mailed some questions about life after death then he responded then I responded back to him then he blocked me from sending any more e-mails to him. I guess he coulden't stand the heat! I said try to listen to his tapes, not email him some false doctrinal issues. He's not a fraud. He's a very sincere 4th generation formerly Adventist. His wife as well. as I merely suggested, take an open mind, an open realaudio and LISTEN for 0nce, what he has to say. Then you be your OWN JUDGE to these matters that have been presented to you. I'd pray and have God help you have an open mind, an open heart, faith comes by hearing, and hearing the WORD OF GOD! Christ is the rock not you Who said I was the rock? I said come stand on the ROCK with me TOGETHER WITH HIM (CHRIST). Ken | ||
| Jude the Obscure |
Jtree, I want to thank you for that wonderfully revealing post beginning ... "Are you saying the Sabbath was instituted in the Garden of Eden? The Sabbath Was Instituted at Sinai!" I got some great new insights into what the New Testament is saying about the "non-optional Sabbath." I was especially impressed with your interpretation of 2 Corinthians 3 and Romans 7:1-6. Excellent work! Also, the pointing out where Nine of the Ten Commandments occur in various places in the New Testament, but never the Fourth. Again, excellent! Just so you know your work is much appreciated, Jude | ||
| Jude the Obscure |
Ken, I'm importing a post from another Discussion for you to see here. I do believe you have some honest and sincere doubts about the "gospel plus nothing" doctrine of this website, and so I'm hoping that this will help to resolve them. In Christ alone, Jude ############# BEGIN IMPORT ############# Can God sin? If not, then how could Jesus have broken the Law? Yesterday morning I awoke with ìKing Modest and the Armorî on my mind and sketched the outlines of the story as quickly as I could. This morning I woke up with the following thoughts ñ having very much to do with ìKing Modest and the Armorî -- on my mind: With zero scriptural support, SDA prophet, Sr. Ellen G. White, says in many places, especially in Desire of Ages, that Jesus Christ could have sinned while on earth. She was wrong. For Jesus Christ is 100% God (as well as 100% human), and ìGod cannot be tempted by evil.î James 1:13 NIV. Therefore, Jesus Christ COULD NOT have sinned while physically on earth. And if that is so, then when we say ñ as I have done many times on this website ñ ìJesus Christ broke the Law (several Sabbath Commandments, for example),î we have to mean that he broke the Law WITHOUT SINNING. And this is exactly what I believe. In breaking the Law without sinning, Jesus re-defined the Law as himself (words and actions) and thus abolished the Law in his flesh, nailed it to the cross, and in an utterly absolute way made the Law of Moses forever obsolete for those who are under grace. Just as King Modest did with the Armor in the allegory. And in the process of redefining and obsoleting the Law, he FULFILLED the law and fulfilled it PERFECTLY. Again, just as King Modest did. How did Jesus break the law? A few examples: (1) He left his place on the Sabbath -- breaking the law stated in Exodus 16:29 NIV, which says, ìEveryone is to stay where he is on the seventh day; no one is to go outî ñ when ìon the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom.î Luke 4:16 NIV. Notice this custom of breaking the Law of Moses has nothing whatever to do with healing or ìpracticing medicineî or nursing on the Sabbath! Nor did it have anything to do ñ as SDAs wrongly insist -- with correcting the FALSE INTERPRETATIONS of the Jewish rabbis, scribes and Pharisees, for IT WAS THEIR CUSTOM ALSO to go into the synagogue on the Sabbath day! BOTH Jesus AND the Jews were breaking the Law of Moses as clearly and unavoidably stated in Exodus 16:29. There are several other cases in which Jesus either broke the Sabbath Law (Fourth Commandment) himself or allowed his disciples to break it or commanded someone else to break it. Examples: (2) Healing many times on the Sabbath when he could have waited ñ without harm to the patients -- till after sundown. (3) Allowing Peterís mother-in-law ìto wait onî people (Luke 4:39 NIV) on the Sabbath (Luke 4:31 NIV), a clear violation of the unambiguously written statement of Godís Fourth Commandment in Exodus 20. (4) Ordering a man to carry his mat on the Sabbath (Luke 5:9-11) in flagrant violation of Nehemiah 13:15-22. (5) Mixing a clay poultice on the Sabbath (John 9:6) in deliberate violation of the Fourth Commandment. Approving and arguing for his disciples (6) reaping and (7) thrashing wheat grain on the Sabbath (Luke 6:1-6) in a particularly striking example of clearly breaking the Fourth Commandment. And so, back to the riddle: How could Jesus FULFILL the Law perfectly while at the same time he was so clearly BREAKING it? My answer: Because he was not breaking the Law of Jesus as stated on the Mount of Blessings. He was only breaking the Law of Moses as stated on the Mount of Sinai (or Horeb). Question: How can one who IS the Law break it? Answer: He cannot, just as he could not sin! To say otherwise is to raise nonsense questions, such as, ìCan the Creator make a universe so vast that he himself cannot travel across it?î Conclusion: Just as the God-Man cannot sin, the God-Man cannot break his own law. He can, and did, break a temporary and imperfect STATEMENT of his own Law, such as the Law of Moses. He can, and did, ABOLISH IN HIS FLESH and NAIL TO THE CROSS the old-covenant (same as Old Testament) Law of Moses. He can REDEFINE, RESEAT, RESTATE, REPLACE and RESHAPE his own statement of Law, as he did on Mt. Blessings. He can even reveal himself AS the Law. But he cannot BREAK his own Law. For that would be like breaking himself! Not long ago a friend of mine e-mailed her friend, a professed Christian who did not attend church, this terse message: ìGo to church!î Within seconds the reply came back: ìI AM church, so how can I go there?î Now, overlooking this young man's somewhat skewed ecclesiology, there is a lesson in that brief e-mail exchange. And it is this: My friends, Jesus IS the Law, so how can he break it? Do not ìkick against the goadsî (Acts 26:14 NIV). LET JESUS CHRIST BE GOD! Wishing you all the peace that passeth understanding, Jude | ||
| Jude the Obscure |
Friend Ken, Again I'm importing a post of mine from another Discussion, in the hope that it will make more clear to you what is missing in the SDA insistence that "the Law of Moses" = "the Law of God." It doesn't. Here's the truth: "The Law of Moses" = "Only one STATEMENT oft he Law of God." So read on down for an explanation of what I mean by that and how it relates to the Sabbath. Thanks for listening to me, Jude ############ ############ BEGIN IMPORT ############ ############ Jesus Christ is the only perfect, final and eternal statement of the law. He cannot break it because he cannot break himself. For this same reason he could not break it while he was physically on earth as Emanuel. But while he was here he was breaking a particular imperfect and temporary statement of the law. This statement is known as the Law of Moses, which he wrote with his own finger on stone tablets and gave to Moses on Mt. Sinai. These tablets contain the Ten Commandments, including the Fourth Commandment or seventh-day Sabbath commandment. He was breaking this imperfect and temporary statement of the law, the Law of Moses, even as he was fulfilling it. He was fulfilling it according to prophecy of the old covenant or Old Testament. But he was not breaking its perfect, final and eternal statement, which was and remains himself only. This statement constituted all of his earthly teachings and actions, including his life, death, resurrection and ascention. This new statement, which I call the Law of Jesus, included immeasurable improvements on the Ten Commandments, which Jesus Christ spoke with Godís own mouth, God's mouth, on Mt. Blessings. One of these improvements involved the omission of the Fourth Commandment, which he did not mention on Mt. Blessings. ########## ########## END IMPORT ########## ########## In his blessings alone, Jude | ||
| Jude the Obscure |
Taylor, I think your post is well thought-through, fair and honest. May we see more postings from you? In him, Jude | ||
| Bruce H |
Here is somthing neat. The Hebrew alphabet can also be used as numerics. Guess what, if you add up the word Law or Torah in Hebrew this is what you get. The word Law in Hebrew has 4 letters here is there numerical value. hay = 5 vawv = 8 tawv = 400 raysh = 200 Now if you add up these together you get 10. No just kidding you get 613 the number of cammandments in the torah. Chech the SDA encyclopedia on the word law. Bruce Heinrich BH | ||
| Ken |
Hi All: Very Interesting. "Sunday is a catholic institution, and its claim and observance can be defended only on catholic principles...From beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first" Catholic Press, Sydney Australia, August 1900. Ken | ||
| Plain Patti |
Ken wrote, "Sunday is a catholic institution," I beg to differ. Sunday (the first day of the week) was created by God, just as all of the other days were. But we will let that one slide for now. "and its claim and observance can be defended only on catholic principles...From beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first" I am in total agreement. But I hear no one here claiming that Sunday was made holy. I hear no one claiming that Sunday is now the sabbath. That is an SDA myth. While there are a few, mostly cultic, sects in Christendom that demand the observance of Sunday as the sabbath--actually the Mormons are the only ones I can think of at present--Protestantism as a whole chooses to "regard every day the same" as Paul gave license in Romans 14. Going to church on a particular day is not tantamount to "keeping it holy." In fact, the very act of going to church is in violation of one of the OT restrictions that no one should leave his tent on the sabbath. So, please, if you want to build a good case for sabbatarianism, condemning the first day is a moot argument. Why would we who have left SDAism and all of its restrictions, including observance of the sabbath, replace it with yet another institution of burden? I have a couple more observations to make on your quotation: 1. Did you have to go all the way back to 1900 to find this statement? Surely you could have found something more contemporary. 2. Did it ever occur to you that SDAs only give validity to the claim of the RC to have changed "times and laws" by believing its false and arrogant claims? Read your Josephus and Eusebius. The early disciples were already meeting on the first day several hundred years before the Roman Church was in existence. Many, former Jews, observed the sabbath and celebrated the resurrection on the first day. The sabbath was a somber, restrictive day. The first day was a day of celebration. Eventually the sabbath was left behind for the simple reason that people prefer celebration to somber restriction. The claim that the Roman church changed the sabbath to Sunday is about as valid as their claim that Peter was the first pope. Do you buy into that Catholic delusion also? God bless you in your study! Grace and peace, Patti | ||
| jtree |
Sabbatarians can't get their story straight! Who changed the sabbath? Is it the pope, Constantine or some Christians in Rome? First they say the Pope changed the sabbath. Then, when that proves false, they claim Constantine changed it! Then when that is proven wrong they now say that "Christians in Rome" changed the sabbath to Sunday There is nothing here to say that Constantine changed anything. Constantine is making a civil decree that because Christians were already meeting on Sunday, as they were doing since the time of the Apostles, that Christians should not work on Sunday. Read it again! It is not a sin to work on any day of the week! It is a sin to forsake the assembling of the church! Heb 10:24-25 | ||
| Steve |
Plain Patti, RIGHT ON! All seven days were instituted by God Himself. We humans simply revolve around those days we like (TGIF, Sabbath, Sunday, Tuesday Afternoon, weekends, etc.). Keeping any day holy to God, is exactly that, keeping it holy to God. And the reverse is also true -- not keeping a day holy, is not keeping to TO GOD. God blesses us if we choose to keep a day, and God blesses us if we don't choose to keep a day. Many people live for the weekends. I've never known SDAs to have a problem with that, yet that's a very entrenched part of American culture. We've always harped about Sunday. People who only live for the weekends (as I admit I do sometimes) really are missing out on the blessings God has for us all week long. Ken, start looking to Jesus as the Author and Finisher of your faith. The Sabbath is neither Author, nor Finisher (nor anywhere in between). His temple is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. God Bless, Steve | ||
| Plain Patti |
Steve wrote: Ken, start looking to Jesus as the Author and Finisher of your faith. The Sabbath is neither Author, nor Finisher (nor anywhere in between). So very true. Sometimes I think that sabbatarian theology eclipses the Son. His temple is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Amen! Thank you, Steve. | ||
| Maryann |
Hi Guys, What do you think about changing the spelling from "holy" to "wholly"? If I keep every day "WHOLLY" to God, I think that clears up a lot of fog and smog in the air. My dictionary says that "wholly" means: to the whole amount or extent; entirely; totally; altogether. Therefore, if I give everyday wholly to the Lord, I've wrapped my every thought, deed and action around His will? (through the Holy Spirit, of course) What do you think? Maryann | ||
| Bill Twisse |
Let me introduce myself. I am a former SDA pastor, 3rd generation SDA, free since December of 1980. I am presently a Christian nonconformist; my secular occupation is software engineer. I have been observing these posts without comment for quite a while now. It isn't often that I want to say something, based on past experience with message boards. But I'll give it a try here at least this once. The subject under discussion is freedom from the law-covenant. I hope we can all agree on this issue. The Sabbath is finished, abolished, fulfilled in Christ (our true Sabbath rest), and not an issue for Christians who take seriously their liberty in Christ. The same is true of all the other legalisms (tithing, food and drink regulations, wearing jewelry, etc.) And there is no monstrosity in God's plan called the 'investigative judgment.' However, the tragedy with post-Adventism is that the pursuit of truth often stops at these points. But the Lord has revealed much more gospel light in the scriptures for our eternal benefit. In studying SDA history at Union College (under Jonathan Butler) and many other aspects of the history of Christian theology (at Andrews University & independently for over 20 years), I have discovered that much more is involved with the problems of SDA (& modern 'evangelical') theology than we have thought. The roots of SDA teaching came out of Methodism & the views of the heretical Irvingites. The 'investigative judgment' doctrine is merely a reconstruction of Irvingite heresy along different lines. The original version was a 'pre-tribulation' rapture of those who reached sinless perfection by the imitation of Christ, leaving behind others who still needed to become perfect by the suffering endured in the tribulation. I am simply stating that if we are really going to shed SDA theology, we need to look at the issue of Methodist (Wesleyan Arminian) teaching versus the gospel theology of the Reformation. Not merely freedom from the law-covenant. The teachings of many former SDA pastors (I am referring to those well-published) are extremely weak in this area. They are eloquent on the issue of freedom from law but emphasize that fulfillment of the New Covenant is 'conditional' upon faith. How contrary to the New Covenant gospel promise revealed in Jer.31 and Heb. 8! We will never make real progress in our understanding of the covenants until we see that all of them (except Sinai) are wholly promissory. No conditions. God will fulfill his word no matter what we think or do. That is the mystery of the gospel. Bill Twisse | ||
| Jude the Obscure |
A RIDDLE FOR KEN AND EVERYONE ELSE TOO If (1) Jesus is God (John 8:58), and (2) God cannot be tempted by evil (James 1:13), then, (3) Why does Scripture (Hebrews 4:15) call him ìone who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet without sin"? This question is important to me because I question whether Jesus could have sinned while on earth. Sr. Ellen G. White says in many places ñ most notably in Desire of Ages ñ that Jesus could have sinned. She says, further, that by following certain rules ñ prayer, Scripture study, fasting, etc. ñ he was able to resist temptation and prevent sinning. Her point, over and over, is that if we too follow the same rules we too might be able to resist temptation and prevent sinning. But to my knowledge she never followed up on the question: How do we know that Jesus could have sinned in the first instance? Is it anywhere in Scripture? If it is, I've been unable to find it. Some obvious speculations ñ familiar to thousands of SDA Sabbath-School-class goers ñ have been: If he had sinned then: 1. He would have failed and God would have had to destroy him just like any other sinner. 2. He would have had to go back to heaven, in order to come back down at some later time and try again. 3. God would have had to think up some other way to save us. 4. Satan would have been proved right and God would have had to turn his throne over to Satan. 5. God would have had to destroy both him and everyone else on the planet, never resurrect the dead, deal with Satan and his angels in some way, etc., etc., etc. 6. God would have had to destroy his Son, his Holy Spirit, Himself, all the angels and the entire universe and everything in it. And that would REALLY be the end. There can obviously be no end to such futile speculations. But the question remains, Could Jesus have sinned? Maybe the answer should remain a mystery among the many mysteries. Such as, How can Jesus be both 100% God and 100% human at the same time? Or how can there be three distinct divine Persons and still only one God? But maybe there is an answer. I have argued that whatever Jesus was doing on earth ñ acting or speaking ñ he was making new law. Examples: 1. He replaced the ìThou shalt not murderî law of the old covenant with an improved version that says, in effect, ìThou shalt not be angry against your fellow human being.î 2. He replaced the ìThou shalt not commit adulteryî law of the old covenant with an improved version that says, in effect, ìThou shalt not look upon a person of the opposite sex with lust in your heart.î 3. He broke the Sabbath (John 5:18) and by doing so abolished it (in his flesh when he nailed it to the cross). 4. He abolished the ìno porkî and all other ìunclean foodî laws (Mark 7:19). But in doing all of these things he did not sin. Rather, he only changed the law. For example, he exchanged the ìTen Commandmentî law written with his own finger on the Mount of Cursings (Horeb/Sinai) for the ìNew Commandmentî law spoken with his own mouth on the Mount of Blessings. If, as our friends the Seventh-day Adventists claim, ìsin is the transgression of the lawî (1 John 3:4 KJV), and if, by making new laws he transgressed the law, then wouldnít he, by definition, be ìtransgressing the lawî and thus sinning? Most of us know that a better translation of 1 John 3:4 is ìsin is lawlessnessî (NIV, RSV, NAS, NKJ, ASV, etc.) And I would think that by making new covenant law which replaced old covenant law, Jesus was not speaking and acting lawlessly: therefore he was not sinning. But as to whether he COULD HAVE sinned, Iím not sure yet. May I have your opinions? Could Jesus have sinned? 1. Yes. 2. No. 3. It is a mystery of God that has not been revealed to us. Nothing but blessings upon all your heads, Jude | ||
| Bruce H |
-----God will fulfill his word no matter what we think or do. That is the mystery of the gospel. Bill Twisse ------ You are dead right and he does this with the indwelling holy Spirit which has the power to transform our lives if we will let God do his will | ||
| Timo K. |
Bill, where can I read more about "Irvingite" heresy? I am interested in studying more about things that have influenced cultic doctrines like the IJ doctrine. Thank you for giving me a new thing to study. I am in the process of re-thinking my heritage. timo | ||
| Steve |
Bill Twisse, Thank you for your thoughtful post. Many of us, of course, are struggling with things we have been taught in the past, while at the same time, trying to come into a clearer picture of the great Reformation Faith. Tidbits, like the item you shared above, help. The newness for myself of the idea of the covenants, is mind-boggling. Having referred to myself in the past as an Arminian Christian I often wondered why many of my other Christian friends have had problems with that. Your info. helps shed some light on that issue for me. I hope, as you continue to visit this site, that you'll post again. Not everyone agrees on these items, (as Donald Gray Barnhouse once said, "If two men ar thinking exactly alike, one of them isn't thinking.") but the point of this site is to facilitate and encourage discussion of relevant issues to SDAs and former SDAs. It sounds as though you really have something to contribute. Looking forward to more thought-provoking items from you. In Christ, Steve | ||
| Bruce H |
Ken Here is the writings of Justin Martyer. He wrote this around 110 A.D or just 20 years after Saint John died and about 200 years before the CATHOLIC church even existed 372 CHAPTER 10 TRYPHO BLAMES THE CHRISTIANS FOR THIS ALONE THE NON-OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW And when they ceased, I again addressed them thus: 3Is there any other matter, my friends, in which we are blamed, than this,that we live not after the law, and are not circumcised in the flesh as your forefathers were, and do not observe sabbaths as you do? Are our lives and customs also slandered among you? And I ask this: have you also believed concerning us, that we eat men; and that after the feast, having extinguished the lights, we engage in promiscuous concubinage? Or do you condemn us in this alone, that we adhere to such tenets, and believe in an opinion, untrue, as you think?2 3This is what we are amazed at,2 said Trypho, 3but those things about which the multitude speak are not worthy of belief; for they are most repugnant to human nature. Moreover, I am aware that your precepts in the so-called Gospel are so wonderful and so great, that I suspect no one can keep them; for I have carefully read them. But this is what we are most at a loss about: that you, professing to be pious, and supposing yourselves better than others, are not in any particular separated from them, and do not alter your mode of living from the nations, in that you observe no festivals or sabbaths, and do not have the rite of circumcision; and further, resting your hopes on a man that was crucified, you yet expect to obtain some good thing from God, while you do not obey His commandments. Have you not read, that soul shall be cut off from his people who shall not have been circumcised on the eighth day? And this has been ordained for strangers and for slaves equally. But you, despising this covenant rashly, reject the consequent duties, and attempt to persuade yourselves that you know God, when, however, you perform none of those things which they do who fear God. If, therefore, you can defend yourself on these points, and make it manifest in what way you hope for anything whatsoever, even though you do not observe the law, this we would very gladly hear from you, and we shall make other similar investigations.2 373 CHAPTER 11 THE LAW ABROGATED; THE NEW TESTAMENT PROMISED AND GIVEN BY GOD 3There will be no other God, O Trypho, nor was there from eternity any other existing2 (I thus addressed him), 3but He who made and disposed all this universe. Nor do we think that there is one God for us, another for you, but that He alone is God who led your fathers out from Egypt with a strong hand and a high arm. Nor have we trusted in any other (for there is no other), but in Him in whom you also have trusted, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob. But we do not trust through Moses or through the law; for then we would do the same as yourselves. But now (for I have read that there shall be a final law, and a covenant, the chiefest of all, which it is now incumbent on all men to observe, as many as are seeking after the inheritance of God. For the law promulgated on Horeb is now old, and belongs to yourselves alone; but this is for all universally. Now, law placed against law has abrogated that which is before it, and a covenant which comes after in like manner has put an end to the previous one; and an eternal and final law namely, Christ has been given to us, and the covenant is trustworthy, after which there shall be no law, no commandment, no ordinance. Have you not read this which Isaiah says: ëHearken unto Me, hearken unto Me, my people; and, ye kings, give ear unto Me: for a law shall go forth from Me, and My judgment shall be for a light to the nations. My righteousness approaches swiftly, and My salvation shall go forth, and nations shall trust in Mine arm?1 And by Jeremiah, concerning this same new covenant, He thus speaks: ëBehold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand, to bring them out of the land of Egypt1). If, therefore, God proclaimed a new covenant which was to be instituted, and this for a light of the nations, we see and are persuaded that men approach God, leaving their idols and other unrighteousness, through the name of Him who was crucified, Jesus Christ, and abide by their confession even unto death, and maintain piety. Moreover, by the works and by the attendant miracles, it is possible for all to understand that He is the new 374 law, and the new covenant, and the expectation of those who out of every people wait for the good things of God. For the true spiritual Israel, and descendants of Judah, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham (who in uncircumcision was approved of and blessed by God on account of his faith, and called the father of many nations), are we who have been led to God through this crucified Christ, as shall be demonstrated while we proceed. CHAPTER 12 THE JEWS VIOLATE THE ETERNAL LAW, AND INTERPRET ILL THAT OF MOSES I also adduced another passage in which Isaiah exclaims: 3ëHear My words, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given Him for a witness to the people: nations which know not Thee shall call on Thee; peoples who know not Thee shall escape to Thee, because of thy God, the Holy One of Israel; for He has glorified Thee.1 This same law you have despised, and His new holy covenant you have slighted; and now you neither receive it, nor repent of your evil deeds. ëFor your ears are closed, your eyes are blinded, and the heart is hardened,1 Jeremiah has cried; yet not even then do you listen. The Lawgiver is present, yet you do not see Him; to the poor the Gospel is preached, the blind see, yet you do not understand. You have now need of a second circumcision, though you glory greatly in the flesh. The new law requires you to keep perpetual sabbath, and you, because you are idle for one day, suppose you are pious, not discerning why this has been commanded you: and if you eat unleavened bread, you say the will of God has been fulfilled. The Lord our God does not take pleasure in such observances: if there is any perjured person or a thief among you, let him cease to be so; if any adulterer, let him repent; then he has kept the sweet and true sabbaths of God. If any one has impure hands, let him wash and be pure. 375 CHAPTER 13 ISAIAH TEACHES THAT SINS ARE FORGIVEN THROUGH CHRIST1S BLOOD 3For Isaiah did not send you to a bath, there to wash away murder and other sins, which not even all the water of the sea were sufficient to purge; but, as might have been expected, this was that saving bath of the olden time which followed those who repented, and who no longer were purified by the blood of goats and of sheep, or by the ashes of an heifer, or by the offerings of fine flour, but by faith through the blood of Christ, and through His death, who died for this very reason, as Isaiah himself said, when he spake thus: ëThe Lord shall make bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the nations and the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God. Depart ye, depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, and touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her, be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord, for ye go not with haste. For the Lord shall go before you; and the Lord, the God of Israel, shall gather you together. Behold, my servant shall deal prudently; and He shall be exalted, and be greatly glorified. As many were astonished at Thee, so Thy form and Thy glory shall be marred more than men. So shall many nations be astonished at Him, and the kings shall shut their mouths; for that which had not been told them concerning Him shall they see, and that which they had not heard shall they consider. Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? We have announced Him as a child before Him, as a root in a dry ground. He hath no form or comeliness, and when we saw Him He had no form or beauty; but His form is dishonored, and fails more than the sons of men. He is a man in affliction, and acquainted with bearing sickness, because His face has been turned away; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. He bears our sins, and is distressed for us; and we esteemed Him to be in toil and in affliction, and in evil treatment. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him. With His stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray. Every man has turned to his own way; and the Lord laid on Him our iniquities, and by reason of His oppression He opens not His mouth. He was brought as a sheep to the slaughter; and as a lamb before her shearer is 376 dumb, so He openeth not His mouth. In His humiliation His judgment was taken away. And who shall declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth. Because of the transgressions of my people He came unto death. And I will give the wicked for His grave, and the rich for His death, because He committed no iniquity, and deceit was not found in His mouth. And the Lord wills to purify Him from affliction. If he has been given for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived seed. And the Lord wills to take His soul away from trouble, to show Him light, and to form Him in understanding, to justify the righteous One who serves many well. And He shall bear our sins; therefore He shall inherit many, and shall divide the spoil of the strong, because His soul was delivered to death; and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bare the sins of many, and was delivered for their transgression. Sing, O barren, who bearest not; break forth and cry aloud, thou who dost not travail in pain: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife. For the Lord said, Enlarge the place of thy tent and of thy curtains; fix them, spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; stretch forth to thy right and thy left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and thou shalt make the desolate cities to be inherited. Fear not because thou art ashamed, neither be thou confounded because thou hast been reproached; for thou shalt forget everlasting shame, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood, because the Lord has made a name for Himself, and He who has redeemed thee shall be called through the whole earth the God of Israel. The Lord has called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, as a woman hated from her youth.1 CHAPTER 14 RIGHTEOUSNESS IS NOT PLACED IN JEWISH RITES, BUT IN THE CONVERSION OF THE HEART GIVEN IN BAPTISM BY CHRIST 3By reason, therefore, of this laver of repentance and knowledge of God, which has been ordained on account of the transgression of God1s people, as Isaiah cries, we have believed, and testify that that very baptism which he announced is alone able to purify those who have repented; and this is the water of life. But the cisterns which you have dug for yourselves are 377 broken and profitless to you. For what is the use of that baptism which cleanses the flesh and body alone? Baptize the soul from wrath and from covetousness, from envy, and from hatred; and, lo! the body is pure. For this is the symbolic significance of unleavened bread, that you do not commit the old deeds of wicked leaven. But you have understood all things in a carnal sense, and you suppose it to be piety if you do such things, while your souls are filled with deceit, and, in short, with every wickedness. Accordingly, also, after the seven days of eating unleavened bread, God commanded them to mingle new leaven, that is, the performance of other works, and not the imitation of the old and evil works. And because this is what this new Lawgiver demands of you, I shall again refer to the words which have been quoted by me, and to others also which have been passed over. They are related by Isaiah to the following effect: ëHearken to me, and your soul shall live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given Him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the nations. Nations which know not Thee shall call on Thee; and peoples who know not Thee shall escape unto Thee, because of Thy God, the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified Thee. Seek ye God; and when you find Him, call on Him, so long as He may be nigh you. Let the wicked forsake his ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will obtain mercy, because He will abundantly pardon your sins. For my thoughts are not as your thoughts, neither are my ways as your ways; but as far removed as the heavens are from the earth, so far is my way removed from your way, and your thoughts from my thoughts. For as the snow or the rain descends from heaven, and shall not return till it waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread for food, so shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return until it shall have accomplished all that I desired, and I shall make My commandments prosperous. For ye shall go out with joy, and be taught with gladness. For the mountains and the hills shall leap while they expect you, and all the trees of the fields shall applaud with their branches: and instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle. And the Lord shall be for a name, and for an everlasting sign, and He shall not fail!1 Of these and such like words written by the prophets, O Trypho,2 said I, 3some have reference to the first advent of Christ, in which He is preached 378 as inglorious, obscure, and of mortal appearance: but others had reference to His second advent, when He shall appear in glory and above the clouds; and your nation shall see and know Him whom they have pierced, as Hosea, one of the twelve prophets, and Daniel, foretold. Bruce Heinrich first part of three parts bh bh |
