Subject: Help! Unclean vs clean meat? |
Bible Note: Doc, A pleasure as always. I wish I had more time...so I will be late in responding fully. I did read the totality of the scriptures you listed. Prov. 30:6 I agree with whole heartedly and hope to always divine the Truth of God's Word. Just a note: I am not attempting to convince you, but your grasp of the Text and willingness to discuss provides a wonderful sharpening (as iron sharpens iron....) Plus, you come from the same doctrinal back ground as I in most respects. A few notes before I find the time to address your response in full: 1) I hold to the hermeneutic that later scripture can not contradict earlier scripture (of course, no Scripture can contradict any other). So if Paul is going to argue that the everlasting covenant that God made with Israel would be cancelled, he needs to go back to the books of Moses for proof. We see him doing this a lot to root his arguments in the Scriptures. 2) If God can break a covenant he made at Sinai, then what keeps him from breaking the covenant found in Jeremiah? Where lies assurance.... for every passage you can find that seems to write off Israel and the covenant, I could find 10 that say it's eternal and God would never break it. It is His faithfulness that leads us into right relationship with Him, not our own. 3) There are no covenants in the New Testament. The "New Covenant" spoken of is of course from Jer. 31 where God makes it clear he will never abandon his people Israel. It also makes it clear that the New Covenant is the commands (ie. the stipulations of the Old) written on the heart. I contend that Abraham, Moses, David, et. al. had the Law written on their hearts and were as much a part of the New Covenant as we are, only they came before the blood of that covenant was shed and we come after. 4) Our understanding of what a covenant is may be somewhat different. I hold that a covenant agreement with the stipulations it contains is unalterable. Alter any part of it and you break the whole of it. James 2:10. It would seem superfluous for God to say that He Himself can not add or subtract to the covenant. After all, He is faithful and let everyone else be a liar. 5) It is my understanding that when, in Ex 24, the people said, “We will do everything you have said.” That was the agreement, ie. the Old agreement that they broke just a few days later with the golden calf. Deut 30 is our first picture of the New agreement where it says that “it is not too hard for you . . . it is in your heart and in your mind that you may do it.” In Romans 10, Paul uses this Text and inserts Jesus into it directly connecting Him to the covenant, yet through Jesus, the Law is written on our hearts and in our minds. In fact, in this, Jesus becomes our Law (or is our Law.) No I am wondering….so until later, God bless as always MJH |