Subject: Help! Unclean vs clean meat? |
Bible Note: Dear MJH, Thank you for your response. Here is how I'd respond to your points: 1. All of Scripture is true. When God spoke in the Garden or at Sinai, when Christ spoke to His disciples or the multitudes, when the apostles instructed the church, all of these fully share the full authority of the Holy Spirit -- this is what is meant by the doctrine of verbal plenary inspiration. God will never contradict Himself. The Word is a progressive revelation. One of the basic doctrines of sola Scriptura involves the sufficiency of the Word. In each particular time period, humans have had all that they need for "saving knowledge, faith, and obedience." This does not mean that Abraham lacked the ability to satisfy the Holy Lord God because Leviticus 1 wasn't written, nor does it mean that I am obligated to offer a bull in order to satisfy the Holy Lord God. (Indeed, for me to attempt to satisfy Him by a sin offering would be a horrible offense!) Ephesians 1 tells us that God's eternal purpose is being fully fulfilled through time. 2. This is precisely the question that Paul addresses in Romans 9 through 11. The remnant of Israel have and do come to God through the only means He has provided: the Lord Jesus Christ. Those of His elect, who are Jews, will certainly come to faith in Jesus Christ, or they are not His elect. The Scriptures do not teach syncretism or pluralism. 3. Christ called it a New Covenant (Matthew 26:28; Luke 22:20). It is also called that in the epistles. Christians recognized this distinction with the Old Testament and New Testament nomenclature. Yes, I agree, all of the elect are saved in precisely the same way, no matter when they were born relative to calvary. 4. I use Wayne Grudem's definition of covenant: "An unchangeable, divinely imposed legal agreement between God and man that stipulates the conditions of their relationship." God adheres fully to the terms of His covenants. He is perfectly performing the terms of His covenants (see #2 above and Luke 1:68-72). God didn't reject the unbelieving Jews, son. They rejected Him (Luke 13:34-35). 5. I'd agree, in general, with what you're saying here. Sin is universal (Romans 1-3). There is absolutely no way that sinful men may stand before a holy God without His purposeful, active, directive work (John 14:6). The law serves the essential purpose of revealing God's holiness and our desperate need for a Savior. Through the perfect and complete work of God's election, Christ's atonement, and the Holy Spirit's regeneration, fallen men fully meet the demands of the law. By the way, none of this stuff are new discussions. Whew... it is all over the place! Moses talked about it (Deuteronomy 30), Jeremiah talked about it (Jeremiah 15; 33:25-26), Hosea talked about it (Hosea 1:9-11), Jesus talked about it (John 8:33ff), the apostles talked about it (Acts 15:5-33), Paul talked about it (Romans 9-11; Galatians; Hebrews)... and then another zillion people through Church History ever since. I guess it shouldn't be surprise that it still keeps being made an issue in various circles today. Nothing new under the sun. In Him, Doc PS Never apologize for doctrinal polemics. Let the man-pleasers do that. We aren't here to please one another. We have a God of truth who is deadly serious about sound doctrine. We have whole legions of voices assaulting us with lies, hearts that lead us astray, limited and sin tainted minds, a lifetime of misinformation, and a finite amount of time to spend on study. If you leave me in my error or ignorance, you are neither a friend or a brother. Love rejoices in the truth. We can't both be right, but we might both be wrong! Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will uncover the enslaving lie and brightly illumine us with the freeing truth. Feel free to send me an email if you suspect that our discussion may not be rightly understood publicly. We've a Christian responsibility to our readers too. |