I know that many who read here are KJV only readers. I read 3-4 different translations during my studies (all at the same time). Thus I am not a KJV only reader --ducking for cover-- the KJV is one of the translations I read and is always open during devotions.
I came across an article that explains good reasons why, many of which I agree with. Just the other side of the coin ;-)
Showing posts with label My Faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label My Faith. Show all posts
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
One last clarification
A comment was left that I need to address, just want to wrap up any loose ends.
Comment: I agree that we are to keep his commandments. I agree that they are His law today, yesterday and forever. I agree that His commandments were not given to us simply to show us that we can not keep them. I believe they serve a dual purpose. One: They are God's law and therefore are commands that are to be obeyed. Two: To show us our sinful nature in light of these commandments. However, saying that we can keep these implies that we can keep them perfectly, which is not true.
Reply: I personally believe that if you purpose to, you can keep the commandments in your outward actions. Where all people fail is keeping the commandments in their hearts. For example you can withstand from committing adultery in your outward actions, pretty simple...you just don't go there. But in the heart is where many people fail. That is where Jesus comes in. When we except His saving Grace, we are given a knew mind and spirit. One that will change our hearts, as we slowly and steadily seek The Fathers ways. We will never reach perfection here on this earth in our hearts and minds. But we can keep the outward desires of The Lords heart, those things He asks us to do.
Comment: For instance... A few years back DH and I came to the conclusion that the whole 'the Sabbath was fulfilled in Christ' saying did not mean that we are not to keep a Sabbath. Therefore we began to study up on it, read and pray about it and we now keep a Saturday Sabbath. We do, however, struggle to learn what it truly means to keep the sabbath. So are we keeping that commandment? We are striving to, but still struggle, therefore we do not keep it perfectly.
Reply: You say that you are struggling with keeping the Sabbath in a perfect way. Remember Jesus's yoke is lite. He never meant for it to be hard to do. Deuteronomy 5:14 says simply this, 1) do no work (except that which is necessary to live, like cooking, cleaning up your dishes after meals) 2) and where it pertains to you, have others do no work. If you purpose to do this you are keeping the Sabbath perfectly. There are many things that people do on the Sabbath as custom, to honor The Lord. These things can be what ever suits your family. Lighting candles, reading the Torah portions, saying blessings over each of your children, a certain dinner, or nothing at all ;-) We are supposed to live our lives everyday seeking The Lord, in prayer, reading the Bible. Sabbath is simply a rest!
Westerners have a tendency to compartmentalize their lives. This box is work, here is family, over here is school, here I put God, hobbies, etc, etc. We need to realize that every aspect and detail of our lives should be lived for the Glory and Praise of The Father. Sunday through Friday should be lived honoring God in all we do. Saturday we Honor God by obeying His command and simply resting.
Comment: I agree that we are to keep his commandments. I agree that they are His law today, yesterday and forever. I agree that His commandments were not given to us simply to show us that we can not keep them. I believe they serve a dual purpose. One: They are God's law and therefore are commands that are to be obeyed. Two: To show us our sinful nature in light of these commandments. However, saying that we can keep these implies that we can keep them perfectly, which is not true.
Reply: I personally believe that if you purpose to, you can keep the commandments in your outward actions. Where all people fail is keeping the commandments in their hearts. For example you can withstand from committing adultery in your outward actions, pretty simple...you just don't go there. But in the heart is where many people fail. That is where Jesus comes in. When we except His saving Grace, we are given a knew mind and spirit. One that will change our hearts, as we slowly and steadily seek The Fathers ways. We will never reach perfection here on this earth in our hearts and minds. But we can keep the outward desires of The Lords heart, those things He asks us to do.
Comment: For instance... A few years back DH and I came to the conclusion that the whole 'the Sabbath was fulfilled in Christ' saying did not mean that we are not to keep a Sabbath. Therefore we began to study up on it, read and pray about it and we now keep a Saturday Sabbath. We do, however, struggle to learn what it truly means to keep the sabbath. So are we keeping that commandment? We are striving to, but still struggle, therefore we do not keep it perfectly.
Reply: You say that you are struggling with keeping the Sabbath in a perfect way. Remember Jesus's yoke is lite. He never meant for it to be hard to do. Deuteronomy 5:14 says simply this, 1) do no work (except that which is necessary to live, like cooking, cleaning up your dishes after meals) 2) and where it pertains to you, have others do no work. If you purpose to do this you are keeping the Sabbath perfectly. There are many things that people do on the Sabbath as custom, to honor The Lord. These things can be what ever suits your family. Lighting candles, reading the Torah portions, saying blessings over each of your children, a certain dinner, or nothing at all ;-) We are supposed to live our lives everyday seeking The Lord, in prayer, reading the Bible. Sabbath is simply a rest!
Westerners have a tendency to compartmentalize their lives. This box is work, here is family, over here is school, here I put God, hobbies, etc, etc. We need to realize that every aspect and detail of our lives should be lived for the Glory and Praise of The Father. Sunday through Friday should be lived honoring God in all we do. Saturday we Honor God by obeying His command and simply resting.
Monday, May 21, 2007
An answer for a question
My answering of this question is not to convince others, for that is not my calling, and I believe that Christ Jesus, Yeshua Messiah is the only one who we should take our convincing from. Many, many folks do not see things the way I see them and we must all answer to the Great "I Am, that I Am"...when our time here is through.
Question: I was wondering how you can keep the ten commandments? If you could, what need would you of a savior? I certainly agree that we should be obedient to God's commands. However, saying that we can keep his commandments is saying that we are not sinners. Just wondering if I missed something in translation.
Answer (long):
When God revealed Himself to us, he did not give us a systematic theology, creeds, recipes or diagrams. He gave us a legal code. He gave us laws. Yet they were more than just laws intended to tidy up human society. They are actual pieces of godliness. Each commandment is a small revelation of God. More than just a rule for governing human behavior, the laws of Torah are a reflection of the Lawgiver.
Yeshua (Jesus) told us that "the mouth speaks out of it that which fills the heart." Mathew 12:34. When God broke the silence and spoke to His creation on Mt Sinai, the words He spoke were the fullness of His heart. Each law, each commandment no matter how small or seemingly irrelevant, is actually a piece of revelation from God, an overflowing of His heart.
Because Torah is both law and revelation, it functions in a dual capacity. On one hand, it is a rule of conduct by which we are held accountable, On the other hand it is the expression of God in human terms. Torah is more than just legal formulations; it is the revealed person of God dressed in laws and commandments. It is His spoken word written down, His self disclosure to the world.
When one realizes that Torah is Gods self-disclosure to the world, one must also recognize the enormous gravity of declaring parts of that same Torah null and void. Even the smallest commandment of the Torah is suffused with godliness. To declare any commandment as irrelevant or obsolete is to deny the eternal and unchanging nature of God.
As soon as we begin to discard commandments, we have begun editing God. We have started reshaping God into an image we deem more appropriate. The Torah is given to us as both law and revelation. As such, we live our lives according to its commandments, we are living out a revelation of godliness. Outside observers should be able to look at the Torah-observant life and discern in it several truths of godliness. Deuteronomy 4: 5-8 says that when Israel lives out the Torah the world will see God.
Unfortunately, neither Israel nor any other group of people has ever lived out Gods Torah in its fullness. Even when the people of Israel have been Torah observant on the whole, the hearts of men and woman are still errant and disobedient. There is considerable disparity between Gods law, our notions of natural law, and our behavior.The Torah is the substance of which our deficient Natural Law is only a shadow.There remains a great divorce between Gods Law and human beings.
This is why Messiah is necessary. In Messiah, the perfect revelation of godliness is fully realized. Living in complete accordance with Gods Law, Messiah is a tangibel and intimately knowable representation of the unknowable God. He is the Torah lived out.
One of the purposes of Messiahs redemption is to reconcile the human race to Gods Torah. The ultimate completion of His work will be when the natural law of human society is identical to the revealed law of Torah. A day is coming when the Torah will be written on the hearts of men and women in vivid detail. Jeremiah 31:33 says, "I will put my law within them and on their heart I will write it." This is the very promise of the new covenant.
D. Thomas lancaster
I was listening to a radio show a while back and the person speaking said "God gave us the ten commandments to prove to us that we can not keep them" As you may have determined from the passage above, I believe we should strive not only for just the ten commandments, but all of Gods instruction (Torah)
Let me ask you this, have/would you ever give your child a rule/instruction, just to show them that they could not uphold it? That is foolish in my eyes. Not only does it sound foolish to me it is not scriptural. Christ Himself says time and time again that those who love My Father will keep His commandments. That to me implies that we can.
Let me ask you something else. Can you go your whole life without telling a lie? Yes! I have told my boys that even unto death, you must tell the truth! Can you go your whole life with out steeling? Yes! Can you not commit adultery? Yes! These are things that are doable.
Lastly, I am a sinner. Daily I struggle with matters of the heart. Yet I know that through the Holy Spirit given by Yeshua (Salvation), that lives inside of me, can cover my sins, make me a new person, righteous and holy, white as snow. The old is gone and the new has come!
Question: I was wondering how you can keep the ten commandments? If you could, what need would you of a savior? I certainly agree that we should be obedient to God's commands. However, saying that we can keep his commandments is saying that we are not sinners. Just wondering if I missed something in translation.
Answer (long):
When God revealed Himself to us, he did not give us a systematic theology, creeds, recipes or diagrams. He gave us a legal code. He gave us laws. Yet they were more than just laws intended to tidy up human society. They are actual pieces of godliness. Each commandment is a small revelation of God. More than just a rule for governing human behavior, the laws of Torah are a reflection of the Lawgiver.
Yeshua (Jesus) told us that "the mouth speaks out of it that which fills the heart." Mathew 12:34. When God broke the silence and spoke to His creation on Mt Sinai, the words He spoke were the fullness of His heart. Each law, each commandment no matter how small or seemingly irrelevant, is actually a piece of revelation from God, an overflowing of His heart.
Because Torah is both law and revelation, it functions in a dual capacity. On one hand, it is a rule of conduct by which we are held accountable, On the other hand it is the expression of God in human terms. Torah is more than just legal formulations; it is the revealed person of God dressed in laws and commandments. It is His spoken word written down, His self disclosure to the world.
When one realizes that Torah is Gods self-disclosure to the world, one must also recognize the enormous gravity of declaring parts of that same Torah null and void. Even the smallest commandment of the Torah is suffused with godliness. To declare any commandment as irrelevant or obsolete is to deny the eternal and unchanging nature of God.
As soon as we begin to discard commandments, we have begun editing God. We have started reshaping God into an image we deem more appropriate. The Torah is given to us as both law and revelation. As such, we live our lives according to its commandments, we are living out a revelation of godliness. Outside observers should be able to look at the Torah-observant life and discern in it several truths of godliness. Deuteronomy 4: 5-8 says that when Israel lives out the Torah the world will see God.
Unfortunately, neither Israel nor any other group of people has ever lived out Gods Torah in its fullness. Even when the people of Israel have been Torah observant on the whole, the hearts of men and woman are still errant and disobedient. There is considerable disparity between Gods law, our notions of natural law, and our behavior.The Torah is the substance of which our deficient Natural Law is only a shadow.There remains a great divorce between Gods Law and human beings.
This is why Messiah is necessary. In Messiah, the perfect revelation of godliness is fully realized. Living in complete accordance with Gods Law, Messiah is a tangibel and intimately knowable representation of the unknowable God. He is the Torah lived out.
One of the purposes of Messiahs redemption is to reconcile the human race to Gods Torah. The ultimate completion of His work will be when the natural law of human society is identical to the revealed law of Torah. A day is coming when the Torah will be written on the hearts of men and women in vivid detail. Jeremiah 31:33 says, "I will put my law within them and on their heart I will write it." This is the very promise of the new covenant.
D. Thomas lancaster
I was listening to a radio show a while back and the person speaking said "God gave us the ten commandments to prove to us that we can not keep them" As you may have determined from the passage above, I believe we should strive not only for just the ten commandments, but all of Gods instruction (Torah)
Let me ask you this, have/would you ever give your child a rule/instruction, just to show them that they could not uphold it? That is foolish in my eyes. Not only does it sound foolish to me it is not scriptural. Christ Himself says time and time again that those who love My Father will keep His commandments. That to me implies that we can.
Let me ask you something else. Can you go your whole life without telling a lie? Yes! I have told my boys that even unto death, you must tell the truth! Can you go your whole life with out steeling? Yes! Can you not commit adultery? Yes! These are things that are doable.
Lastly, I am a sinner. Daily I struggle with matters of the heart. Yet I know that through the Holy Spirit given by Yeshua (Salvation), that lives inside of me, can cover my sins, make me a new person, righteous and holy, white as snow. The old is gone and the new has come!
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Overview of the Spring Holidays
Over the past few years I have been learning about our Hebrew heritage. It has been eye opening and has brought the wonders of our Creator into a whole new light for me. I want over these next few weeks as Passover draws near to share what I have learned and some of the things we will be doing as a family.
Three of the four spring holidays are celebrated within an eight-day period. The spring holidays of Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Ffruits are a portrait of the death and resurrection of Jesus. He sacrificed Himself on Passover, was buried on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and was resurrected on First Fruits.
Passover and the Feast of Unleavened bread are held in immediate sequence. The lamb was slain on the fourteenth and the Feast of Unleavened Bread began on the 15th day of the first month. And in the fourteenth day of the first month is Passover of the Lord. And in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten (Num 28:16-17) This passage might account for why Jesus began His Passover seder on the fourteenth. These are distinctly different holidays falling in different days: however, due to there closeness they are usually treated as one festival
These three spring festivals overlap or run into each other:
1) Passover (Pesach)
2) Unleavened Bread (Hag HaMatzah)
3) Day of First Fruits and Omer
....and fifty days later....
4) Feast of Weeks
As you study the Spring Festivals, you will see the plan of God fulfilled in such dramatic detail that you cannot help but be stricken by the awesomeness of our eternal king. The Spring Festivals clearly prophesy the first coming of Messiah and the fall festivals are prophetic of His second coming.
More to follow.........
Three of the four spring holidays are celebrated within an eight-day period. The spring holidays of Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Ffruits are a portrait of the death and resurrection of Jesus. He sacrificed Himself on Passover, was buried on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and was resurrected on First Fruits.
Passover and the Feast of Unleavened bread are held in immediate sequence. The lamb was slain on the fourteenth and the Feast of Unleavened Bread began on the 15th day of the first month. And in the fourteenth day of the first month is Passover of the Lord. And in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten (Num 28:16-17) This passage might account for why Jesus began His Passover seder on the fourteenth. These are distinctly different holidays falling in different days: however, due to there closeness they are usually treated as one festival
These three spring festivals overlap or run into each other:
1) Passover (Pesach)
2) Unleavened Bread (Hag HaMatzah)
3) Day of First Fruits and Omer
....and fifty days later....
4) Feast of Weeks
As you study the Spring Festivals, you will see the plan of God fulfilled in such dramatic detail that you cannot help but be stricken by the awesomeness of our eternal king. The Spring Festivals clearly prophesy the first coming of Messiah and the fall festivals are prophetic of His second coming.
More to follow.........
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