From the Comments: The Connection of the Church with Israel, Part 10 (The Moral Law Within, Part 2)

graftedolivetreeJeremiah explains that God will make a new covenant with this people.

(Jer 31:31-34 ESV) 31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD.33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

This new covenant includes as an essential element God writing his law on the hearts of his people — fulfilling the promise of Deut 30:6.

The “new covenant” is, of course, what we call Christianity. It’s the new relationship with God made available through Jesus. (And when we ignore the role of the Spirit, we ignore large pieces of the Old Testament’s prophecies about the Kingdom — revealing ourselves to be oblivious to God’s plans for us.)

(2Co 3:5-6 ESV) 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God,  6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

The new covenant is “of the Spirit,” which gives life (as promised by Deut 30:6). Of course, the reference to “new covenant” also refers to the forgiveness of sins promised by Jeremiah in chapter 31. Paul pulls the passages together, declaring that this new relationship with the Spirit supersedes “the letter” –

(2Co 3:16-18 ESV) 16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

– resulting in “freedom” as we’re transformed more and more into the image of Jesus. Hence, a circumcised heart, which allows us to love God with all our hearts, also transforms us into the image of Jesus.

In other words, the “law” written on our hearts is Jesus, the very image of God. When we become more like Jesus, we become more like God — and therefore live more in accordance with his will — that is, his law.

(Eze 36:26-27 ESV) 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

While Jeremiah was prophesying in Judea, Ezekiel had been taken captive in Babylon, where he prophesied for the benefit of the Jewish captives there. This promise was fulfilled, of course, at Pentecost … and every time someone is baptized into Jesus.

God poured out his Spirit at Pentecost and promised the same Spirit to all who repent and are baptized in the name of Jesus. The indwelling Spirit then begins the transformative work described in 2 Cor 3.

What does this Spirit do? The Spirit will ”cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules,” that is, to no longer be stubborn and to instead live. In short, the Spirit produces not perfection or sinlessness but submissive, penitent hearts that love with something approaching the intensity of God’s own love –

(Rom 5:5 ESV) 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

(Isa 44:3 ESV) 3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.

When did God pour his Spirit on the descendants of Israel? At Pentecost –

(Act 2:33 ESV)  33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

The Jews were a desert people. After a drought, the land would be barren and ugly, virtually dead for all purposes. But after a rain, the land would immediately blossom. Leaves would turn green and long-dormant plants would blossom literally overnight.

Just so, the Spirit takes virtually dead people and brings them alive, causing them to blossom as their true natures are revealed and as they grow into the image of Jesus.

(Eze 37:1-14 NIV) The hand of the LORD was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign LORD, you alone know.”

4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD. ‘”

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’”

10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet–a vast army.

11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.‘”

We are all transformed from dead to alive when we are converted. We don’t just pass into the grave with Jesus but we also leave our own graves, being transformed from walking corpses to living embodiments of the Spirit. Our bodies may die, temporarily, but we will live forever.

(Jer 24:7 ESV) 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.

In other words, we will enjoy a new relationship with God in which we are submissive and penitent and in which we enjoy a close, intimate relationship with God.

This language echoes such passages as –

(Jer 32:38-41 ESV)  38 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them.  40 I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.  41 I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.

What a beautiful passage — which we never, ever study — because we’ve deluded ourselves into believing that the Old Testament is irrelevant to us. We’re New Testament Christians! A claim that sounds more and more hollow as we learn just how much we’ve been promised in the Old Testament.

I have no desire to reject those promises! I just want to be a Christian.

About Jay F Guin

My name is Jay Guin, and I’m a retired elder. I wrote The Holy Spirit and Revolutionary Grace about 18 years ago. I’ve spoken at the Pepperdine, Lipscomb, ACU, Harding, and Tulsa lectureships and at ElderLink. My wife’s name is Denise, and I have four sons, Chris, Jonathan, Tyler, and Philip. I have two grandchildren. And I practice law.
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30 Responses to From the Comments: The Connection of the Church with Israel, Part 10 (The Moral Law Within, Part 2)

  1. David Himes says:

    This is a great passage. One of the implications of this passage is how it affects our use of the Text. In our CofC tradition, we have often equated the NTText to the covenant. The NT Text reveals the covenant, but is not itself the covenant.

  2. Price says:

    I love how Peter expresses it to Cornelius… [Act 10:43 ESV] 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

    ALL THE PROPHETS spoke of the redemption in Jesus… that believe… (cough, cough.)

    John the Baptist said the Jesus was the one who would “baptize with the Spirit” John 1… Jesus tells his disciples he will baptize them with the Spirit unlike John who used water… The New Covenant was inaugurated into the Jewish community (and Gentile community-acts 10) via the immersion of the Spirit in the absence of water.. OF COURSE we diminish our own personal frowth, our effectiveness and our witness when we relegate the Spirit to a book and to that book only… God put Him in our hearts as you said.. It wasn’t prophesied that we would receive the Book of Eli or whatever… Paul called the Galatians foolish for thinking that they could continue in anything without the Spirit… SMH

  3. rich constant says:

    jay

    we really are doing the father a disservice and those we teach by not really understanding the meaning of just exactly how to teach the Bible god’s story of deliverance
    for this broken Creation that started out VERY GOOD

    “We’re New Testament Christians! A claim that sounds more and more hollow as we learn just how much we’ve been promised in the Old Testament.”

    3:14 You, however, must continue20 in the things you have learned and are confident about. You know21 who taught you22 3:15 and how from infancy you have known the holy writings, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 3:16 Every scripture23 is inspired by God24 and useful for teaching, for reproof,25 for correction, and for training in righteousness, 3:17 that the person dedicated to God26 may be capable27 and equipped for every good work.

    Rom
    1:1 From Paul,1 a slave2 of Christ Jesus,3 called to be an apostle,4 set apart for the gospel of God.5

    1:2 This gospel6 he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,

    1:3 concerning his Son who was a descendant7 of David with reference to the flesh,8 1:4 who was appointed the Son-of-God-in-power9 according to the Holy Spirit10 by the resurrection11 from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.

    3:14 You, however, must continue20 in the things you have learned and are confident about. You know21 who taught you22 3:15 and how from infancy you have known the holy writings, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 3:16 Every scripture23 is inspired by God24 and useful for teaching, for reproof,25 for correction, and for training in righteousness, 3:17 that the person dedicated to God26 may be capable27 and equipped for every good work.

    1st.pet
    1:10 Concerning this salvation,21 the prophets22 who predicted the grace that would come to you23 searched and investigated carefully.

    1:11 They probed24 into what person or time25 the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified beforehand about the sufferings appointed for Christ26 and his subsequent glory.27

    1:12 They were shown28 that they were serving
    not themselves but you, in regard to the things now announced to you through those who proclaimed the gospel
    to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven – things angels long to catch a glimpse of.

    Rom
    1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.34

    1:17 For the righteousness35 of God is revealed in the gospel36 from faith to faith,37 just as it is written,
    “The righteous by faith will live.” hab2:4
    Rom
    3:1 Therefore what advantage does the Jew have, or what is the value of circumcision? 3:2 Actually, there are many advantages.1
    First of all,2 the Jews3 were entrusted with the oracles of God.4 3:3 What then? If some did not believe,
    does their unbelief nullify the faithfulness of God?
    3:4 Absolutely not! Let God be proven true, and every human being5 shown up as a liar,6 just as it is written: “so that you will be justified7 in your words and will prevail when you are judged.”8
    3:5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates9 the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is he?10 (I am speaking in human terms.)11

    ROM
    3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under22 the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 3:20 For no one is declared righteous before him23 by the works of the law,24 for through the law comes25 the knowledge of sin.
    3:21 But now26 apart from the law the righteousness of God (which is attested by the law and the prophets)27 has been disclosed – 3:22 namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ28 for all who believe. For there is no distinction,

  4. rich constant says:

    PS.. you can even say because of what Paul tells timothy…that we are being unfaithful to Paul’s teaching, and we don’t teach how god is just in his judgments according to Paul in Romans 3:4… i could say a whole lot more but it’s a beautiful day and work is a calling … god bless RICH

  5. Les says:

    David says,

    ‘…the NT text reveals the covenant but is not itself the covenant…’

    Growing up, what I often heard was that the OT and the old covenant were one and the same and the
    NT and the new covenant were likewise one and the same. The more I have read my Bible, the more I have struggled with that perspective. Thank you for putting into words what I am coming to believe is a healthier and more accurate perspective on the relationship between the canon and the covenants. The same could be said of the OT text. It reveals the covenant but is not itself the covenant.

  6. Jerry says:

    It’s good to see more and more people come to appreciate the value of the OT!

  7. Jay Guin says:

    David wrote,

    One of the implications of this passage is how it affects our use of the Text. In our CofC tradition, we have often equated the NTText to the covenant. The NT Text reveals the covenant, but is not itself the covenant.

    Amen and amen. And neither is the OT the same thing as the Mosaic or Abrahamic covenant. And that realization frees us to stop reading the NT as a book of laws.

  8. Grace says:

    The passages in Ezekiel are about God’s promise to the Jewish people. God tells Ezekiel to speak prophesy about the Jewish people being back in the land He promised them.

    Ezekiel 37:1-14 I felt the powerful presence of the LORD, and His Spirit took me and set me down in a valley where the ground was covered with bones. He led me all around the valley, and I could see that there were very many bones and that they were very dry. He said to me, “Mortal man, can these bones come back to life?”

    I replied, “Sovereign LORD, only you can answer that!”

    He said, “Prophesy to the bones. Tell these dry bones to listen to the word of the LORD. Tell them that I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying to them: I am going to put breath into you and bring you back to life. I will give you sinews and muscles, and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you and bring you back to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.”

    So I prophesied as I had been told. While I was speaking, I heard a rattling noise, and the bones began to join together. While I watched, the bones were covered with sinews and muscles, and then with skin. But there was no breath in the bodies.

    God said to me, “Mortal man, prophesy to the wind. Tell the wind that the Sovereign LORD commands it to come from every direction, to breathe into these dead bodies, and to bring them back to life.”

    So I prophesied as I had been told. Breath entered the bodies, and they came to life and stood up. There were enough of them to form an army.

    God said to me, “Mortal man, the PEOPLE OF ISRAEL are like these bones. They say that they are dried up, without any hope and with no future. So prophesy TO MY PEOPLE ISRAEL and tell them that I, the Sovereign LORD, am going to open their graves. I am going to take them out and BRING THEM BACK TO THE LAND OF ISRAEL. When I open the graves where my people are buried and bring them out, they will know that I am the LORD. I will put my breath in them, bring them back to life, AND LET THEM LIVE IN THEIR OWN LAND. Then they will know that I am the LORD. I have promised that I would do this—and I will. I, the LORD, have spoken.”

  9. Grace says:

    Genesis 12:2-3 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

    Genesis 12:7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

    Jeremiah 31:35-37 Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the LORD of hosts is his name: “If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the LORD, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever.”
    Thus says the LORD: If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the LORD.

    In the last section of Jeremiah 31 the Lord asserts the immutability, eternality, and permanence of both the nation of Israel, and the New Covenant by proxy (31:35-37).

    In these passages the Lord continues His assertion of His power to preserve Israel by noting that unless the heavens can be measured, and the foundations of the Earth can be searched out below, then Israel will remain. Here the Lord calls to focus not divine power, but divine knowledge. By adding this clause the passage requires one to not only have abilities that only the Lord Himself posses, but it also requires that one know the Lord’s own secrets. The declaration protects Israel by virtue that the Lord would not turn against His people, since the Lord has the power, and the intention to preserve the nation of Israel, thus the Lord lays out for the reader His duel role as Israel’s physical protector, and spiritual protector.

    These passages reflect the will of the Lord in regards to His people. The Lord desires relationship with His people, and will stop at nothing to do what is necessary to provide for right relationship to be played out. In this sense these passages not only serves as a prophecy of the New Covenant, but also serves as a testimony of God’s intense love, and eternal faithfulness to His people.

    Romans 11:12 Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, HOW MUCH MORE THEIR FULLNESS!

    Romans 11:26-29 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from JACOB; For this is My covenant with THEM, When I take away their sins.” Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are IRREVOCABLE.

  10. Skip says:

    Christians are God’s people. Romans 4:11,12

  11. Grace says:

    Gentile Christians are God’s people too as they are grafted in. Replacement theology is a destructive theology to Christianity.

    Romans 11:18 Do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

  12. Larry Cheek says:

    Grace,
    What you have said is true. Gentiles have been grafted in and became just as much heirs to God’s promises as the Jews. Replacement theology has no part in the scriptures. Christ belongs to the Jews he is a Jew. God, Christ and his Jewish brethren adopted the Gentiles into their world, promises, and inheritance to become one in Christ. Replacement theology is a man made term that has been devised to attempt to drive a wedge between what God joined together.

  13. Grace says:

    Exactly, there is the prophesied promise in the Abrahamic Covenant that is to the Jews and also the prophesied promise of the New Covenant that is to the Jews that flows also to the Gentiles.

  14. Grace says:

    Replacement theology is the teaching that God has cast away the Jewish people and has not kept His promise to Abraham that the land belongs to the Jewish people. When as the Scriptures show God keeps His promise to Abraham and God also keeps the New Covenant that Gentiles will be grafted in to know their King the Lord Jesus our Messiah.

  15. rich constant says:

    Grace
    was Paul ever broken off and grafted back in….

  16. rich constant says:

    Grace
    exactly Who is the Deliverer and Where is Zion, and what exactly does type and shadow mean to you?
    and who does Jacob refer to.

    Romans 11:26-29 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from JACOB does not Jacob mean in English deceiver?
    blessings
    rich

  17. Grace says:

    “And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: ‘Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are-northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.’” (Genesis 13:14-15).

    “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:7-8)

    “all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.” God, who never lies, promised Abraham that his descendants would possess the land forever and He will keep that promise.

    The promise about the nation of Israel and the prophecies that elaborate on the promise will be literally fulfilled. The prophecies regarding the reestablishment of Israel are part of a group of prophecies about the second coming of the Messiah. Because the prophecies about the Messiah’s first coming were fulfilled literally, consistent interpretation dictates that the prophecies about His second coming and about the nation of Israel should be interpreted literally as well.

    The teaching of replacement theology does not hold to the literal interpretations of the teachings of Scripture and replacement theology must be carefully scrutinized. The covenant promise made to Israel still applies to the nation of Israel, and the possession of all the land of Israel by the Jewish people will be fulfilled literally.

    “It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left, from Assyria and Egypt, from Pathros and Cush, from Elam and Shinar, from Hamath and the islands of the sea. He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” (Isaiah 11:11-12)

    This prophecy records, far in advance, the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham about the land. There is neither a literary nor a biblical reason to interpret this prophecy allegorically. Its fulfillment is indicated as literal. The promise God made about the land of Israel still applies to the Jewish people and will be fulfilled literally.

    The modern day regathering of the Jewish people and the reestablishment of Israel as a nation is the fulfillment of prophecy. This is consistent with the promise made in the Abrahamic Covenant and the prophetic Scriptures.

    God has declared that the nation of Israel will one day be fully reestablished and God has been faithful in keeping this promise. Modern day Israel is a fulfillment of prophecy.

  18. Skip says:

    It don’t matter one bit if Israel was promised some land if in the end the majority don’t accept and believe in Jesus. Romans 2:28,29 says being a Jew is not about genetics but about heart. I am confident that spiritual Israel will be in paradise.

  19. Skip says:

    Also, God gave land to Israel twice. Do we need to see it happen a third time before we are convinced he fulfilled his promise?

  20. Grace says:

    They didn’t occupy either time all the land God promised nor did they gather all the Israelites prophesied there, yet.

  21. Skip says:

    Grace, For what purpose is a bigger land offered to a people who reject Jesus?

  22. Larry Cheek says:

    Grace,
    Do you realize that unless you are a Jew by blood line. The acquiring of the physical land that you are describing has no value to you. I will offer that your instance on telling us that God has not fulfilled his promises to Israel according to your interpretation of his message is actually setting your self in the position of being God’s judge. I believe that he is fully capable of performing any actions that he desires to insure that Israel receives their reward, and no amount of help from us will alter his plan. I am not sure we should even attempt to interfere with the direction of God’s actions. Can you explain what actions that we have been responsible for that have resulted in the present position of the Israelite Nation?

  23. Grace says:

    The Scriptures and the prophets speak on what God’s plan is for the Jewish people, that is not judging God.

    I certainly believe that God can use people, good and evil, in His plan. Have you not read about Job and what happened to him. Even though evil things happened to him God restored Job’s losses. Look what all Joseph suffered and the evil done to him, and God restored his losses as well. Paul says there is a believing people among the Jews, though evil things have happened to them, God can certainly restore their losses, and according to His Word He will.

    Job 42:10 And the LORD restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

    Genesis 50:20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.

  24. Larry Cheek says:

    Grace,
    I hope you understand me correctly. Our attempts to explain what God’s plans are in this area will be useless, we cannot alter the future events in any fashion, and those events are not going to be effecting us as Gentile Christians. Therefore, we should never allow our understanding of what those events will be to cause division among us as Christians. That would only allow the balance of the world who are not committed to God to reject that we have love or unity.

  25. Ray Downen says:

    All this talk about “the Spirit” is based on capitalizing the word “spirit.” But when God’s Spirit is the subject, the proper description is “the Holy Spirit” or “God’s Spirit.” And most of the references in this study to “spirit” refer to the spiritual nature of man as contrasted to the physical nature we each possess. It’s contrasting our spiritual desires and our physical desires. The gospel we are called to carry throughout the world is about JESUS, God the Son, and what HE said and what HE did. It is NOT about what He causes the Spirit to do for Christians.

  26. Ray Downen says:

    Price suggests, “Jesus tells his disciples he will baptize them with the Spirit unlike John who used water.” And I point out that it was only the APOSTLES who were told they would be baptized in the Spirit, and it was only the APOSTLES who were baptized in the Spirit. It is misleading or dishonest to claim that Jesus told anyone other than the APOSTLES that He would baptize them with the Spirit. Jesus clearly commanded His apostles, and apparently the commission was for us all, that THEY (and we) were to baptize converts. He did not say HE would baptize converts. And the baptism of which the Lord spoke was baptism in water. The apostles and early Christians did tell others about JESUS and then did baptize in water those who believed the gospel. It is misleading in the extreme to claim that Jesus said He would baptize in the Spirit anyone except the apostles.

  27. Ray Downen says:

    I want to comment about the fact that other blogs allow responses to a comment to follow the comment being commented about. And that’s a good thing. As the number of responses increase, the difficulty of carrying on a conversation is multiplied when comments must be added at the end of all other comments.

  28. Ray Downen says:

    As for promises to Israelites, those who are interested in such promises would do well to read the Bible book of Hebrews carefully. And to read the commission given by Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20) and realize that what WE are told to do is to obey that commission.

    God offers life to Jews and Gentiles through His Son. He has no special interest in Hebrew people now regardless of blood lines, and no need to NOW fulfill prophecies made long ago. The important prophecy is that Jesus will come back and we need to prepare for that day. Meanwhile the land we’re in will not save or condemn us, and no person has a claim on any bit of land here on this earth.

  29. Price says:

    Ray, I realize, after watching your posts, that you are quite enamored with your opinion, but you really should, out of an abundance of courtesy and reputation, withhold comments about somebody being dishonest and/or misleading. Having first said that, I would ask you to go back and read my comments.. I never said that Jesus spoke about baptizing anyone but the 12 with the Spirit… However, he did grant some abilities, obviously empowered by the Holy Spirit, to the 70 who were able to heal disease and infirmity as well deal with demons… I wasn’t around at the time and the large majority of Jesus’ words are never recorded so perhaps we spoke to others about baptizing with the Holy Spirit… Certainly, JTB says that we was told that the one on whom he saw the HS descend would be the one who baptized with the Spirit… Those comments in John weren’t limited to the Apostles…

    Of course then we have Peter telling us that Cornellius and all of his household received the HS just as they did in the beginning…I believe he may have said that 3 times to help the reader appreciate the impact of that statement… So, if that is true, then they received the Holy Spirit in the same manner, which is Jesus sending His Holy Spirit.. Not sure how recalling the text could be branded dishonest…

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