You are free from the law

Topic: Moses’ laws in general (pork question, Sabbath…)

Mathew 5: 17 “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil”.

Response:

Colossians 2:14 “He did this by erasing the charges that were brought against us by the written laws God had established. He took the charges away by nailing them to the cross”.
2:20 “If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as,”
2:21 "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!?”
2:22 “All of these things deal with objects that are only used up anyway”

Hebrews 8:8-13

8:8 “But God found fault with the people and said: "The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.” 8:9 “It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.” 8:10 “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” 8:11 “No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.” 8:12 “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." 8:13 “By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear”.

Ephesians 2:15 “He brought an end to the commandments and demands found in Moses' Teachings so that he could take Jewish and non-Jewish people and create one new humanity in himself. So he made peace”.

Leviticus 23:2 "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'These are my appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.”

2 Corinthians 3:6 “He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life”.

Galatians 5:1-6 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”

Romans 7:4 Parallel translations:

• “So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God”.
• “Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God”.
• “In the same way, brothers and sisters, you have died to the laws in Moses' Teachings through Christ's body. You belong to someone else, the one who was brought back to life. As a result, we can do what God wants”.

Romans 7:6 “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter”.

Romans 8:2 “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death”.

Galatians 2:19 "For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.

Galatians 5:18 “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law”.

Galatians 4:21-31

21 “Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says?” 22 ”For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman”. 23 ”His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise”. 24 ”These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar”. 25 ”Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children”. 26 “But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother”. 27 ”For it is written:” "Be glad, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have no labor pains; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband." 28 “Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise”. 29 “At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now”. 30 “But what does the Scripture say? "Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son." 31 ” Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman”.

Topic: Sabbath in particular
(Although it can be included in the “Old Law” topic)

According to Adventists, in the Bible it does not say: " You shall not respect the Sabbath anymore".

Response:

Colossians 2:16 “Therefore, let no one judge you because of what you eat or drink or about the observance of annual holy days, New Moon Festivals, or weekly worship days”.

Mark 2:27 “And he said to them, The Sabbath was made on account of man, not man on account of the Sabbath;”

Matthew 12:5- Parallel translations

• "Have ye not read in the law, how that on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? “
• “Or is it not said in the law, how the Sabbath is broken by the priests in the Temple and they do no wrong?”

John 9:1-17 “As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, "Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?" Some claimed that he was. Others said, "No, he only looks like him." But he himself insisted, "I am the man." "How then were your eyes opened?" they demanded. He replied, "The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see." "Where is this man?" they asked him. "I don't know," he said. They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man's eyes was a Sabbath. Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. "He put mud on my eyes," the man replied, "and I washed, and now I see." Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath." But others asked, "How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?" So they were divided. Finally they turned again to the blind man, "What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened." The man replied, "He is a prophet."”.

Topic: Consumption of pork in particular
(Although it can be included in the “Old Law” topic)

Levitcus. 11; 7 “And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you. Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you”.

Response:

Facts 10:9-15

10:9 “About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray.” 10:10 “He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance”. 10:11 “He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners”. 10:12 “It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air”. 10:13 “Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat." 10:14 "Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean." 10:15 “The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." 10:16 “This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.”

Mark 7,14-23

14 “Jesus called the crowd together again and said, “Pay attention and try to understand what I mean.” 15-16 “The food that you put into your mouth doesn't make you unclean and unfit to worship God. The bad words that come out of your mouth are what make you unclean.” 17 “After Jesus and his disciples had left the crowd and had gone into the house, they asked him what these sayings meant.” 18 “He answered, “Don't you know what I am talking about by now? You surely know that the food you put into your mouth cannot make you unclean.” 19 “It doesn't go into your heart, but into your stomach, and then out of your body.” By saying this, Jesus meant that all foods were fit to eat.” 20 “Then Jesus said: What comes from your heart is what makes you unclean.” 21 “Out of your heart come evil thoughts, vulgar deeds, stealing, murder,” 22 “Unfaithfulness in marriage, greed, meanness, deceit, indecency, envy, insults, pride, and foolishness.” 23 “All of these come from your heart, and they are what make you unfit to worship God.”

Colossians 2:16 “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day”.

Romans 14:14 “I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.”

1 Corinthians 10:25 “Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions for conscience' sake”

Timothy 4:1-5

1 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. 3 They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. 4 For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. 5 Because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

Questions/Contradictions

Galatians 5 “Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ”

Exodus 31:14 “Therefore you are to observe the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people.”

-But as you observe part of the law of the Jews, called the Sabbath, do you always have to take part of the whole law like the Bible said (see above- Galatians 5) and consequently:

1. Killing those who don't respect the Sabbath like they did at the time like the Bible said (see above- Exodus 31:14)?
2. Getting married with the brother of her dead husband, according to the tradition, that's also part of Moses' law, called LEVIRAT, and which was established when a Jewish wife was widowed?

- Why Sabbath and circumcision being both on pair has one to be abolished and not the another one? Remember: Galatians 5 “Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ”.

- If Jesus is the core of your beliefs, Why do you abandon his physical presence in favor of a denomination which:

1. Deems him a liar when he claimed his followers that his body is really food and drink of God?
2. Does not follow his laws?

Miller and the Great Disappointment

Miller was an active Freemason: "It was here [Poultney, Vermont] that Mr. Miller became a member of the Masonic fraternity, in which his perseverance, if nothing else, was manifested; for he advanced to the highest degree which the lodges then in the country, or in that region, could confer." Miller’s statements concerning Antimasonry are dated well after his conversion in 1816, and seem to indicate that Miller saw no contradiction between his Baptist religiosity and his Masonic beliefs. Miller somewhat grudgingly resigned his Masonic membership in 1831, stating that he did so "to consilliate the feelings of my Brethren in Christ" and to "avoid fellowship with any practice that may be incompatible with the word of God among masons". Despite his resignation, evidence suggests that Miller at the very least, retained sympathy for the Masonic movement for several years.

Miller commenced with Genesis 1:1, studying each verse and not moving on until he felt the meaning was clear. In this way he became convinced firstly, that postmillennialism was unbiblical; and secondly, that the time of Christ’s Second Coming was revealed in Bible prophecy. Miller formally stated his conclusions in a twenty-point document, including article 15: "I believe that the second coming of Jesus Christ is near, even at the door, even within twenty-one years,--on or before 1843." Miller did not however, begin his public lecturing until the first Sunday in August, 1831 in the town of Dresden.

The sun rose on the morning of October 23 like any other day, and October 22, became the Millerites' Great Disappointment. Hiram Edson recorded that "Our fondest hopes and expectations were blasted, and such a spirit of weeping came over us as I never experienced before... We wept, and wept, till the day dawn.".. Following the Great Disappointment most Millerites simply gave up their beliefs. Some did not and as viewpoints and explanations proliferated. Miller initially seems to have thought that Christ’s Second Coming was still going to take place—that "the year of expectation was according to prophecy; but...that there might be an error in Bible chronology, which was of human origin, that could throw the date off somewhat and account for the discrepancy." Miller never gave up his belief in the Second Coming of Christ; he died on December 20, 1849, still convinced that the Second Coming was imminent.