BASIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR GOD’S PEOPLE

 WHO ARE THE PEOPLE OF GOD - CHILDREN OF PROMISE? BELIEVERS IN JESUS? 

Galatians 3:26-29 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Genesis 18:18-19 …since Abraham will certainly become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed? For I have known him (Abraham), in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.”

Acts 2:39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

Romans 4:16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all

Luke 3:8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to your selves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.

John 8:39 They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.

Rom.9: 23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.” “And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.”

Romans 9:8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.

Acts 13:26 “Men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent.

Eph.3:14-15 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

HOW THEN SHALL WE LIVE?

As people of God, members of His family, how will we live in His Kingdom? What will His Kingdom look like?

Mat.6:33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you.

Jn.14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

Jn.14:21The one who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me;

Mat.5:19 Therefore, whoever nullifies one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

A STOUT PILLAR OF THE KINGDOM OF  GOD - THE LAW OF GOD.

LUKE 6:46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?

1John 3:23-24 This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. The one who keeps His commandments remains in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He remains in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

Mat.7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

Mat.13:41 The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness,

1John3:4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.

Rom. 6:19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented the parts of your body as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your body’s parts as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.

1Cor.719 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.

Law is one of the essential foundations of any nation or group of people. Our current societies are an incredible illustration of how lawlessness destroys a nation. The God who rules all the universes will indeed rule over the Earth. His mercy has granted His law that establishes what is just, right, merciful, and compassionate. His Law establishes and supports all of Creation. What part of His law was done away with?  None of it! 

Mat.5:17-18 “Do not presume that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter shall pass from the Law, until all is accomplished!

Well, then what was nailed to the cross?

Colossians.2:13-14 And when you were dead in your wrongdoings and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our wrongdoings, having canceled the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

It was not His commandments! It was the certificate of debt! it is very much like a statement from your bank that shows how much you owe on your house mortgage. Yeshua Himself said that His law was not abolished. He even promises that anyone who teaches against His commandments will be counted as least in His Kingdom.

Acts 15:19-21 Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood.

We can certainly have a discussion about the awesome meaning of being the people of God but a large part of our brethren are saying that it is not necessary to keep the laws of God that define how we love and obey and live to God’s honor. We would be best instructed by taking a closer look at what is actually being said in Acts 15 about the law. This is the instruction by the Jerusalem Council of the First Century Congregation. These are the very people who walked with Jesus, who did what He did, who sat at His feet to receive instruction from Him. Read the whole story that is written here in Acts 15. I will point out the pertinent parts but get out your Bible and study it - see for yourself!

Acts 15:1-5 And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question. So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren. And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them. But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”

Reading it the first time we can identify the problem. The Pharisees are at work again. A group of Pharisees are trying to apply their definitions to these new believers. Matt.16:11-12 gives us a very good foundation from Yeshua’s perspective to understand just what is happening here in the book of Acts.

Mat.16:11-12 How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?—but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Mat.5:20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

Definition of leaven-a substance (such as yeast) used to produce fermentation or gas; something that modifies;  to leaven implies adding something that…markedly alters the total quality.

Let us open our eyes and look more closely at what is the problem. Who is speaking and what are they saying here in Acts 15? In Acts15:1 and 5 we find out that these certain men are fermenting the congregations with their brand of teaching. Who are those men? “some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed”. Pharisees who believed what? The obvious thought is that they believed in Jesus. That belief would have been necessary for them to be able to speak in the congregation on the Sabbath. But they are adding their leaven to the word of God with their own customs which would alter the gospel the Paul and Barnabas had delivered to the Gentiles. These men were doing what they had always done - adding to the words of God to create a burden.

Acts 15:6-11 Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: “Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.”

How many times have these words been taught to us? How many times have these words been used to tell us we do not need to keep God’s instructions because God’s law is an impossible burden? But have you examined what verse 10 really says! …Why do you test God…What are they doing to test God? They are adding a yoke! Most obviously that is not the yoke that Yeshua is offering us. The yoke that none were able to bear was the additions or the fermenting of the Pharisees that significantly alter the structure of our relationship with God and each other.

Matthew 11:29-30 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

NOW - Shall we look at the rest of the story!

Acts 15:19-21 Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, :20 but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality(Lev.18:1-30), from things strangled, and from blood (Lev.17:10-14). :21For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

Verse 19 says don’t add the Pharisaical burdens to new believers! Verse 20 lays out the necessary foundation for like minded believers to fellowship together. So what does verse 21 teach us? Please look again at who is saying these words. Who is  the “we”?  This is the first century congregation. Again, these are the people with a direct testimony of Yeshua and what Yeshua did. It is the Apostle James, Yeshua’s brother who is telling us that on every Sabbath the Torah is taught. We are told that every Sabbath we can receive the same instruction that God gave the Israelites to teach them to be a free people and have a relationship with HIM!  We need to remember that Yeshua taught Torah on the Sabbath in the synagogues.(Mark1:21,6:2; Luke 4:16, 6:6, 13:10.)

John18:20 Jesus answered him,“I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet.

By keeping Sabbath we learn the words of Moses (the Torah). Jesus said His Yoke was not a burden! The Messianic perspective of Acts 15 reveals a dimension of relationship and growth that we cannot see if we believe the first five books of the Word of God are now obsolete or done away with. The Sabbath day is indeed a time for instruction and blessing to draw us near to our God!

We understand that we are saved by FAITH in Yeshua, - that faith saves us not works! Our faith does not nullify or do away with the instruction for life that our Father has given us to live by. We obey because we love Him and believe that His instructions bring us a good life. Do we believe and have faith in Yeshua/Jesus? We would be a hypocrite indeed if we say we love Him but do not keep His instructions! (1John 2: 3-5)

Rom 3:28-31 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. …30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.

John 14:15-16“If you love Me, keep My commandments.

Let us look again at the words of Yeshua. He plainly tells us how to love Him. We demonstrate our love for Him by being obedient to His commandments. Our actions show how important Jesus’ teachings are to us. So much of our identity as citizens of the country we live in is defined by how we keep the laws of our country. Are we as believers keeping the laws of God’s Kingdom - that very same Kingdom that Jesus/Yeshua is king of? The very same laws that define His Kingdom? But let us take one more look at the words of the Savior. In the Sermon on the Mount Yeshua expounds on the depth of obedience for those who believe.

Mat.5 27-28 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Jesus is teaching us to keep the deeper meaning of God’s instructions not just with our actions but even more so with our hearts, with our thoughts, even with our desires. But how many of us have stopped to see the promise He made in John 14 as a condition of being obedient?

John 14:15-16“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—

Yeshua promises to send us another Helper - the Holy Spirit to live in our hearts to help us understand and live in obedience to the instructions of our Father!!!! Salvation is not about working but about believing to the point of action and when we reach that point we find that the blessing of loving our God has brought us the blessing of His Spirit to help us live. Let us not abandon the foundation of God’s laws that define us as His people. We are the People of God when we believe in His Salvation. We are the People of God when we love and obey Him. We are the People of God when The Holy Spirit dwells in us and leads us to His truth.

PART THREE - Remembering the Sabbath and observing the cycle of Holy Days.

the sabbath - memorial of creation

the holy days - instruction in God’s plans and purpose