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GENTLE
GENTILE LAW
Much of the
Bible used by preachers today, was actually intended for
Jewish ears during the Time of the Jewish people. Since the
Time of the Gentiles began when Jesus died for our sins and
a New Covenant was established, the Time of the Jewish
people ended, and the Old Covenant AND THE OLD LAW was
replaced by the New Testament. Today, we live in the the
Time of the Gentiles, which is based on the
NEW COVENANT
(see study). When considering any topic in the Bible, it's
important to consider the entire Bible ... Not just limited
scriptures to prove a (limited) viewpoint.
JEWISH
OR GENTILE
So, how
does one discern what custom, tradition, law, etc., applies
to whom? First let's distinguish the difference between a
Jewish person and a Gentile person. A Jewish person is a
descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, also known as the
children of Israel. A Gentile is a person from any other
nation (lineage).
If you're
new to Christianity, or you know little of religion and
history, it's important to know two things. Gentile does not
mean Christian, it simply means non-Jewish. It's also
important to know, that a Jewish person can also be a
Christian. And whether you're young or old or learned or
unlearned, the important thing to know and REMEMBER is that
since the NEW TESTAMENT, we're all God's people if we accept
Jesus Christ as our Savior.
Romans 10:12
For there is no difference between the Jew and the
Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all
that call upon him. |
Galatians 3:28-29
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond
nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are
all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then
are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the
promise. |
Now, amidst this wonderful
new promise that God has given to us, both Jewish and
Gentile ... Since the dawning of the New Testament, we seem
to have gotten some things confused. Many people like to
take the Bible, and pick and choose different customs and
traditions of the OLD LAW and impose them on everyone.
FREEDOM
AND RESPONSIBILITY
The New
Promise, Covenant, Testament, ... Whatever you choose to
call it ... Replaces the old. It frees us from the law. Paul
said:
|
1 Timothy 1:8-9
But we know that the law is good, if a man use it
lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a
righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient ... |
With
freedom, comes responsibility. Everyone desires freedom from
law, and anyone can be free from it, if they are
responsible.
The New
Testament ... The NEW LAW is freedom. Now, here's where it
gets tricky for some people. Jesus said:
|
Matthew 5:17-20
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the
Prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For
verily I say unto you, Till Heaven and Earth pass, one
jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law,
till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break
one of these least commandments, and shall teach men
so, he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of
Heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the
same shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness
shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and
Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom
of Heaven. |
Let's take
things step by step for a moment:
The Old Law
was a written law which people had a difficult time
following.
|
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Behold, the days
come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
Not according to the covenant that I made with their
fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to
bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant
they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith
the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will
make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith
the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and
write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and
they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more
every man his neighbour, and every man his brother,
saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me,
from the least of them unto the greatest of them,
saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and
I will remember their sin no more. |
God
replaced it with the New Law,
a BETTER Covenant
which is righteousness put into our hearts by God.
|
Hebrews 8:6-13
But now hath He obtained a more excellent ministry, by
how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant,
which was established upon better promises. For if
that first covenant had been faultless, then should no
place have been sought for the second. For finding
fault with them, He saith, Behold, the days come,
saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with
the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not
according to the covenant that I made with their
fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to
lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they
continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not,
saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will
make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and
write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a
God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall
not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his
brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me,
from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful
to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their
iniquities will I remember no more. In that He saith,
A new covenant, He hath made the first old. Now that
which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. |
Jesus tried
to explain the difference between the Old Covenant and the
New Covenant:
|
Matthew 5:38
Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an
eye, and a tooth for a tooth: |
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Leviticus 24:19-20
And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbor; as he
hath done, so shall it be done to him; Breach for
breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath
caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him
again. |
Jesus
explains what it means to "exceed the righteousness of
the scribes and Pharisees" ...
|
Matthew 5:43-48
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love
thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto
you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do
good to them that hate you, and pray for them which
despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may
be the children of your Father which is in Heaven: for
He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good,
and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if
ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do
not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your
brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not
even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even
as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect. |
BREAKING
TRADITION
As noted
earlier, in today's world, people like to pick and choose
laws to impose on others. This was even a challenge for the
Apostles, who, though they witnessed the Gospel firsthand
from Jesus, they still had tendencies to lean toward the old
traditions of the Jewish customs. See the
LAW
VS FAITH
study.
Paul (who
was Jewish) was called to be the Apostle to the Gentiles. At
the beginning of the Christian movement, Peter and Paul had
disputes about different Jewish traditions.
One
instance was when Paul confronted Peter about holding on to
the Jewish tradition of not eating with the Gentiles:
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Galatians 2:11-14
But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to
the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that
certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles:
but when they were come, he withdrew and separated
himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.
And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him;
insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with
their dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked
not uprightly according to the TRUTH of the Gospel, I
said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew,
livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the
Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do
the Jews? |
The Holy
Spirit took Paul's side on this issue because He had showed
Peter that the Gentiles were accepted by God ...
By way of a
vision he received just before a centurion (Roman) named
Cornelius, sent for Peter by the Word of an Angel of God to
come and share the Gospel with him:
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Acts 10:9-18
On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew
nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to
pray about the sixth hour: And he became very hungry,
and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he
fell into a trance, And saw heaven opened, and a
certain vessel descending upon him, as it had been a
great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to
the earth: Wherein were all manner of fourfooted
beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping
things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice
to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said,
Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is
common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again
the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not
thou common. This was done thrice: and the vessel was
received up again into heaven. Now while Peter doubted
in himself what this vision which he had seen should
mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius
had made enquiry for Simon's house, and stood before
the gate, And called, and asked whether Simon, which
was surnamed Peter, were lodged there. |
And by way
of baptism of the Holy Spirit while Peter preached to
Cornelius and his friends and relatives:
|
Acts 10:44-47
While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell
on all them which heard the Word. And they of the
circumcision which believed were astonished, as many
as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also
was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they
heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then
answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these
should not be baptized, which have received the Holy
Ghost as well as we? |
Notice,
that Peter also clung to the tradition of being baptized
with water.
When Peter
returned to Jerusalem, the Jewish people were upset with him
because he ate with the Gentiles, but Peter explained how
the Holy Spirit reminded him that the traditions have
changed:
|
Acts 11:15-18
And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them,
as on us at the beginning.
Then
remembered I the Word of the Lord, how that He said,
John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be
baptized with the Holy Ghost. Forasmuch then as God
gave them the like gift as He did unto us, who
believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I
could withstand God? When they heard these things,
they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then
hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto
life. |
SPECIFICS
So ... What
does the Bible say about the laws that the Gentiles must
follow under the New Testament?
If you only
read certain parts of the Bible, and you missed this part
that Paul is talking about here, you missed quite a lot. In
the Acts of the Apostles, concerning laws that were to be
placed upon the Gentiles, Peter said:
|
Acts 15:7-10
And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up,
and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that
a good while ago God made choice among us, that the
Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the
Gospel, and believe. And God, which knoweth the
hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost,
even as he did unto us; And put no difference between
us and them, purifying their hearts by Faith. Now
therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the
neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor
we were able to bear? |
In the
scripture from Galatians that we read just a few moments
ago, what was that about a decision made by James?
|
Galatians 2:11-12
But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to
the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that
certain (settled judgment) came from James, he did eat
with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he
withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which
were of the circumcision. |
Here is
what Paul was referring to:
|
Acts 15:19-20
Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them,
which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: But
that we write unto them, that they abstain from
pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from
things strangled, and from blood. |
This wasn't
only a judgment made by Peter and James, but the Holy Ghost
as well. This was written in letters to the Gentiles:
|
Acts 15:23-29
... The Apostles and elders and brethren send
greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles
in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia. Forasmuch as we have
heard, that certain which went out from us have
troubled you with words, subverting your souls,
saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to
whom we gave no such commandment: It seemed good unto
us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen
men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, Men
that have hazarded their lives for the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent therefore Judas and
Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by
mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to
us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these
necessary things; That ye abstain from meats offered
to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled,
and from fornication: from which if ye keep
yourselves, ye shall do well.
Fare ye well. |
Clearly,
Gentiles are only subject to certain rules to be a
Christian.
Abstain
from:
1. Meats
offered to idols
2. Fornication
3. Blood
4. Things strangled
ADDRESSING THE RULES
As the
Apostles spread the Gospel of the New Testament among the
Jewish people, the Apostle Paul went to the Gentiles, and in
the New Testament of the Bible, we have his letters in which
he explains some of these Gentile laws.
MEATS
OFFERED TO IDOLS
Was this an
Old Testament commandment too?
|
Deuteronomy 12:13
Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt
offerings in every place that thou seest: But in the
place which the LORD shall choose in one of thy
tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings,
and there thou shalt do all that I command thee. |
In the New
Testament, Paul explains that as Christians, we know and
believe that idols are not real, they are nothing, so we do
not regard any meat as unclean, yet there are those who are
weak, so for conscience sake, don't eat anything in front of
anyone that might cause them to sin because of their
weakness.
|
1 Corinthians, Chapter 8
Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know
that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but
charity edifieth. And if any man think that he knoweth
any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.
But if any man love God, the same is known of him. As
concerning therefore the eating of those things that
are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an
idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none
other God but one. For though there be that are called
gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods
many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God,
the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and
one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we
by him. Howbeit there is not in every man that
knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto
this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and
their conscience being weak is defiled. But meat
commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are
we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the
worse. But take heed lest by any means this liberty of
your's become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.
For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at
meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of
him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things
which are offered to idols; And through thy knowledge
shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?
But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound
their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.
Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will
eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my
brother to offend. |
Your first
question may be, why would a Christian be sitting at meat in
an idol's temple?
|
Matthew 9:9
And as Jesus passed forth from thence, He saw a man,
named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and
He saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and
followed Him. And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at
meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners
came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when
the Pharisees saw it, they said unto His disciples,
Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But
when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be
whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have
mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance. |
To sum up
the message that Paul was trying to get across: If other
Christians are present who are weak in Faith, for conscience
sake, don't eat in front of them, because you don't want to
mess with another man's Faith. Likewise, if you have any
question whatsoever or feeling that it's not right to eat
something ... Don't.
Jesus gives
an explanation that is very easy to understand:
|
Matthew 15:17-20
Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in
at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out
into the draught? But those things which proceed out
of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they
defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil
thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts,
false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which
defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth
not a man. |
Another
message to grasp from this is that if there is something
righteous that you believe in and wish to live by, that's
just fine, but if another believes differently, don't try
and force your beliefs on another. If someone differs in
opinion with you about certain things, that doesn't mean
they are less of a Christian than you ... it means that they
are different than you. Naturally, we're not speaking of
obvious evil beliefs. Paul also covers this issue in
Romans, Chapter 14.
FORNICATION
Naturally,
there were laws against fornication in the Old Testament.
Even before the Old Testament, the Lord destroyed Sodom and
Gomorrah because of fornication. That's not to say that
fornication is limited to homosexuality ...
Leviticus, Chapter 18 is filled with laws against
fornication, and remember what happened with the man and the
Midianite woman in the camp of Israel in the wilderness:
|
Numbers 25:6-9
And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and
brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the
sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the
congregation of the children of Israel, who were
weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation. And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar,
the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from
among the congregation, and took a javelin in his
hand; And he went after the man of Israel into the
tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of
Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague
was stayed from the children of Israel. And those that
died in the plague were twenty and four thousand. |
Paul
confronts the law against fornication many times in his
letters throughout the New Testament:
1 Corinthians 6:9-10
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the
Kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators,
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor
covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
extortioners, shall inherit the Kingdom of God. |
1 Corinthians 6:13
Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God
shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not
for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for
the body. |
1 Corinthians 6:18
Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is
without the body; but he that committeth fornication
sinneth against his own body. |
Galatians 5:19-21
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are
these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions,
heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings,
and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I
have also told you in time past, that they which do
such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. |
Ephesians 5:3-5
But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness,
let it not be once named among you, as becometh
Saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor
jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving
of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor
unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater,
hath any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of
God. |
Colossians 3:5-11
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the
Earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection,
evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is
idolatry: For which things' sake the wrath of God
cometh on the children of disobedience: In the which
ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But
now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice,
blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie
not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the
old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man,
which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him
that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor
Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian,
Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in
all. |
1 Thessalonians 4:1-7
Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort
you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us
how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would
abound more and more. For ye know what commandments we
gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of
God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain
from fornication: That every one of you should know
how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;
Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles
which know not God: That no man go beyond and defraud
his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is
the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned
you and testified. For God hath not called us unto
uncleanness, but unto holiness. |
If you'd
like to find out more about what the Bible says on this
topic, see the
FORNICATION study.
REMINDER:
Before we
go any further, let me remind you, about the Grace of God.
Don't let anyone tell you that you're going to hell because
you committed fornication sometime in your life. If you have
confessed and repented to the Lord about your sin, He has
forgiven you. See the
GRACE PAGE.
BLOOD
This was
also a law of the Old Testament, not to eat blood. There
were also laws against touching anyone else's blood, whether
they were dead or alive, and if one did, they were
considered unclean for a certain period of time and/or until
they washed in water.
Leviticus 3:17
It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations
throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat
nor blood. |
Deuteronomy 12:15-16
Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all
thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after,
according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he
hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat
thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart. Only
ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the
earth as water. |
Deuteronomy 12:23-24
Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the
blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life
with the flesh. Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour
it upon the Earth as water. |
THINGS
STRANGLED
There were
no specific commandments concerning things strangled in the
Old Testament. Perhaps the Jewish people, when deriving the
commandments to impose on the Gentiles, felt that it was
fitting to include one that they hadn't been subject to.
THE
GREAT COMMANDMENT
Never
forget, aside from the rules that we learned about after
Jesus' death, there are things that God has put in all of
our hearts ... and the decision is ours as to whether or not
we follow them with all of our heart or not:
|
Matthew 22:36-40
Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang
all the law and the Prophets. |
And above
all:
|
Romans 10:9
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath
raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. |
Take
care and have a SON-derful day
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