Update 151

On Saturday, July 10, 2004, Dave Harris will be giving the sermon, titled: “All Brethren.”

Once God opens one’s mind to understanding (Ephesians 1:18, Hebrews 6:4), and draws that person to Christ (John 6:44), growth begins with the purpose of bringing the individual to repentance (Acts 11:18). Upon repentance (Acts 2:38) and with the acceptance of Jesus Christ as personal Savior by the person, with baptism, and with “the laying on of hands” by the ministry completed, the individual is now justified before God and is sanctified by God for a very special purpose.

It is true that numerous miracles have been exacted through God’s intervention in this person’s life as God’s calling to His Way is effected. Many would say that this person is saved and Heaven is assured to him as a reward. But the Scripture tells us something totally different.

Peter tells us to “Repent therefore and be (become) converted… ” (Acts 3:19). What is intended by this statement of Peter?

God has been very gracious to one He has brought this far toward conversion. But this is just the beginning of the Christian’s journey in this New Way. Peter tells us that during the remainder of this special journey one must “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). We must overcome the sinful nature and the way of life that perpetuated that nature and begin walking in a “new way” of life, as described in God’s written Word. Jesus Christ shows in John 15 that a Christian must grow to the point of producing much fruit by virtue of the way he lives his life as he learns to apply the truths of God’s Way in what he does.

God is most interested that those He calls grow in His Way. He gives them, in addition to His Truth and His Spirit, the Church composed of like-minded brethren, and a ministry established to teach and to assist in the perfecting of the saints, so that they have every opportunity, if they apply these Truths, in their effort to “come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).

This process of growing and overcoming is the process called conversion. It is a way of life — a process the effects of which will last throughout eternity!

Germany in the News

During the last several weeks, interesting information was reported in the German press, related to Germany’s position within the EU and toward the rest of the world.

Die Rhein Neckar-Zeitung (RNZ) stated on June 28 and 29, 2004, that Chancellor Schroeder reconfirmed his position not to send any German soldiers into Iraq. At the same time, he said that he was willing to train Iraqi soldiers at German academies.

Bild ran a commentary, dated June 29, 2004, telling President Bush to keep his nose out of European affairs. It stated: “Europe alone decides — not the United States — whether and when Turkey becomes a European member.”

The RNZ wrote on June 11, 2004: “Sunday remains holy… Sunday rest is part of the fundamental values of the [German] Constitution and cannot be revoked.” On June 12, the paper added that the German prohibition against driving of trucks on Sundays remains the law, at least for the time being.

In addition, as the euobserver reported on July 7, 2004, “the socialists have elected Martin Schulz to head their group in the European Parliament. The German was overwhelmingly chosen – by 158 votes out of 179 – to head the group following a meeting on Monday (5 July). The 48-year old, who came to European-wide fame last year after being insulted with a Nazi slur by Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, will take over from Spaniard Enrique Baron Crespo. He was also the only candidate for the post.” The article continued to point out: “Monday’s vote also means that the two biggest groups in the European Parliament, the centre-right European People’s Party and Socialists, will be headed by Germans as Hans-Gert Pöttering was voted in by his group last week.”

The predominant role of Germany in the European Parliament, under the new Constitution, was also explained and stressed in the following article by www.iop.org/news/776, dated July 1, 2004: “As Britain prepares to make its mind up over the proposed European Constitution, Physics World reveals new research by physicists in Poland that claims the most controversial aspect of the new constitution, the voting rules at the EU Council of Ministers, are fatally flawed and will give some countries unfair clout in the decision-making process.

“Karol Zyczkowski and Wojciech Slomczynski, physicists from the Jagielonian University in Krakow, have used existing techniques in game theory to calculate how much power each country will have if the new constitution is adopted, i.e., what their ability to influence the decisions of the Council of Ministers will be… The key problem is that voting power does not relate to the number of votes a member state has, but rather depends on their ability to get decisions passed by forming coalitions with other states to push decisions through the Council… Under the proposed new constitution, new legislation will only have to satisfy two criteria to pass into law: the member states voting for it must account for at least 65% of the total population of the EU; and at least 15 member states must vote for it. Zyczkowski and Slomczynski have shown that this system is effectively the same as one in which ‘voting weight’ is directly proportional to population, and that such a system gives an unfair advantage to larger countries. If the proposed new constitution is adopted, Germany will gain the most voting power by far, followed by France, the UK and Italy. Spain and Poland will be the biggest losers.”

For those of you who have not yet read “Europe in Prophecy,” we encourage you to review this startling booklet that reveals the sobering Biblical prophecies of the rise and future role of Europe. “Europe in Prophecy” can be viewed at www.eternalgod.org

France in the News

France’s president Chirac becomes more and more America’s opponent. As RNZ reported on June 30: “Chirac has taken the leading role to unambiguously oppose Bush. The [French] president has become more and more Bush’s opponent, and he thereby puts the brakes on any reconciliation between Europe and the U.S.”

U.S. in the News

In regard to America’s dealings with the torturers in Iraqi prison camps, Bild wrote on June 22, 2004:

“America is an old democracy… Crime is not dismissed or ignored. Crime is being punished… America lives because of its Constitution, its humanity, its honor… This is not self-evident. Great critics of America, especially in Europe, had to learn through the bitter lessons of war what law means. They should look at America and be astonished.”

On June 11, 2004, Bild wrote, commenting on the meeting between President Bush and Chancellor Schroeder:

“Friends again?… We should have no illusions… Let us hope that the German governments will never again jeopardize our friendship with the United States. And that America will nurture its relationship with Europe better in the future.”

On July 3, 2004, Associated Press published an article, reporting about Europe’s reassessment of its relationship with the United States. The article pointed out: “The question across the Old Continent is not the oft-asked, ‘Why do they hate us?’ In fact, not that many Europeans do. More thoughtful Americans ask, ‘Why have they lost respect for us?’ Iraq is the obvious short answer. In polls and conversations, a clear majority of Europeans excoriate President Bush for charging on alone into a widening quagmire that is reshaping the world around them.”

The article continued: “But analysts see something many describe as deep and troubling, a sea change from the usual ups and downs of trans-Atlantic sentiment. This is particularly critical now, they say, as 25 European states are trying hard to build a more perfect union that is largely shaped, even if often at an unconscious level, on the American model. ‘When Europeans look over at the roots they planted in America, they see root rot,’ said Barry Goodfield, an American psychotherapist and conflict specialist who has worked in Europe since 1972… By giving Europe a take-it-or-leave-it option on Iraq, Goodfield said, Bush insulted old allies at a deep level. ‘We bypassed the U.N. and diplomacy, and they’re reacting to a slap in the face,’ Goodfield concluded. ‘They see us as not playing by the rules, ignoring institutions that stand for justice and morality.'”

The article added the following comments: “For many in Europe, it is a question of style and attitude. At an official level, European diplomats say, Bush manages to jab continually at sore spots. Just as EU leaders reached a fragile accord on expansion, he visited Istanbul and told them they left out Turkey. Yet, unlike earlier times when U.S. and European governments disagreed on issues, feelings run deep into every level of society. European newspapers carry accounts of outraged travelers to the United States who end up in handcuffs and overnight cells before being sent home for what turns out to be a simple mistake. While EU airport police barely glance at U.S. passports before stamping six-month entry permits, U.S. authorities require fingerprints and visas with pages of questions delving far into the past. Americans familiar with Europe over the years almost invariably describe symptoms of a changing attitude.”

The Catholic Church in the News

The Vatican regretted the wording of the European Constitution, according to RNZ of June 21, due to Europe’s failure to make a clear reference to Christian, that is, Catholic beliefs. Bild wrote on June 20: “It is too bad that there is no place for God in Europe… Only Poland was determined until the end to include a reference to God in the Constitution… The European house must stand on a firm foundation; otherwise it is built on sand, as the Bible says. It is absurd not to mention God and Christianity… The common goals and values are dictated by the Bible and Christianity… When there are no roots, we can’t survive… To mention God in the Constitution would be good, because it would make a reference to the Judeo-Christian roots, and it would clarify that our conduct is always secondary and preliminary, and that no human being must take to himself absolute power. When man does not realize that he is second at best, then very soon the devil is there.”

On June 21, 2004, Bild wrote: “Worldwide, religion is on the rise, headed by Islam, and sadly, also by its radical components. Only the Europeans think that they can live without their Christian roots… Only he who knows of his roots will be accepted by others.”

No, we don’t know that we are cursed when we keep the Ten Commandments, including the Sabbath. But we do know that humans are cursed if they don’t keep them (compare Matthew 25:41, 46).

To fully understand this serious question, which might very well determine one’s eternal life or death (compare Revelation 21:8; 22:15), we must fully realize what the Bible means with the “law of Moses”; what the apostle Paul taught; and what the Church decided in Acts 15.

We have thoroughly discussed and answered these and many other related questions in our free booklet, “And Lawlessness Will Abound….”

We want to quote, to begin with, from pages pages 15-16 of our booklet, to explain what Paul meant with his statement in Galatians 3:10-13. Did Paul say that we are cursed when we keep the Ten Commandments? In addition, did the Church decide in Acts 15 that Christians don’t have to keep the Ten Commandments and can still be saved?

“With that background, we should be able to better understand what Paul is telling us in Galatians 3:10-13, where he speaks about the ‘works of the law.’ In reading this passage, remember to consider the context to see what specific law this passage has reference to. Beginning in verse 10, ‘For as many as are of the works of the law [including the sacrificial and ritual works that had to be performed] are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them [i.e., the rituals and sacrifices] shall live by them [that is, God did not kill them as long as they lived within the sacrificial system.].” Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”).’

“Anyone who did not continue in everything, which was written in the Book of the Law, including the regulations pertaining to washings, rituals and sacrifices, was cursed. Although the Book of the Law included, of course, the Ten Commandments and its spiritual statutes and judgments, it also included the physical works of the law, that is, the sacrificial system, as well as the death penalties for the violations of God’s law.

“Paul’s statement, then, that the law was added because of transgression (Galatians 3:19), refers to that part of the law or laws in the Book of the Law which have to do with sacrifices and other rituals, as well as the curses or penalties for violating God’s spiritual law.”

We might want to explain here (as is being done in our booklet at another place) that the “law,” mentioned in Galatians 3:19, was ADDED “four hundred and thirty years” after God’s covenant with Abraham (compare verse 17). It was added because of transgression (verse 19). The Bible teaches that SIN is the transgression of the LAW (1 John 3:4, Authorized Version). Because the people had sinned by transgressing the LAW of the Ten Commandments, as well as those statutes and judgments which embellish those righteous commandments, ANOTHER “law” was ADDED — the temporary law dealing with sacrifices and other rituals.

To continue with our quote from page 16 of our booklet:

“We need to keep firmly in mind that ‘the Book of the Law of Moses,’ sometimes referred to as ‘the law of Moses,’ included all kinds of laws. We must therefore be careful not to draw hasty conclusions when we read about the Book of the Law in the New Testament. Again, we always need to analyze in context, which particular and specific laws the author is talking about.

“For instance, we read in Acts 15:5, ‘But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them [Gentiles who became Christians], and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”‘

“The context of the discussion shows us that they were not arguing about the Ten Commandments — including the Sabbath — but whether circumcision and other rituals contained in the Law of Moses were mandatory for Gentile Christians. Now, notice, how this question was decided in the first ministerial conference in Jerusalem. Notice that it is James who is saying these words — the same apostle who later talked about the Ten Commandments as a package [compare James 2:8-13], saying that we are guilty of violating them all if we break even one of the Ten: ‘”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”‘ (Acts 15:19-20; compare also Acts 15:28-29).

“James was not talking about the Ten Commandments. But, why does James specifically mention that the Gentiles must abstain from idols, sexual immorality, strangled meat and blood? These four aspects in the Law of Moses were mentioned here in connection with rituals and sacrifices (Leviticus 17:7, 10). Gentiles would often times drink blood with their sacrifices, or they would eat their sacrifices with the blood still in the meat (as happens when animals are strangled), or they would commit fornication with temple prostitutes. So that there would be no misunderstanding, the apostles and elders clarified to the Gentiles that those laws, although mentioned in the context of the sacrificial system, were still valid and binding on them.”

Some claim that God abolished the entire “law of Moses” with all of its commandments, statutes, judgments and regulations. They fail to realize that the “law of Moses” or the “Book of the Law” included both temporary ritualistic statutes and timeless spiritual commandments. They are ignorant of the fact that not the ENTIRE “Law of Moses” was abolished. They don’t understand what the Bible means when it talks about “law.” Neither do they grasp the difference between law and covenant, falsely teaching that they are identical, and that the Ten Commandments were abolished when the “Old Covenant” was revoked. (For a thorough discussion regarding that false teaching, read page 21 and the following pages of our free booklet, “And Lawlessness Will Abound….”) This Biblical ignorance has created a lot of harm, and those false teachers have deceived many who have followed their destructive heresies. However, God makes it clear that they will have to give account for their wrong example, as they live in sin and have induced others to sin likewise.

Let us briefly review the question whether the apostle Paul taught that we don’t have to keep the Ten Commandments any longer. A careful study shows that this was not the case, and that Paul was not even ACCUSED by his enemies of teaching this.

We are quoting from our free booklet, “And Lawlessness Will Abound…,” pages 12-13:

“We read in Acts 21:18-24, ‘On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law; but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come. Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow. Take them and be purified with them, pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads, and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law.'”

“What ‘law’ is this passage talking about? The law of the Ten Commandments? Note that the specific context is circumcision, purification, and other rituals in connection with the making of a vow. Consider also what Paul actually did do when following the ‘customs’ of the Jews: ‘Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having been purified with them, entered the temple to announce the expiration of the days of purification, at which time an offering should be made for each one of them’ (verse 26).

“The reference to the ‘law’ or the ‘customs’ is solely in regard to that portion in the writings of Moses that dealt with sacrifices, washings and rituals — in other words, the ‘law that was added,’ and not the Ten Commandments at all [nor does it refer to the statutes and judgments which embellish the Ten Commandments].

“We might add here that it was of course not sinful for Paul to participate in these customs, although they were no longer required. Paul said that he became a Jew to the Jews in order to win some (1 Corinthians 9:20). And, although he had made it clear that circumcision was no longer required [see the detailed discussion later in this booklet], he still circumcised Timothy, for the Jews’ sake, in order not to place a stumbling block before them (Acts 16:1-3).”

When we refuse to keep the Ten Commandments, we sin. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) — eternal death — and we WILL suffer eternal death, unless we REPENT of our sins and begin to WALK in the way of righteousness (compare Psalm 119:172).

Christ warns and rebukes all of those who teach that the Ten Commandments are done away with. This is not a light matter in the eyes of God. He says in Matthew 5:19: “‘Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and TEACHES men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and TEACHES them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.'”

We should be able to see the tremendous responsibility of the “teachers of the Law” to teach man the ongoing validity of God’s Ten Commandments — including the Sabbath commandment. If they fail to do so, they will not be held guiltless by God. On the other hand, if we want to be a part of the “people of God,” we WILL keep the Sabbath, because we read in Hebrews 4:9: “It is therefore the duty of the people of God to keep the sabbath” (Lamsa translation). God, knowing that some would attempt to change this command, wrote the commandment in a unique way: “REMEMBER the Sabbath day, to KEEP it holy” (Exodus 20:8).