What is tithing? How does it differ from offerings? Does it still apply in the New Covenant? What did Jesus say about tithing and the law?
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On Covenants in the Bible
The Bible is more than two covenants Old and New. There are multiple covenants in the Old Testament. There are the Adamic, Noahide, Abrahamic, Sinaitic, and Davidic Covenants. Two of them axis in the tie frame of the New Testament.
Continue readingStoning in the New Testament
Are people supposed to be getting stoned to death in the new covenant? The Moral laws of the old testament, still apply because they preexisted in the Sinaitic covenant (law of Moses). Adultery, murder, stealing, etc, were sins in Genesis, so rather than being specific to Israel, these laws apply to all people, through the Adamic (Adam’s) and Noahide (Noah’s) covenant. However, under the new covenant judgment for moral laws is saved until final judgment (Matt 13:24-30). This is why Jesus didn’t engage in immediate judgment (like calling fire from heaven) when Samaritans rejected him in the first century, even though James and John suggested it (Luke 9:51-56). Christians don’t stone people in the new covenant because Jesus will judge them at the end, until then they have time to repent and get saved by receiving the holy spirit.
Continue readingOur Bodies Are The New Temple
It’s the holy spirit that was promised to circumcise our hearts (Deut 30:6, Jer 4:4, Ez 36:25-27, Joel 2:28-32, Acts 2:16-21, Rom 2:29, and Col 2:11) and give us the power to overcome sin nature so that we could accomplish the task of keeping God’s commands.
Continue readingOld Covenant Promises in The New
Was Jesus poor, sick, or vulnerable? Are God’s people supposed to be poor, sick, and vulnerable? All of those are blessings in Deuteronomy chapters 7, and 28 are God’s promises to his people of good health, victory against enemies, protection from disaster, and multiples on top of multiples of livestock, crops, and children.
Continue readingRitual Purity in the New Covenant
Some may wonder if Christians are supposed to be eating kosher, and following rules about bodily fluids and circumcision. Ritual purity laws are not like moral purity since they don’t involve behavior, and therefore breaking them is not punishable by execution. These laws were designed to set the Israelites apart, and they were never given to Gentiles. Paul had also to say about not enforcing these laws in the OT, and even Jesus said some things. Let’s take a deeper look at why they existed in the first place if new covenant Gentiles don’t have to follow them. What were they pointing to?
Continue readingDivorce in the New Testament
It is commonly taught that remarriage after divorce is adultery (unless your ex dies) because of what Jesus says in Matt 5:32, Matt 19:9, Mark 10:11, and Luke 16:18. In addition, Paul repeats it in Romans 7:3 and 1 Corinthians 7:10-11. Others may say Jesus contradicts the Torah when he denounces divorce because the Torah allows it (Deut 24:1-4, and Ex 21:10-12). God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16), yet he divorced Israel in the Babylonian exile (Jeremiah 3:8)? How do we resolve this?
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