Hey just quickly something that came out of yesterdays message. Where are we at in regards to drinking blood? I'm sure it is on everyone's mind just wanting to get out and have some blood pudding or blood sausage or if you happen to be of the vampire persuasion blood anything. Anyway, CH17 says no no to eating blood Leviticus 17:10-12 .But we know Jesus fulfils the Law and as a result many of the non ecclesiastical laws are set to the side under the new covenant. However, under the new covenant we still see the command given to the gentiles to not eat blood Acts 15:19-20 as well Noah pre-law was required to not eat blood Genesis 9:1-7 . Does this dampen our appetites? Are we still required to refrain from eating it? To hit closer to home, what about the blue rare stake? Or is the eating of blood of a hygienic Law in which passes as we develop safer food practices? I'm interested to know some of your thoughts.
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10Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of
the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?
11No! We believe it is
through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.
What about this earlier passage? The political discussion at the Council of Jerusalem must have taken days and perhaps a compromise was made in the letter to the Gentiles.
That list in Acts 15 just seems a bit odd, doesn't it? Why sexual immorality with dietary restrictions? You're the pastor, so I'll ask you: did "sexual morality" in that letter mean what we think of today as Christians, i.e. committed monogamous marriages, or was it a request that they follow all the teachings of Torah on sexuality? If so, how much is this tied to the early church desire for Jew/Gentile reconciliation by not offending Jewish believers? What I do know is that one of the guys who carried that letter seems to have played a bit fast and loose with some of those requirements in I Corinthians 10:25-33, which concludes, "So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Don’t give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God. I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do. I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved."
I don't know I think that he council of Jerusalem was actually up holding Lev 17 and 18 together abd prob 19. The eating of food offered to idols,Blood drinking and the sex thing are all found in these 2 chapeters. 19 by extention of the NT seems to fall in line. But you can't help but think the council (Jedi and other) had these chapters in mind when they were puting it together. So I would say all sex practices in 18 are kind of binding. Now what does binding mean? Esspecally when man is saved through Jesus as postmaster poined out.
postmaster brings up a good point: they do seem to be motivated by a desire to minimize commandments, not by a desire to keep these Gentiles as Jewish as possible. I still can't help but wonder whether this isn't an attempt at Jew/Gentile unity in the church more than it is selecting certain parts of Torah as binding, while rejecting others. Paul's attitude towards Torah comes across pretty strong in Galatians, where, right after recounting his rebuke of Peter, he says, "Rather, I make myself guilty if I rebuild the old system I already tore down . . . I died to the law so that I might live for God . . . for if we could keep the law, then there was no need for Christ to die."
Most of Lev 18 still sounds good to us, but what about 19? The council picked the blood thing out of there, but said nothing about tattoos, beard trimming, or blended fabric. This makes me doubt that the whole passage 17-19 is in some way still "binding." What about 17? If we're not supposed to eat blood because "It is the blood, representing life, that brings you atonement," and we have found the blood of atonement in Jesus, are we denying His Messianic work if we still refuse to "take and eat"? Paul and Jesus both seemed sure that nothing edible could defile us.
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