3000 were baptized

 

 

A rough idea of what the Pool of Siloam looked like as pilgrims to Jerusalem used it for tevilah, the ritual immersion to purify themselves before entering the temple from the south end, as they traveled along the main road for pilgrims going to the temple. 

This pool was fed by the Gihon Spring, and so never ran dry. It was used for more "official" immersions, whereas the Pool of Bethesda, at the north end of the temple, was more of a "hospital" pool, fed by rain and groundwater, a little dirtier, where Jesus healed the lame man waiting for the stirring of the waters (perhaps an intermittent spring, or ... an angel).

There were hundreds of smaller mikva'ot ("baptistries", the place of immersion) around the temple mount, some public, some private, for the purpose of tevilah (the immersion itself), plenty to handle 3000 baptisms in one day.

For the repetitive ritual immersions needed for handling sacred things and entering the temple, to remove ritual impurity, one need only immerse himself.

For entering a new covenant, such as a Gentile converting to Judaism, one needed to let someone immerse him (or at least witness the self-immersion). This conversion served as a new birth from Gentile to a new covenant relationship with God as a Jew.

John the Baptist took the baptism out of the temple environment, to the wilderness of the Jordan River, and he changed it from an immersion for ritual purity to an immersion for the forgiveness of sins.

Peter took it from John's baptism to the baptism of Jesus, not only for the forgiveness of sins, but also for a new birth into a new covenant relationship with God under the authority of Jesus, with the gift of the indwelling of the holy spirit.

Camping Out for Passover

 

 On a typical Passover Day during Jesus' lifetime, the city of Jerusalem would be filled with pilgrims, spilling out onto the surrounding hillsides in make-shift lodging. Jesus would have seen a scene like this at least once a year while growing up.

The temple faces East (facing the sunrise). The "camera" is looking North-West, across the Kidron Valley. (I could not get Gemini/nano banana to be more accurate with the image; you'll have to use your imagination a little bit.)

As a pilgrim (unless you're "somebody"), you aren't allowed to enter in through the closest, Eastern Gate. You have to go to the South end and enter through the Huldah Gates tunnel. But before that, you'd have to stop at the Pool of Siloam or one of the specially-constructed mikvah "baptistries" and immerse yourself to purify yourself before entering the temple. You'd also make sure your clothing was clean/purified.

When you emerge from the Huldah tunnel, you'd come out into the court of the Gentiles, where everyone is welcome (and where the shops and money-changers were). To your right would be the Porch of Solomon, where the very first church of Christ met on a daily basis. This was a large open-air covered space, with a roof held up by 120 columns so thick it took three men to wrap their arms around one.

To your left would be a low wall separating the Gentile's Court from the Women's Court. This wall had signs all along it forbidding, in three languages, Gentiles to pass, upon pain of death. Paul used this "middle wall of partition" as an analogy in Eph 2:14, to help explain that Gentiles are now welcomed into God's community.

Further left of that was another wall separating the Court of Women from the Court of the Israelite Men. The men could pass through a door in this wall to watch the altar activities (which took place in the Court of Priests). A set of steps arranged on a semi-circle before this doorway is where the Levitical choirs and musicians would stand to sing and to play their instruments. 

Praying, secluded, and teaching a crowd

 

A Wedding

 

Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs

 

In the Septuagint, the psalms can often be classified by the description given to them in the headings above the psalm. This particular psalm, 75 (76 in most English Bibles), has a heading containing all three classes of "psalm", "hymn", and "song".

Most English Bibles are based on the Hebrew text rather than the Septuagint text, so you won't see this except in Septuagint-based English Bibles, like Brenton's.

Some believe that the phrase "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs" was a Jewish idiom referring to the Book of Psalms via these classes found in the headings.

Senior Class of 33

The disciples of Jesus were probably teens, with Peter being the oldest, at least 20 when he was told to pay the temple tax.

 

Sitting to Preach

In the first century Jewish culture, a reader of Scripture would stand while reading, to show the authority of Scripture.

Only an authoritative teacher would take the "cathedra" ("seat", as in "Seat of Moses"; also as in how Catholics talk about "the Pope" (*cough*) speaking 'ex cathedra', "from the Seat" of authority) to then expound upon the reading.

The synagogue attendees went silent when they realized Jesus declared himself as just such an authority.

Luke 4:16 He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. He entered, as was his custom, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He opened the book, and found the place where it was written,

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim release to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to deliver those who are crushed, 19 and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

20 He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began to tell them, “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

And in another city:

Mark 1:21 They went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath day he entered into the synagogue and taught. 22 They were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as having authority, and not as the scribes.

Matthew 7:13

Enter in by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter in by it. 14 How narrow is the gate and the way is restricted that leads to life! There are few who find it.

 

David

 

Serving != Leading/Usurping/Teaching/Speaking

 

A totally-legit possibility during the three-year ministry of Jesus

 

A totally-legit possibility during the three-year ministry of Jesus

 

The New Testament Pattern: "Let's eat!"

In 1 Cor 11 we learn that the Lord's Supper in Corinth was a big meal. Paul does not invalidate the meal as the Lord's Supper because it was a big meal, but because the eaters were being selfish, not discerning others as also being part of Christ's body. This meal was apparently regular enough (nightly?) to meet the nutritional needs of "those who don't have enough" (v. 22). Paul's Plan B solution for this selfish eating, if a person was too hungry to wait on the others, was to eat at home. His Plan A solution, was to wait on one another. He never offered a Plan to minimize the meal to a symbolic-only ritual. That's what the Catholics made of it, and what we inherited, and what we defend, despite that not being found in the text.

 

The early church "feasted" with one another, having "love feasts", which, like in Corinth, were sometimes abused as a selfish "feed me!" event:

WEB 2 Peter 2: 10, 13 "those who walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement and despise authority ... count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, spots and defects, reveling in their deceit while they feast with you;"

and

Jude 1:13 These are hidden rocky reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you, shepherds who without fear feed themselves

The earliest church of Christ "took their food with gladness and singleness of heart" on a day by day basis (Acts 2).

 

The earliest church made sure the widows were fed every day (Acts 6).

 

The Biblical example of the New Testament church is to feast together, apparently on some sort of regular schedule, making sure the needy got fed on a daily basis.

 

If your congregation is not doing that, is it adhering to the New Testament pattern? Is it truly a New Testament church?

 

Just askin'....

Part-time Worship

 

I seldom listen to music radio, but in the past few days have spent a little time in the car listening to AirOne. Apparently their current slogan is something like "Let's worship now" or "Start the worship" as they transition from news/ads to music programming.

 

When the woman at the well asked Jesus about worship (more accurately, "bowing reverently"), Jesus responded by saying that bowing before God is not a matter of going to some place of bowing, a church in this hill or a temple on that mountain, but about having your spirit bow before God, truthfully.

 

Do you suppose Jesus expects us to bow our spirits before God, to "worship", only part-time, only during a "worship time" that has a Start and a Stop?

 

I recently heard from the pulpit a preacher say he could not play a guitar in the worship, where we are doing things in the name of Jesus, but he could play a guitar at home, as long as it was not to praise God.

 

Does this compartmentalization of our lives into God-honoring-time/activities and non-God-honoring-time/activities, that can be turned on and off according to a schedule, seem like what the New Testament teaches?

"Singing is Worship". No it's not.

 

Someone has written, "Singing is worship. Remembering the Lord's supper is worship, driving a car isn't."

 

When Jesus said "worship in spirit and truth" in John 4:24, the base Greek word he used was 'proskuneo'.

 

This word does not mean "sing". It does not mean "remember the Lord's supper". It does not mean "drive a car".

 

It means none of these things. It means "bow submissively", and Jesus says to do it in spirit and truth.

 

Can you bow submissively in spirit and truth while "singing"?

 

Yes.

 

While "remembering the Lord's supper"?

 

Yes.

 

While "driving a car"?

 

Yes.

 

The writer's argument is to have us bowing submissively part-time, only during certain activities.

 

I believe we are to bow submissively in spirit and truth full-time, in everything we do, whether in word or deed.

 

That's the difference: The writer believes that submissively bowing to God in spirit and truth should be part-time. I believe it should be full-time.

The House of the Lord

When you step into your church building, it is not to meet God.

 

It is to meet one another.

 

Since you are God's temple, you are already meeting with him, and should already be bowing ("worshiping") in spirit, truthfully, before him. You don't need to go to a physical temple to meet God.

 

But you do need to go to a physical place to meet one another.

 

The church building is not God's house, where you go to worship God. Don't think of it that way.

On Clapping, "In Worship"

 

There is no New Testament authority to greet one another with a holy handshake or a holy hug, but only with a holy kiss.

 

Yet we allow cultural differences to permit us to substitute a handshake for a kiss.

 

How is that any different from allowing cultural differences to permit us to substitute applause for an amen?

 

The whole premise is flawed when you approach the assembly as a formal bowing-session toward God. That's what the word "worship" means in John 4:24 when Jesus talked to the Samaritan woman at the well about "worship" -- bowing submissively before God.

 

This bowing is what one would do when entering the presence of royalty or diety - you come before God, get on your knees and touch the ground with your face, and then give him your offering.

 

The woman at the well asked Jesus: "Are we to bow in our Samaritan temple or your Jewish temple?"

 

Jesus answered that it's not a matter of bowing in this holy place or that holy place; that's the old way. But the time has now come that the bowing is to be done in spirit, truthfully. That's what God wants; he wants bowers who bow in their spirits before him, in a truthful manner.

 

When we think of "meeting God" in his holy temple on the corner of 5th and Main Streets, we think in Old Testament ways. God left the temple at Jesus' death, tearing the curtain as he left, and destroying that temple forty years later as an exclamation point to the fact that he does not dwell in a temple made with hands.

 

God now dwells in you. You are no longer expected to go to a physical building to bow before him, to "worship" "in church". You are expected to bow before him in your spirit, when giving honest change back to your customer, when lovingly mowing the aged neighbor's yard, when brushing your teeth, as well as when assembled with other believers and praising God. This bowing in spirit is not a part-time thing - if you're not consistently bowed in spirit before the God who is dwelling in his new temple of your body, you're not truthfully bowed before him, are you? You're not the type of bower he wants.

 

There is no New Testament call to assemble as a group before God to bow to him. There is a New Testament call to assemble as a group to prod one another to love and good works, and to encourage and build up one another. And no matter what we do in that assembly, it is to be geared toward building up one another. That, building up one another, and not bowing before God part-time for an hour in a temple where he no longer dwells, is the "explicitly-stated in the New Testament" purpose of assembling.

 

And there are no specific rules for how this assembly is to be conducted. We have invented rules based on human reasoning, and reading between the lines, and converting this event or that one into "approved apostolic rules", but there seldom is any direct "thus saith the Lord" for these commandments of men other than the simple, "When you assemble, let everything be geared toward building up the congregants (1 Cor 14:26).

 

If applause while gathered together contributes to that goal of building up those who are bowing submissively before God in spirit and truth throughout their life, then applaud in the assembly. If applause detracts from that goal, then do not applaud. If a certain singing, or a certain prayer, or a certain message contributes to the goal of building up the assembled bowers, then incorporate that singing or praying or message into the assembly. If a prayer is a great prayer of Thanksgiving, completely honoring God, but that prayer does not benefit those who are assembled, it has no place in the assembly. (So says Paul explicitly in 1 Cor 14).

 

By making the assembly the "required" time for bowing before God (aka a "worship service", with all of its "not-written but rather reasoned-out" rules), we destroy Jesus' message about truthfully bowing in spirit, not just in a church building, but in life ("do all, even brushing your teeth, as an authorized agent of the Lord"), and we substitute God's purpose for the assembly (building up one another) for our own more pious purpose ("worshiping God" for an hour or two).

 

If you clap in the assembly, as an authorized stand-in for Jesus, to build-up the congregants, you do well. If your clapping does not build up the congregants, it has no place in the assembly.

Why Pastors?

 

The purpose of shepherds (pastors), bringers of good news (evangelists), and teachers, is not to ensure that our worship services are acceptable to God.

 

Their purpose is to train the believers to themselves be ministers:

ESV Eph 4:12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

Blessed is the Sabbath

 

The Sabbath was blessed as a special day, separate from the other six days of the week, by God at the very beginning. That blessing has never been rescinded.

 

There is no record of any command for humans to recognize it as special, or any indication that anyone did so, until God gave that command to the Israelites many centuries later.

 

But it's instructive to see the *reason* God gave them that command:

Ex 20:10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; 11 for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.

That reason still exists: God blessed the Sabbath.

 

That is why the Israelites were to observe it.

 

Not because they, the Israelites, were special. But because the day was special.

 

God has never unblessed the Sabbath. It is still special.

 

Do with that as you will.

 

It should also be noted that this command did not establish the day as a day of worship, or a day of doing nothing. Rather, it was to be a day of ceasing from work. Later, additional rules restricted the day, but in this command, the day was to cease from work. Play, travel, pursue your hobby, but don't "labor".

 

God knows everyone needs a day off from work. He insisted on it from the Israelites; he does not insist on it from non-Israelites.

 

But recall the words of Jesus: the Sabbath was made for Man, not Man for the Sabbath.

And remember also: The reason for observing the Sabbath is still just as valid today as it was the week after the Creation Week - because God declared the day as special.

 

Again, do with that as you will.

Psalm 139

 

7 Where could I go from your Spirit?
Or where could I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, you are there.
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there!

Psalm 139

The whole chapter is about how God knows you, sees you, intimately. You are always in his presence.

 

And when you're in the presence of royalty, you bow submissively.

This is what Jesus told the woman at the well: The time now is that you will not bow submissively in your temple on your hill, or my temple on my hill, but in spirit, and in truth.

"Worship" ("submissive bowing" in the Greek of this John 4:24 passage) is not a part-time thing; it's something to be done in every place and at every time you are in God's presence, which is as high as heaven, and as low as Sheol, and in every moment of your existence.

Daily

Heb 10:24 Let’s consider how to provoke one another to love and good works, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

Heb 3:13 but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called “today”, lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Acts 2:46 Day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. The Lord added to the assembly day by day those who were being saved.

Seems that the New Testament pattern/instruction is for us to be assembling day by day....

Does the Bible have to give specific authority for what we do?

 

Does the Bible have to give specific authority for what we do?

 

Someone has asked this question.

 

The "specific authority" given to us is to do everything in the name of the Lord, to his glory.

 

That means you are to wash the dishes to the lord's glory, as he would do it.

 

That means you are to feed the dog to the lord's glory, as he would do it.

 

That means to play your guitar to the lord's glory, as he would do it.

 

Having sex, brushing your teeth, swinging a golf club, repairing your car, pushing your daughter in her swing - whatever; it is all to be done in the name of the lord, to his glory.

 

So the question becomes, "Is it appropriate in this or that situation?"

 

In the situation of assembled Christians, what is appropriate is whatever brings growth to the group:

1 Cor 14:26 What is it then, brothers? When you come together, each one of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has another language, or has an interpretation. Let all things be done to build each other up.

If instruments contribute to that goal; use instruments. If instruments detract from that goal, don't use instruments. The conclusion will surely vary depending on the group and the situation.

 

If the question is asked, "What is specifically authorized for the assembly", there are no such specifics given (except the one above about building up the assemblers).

 

The common collections we often see of so-called "authorized acts in worship" are a few passages, often removed from their context, intermixed with much reading between the lines and colored by a great deal of fallible human reasoning.

 

As to issues requiring such reasoning:

MLV Rom 14:1 But receive the one who is weak in the faith, yet not for the judging of his reasonings.

Jesus Making Sacrifice

Jesus in the temple, about to slaughter his lamb for Passover. He would slit the lamb's throat, and then hang the lamb from a hook, where a nearby priest would catch the draining blood in a silver or gold basin. The basin would then be passed up a line of priests (for speed/efficiency; they had thousands of sacrifices to deal with in a single afternoon) to the altar, where the blood would be sprinkled on the altar.

 

Jesus would then skin the lamb while it was hanging from the hook, then he would move the lamb to a nearby marble-topped table to finish the butchering. The fat and entrails would be turned over to the priests, to be burned on the altar to God. Jesus would then wrap the meat in its own carcass and take it home, where it would be roasted for the Passover meal.

 

Take Care of your Folks

 

The "church leaders" during the ministry of Jesus taught that giving to the "church" took precedence over helping your parents with their expenses.

 

Jesus taught the reverse:

Matt 15:3 He answered them, “Why do you also disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘Whoever may tell his father or his mother, “Whatever help you might otherwise have gotten from me is a gift devoted to God,” he shall not honor his father or mother.’ You have made the commandment of God void because of your tradition.

Why were musical instruments not used in the church until the 600s AD?

 

Again, it has been asked:

On the discussion of instruments in the worship, can someone explain why they were never known to be used in the New Testament church until 603 AD and why they were not used in the mainline Protestant churches until 1830. Can we see that it’s an added introduction to the original church from the beginning of the New Testament church?

=============

 

And here's the answer:

 

You'll recall that the very first church of Christ, the first generation of believers, was exclusively Jewish. These Jewish believers were surprised to learn that Gentiles/non-Jews could be saved. When they learned this ...

Acts 11:18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

As Jews, they continued living and worshiping as Jews did, even to the point that Peter refused God's command to "kill and eat", not once, but three times, because that command from God himself violated Peter's Jewishness.

 

As Jews, the very first believers, the first Christians, praised God in the temple, in Jewish ways. The non-converts were not offended by any non-Jewish teaching, but instead held the believers in high regard.

Luke 24:52 [After Jesus ascended into heaven, the Eleven] worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple blessing God.

Acts 2:46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Acts 5:12b And they were all together in Solomon's Portico [of the temple]. 13 None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,

Even years later, the Jewish believers remained zealous for the law of Moses and their customs, with the tacit approval of the Apostle-trained elders of this very first church of Christ:

Acts 21:20 And when [these elders] heard it, they glorified God. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law, [and] walk according to our customs.

But those same elders taught the non-Jews to not observe the Jewish law of Moses (except for what was required in Lev 17-28 of "sojourners" living among Jews):

25 But as for the Gentiles who have believed, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should [Acts 15:28 bear] no greater burden ... than these necessary things: that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality...

As Jews, these first Jewish believers continued circumcising their children (Acts 21), and keeping the Sabbath and other holy days, and sacrificing animals as part of those holy day observances, and as the required ending for Nazirite vows (Acts 18:18; 21:23ff), and making offerings and undergoing temple purification rituals:

Acts 24:17 Now after some years, I came to bring gifts for the needy to my nation, and offerings; 18 amid which certain Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple,

In short, these Jewish believers kept being Jews, praising God in the temple in Jewish temple ways, which ... wait for it ... included praising God with psalms accompanied by musical instruments.

 

But the Jewish believers who did not live in Jerusalem did most of their assembling in the Jewish synagogue.

 

And guess what was missing from the synagogue.

 

Yep, instrumental music.

 

Not because God had commanded that it not be used in the synagogue (the record reveals no commands from God about the synagogue one way or the other; the synagogue appears to have been an invention by the Jews, during their Babylonian captivity, yet Jesus approved of it, making it a custom to attend), but because it was a Jewish tradition, to remember their sadness about being taken prisoner and taken away from their temple where they had known joyous music (compare Ps 137).

 

And when Gentiles started being converted, where did they "learn to do church"?

 

In these synagogues, where instruments were not used.

 

So at the end of Acts, approaching the time when the temple would be destroyed, we have two branches of the Christian church: the Circumcision, taught by Cephas (Peter) and James and John, which was zealous for the Jewish way of doing things, and the Uncircumcision, taught by Paul and Barnabas (Gal 2:9), which was taught to not do things the Jewish way.

 

After the destruction of Jerusalem, the church grew more Gentile and less Jewish, and even forgot that the church had begun as exclusively Jewish, and started teaching more strongly against all things Jewish, including those musical instruments. The question asked above overlooks this very earliest beginning of the church, when instruments were used by the Jewish believers.

 

When we in the modern day teach against instruments, we do so by ignoring the New Testament testimony that the earliest church was Jewish and kept their Jewish ways, which would have included praising God with instruments, and we quote later uninspired writers to "prove" that the church had always been anti-instrument.

 

But if the Apostles had been teaching a new, non-Jewish anti-instrument doctrine, the noble Bereans would have demanded, "Show me the scripture!", and the Apostles would have been utterly unable to show them anti-instrument scripture, just as we can't, which is why, rather than letting the Bible be sufficient, we turn to later uninspired writings to substitute for anti-instrument scriptures, so that we may teach as doctrine a man-made command against instruments.

 

And that's why "we" don't see instruments used until the 600s AD., because "we" don't recognize the testimony of the New Testament of a Jewish way of worship being acceptable to God, but only recognize the later scripture-approved deviation from that way, and then the even later non-scripture-approved repudiation of that way, using later uninspired writings to support that non-scripture-approved repudiation, as if those writings are gospel.

 

John 10:7 Jesus therefore said to them again, “Most certainly, I tell you, I am the sheep’s door. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out and will find pasture.

 

Jewish Believers in the New Testament

 

Let me encourage you to carefully read the book of Acts, wherein you'll see that the very first, original church of Christ, led by The Twelve, kept their Jewish ways, and were surprised in Acts 11 to find that Gentiles could be saved, and decided in Acts 15, after much debate, that the Gentiles did not have to "worship on Saturday...[offer] animal sacrifices... and [follow] all of the guidelines set forth in the book of Leviticus" (as someone has worded it). In fact, that church council decided that Gentiles only had to obey the very limited portion of Leviticus 17-18 which governed how Gentiles living among the Jews should live - refraining from food sacrificed to idols, and from things strangled, and from blood, and from sexual immorality.

 

In Acts 21 you will read that the Apostle-trained elders of the original church of Christ, years later, spoke approvingly of tens of thousands of Jewish Christians who remained zealous for the law of Moses and their Jewish customs such as circumcision, and asked Paul to prove that he was one of them, "also walking according to the law" of Moses. Paul agreed, and underwent temple purification rituals, and was in the seven-day waiting period between his announcement of the end of his "old covenant" Nazirite vow, requiring that he shave his head, and the sacrifices of several different animals to formally end that vow, as described in Numbers 6, when he was wrongfully arrested.

 

You will read in later chapters that Paul had not broken the law of Moses as he was accused, that he currently "is" a Pharisee, that he came to Jerusalem to worship, and to give gifts to the needy of his nation, and to make "offerings" (sacrifices), in the midst of which he was found purified in the temple, and subsequently arrested, and that he had done nothing against the people of Israel or the Jewish customs.

 

Paul and Peter and James and all the early Apostle-led church kept the law of Moses. They recognized two things: 1) keeping the law of Moses is not what saves a person; 2) the Gentiles are not expected to keep the law of Moses or the Jewish customs, although they themselves did.

 

Originally published at:

https://kentwest.blogspot.com/2026/02/jewish-believers-in-new-testament.html