Acts 16 4" As
they were traveling through the cities, they were handing down the
rulings that had been decided upon by the emissaries and elders in
Jerusalem, for them to keep. 5 So Messiah’s communities were strengthened in the faith and kept increasing daily in number."
So here goes Paul the Jewish apostle to the gentiles, after having been to Jerusalem to hash out with the leaders there, the answer to the question, "How do we assimilate gentile believers into this already existing chosen people, sons of Abraham?"
The leaders very wisely went back to Leviticus where this problem had already been addressed. There they found 3 or 4 rules that would guide gentiles into inclusion with the people of God, without the need for circumcision or the following of all the laws lovingly given to the Jewish people.
Paul took these rules to the gentile gatherings that were being established all over the then known world and what was their response? Did they push them away and say, no we don't need these rules and we don't need to submit to the decision of the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, we are a new entity, we are called the church and we are superior to everything Jewish. No they didn't they rejoiced, they accepted the rules and they were strengthened in the faith and kept increasing in number.
So if "church" appears anemic to you especially in light of the current crisis, maybe it is because years and years later. Man created something that did reject everything Jewish, God in His mercy always maintains a remnant, but "church" that cuts itself off from Jerusalem and the chosen people is a lie, and in the coming times when everything that can be shaken will be shaken it will fall.
Run to the Good Shepherd, Yeshua the Messiah and King of Israel, and be a part of His already existing beautiful community.
So here goes Paul the Jewish apostle to the gentiles, after having been to Jerusalem to hash out with the leaders there, the answer to the question, "How do we assimilate gentile believers into this already existing chosen people, sons of Abraham?"
The leaders very wisely went back to Leviticus where this problem had already been addressed. There they found 3 or 4 rules that would guide gentiles into inclusion with the people of God, without the need for circumcision or the following of all the laws lovingly given to the Jewish people.
Paul took these rules to the gentile gatherings that were being established all over the then known world and what was their response? Did they push them away and say, no we don't need these rules and we don't need to submit to the decision of the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, we are a new entity, we are called the church and we are superior to everything Jewish. No they didn't they rejoiced, they accepted the rules and they were strengthened in the faith and kept increasing in number.
So if "church" appears anemic to you especially in light of the current crisis, maybe it is because years and years later. Man created something that did reject everything Jewish, God in His mercy always maintains a remnant, but "church" that cuts itself off from Jerusalem and the chosen people is a lie, and in the coming times when everything that can be shaken will be shaken it will fall.
Run to the Good Shepherd, Yeshua the Messiah and King of Israel, and be a part of His already existing beautiful community.
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