Weekly E-mail Reminder

	HIDDEN LDS/JEWISH INSIGHTS #37 New Testament Gospel Doctrine Supplement by Daniel Rona Weekly E-mail Reminder << JESUS CHRIST: THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH >> Hebrews ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1.) OLD TESTAMENT ACTUALLY STARTS WITH THE HIGHER LAW: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Commencing with Adam . . . the first to hold the spiritual blessings . . . was made known the plan of ordinances for the salvation of his posterity unto the end . . . the keys of . . . the dispensation of all the times have been and will be revealed through him from the beginning to Christ, and from Christ to the end of the dispensations that are to be revealed." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Section Four 1839-42 p.167) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (2.) CHILDREN OF ISRAEL OPT FOR LESS THAN THE BEST: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The compromise commandments still specifically anticipated the Savior. The was predicated on performance-related criteria rather than on intent or attitude. Simply put, The Lesser Law , the do’s and don’ts, became the law instead of the Spirit of God dictating the law. The prophet Ezekiel speaks of God’s sadness in giving His children less than the best. "Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live . . . I polluted them in their own gifts . . ." (Ezekiel 20:6-25) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (3.) GATHERING AND RESTORATION PROMISED: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Israelites stayed away from heathen images, but resorted to rules of do’s and don’ts instead of the Holy Spirit. Yet, in the end, the children of Israel will be gathered, and their original covenants will be restored. "And I will . . . gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered . . .and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen . . . and there shall ye remember your ways . . . Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee . . .it shall not be quenched." (Ezekiel 20: 26-38) The world will truly see . . . "The spirit of God like a fire is burning." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (4.) A CHALLENGE – WILL IT BE "FAITH" OR "WORKS?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The developing rift between Christianity and Judaism and the animosity after their final split in the second century C.E. produced many great disputations . . . (c. 135 C.E.) between the Christian Justin Martyr and the Jew Tryphon . . . Justin challenged the Jewish concept of being the chosen people by pointing out their low position in the world, and argued that the Jews were made to follow laws as punishment by God. Tryphon countered by charging Justin with selecting his quotes from the Bible, and - proclaiming that true salvation comes from strictly following the law, not from faith in man." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (5.) FIRST PRINCIPLES OF JEWISH RELIGION: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- " The medieval Jewish philosophers gave a great deal of thought to formulating articles of faith and disagreed among themselves as to how many there should be. Some even opposed any such formulation on the grounds that every mitzvah (deed or act) is an article of faith." "One of the first formulations was that of Hananel ben Hushi'el who was an important Babylonian scholar of the 11th century. He saw, as basic to the Jewish religion, the following four principles: (1) belief in God; (2) belief in the prophets; (3) belief in the World to Come; and (4) belief in the coming of the Messiah." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (6.) THE MESSIAH – KNOWN OR UNKNOWN? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That Messiah, still unknown by a part of the House of Israel (and most of mankind), is the original author and finisher of our faith. "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." (Revelation 1:8)
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