Struggling with what to believe in the bible.

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jonathan1221

Guest
#1
#1
Ok. So I have grown up in a christian home my entire life and I have been taught to believe is god's word. I still do believe that but how much is history that we can almost disregard?

What I have been thinking about lately is how much of the bible am I supposed to follow? I know the new testament is really good because its God's actual words, but what about the old testament such as Deuteronomy and Exodus that talks about the laws of the land. Am I just supposed to disregard them? There are over 640 laws in the old testament.
And no one follows them all or even tries. Other wise I would have to stop eating pork, never cut my hair, women would have to cover their face, and I would still be offering sacrifices to God. What I am getting to is where should I believe the bible and not?!?!?!?!
Like I said I agree with the new testament but the old testament confuses me.

Now to look to the old testament for advice that God gives is amazing and really helpful but where do we draw the line?

I have been struggling with this for a while so any well thought out answers would be much appreciated. :)
 
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Jeshuvan

Pastor
Staff member
#2
Apr 15, 2012
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Hi ,the Word of God =Bible is true throughout,both new and old testament.They tie together so perfectly,u just need someone like the Holy Spirit 2 reveal it 2 u.So I would believe all rely on all of it and dont consider one part less valuable than the other.Jesus did come and free us from the law of religion and customs 2 bring us into a glorious relationship with him.Just pray,ask God and he will teach u all things in his Word.Amen gbu John
 
crossnote

crossnote

Senior Member
#3
Nov 24, 2012
30,707
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#3
Read Acts 15. It helps to distinguih between what is required of a Jew under the old dispensation and a Christian under grace. Concentrate on Paul's writings since he is an Apostle to the Gentiles.
 
crossnote

crossnote

Senior Member
#4
Nov 24, 2012
30,707
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#4
Also Genesis Psalms John Romans
Galatians and Hebrews are the ones I mostly visit since they are central to the Gospel of Redemption .
 
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nathan3

Guest
#5
#5
You shouldn't think ,to draw any lines, when it comes to God's word.

Read all the bible and study it. Don't limit yourself. Christ is, mentioned in the Old testament. ( Palms 22: documents his death and every detail ,written a thousand years before the fact, by David ) Christ Himself, quoted the Old testament in many places. He was the living word. He quoted Daniel in Mark 13:, Luke 21: ,& Matthew 24:. There is so much prophecy fulfilled and yet to be, history vital also, to understanding Christ teachings and parables. and many other wonderful things.

God's word is deep and growing in your mind. Types are given in the Old testament even. For example : One of the plagues God sent on Egypt , when freeing the Israelites, was He sent the death angel to take the first born of those people. He told them to place the lambs blood on their door post, so that death would pass over them. That was a "type" or way to teach them of what was to come. That would be Christ blood, Him being the True Lamb slain for us; & belief and faith in Him, would save you from death, or Satan.. These go one in the entire old testament.

If you were to cut yourself off from half of God's word. you would loose a lot of understanding. That will limit yourself and Christ teachings.

You cannot understand the end without the Beginning.
 
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kenisyes

Guest
#6
#6
In the historical stories, God gives us His point of view about certain things that happened. (The police know that if 5 people see an accident, you get 5 different stories.) In the 613 laws, God gives Israel His point of view about the nature of the universe. All of Scripture gives us God's point of view. When you are in love with someone, that is something you want to share.

If you'd like to talk specifics, we can do that.
 
RickyZ

RickyZ

Senior Member
#7
Sep 20, 2012
9,635
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#7
As a new Christian (yeah!) you need to focus first on the New Testament issues and your relationship with Jesus. Once you have a foundational understanding in those, then you can go back and interpret the Old in the light of Christ. A lot of things Old that on their own seem like gobble de gook will make sense when you understand how Jesus handled and related to it. So concentrate for now on WWJD and then expand from there to What Did They Do?
 
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Skinski7

Banned
#8
Nov 26, 2011
3,818
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#8
jonathan1221 said:
Ok. So I have grown up in a christian home my entire life and I have been taught to believe is god's word. I still do believe that but how much is history that we can almost disregard?

What I have been thinking about lately is how much of the bible am I supposed to follow? I know the new testament is really good because its God's actual words, but what about the old testament such as Deuteronomy and Exodus that talks about the laws of the land. Am I just supposed to disregard them? There are over 640 laws in the old testament.
And no one follows them all or even tries. Other wise I would have to stop eating pork, never cut my hair, women would have to cover their face, and I would still be offering sacrifices to God. What I am getting to is where should I believe the bible and not?!?!?!?!
Like I said I agree with the new testament but the old testament confuses me.

Now to look to the old testament for advice that God gives is amazing and really helpful but where do we draw the line?

I have been struggling with this for a while so any well thought out answers would be much appreciated. :)
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Do you live in the theocratic nation of ancient Israel?

Faith works by love and therefore righteousness is by faith. Righteousness is not by outward adherence to the law of Moses or anyone else for that matter. Simply do what is right from the heart all the time by yielding to the leading of God.

Gal 5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
Gal 5:5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
Gal 5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

I recommend reading the Gospel of John several times carefully and just let it sink in. Reflect on what you read, examine yourself, and pray.

God rewards those who diligently seek truth. Jesus is the truth.
 
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jonathan1221

Guest
#9
#9
Thank you all for answering my posts. I still haven't really had my post answered though.
I am still reading the old testament and I often enjoy it more than the New Testament.
But my main question is are we supposed to just disregard all the laws in the Old Testament? How can someone say follow the Ten commandments but than disregard all of the other laws GIVEN BY GOD at the exact same time?

To answer the Acts 15 I read it and it seems to me that the Paul is saying for new Christians just try to follow the commandments given by Jesus himself. Because new Christians can become bogged down and feel like they can never follow all of Moses' law.

As for me though I am not as some might say a "new" christian. I just want to hear what people think on the old testament laws. I often struggle with what in the bible affects me and what doesn't.

Like I said earlier I love the old testament and God does many miracles in it. But what about the law of Moses does God want us to just disregard it?
 
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jonathan1221

Guest
#10
#10
Skinski7 said:
Do you live in the theocratic nation of ancient Israel?

Faith works by love and therefore righteousness is by faith. Righteousness is not by outward adherence to the law of Moses or anyone else for that matter. Simply do what is right from the heart all the time by yielding to the leading of God.

Gal 5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
Gal 5:5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
Gal 5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

I recommend reading the Gospel of John several times carefully and just let it sink in. Reflect on what you read, examine yourself, and pray.

God rewards those who diligently seek truth. Jesus is the truth.
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I agree with you that we can not get to heaven by our own self-righteousness but doesn't God want us to strive to become better people and follow his commandments?
I know I will NEVER be perfect but God wants us to strive for that does he not?
 
JGPS

JGPS

Banned
#11
Jan 11, 2013
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#11
Everything was given for a reason. There's a fairly easy way to judge what you should do and what you don't need to.

What can you do? Do it. What is not possible to do? Don't do it.

God does not expect you to do the impossible, and much of The Law is not possible by virtue of not living in that time and not having that infrastructure.

I suppose some substitution is fine, like tithing to a church rather than a priesthood, but for the most part if it is not possible then don't do it.
 
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jonathan1221

Guest
#12
#12
JGPS said:
Everything was given for a reason. There's a fairly easy way to judge what you should do and what you don't need to.

What can you do? Do it. What is not possible to do? Don't do it.

God does not expect you to do the impossible, and much of The Law is not possible by virtue of not living in that time and not having that infrastructure.

I suppose some substitution is fine, like tithing to a church rather than a priesthood, but for the most part if it is not possible then don't do it.
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But Jesus says nothing is impossible through God.

So if God wants us to follow all of the commandments than shouldn't we?
From what I understand from your posts is only follow God when it is convenient or easy. Which I don't agree much with.
 
Stephen63

Stephen63

Banned
#13
Aug 15, 2009
9,745
179
0
#13
jonathan1221 said:
Ok. So I have grown up in a christian home my entire life and I have been taught to believe is god's word. I still do believe that but how much is history that we can almost disregard?

What I have been thinking about lately is how much of the bible am I supposed to follow? I know the new testament is really good because its God's actual words, but what about the old testament such as Deuteronomy and Exodus that talks about the laws of the land. Am I just supposed to disregard them? There are over 640 laws in the old testament.
And no one follows them all or even tries. Other wise I would have to stop eating pork, never cut my hair, women would have to cover their face, and I would still be offering sacrifices to God. What I am getting to is where should I believe the bible and not?!?!?!?!
Like I said I agree with the new testament but the old testament confuses me.

Now to look to the old testament for advice that God gives is amazing and really helpful but where do we draw the line?

I have been struggling with this for a while so any well thought out answers would be much appreciated. :)
Click to expand...
You know there are over 640 laws in the Old Testament, but do not know what to believe? I'm at a loss to understand how you know so much about the law, yet have no understanding of what to believe as a Christian. Just wondering..............

 
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Skinski7

Banned
#14
Nov 26, 2011
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#14
jonathan1221 said:
I agree with you that we can not get to heaven by our own self-righteousness but doesn't God want us to strive to become better people and follow his commandments?
I know I will NEVER be perfect but God wants us to strive for that does he not?
Click to expand...
The law only addresses the outward conduct or the "clothing" of righteousness. A wolf can wear the clothing of a sheep, a spy can wear a disguise. Thus the clothing or the disguise is not actual righteousness in and of itself. This is why we are not justified by the law, if we were justified by the law then wolves would be real sheep and spies would really be their alter-ego.

True righteousness is by a faith that works by love. It is inside ------> outside rather than outside -------> inside.

Jesus condemned the Pharisees for being fakes because they only had an outward "appearance" of righteousness but were inwardly still defiled.

Hence Paul teaches in Gal 5:6 that faith works by love. For it is love which fulfills the law. Love is only manifested through a person who is in complete submission to the leading of God, ie. they walk after the Spirit instead of being ruled over by the lusts of the flesh.

Therefore Jesus preached that we are to strive to enter in at the strait gate and narrow way which is to deny ourselves, pick up our cross and actually follow Jesus. ie we DO what He told us to do.

So we are not under the bondage of the Law of Moses of "touch not, taste not" yet we are under the bondage of righteousness from the heart. This is a yolk that is easy to bear because God empowers those who abide in Jesus Christ for they have died to self and instead yield to the power of God.

Rom 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Rom 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Rom 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

A bond servant of righteousness instead of being a bond servant of sin.

We get to choose whom we will serve. Either the ways of Satan or the ways of God. What we actually do is a reflection of who our master is.
 
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jonathan1221

Guest
#15
#15
Stephen63 said:
You know there are over 640 laws in the Old Testament, but do not know what to believe? I'm at a loss to understand how you know so much about the law, yet have no understanding of what to believe as a Christian. Just wondering..............
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As I said I have grown up in a christian family my entire life, and I was taught that the bible was ALWAYS true. Now I am beginning to question that though. I know how I become a Christian and I know the most important things God wants me to do. He has an amazing hand in my life and I just want to know what people think about the law of the Old Testament.
 
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jonathan1221

Guest
#16
#16
Skinski7 said:
The law only addresses the outward conduct or the "clothing" of righteousness. A wolf can wear the clothing of a sheep, a spy can wear a disguise. Thus the clothing or the disguise is not actual righteousness in and of itself. This is why we are not justified by the law, if we were justified by the law then wolves would be real sheep and spies would really be their alter-ego.

True righteousness is by a faith that works by love. It is inside ------> outside rather than outside -------> inside.

Jesus condemned the Pharisees for being fakes because they only had an outward "appearance" of righteousness but were inwardly still defiled.

Hence Paul teaches in Gal 5:6 that faith works by love. For it is love which fulfills the law. Love is only manifested through a person who is in complete submission to the leading of God, ie. they walk after the Spirit instead of being ruled over by the lusts of the flesh.

Therefore Jesus preached that we are to strive to enter in at the strait gate and narrow way which is to deny ourselves, pick up our cross and actually follow Jesus. ie we DO what He told us to do.

So we are not under the bondage of the Law of Moses of "touch not, taste not" yet we are under the bondage of righteousness from the heart. This is a yolk that is easy to bear because God empowers those who abide in Jesus Christ for they have died to self and instead yield to the power of God.

Rom 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Rom 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Rom 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

A bond servant of righteousness instead of being a bond servant of sin.

We get to choose whom we will serve. Either the ways of Satan or the ways of God. What we actually do is a reflection of who our master is.
Click to expand...
Ok thank you so much! I think this is seriously helping me. To summarize your writing, I am supposed to throw away the Old testament laws and Only follow the laws that Jesus tells us to follow. The Bible does say the only way to God is through Jesus Christ.

I do understand why to follow the Ten commandments according to what you stated because Jesus says multiple times to follow them. As well Jesus directly disobeyed the laws of Moses, such as healing people on the Sabbath.
 
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oOfallen_angelOo

Guest
#17
#17
Romans 15: 4

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[TD="class: btext, colspan: 2, align: justify"]For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."[/TD]
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The Old Testament is a revelation for the New Testament; meaning through understanding the situations of the people and historical figures in the old testament, one learns the spiritual reality of the New Testament. That is why you see names such as King David who lived in the Old Testament, spoken about thousands of years later in the New Testament - even Revelations!

Revelations talks about the " times of Noah," as a reflection back to those actual historical times, to understand the spiritual situation and reality of our times. You gain clarity for the future from the past; God is a master at this in the bible.

This is why people are so confused when they try to read the bible; they cannot understand it because they don't even realize that the bible is written this way, and that various verses are mated together in the bible in a sequence that reveals the most pressing logic of the bible -

Prophecy.

Revelations 22:7

" Behold I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of prophecy of this book."

There it is for you in clear biblical words. Pay attention to the prophecy of the bible, and the law of God your suppose to follow will be written on your heart as Jesus Christ expressed after establishing the New Covenant.

Just for clarification, the prophecy of the bible is how pre - cursor events predicted in the past played out in the future exactly according to God's words. No human can do that, so don't think for a second some people just sat down and wrote the bible. People would have literally had to go into the future, or die and live again in order to meet up in a group to write 66 books of accurate prophecy spending 6,000 years of salvation works in the bible.

What person lives 6,000 years? Who can know the future thousands of years ahead of time without some type of divine revelation.

Exactly no one. The bible is truly the divine work of God - and when you learn the prophecy, you will never look at God, the bible or even this world the same.

You will be so blessed and develop a love for God your heart has never known.

So how do you learn the prophecy?

All I did was ask God when my heart and mind were finally for him. Now I was a " Christian" for most my life - born and raised. But I don't even consider myself a Christian at that time, because I read the bible but did not understand it, nor knew the true love and what it really means to fear God - that is, I'm more concerned with breaking one of his commandments and upsetting him, then I am about being able to take care of my own physical body.

He is truly the Almighty and people demand to see miracles so they can believe in God; even Christians ask this - but the power of God is in that mere book called the Bible - because not a word is misplaced or incorrect - and they are dead on.

All that stuff about heaven, all that stuff about hell - it's all true. And God goes so deep. Epically deep. I can honestly say that these millions of churches out there - don't know anything.

And I don't mean that arrogantly as if I'm some divine all knowing - I'm not, I just received one hell of a blessing and I'm so down to press on for my beloved God until the very end.

Please please please - it's good to have a curious heart into these matters, don't fall into the " fear " the churches try and make people have to not question the bible and what they believe.

Just don't make the mistake of the churches by trying to figure out the deepness that is God on your own.

If you want to know God - ask God to bless you with his wisdom.

I will pray earnestly for you, and hopefully you and I will find ourselves standing on the same side some day, and entering the eternal kingdom of heaven in the last days which God eagerly promised and sacrificed himself for.

Make sure your heart and mind are in the right place; God knows if you are eager to be one of his children -

And you will be re - born as one. Very fully, and not like these " born again Christians," whom are still so caught up in the world they don't even realize they are still being deceived to sin.

You will identify so much idolatry, so many false gods even Christians have come to unintentionally - some intentionally worship - which violates the law not to have any other gods before God. You will understand the deception, you will see the evil spirits for what they really were -

It's intense lol, but very necessary.

Like I said, I only know what I know because I asked God to know - and man...did he let me know lol.

I say this is why God gives us eternal life, because once you get a glimpse you will forever be grateful to a love the world has never known.

God Bless
 
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Skinski7

Banned
#18
Nov 26, 2011
3,818
62
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#18
jonathan1221 said:
Ok thank you so much! I think this is seriously helping me. To summarize your writing, I am supposed to throw away the Old testament laws and Only follow the laws that Jesus tells us to follow. The Bible does say the only way to God is through Jesus Christ.

I do understand why to follow the Ten commandments according to what you stated because Jesus says multiple times to follow them. As well Jesus directly disobeyed the laws of Moses, such as healing people on the Sabbath.
Click to expand...
This is because the 10 Commandments are but a shadow of love. We don't serve shadows, we serve the source.

This is why those who are "in Christ" are not under the law because the "righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us who walk after the Spirit" (Rom 8:4).

The law is not "thrown away" but rather the "righteousness of it" is "fulfilled by a faith that works by love."

This is why Jesus would teach that loving God and loving your nieghbour are the two greatest commandments upon which all the law is established.

Thus when Jesus broke the "letter" of the law by healing on the Sabbath He was actually fulfilling the righteousness of the law for the "letter" is but a shadow. The Pharisees were deceived into thinking that the "letter" was the source of life never understanding that it was but a mere shadow.

This is why a Christian has liberty in Christ. Not liberty to walk in the lusts of the flesh and sin but rather a liberty to do what is right and not be restricted by shadows.

It is the letter that kills but it is the Spirit which brings life.

2Co 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

Be careful of legalists who emphasise the letter over the Spirit. They are in error.

Also be careful of those who emphasise liberty as a cloak for ongoing sin. They are also in error.
 
J

jonathan1221

Guest
#19
#19
Through reading your posts, talking to my parents, and revelations God has showed me I can now know what is important and what isn't.

Jesus' word is the most important and what we are supposed to follow. The old testament laws were put in place so that people could become justified by the law. But when Jesus came he set us from the justification of Moses' law which and at the same time set the commandments that we should live by.
The messages God teaches is the most important part of the Bible and should be what we use to say to ourselves have we sinned?
If we have than we need to as God to forgive us and not just because the Bible says too but because we should desire to live after God. God will only forgive a sincere heart not a boastful or prideful one.

Thank you everyone who posted you have made things easier for myself. I have been reading the laws of the Old testament lately that is why I felt the need to ask this question.
 
JGPS

JGPS

Banned
#20
Jan 11, 2013
629
0
0
#20
No, I mean God made some things impossible. Nothing is impossible for God, but God can make things impossible for a person to do. That's a pretty big difference.

And following where possible isn't even close to following where continent.
 
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