Gal. 2:4 And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:
Imagine what it was like for those who were snared by the Mainstream Religion of Christ's time. Take the Word's of the Christ for instance.
Matt. 23:
2 Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:
3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
4 For they ( Pharisees, not God) bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
What were some of these "heavy Burdens"?
Imagine not being able to take a walk on God's Sabbath. Or not being able to pick an apple off your apple tree on a warm fall day when you and your family are dwelling on the things of God, and fasting from the world on His Holy Sabbath.
For example, consider the simple law of God forbidding a kid to be seethed in its mother’s milk (De. 14:21). Jewish tradition adds layers of strict laws to this simple prohibition. Talmudic kosher prohibits cooking a mixture of milk and meat, eating a cooked mixture of milk and meat, and deriving any benefit from a cooked mixture of milk and meat. This of course was not God's intent for this instruction. But the Jews, as the Christ said, were "teaching for doctrines, the commandments of men". To this day Orthodox Jews wait for at least six hours between eating meat and eating dairy products, since food leaves fragments between the teeth and there is the chance of the two being mixed in the mouth!
They also set aside God's Commandment regarding the stranger or gentile. Making their own commandment not to eat with or associate with anyone who isn't a Jew. This was not God's Commandment, rather, religious tradition of man. They called them the Law of Moses, but they were traditions of men.
Matt. 15:
1 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
Mark 7:
7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
These kinds of "burdens" placed on the necks of the people by the Pharisees were many. A man couldn't eat until he went through some sort of hand washing ceremony. There was no commandment from God to perform or follow these traditions, it was the religious tradition of the Jews.
Imagine the freedom Paul and other Jews experienced when they repented from and rejected the religious traditions of the Mainstream Preachers of that time and followed instead the Commandments of God.
Imagine just the change in the Priesthood. Jesus became our High Priest. No more Levites to filter or corrupt God's Words, No more sacrificial rituals or "works of the old Priesthood Law" to draw them near to God or cleanse them of their sins. Christ has shed His own Blood. Now they are "FREE" to serve, not religious traditions of men, but the Holy, Just and Good Commandments of God.
They were "freed" from those burdens that neither they nor their fathers were able to bear.
This was shown to the Preachers of that time but this truth was rejected. They still worked to convert Christians to their religion. They "Bewitched" the Galatians and those in Acts 15. But Peter was on to them.
Acts 15:10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
It is truly liberating to be free from the religious traditions of the land and just serve the Lord in His Righteousness. As He said.
1 John 5:
2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
A true Christian is freed from their sins, freed from the religious traditions of the land to "serve" the living God as Jesus did. This is the truth and the truth shall set us free.
Imagine what it was like for those who were snared by the Mainstream Religion of Christ's time. Take the Word's of the Christ for instance.
Matt. 23:
2 Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:
3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
4 For they ( Pharisees, not God) bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
What were some of these "heavy Burdens"?
Imagine not being able to take a walk on God's Sabbath. Or not being able to pick an apple off your apple tree on a warm fall day when you and your family are dwelling on the things of God, and fasting from the world on His Holy Sabbath.
For example, consider the simple law of God forbidding a kid to be seethed in its mother’s milk (De. 14:21). Jewish tradition adds layers of strict laws to this simple prohibition. Talmudic kosher prohibits cooking a mixture of milk and meat, eating a cooked mixture of milk and meat, and deriving any benefit from a cooked mixture of milk and meat. This of course was not God's intent for this instruction. But the Jews, as the Christ said, were "teaching for doctrines, the commandments of men". To this day Orthodox Jews wait for at least six hours between eating meat and eating dairy products, since food leaves fragments between the teeth and there is the chance of the two being mixed in the mouth!
They also set aside God's Commandment regarding the stranger or gentile. Making their own commandment not to eat with or associate with anyone who isn't a Jew. This was not God's Commandment, rather, religious tradition of man. They called them the Law of Moses, but they were traditions of men.
Matt. 15:
1 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
Mark 7:
7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
These kinds of "burdens" placed on the necks of the people by the Pharisees were many. A man couldn't eat until he went through some sort of hand washing ceremony. There was no commandment from God to perform or follow these traditions, it was the religious tradition of the Jews.
Imagine the freedom Paul and other Jews experienced when they repented from and rejected the religious traditions of the Mainstream Preachers of that time and followed instead the Commandments of God.
Imagine just the change in the Priesthood. Jesus became our High Priest. No more Levites to filter or corrupt God's Words, No more sacrificial rituals or "works of the old Priesthood Law" to draw them near to God or cleanse them of their sins. Christ has shed His own Blood. Now they are "FREE" to serve, not religious traditions of men, but the Holy, Just and Good Commandments of God.
They were "freed" from those burdens that neither they nor their fathers were able to bear.
This was shown to the Preachers of that time but this truth was rejected. They still worked to convert Christians to their religion. They "Bewitched" the Galatians and those in Acts 15. But Peter was on to them.
Acts 15:10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
It is truly liberating to be free from the religious traditions of the land and just serve the Lord in His Righteousness. As He said.
1 John 5:
2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
A true Christian is freed from their sins, freed from the religious traditions of the land to "serve" the living God as Jesus did. This is the truth and the truth shall set us free.
