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At 11:32 AM 5/19/2012, you wrote:
Dear Khalilur,
I’m going to respond to your questions, line by line. I think this would be the most accurate way to deal with each of them. I pray God’s peace upon you.
Your wrote: “We all know that Christianity is the continuation of Judaism.” This is not an accurate statement. “Christianity” is just a general label for those who name the name of Christ. It is not a ‘continuation of Judaism’, but the actual original purpose for Judaism. Christ is the Savior of the World. God has clearly said that ‘the soul that sins, it shall die’. He warned Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, saying: ‘in the day you eat of it, you shall die’. He then cursed the woman, the man and the serpent. The curse to the serpent went like this: ‘And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel’. Jesus is the seed of the Woman spoken of here. Jesus was ‘bruised’ on the cross and the devil’s power (his head was ‘bruised’, the head represents power, authority). When Adam and Eve sinned, they turned over the authority of their lives and the entire earth to Satan. By obeying him, they became his slaves and we ourselves, as their offspring were born in their image, fallen from God and slaves of the devil. Sin is our natural state of being. We are desperately wicked, but Jesus came to deliver us from this evil. He did so by becoming the substitutionary lamb for us.
If you actually study Judaism, you will see that God instituted many different types of sacrifices, including the slaughter of bulls and lambs for the covering of the sins of the people of Israel. All of these were instituted by God to teach the Jewish people and as an example for us other nations of the coming of the Messiah, Jesus.
God made it abundantly clear, over and over, that without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission for sin.
It is a right assertion that those who sin must die, as you alluded to, but you cannot forget who God declared Himself to be when He appeared to Moses. "(6) And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, (7) "keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation."" - (Exd 34:6-7 NKJV)
Notice that God does not ‘clear the guilty’. How can He do this and yet ‘ forgiveinquity and transgression and sin’? Only by the shedding of INNOCENT blood.
He had them kill innocent lambs, bulls, turtledoves and goats, all as symbols of the ultimate sacrifice that He Himself would make.
….”He gave His Only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him would not perish by have everlasting life”. (John 3:16).
You wrote: “New Testament also, up to the days of Jesus, more or less, was maintaining Monotheism. But the picture is totally changed after the departure of Jesus from this world. Paul who was one of the staunched enemies of Jesus & some other disciple of Jesus, started talking about three Gods. They developed the concept of Trinity, God the Father, God the Son & Holy Ghost. I think, they developed this concept to face some of the questions of Jews. We know that Jesus did not have any father. Paul & other disciples, may be, ashamed of this fact that Jesus did not have father. So, they started talking that God is his father & Jesus is begotten son of God.”
I see that you believe that the teaching of the Trinity is only in the New Testament, but as I demonstrated here, the New Testament is the fulfillment of the Old Testament, not a completely new religion. Christ came to be the lamb of God. If you actually study the Old Testament you see that God often refers to Himself as ‘us’. In Genesis He said “let US make man in OUR image”. Only God is the CREATOR, correct? Yes, of course. Only He could be the Creator. If you look, then, at the “New” Testament, in Colossians 1: 16 you read this “For by Him all things werecreated that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things werecreated through Him and for Him.” This is obviously God, for only He is the Creator, do you agree?
Now look at this entire passage: Colossians 1: 17-20: "And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.""And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.""For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,""and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross."
As you can see, this passage is clearly saying that Jesus is the Creator, who is God and that the Father is also God.
Now, I know that you believe that Paul was making up that God was Jesus’ father because he was embarrassed that the one he called messiah had no father, but that’s just simply not true.
Let me point to what Jesus said about Himself in the book of John: (This is kind of long…..)
John 6:32-58: "Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always.""
"And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day. The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?"" Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves.”No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. "Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.”Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. "I am the bread of life."Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. "This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die."I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?" Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. "Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
"For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed."He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. "As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. "This is the bread which came down from heaven--not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.""
Ok, I’ll leave off here and get back to you later about your other questions. I hope you respond and let me know you think about the things I’ve written.
Dear Khalilur,
I’m going to respond to your questions, line by line. I think this would be the most accurate way to deal with each of them. I pray God’s peace upon you.
Your wrote: “We all know that Christianity is the continuation of Judaism.” This is not an accurate statement. “Christianity” is just a general label for those who name the name of Christ. It is not a ‘continuation of Judaism’, but the actual original purpose for Judaism. Christ is the Savior of the World. God has clearly said that ‘the soul that sins, it shall die’. He warned Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, saying: ‘in the day you eat of it, you shall die’. He then cursed the woman, the man and the serpent. The curse to the serpent went like this: ‘And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel’. Jesus is the seed of the Woman spoken of here. Jesus was ‘bruised’ on the cross and the devil’s power (his head was ‘bruised’, the head represents power, authority). When Adam and Eve sinned, they turned over the authority of their lives and the entire earth to Satan. By obeying him, they became his slaves and we ourselves, as their offspring were born in their image, fallen from God and slaves of the devil. Sin is our natural state of being. We are desperately wicked, but Jesus came to deliver us from this evil. He did so by becoming the substitutionary lamb for us.
If you actually study Judaism, you will see that God instituted many different types of sacrifices, including the slaughter of bulls and lambs for the covering of the sins of the people of Israel. All of these were instituted by God to teach the Jewish people and as an example for us other nations of the coming of the Messiah, Jesus.
God made it abundantly clear, over and over, that without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission for sin.
It is a right assertion that those who sin must die, as you alluded to, but you cannot forget who God declared Himself to be when He appeared to Moses. "(6) And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, (7) "keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation."" - (Exd 34:6-7 NKJV)
Notice that God does not ‘clear the guilty’. How can He do this and yet ‘ forgiveinquity and transgression and sin’? Only by the shedding of INNOCENT blood.
He had them kill innocent lambs, bulls, turtledoves and goats, all as symbols of the ultimate sacrifice that He Himself would make.
….”He gave His Only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him would not perish by have everlasting life”. (John 3:16).
You wrote: “New Testament also, up to the days of Jesus, more or less, was maintaining Monotheism. But the picture is totally changed after the departure of Jesus from this world. Paul who was one of the staunched enemies of Jesus & some other disciple of Jesus, started talking about three Gods. They developed the concept of Trinity, God the Father, God the Son & Holy Ghost. I think, they developed this concept to face some of the questions of Jews. We know that Jesus did not have any father. Paul & other disciples, may be, ashamed of this fact that Jesus did not have father. So, they started talking that God is his father & Jesus is begotten son of God.”
I see that you believe that the teaching of the Trinity is only in the New Testament, but as I demonstrated here, the New Testament is the fulfillment of the Old Testament, not a completely new religion. Christ came to be the lamb of God. If you actually study the Old Testament you see that God often refers to Himself as ‘us’. In Genesis He said “let US make man in OUR image”. Only God is the CREATOR, correct? Yes, of course. Only He could be the Creator. If you look, then, at the “New” Testament, in Colossians 1: 16 you read this “For by Him all things werecreated that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things werecreated through Him and for Him.” This is obviously God, for only He is the Creator, do you agree?
Now look at this entire passage: Colossians 1: 17-20: "And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.""And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.""For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,""and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross."
As you can see, this passage is clearly saying that Jesus is the Creator, who is God and that the Father is also God.
Now, I know that you believe that Paul was making up that God was Jesus’ father because he was embarrassed that the one he called messiah had no father, but that’s just simply not true.
Let me point to what Jesus said about Himself in the book of John: (This is kind of long…..)
John 6:32-58: "Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always.""
"And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day. The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?"" Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves.”No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. "Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.”Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. "I am the bread of life."Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. "This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die."I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?" Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. "Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
"For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed."He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. "As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. "This is the bread which came down from heaven--not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.""
Ok, I’ll leave off here and get back to you later about your other questions. I hope you respond and let me know you think about the things I’ve written.