Do you want the bondage of the old testament law or to maximize God's unlimited power in Ephesians?

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1. Introduction
   
   
2. The gospels were written directly TO ISRAEL!
   
   
3. See the Lord's prayer from a totally new perspective!
   
   
4. What are the benefits to us of knowing that the gospels are written directly to the Israelites?
   
   
5. 13 Point Summary
   
   

INTRODUCTION

Its sad, but the vast majority of christians are under the bondage of the old testament law, which by definition, includes the gospels.

Objective:

• Teach the bible about the house of Israel & who the gospels are actually written to
• Compare the Lord's prayer to the prayers in Ephesians
• Realize the benefits of being freed from the bondage of the old testament laws

Goal/purpose:

Galatians 5:1
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Ephesians 4:14
"That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;"

To make our bible studies more effective in producing desired results.

THE GOSPELS WERE WRITTEN DIRECTLY TO ISRAEL!

From one perspective, God puts everybody on earth in one of three great categories:

• The jews [Judeans] of the old testament & gospel period
• The gentiles, who are all the unsaved people, especially in other, non-Israelite nations
• The church of God, who are all the christians (the body of Christ) since the day of Pentecost in 28A.D.

I Corinthians 10:32
Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:

biblegateway.com

In the search box near the top, type in "house of israel" with quotes.

If you check every usage, you can see that the phrase "house of israel" is used in the bible 154 times.

1. 148 times in the OT
2. Twice in the gospels [which actually are the completion, the fulfillment, of the old testament]
3. Twice in the book of Acts
4. Twice in the book of Hebrews

Not one time is it used in any "church epistle" - Romans - Thessalonians, which are written directly to us, the body of Christ. That's very important!

COMPARE HOW THESE 9 PAULINE EPISTLES BEGIN WITH THE GOSPELS!

The job of an apostle is to bring new light to their generation.

To verify and clarify, notice how the 7 epistles, written directly to the body of christ, all begin:

Romans 1:7
To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is very different from the way the gospels begin!

I Corinthians 1
1 Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their's and our's:
3 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

II Corinthians 1
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia:
2 Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Galatians 1
1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)
2 And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:
3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,

Ephesians 1
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:
2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1
1 Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
2 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Colossians 1
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother,
2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I Thessalonians 1:1
Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

II Thessalonians 1
1 Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
2 Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

See the pattern? The opening verses are all very similar.



Matthew 1:1
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Mark 1
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;
2 As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.

3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.

Luke 1
1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,
2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;

3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,
4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.

5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

John 1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.

3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.



Jesus' instructions to the 12 disciples was not to go into the way of the gentiles, nor any city in Samaria, but go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

That's very clear, direct, and emphatic instructions. The function of the 12 disciples was an extension of Jesus Christ's own ministry, so these commands applied to him as well.

Greek lexicon of Matthew 10:5 Now go to the Strong's column, link #1484

Definition of gentiles
Strong's Concordance #1484
ethnos: a race, a nation, pl. the nations (as distinct from Israel.)
Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter
Phonetic Spelling: (eth' -nos)
Definition: a race, people, nation; the nations, heathen world, Gentiles.

HELPS Word-studies
1484 ethnos (from etho, "forming a custom, culture") - properly, people joined by practicing similar customs or common culture; nation(s), usually referring to unbelieving Gentiles (non-Jews).

Map of ancient Israel

You can see Samaria between the sea of Galilee on the north and the dead sea to the south and between the Jordan river in the center and the Mediterranean sea to the left.



Matthew 10:23
But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.

E. W. Bullinger's companion bible online Go to the new testament, then Matthew, page 26 [in pdf format]

To see the text better, you can go to the lower right, move your mouse over the magnifying glass with the + sign to enlarge it so you can read it better, and go to the note on verse 6. It says "house of Israel. a Hebraism = family of Israel.

What is a hebraism?

Definition of hebraism
World English Dictionary
Hebraism ('hi:brei izem)
- n
a linguistic usage, custom, or other feature borrowed from or particular to the Hebrew language, or to the Jewish people or their culture

Are any of us members of the house of israel? No, absolutely not. So Jesus was sent directly to them, not to us. The gospels were written directly to the house of israel & not to us. That's extremely important.

Matthew 15:24
But he answered and said, I am not sent but [except] unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

This corroborates what Jesus said in Matthew 10 - he was sent ONLY TO ISRAEL!

Galatians 4 [amplified bible]
4 But when the proper time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born subject to [the regulations of] the Law,
5 To purchase the freedom of (to ransom, to redeem, to [a]atone for) those who were subject to the Law, that we might be adopted and have sonship conferred upon us [and be recognized as God's sons].

Matthew 5:17
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.



100% of the bible was inspired by God himself and was perfect when it was originally given. However, we must be able to distinguish between God's word and man's word in order to rightly divide God's word as II Timothy 2:15 says.

In our modern bibles, the punctuation, chapter headings, the marking of chapters & verses, center references and notes, etc were all added by man. They are the works of men, and not the works of God. Therefore, they are sometimes helpful for reading and reference purposes, but are totally devoid of divine authority.



Since the gospels are the completion of the old testament, that page dividing the New and Old Testaments should have been placed between the gospel of John and the book of Acts.

But the place it was put before the book of Matthew was an erroneous and destructive work of men because it places christians under the bondage of the old testament law, that as we have seen, Jesus Christ has already fulfilled.

When did Jesus fulfill the old testament law? During his ministry, which is recorded in the gospels. They are the completion of the old testament law. Jesus was sent to redeem them that were under the old testament law, so who would that be? Israel, the only group of people in I Corinthians 10 he was sent to.

Romans 3:19
Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.



[Painting of Moses by José de Ribera (1638)]

Here it is again: the old testament law was written to them under it, who is Israel. Jesus was sent to redeem them out from under that law, which is recorded in the gospels. They are the completion, the fulfillment of the old testament prophesies.

Romans 15 [written in approximately 57A.D. Pentecost was in 28A.D., so we are talking about a period of more than 29 years]
4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime [pentecost] were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
8 Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of [to] the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:

All of the old testament was written hundreds or even thousands of years before the day of Pentecost, so none of the old testament was written directly to us, the members of the body of Christ because we didn't even exist then.



Since the gospels records events that occurred before the day of Pentecost, they are also written FOR OUR LEARNING and not directly to us, members of the body of Christ. In the gospel period, Israel was the BRIDE of Christ, which is a very different group of people than the body of Christ.

The circumcision [that was made without hands] was figuratively used of Israel. The physical circumcision of a man was also a symbol of purity & a badge of the covenant God had made to Israel back in Genesis 17.

I Corinthians 10
1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
11 Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

So once again, this corroborates what Romans and all the other verses we've covered on this subject - the old testament was written "for our admonition", for our learning, and not to us.

SEE THE LORD'S PRAYER FROM A NEW PERSPECTIVE

Now that we have established who the gospels are written to, let's examine the famous Lord's prayer and see it from a totally new perspective.

Matthew 6:9
After this manner therefore pray ye:

Definition of ye
British Dictionary definitions for ye
ye
- pronoun
1.archaic , dialect or refers to more than one person including the person addressed but not including the speaker

So who are the ye??? Not us! Its referring directly to Israel, the circumcision, the bride of Christ, during the old testament law period. So why do all the churches believe that the ye is referring to us?



Acts 21:20
And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews [Judeans] there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:

Many people in our day & time are also legalistic in their religious doctrines & practices. From a biblical & spiritual perspective, this is simply the adversary's [Satan's] way of putting people back under the bondage of the old testament law through corrupt man-made systems of religion.

Ephesians 6:12
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

So now let us go back to the Lord's prayer:

Matthew 6
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. [ye who? Ye people of Israel! Not us the body of Christ! That didn't exist at that time.]
10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, AS we forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Look at verse 14 & 15 - its conditional forgiveness. In other words, if I don't forgive you, then I won't be forgiven by God.

Under the old testament law, forgiveness was conditional!

[Street scene at the archeological excavations at Ephesus, courtesy of "Ad Meskens"]

Contrast this with:
Ephesians 4:32
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. [UNconditional forgiveness]

God has already forgiven us for everything when we got born again of his spirit. Anytime we do something wrong after being born again, we can get forgiveness directly from God, bypassing the conditional forgiveness of the old testament law.

I John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Because of the accomplished works of Jesus Christ, we have so much more than what Israel had under the law. And who is the book of Ephesians written to?

Ephesians 1
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:
2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now contrast the Lord's prayer in Matthew 6 to a prayer by Paul the apostle in Ephesians!

Ephesians 1
15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;

17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: [hmm... the lords prayer didn't mention any of this!!!]
18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, [hmm... the lords prayer didn't mention any of this either!!!]

19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, [the lords prayer didn't mention any of this either!!! Why is that? Because Jesus Christ fulfilled the old testament laws and made so much more available to us].
20 Which he wrought [energized] in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: [the lords prayer didn't mention any of this either!!!]
22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

As if that wasn't enough, chapter 3 goes even farther!!!

Ephesians 3
12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
[the lords prayer didn't say ANYTHING about having boldness, access [to God] and confidence. Maybe THIS should be the Lord's prayer instead!]
13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh [is energized] in us,
21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Did you compare all these other verses to the prayer of the Israelites? [the Lord's prayer]



Galatians 3:13
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

Galatians 5:1
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Notice that in the very same verse, the yoke of bondage [legalism, the burden of the old testament law] is the opposite of the liberty that Christ has given to us.

There's nothing wrong with the gospels, or any other books of the bible for that matter, because they are all authored by God himself. However, there is the wrong application of scripture, which would be to believe that the gospels, [the fulfillment of the old testament laws], are written directly to us, the body of Christ. That is where the error has come in.

What are the benefits to us of knowing that the gospels are written directly to the Israelites?

In general, these are just some the benefits:

• Freedom from the bondage of the old testament laws
• Maximize God's grace to you
• Increase the power of God in your life
• Live the mystery of Christ in you
• Get greater rewards and crowns at the return of Christ
• Be more than a conqueror

For more specific advantages, look at these verses:

Matthew 5:39
But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Contrast this verse with one in James:

James 4:7
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

This looks like a contradiction, but it isn't because these two verses were written to two different groups of people in 2 different biblical administrations.



Luke 6:29
And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also.

We don't have to let the world steal our things either.

Matthew 3
1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.



John 8
31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Mark 10
11 And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.
12 And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.

Millions and millions of people would be guilty of adultery today if we lived under these old testament laws. We live in the age of grace, so we can divorce and remarry without sinning against God. Of course, we want to avoid divorce if at all possible, but there can be valid reasons for divorce, such as abuse, addictions, illegal activities, etc.

Matthew 6
7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

How ironic it is! Verse 7 says to the Israelites not to use vain repetitions in their prayers as the heathen do, yet most of the churches I've been to repeat the Lord's prayer over and over and over again, just like the heathen! This prayer was written directly to Israel, and not to us, so we don't have to say this anymore!!! God has upgraded our prayers to the level of Ephesians and beyond.



Ephesians 6
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,

20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.



James 4
6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Again in James, we are to resist the devil, and not let him crush us under his feet, like in the gospels. There are no contradictions in the bible because the gospels and Ephesians were written to two different groups of people in different biblical administrations which are different periods of time that have different principles and truths governing them.

In the gospels, Jesus was on earth, fulfilling the old testament laws of Moses. But now that all those laws have already been accomplished, we are in a new administration of grace and Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of God in heaven.

God revealed to the apostle Paul the great mystery where we have Christ in us, the hope of glory. The Judeans and gentiles are now part of the same body of Christ, as opposed to having great divisions between them in the gospels.

I John 3
1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

SUMMARY

1. There are 3 groups of people: the Judeans [God's saved people of the old testament & gospel period], the gentiles [all the unsaved unbelievers], and the church of God [born-again believers after the day of Pentecost in 28AD]
   
   
2. Jesus Christ was only sent to the lost sheep of the house [family] of Israel and was forbidden by God to go to any country outside of Israel [this is why the Mormon's claim that Jesus went to America is false!]
   
   
3. As an extension of his own ministry, Jesus Christ only sent his disciples and apostles to the lost sheep of the house [family] of Israel and commanded them not to go to any country outside of Israel
   
   
4. Jesus Christ was born under the old testament law & was sent to fulfill the old testament law, therefore, the gospels are the last part of, or the fulfillment of, the old testament!
   
   
5. One of the greatest man-made mistakes ever made in regards to putting the books of the bible together was to add the page introducing the New Testament between the book of Malachi and the book of Matthew, making the gospels part of the new testament instead of being the last 4 books of the old testament as they should be!
   
   
6. All of the old testament, from Genesis to the gospel of John, are written directly to the family of Israel and not to us, the born-again believers in the body of Christ in this administration of grace
   
   
7. All of the old testament, from Genesis to the gospel of John, are written for our learning and for our admonition, but not directly to us.
   
   
8. In the Lord's prayer, if I didn't forgive somebody else, then God did not forgive me, so forgiveness was conditional. In Ephesians, God has already provided unconditional forgiveness through the completed works of Jesus Christ.
   
   
9. We no longer have to turn the other cheek to the world, since Jesus Christ already fulfilled all of the old testament laws. We are no longer under them and the bondage that goes along with it. Now that's something to be thankful for!
   
   
10. We should not even say the Lord's prayer anymore because it was written directly to the family of Israel. God has already provided a major upgrade to our prayers in the book of Ephesians almost 2,000 years ago!
    
    
11. We no longer have to get baptized in water since Jesus Christ fulfilled that law too. We are now baptized in the name of Jesus Christ when we get born again of God's spirit
    
    
12. We no longer need to confess our sins to a priest. That is old testament law, often shown in movies. If we need forgiveness, we simply go directly to God with our sins and get instant forgiveness
    
    
13. In this age of grace, we are sons of God, born of incorruptible seed; spiritual athletes of God wrestling against the powers of darkness instead of being soldiers of the lord in the old testament