No Moral Ceremonial Distinctions of Biblical Law, Part 4: A Response to Advent Defense League.

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]Hello there. Thank you so very much once again for joining me for part four in this series, No Moral Ceremonial Distinctions of Law in the Bible, a response to Advent Defense League, ADL.

[00:00:19]As mentioned before, sometimes in February 2026, the gentleman on the Advent Defense League made a very scathing critique of a recording I did sometimes 2017 2018.

[00:00:43]I speak with reference to the gentleman Dr. Jason Thomas, Elder Deion Ten, Dr. Randy Gothier. I hope I get that name correct. Forgive me if I mispronounce your names. Gentlemen, these gentlemen listened to that recording of mine and as mentioned, they made a very very strong response to it and that motivated me in part to do these responses.

[00:01:15]I am now at part four and in this section I'd like to do an exugesis, a brief exugesis of selected passages.

[00:01:24]However, before I get to that, may I invite you to visit my channels, Baldwin International Christian University, BICU, that is mybicu.org org or rest in Christ Community Church rccc.com or my YouTube channel Candid Biblical Exposures. They made the response to my presentation on the reason why I left the Seth Adventist Church. And as I listened to them and their remark etc., I discovered that a fundamental point of difference is the whole business of a moral ceremonial separation of laws in the Bible. This is a position that is held by the Advent Defense League and of course by the 7th Day Adventist Church that they seek to defend.

[00:02:23]It is a very very important theological position to take. It influences the way that many other things particularly the law of God in scripture is understood.

[00:02:40]As such, I made these presentations on the moral ceremonial distinctions or the Bible's presentation of law with respect to moral ceremonial separation. That said, let me get into the presentation as much as I possibly can. For this installment, I would like to do a brief exigesis of selected passages in the New Testament. Passages that are pivotal to the 7th day Adventist's position where the law is concerned and particularly passages that the gentlemen use. You know, just now I think I would like to play for you a clip of the gentleman's response to my presentation. It will provide a little bit more context or will help you to get a feel of their reaction, their approach to my approach.

[00:03:54]Put it that way. Huh? So please listen to this very short clip of the gentleman's you know reaction to me and then I will come back on the other end and we'll continue the conversation.

[00:04:09]This is going to be a very fascinating conversation. So please stay tuned.

[00:04:13]>> All right here we go.

[00:04:15]>> In the book I give the ex Jesus and the ramifications of it. Yes, I will go into all the details now but jump over the ten commandments. Mhm.

[00:04:22]>> Adventists conscience are bound to 10 commandments.

[00:04:27]>> And it's sad that they don't realize that the 10 commandments is not God the gold standard for law.

[00:04:37]>> Okay.

[00:04:38]>> It's not God's immutable unchangeable law that forms the platform for all other law.

[00:04:47]>> Wait, way we report.

[00:04:50]Wait, I'm sorry. Did I hear that correctly?

[00:04:55]Wait, there's no way I heard that.

[00:04:58]There's no way I heard that. Did I hear that the Ten Commandments of God are not immutable?

[00:05:06]They're not the standard. Is that what I heard? Or maybe maybe I misheard it.

[00:05:11]>> The Ten Commandments is not God. The gold standard for law.

[00:05:17]>> Okay. It's not God's immutable, unchangeable law that forms the platform for all other laws. No, >> have this is a different level.

[00:05:37]I I you know so funny. Can I can I show you something? His law is unchangeable.

[00:05:44]Matthew 5:18. Let's just go there. Let's just go there real quick. Jesus is not changing the ten commandments. He says Jesus is not changing that. Jesus is making it honorable. What does he say in Matthew chapter 5? Let's actually read it. He says this. He says, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy but to fulfill."

[00:06:11]Mhm.

[00:06:12]>> So if he's not destroying the law, why does he say that this law is destroyed?

[00:06:18]Changeable. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass one jot or one tit shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled.

[00:06:31]Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, our dear brother, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

[00:06:46]In context, he then goes over the commandments, thou shalt not kill. Jesus is saying this and we know Jesus is not talking about the ceremonial laws in port in in context here. all those laws that deal with your sins being forgiven because clearly Ephesians chapter 2 is telling us that there were things that were abolished but it wasn't the ten commandments right having abolished in this flesh the entity the law of commandments contained in ordinances the ones that were in the ordinances all those things that dealt with your sins being forgiven circumcision those were abolished so that cannot be what Jesus is talking about when he says think not that I'm going to destroy the law. Not one jot or tit shall pass from the law.

[00:07:31]>> I don't think I've ever heard, and I'm being honest when I say this, I don't know if I've ever heard a minister/critic ever use the terms that God's immutable law or God's law could be changeable.

[00:07:45]Amen. Our brother Clinton is one of those who believes that we are not subject to the law of God because it's changed.

[00:07:55]>> Lord have mercy.

[00:07:58]Have mercy, Lord. Have mercy.

[00:08:03]>> This is carnally minded thinking.

[00:08:06]>> People who are fighting against God's law. What law is he talking about in context?

[00:08:12]>> The same law he's speaking about in chapter 7 where he says in verse 7, it's the law of God. It's the ten commandments being highlighted in context.

[00:08:22]>> And that's the law that carnally minded people is fighting against.

[00:08:26]>> Come on. God's ten commandments.

[00:08:28]>> Come on, guys.

[00:08:29]>> A lot of emotions, a lot of disagreements.

[00:08:35]Oh my goodness.

[00:08:38]And let me just interject here, gentlemen.

[00:08:44]Jason, Deonte, Randy, Edwin was not there. That as we have these conversations about the Bible, about God's law and salvation, we must try our best to speak kindly of each other.

[00:09:08]If you listen to the entire presentation, you will hear quite a number of ad homonyms, quite a number of negative statements that were not so kind with respect to me. I'm going to ask gentlemen again that let us be Christian to each other.

[00:09:33]Let us assume that each of us has good intentions. I'm assuming that of you gentlemen. And I will not return the favor of saying things like carnally minded leaving the church because you want to publish books and negative things like those. That's not necessary. That's not necessary. And forgive me for interjecting here audience for pointing this out because you see it is a particular strategy with religious people as they have conversations and even debate on the scriptures. We demonize each other.

[00:10:12]Demonization of the other happens too often. And then now when you demonize the other, you will not need there is no need to listen to what they have to say.

[00:10:21]Everything they have to say is has to be wrong. the demon must be wrong. And so I'm going to ask not just those gentlemen but many others over the years. I've had it coming at me and others have seen it and I'm making a call for it to stop. Let's stop cursing each other when we have disagreements.

[00:10:43]It's not Christlike. We ought not to do the work of God with the spirit of may I say Satan? Forgive me for saying it.

[00:10:53]strongly, but I feel very strong about this because, you know, I've seen it so often has done tremendous damage over the years. So, please forgive me now for taking a little time out for that. Let's get into it. In the in section one, in the first presentation, I looked at something very very important and pivotal to the ex Jesus I will now do for these texts coming up and that is the covenantal context of law. A very very important uh reality and phenomenon to understand ladies and gentlemen is that laws within scripture are not standalone entities. They are covenantal expressions. They communicate covenants.

[00:11:42]That was set forth in section one. very very important because the laws are colored by the covenants within which they find themselves. And we look briefly at five major covenants. The Adamic covenant, the Noic covenant, the Abrahamic covenant, the count of Sinai and the covenant in Jesus Christ. And we discover that laws flow out of those covenants. And the laws as they flow from each covenantal expressions took on different nuancing. There was continuation and discontinuation. So much so that forms a platform or a basis for recognizing or treating the law in the Old Testament. And we discovered as we look at the law in the Old Testament, there's absolutely no moral ceremonial categorization of laws. The ancients had no such constructor. The ceremonial section of the law had many commands that are quote unquote moral in character. The quotes and quotes moral section of the law that is the ten commandments has ceremonial commands as well particularly the sabbath commandment. to go back to part two and part three where I give tremendous amount of facts to substantiate the position that the ten commandments has a ceremonial command the Sabbath in the heart of it very very important and then we look at Jesus and the apostles in the new testament section three and we uncovered there that they had no such conceptual framework of moral ceremony Monial categorization of laws. I'm going to appeal to my 7th Adventist brothers and sisters to abandon this position, abandon this argument because it is frankly untenable. You know, I do not know of any respectable seminary or theological institution anywhere in the world who will tell you who will teach that the Bible it categorizes law into moral and ceremonial camps distinctions. It is well known that this position of embaros on the distinction of law is a phenomenon of church history. It's a theological construct. It's more a modern construct trying to arrange the data set of from the Bible in a way that you know we can handle it. And as I outlined it started from the church fathers. Okay. So that's for a brief overview of what was done so far. Now there are a number of texts or passages which are very very pivotal to the 7th day Adventist position of a moral ceremonial separation of laws in the Bible. and the gentlemen, my brothers on Advent Defense League, always go back to these texts. I cannot treat all of them. I will just treat a few of them in short order. That is James 2, Hebrews 8 10-13, Matthew 5:17 and 18 and Ephesians chapter 2 15 and 16.

[00:15:31]Okay. So I'm just going to treat those briefly because these are bulletproof texts so to speak of Advent Defense League in the 7th Adventist Church to substantiate the position that God's law meaning the ten commandments must be kept. And here the Bible is purporting or advancing the ten commandments.

[00:16:00]Let's look briefly at James 2:es 10 and 11 and ask ourselves the question, was James here speaking of the Ten Commandments exclusively or was he speaking of all the laws of God?

[00:16:29]First of all, as we seek to interpret any passages from the Bible, a basic principle that we must observe, and that is before we seek to make applications to our times, we must first discover or uncover what the text or passage meant to its primary historical audience.

[00:17:03]What it meant must preede what it means.

[00:17:12]Very very important.

[00:17:16]So let's see if we can understand this where James is concerned. The book of James, one of the earliest book of the New Testament, said to be written by James, the brother of Jesus. Who was James? He was the first, may I say, general conference president of the church for those who are 7 Adventists, that's their language. The first pope if you're a Catholic, so to speak. But James was the very first leader of the early church.

[00:17:50]She had a position of rank even before Peter. Acts 15 and other places in the New Testament uh presents James as the leader of the early church. Much is known about James from early church tradition. Josephus, Segoipius and others.

[00:18:11]James was a Jew of Jew. He was a Christian but he was a Jewish Christian.

[00:18:19]When James was martyred in the early 60s, it is said that his martyrdom spawned much rebellion in Jerusalem that contributed to the Jewish revolt beginning AD646 lasted until AD70. The non-Christian Jews in Jerusalem were so angry, disappointed at the martyrdom of James that was instigated by the high priests then that they rebelled because James was known as James the just. He was a Christian but he was also very much Jewish in his practice of his Christianity. In section two we dealt with the position that the earliest Christians were all Jews and as Jews they continued to keep the entire Torah sections two section three of this series.

[00:19:33]He wrote this letter to the 12 tribes dispersed about in the diaspora we could say. So he described the church as the 12 tribes. He's using Jewish language here. And the letter you could say or his book is very much rooted in the Old Testament and is filled with tremendous amount of practical ethical demands for the Christian.

[00:20:08]In 2:10 he writes, "For whoever keeps the whole law and stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

[00:20:19]For he who says, "You shall not commit adultery," also said, "You shall not murder." But if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a law breaker. The punch point, verse 10, for whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point has become guilty of all of it.

[00:20:50]This is now the bulletproof text. As a 7th Adventist in my 50 years in the denomination for a large portion of the time, I used to use this text as well to support the validation, the keeping of the ten commandments. Because here, after all, James sites, do not commit adultery. H that's the seventh commandment. Do not murder.

[00:21:22]H I think that's number six. And these are commandments from the decol of course. And then he concludes for whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one is guilty of all of it. Was James purporting the Ten Commandments? Was James here making a distinction between moral or ceremonial laws? Was James here advancing the Ten Commandments exclusively?

[00:22:04]The problem is with my 7th day Adventist brothers and sisters is that when you read James chapter 2 verse 10 and 11 9 10 and 11 you read too limited a portion of James's conversation.

[00:22:27]Remember a basic principle of Bible study is that the Bible was not written in chapters and verses.

[00:22:38]Therefore, we've got to be very careful how we read verses, particular verses, and clinch a point or points from verses in particular. Remember the original was written in what we say paricopy chunks of information block of thought. So we need to look at the full sum conversation of what James was saying. Selecting a sentence or two from a conversation without looking at everything within the conversation can be misleading. So let's read the full context so to speak of James chapter 2 10 11 asks ourselves was James here making a distinction between moral ceremonial law or was James affirming the ten commandments exclusively.

[00:23:44]First question, James says that whosoever keeps the whole law.

[00:23:51]What is the whole law in context? We have to begin from at least chapter 1 verse 25.

[00:24:06]Let me say that James uses the term here the whole law, the law of liberty and the royal law interchangeably in his conversation here.

[00:24:23]The whole law equals the law of liberty or the royal law.

[00:24:31]We look at James 1 starting from verse 25 and there he's speaking about the law of liberty. He continues the conversation to 2:8 and he speaks of the royal law and he finishes or somewhat in 2:12 and he goes back to the law of liberty. A basic reading will show that he is using the terms the law of liberty, the royal law or the whole law interchangeably.

[00:25:14]So we now ask ourselves the question, what are the stipulations that James consider to be a part of the law of liberty or the whole law?

[00:25:31]In chapter 1 verse 25, I give you an overview.

[00:25:36]He lists not being a forgetful hearer.

[00:25:41]Chapter 126, bridle one's tongue.

[00:25:47]Chapter 127, visit the orphans and widows in their affliction and keep yourself unstained from the world.

[00:25:55]Chapter 2 1-9, he mentions, do not show partiality. I'm summarizing now. In chapter 2:8, interesting. Love your neighbor as yourself. And in chapter 211, do not commit adultery, do not murder from the ten commandments.

[00:26:18]Very very interesting. What are we seeing here?

[00:26:24]Let us read again from chapter 1 25 onwards and see how the terms law of liberty, royal law, law of the Lord, the whole law are used interchangeably.

[00:26:44]And look at what are the stipulations, the regulations, the commands that are said to be a part of this royal law, law of liberty, the whole law. Very, very interesting.

[00:27:06]James 1:25, please read with me. But one who has looked intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and has continued continued in it, not having become a forgetful hearer, but an active doer, this person will be blessed in what he does.

[00:27:31]So you look in the law of liberty, you not become a forgetful hearer, but an active doer.

[00:27:39]If anyone thinks himself to be religious, yet does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this person religion is worthless. So a part of the law of liberty is to bridle one's tongue.

[00:27:54]Now that's not found in the ten commandments, you know, but James is here saying that as a responsible Christian, you ought to bridle your tongue. Verse seven, pure and unreligion in the sight of our God and the father is this to visit the orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

[00:28:17]That's not a part of the ten commandments but a part of the law of liberty that James is here referencing or the whole law or the royal law taking care of the orphans and widows.

[00:28:31]Those are commandments that are taken you know from Deuteronomy and Leviticus and Exodus and all of those places in the Old Testament. sections of the law that Adventists would call the ceremonial law. But James is here citing visiting the fathers and the widows and the orphans in their distress.

[00:28:55]There's nowhere in the ten commandments that stipulates that one is to visit orphans and widows. But let's continue.

[00:29:03]My brothers and sisters, chapter 2 verse one. Do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.

[00:29:17]So favoritism is also a part of the law that James is talking about. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and is dressed in bright clothes, and a poor man in a dirty clothes also comes in, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the bright clothes, and say, "You sit here in a good place, and you say to the poor man, you stand over there or sit down by my foottool. Have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil motives? Listen my beloved brothers and sisters. Did not God chose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and hears of the kingdom which he promised to those who love him? But you have dishonor the poor man. It is not the rich who oppress oppress you and personally drag you into court.

[00:30:16]Do they not blasphe the good name by which you have been called? If you really keep the royal law found in scripture, love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convict of the law as a law breaker. It's very clear here that favoritism is part of the law that James is talking about the royal law or the law of liberty.

[00:30:51]And he's saying in verse 12, if you really keep the royal law found in scripture, love your neighbor as yourself. That is a commandment taken directly from Leviticus 19:18.

[00:31:09]But that is the section called ceremonial law. Love your neighbor as yourself. And do not show favoritism.

[00:31:20]There's nowhere in the decalogue that directly stipulates commands against favoritism.

[00:31:30]Verse 9. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convey the law as lawb breaker. Forever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who says you shall not commit adultery, he's now quoting from the decolon also said do not murder. But if you do not commit adultery and do commit murder, you have become a lawb breaker. So speak and act as though those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. But the law of liberty is the law that contains that stipulates against favoritism. The law that say you ought to visit the fathers and the orphans and the widows in their affliction. The law that says bridley your tongue. That's not exactly the ten commandments.

[00:32:21]So when James here in James chapter 2 10 and 11 references the two stipulations from the ten commandments he was using the two in an exemplary manner. He was using the two commit adultery and murder in the same way he was citing do not show favoritism, visit the fathers and widows in their affection etc. He was not here singling out the 10 commandments and holding it up as I would say the gold standard or the benchmark. He was simply here using two commands from the 10 as an example just as how he used other commandments.

[00:33:17]Love your neighbor as yourself, do not show favoritism, visit the orphans, the widows, etc. from other section of the Torah, the Old Testament, or from sections we would call ceremonial law.

[00:33:34]Therefore, my brothers and sisters, it is plain that James was not here mandating the ten commandments.

[00:33:44]He was speaking of all the law. He wasn't making a distinction. was not singling out the ten commandments. If you would want to press the situation that all the commandments of the decalogue are mandatory in their literal form as is coming from Exodus 2025.

[00:34:11]Then you must also say that all the commands from Leviticus chapter 19 are also mandatory because James quote from those as well. You must also say all the commands from Exodus chapter I think is 32 there about which speaks about widows and orphans the book of Deuteronomy I do the text right now but you've got to go back to those sections of that of that of the law and also mandate all the commandments within those context as well. The point my brothers and sisters is that James was not here singing the ten commandments. He was simply saying that if you show partiality, you are breaking all of God's commandments, both those from the moralist of the law and you are guilty of the laws law breaker. Please, I'm going to encourage myself dear brothers and sisters to read the fullome context of James chapter 2. Start from chapter one as a matter of fact and read the whole thing carefully and you will see that James was not here speaking of the ten commandments in particular.

[00:35:29]Very very important. Therefore, it is categorically wrong to use James 2:21 to shore up the 10 commandments to say that the Ten Commandments now becomes the final law, the definitive law, the benchmark for law because James here quotes from it. No, that's not being exeetically a fair to the text.

[00:35:58]Please I invite you to read again for yourselves and look at the arguments again. You know if I'm not mistaken while I was in college a pro overseas professor came to the college then West Indis College and in some conversation he made the point that he became a minist in early days because of James 2:10. However, he said that if I what I know now, if I knew it then, I would not be convinced to become a 7 Adventist. He was speaking with respect to James 2:10.

[00:36:39]So the the point is that uh let's be honest and fair to the text in terms of its ex Jesus. James 2:10 here cannot be used to support the ten commandments.

[00:36:55]All right. So that's a brief exodus of that. Much more could be said, but we'll leave it there for now. Now, and let's move on. Let's move on. Let's move on to another bulletproof text to prove the ten commandments and of course by extension the Sabbath, you know, because all of these discussions that we're having regarding moral ceremonial separation of laws, let's face it, the issue is the Sabbath.

[00:37:24]We want to prove whether or not the Sabbath ought to be kept. And as part of their theological construct, the 7th Adventist Church advances the notion that the laws within scripture are separated between ceremonial and moral categories.

[00:37:51]ceremonial and moral laws which as I've been showing is really not being faithful to the Bible as mentioned before the fact that you may look or that we today may examine a particular law and determine that ah I think that law is ceremonial in character you know that is a different point from whether or not the Bible writers 2,000 plus years ago. So consider that particular law. We may categorize the laws into different camps, ritual laws, ceremonial laws, civil laws, moral laws. We can categorize them based on their specific character into those camps, into those categories. But it's a different question as to whether or not the Bible writers so designated them. And as I mentioned, we cannot read our logical conclusions back into the Bible and have the Bible writers making what we consider to be logical. It's just wrong methodology. Moving on. Hebrews chapter 8:10-13. Now, this is another one. This is another one has to do with the new covenant. Huh? Listen up, brother Edwin in particular. I see you on the channel as being the expert in this text here and Jason to a certain extent you know showing that the new covenant uh the law of the new covenant is the ten commandments and Jeremiah throughout the book of Jeremiah Jeremiah is always calling for obedience to the ten commandments and Jeremiah speaks of the new covenant. Therefore, the law of the new covenant in Hebrews has to be the ten commandments.

[00:39:56]Not so quick. Could we just read it again? Could we just look objectively at the evidences, please? I invite you just read the text. Hebrews chapter 8 10-13.

[00:40:08]For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

[00:40:24]And they will not teach each one his fellow citizen, and each one his neighbor, rather his brother, saying, "Know the Lord. For they will all know me from the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful towards their wrongdoings and their sins. I will no longer remember. Hebrews 8 verse 13.

[00:40:49]When he said a new covenant, he made the first obsolete.

[00:40:57]But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is about to disappear. And then the writer of Hebrews continues the conversation in 9:1 to 4 and onwards.

[00:41:17]For even the first covenant had regulations for divine worship and an earthly sanctuary. For a tabernacle was equipped, the outer sanctuary in which in which were the lampstand, the table, the sacred bread. This is called the holy place. Behind the second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the most holy place having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold in which was a golden jar holding the mana Aaron's staff which boded and the tables of the covenant you know as to whether or Not the new covenant in Hebrews was speaking specifically or laying the ten commandments as the law to be obeyed under the new covenant is really answered clearly from reading this passage. You know, simple as that, you know, because first of all, the writer of Hebrews is saying that God is going to make a new covenant.

[00:42:36]And in the process of making a new covenant, he made the old one obsolete, of no effect, so to speak. And then the author continued to list some of the items or elements found under the covenant that has been made of none effect. And the last item listed here as part of the package of the old covenant is the tables of the covenant. What is that? the ten commandments. And the point is we cannot veto Hebrews with Jeremiah. Even if Jeremiah presented the ten commandments as part of the new covenant, then Hebrews is saying that in this new covenant of Jesus, the ten commandments, the ark, the sanctuary, and all of those things are none and void, are out of vogue, have been made obsolete.

[00:43:48]We just have to take the Bible for what is saying, each passage for what it is saying, and we can't veto one with the other. Although, of course, there's absolutely no need to do this in this case. I'm just going to read for you here my notes as I outline it to make the clarification between what Hebrews is saying and what Jeremiah is saying when Jeremiah speaks of a new covenant. Come with me.

[00:44:28]Jeremiah's new covenant, while it wrote the spirit of the law on the heart, did not abolish the Torah as a constitutional authoritative covenant document.

[00:44:45]Jeremiah's new covenant did not abolish the specifications of the Torah. It only called for genuine inner obedience to those specifications.

[00:44:59]Jeremiah's constant appeals to all sections of the Torah substantiate this.

[00:45:08]For example, speaking of the restored and obedient Israel, the new covenant Israel, so to speak, Jeremiah 17:26 says that God will gather them from several locations to Judah so as to offer their burnt offerings, their sacrifices, grain offerings, and incense, and sacrifices of thanksgiving in the house of Yaheh. Jeremiah is saying that when Israel was restored in the new covenantal situation, God is going to bring them to offer their burnt offerings and their sacrifices and their grain offerings and their incense offerings. So the new covenant in Jeremiah's context did not abolish the specifications of the Torah. Let's continue. This is clear. This is a clear rehearsal and practice of Deuteronomy 12:14 through to 17. Ceremonial practices if you may. Jeremiah's called for circumcision of the heart. Jeremiah 4:2 did not invalidate physical circumcision or the establishment of national Israel as the chosen nation as per the Torah.

[00:46:27]Hence, chapter 9 25 and 26 speaks of the heathen nations as the uncircumcised as opposed to Israel as the circumcised.

[00:46:39]In chapter 7 verse 6 and 22:3 he calls for justice for the fatherless, the orphans and the widows. This is in obedience to Deuteronomy chapter 24:17 and Exodus 2221-24.

[00:46:53]commands not found in the decalogue.

[00:46:57]Additionally, in 3134 to 40, he affirmed the national Israel as the covenantal people. He affirmed national Israel as the covenantal people.

[00:47:14]Such was the function of Torah on a whole. For Jeremiah, the Torah was still the document of election that set Israel apart. In short, the new covenant in Jeremiah called for genuine inner obedience to the Torah, not the doing away with the specific commands of the Torah in their Old Testament format.

[00:47:43]The entire book of Jeremiah presupposes the Torah. Again, that spiritual circumcision was God's ideal in Jeremiah's new covenant did not mean that the Israelite then was to abandon physical circumcision. The feast days or the animal sacrifices.

[00:48:06]Please see again Jeremiah 17 verse 26.

[00:48:12]So very very important. The point I'm making here is that when Jeremiah spoke or wrote of a new covenant, he was speaking of genuine obedience to all the laws of the Torah, not of the abolition of the the regulations of the Torah.

[00:48:38]Jeremiah was not saying Israel circumcise the heart therefore there is no need to circumcise or Israel believe in God therefore do not respect the temple. You don't find that in Jeremiah or anywhere in the Old Testament.

[00:48:51]However, when we come now to the new covenant, the new covenant under Christ does not reinstate the Torah as a complete covenant or as a constitutional authoritative document that distinguished God's people. The elective function of Torah on a whole and circumcision and the Sabbath has been replaced by Jesus and his cross. The new covenant with Christ is made with a new Israel, a new priest, a new sacrifice of atonement, a new temple, and a new law.

[00:49:32]All these new realities do not bear a onetoone correspondence with the old covenant or law.

[00:49:45]God's revelation in the historic Jesus far transcends his revelation in the Old Testament. I dare say even in the New Testament itself, yes, the resurrected Christ is far greater than even New Testament itself.

[00:50:01]When as a Christian you acknowledge that there is only one God in the universe or deny slavery or honor your parents or refuse to kill people generally or refuse to lie or steal. It is not because you are coming from the decalogue or anywhere else in the Old Testament. It is because you're coming from God's new covenantal revelation in the historic and resurrected Jesus. The historic and resurrected Jesus. Very important note historic and resurrected Christ. Again, Jesus is the constitutional basis for obedience, not the so-called quotes and quotes moral ten commandments or anywhere else in the OT for that matter, even Genesis chapters 1 and two.

[00:50:53]Very, very important. So please, let's not read Hebrews chapter 8, the new covenant. God is going to write the laws on your heart. Meaning he's going to write the ten commandments laws on your heart. No, that's not what Hebrews is saying.

[00:51:15]Yes, the laws will be written in the heart of the Christian, but it is not the law as is coming from Exodus chapter 20. Because as we observed in parts one and two, the law coming out of Exodus 20 in many respects do not align with the spirit of Jesus.

[00:51:41]And please don't say now it was Jesus who gave the law in Exodus 20 and is Jesus who you know is now the lawgiver.

[00:51:49]That's beside the point. The point is the different revelations of God in salvation's history. The revelation of God coming out of Exodus 20 is different from the revelation of God coming out of Jesus. They are not one of the same. One is symbol, one is reality. And please, you may have to listen to parts one and two again in which I go into great details to show the shortcomings and the weaknesses of the 10 commandments.

[00:52:21]I can't go into all the details, but suffices to say, you know, take the Sabbath commandment for example.

[00:52:29]You're going to keep the Sabbath as per Exodus 20. You be kind to your slaves, but you will still keep them as slaves.

[00:52:36]the commandments allow you to do that you know and many more those shall not kill meant do not kill your fellow Israelite under certain circumstances please revisit the section where I discussed those so very much more so God's relation in Christ is not one of the same as God's relation coming from Exodus 20 there about and the new covenant in which the law now is being written on the heart is not a code being written on the heart it's a person is Jesus he is the new the law been written on the heart.

[00:53:13]And since the Sabbath is the big issue in the subtext, may I just say that is interesting that from no human experience do we see where the Sabbath is written on the hearts of human beings. So even if you want to say the ten commandments equals the law of the new covenant is very strange that all the other laws thou shall not kill, adultery, respect to parents, love, kindness, human beings to a greater or lesser degree all obey those without being indoctrinated in some church. But no human being automatically have the impulse to cease from work on a particular seventh day every week and to honor that 24-hour period of sacred. That's not natural to human nature. But all the other laws, so to speak, moral laws are very much natural to our nature. You know people in all cultures all over the world they observe certain basic moral principles without being indoctrinated.

[00:54:36]The Sabbath commandment is the only one.

[00:54:38]The only way you will keep it is if someone comes and indoctrinate you about it. In other words, it is not written naturally on the heart. Very very important.

[00:54:49]Other presentations will go more into that. So that takes care of Hebrews chapter 8 9 to 10. The new covenant.

[00:55:00]The new law is not one and the same as the old law. The law nor written on the heart.

[00:55:09]Jesus is that law. And whereas, catch this now, whereas Jesus continues in his heavenly existence to represent the Christians liberation, justification, sanctification, seal, covenant sign, all those salvation metaphors. There is no need for the Christian to have a companion seal with Jesus for those said salvation realities. Why? Because Jesus is all sufficient for those functions for the Christian. In other words, Jesus has fulfilled the Sabbath. And when the believer comes to Jesus by being Christlike in Jesus every day 247 he is literally keeping Sabbath. Another presentation I did many years ago. I was listening to it and I have a very very good presentation on justification by faith and the Sabbath. I'm going to post the link with this so that you can listen to that. you will enjoy it. Let's move on. Let's move on. Matthew 51 17 and 18. Yes, man. I grew up on this one to other 7th Adventist. Please remember, you know, I spend 50 odd years as 7th Adventist, you know, and I want to say to my 7th Adventist brothers and sisters as listener man, I respect your positions and you know your defense of your faith. But every time you come to defend your faith with people like Clinton, Baldwin, remember that the texts and passages you're using, I used to use them. Others like me, former admin used to use them as well. We know them too and because we have used them for decades and have come to realize that they are insufficient about the point why we stop using them. I find many Adventists come and throwing Matthew 5:17 and 18 and all of these things at me as if I don't know them when I have spent more years in the church than they have been assembled to Jason and Mcken and Randy and those men. I respect you. You're Christian gentlemen. You mean well. But being reminded that people like myself have spent more years in the church than you have been on earth. So when we talk, let us talk with love and respect and little caution.

[00:57:53]Let's remember that man because the arguments are throwing from revelation and the ark of the covenant in heaven and all of those arguments Jesus from this book principally Bible readings for the whole. We have been reading these books before you came on the earth. My brother, brothers, we know this book and and and and and as I said before, Bible reads for the home, the old Adventist book is a manual to teach you how to do proof texting. And I don't think any respectable 7 Adventist Bible scholar will use this book to teach biblical studies. It should not be published any further. And I hear the arguments coming from it wholesale. Oh, come on, man. Ch.

[00:58:37]Matthew 5:17 and 18. I'm going to call upon 7 aended scholars now to help the people to understand this text of man.

[00:58:44]You cannot use Matthew 578 to prove the ten commandments. It is classic proof texting and I don't need to exeute it in any far inepth manner to make the point per se.

[00:58:58]But let's just look at it briefly.

[00:59:00]Matter of fact, I said anything. Think not that I come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish, but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished.

[00:59:24]M. So here, my seventh Adventist brothers and sisters and they throw this at me and others all the time. I used to throw it too. So I'm not killing you.

[00:59:36]Think not that I come to abolish the law of the prophets. I'm not come to abolish but to fulfill. You know the main problem here, one of the main problems with this is that we read the text through the denominational lens wearing Adventist glasses.

[00:59:54]And so we do not hear what the text is saying. Let me tell you how this text is read by Adventists. How I used to read it. How I hear the gentleman Advent defense league read reading it right now. They hear the text to be saying, "Think not that I come to abolish the ten commandments. I do not come to abolish the ten commandments but to fulfill it until heaven and earth pass.

[01:00:20]one jot or one th shall in no wise pass from the ten commandments until all is fulfilled. That's what we hear when you read the text. That's not what the text is saying. The text did not say that.

[01:00:32]The text says, "Think not." Jesus is speaking now the sermon on the mount, the new Moses, and he's saying, "Think not that I come to abolish the law or the prophets." What is the law and the prophets? The term the law and the prophet refers to the entire Old Testament scriptures. The Hebrew Bible in the time of Jesus as is the case today was divided into the law, the prophet and the Psalms.

[01:01:17]the law, the first five books of Moses, the prophets, the prophetic books, the Psalms, the book of Psalm and uh the poetic books like Ecclesiastes, Songs of Solomon and others lamentations. The modern term used to refer to it as the Tanakh, the Torah, the Nebim, and the Ketubim, the law, the prophets, and the Psalms.

[01:01:48]So Jesus was saying here, think not that I come to abolish the entire Old Testament for the term law and the prophets or the law and the prophets of the psalm.

[01:02:01]Just do a search in the New Testament and you'll find it all over the New Testament. Matthew 7:12, Matthew 22:40, Acts 13:15, Matthew 24:44, Luke 24, Acts 24:14, Acts 24:14, Luke 24:44, and many other places it is mentioned the law and the prophet is a common way to refer to the entire Old Testament. And they would normally say the law and the prophets for short. It means the entire Old Testament. So Jesus was saying think not I come to abolish the entire Old Testament. I don't come to abolish but to fulfill. So, if you're going to use this to preach the Ten Commandments in particular, you're proving too much, so to speak, because you're going to have to use it now to prove the direct recapitulation of all the stipulations of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.

[01:02:59]But to fulfill basically means to bring out the intended meanings, you know, of the texts or the Old Testament rather.

[01:03:07]And when we read now the rest of the sermon on the mount, we see how Jesus is fulfilling that. But before we get to that, verse 18, for truly I tell you, heaven till heaven and earth disappear.

[01:03:21]Not the smallest letter nor the least stroke of a pen will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished or fulfilled. The point of Matthew 5:17 and 18 is not the duration of time the law would last but the certainty that it would be fulfilled.

[01:03:45]Jesus was here saying that I am here to fulfill the entire law and prophets until heaven and earth is going to o so to speak. Then heaven and earth would may have to pass away before it does not happen.

[01:04:03]So when think not that I come to abolish the law or the prophets I'm come to fulfill. So so who would be fulfilling the law here? is not referring to us fulfilling the law in this context. It's referring to Jesus doing the fulfillment.

[01:04:20]Do not think that I come to abolish the law of the prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. So Jesus is saying that he was going to fulfill the law of the prophets. And heaven and earth would soon pass away than for the law and the prophets not to be fulfilled. That's what he was saying. I read again. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, nor the least stroke of a pen will by any means disappear from the law until everything is fulfilled.

[01:04:56]So intrinsically saying here, you know that when it is fulfilled, elements from the law can pass away, but until then it cannot pass away. be reminded that Jesus was here speaking to Jewish people. He was not here speaking to the Christian church. It was during his lifetime. He was speaking to Jewish people under the Torah. And he was saying to them that he came to fulfill the Torah, not to abolish it. And it will certainly be fulfilled. Now when we read the sermon on the mount and see the demonstration of elements of fulfillment, we learn some lessons.

[01:05:48]We learn that Jesus amplified some of the stipulations of the law of the law.

[01:05:55]Others he negated others he modified.

[01:06:03]Let's have a quick run at it.

[01:06:07]5:21 do not murder but promise murder is liable to the court.

[01:06:14]Here he quotes from the decalogue and tacked on to that Deuteronomy sus chapter 16 verse 18 other places we speaks about the court coming into vogue for murder and then he expanded on that 523 is interesting. It says that if you go to the altar to offer your offering and there you remember that someone has ought against you, what should you do?

[01:06:51]You should leave your gift at the altar, go reconcile to your brother and then return again and offer your gifts.

[01:07:05]So what was here Jesus here doing?

[01:07:10]The altar was that place in the Jerusalem sanctuary where according to Deuteronomy chapter 12 and other many of the places in the Old Testament many gifts were brought. your grain offerings and your tithe and your serial offerings and your animal offerings gifts would be brought.

[01:07:39]Jesus was saying that reconciliation is more important than offering these gifts, ceremonial gifts at the altar.

[01:07:52]However, he did not abolish the ceremonial gifts.

[01:07:57]He said, "Go reconcile and come back and offer your gifts." So while So Jesus, we could say, was here as it were supporting elements of the ceremonial law even as he was showing the greater deeper meanings to it. Very important point here. Let me pause here to say that when you read the New Testament, you come to discover that Jes Jesus lived at the transition of two ages. He was passing out the old, bringing in the new and so he participated in many of the old things of the Old Testament. For example, in Matthew chapter 8 and ver verse 4, he commanded the gentleman to go and offer the sacrifice of atonement.

[01:08:43]In many other places he was circumcised.

[01:08:45]The only time he spoke about circumcision I think was in John chapter 7 verse 21 there about. And he spoke positive of circumcision. Jesus kept the Passover. Jesus kept tabernacles. There was always a tabernacle. He command the disciples to go to tabernacles and all those other feasts at Hanukkah. All of those. He was always there. He kept all the ceremonial law. He pay the temple tax the sacrifice of atonement. What's the point? I'm here interjecting here.

[01:09:13]What what I'm saying is that while Jesus is our example in all things, he is not our example in the specific demonstration of all things. In other words, he was a Jew and he practiced Judaism while he was passing out Judaism.

[01:09:36]So he was circumcised. Ezekiel Passover participated in temple worship and all of those uh while at the same time showing the deeper meaning. Hence now when the early church started to reinterpret or interpret the life and teachings of Jesus they even went contrary to some things that Jesus himself did because Jesus was circumcised and possibly circumcised.

[01:10:03]Christ have no value to you. no way to circumcision.

[01:10:07]Okay. And many other things. Uh a little bit digressing right now. I invite you to visit uh rccc.com or dikaya.com.

[01:10:19]I have some presentations there in which I explain and elaborate and clarify all of these. I know for some people some of these things may sound confusing. I may not be able to grasp everything right now. I have some wonderful other presentations I make on exactly what I'm saying now and also in my book the person of Jesus obligatory Sabbath I clarify all of these things it's not madness trust me and just about any good theology of the new testament or ex Jesus of Matthew's gospels you can pick up in the bookstore which are the exact thing I'm saying here right now I know for many Adventist what I'm saying may sound strange but let's continue let's look at Jesus fulfillment of the Oh, Matthew 5:25.

[01:11:04]Make friends make friends with your while your opponent to court. Make friends quickly. I'm not sure that even from the Old Testament or just speaking from real life there. So, the fulfillment of the law has to do with things that partly written in the Old Testament. You know, it was coming from life all over. Matthew 5:31 whoever divorces his wife gives us a divorce coming here from Deuterum in 24 verse1 and here this commandment Jesus sort of limited it because duteron was sort of wide open where divorce is concerned but Jesus placed a limitation on it right here now Matthew 5:33 ah do not make any vows Jesus said do not make any vows whatsoever Here he negated Exodus 30, Leviticus chapter 19, 2 Chronicles 6:22.

[01:12:00]Those passages in the Old Testament allowed the Israelite to make vows.

[01:12:06]Jesus said, "Do not make any whatsoever."

[01:12:10]Eye for an eye, tooth for tooth. That one is completely negated.

[01:12:16]That is 538. 540.

[01:12:19]They sue you, take you to court, let him have your coat, your we sue you and take your tunic, etc. That seem to be a new one being introduced from the everyday life then. And Jesus dealt with it too.

[01:12:34]541 if they forces to go one mile, go to Angria as it were. The Roman practice of conscripting a general citizen have them to just take their backpack wherever they want them to go for at least a mile legally and Jesus saying go to. So he was here as it were pulling from everyday life. Love your neighbor. 543 love your neighbor and hate your enemy. It was said but I say to you love your enemies. What's the point I'm making? The point I'm making here is that when we look at Jesus's uh methodology of fulfilling the law, he was not duplicating every command of the law. Some commands were modified. Some were completely negated like an eye for a tooth. I don't make any vows.

[01:13:28]Completely negated. Some were reformulated. Some were adjusted. point I'm making is that the fulfilled law coming out of Christ is not one and of the same as the law that pointed to Jesus and Jesus here on the sermon on the mount quoted from all over ten commandments text on ceremonial law and all over the place and showed how they were fulfilled in him the renewed fulfilled ffillment in him. So this text number one was not talking about the ten commandments talking about the entire law. It was not talking about how long the entire law will last or how long the ten commandment particular will last.

[01:14:17]Matthew 5:17 and 18 has to do with the certainty that the law would be fulfilled in Jesus. And when it was fulfilled in him, then things can pass from the law. Was the law fulfilled in Christ? Do I need to show proof for that? Luke 24:44, Romans 10:4, and all of the New Testament, Galatians chapter 3, is saying that Jesus fulfilled the law already.

[01:14:54]The problem is that when we read Matthew 5, we hear the text saying that we ought to fulfill the law. No, the law of God has already been fulfilled in Christ.

[01:15:05]And that now leads us in the whole subject of righteous by faith. And the beauty of the whole thing, you know, because we should never preach our responsibility to keep God's laws until we first affirm that Jesus has already kept the law for us.

[01:15:26]It is within that context that we can keep the law properly.

[01:15:30]If you try to keep the law without recognizing and accepting that you have already kept it perfectly in Christ, you're going to be in frustration.

[01:15:42]You're going to end up in legalism.

[01:15:44]It's going to be a mountain that you cannot climb. But when you recognize every time you come to law and try to keep a law of God, you must first tell yourself, "Thank you, Jesus. I have already kept this law perfectly." H it changes the entire thing. I can't get into that right now. But it's the beauty and the power point. Matthew chapter 51 17 and 18 gentlemen was not speaking about the ten commandments. You hear doesn't know the ten commandments. You cannot use it as a bulletproof text to preach ten commandments.

[01:16:21]It doesn't pencil out. Another time I get into further details. I can't go.

[01:16:27]This thing is getting a bit longer than I anticipated. Let's do the last one now. Clinton, let's do the last one. And another text. I'm going to invite Jason Dante Randy. Yes, my brothers. I love you and I'm calling your name.

[01:16:48]Please could you take a second look at Ephesians 2:14 and 15?

[01:16:53]I'm going to ask Adventist New Testament scholars to give them a call behind the scenes man and help them with this one is concerned because they they're missing the point you know man and they're reading the text with the Adventist glasses on how do I know that I used to do it too Ephesians 2 14 and 15 for he himself is our peace who made both groups into one and broken down the barrier of the dividing war me token by abolishing his flesh the enmity which is the law of commandments containing ordinances that in himself he might made the two into one new man thus establishing peace. What is going on here? We're talking about the book of Ephesians.

[01:17:39]It is debated whether or not Paul wrote Ephesians is listed as one of the secondary Pauline letters. Let's not get into that. It's either written by Paul or someone in the Pauline school. For this conversation, we're going to say Paul. Okay, good. So, we can stick on the authorship and he wrote this book to the Ephesians church. Ephesus was a large city in the time of Paul.

[01:18:02]It had many Jews and Gentiles. It was the center of worship of the chief god Artmis and many other gods.

[01:18:16]Many of the gentile citizens of Ephesus became Christians.

[01:18:24]In Ephesus, there was always this rift between the Jewish population and the Gentile population. It happened to a greater or lesser degree across the Roman Empire because the Jews were somewhat we could say in modern terms isolationists.

[01:18:46]Their laws made them that. And so the general population hate them, love them.

[01:18:53]There's always rift between the Jews and the general population. Now here comes Gentile people into the new Christian church. and Jews and Gentiles were now worshiping in the same space. The rift continues. Paul wrote the book of Ephesians to advance the theme and the importance of unity. And he is presenting the basis for unity between Jews and Gentiles as the in Christ reality.

[01:19:37]It's amazing when you read start read from Ephesians chapter one onwards to see how many times Paul uses the term enristo or similar terms always in in Christ in Christ. Bless be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ in heavenly places. 1 1-3 in him we have redemption 178 in him all wisdom and insight verse 10 the summing up of all things in Christ and the in Christ in Christ in Christ continues throughout know it is said that the enristo motive is the strongest motive in in Paul you know even more than justification by faith I think was it Albert Wise who described as the main creator and justification by faith is subsidiary creator but the in Christ theme I think Paul uses the term around 150 times you know in Christ and Christo and he now is picturing the the Christian in a new sphere of existence he now exists in a new bubble so to speak a new a in a new vacuum a new space the crystal space it's a beautiful theme I invite you to visit again.com or my book where I discuss the encry theme so the point There was a rift in the church between Jews and Gentiles.

[01:21:10]One of the reasons for the rift, the division, the disunityity between the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians was the Torah. The Torah that always caused such a thing because you see the Torah was by design made to separate the Jewish people from the Gentile people. Torah had circumcision.

[01:21:36]The Jews by and large were the only people who circumcised in the ancient world. Torah had sacred days, particularly Sabbath. Jewish people from way way back were the only people who had a weekly rest day. So when they separated themselves every week for worship, when they refused to engage in trade, participating in the army and many other things because of the Sabbath, it caused a rift in my again. I have an entire chapter here dealing with this subject, how it caused a rift between Jews and Gentiles. So Torah had those elements, the Sabbath, the food laws and circumcision that were separating elements. The Jewish people would look down upon the Gentiles because they did not have the Torah. And the Gentiles in return would scuff at the Jews because they thought they had this entity which made them better than us.

[01:22:49]And so the tension continued.

[01:22:54]Paul in Ephesians is saying that God has removed this cause of division out of the way.

[01:23:03]God has removed the Torah out of the way. Hence Paul writes in Ephesians 2:4-15, he himself, that is Jesus is of peace, who has made both groups into one, Jew and Gentile, and broken down the barrier, the metho token, that is the middle wall, literally speaking, by abolishing in his flesh the law of commandments contained in dogmas that himself he might make the two into one new man. The word here ordinances brother Jason and others does not mean ceremonial.

[01:23:54]The Greek word there is dogma sin and you can hear the English dogma already. It has to do with commands or that which is ordained or that which is legislated.

[01:24:08]It doesn't mean ceremonies and it are ceremonial and contextually it is speaking of the entire Torah which served as a element of separation between Jew and Gentile and God has now removed it out of the way replaced it with Jesus so that in Christ there can be peace in the church. I invite you to just to read Galatians chapters 1 and two straight from the Bible and you will see what I'm saying here jumping out of out at you wasn't talking about the ceremonial law being abolished. No, Ephesians chapter 2 is talking about a particular function of Torah that separated Jew from Gentile which has now been taken out of the middle that has been removed. And as we all well know, Paul is also here when he speaks about the middle wall. He's using the imagery of the Jerusalem temple where between the court of Israel and the court of Gentiles was a wall, a literal wall. And written on that wall was if any gentile should go beyond this wall, he would have himself to be blamed for his own death. It was a separating wall as it were. And that wall represented the Torah.

[01:25:43]Paul is here saying that the separating function of Torah has been removed. No.

[01:25:52]In principle, if Paul is saying that the Torah no longer serves as an identity marker, as a separating entity between Jew and Gentiles, then what is that saying?

[01:26:10]In principle, it is saying, let me take my hand here, that the specific elements of Torah that separated Jew from Gentile no longer obtains.

[01:26:25]What were the key elements of the Torah in the first century that separated Jew from Gentile?

[01:26:34]the Sabbath, the food laws, and circumcision.

[01:26:42]Read carefully the book of Corinthians, Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, and Philippians, and you'll always see these three elements coming up and always being mentioned in a negative way. Be reminded that these books were written to Jew Gentile churches to address the gentile situation in the church or to say it other way to address the Jew gentile cohabitation in the church. Very very important. A lot of background information here but it helps to to understand. So please let's not use this text to say that there's moral ceremonial separation of laws and that these law the ceremonial laws are abolished based on these texts etc etc etc as mentioned in part two of course some laws in the new testament are abolished not continue but it was never from a moral ceremonial platform why those laws were abolished or laws continue from a different platform, a different premise from the premise of who Jesus was. It makes a whole world of difference. All right. I Oh, here I have the picture of the Jew, Gentile, and the Torah, and the specific elements of Torah, circumcision, the Sabbath, and the food laws. Paul is saying Jesus has removed it out of the middle. Very, very important. Very, very important. Very, very important. You know, even now as I conclude here, uh let me say that when as modern Christians, we teach the mandatory observance of the Sabbath, we are aligning ourselves with the Jewish Christians, with the Judaizers that Paul opposed.

[01:28:49]Yes, I'm sorry. to say that aligning yourself with those other presentations I go into details but for now let's just affirm the position as I come to the close of the fourth section and that is there's absolutely no moral ceremonial separation or distinction of law in the Bible. It is wrong to designate the ten commandments the moral law of God and the other laws as ceremonial laws. It is proof texting. It is abusing the scripture. The Bible does not do that.

[01:29:33]The designation is an imposition on the Bible. It is proof texting. The Bible writers perceive of the law as an indivisible whole.

[01:29:45]The ten commandments do not occupy an elevated status in the mind of the people of Israel. No, it never occupated status. That's the reason why the term the 10 commandments or the 10 statements make a difference. Can't go into details right now. The Bible writers use that term about three times you know the 10 words about three times. It goes to say that it never had that elevated status.

[01:30:13]The Jewish people saw all God's commandments as necessary to be obeyed and there were different packages of law from time to time. Now the covenant code the the the Leviticus Exodus 21:23 Leviticus chapter 2027 there about the holiness code you know so they had different packages of laws from time to time so they never see the ten commandment as a biggie that modern Christians now see it as because it's one package thing in one place the phrase law of God is hardly used in scripture to describe the ten commandments exclusively a very important point the phrase the law of god God. Gentlemen, hear me well on this one. The phrase the law of God is hardly used in scripture to describe the ten commandments exclusively. When adventists use the term the law of God, you know, in the brain pan the ten commandments. Look at that. The Bible doesn't use that term to describe to describe the law of God hardly. I think maybe one or two places hardly uses the term the law of God or God's law to describe the 10 commandments exclusively.

[01:31:25]I want to be heard carefully on this you know very important it always it was it was always seen as part of the law of Moses the law of God the law of the Lord given through Moses. In other words, the ten commandments with all the other laws were always seen as the law of Moses, the law of God or the law of the Lord given through Moses.

[01:31:53]The Ten Commandments do not qualify as a moral code. Yes, I say this again. Under careful examination with some basic common sense and sanctified reasoning, the Ten Commandments do not qualify as a moral code. Ladies and gentlemen, no, it does not. And I know that from tradition and you know, we grow up in churches.

[01:32:22]All churches talk about the Ten Commandments, God's moral law. It is something we inherit from traditional because has been repeated in our ears for generations.

[01:32:32]It has stuck there and it looks true.

[01:32:36]It's not true when you examine carefully. It does not qualify as a moral code completely. The applications we could say could be moral like obeying your parents or do not kill people generally or do not commit adultery.

[01:32:58]How we obey those stipulations now are applications of the ten commandments not the ten commandments in its primary historical context as it was meant to be obeyed.

[01:33:14]Please have to look at sections one and two three again for the fleshing out of this but it's not totally a moral code and if you insist that it is a moral code I'm going to ask you which version is the moral code because there are three versions and the the Exodus 34 version stipulates animal sacrifices.

[01:33:41]It stipulates do not sew your seed with two kinds of seeds or wear two kinds of garments. It stipulates keeping tabernacles and Passover. Yes, that's one version of the ten commandment. And it also stipulates that you know God going to destroy the kingites.

[01:34:00]So which one do you keep? You can't pick and choose. You have to take all of them.

[01:34:07]The Ten Commandments do not qualify as a moral code. Again, in my book, The Person of Jesus and other books as well.

[01:34:15]I have some other books, you know, uh let me see. Yeah, this one here, 81 questions and answers, why the Sabbath cannot be obligatory. And this one, the latest one I wrote in 2025, time to let it go, the 1844 investigative judgment.

[01:34:35]And then deal with the ten commandments there as well too. You find very interesting.

[01:34:42]It doesn't qualify the moral code. The moral code does that mean that we are left drifting all over the place.

[01:34:50]Nothing to obey live any and anyhow. No.

[01:34:55]We have a better moral code. We have Jesus, a new constitution, a new covenant. And the issuing of laws in Jesus is not one and the same as the laws that point to Jesus.

[01:35:14]One was symbol, the other is reality.

[01:35:17]One was given through Moses and other prophets. The other was given through Jesus God at sun times and diverse manners spoke to the fathers through the prophets. But in these last days he has spoken to us through a son Jesus Christ.

[01:35:36]The revelation of God in Jesus far supersedes all other revelation. Not only does it supersedes all other revelation, it is the definitive element for all other revelations of God.

[01:35:54]So we define every commandment including the Sabbath through the lens of the Christ event, not through the lens of the Old Testament. Keep it up. We inherit the elevators to the ten commandment from traditional modern instinct. Okay, I've been there already. There are three different versatility.

[01:36:14]The con the constitutional base for obedience for the Christian is not God's revelation in Eden or Noah or Moses or Sinai but God's new unprecedented revelation in the historic Jesus.

[01:36:28]Please let nobody tell you that the Sabbath started in Eden. Therefore, it must be kept. It's not careful reasoning.

[01:36:40]is not careful. It is cherrypicking.

[01:36:42]It's been selective because there are many other commands started in Eden and we don't obey those.

[01:36:50]So why we just pick one?

[01:36:53]Yes. Read Genesis chapter one. The other commandments that were issued in Eden, get married. No one is denied church membership because they decided to get married. No. Eat only grains. Most sabotarians eat meat.

[01:37:10]They're not going by eating. Jesus didn't get married. Jesus ate meat.

[01:37:15]Wasn't going by Eden. So the Eden is a precedent, man. The precedent for God's law is God's new creation in the historic and resurrected Jesus. Every God book of the New Testament is saying exactly that. Jesus himself said that.

[01:37:35]Oh boy, there is so much about this Jesus help me. The moral ceremonial distinction bel the moral ceremonial distinction bel the role of Jesus detracts from the gospel gives a false sense of righteousness and divides the body of Christ the church. Yes, let me read again. The moral ceremonial distinction belittles the role of Jesus, detracts from the gospel, gives a false sense of righteousness, and divides the body of Christ, the church.

[01:38:13]Very important. So I take the time to have these four presentations on the modern ceremonial separation of laws in scripture because here is one of the key elements of its importance.

[01:38:31]That position detracts from the gospel gives a false sense of righteousness.

[01:38:36]It's time for Adventists to abandon this talk about ceremonial law nailed mean pointed to Christ. Moral law didn't point to Christ. It's time we stop that now. You know man, it's full time. Yes, it's full time. It's full time and Adventist Bible scholars know what I'm saying is true man. Listen, the fundamental believer is not right. Going to call on the professors man. You have to biblical studies man. You can't have a church for so long saying this inaccurate thing and you know having other things predicated on it. It's a false premise. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

[01:39:19]SDA theology on the law needs theological editing. SDA theology on the law needs theological editing. It is not Christ focus. It is ten commandments based. And again why do I say these things? I say these things to have a right to say those things. I'm a Christian.

[01:39:40]I get my mandate from Jesus. Apart from that, I've given 50 odd years, the best part of my life to this institution. So we continue to speak to it. And those who are just coming, please don't tell me I can't speak. You just come. You don't know what it is in many respects.

[01:39:59]Respectfully, thank you very much. But I love you still, man. I love you just the same.

[01:40:05]Want to thank you for listening to me for all of these presentations. Please I invite you to visit me at the Baldwin International Christian University my bicu.org and see the things that are happening there. Yes, we have a territory institution going and we solicit your support. Yes, give us a support. Rest in Christ Community Church. This is my worship center.

[01:40:28]rccc.com or dayoma d i k a io m a.com any one of these URLs you use you'll get there any one you use you'll get there rcccc.com or dament.com just go there click on Bible studies have some beautiful studies there on the Sabbath justification by faith and tithing the law hermeneutics and all many things you will love it you will Love it. Also, I have quite a number of presentations on candid bibl biblical exposures. Candid biblical exposures. I invite you to visit my YouTube channel. God bless you.

[01:41:15]Let us continue to love one another. We may disagree, but we have a responsibility to love one another just the same. And so I say to the men on Advent Defense League, I look forward to having a conversation with you gentlemen. We can talk and laugh together and you know love each other in Christ. Although we may not see eye to eye, but the process continues. The process continues and we all growing in grace. Yes, we all see through a glass darkly. And so we're going to continue to be kind and be loving to one another and don't have snipes and say ugly things about one another. God bless you real good. Thank you for listening to this.

[01:41:58]Look forward.

[01:42:00]Bye-bye for now. Take care. Clinton ball.