A BRIDE FOR ISAAC ……Bill Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Genesis 24-4

³ and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live, 

⁴ but you will go to my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” 

The 24^th chapter of Genesis has a single purpose.  The writer tells about Abraham’s intention and success in getting a wife for Isaac.

He had two requirements.  First was the race of the woman.  She must not be a Canaanite, but she must come from Abraham’s kinspeople in what is now Syria.  Secondly, Isaac was not to return to Abraham’s native land.  Abraham’s promise made by God to him in a covenant was that the land where he lived was to be his and his descendants.  Isaac was his sole heir.  The land was his from God.  He must not leave it.

Abraham sent his servant back to his kindred to get a bride for Isaac.  But here the problem arose.  What if she will not come?  The dilemma was presented to Abraham. 

A.  Isaac couldn’t go back. 

B.  The woman may not come. 

Abraham has a simple answer in VS. 7.  The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give this land,’ He will send His angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there.  The faith that had served him so well did not desert him here.  Abraham understood the first rule of faith and service.  God makes no requirement which he does not give us strength to perform.

Abraham also does as much as he is able to do to bring about the fulfillment of his request.  He sends his most able servant.  He gives him everything he needs to fulfill his task.  And he gives him valuable gifts to attract and win her to Isaac.

Hear the servant’s message.  “My master is great, rich in all that is accounted valuable.”  As the song writer tells us, “My Master is rich in cattle and land, he holds the wealth of the world in His hand.”

And my Master has a son.  “He has given him all that he has.  Everything the Master has is the Sons.”  The servant’s message is specific.  “I must come here to take a wife for my master’s son.”

When she heard this.  When she saw the gifts sent by Abraham.  When she was asked, “Will you go with this man?  She said, I will go.”  Genesis 24:61 is one of the pictures the Scriptures present to us that are so graphic it seems as if we were there to see it, “They followed the man.”

The Evangelist comes with his message from the Master, “My Master has a son who is Lord of all.  Come follow me to Him.  He is Master of all and has rich gifts, salvation, peace, assurance, heaven and most of all, the Son, for He is the gift of God.  Come and leave home and kindred behind.  He is all in all.”

Please read Rev. 1:2-6.

EYES THAT CANNOT SEE ……Bill Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Matthew 13:13-14

¹³ Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 

¹⁴ In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand;
You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;

They looked and saw a leader of the Jews.

He looked and saw a man who needed a new birth.

They looked and saw an undesirable Gentile.

He looked and saw one hungry for the true bread.

They looked and saw a man possessed.

He looked and saw a man who would be an evangelist.

They looked and couldn’t see.

He looked and saw a man in a tree.

They looked and saw a derelict prodigal.

He looked and saw a repentant son.

We look for education, talent, and dress.

He looks for faith, hope, love, these three.

O that we can see as He sees.

For otherwise having eyes to see, we are blind.

Jesus in Matthew 13:13-14 impresses on the readers of Scripture the great danger of having divine truth available and ignoring it.  Unbelief can be no more than failing to see truth and being convinced by it.

Please read I John 3:18-19

Along with this is our attitude as we look at the people around us.  Ordinarily we look for beautiful people.  Why is this?  The people with whom Jesus spent His time were not desirable.  They were cheats, crooks, prostitutes, and undesirable people (Gentiles).

It has been my experience that poor, needy, and unreached people are the most difficult.  All lost are equally lost.  Salvation is the result of the work of the Holy Spirit.  No one is more difficult to God than another.  But -and this is an important distinction – some are more demanding and difficult with the time invested being less fruitful.

We don’t see John Bunyan before Grace Abounding.  We don’t see the thin, unattractive, unassuming Indian who now heads up a church in his part of India.  I didn’t see the youngest of four sons, small, lonely, and slightly crippled.  But I heard of him later.  First, a drunkard and then dead as a result of a drunk-driving accident.

Would it have made any difference if I had seen him?  I’ll never know, will I?  I hope you can tell what I see bothers me.  I would like to see Zacchaeus with a new heart, and the returned prodigal with a new life.  I know this, I must look differently.

THE DEATH OF ISAAC ……Bill Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Genesis 22:1-2

Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 

² He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”

There are many memorable stories in the Scriptures.  This story of Abraham and Isaac is one of the best known, probably second only to David and Goliath.  It doesn’t seem to be either understood or appreciated for what it teaches.  The whole account from Genesis 22:1 through 22:19 has one central lesson and a number of lesser ones.

First it must be understood what God’s command to Abraham was.  In 22:2 Abraham is told to:  A.  Take his only son, which was a strange statement because Abraham had another son.  But God is speaking to him as the covenant head.  In the covenant God made with Abraham there was one son, Isaac.  B.  Take this son Isaac which you love.  The command is specific as to cause, “whom you love”.  There was nothing wrong with this man’s love for his son.  But the measure of that love was to be tested and it must be limited.

The Lord Jesus in Luke 14:26 applies this to His disciples.  The followers of Jesus must allow nothing to compete with their affection for Him.  The test for Abraham was, was Isaac more important than God.  Abraham was to offer up to God that which he loved most.

Secondly is the example of Abraham’s response.  It was instantaneous, unquestioning, uncomplaining, and complete.  The description of Abraham’s commitment to God’s command is in 22:3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 

When we look at the words, “he rose early” it is overwhelmingly plain that a consuming inner passion moved Abraham to obedience.  Nowhere in this account does he show the least reluctance to obey fully.  His faith the same faith that moved Noah to build an ark, led Moses to deny the pleasures of Egypt, gave David confidence to face Goliath, and Daniel to enter the lion’s den, is the same that is required of you and me.  It is the faith of Isaiah 12:2 KJV Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.

Thirdly in Genesis 22:9-10 ⁹ Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.¹⁰ And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

Isaac died.  Abraham had offered up Isaac as God had commanded.  All that God intended, Abraham had done.  He did not need to plunge the knife in the heart of his son.  For Abraham the sacrifice was complete.  Every sacrifice that moment and from that moment to Christ on Calvary was completed there.  The transaction of the Covenant head and the Covenant Son was finished.

There are two other interesting features to Abraham and Isaac’s worship.  In VS 5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”   Abraham demonstrates his confidence that he will worship and return.  In this account the substitution of an animal for the reality is established.  The ram is the appointed substitute for Isaac.  This will suffice until the Infinite One is offered and received.

When we look again at Abraham’s statement in 22:5 Abraham is confident that he and Isaac will return.  We know what this means.  The writer of Hebrews in 11:17-19 tells us of the event and then draws a conclusion in VS 19, concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

Isaac died and God raised him from the dead.  Such was the faith of Abraham.  This is justifying faith, saving faith, keeping faith.  It is faith by which we must die to the world and the world must die to us.  It is the faith that believes the gospel.  Nothing less will God receive.  Nothing else will please Him.

Please read and consider Hebrews 11:6.

DOES BAPTISM SAVE?……Bill Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Genesis 17:9-11

⁹ God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 

¹⁰ This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.

¹¹ And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.

I was born in 1936.  This was the year of the great Jesse Owen’s Olympics.  This allows me to always know the exact year of the Olympics.  I will be four years older.

I mention this because when I was 16 it was time for the Olympics.  And what I remember most is the excitement of the Pole Vault event.  The impossible bar for pole vaulters was an assault on what was thought to be an impossible height.

This illustration is intended to give a picture of an impossibility.  Dr. George Sayles Bishop wrote that Acts 13:48 was the bar to the denial of Sovereign election.  I find that justification of Abraham is an absolute bar for any who would intend to assault that bar raised against works in his conversion.

In Genesis 17:10, circumcision is named as the covenant, “This is my covenant…every male among you shall be circumcised”, but in 17:11 circumcision, described as the requirement, is repeated and in this instance it is called a sign, “It shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.”  There are two very important truths to be learned here.  One is what is known as “sacramental union”, and the other is exactly what part circumcision had in the justification of Abraham.

In the Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 27, paragraph 2 sacramental union is defined, “There is, in every sacrament, a spiritual relation, or sacramental union, between the sign and the thing signified: whence it comes to pass, that the names and effects of the one are attributed to the other.”

There is an extremely important truth stated here that is necessary to understand certain Biblical statements and to understand Reformed statements about the sacraments.  It is “that the names and the effects of the one are attributed to the other.”

Look back to Genesis 17:10, This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.  If you stop here you will attribute everything in the covenant to be a result of the act described.  But if you continue to read Genesis 17:11, And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.

We are not left to ourselves to understand the meaning.  Paul in Romans four gives us the correct understanding.  We read in Romans 4:10-12  How then was it credited?  While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised; 

¹¹ and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them,

¹² and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised.

Paul is brought to this explanation by men’s unceasing attempt to claim a part in his righteousness. 

  

Then what becomes of our boasting?  It is excluded.  He returns to this problem in Romans 4:2-3

² For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.

³ For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

He has by the illustration of Abraham’s justification proved that it happened for him without human contribution from circumcision.

Let us fast forward to January, 2014.  When we read Acts 22:16^, Ananias tells Paul, Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.  Does this not say that sin is removed in baptism, “Rise, be baptized, and wash away your sins”.  What could be clearer?  But let us go back and apply what we have learned.

The conversion of Saul happened at the appearance of Jesus.  There is certainly wide general agreement to this.  John Dick, in his commentary on Acts writes, “The conversion of Paul, like the creation of light was accomplished in an instant.  He who but a moment before breathed threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of Jesus, lies prostrate before Him, and says ‘Lord what will thou have me to do?’”, John Dick, Lectures on Acts, page 385.

What is the meaning of the statement in Acts 22:16?  This, as in Genesis 17:10 is an instance of “sacramental union”, the sacrament is named for that which it is a sign and seal.  Because sins are forgiven, because guilt is removed, because righteousness is imputed to the needy, because God is gracious and Jesus is almighty to save, because salvation is a finished transaction, baptism is administered.

Question 72 in the Larger Catechism is crystal clear.  It should leave no doubt about what is needed for justification, faith in Jesus alone saves us.

Question 72: What is justifying faith?

Answer: Justifying faith is a saving grace, wrought in the heart of a sinner by the Spirit and Word of God, whereby he, being convinced of his sin and misery, and of the disability in himself and all other creatures to recover him out of his lost condition, not only assents to the truth of the promise of the gospel, but receives and rests upon Christ and his righteousness, therein held forth, for pardon of sin, and for the accepting and accounting of his person righteous in the sight of God for salvation.

COVENANT AND SIGN…Bill Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Genesis 9:8-17

⁸ Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, 

⁹ “Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; 

¹⁰ and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth. 

¹¹ I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.” 

¹² God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations;

¹³ I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. 

¹⁴ It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, 

¹⁵ and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.

¹⁶ When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 

¹⁷ And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

The earth and all the inhabitants on it, both man and animal, had suffered the wrath of God with a small exception.  Eight humans and certain animals had been delivered from the judgment.

Now this judgment was complete.  The witness of it in the devastation of the land was a present visible statement to Noah and his family of God’s hatred of sin and man’s proneness to evil.  Surely they feared the re-occurrence of God’s wrath.

But God, rich in mercy, spoke to Noah and his family in the words of Genesis nine.  There is in God’s words His kind intention to establish a covenant with Noah.  It is in this covenant we find the rudiments of God’s Messianic Covenant of Grace.  A look at this covenant reveals to us: 

1.  This covenant is unilateral.  God says what He will do without exception.  VS 9 with VS 11, “I establish” are the words of institution.  There are no requirements for the establishment of the covenant or for the fulfillment of it.  What follows is the content of the covenant.
2. The covenant is universal, VS 9B-10.  The benefits of the covenant extend to all who by description are included.  In this covenant Noah’s descendants and all beasts represented by those in the ark are to receive these benefits.
3. It is an enduring covenant.  The only limit put on the time described is whatever limits God places on the earth itself, 9:11.

This covenant has a sacrament, 9:12-13.  The sign of the covenant is named, the rainbow.  This sign is known only through the word of God.  Its purpose is not otherwise known to man.

It is here that this covenant, and the explanation of it becomes important.  For it is not man’s recognition that is the seal of it, but God’s application of it to Himself.  “The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth”, Genesis 9:16.

The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 27 Paragraph 1a.

I. Sacraments are holy signs and seals of the covenant of grace, immediately instituted by God, to represent Christ and His benefits.

If we continue the meaning of covenant we find in Genesis 9 the real value of the sacrament for us is not what we or the world sees, but what God looks at, “I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant”.

Please  look at 2 Peter 2:13 ESV.  

“This is a wonderful affirmation of assurance that although we are called to endure and be faithful, salvation does not rest ultimately on our faithfulness, but upon that of Christ”, (note in ESV on II Tim. 2:13.

May I add, ultimately on the One who looks at the bow.

THE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM…Bill Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Genesis 14:17-20

¹⁷ Then after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). 

¹⁸ AndMelchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High.

¹⁹ He blessed him and said,

“Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
²⁰ And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.

The context of Gen. 14 is both interesting and revealing.  The political and civil turmoil that prevailed in Canaan seems normal to us.  Times are really not so different.

There were two confederations.  One ruled by the city state of Elam and the king, Chedorlaomer, the other five cities did not have a leader who stood out.  For twelve years Elam ruled by Chedolaomer had received tribute from the five cities.  In the thirteenth year they rebelled and refused to pay their levy.  All that followed in the conflict, Lot’s capture and Abram’s intervention is a result of the war over unpaid taxes.

Abram’s intervention was swift and successful.  All that was taken in the raid by the four kings was recovered.  Both peoples and goods were returned whole.  It is in this place that the phenomenon occurs.  A man, Melchizedek, appears.  There is no preparation for his appearance.  There is no explanation of his purpose other than to deliver the blessing which we find in 14:19-20.  This is so exalted that it is overwhelming.

He announces the benediction of God upon Abram as if it is God Himself speaking.  His qualification to do this rests upon his office.  He was priest of God Most High.  This is not explained.  Though his other office, King of Salem is noted.  But his activity as intercessor is based on this priestly office.

Here the strangeness of the narrative increases.  He blessed God for His care for Abram.  Where does he get this authority?  In Psalm 110:4 he suddenly enters the literature of Israel again not to be heard of until after the full earthly ministry of Christ.  In Hebrews 5:10 he enters Sacred writ again.

Let us look at the Blessing.

1.  It is the Most High God who blesses.  Anything less than this is at best limited and temporary.  God alone can bless with enduring and encompassing favor.
2. He who blesses is creator.  The Most High God is possessor, maker, or creator of heaven and earth.  It is His.  He can do with it as He pleases.  Should He choose to bless, none can stay His hand or question His purpose.
3. He is deliverer.  Nothing is too hard for Him.  He can deliver by many or few.  David can defeat Goliath.  Jesus defeats Satan.  Abram with 318 servants and a few friends defeats four armed and successful warlike nations.

Luke 18:18: A rich man came to Jesus seeking salvation in any way a rich man could have it without giving up his wealth.  Jesus looked at him and stated the impossibility of saving a rich man.

Now look closely at Luke 18:26.  The disciples ask, “Who then can be saved?”  If the rich cannot be saved then salvation is for man an impossibility.  The reply of Christ deserves our careful attention for He does not deny the statement of His disciples.  “But He said, ‘What is impossible with man’.  That is, in any way to save himself.’ Is possible with God’”.

God can use Abram with his house servants to defeat four nations and bring back everything taken with no loss, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, creator of heaven and earth.”  That is impossible with man, but all things are possible with God.  Or He can save a poor lost sinner like me.  Again, an impossibility for man!

Please read Hebrews 1:1-4 KJV.

JESUS! WHAT A FRIEND FOR SINNERS!

Jesus! what a Friend for sinners!
Jesus! Lover of my soul;
Friends may fail me, foes assail me,
He, my Savior, makes me whole.

Jesus! I do now receive Him,
More than all in Him I find.
He hath granted me forgiveness,
I am His, and He is mine.

Refrain

Hallelujah! what a Savior!
Hallelujah! what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.

                                                                              J. Wilbur Chapman, 1910

STRIFE:  NO BLESSING…Bill Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Genesis 13:7

  

Abram and his nephew Lot had a long history.  They were related, uncle and nephew.  It is probable at this time in their lives Abram had taken Lot as his heir.  It is certain that Abram had great concern for Lot.  This is proven by later events.

It does not appear that Lot is wicked or selfish.  He is unwise.  His well-being was with Abram.  He should have been wise and stayed with him.  His choice to separate brought him into mischief he was never able to quit.

What were the results of the strife stated in 13:7?

First it resulted in Lot leaving the church.  Abram was the place of blessing.  In 12:2-3 God makes Abram central to His communication with the world.  Lot participated in the covenant God made with Abram.  When he departed he left the place of covenant blessing.

Andrew Fuller writes, It is a pity that those whom grace unites, and who are fellow-heirs of eternal life, should be parted by the lumber of this world.  Genesis page 160.

But it was so!

Secondly the fact of strife and the presence of other clans point us to the danger it presented for this large and rich family.  Strife was a cause for concern to Abram.  It invited attacks that a united family would discourage.  The internal hostility with the resulting disputes and skirmishes both weakened and brought disrespect upon Abram and Lot from their neighbors.  Environment and culture have always been a consideration for the church.

Strife had led to Lot making a foolish decision, it had weakened the church in the eyes of the world and it put a saint of God in great danger.

Lot chose Sodom.  The reputation of Sodom was well known.  Genesis 13:13 appears to be a plain statement of the existing reputation of Sodom.  Lot having chosen wealth with its attending dangers seemed not to any longer “hate evil”.  He became comfortable enough to live where sin reigned.  He never approved, he never participated, but he did marry it.

Lot is the primeval prodigal. And he suffered for it.  And it all began with strife in the camp.  I do not see how this can be read and Lot not be seen at least to some degree a contributor.

Please read II Peter 2:6-10

FALSE APOSTLES…Bill Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Hebrews 7:18-19

¹⁷ For it is attested of Him,               

“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”

¹⁸ For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness

There has arisen a present day Pharisaical Judaism that is pure deceit.  Every word of the New Testament that describes and charges deceivers is true of those who teach and profit by what is called the Jewish Roots Movement.  The ones I have seen are profiteers on the naïve who listen to them.  But what is the truth?

The quote from Hebrews is only one of many available to combat any attempts to return to Judaism.  It is well for us to listen to the teaching of the church for the last 400 years, which is not inconsistent with the 1600 years prior to those quotes.

John Owens, Hebrews, 1650 Reformed, Congregationalist.

“the law”, in verse 19; for the same thing is intended in both words.  It is not, therefore, the peculiar command for the institution of the legal priesthood that is intended, but the whole system of Mosaical institutions.  For the apostle having already proved that the priesthood was to be abolished, he proceeds on that ground and from thence to prove the whole law was also to be in like manner abolished and removed.  And indeed it was of such a nature and constitution, that pull one pin out of the fabric, and the whole must fall unto the ground; for the sanction of it being, that “he was cursed who continued not in all things written in the law to do them,” the change of any one thing must needs overthrow the whole law. 

Brooks Foss Westcott, Hebrews 1899, Church of England Greek Scholar.

The conclusion there pointed to is confirmed by the decisive fact that the promised priesthood is not only distinct from the Levitical but also irreconcileable with it, exclusive of it; so far, that is, that the Levitical priesthood has no longer any ground for continuance when this has been established. 

James Stephens, Hebrews, 1943, English Baptist.

When we speak of liberty we must be most careful to keep in mind that it is not Priesthood that is no longer necessary, but the Levitical priesthood, and with it anything that is of the nature of an imitation of it. 

Phillip Hughes, Hebrews, 1977, church of England Evangelist and Scholar.

The former commandment refers in particular to the legislation whereby the levitical priesthood and its succession were regulated (vv. 11ff. above).  This legislation has been set aside or cancelled, because of its weakness and uselessness in the sense that it was incompetent to effect the justification of sinners before God.  The law is a principle of life only to the man who fulfils the righteousness it prescribes (Rom. 7:10-12, 2 Cor. 3:7ff), and the human predicament is precisely that of the law-breaker.

William L. Lane, Hebrews A Call to Commitment, 1985, Wesleyan (Methodist).

The Levitical priesthood and the old Law have been set aside by the new and “better hope” based on the superior quality of the new priest.  The old priesthood and the old Law were set aside because they had been ineffective in achieving God’s purpose.  Their ineffectiveness is a reflection on the weakness of the persons upon whom the priesthood and the Law depended for the accomplishment of the divine purpose.  The people of God failed to be brought into a right relationship with God through the cleansing of the conscience or the heart.

Owen’s statement, that the whole law was in like manner to be abolished, “is as applicable as it is current.  Good scholarship, without regard to camp, has continued to maintain this.  Those who pretend to return to Judaism, they are as false in their pretension as they are in their theology, have a motive they cannot hide for long.  Simply put it is “buy your gadgets from us”.  Again - Follow the money trail.

Look once more to Galatians 2:21 with John 1:18.