Do Gentile Christians have to keep
the Feasts of the LORD?
For at least the first ten years after the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ there was no controversy on the issue of whether or not believing Jews should keep the Feasts of the LORD. All of them had kept the Feasts. All one hundred and twenty of the Lord’s disciples had gathered together on the Day of Pentecost to commemorate this Feast.
A controversy arose after news of the first Gentile converts had reached the Church in Jerusalem. “And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” (Acts 15:1) “But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses. So the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter.” (Acts 15:5-6)
There were two issues in question. One was circumcision and the other one was keeping the law of Moses that included the Feasts of the LORD. After much discussion the Jerusalem Conference came to a conclusion and James, who was the presiding speaker, made this resolution: “Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood. For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” (Acts 15:19-21)
The apostles, the elders and the brethren wrote this letter to the “brethren who are the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: ‘Greetings. Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying ‘You must be circumcised and keep the law’ – to whom we gave no such commandment - . . . For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.” (Acts 15:23-29) That settles it! Gentile Christians do not have to be circumcised nor keep the law of Moses that includes the Feasts of the LORD. “So when they were sent off, they came to Antioch; and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter. When they had read it, they rejoiced over its encouragement.” (Acts 15:30-31)
Objections to Gentile Christians not keeping
the Feasts of the LORD
Objection 1: God is fair and just therefore He would not set up double standards, one for the Jewish believers and another one for the Gentile believers.
Answer 1: When Peter spoke to the Gentiles - Cornelius and his household, his first words were: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.” (Acts 10:34-35) God’s fairness and justice is in His acceptance of every nation that fears Him and works righteousness. There is no double standard in God’s salvation by grace through faith that is open to both the Jews and the Gentiles alike. During the Jerusalem Conference Peter said: “So God knows the heart, acknowledged them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hears by faith. Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.” (Acts 15:8-11) In the New Covenant “by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight” (Rom. 3:20; Gal. 3:11). Keeping the Feasts of the LORD does not save anyone, not even the Jews. Then why does God require the Jews to still keep the Feasts? There are two reasons. First, it is a perpetual covenant made between God and their forefathers. Second, it is a privilege for the Messianic Jews to keep the Feasts of the LORD because by doing so they are preserving the rich heritage that was handed down to them by their forefathers. There is no such privilege for the Gentile Christians. Our Lord Jesus Christ said: “. . . For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; . . .” (Lk. 12:48)
Objection 2: The Jerusalem Conference did not include the Ten Commandments together with the four abstentions in its resolution. If the Gentile Christians want to abide strictly to the resolution by not observing the Feasts of the LORD, then based on the same reasoning they should also not keep the Ten Commandments as well. Is that not so?
Answer 2: The Ten Commandments was never an issue in the Jerusalem Conference, but the law of Moses was one of the issues. Observance of the Feasts of the LORD is part of the Mosaic law. What the Jerusalem Conference resolved was that the four abstentions in the Mosaic law was the minimum requirements for the Gentiles to keep. Keeping the Ten Commandments is the whole duty of man, that is mankind not just the Jews (Ecc. 12:13-14)
Objection 3: The “handwriting of requirements” that were “nailed to the cross” the apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 2:14 include the observance of the Feasts of the LORD. He also wrote that Christ had already “abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances.” (Eph. 2:15) If the Feasts of the LORD have already been abolished then why do the Messianic Jews still have to observe them?
Answer 3: First of all we need to acknowledge the truth that the apostle Paul did not write that all or each and every one of the ordinances were abolished or “nailed to the cross.” What he actually wrote was this: “having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed to the cross.” (Col. 2:14) Only those ordinances or “requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us” were “nailed to the cross”. If you go back and read Leviticus 23 you will find God gave the Seven Feasts of the LORD to the Children of Israel and their succeeding generations for perpetuity, therefore they cannot be abolished. The Feasts were not given to the Gentile Christians therefore they need not have any concern for them at all.
Let us take some examples about what ordinances were retained and what were abolished in the New Covenant.
Blessings and Curses: All the promises of blessings given to those who are obedient to God are retained (Dt. 28:1-14). Jesus promised believers the abundant life (Jn. 10:10). All the curses given to those who were disobedient are abolished (Dt. 28:15-68). “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.’ (Gal. 3:13)
Seventh Day Sabbath: The ordinance of having a solemn rest and a holy convocation is good therefore it is retained (Lev. 23:3). The ordinance of the death penalty for anyone who works on the Sabbath day has been abolished (Ex. 31:12-17). Jesus said: “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” (Mk. 2:27)
Passover: The ordinance of commemorating the Passover by the Children of Israel is retained because it is an “everlasting ordinance” (Ex. 12:14). The Lord Jesus Christ “our Passover was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the Feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Cor. 5:7-8) In the New Covenant we commemorate the Lord Jesus Christ’s death by partaking of His flesh and blood during the Holy Communion (Mt. 26:26-29; 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 11:23-34)
Atonement: The ordinance of having a solemn rest and afflicting the soul by prayer and fasting is retained (Lev. 23:31-32). The ordinances of excommunicating people who “is not afflicted of the soul” and destroying people who work on that day have been abolished (Lev. 23:29-30). When Jesus died on the Cross the veil of the temple that separated the sanctuary from the Holiest of All was “torn in two from top to bottom” (Mt. 27:51; Heb. 9:1-3). This event signifies the Old Covenant priesthood in which the high priest atones for the sins of Israel has been abolished. (Heb. 9:6-14; 24-26)
The Four Abstentions of the Jerusalem Conference: The Holy Spirit revealed to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem that the Gentile Christians must observe these four ordinances that were retained in the New Covenant (Acts 15: 19-21; 28-29; 21:25)
1. Abstain from things polluted by idols (Ex. 34:14-15 ref. 1 Cor. 8:4,7,10; 1 Cor. 10:19-21).
2. Abstain from blood (Lev. 17:10-12)
3. Abstain from things strangled (Lev. 17:13-14)
4. Abstain from sexual immorality (Lev. 18)
Sacrifices and Offerings: In the Old Covenant Feasts of the LORD the ordinances pertaining to sacrifices and offerings made by fire have been abolished (Lev. 23:8, 10-14, 15-20, 36-37). In the New Covenant the believers’ sacrifices and offerings are their bodies that are acceptable to God (Rom. 12:1), their worship (1 Pet. 2:5), their faith (Php. 2:17), their prayers (Rev. 5:8), their praises to God (Heb. 13:15), their Christian walk (Eph. 5:2) and their gifts (2 Cor. 9:6-15).
Objection 4: Does not Colossians 2:16-17 indicate Christians should not let others judge them for not keeping all the Sabbaths that include the Seventh Day Sabbath and the Feasts of the LORD because they have all been abolished?
Answer 4: No, Colossians 2:16-17 does not indicate that at all because it is a completely wrong assumption. To begin with, God had never abolished the Seventh Day Sabbath at any time. You can read the whole New Testament and you can never find a single hint that the Seventh Day Sabbath was ever abolished. After the Lord Jesus Christ had died and buried in the tomb the disciples “rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.” (Lk. 23:56)
The second point is the Early Apostolic Church that consisted of both Jewish and Gentile Christians worshipped on the same Seventh Day Sabbath (Acts 13:42:44; 16:13-15; 18:4). What Paul wrote in Colossians 2:16-17 has nothing to do with the Seventh Day Sabbath.
The
third point is the apostle Paul was on the side of the Colossian Church and was
protecting their position. Remember the
resolution of the Jerusalem Conference gave the Gentile Christians the benefit
of keeping the four abstentions, which means they did not have to observe the
Feasts of the LORD that was given only to the Children of Israel.
There
was a sect of converted Pharisees with deviant beliefs that had left the
Apostolic Church that insisted Gentile Christians must keep the law of Moses
that include the Feasts of the LORD (Acts 15:1, 5, 24). In addition to this sect “many
myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous of the
law.” (Acts
21:20) These Jews who are
zealous of the law are inside the Church.
So either groups or both of them could be judging the Colossian Church
for not keeping the Feasts of the LORD.
This Article is the response of Paul Wong
to a discussion in the ARK Forum on July 29, 2003
For comments please write first to: [email protected]
May God bless you.
Paul Wong is a Christian minister and the
President of ARK International.
His ministry also serves as an architectural service company in Houston.
The ARK Forum on the Internet is international and non-denominational.
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