-----
Original Message -----
From: ark
To: Paul Wong
Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2003 12:36 PM
Subject: Are Gentile Christians bound by the
law to keep all the Feasts?
The ARK Forum
Paul Wong's response to Laura Lee
Dear
Laura,
Thank
you for your email letter concerning the Holy Day Feasts. First of all I
would like to clarify my position over this issue. I am not
against Gentile Christians keeping any Holy Day Feasts of the LORD. It is
a privilege for them to attend a Feast and it should not be a burden at
all. What I mean is that Gentile Christians are not bound by the law to
attend the Feasts. They are not under the law but under grace. (Rom.
6:14) When they attend a Feast they do so because they want to, and not
because they have to.
I
have personally attended many Holy Day Feasts myself, and I must say that I
have enjoyed every one of them. I praise and thank God for giving me so
many Messianic Jewish and Gentile Christian friends that have continually
invited me to attend the Feasts every year. I love and respect them just
as they also love and respect me and my views. As a matter of fact my
view on this issue is not unique. Many Messianic Jewish rabbis and their
congregations teach that the Feasts of the LORD are given exclusively
to the Children of Israel. They invite their Gentile Christian friends to
attend the Feasts as their guests. This is correct. There are
several ex-Worldwide Church of God believers that keep the
Feasts and they have also invited me to join
them during the Feast of Tabernacles in various sites in Texas, Arkansas
and even as far as Florida. I personally see nothing wrong for a
Gentile Christian to attend the Feasts as long as they do not observe them
as the law, and do not condemn other Gentile Christians that don't keep
the Feasts. I obey God's Commandments and love and respect other
believers and their views on the Feasts, but I am not under the law and not a
legalist. So Laura, I hope that you will understand my position better
now.
The
Feasts of the LORD are mainly given to the Children of Israel and are to be
kept by them in perpetuity. Both you and I agree on this point. Our
difference lie in the issue of whether or not Gentile Christians are bound by
the law of Moses to keep them. You say "Yes" and I say
"No." I base my beliefs on the following biblical truth.
1. Every one
the Feasts are clearly stated to be given to the children of Israel:
There
is not a single verse in Leviticus 23 where it ever states that Gentiles that
do not live in an Israelite home and who is not circumcised can
observe any of the Feasts. That is the Mosaic Law. Originally Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread were given
exclusively to the Children of Israel. “And
the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ‘This is the ordinance of the Passover. No outsider shall eat it. But every man’s servant who is bought for
money, when you have circumcised him, then he may eat it. A sojourner and a hired servant shall not
eat it. In one house it shall be eaten;
you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, nor shall you break one
of its bones. All the congregation of
Israel shall keep it. And when a
stranger sojourns with you and wants to keep the Passover to the LORD, let all
his males be circumcised, and shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat
it. One law shall be for the
native-born and for the stranger who sojourns among you.’ Thus all the children of Israel did; as the
LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.”
(Ex. 12:43-50) Laura Lee wrote: The Feasts of God are
Statutes to the law of God just like the Saturday Sabbath. Passover is called
an Ordinance. Each of the Feast days are declared as Sabbaths. Why would you
not keep all of the Sabbaths of the Lord? Paul Wong responds: There are three
distinct categories of the Law. [1] The Ten Commandments governed the religious
and moral lives of the people as they relate to God. (Ex. 20:1-6)
They are universal laws for
mankind. (Ecc. 12:13-14) They continue in the New Testament
(Mt. 5:17-19)
The Seventh Day Sabbath commandment is
in this category and it cannot be abolished. (Jas. 2:8-11) [2]
The Judgments governed the social lives
of the Israelite people as they relate to one another. (Ex. 21:1 to
Ex. 24:11) These laws apply only to the children of Israel. Some of
them are not even applicable now in Israel. [3] The Ordinances governed the religious
lives of the children of Israel (Ex. 24:12 to Ex. 31:18)
The Annual and Monthly Feasts are in this category and have been abolished
by Christ's death. (Eph. 2:15)
The
English word "Sabbath"
is a transliteration of the Hebrew word "Shabbath"
that has the meaning of "desist, cease,
rest." It is a generic word that refers to the rest that God
instituted on the Seventh Day at Creation (Gen. 2:1-3) and also to the Feasts
that were given to the children of Israel in Egypt and also in the
wilderness. These feasts are celebrated during the New Moons and
also annually (1 Chron. 23:31; 2 Chron. 2:4, 8:13, 31:3;
Neh. 10:33; Ezek. 45:17 and Hos. 2:11). Laura, do you also keep the New
Moons that are also called Sabbaths? If not and why not? I don't
keep the New Moons and the Annual Feasts because they were given only to the
children of Israel. These annual and monthly festival Sabbaths have been
nailed to the Cross and I shall let no one judge me for not
keeping them. (Col. 2:14-17) Laura
Lee wrote: It
can be easily proven to you that the Feasts of the Lord are all Sabbaths and
that Christ as well as the Apostles all kept them. Paul
Wong responds: You
don't have to prove this point to me. I totally agree with you. The
reason why the Lord Jesus Christ and the Apostles kept all the Feasts is
because they are all Jews. All the Feasts are to be kept by the children
of Israel in perpetuity. All the apostles and disciples kept the Feast of
Pentecost after the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven. (Acts 2:1)
Being a Jew the apostle Paul himself said, "I
must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem; but I will return again
to you, God willing." And he sailed from Ephesus." (Acts 18:21)
Later Paul "had
decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he would not have to spend time in Asia;
for he was hurrying to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of
Pentecost." (Acts 20:16) Let
us understand that the churches and congregations in Ephesus and Asia have
predominantly Gentile believers in membership (Rev. 1:4; 2:1) Here is the
proof text to show that in the Early Apostolic Church only the Jewish believers
observed the Feast of Pentecost and the Gentile believers did not.
Why did Paul rush to Jerusalem? To observe the Feast of Pentecost
with other Jewish believers, of course. Why did he sail past Ephesus and
not spend the time in Asia that had many Gentile believers? If the
Gentile Church in Ephesus were keeping the Feast of Pentecost would Paul not
have stayed in that city and observed the Feast with them? Of course he
would! The truth is that the Gentile believers in the Early Apostolic
Church did not keep any of the Feasts of the LORD. Only the Jewish
believers did. This is the reason why Paul did not stay in Ephesus and
Asia but hurried to be at Jerusalem so that he could keep the Feast of Pentecost
with the Jews over there. This is a pure and simple deduction that makes
a lot of sense, doesn't it? Laura
Lee wrote: The
Gentiles were to become spiritual Jews and be grafted in. Paul
Wong responds: I
have heard and read about people using Romans 2:29 to show that Gentile
Christians are Spiritual Jews. That verse does not mention anything about
a Gentile, but only what a true Jew should be. Others use Romans 9:6-8 to
show that Gentile Christians are spiritual Jews. Again, I must say
that there is no mention of any Gentile Christians in these verses at
all. They just show what is true Israel. These verses point to who
are the true children of God. Romans
11:11-24 mention the grafting of the Gentile believers into the olive
tree. From other Scriptures you will see there are two olive trees. (Zec.
4:3; 11-14; Rev.11:4) These two olive trees, I believe, represent the
Messianic Jewish believers (natural olive tree - Rom. 11:21) and the Gentile
Christian believers (wild olive tree - Rom.11:17) History
bears us out that Gentile
Christianity and Messianic Judaism can be two separate congregations and yet
can work together as the One Body of the Messiah in the Kingdom of God.
Both can coexist and be compatible with one another. Laura
Lee wrote: And
last of all God is not a respecter of persons. Anyone who is trying to do as
God wants them to do should be following the Law of God whether Jew or Gentile.
When God grants any person whether Jew or Gentile his spirit, we will strive to
keep his laws whether we are Jew, Israelite or Gentile. Paul
Wong responds: The
Messianic Jews can continue to observe the Feasts of the LORD just as what
the Old Testament dictates, and Gentile Christians can just continue to keep
the Seventh Day Sabbath only without having to keep the Feasts of the
LORD. This is exactly what was done in the Early Apostolic Church.
Many Gentile Christians are perfectly happy with this kind of
arrangement. Why shouldn't you be also happy about my not
keeping the Feasts as the law? I have no problem with your keeping the
Feast even though, as you wrote in the post script that you are not a Jew or
Messianic Jew. If you do not keep the Feasts as the law,
that's fine. There
is a certain danger in keeping the law that has already been abolished.
Paul wrote: "You have become estranged from
Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from
grace." (Gal. 5:4) If
you keep the Feasts as the law then you are in danger of falling from
grace. You don't want to do that, Laura! Some
argue that because Gentile Christians were grafted into the Jewish Olive
tree they have to do everything that the Jewish believers had done. The
Jewish believers had kept the "Kosher" diet
of clean and unclean meats. The
Gentile believers did not. Paul rebuked Peter's hypocrisy for
not eating with the Gentiles when certain Jews were present. (Gal.
2:11-14) We should not have double standards. There
are several good things in the Old Testament Mosaic Laws that I would like to
keep, not as the law, but for the sake of good health. I like the Kosher"
diet of clean and unclean meats By
the same token, although I strongly believe the Feasts of the LORD were given
exclusively to the Children of Israel as stated in the Holy Bible, yet I have
no objection, absolutely none, to any Gentile Christian attending the Feasts,
not as the law, but for the love of Christ and fellowshipping with other
believers. Laura
Lee wrote: I
sincerely hope that you will consider what I have said, because if you are
teaching that
certain people do not have to keep the Holy Days of God, then you are also
saying that
the Bible does not apply to all people. Paul
Wong responds: The
Holy Bible is very clear in stating the Annual and Monthly Holy Days were given
exclusively to the Children of Israel and not to the Gentile Christians.
The Holy Bible is the Word of God, therefore it must be read, absorbed,
understood and applied to our lives as the Holy Spirit guides us. May
God bless you. Your
servant in the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul
Wong ~ Email Address: [email protected] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dear Paul, If I got the wrong idea from your writings, please
correct me. PS--I am not
Jewish, nor am I a Messianic Jew, and yet I still keep God's Holy Day Feasts
because they are what God wants us to do and I happily do this for God. This Article is the response of Paul Wong 
My health has improved
tremendously since following this diet. The other Mosaic Law that has
been abolished in the New Testament is the circumcision. I would highly
recommend that male babies be circumcised for the good of their health, but it
is not highly recommended for adult males. Why? Ouch! it's very
painful! "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." (Acts 15:10)
You seem to be teaching people that the Holy Day Feasts of the Lord are not to
be kept by all people.
If I did not get the wrong idea from your writings, then I have to disagree
with you. The Holy Day Feasts of the Lord are for all people. The Bible is written for all people and
God's laws are for all people.
Just because many do not keep God's laws does not mean that God's laws are done
away or do not apply to certain people.
The Feasts of God are Statutes to the law of God just like the Saturday Sabbath.
Passover is called an Ordinance. Each
of the Feast days are declared as Sabbaths. Why would you not keep all of the
Sabbaths of the Lord?
It can be easily proven to you that the Feasts of the Lord are all Sabbaths and
that Christ as well as the Apostles all kept them. The gentiles were to become
spiritual Jews and be grafted in. And last of all
God is not a respecter of persons. Anyone who is trying to do as God wants them
to do should be following the Law of God whether Jew or Gentile. When God
grants any person whether Jew or Gentile his spirit, we will strive to keep his
laws whether we are Jew, Israelite or Gentile.
I sincerely hope that you will consider what I have said, because if you are
teaching that certain people do not have to keep the Holy Days of God, then you
are also saying that the Bible does not apply to all people.
With Much Love,
Darwin & Laura Lee (Letter by Laura)
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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