Acts 17:10-11 10The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. 11Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
According to verse 11, the Bereans examined daily the things that the apostle Paul said, in order to see if what he taught actually lined up with the Scriptures. Everything that Paul taught had to agree with and harmonize with “the Scriptures”. What were “the Scriptures” that these ‘noble Jewish-Bereans’ had in their possession to examine daily? Every time you read the words, “the Scriptures“, in the ‘New Testament’, it is always referring to the “the Law, the Prophets and the Writings”. At the time of Paul’s ministry, the ‘New Testament’ didn’t exist yet.
God does nothing, without first revealing it through his prophets ~
Amos 3:7 “For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets”.
Paul himself confirms this when he stated that his “gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ” is confirmed by “the prophetic Scriptures“ ~
Romans 16:25-26 25Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began 26but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations according to the commandment of the everlasting God
Paul confessed in these two verses, that the good news he taught had been made known to all nations “by the prophetic Scriptures“. The apostle Paul’s doctrines and teachings, the ‘revelation of the mystery’ that he taught, by his own admission is in the Prophetic Scriptures; “the Old Testament“.
Again, everything that the apostle Paul taught HAD to harmonize with the Old Testament Scriptures, at least according to his own declaration.
That being said, we need to ask ourselves, if the apostle Paul taught that the Law was abolished, done away with, and no longer valid, as mainstream theology teaches, then where in the Old Testament does it declare or prophesy that this would happen. The fact is, it doesn’t. Not one verse in the “the Old Testament“ foretells of God’s Law ever being abolished, put to an end or done away with: not one!
♦♦♦ The truth of the matter is, “the Old Testament“ affirms that the Law of God given through Moses is the critical component of the “New Covenant“. ♦♦♦
What does the text say?
Jeremiah 31:31-33 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a “new covenant“ with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put “my law” within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
In “the New Covenant“, God’s Law, His Instructions, will be put within us. His Law will be written on our hearts.
Am I to assume then, mainstream theologians believe that God Almighty planned to put an abolished Law inside us? The All-Wise Creator’s great plan was to write His Law on our heart, but He didn’t expect us to keep it…?
That’s the plan??
Really???
Think logically, not emotionally.
Another ‘Scriptural’ truth that is little known in the mainstream Christian community is the fact that, according to ‘God Almighty Himself’, the commands, statutes and decrees that He gave through Moses cannot be added to or taken away from, ever.
What does the text say?
Deuteronomy 12:28,32-13:5 28 Be careful to obey all these words that I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God… 32“Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.” 1If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ 3you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. 5But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So, you shall purge the evil from your midst.”
Deuteronomy 4:1-2 “And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you.
Whether it’s written on stone, on paper, or on our hearts, nothing can be added to or taken away from the established Law of God; these are the facts, and not even Paul can contradict God!
If he had, if Paul had contradicted God and taught that the Law of God given through Moses was revoked, abolished and not to be obeyed, then he would have been ‘taking away from‘ the Law and he was a heretic and a false prophet for ‘teaching rebellion‘, as per Deuteronomy 12:32-13:5 above.
By the way, this same truth applies to Jesus.
As an Israelite from the tribe of Judah, and the only one who ever obeyed the Law of God perfectly, he in no way violated the commands in these verses in Deuteronomy above. If Jesus had taught or commanded anyone to break and/or change the Law of Moses, he would have himself violated the Law of Moses. Adding to or taking away from the established Law of God would have disqualified Jesus from being the Messiah. He would have been branded a sinner and a heretic, as someone who ‘taught rebellion‘ against God.
Yet, mainstream Christianity believes in a Messiah that has done just that.?.?
Even though God said that His ‘Laws’, His ‘Instructions’, are forever and that nothing is to be added to it nor taken from it, every mainstream denomination teaches and believes in a Jesus that changed and did away with God’s Law. The vast majority of mainstream Christianity believes that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did not mean forever when He said “forever“.
‘That’ god is a liar!
The real God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob keeps his Word ~
Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
1 Samuel 15:29 And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.”
Judges 2:1 Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, I will never break my covenant with you,
Psalm 89:34 I will not violate my covenant or alter the word that went forth from my lips.
Malachi 3:6 “For I the LORD do not change
Hebrews 1:12 like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.”
Hebrews 6:18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Titus 1:2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began
The God of Abraham, Jesus and Paul keeps His Word, He means what He says, He does not lie and He does not change.
Amos 3:7 “For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets”.
Again, not one verse anywhere in the Law, the Prophets or the Writings, does God Almighty ever reveal or prophesy that His “Laws”, His “Instructions” that He would ever abolish, void or do away with His Law delivered through Moses; nor is it revealed or prophesied anywhere that He would send someone else with authorization to abolish, void or do away with His Law.
What does the text say?
Deuteronomy 12:28 & 32 28 Be careful to obey all these words that I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God… 32 Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.
Exodus 31:16-17 16Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. 17It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’”
Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live…
Deuteronomy 31:28 Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears and call heaven and earth to witness against them…
Deuteronomy 32:1-2 Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, like gentle rain upon the tender grass, and like showers upon the herb…
It doesn’t say, ‘until I send my Son‘ or ‘until Paul comes‘. It says “forever”.
The real Jesus never taught against, nor did he ever authorize any changes to the Law of God given through Moses, and neither did Paul; please read ‘Paul Commands Us to Uphold the Law‘, ‘Zealous for the Law‘ and ‘The Law: Fulfilled or Abolished‘.
Furthermore, the Holy Spirit of God proclaims that Jesus did not change Moses, through Luke’s “post–Resurrection” writing about Stephen’s trial.
What does the text say?
Acts 6:11-14 11Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him (Stephen) speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, 14for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.”
What did the text say?
Verse 13 says “and they set up false witnesses”!
The Holy Spirit clearly states that “false witnesses“ were brought in to accuse Stephen of blasphemy against the Law. Therefore, since these were false witnesses, Stephen did not blaspheme or speak against the Law of Moses.
These same “false witnesses“ claimed Jesus would change the customs that Moses delivered. Again, since these were false witnesses, Jesus did not change the customs that Moses delivered.
God’s Spirit-inspired-Word proclaims that the accusation that Jesus came to change Moses is “false“; yet this is the very thing that mainstream theology teaches to be true!?!
Tragically, today’s mainstream Christian System takes the side of the false witnesses that conspired against Stephen and lied about Jesus. Why? It’s because we were taught from the cradle that Jesus came to abolish and to do away with the Law of Moses and have not “examined the Scriptures” for ourselves to verify if this was true. According to what we have just read in the Word of God, the mainstream Christian dogma that ‘Jesus changed Moses” is actually false.
We were taught to blindly follow denominational doctrines, and not taught to test them against ‘the Scriptures‘!
What does the Creator say?
“Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.” | God Almighty
What does the text say?
Amos 3:7 “For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets”.
Again, not one verse anywhere in the Scriptures, does God Almighty ever reveal or prophesy that His “Laws“, His “Instructions given through Moses” would ever become abolished, void or done away with.
On the contrary, it is stated in scores and scores of verses that His Law is forever, perpetual, always, throughout the generations! Please click this link and read ‘The Sabbath: Forever Means Forever‘, as well as the ‘forever list’ at the bottom of the blog for over 60 of these verses.
GOD Almighty’s “Laws” are “Instructions” for living righteously as His set-apart people, not for “justification” (please read ‘Justification vs. Righteousness‘ to understand the difference between the two) … and not for “salvation” (please read ‘Salvation vs. Eternal Life‘ to understand the difference between the two).
Final Thought: Jesus did not come to change or void the Law of Moses, and the Word-of-God Himself confirms this:
“But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void.” | Luke 16:17
“For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” | Matthew 5:18
In Deuteronomy 31 & 32 (listed above) the Lord GOD Almighty specifically used “heaven and earth” as witnesses to the promise that He made regarding His Teachings, “HIS” Instructions/Laws. Jesus purposefully referred to these two witnesses in ‘Matthew 5’ & ‘Luke 16’ (listed directly above) to emphasize and reaffirm those witnesses. Jesus is reminding us that ‘The Law’ of His day (The Law of Moses), will be valid, current and in authority until heaven and earth pass away. Heaven and earth are still here; they are the Scriptural witnesses that God Almighty’s Law has not ‘passed away’, because they have not ‘passed away’. Take a look outside to verify…
This study can now be seen on YouTube at: ‘Examining the Scriptures‘.
- For further study of Paul’s teachings, as well as the original Greek, see the ‘Links’ at the top of this page or blog posts at the bottom. Be like the Bereans, and test Paul’s doctrines to the “Scriptures”; look up for yourself more than 60 of the “forever verses” listed directly below. Please ‘share’ this study. Thank you for your time!
A Paulogetic 
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