Easter and the Spring Feasts – Crumbs in Your Peanut Butter

It’s that time of year, believers.  Concerned family members are telling you to not celebrate the Resurrection of Christ on Easter and are preparing their homes and themselves to observe the Spring Feasts of Israel.

I read the following on the Faith, Grace, and Torah Facebook page last night:

” . . . I am now again suited up, ready to fight, without fear of man, and I will be active again, especially leading into Passover. Judases will arise the closer we get to Passover, as that spirit does every year, and Amalek will arise and is rising again, and I will not make the mistake of leaving one single Amalekite alive, and I will continue to persue and hunt every one of them down and slay them with the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of the ONLY living Elohim/God.”

Let me encourage you that as you interact with the Law-keepers in your life to love them well and to keep pointing them to Christ, His Work, and who they are in Him.

Our walk in Christ is not meant to be a series of battles in a grand war with many enemies.

Christ taught us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us, not to ‘slay them with the Sword of the Spirit’.

NO.

We are to be ambassadors of LIFE by sharing the Truths of the Gospel:

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.  (from 2 Cor. 5)

And LIFE is what the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ is all about – not only HIS indestructible life, but the New Life imparted to US in Christ.

These are realities in Christ which are indeed worth celebrating \o/ !!!

So to repeat:  As you interact with the Law-keepers in your life,

—> Love them well
—> Keep pointing them to Christ, His Work, and who they are in Him.

Here is a link to an article (can also be found on the Articles Page here at JGIG) that addresses the common arguments regarding the early church and the establishment of the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ, commonly known as Easter.  There are four areas addressed by the article:

• The Gnostic Heresy
• The Heresy of Judaism and the Roman Persecution
• The Quartodeciman Controversy
• The Nicene Council Concerning Easter

Below is a repeat of a post from a couple of years ago regarding the Spring Feasts and our relationship to them in the New Covenant.

Grace and peace to you all who are on the ‘front lines’ with those who choose to ‘do battle’ with you.
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The Spring Feasts of God – Crumbs in Your Peanut Butter

Last year around this time I read a comment on a Law-keeping forum about preparing for the Spring Feasts. Regarding getting the leaven out of their homes, it seems that in addition to removing obvious leaven from the home (yeast, baking powder, baking soda, all fermenting/leavening agents along with all leavened breads and any food products containing leaven including frozen and canned products, condiments, etc.), it’s also important to get rid of any peanut butter and jelly, as crumbs from leavened bread can get transferred into the containers by one’s knife. Another person posted how they should probably get rid of their mayo, too, ‘just in case’.

One does have to wonder, in case WHAT?!

What great calamity will happen to the one in Christ if there are crumbs in their mayonnaise jar during the Spring Feasts? Leaven is a symbol of sin, not sin itself. Even then, after the work of Christ, this is what God has to say:

2 Corinthians 5:17-19
17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.

In Christ, this is how we are to celebrate, understanding that >> we << can never get every speck of leaven (representing sin) out of our lives:

1 Corinthians 5:6-8
6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast — as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.

Folks, this season of remembrance is not about >> US << getting sin (leaven) out of our lives and going through the object lesson that Israel did every year, it’s about
>>> JESUS <<< and how HE has already CLEANSED those in Christ from our sins and about remembering, in the bread and the wine, HIM and what HE has already DONE.

We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus! (2 Cor. 5:21) We are not to dwell on sin, we are to dwell on the Gift of Righteousness we have in Christ:

Romans 5:17
17For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.

If you want to do the object lessons of the Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits to learn how God designed His Law and its shadows to perfectly point to Christ, that’s fine. But to attempt to observe the Old Covenant, as those without Christ did – year after year – after Christ has already fulfilled those shadows and commanded us to remember HIS Body – broken for us – and HIS Blood – shed for us – in the bread and the wine . . .

Let me put it this way:

God does not care about the crumbs in your peanut butter, jelly or mayo jars. He just doesn’t. He cares about the condition of your heart and whether or not you are in Christ:

1 John 3:23-24
23And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

The Law ‘keeper’ is constantly working to get the leaven (sin) out, by observing this day or avoiding that food or wearing fringes on their clothes, when Jesus said, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6, reiterated in 1 John 3 above) and then went on to state how HE is the Bread from heaven, and HE is the Living Water. Jesus then goes about systematically replacing elements found in the Old Testament and the Law with HIMSELF. Many left Him after that (John 6:66).

We are to partake in HIM. Remember HIM. We are not to strive as those without Christ did by observing ritual and regulation in Feast observances, but to remember what Christ HAS ALREADY DONE! “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me . . . This cup is the New Covenant in My Blood, poured out for you.” (From Luke 22)

Romans 7:4-6
4So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. 6But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

2 Corinthians 3:4-6
4Such confidence we have through Christ before God. 5Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

I’ve heard it said that as soon as a law is given, mankind starts looking for loopholes. In Christ, we don’t have to look for loopholes, because we are not under law. We can walk in the newness of the life that we have in Christ (Romans 6:4), led by the Spirit He gave us (Ephesians 1, Galatians 5), walking not in Law and bearing its fruit (sin, death, fruit unto death Romans 7:5, 7-8, 9-11), but walking in His Spirit, bearing His Fruit (love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control Galatians 5).

We often hear from those in Law-keeping camps, “Choose ye this day Whom you will serve!” and “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (YHWH)!” (Joshua 24:15)

In the New Covenant, walking in His Spirit is the way to serve God. Those in Christ are led by His Spirit; we are no longer under Law. In a very practical sense, that means that we can spend more time actively loving others and sharing the Grace of God in the Gospel with them instead of spending time inspecting our peanut butter jars.

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Other articles of interest:

• Believers in the Hebrew Roots Movement: Are They Lost?
• Hebrew Roots Movement – Man’s Righteousness or God’s Righteousness?
• Jesus’ Gospel? Paul’s Gospel?
• Grace or Law? How Then, Shall We Live?
• Romans 7:1-6 and Spiritual Adultery
• Hebrew Roots Movement – Hebrews 10, Willful Sin, No More Sacrifice, and Judgement, Oh My!
• Hebrew Roots Movement – Believers are Grafted Into and Become Israel? Um . . . No.
• Released/Delivered From the Law and Christ is the End of the Law – Getting Greeky About Romans 7, 10, and Ephesians 2
• Hebrew Roots Movement – Salesmanship 101
• Romans 14: Indisputable Matters – Torah or the Gospel?
• Hebrew Roots Movement – The Issue of “Hellenization”
• Millennial Prophecy – Measuring Unrevealed Prophecies in Light of Revealed Truths
• Gateways into the Hebrew Roots Movement – An Examination of ‘Identity Crisis’ and Related Teachings of Jim Staley
• Is Law Really Law Without Enforcement?
• The Law of Christ – Defined and Defended
• Hebrew Roots Movement – New Covenant or “Renewed” Covenant?
• Tzit Tzit For the Believer In Christ?
• 12 Undeniable Truths That Drive Law ‘Keepers’ Crazy

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If you or someone you know is in the HRM or a related Law-keeping sect and are questioning what you believe, a clear presentation of the Gospel can be found HERE.  For more resources regarding the Hebrew Roots/Messianic movements see the Post Index and the Articles Page.  General study helps, discernment, and apologetics sites can be found HERE.  Good, foundational studies with a special emphasis on Old Covenant/New Covenant Truths can be found HERE.  Be sure to check out the other testimonies on the Testimonies Page, as well.   Make use of the tabs with drop-down menus found at the top of this site – there’s tons of info there, and it’s very navigable.  May God guide and bless you as you seek His Truth.

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Resurrection Day!

He is Risen!  Risen Indeed!

Some of you who read here believe that “Easter” really has pagan origins.  Depending on who/what you deem to be reliable sources will largely shape your view on the subject.

Resurrection Day, however, does not! 

A Chocolate Bunny’s Dilemma

I don’t have a problem that most of the Body of Christ celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus on Easter because as far as the WORLD is concerned, they have no idea of any paganism that may or not be a part of Easter celebrations.   By and large, the world thinks we’re celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, in spite of egg hunts and chocolate bunnies.  And if we can draw attention to Jesus and Who He is and show the World the glory of God, then, YAY!

Some who read here believe that it is rebellion to celebrate Easter and that we should instead celebrate the appointed time of Passover given to Israel.

Jesus did celebrate Passover.  And as He did so for the last time, He established a NEW observance, that of remembering that His Body was broken and His Blood was shed for the remission of our sins.  He lived by the Law in His observance of the Feast(s), the shadow of things to come, and then instructed us to remember Him and what He did (Luke 22:14-20).  We are to honor the fulfillment of Who the Law with it’s feasts foreshadowed, not the shadows themselves.

And He Lives!  And we celebrate that He lives!  Every day that we reside among the living, not just on “Easter”.  We, as a family, do not choose to do the egg thing or the basket thing or the bunny thing.  It’s just not how we feel we can best honor what Jesus did.  We celebrate an empty tomb and the living Christ.  Do we praise and worship and lift the name of Jesus up on “Easter”, the day that most of the World recognizes as the celebration of His resurrection?  You Bet!  And we are worshipping and honoring JESUS, not a pagan sun god!  My big girls, when they update the wet-erase calendar on our fridge, draw a picture of an empty tomb with the stone rolled away, so I think it’s safe to say they get what we’re really celebrating =o).