Recent content by Hawkins

Hebrews 12:14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. The New Covenant is basically an assessment of one's faith. Faith however without works is dead. It means if your faith is correct as assessed using the Covenant as the...

That depends on what standard you are applying. Humans tend to apply a self-righteousness standard to say that they are good. Mark 10:18 Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. We are all murderers, as we know with full awareness the children in Africa are...

It doesn't matter. Paul is just an example of NT era. A loyal messenger/witness of God, such as Job, is always subject to the attack from Satan who is specialized in spotting human weakness. Pride on the other hand, distance a person from God such that it gives Satan more chances to make use of...

OT bless and curse are mostly for the "education" of the Jews. The Jews are "disciplined" to be "loyal" to God such that message (Word of God) can be faithfully conveyed via the Jews till today's humans. They thus knew that if they obey they are blessed, else they are cursed. This is all to...

You missed the point. The point is a God should make use of the most suitable way of conveying His truth to humans. Only the Christianity God made use of such a way, but no any other gods. What is Truth; Biden or Trump, who is more true? 1) To the public, truth cannot be evidenced. So don't...

God sets mathematical laws. He doesn't work against logic and mathematics. The nature of freewill granted is that entities are given the ability to choose to sin. Freewill at the end means angels and humans can choose to oppose God. By mathematics (statistics and probabilities) some will do. By...

In a sense, yes. Paul defines the role of the apostles and prophets. Paul seldom fore-telling. Prophesying in NT era refers more to ministering.

By Covenant (and Law), circumcision defines a Jew. By the same token, baptism may define a Christian who is a follower of Christ. You may skip it only when Jesus deems it fit. It is so because the whole Judgment of Covenant is a subjective judgment by a fair and just God. The Judgment of Law on...

A close analogy is that, if you are a mayor of city and know for sure the crime of a criminal, what would you do? You kill him just because you are powerful? Justice is when you can hand over the criminal to a fair trial. The criminal will be removed by Law, that's what justice is. Similarly...

It's not something self-claimed. Pharisee is a very strict term under strict supervisory. You don't randomly call yourself a Pharisee. You may call yourself a rabbi though. Paul is a strict Pharisee with his teacher representing a whole Pharisaic school of thought. Even more strict is that Paul...

You may need to first understand the big picture of Christianity and Judaism are. I posted this some where else, OT Eden story It explains why Jesus is a must, an necessity, in terms of Law and human salvation. It's not something can be considered as a "nice to have" as it is in Islam. This...

The Jews were sometimes so offended that they plotted to kill Paul in Philippi. As long as the custom won't contradict the New Covenant, Paul allowed it such that the Jews can join churches more comfortably. Say, there's no way for the Jews to demand gentile Christianss to practise circumcision...

Of course. That's how they can't actually abide by the laws. However the lawful meaning of the Jewish custom is still there. And something needed to be done for the mixing of both groups of Christians.

Paul even urged Timothy to circumcize, for a reason though. While removing shoes, covering head and such are for the purpose of mixing the two groups of Christians, or else the Jews may unnecessarily feel offended when coming to a church.

Sometimes historical background plays a role. Some of Paul's Tradition are about a congestion of both Jewish and gentile Christians. Lawfully speaking, covenants don't actually go away in terms of Law. They somehow "overlap" or "complementory" with each other. Jewish Christians can still observe...