A temple mystery solved! "So be careful about stating that such a custom was practiced"
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“For years I have heard pastors preach that when the Jewish High Priest entered the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur that he had a rope tied to his leg so that, if he died, he could be dragged out - since no one else could enter!” - DrIbex
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30th Anniversary of Banned Books Week
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Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read…The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted with removal or restrictions in libraries and schools.
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Yom Kippur: The Day of Atonement
This year, Jewish people celebrated their most solemn holiday of the year, Yom Kippur—known to us as The Day of Atonement—from sunset September 25 through the 26th. In modern Judaism, this is a time to grieve over one’s sins, repent, fast, and find God’s forgiveness.
In biblical times, this holy day involved the covering of sin by the payment of a penalty. The NIV of Leviticus 5:5-6a captures the idea of atonement: “When anyone is guilty in any of these ways, he must confess in what way he has sinned and, as a penalty for the sin he has committed, he must bring to the LORD a female lamb or goat” (emphasis added).
No animal sacrifices could attain salvation, but merely made the individual ritually and socially clean. Hebrews 10:4 is blunt: “[I]t is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” From a New Covenant perspective, we can see that Yom Kippur also foreshadows a massive and complete spiritual cleansing.
Yom Kippur Under the Old Covenant (Leviticus 23:26-32, 16:5-34)
The Old Covenant provided sacrifice to cover unintentional sin, but not defiant sin. Numbers 15:30 (ESV) reads, “But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from among his people.”
God may graciously forgive such defiant sins, but not on the basis of animal sacrifice. God justly forgives on the basis of the sacrifice of Christ (Rom. 3:25-26). Before Jesus, the individual sinner could only offer God repentance and cast himself upon God’s mercy. God’s character and faithful love would be the source of the repentant sinner’s hope. It is that character and faithful love which would one day send the promised Messiah, Yeshua, to settle accounts.
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God Loves Conditionally.
In no Scripture is there a statement, or even a clear inference, that “God Loves Us Unconditionally.” Rather, God’s Love for Believers is quite conditional upon the following specifications:
1.) By the Condition of Sovereign Choice. Romans 9:13, “Jacob I have Loved, Esau have I hated.”
2.) By the Condition of God’s Inherent Nature. I John 4:8, “God is Love.”
3.) By the Condition of Believing on Jesus. Acts 167:312, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”
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The Importance Of Material Demonstration Of Talk.
James 2:26 KJV, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
Jesus and The Apostles materially demonstrated all they taught The Church to do, or at least they gave immensely significant signs to validate what they taught. James summarized this requirement of Living Spirituality in Christ for all Believers by writing 2:17-26.
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