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Acts 15:1–29 records the Jerusalem Council (50 AD) which is where Paul, Peter, Barnabas, James, and other elders gathered in Jerusalem to discuss the pressing question: Are Gentile believers required to be circumcised and keep the old covenant law? In this episode we walk through this passage verse by verse and discover a whole lot about the relationship between Christians and the old covenant law.

Acts 15:1–29 has become a source of great contention among Torah-keepers (Hebrew Roots, Torah-observant Christians, Torahism). They often scramble to re-interpret this passage in a way that allows them to maintain their theology which says that Christians are required to keep the old covenant law with its dietary restrictions, feasts, seventh day Sabbath, circumcision, and so on. As part of our study, we look at an interpretation offered by the influential Hebrew Roots organization 119 Ministries and test their teaching against the text of the Bible to see how it stacks up.

Links mentioned in this episode
Acts 15 - Obedience or Legalism (119 Ministries)

Our Galatians Bible Study
Clean & Unclean Foods - Examining Monte Judah's teaching on the kosher food laws:
Part 1: Sabbath in the Old Testament
Part 2: Sabbath in the New Testament

Defending the Biblical Roots of Christianity
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Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:55 Preamble to the Debate
11:06 Testing 119 Ministries
25:31 The Debate Floor 
36:33 The Four Prohibitions
46:02 The Council's Letter
51:16 Two Final Issues 
52:24 Are the four restrictions still required today?
54:01 Are Jewish believers under the law?

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Meet Dr. Andy Bannister, a deep-thinking and often humorous author, speaker, and apologist from the UK. He joins us to talk about apologetics, evangelism, and his new book: "How to Talk about Jesus without Looking like an Idiot: A Panic-Free Guide to Having Natural Conversations about Your Faith."

Andy is the Director of Solas CPC, an evangelism and training organisation based in Scotland (but covering the whole of the UK). He holds a PhD in Islamic studies and has taught extensively at universities across Canada, the USA, the UK and further afield on both Islam and philosophy.

Andy's Links
How to Talk about Jesus without Looking like an Idiot (New Book)
Solas Centre for Public Christianity

Defending the Biblical Roots of Christianity
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Chapters
00:00 Introduction
02:05 Meet Andy Bannister
05:56 State of UK faith culture
07:30 Beliefs of the younger generation: Sexual Ethics
14:22 The Holy Spirit, Prayer & Apologetics 
19:45 The title and purpose of the book
23:57 What has surprised readers?
27:36 The teaching style of Jesus
31:04 The task of apologists
33:22 The power of story
35:17 Our character matters 
37:34 How to share your faith
42:45 Talking with those of other beliefs
53:37 Diversity in apologetics 
57:50 What does the book offer to the reader?

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How should Christians navigate the Torah Psalms (and other OT passages) that praise God’s law, while at the same time acknowledging NT passages like Galatians 5:18 which says, “If you are led by the spirit you are not under the law”?  IN this video, we look at that question by examining the Torah Psalms and trying to understand how we praise God’s law in the context of His new covenant. And we do so in two parts. First, we take a very close look at specifically Psalm 19, and it’s a bit of a scholarly study, including spending some time in the Hebrew. And from that solid understanding, we then talk about God’s law and the His covenants and establish a biblical perspective on why the Torah Psalms are still highly relevant for Christians today, and how we how can apply them to our lives. And if you’re like me and you regularly read from the Psalms and come across these kinds of passages, I’m hoping today’s teaching is going be helpful for you in a very practical way. 

Soli Deo Gloria!

Defending the Biblical Roots of Christianity
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Chapters
00:00 Intro
02:56 Psalm Study
04:46 Psalm 19:1–14
08:07 Creation & Law
16:50 Psalm 19:7–9
31:36 Psalm 19:10–11
33:42 God’s Law Under the New Covenant
38:06 Continuity & Discontinuity
39:38 Applying the Commandments
42:39 The Torah Psalms for Christians

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There's a passage in 1 Corinthians that offers profound insight into the relationship between Christians and the law. In fact, it addresses three big questions many Christians struggle with today. First, what is our relationship to the OT law? Are Christians required to keep the law of Moses? What about the Ten Commandments? What does the Bible say? (And of course, that’s a topic of great interest for many of our viewers who either subscribe to the theology of Torahism, or Hebrew Roots, and are dealing with that theology in their families, communities or churches.) The second question is this: If Christians are not under the old covenant law, does it mean we’re under no law at all? Are we free to do whatever we want? (Believe it or not, some “Torah-keeping” Christians will actually challenge us by asking, “Of we’re not under the law, is it now okay to murder, steal, commit adultery?”) And we get into that. And the third question is this: Is there a difference between the law of Moses and the law of God? If so, what’s that difference?

And all three of these questions are directly addressed in 1 Corinthians 9:19–23. To make sure we're interpreting this passage in context, we first spend a few minutes establishing the historical and literary setting of 1 Corinthians as a text, and then we briefly outline the topics and concerns that the apostle Paul lays out which ultimately lead us into our passage in Chapter 9. Then we carefully unpack these five amazing verses and see what they have to tell us about the distinctions in biblical law and those three big questions. And let me tell you, it’s pretty profound.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Defending the Biblical Roots of Christianity
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Chapters
00:00 Introduction
02:40 Cultural and Historical Background
04:11 Literary Structure of 1 Corinthians
05:12 Picking Up The Theme
06:31 Permitted But Not Required
08:09 Chapter 9
09:34 1 Corinthians 9:19-23
11:52 Verse 19
13:33 Verse 20: As a Jew 
17:09 Verse 20: As One Under the Law
24:18 Verse 21: As One Outside the Law
28:20 Sidebar: The Laws of Moses, God, and Christ
40:45 Verse 22: As the Weak
42:59 Verses 22–23
44:36 Wrap it up, Professor.

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In this Q&A episode, Professor Solberg tackles three of your questions:

1. How should we understand the OT prophecies about keeping Torah in the last days?
2. Understanding the 10 lost tribes of Israel (and whether some of us have descended from those tribes)
3. Was Paul the founder of Christianity?

And there's a bonus question at the end!

Defending the Biblical Roots of Christianity
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Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:43 Question #1: Keeping Torah in the end times
02:20 Examining the Old Testament prophecies
08:03 Zechariah 14
14:08 Isaiah 66
22:27 The bottom line on end times prophecies
22:59 Question #2: The lost tribes of Israel
30:05 Question #3: Did Paul invent Christianity?
34:19 Bonus Question

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In this episode we look at another "shotgun argument" from a Torah-keeper. This time it’s a cut-and-paste list of 12 OT verses intended to show that the old covenant law pre-dates Sinai. The thesis we put to the test is this: “The giving of the law at Sinai is the complete revelation of the old covenant law which was introduced at various levels of detail in Genesis 1 forward.”

Why does it matter? Those who hold to the theology of Torahism, and consider themselves a Torah-keeping follower of Jesus (aka Torah-observant, Hebrew Roots, Pronomian) are interested in finding a way to show that the old covenant law applies to everyone, not just Israel. And some believe the best way to do that is to try to show that the law has always applied to everyone, not just Israel. Mainstream Christianity, on the other hand (and for that matter, mainstream Judaism as well) teaches that those old covenant commands were never given to anyone other than the nation of Israel. Gentiles were never expected to keep those laws. And further, followers of Jesus today, whether they’re Jewish or Gentiles, aren’t bound by them either. For Christians keeping those things is permitted, but it’s not required.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Links Mentioned in This Episode
Addressing 17 Hebrew Roots Questions
A Case for Sabbath-keeping Part 1 (OT)
A Case for Sabbath-keeping Part 2 (NT)

Defending the Biblical Roots of Christianity
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Our YouTube Channel
Prof. Solberg's Blog
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Chapters
00:00 Introduction
03:21 Establishing Context
18:01 Examining the Claims
18:27 The Feasts introduced in Gen. 1
20:29 Sabbath introduced in Gen. 2
22:07 Animal sacrifices in Gen. 4.
25:27 Clean/unclean animals known by Noah
29:30 Abraham tithed to Melchizedek
31:17 Abraham kept God's laws 
33:46 Levirate Marriage in Gen. 38
35:12 Moses judged by God's laws before Sinai
37:47 Garden blessings and curses 
39:11 Don't intermarry with animals/nations 
40:41 Don't touch what you don't eat 
42:46 Wrap it up, Solberg.

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Meet Dan Sered. He was born in Israel to a secular Jewish family, eventually came to faith in Yeshua (Jesus) as his Lord and Savior, and is now COO at the international ministry Jews For Jesus. In this interview, Dan shares his amazing testimony, his unique insight on Torahism (aka Hebrew Roots Movement, Torah-keepers), and some great stories about sharing the Gospel with our Jewish brothers and sisters.

Links Mentioned in This Episode
Jews for Jesus (Website)
Praying for the Haredim

Defending the Biblical Roots of Christianity
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Our YouTube Channel
Prof. Solberg's Blog
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Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:54 Meet Mr. Sered: How a secular Jewish man came to faith in Jesus
08:44 What was your understanding of Jesus before you believed?
13:40 Understanding Messianic Judaism
24:42 The difference between Messianic Judaism and Hebrew Roots 
27:27 Permitted but not required?
34:40 What about Matthew 5:17–20 and the law?
42:25 What about the Sabbath?
51:26 Jews for Jesus?   
54:00 Tovia Singer and the Messianic prophecies
54:50 Secular vs. religious Jews
55:56 Story about an Orthodox Jew coming to faith
58:28 About JewsForJesus.org 
1:00:44 Advice when visiting Israel

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A few years back, a Hebrew Roots documentary was released called "The Way," in which they interview all sorts of Torah-keepers and really make a case for why people should be keeping the Torah feasts, avoiding Christmas and Easter, eating biblically clean (kosher), keeping the seventh day Shabbat, and so on. (And for the record, I see no problem with anyone choosing to do any of those things. If that’s the way you feel led to live out your faith, go for it!) But most Torah keepers don’t view it as an optional way of life. No, they preach it as the only correct way to follow Jesus. And once they cross the line from optional to required, they’ve entered the unbiblical and dangerous waters of Torahism, which champions a false gospel that requires more than faith in Jesus to be righteous.

In that the trailer for that documentary. they pose 17 common Hebrew Roots questions designed to challenge mainstream Christianity. And in this video we answer them all. We also respond to 10 "contradictions" leveled at the Church.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Defending the Biblical Roots of Christianity
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Our YouTube Channel
Prof. Solberg's Blog
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Links Mentioned in this Episode
Grafted Into What? Jews, Gentiles & Israel
5 Reasons we can't follow the Gospel and the Law at the same time
Torah Shadows of Christ (Col. 2:16-17)
One Law for the Native and the Stranger

A Case for Sabbath-keeping: Part 1 (OT) | Part 2 (NT)

Clean & Unclean Foods - Examining Monte Judah's teaching on the kosher food laws: Part 1 | Part 2

Chapters
00:00 Introduction
03:08 Fielding the questions
05:13 #1 If Yeshua kept the law why don't we?
06:03 #2 Why did the apostles keep the feasts?
06:39 #3 Why does the Church claim Israel's blessings?
07:39 #4 How can something everlasting come to an end?
08:34 #5 How could the definition of sin change?
10:38 #6 Why did Paul celebrate Passover?
10:57 #7 How is Jesus sinless if He broke the Sabbath?
11:08 #8 Why did Peter still not eat unclean food?
14:10 #9 Why did Paul say he keeps the law? 
15:00 #10 Why do we act like some Torah laws are silly?
16:54 #11 How can the Church change the Sabbath?
17:47 #12 Isn't disobeying the law offensive to Jesus?
18:44 #13 Why did Paul say the law is spiritual? 
19:13 #14 Can Christians celebrate Wiccan holidays?
20:28 #15 Why do you say the law is too difficult?
23:54 #16 Why don't we keep Passover?
25:41 #17 Why don't we keep Saturday Sabbath?
26:04 Addressing Ten "Contradictions"

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One thing I like and respect about 119 Ministries is that they encourage everyone to test their teachings. I think that’s commendable. And that’s exactly what we’re going do. In this video, we test their video called “Animal Sacrifices in Light of the Messiah.”  Because if animal sacrifices are still how we atone for sin (as Torah-keepers and Hebrew Roots folks claim) then what did the death of Jesus accomplish? And if animal sacrifices are no longer how we atone for sin, the Law of Moses is not longer in effect.

Links Mentioned in the Episode
Animal Sacrifices in Light of the Messiah (119 Ministries)
Matthew 5:17-20 (Four Contexts) – An Academic Lecture
Matthew 5:17-20: How did Jesus not abolish but fulfill the law?

Defending the Biblical Roots of Christianity
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Chapters
00:00 Introduction: The logical framework for the discussion
05:00 What the sacrifice of Christ accomplished 
13:29 Testing 119 Ministries' Teaching

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Our biblical case for Sabbath-keeping and what it looks like under the New Covenant, Part 2. In this episode, we examine the Sabbath in the NT, starting with everything that Jesus taught and commanded about it in the gospels. From there we expand our study to the rest of the NT and talk about what a Sabbath rest looks like for a follower of Jesus under the New Covenant.

Videos Mentioned in this Episode
Jesus as Our Sabbath Rest

Defending the Biblical Roots of Christianity
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Chapters 
00:00 Introduction
02:24 Everything Jesus Taught About the Sabbath
18:44 Three Reasons Shabbat is Not Required
29:00 Sabbath as a Practice
37:14 What Does a Christian Sabbath Look Like?