CIRCUMCISION.It
is the sign of the covenant which God made with Abraham. All the boys were to
be circumcised. It was the sign of the covenant before Moses and the law. It
meant the ablation of the foreskin of the new-born baby (and of adults, if this
had not been done before). The circumcision was kept in the Covenant made with
Moses, but not in the Covenant made with and by Jesus-Christ.
COLOSSIANS.
NT
Letter
of Paul to the Colossians. Some Colossians had the bad tendency to think they
were superior to the other Christians because of their observance of external
prescriptions Col 2/16-18. This feeling of being holier than others
often comes because of certain rituals which do not truly involve the real life,
but only serve to inflate the ego. Paul reminds us that the redemption and the
true spirituality are only possible with Jesus-Christ. Paul particularly insists
on the wisdom in all this letter. Chapter 4.
COME.
Come to Me Is 53/3. Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy-laden Matt 11/28. Let the children come to Me Matt 19/14. If any person wills to come after me, let him deny himself Lk 9/23. He who comes to Me will never be hungry Jn 6/
COMMANDMENT.
See Moses. The commandments of God are
not difficult. 1 Jn 5/3.
The
ten commandments which God gave to Moses are helpful in our moral life but mainly
to help us find our identity.
Jews
don't talk about 'Ten commandments' but 'Ten Words'. These words were written
by God on tablets of stone called The 'Tablets of the Covenant'. Deut 9/9.
Ex 32/15 and Ex 25/21 use yet another name: 'The Testimony'.
Ex 19/9-20,23; 32/15-19; 34/1 tell us how these Tablets have been given to Israel. These Tablets have been placed in the ark of the Covenant. See ark. name 10/33.
Matt
22/37-39 is the perfect summary of Deut 6/4-5 and Lev 19/18.
Noah
too had received commandments from God and had put them in practice. Gn
6/22. We observe the commandments which God gives us Lev 26/3. Pro 4/4.
Jn 14/15. The rewards connected to the observance of God's commandments
1 Jn 3/22.
John
saw the Church in his visions of Patmos. It was dressed with the Sun which is
the Lord Jesus-Christ Rev 4/2.
The
moon which was under his feet symbolizes that the Church is founded on the Rock
of the Word (the 10 Commandments) of the Old Covenant. For as the moon reflects
the light of the sun, the Old Testament (the moon) reflects the Light of the
Sun of the New Testament. The New Testament fulfills all the Words upon which
the Church is positioned. Eph 2/20-22. See
Church and Trust. (about the woman
of Rev 12). See Sabbath.
Now,
we should know that what we call the 10 commandments are not, actually, commandments.
They are signs which are givens by God to those who are his people. Thus, for
instance, Ex 20/3 is not:
'You
will have no Gods except me!' as an order, but rather:
''When
you walk the Way of Truth and life, you will know it because you will not be
able to have other Gods before my Face.''
It
also means: 'You will no more take the name of God lightly, because My name
always yields a result when it is uttered by one of My children. And you will
not be able to take it lightly, because you will realize its Holiness.''
Please
reconsider in this light what you always called the 10 commandements: they are
not 10 commandements, they are the 10 Words-Covenant which God gave to His people
so that they know God in all their ways.
When
God wants something, He orders and it exists. If He had wanted to give these
10 Words as commandments, they would automatically, by their creative power,
awake a reaction in the audience. For what God commands becomes a reality. But
God gave us these 10 Words because they allow us to notice whether or not we
are dedicated to Him. His 10 Words are the 10 Signs that we belong to God.
Deut 6/8. . Meditate these things...
The
Fraternal Communion is what God wants us to add to faith, virtue, science, self-control,
patience and piety. 2 Peter 1/5 to 7. See pyramid.
There
is no fraternal love without fraternal communion. How can we say that we have
fraternal love without fraternal communion?
Fraternal
communion is the foundation for fraternal love. The more practical the communion,
the more authentic love is. If the fraternal communion is limited to encounters
twice or thrice a weak in a building, however nice it is, called 'church', the
fraternal love will reflect this kind of communion.
The
fraternal communion should be full time just like our communion with the Lord.
The
first Christians were living this kind of fraternal communion.
They
were living together. Of course, they each had a job, but they were only one
heart and one soul. Acts 4/32. This means they had all things in common.
Acts 2/44. The life of each one was dedicated to God and whatever they
had, and did had only one goal: the vision that God had given to the universal
and local church.
No
one would go back home in the evening to live as he wanted. They took all their
meals together Acts 2/46, and no one felt lonely like we can see in
today's multitudinist churches.
Nor
was there a destitute among them. Because of this, great grace rested richly
upon them. Acts 4/33-34. They did not have moments of fraternal communion,
but they were living the fraternal communion.
Jesus
wanted His disciples to live together. Therefore, he says that to be able to
be one of His disciples, we should first give up whatever we possess Lk
14/33. The first Christians did it and put in common the sums of money collected
after selling their personal property. Acts 2/45.
They
laid these amounts at the feet of the Apostles. Then distribution was made according
as many as one had need Acts 4/35. Starting with this act of giving
up, the fraternal communion coul be organized.
In
front of this situation, we can show whether we love or not.
The
fact that they put everything in common at the moment of conversion does not
mean that they had a ''common cash ''through their life.
Very
quickly, the most gifted among them could resume making money through a honest
activity. 1 Tess 4/11. Others had more problems, but had no lack
Ps 23/1.
The
fraternal communion allowed each one to give or receive in love.
The
'scroungers' were quite quickly and were asked to eat the bread that had earned.
2 Tess 3/10.
The
Community life is the only biblical model of organization of the Church of Jesus-Christ.
All other forms of organizations are extra-biblical. Since the first age of
the Church of Nations, the love cooled down and they stopped living a Community
life. Rev 2/4 (This was the letter written to the Church of the first
age which runs from 53 to 170 after Jesus-Christ (about). See Church.
The fraternal communion thus cooled down and the knowledge which swells (the head and the bank accounts of leaders and religious organisations) took the place of love. 1 Cor 8/1.
We
have received the revelation of the community life in 1977, and since that time
we have been living this way. See one thousand one hundred seventy seven.
When
Jesus gave his life, he did not pretend; he did not do it symbolically. He truly
gave, gave up his life. We are urged by the Bible to give our life for the brothers:
Jn
3/16 and 1Jn 3/16.
To
give our life for brothers and sisters is to invest, to sacrifice together with
them being only one heart and one soul with them. It is much more than to be
ready to do it!!! It is to do it truly! It is to cover one more mile, as Jesus
asks us to do, and even more plus, since we are doing it for the members of
our Divine Family. Matt 5/41 and 1 Tim 5/8.
Many
want to give their life to the Lord, but not to brothers and sisters. 1
Jn 3/16 it is a mandatory invitation!
Many
want to give their life to the Lord, but do not want to give up their own fridge
or their own TV set... (for example...)
You will love your neighbour as yourself. (full time) Lev 19/18. Matt 19/19. You are the disciples of Jesus-Christ if you have the love for the brothers and sisters Jn 13/35. 2 Cor 8/1-5.
To
suffer together. We should have compassion Za 7/8-10. Jesus was compassionate
Matt 9/36. Example of the Samaritan Lk 10/33. All the disciples
likewise shoud have compassion 1 Pier 3/8.
CONDEMNATION.
See judge, judgment,
White Throne.
It
is to be judged guilty in front of God. At the Great White Throne, all those
attending will be judged, but not all will be found guilty. Therefore, they
will not all be sentended. Rev 20/ 11- 15. See
book of life.
God
corrects us so that we may not be condemned with the world 1 Cor 11/32.
To
confess is to say. For example: when I confess that Jesus-Christ is God in the
flesh, I say that Jesus-Christ is God who has come in the flesh. Rm 9/10.
1 Jn 4/1-3.
To
confess is also to say, to acknowledge one's mistakes. To confes one's sins
to God is to acknowledge them in front of Him. A disciple of Jesus-Christ has
four duties if he has committed a sin:
1
he must confess his sin to God,
2 turn away from it Ps 37/27
3 and believe he is forgiven. 1 Jn 1/9
4
to repair as much as possible.
The
disciples of Jesus-Christ confess their sins to one another. Jm 5/16.
To
confess Lev 5/5. To confess sins Lev 26/40-42. John-the-Baptist
wanted the confession of sins of those who came to be baptised Matt 3/5-6.
See Sin.
Lord's Supper.
It
is a law in the grace. Through the consecration, the disciple of Jesus-Christ
gives everything willingly to God, and for his work. The time of the disciple
is the first thing to devote to God, since time is what God created right after
having spoken. See fall. Within a time which is entirely dedicated to God, the
disciple devotes his space, his capacities and his belongings to the etablishement
and building of the Kingdom of the Lord.
Today
is the good day to dedicate Ex 32/29. All those who believed had everything
in common Acts 2/44-45.