I have been saving this topic for the Judaizers but none have brought it up, directly. Not that no one knows this, I am just adding this to the discussion. Christ and the twelve chosen Apostles were Jews. The scriptures do not suggest that they ever stopped thinking or calling themselves Jews. Except for Peter, the word Christian does not appear in any of their writings. Mark and Luke are not of the twelve, but the word Christian does not appear in the Gospel of Mark or Luke, but the word Christian does appear twice in Acts. Which would make some sense, since the term was coined later in Antioch.
It is a matter of scripture that Christ kept the Mosaic Laws perfectly. It is a matter of tradition that all or some of the Apostles kept the 613 Mosaic Laws and Holy Days and worshiped on the Sabbath and the Lord’s day. This is nearly irrelevant for Christians of today for a couple reasons. One, most of us cannot trace our linage back to the Jewish-Christians…we are mostly Gentiles. The council in Jerusalem outlined the extent of the Law that the Gentiles were to obey. Some might think that a modern Christian can observe the 613 laws of Moses…more or less seeing themselves as Jewish-Christians. Now Paul addressed this and it is not the thing to do and it would be extremely difficult for modern Christians to observe, obey, participate in all of the Laws and prescribed Holy Days. Once you physically start obeying the Mosaic Law. any of them, you are completely in and must obey all 613 Laws. To pick a few to follow is sacrilegious to the Mosaic Laws. Besides that most Christians would be tripping all over themselves generating sins in all directions.
Then there is the Apostle Paul, what was that about? Christ told His apostles that, I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. Christ’s instructions to Paul many have been about the detail of these things, hard to say or prove. But Paul’s explanation of Christian theology is much more detailed. Paul went on to either write or influence most of the New Testament. Out of the 27 manuscripts, depending how you count them, he wrote or was influential in the writing of 16. In his writings we see the attack of the Judaizers on Paul’s ministry. We see the struggles he had with the Judaizers and the ruling at the council of Jerusalem. We see his frustration with those that thought salvation had anything to do with the “works” of the Law. How many ways, in all of his books did he say we are not under the Law? And some say he even put a curse on those that looked to the law for righteousness….
