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WHY WE REJECT THE DOCTRINE OF TRADITIONAL HOLY WEEK The teaching of traditional religion about the day the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified is fictitious and purely unbiblical. JESUS CHRIST DID NOT DIE ON THAT PARTICULAR FRIDAY. Let us consider the following truths: There were 4 Sabbaths that occurred on that week Christ was crucified:
On that week, from 6:00 PM Tuesday to 6:00 PM Wednesday was the Feast of the Passover. The Passover lamb was slain (1 Corinthians 5:7) and the memorial meal was eaten on Tuesday night, [not on traditional Thursday], the eve and the preparation for the actual Passover which fell on Wednesday [not on traditional Friday]. The Jews measure their days from sundown to sundown [from 6:00 PM to 6:00 PM], not from midnight to midnight [12:00 MN to 12:00 MN]. Gregorian calendar and system of counting hours were not yet in use during the crucifixion of Christ. However, even with the use of Gregorian system, the number of days of Christ in the tomb would be short of 3 days and 3 nights as recorded by the Scripture. The Jews celebrated the Passover once a year every Wednesday of the Jewish month of NISIN (April), which is the last week of the 50 holy days celebration of Jewish religion. Gregorian calendar was not yet in use then. That particular Wednesday was also the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread described in John 19:31, designed also as the preparation day for the rest of the week (Exodus 12:11, Leviticus 23:6-7) That particular Thursday and Friday was designated as Jewish holy days as no worship or killing days, which they cannot violate by having somebody hanged and killed on a cross. THERE WAS NO CRUCIFIXION THAT FRIDAY The Lord Jesus Christ was in the tomb for three days and three nights (72 hours) based on the veracity of the Scripture (Matthew 12:40, 1 Corinthians 15:4). If Jesus Christ was crucified and buried before 6:00 PM of Friday and was resurrected on early Sunday morning- then He was dead and buried in the tomb for only one and half (1 1/2) days and not three days and three nights as declared by the Word of God. The Word of God is the Truth and the basis of all truth. The Word of God cannot lie. The Bible is the Truth not the teaching of self-righteous men who invented foolish church doctrines. We also reject the teaching about Resurrection on Sunday because He rose from death not on Sunday early morning. Jesus Christ did not die on Friday and He did not rise from the grave on Sunday, (please refer to page 5 of this booklet). The objective of this article is to set free those who have been enslaved by religious practices, rituals and dogmas. The writer challenges the readers to search the Scripture for the truth. We have to reject the traditional views and teaching of holy week because of its erroneous and fictitious nature. We reject the teaching of traditional Good Friday because Jesus Christ was crucified during the Passover as the Lamb of God. Jesus Christ rose from the grave before 6:00 PM of Saturday because 6:01 PM was already Sunday. He was in the tomb for 3 days and 3 nights. If Christ was buried on Friday and resurrected on Sunday. In that case, He was in the tomb for only one and half (1 1/2) days. When it comes to spiritual truth, the Bible is always the authority not the church dogmatic teachings. Those who invented the traditional holy week were false prophets and false teachers. JR Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
WHY WE REJECT THE DOCTRINE OF PALM AND EASTER SUNDAYS Jesus Christ and His disciples went to Bethany six (6) days before the Passover (John 12:1-11). On the next day, five (5) days before the Passover, Jesus Christ and His disciples entered Jerusalem (John 12:12). If the Passover was celebrated on the first Wednesday of April, therefore, Jesus Christ and His disciples entered Jerusalem on Saturday (not Sunday). The issue of date and time were clearly defined by the Scripture so as not mislead people. The Bible is accurate in its historical documentation and detail information, while religions resolve to invention of facts and data. Religion invents, creates, and fabricates anything that will support their teachings, but people must examine, evaluate, make an careful study of their claims. THERE WAS NO PALM SUNDAY SINCE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST ENTERED JERUSALEM ON SATURDAY AND NOT ON SUNDAY. The Lord Jesus led the apostles in celebrating the Passover meal on the eve of Passover. They ate the Passover meal before 6:00 PM of Tuesday since 6:01 PM is already Wednesday. Tuesday 6:00 PM was the eve of the Passover. For reference, take note that in Luke 23:44, 12:00 NN is sixth hour and 3:00 PM is ninth hour. Also, 5:00 PM is the eleventh hour. There was no Good Friday because Jesus Christ was hanged and dead on the cross on Wednesday. There was no Ash Wednesday in the Bible. No writer of the Scriptures ever mentioned it. There was no Black Saturday in the Bible. No writer of the Scripture ever mentioned anything about it. God did not die. It was the humanity of Christ that was slain. His perfect humanity died physically and spiritually. His Deity cannot die. The early Church did not celebrate Ash Wednesday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Black Saturday and Easter Sunday. The Bible mandated the believers to celebrate only two symbolic rituals: namely the Lord*s Supper and Water Baptism by Immersion. Satan is the master of deception and two of his favorite schemes are seclusion of believers and substitution in the area of truth, teachings, and practices. He secludes the genuine believer from the truth or he secludes the truth from the believers. He hides them behind the bushes of lies and deception. Religion is the best machinery of the devil for doctrinal deception. Satan is happy for any religious teaching as long as it is not the truth of the Bible. He brings something that looks like the genuine or truth and replaces it. Satan wanted to displace all the truths in the hearts of believers with something that exactly look alike of the truth. Denominational or church doctrines are nothing but a look alike of the Biblical truth. JR Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
THE LAST TEN DAYS OF THE HOLY WEEKS OF ISRAEL
THE JEWS MEASURE THEIR DAYS FROM SUNDOWN TO SUNDOWN: (6:00 PM TO 6:00 PM) NOT FROM MIDNIGHT TO MIDNIGHT (12:00 MN TO 12:00 MN). JR Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries THE CROSS OF JESUS THE CROSS: (STAUROS) was the instrument of death. Death by crucifixion originated somewhere in the East. Alexander the Great learned of it from the Persians. The SPQR (The Senate and People of Rome) borrowed the idea from the PHOENICIANS through CARTHAGE and perfected it as a means of capital punishment. THE ROMANS reserved crucifixion for slaves, assassins, and for those who committed heinous crime like rebellion and sedition against the SPQR. Only rarely were Roman citizens subjected to this kind of treatment. Upon receiving the death sentence the condemned person was flogged with Roman lashes or a whip loaded with sharp metal, bones and stones. He was then required to shoulder the cross bar upon which he was extended and carry to the place of his crucifixion. At the crucifixion site he was stripped and tied or nailed to the cross bar, which then was fastened to an upright post. A projecting peg gave the condemned a place to sit his feet to relieve the strain on his arms. Death therefore was slow in coming, except when it was hurried by soldiers breaking the crucified man*s leg (John 19:31). Crucifixion was abhorrent to the Jews (1 Corinthians 1:23, Galatians 3:13), as much to the Romans. The Jews considered crucified men accursed by God (Deuteronomy 21:22-23). In the New Testament, when the term STAUROS (cross) refers to Jesus Christ the term has both a literal and figurative meaning. Literally, it meant the physical instrument by which Jesus was put to death (John 19:17, 20:25, Matthew 27:35 and 2 Corinthians 13:4). As instrument of death, the cross is not different from electric chair, gas chamber, lethal injection or firing squad of the modern times. Figuratively, the cross of Jesus became the mark of God*s redemptive action in history. It was symbolic of the means God employed for releasing into the world a power that is sufficient to save men for good (1 Corinthians 1:18). Since the cross was reserved for the criminals, it symbolized the sufferings and humiliation Jesus endured with joy for the Royal Family of God (Hebrews 12:2). It indicates the depths to which He was willing to go to lift up the worst and lowest of men. JESUS’ CROSS also stood as the symbol of God*s unique purpose for Him (Acts 2:23, Matthew 16:21, John 18:11). This is a METONYM FOR HIS MISSION, a symbol both of God the Father's will for Jesus Christ and His voluntary submission to the will and purpose of God. In relation to Christ, the literal and the figurative cross has spiritual meaning to us His beneficiaries. THERE WAS ONLY ONE CROSS, where He died and the cross that saved us through His death. THE CROSS IS JUST THE INSTRUMENT NOT THE CAUSE AND SOURCE OF REDEMPTION. JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY CAUSE AND SOURCE OF SALVATION. The cross literally as an instrument of death is an ugly adornment. Wearing a cross in a form of pendant is like wearing a lethal injection or an electric chair around your neck. A cross on top of a church building silently conveys the message "we are going to kill you". The Lord Jesus Christ did not remain on the cross. He was buried but rose from the death. To depict Him still hanging on a cross is to say that He did not rise from death and that is blasphemy. JR Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
AN IDOLATROUS CROSS In one of the military campaign of Israel to free EDOM from heathenism, they became impatient of the terrible journey and so they grumbled against God (Numbers 21:4-5). THE LORD sent fiery serpents to bit the Hebrews, so that many of them died. They asked Moses to intercede and the Lord told Moses to make a bronze serpent, mounted it on a standard (a measuring rod) for every one to see. Everyone who was bitten but looked at the bronze serpent did not die (Numbers 21:6-9). Numbers 21:8 was an exemption of Exodus 20:4 for several reasons: The Hebrews repented prior to the making of the bronze serpent. The purpose of the bronze serpent was to remove the effect of poisonous VENUM in the bodies of those bitten by snakes. The bronze serpent was to serve as a reminder of their disobedience and the resulting divine discipline (their sin unto death) 91 Corinthians 10:9). The bronze serpent was not designed to be an object of worship. No personal faith was involved in the part of those who were bitten, but only obedience to take a look. One hundred years later, Hezekiah broke into pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made. For almost 100 years, the Israelites burn incense to it. The idol was called NEHUSHTAN, the name given by King Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:4). There was no time in the history of Israel that they did not worship idols. They were never free from attraction of idols worship. When they went out of Egypt, they brought the idols of their Egyptian masters and worshipped them (Joshua 24:14, Ezekiel 20:8-18). Who ever made the cross as the symbol of Christianity was in reality an idolater. He made the instrument of death as an object of worship for its own victims. The worship of idols was an abomination to the protagonists of Hebrew monotheism. The prohibition against idolatry found expression in the Decalogue [Exodus 20:4] that forbade the representation of God in any form. The commandment was not an attack to artists or sculptors but on the idolaters, those who worship the man-made sculptured objects. To worship idols is to go whoring after other gods; therefore idolatry was described as adultery [Hosea 1:2,9:1, Ezekiel 16:15-17, 23]. Idolatry degrades both God and man. It denies the existence of the only true God whose glory cannot be adequately captured in any tangible form. A visible representation of the deity tends to restrict a person*s concept of God, for he will base his concept of God, consciously or unconsciously upon the image or idol. The crucifix or cross is lifeless, powerless and cold. It cannot bring hope or real comfort to anyone. It cannot drive away demons or spiritual beings since material objects that have no spiritual power do not threaten them. If Hezekiah destroyed the bronze serpent because the Israelites offered incense to it, then all the assumed representation of the true God must be destroyed also. Anything can be an object of worship whenever a person ascribe to it any form of adoration, veneration, praise, worship, reverence and honor that truly belongs only to God. Satan does not care who or what you worship, as long as it is not the true God of the Bible. The worship of creatures or man-made object is actually the worship of Satan. The devil is a murderer, and he loves the cross since it is the symbol of death used by the Romans against the Christians. JR Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
CARRYING YOUR CROSS DAILY THE cross was used also of the followers of Jesus Christ, both literally and figuratively. Literally, because crucifixion was a frequent occurrence and the spectacle of condemned men carrying their crosses to the place of execution was very common. Christ*s words about taking up the cross daily and following Him must first of all have been interpreted literally. These words must have been understood as a prediction of the same physical means of death for His disciples. It was fulfilled in the early Church history (Matthew 23:34, Romans 5:3). METAPHORICALLY, it was for Christ, the symbol of our sacrifice that His followers must bear the cross [Mark 8:34-35]. TO BEAR THE CROSS refers to progressive spiritual growth under the control of the Holy Spirit (to reside inside the divine dynasphere) under the plan, will and purpose of God. TO DENY SELF means to live and function under the power of the Holy Spirit and to reject the dictatorship of the old sin nature and reject every offer of the old sin nature to control the soul. THE CROSS means the will, the plan, and the purpose of God for every regenerated believer. The cross is not our personal problems, self-made miseries, poverty, injustice, hardship in life. TO TAKE UP YOUR CROSS AND TO DENY YOURSELF is to live under the power of the Holy Spirit and to accept the leadership of the Holy Spirit in all aspects of your life while advancing toward the goal of SPIRITUAL MATURITY, which is the will of God for all believers. Spiritual maturity is the maximum Bible doctrine resident and stored in the soul. If in the experience of Jesus the cross was a metonym for His mission (death on the cross), the believer is called upon to do the will, the plan, and purpose of God in positive volition. The cross symbolizes His life under the will of the Father. The cross has become a symbol of full obedience and positive volition for the Lord Jesus. The bearing of literal cross has nothing to do with repentance or obedience, humiliation, self-sacrifice of the person doing it for God. God despises it no matter how sincere it maybe. There is no need to imitate the cross- bearing of Christ, because we cannot duplicate His redemptive work on the cross. God the Father accepted His once and for all sacrifice not because of the cross but because of He is the One and only God-Man. If Christ would die today to redeem men, He will die by lethal injection or by electric chair. Then, some people will be wearing a miniature lethal injection or of an electric chair. THE CROSS DOES NOT SYMBOLIZE CHRISTIANITY BUT CRIMINALITY, NOT SALVATION BUT DECEPTION, NOT THE POWER OF GOD BUT POWER OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. The cross of Calvary must be printed in the soul of every regenerated saint not in the door, wall, or anywhere in the house. The house is not a believer- Jesus did not die for the house. It is nice to see crosses of many variations in the cemetery since they symbolize death not life. The cross of the believer is to do the will and purpose of God. The cross of every believer is invisible but glorious. The result is far greater than anything in this world, the glorification of God in time and in eternity. The New Testament writers assume the historicity of the crucifixion of Jesus and focus their attention upon its significance. In it they understand that He, "who was in the form of God, did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped at," was willing to "humble Himself," take "on the form of a servant," and endure "even the death on the cross" (Phil. 2:6-8). This demonstrates the ultimate of humiliation and degradation. Yet, they affirm, the crucifixion of Jesus, the Messiah (Christ), was the will and act of God with eternal and cosmic significance. At the simplest level, the crucifixion of Jesus was the means by which God provided salvation, the forgiveness of sins (1 Corinthians 15:3). Christ’s crucifixion becomes the summary of the Christian message (1 Corinthians 2:2). The cross of Jesus, the beloved Son of God, is the supreme demonstration of the love God has for sinful man (John 3:16; 15:16). In Jesus' death, God deals concretely with the sin and guilt, which offends His holiness and separates man from His Creator? Because of the cross, God becomes both the righteous and just Judge and, at the same time, the one who makes forgiveness available and justifies believers (Romans 3:26). The condemning legal demands set against man has been "canceled," nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14). The word of the cross is God's Word of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:19). The Word of the cross is the Gospel of Christ, the message that Christ was crucified, dead, buried, rose from the death, ascended to heaven, glorified and is coming back to earth. The message of the cross is the redemption of mankind through the finished work of Christ. He has accomplished salvation for man and that is the greatest expression of His grace. The Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross once and for all members of the human race. His spiritual death on the cross is unique since it was designed to save souls. He died for the sins of all men not for His own crime. His physical death was unique it assures or guarantees our resurrection. There is no way to duplicate the death of Jesus Christ since His physical birth was unique without the Seed of Adam. He died without sin and not able to sin. The cultic rituals of the Lenten season are not only ridiculous but also blasphemous, because sinful men are attempting to take the role of Christ. Such activities (like crucifixion, carrying wooden cross, egg hunting, and the like) are not Biblical and have no spiritual relevance. Our spiritual death is something we did not choose but passed to us through Adam. Christ*s spiritual death was His own choosing and decision. The celebration of the Lenten season and its rituals and activities therefore is not Scriptural but pagan practices. JR Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
THE DEATH OF CHRIST Adam was created spiritually alive and through his negative volition became spiritually dead. Adamic sin is imputed to all human being after Adam became spiritually dead at the point of physical birth. Jesus Christ is the only person ever born spiritually alive and through His volition deliberately chose to go to the Cross to die spiritually and physically (Genesis 2:17). The perfect God-Man had to pay the penalty or wages of sin (that is spiritual death) to free the human race from the slave market of sin. The Lord Jesus Christ died twice on the cross: spiritually for our salvation, physically for our resurrection. The term to die occurs twice, literally translated dying you will die. It’s an idiom that indicates the intensity of death, the wages of sin- not the physical death but the spiritual death (Romans 3:23, 5:12, 6:23). Our physical death is the eventual result of spiritual death. We did not earn the wages of sin but Adam earned it for us. The sin of Adam is imputed to all human being that is why, all men died spiritually at the point of physical birth. All the personal sins of all men are imputed in Christ at the cross. Christ died spiritually on the cross for three (3) hours in order to purchase our salvation. He was spiritually dead from 12:00 Noon to 3:00 PM, though He had no sin of His own but was judged for our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21). His physical death is necessary for His own resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 20-23). Christ was physically alive while being judged for our sins repeatedly screaming the words “My God, My God, Why hast Thou forsaken Me” In the original text, it is not a question mark but an exclamation mark. His groaning was not for physical, emotional or psychological pains but for spiritual suffering. He bore the sins of all men of the entire human history. The sins of all men were imputed on Him at the cross. When His spiritual death is completed, He shouted Teleleatai Teleleatai meaning ‘it is finished.” (In the past with the results that goes forever (John 19:30). Christ was still speaking after salvation was completed. He was very much alive physically when He announced the completion of His legacy- the salvation of men. Christ physical death has nothing to do with the payment for sins of men. He was the only person who died twice on a tree. Christ physical birth was exclusive, without the seed of Adam; Christ humanity was exclusive, without sin and not able to sin. Christ spiritual death was exclusive: It saves men souls. His physical death was exclusive, It guarantees our resurrection. It is not only ridiculous to imitate the crucifixion of Christ, but it is entirely futile and stupid. Christ is the only Person ever authorized to dismiss His own life when His mission was finish. By an act of His volition, His soul and human spirit left His body “dying physically (Matthew 27:50, Mark 15:37). Our physical death is the consequence of our spiritual death, the result of Adamic original sin. Christ’s physical death was the completion of salvation, related to resurrection and glorification rather than the means for atonement for sins. Our spiritual death is something we did not chose but passed to us through Adam. Christ*s spiritual death was His own choosing and decision in order to save us. For salvation He died the spiritual death and for our resurrection He died the physical death for 3 days and 3 nights. Salvation is the redemption of the soul while resurrection is the redemption of the body. Christ died the spiritual death for our redemption and the physical death for our resurrection. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only Person qualified to die for the sin of the entire human race. The perfect humanity of Christ was required to die spiritually on the cross for three hours in behalf of the entire human race. The perfect humanity of Christ was required to die and remain in the grave for three days and three nights. The deity of Christ did not die. RESURRECTION is the raising up and restoration of a deceased person to life in body and soul to eternal life and glorified life. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the fist in the entire human history (1 Timothy 6:16). Other reported cases were resuscitated. (Resuscitation is the restoration of an individual to his mortal body, but subsequently to die again, like in the case of Lazarus (John 11:43, 12:10) and the resuscitation of some selected Old Testament saints who rose from the grave while Jesus was hanging in the cross (Matthew 27:50-53). Resurrection provides the deceased an immortal body, so that never again will he die (1 Corinthians 15:54). The future glorified bodes of believers have 5 characteristics: First: It will be raised in an imperishable body, from perishable mortal to eternal body (1 Corinthians 15:42). Eternal body is a body designed and equipped to serve the Lord throughout eternity future. Secondly: It will be raised in glory (1 Corinthians 15:43), from mere garbage of the flesh and blood to a glorious eternal body. That eternal body will be the reflection of the infinite perfection of God’s handiwork. The glorious body is free from old sinful nature, without Adamic original sin and without capacity for personal sins. Thirdly: The eternal and glorious body will be raised by the omnipotent power of God, a body more powerful than spiritual death or physical death and a body more powerful than sin (1 Corinthians 15:43). Fourth: It will be raised in spiritual body with a new perfect nature with 100% positive volition toward God and His Word (1 Corinthians 15:45). The resurrected body is a powerful body designed to do the will of God at all time in all the space and beyond. It will be a body without any flaw that tends to disobey God. The resurrected body is a powerful body designed to do the will of God at all time in all the space and beyond. It will be a body without any hint for disobeying God. The spiritual body is not for this world but designed for eternal fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:17). The immortal body is like that of the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-Man forever. The resurrection body is capable of seeing Jesus Christ just as He is (1 John 3:2). It is entirely difficult to have a clear concept of the resurrected body, since we have only mortal knowledge of our temporal bodies. And since the Lord Jesus Christ entered the world in supernatural and dramatic entrance He deserved also a supernatural and dramatic exit through His Ascension. He was the first to have resurrected body, both Enoch and Elijah did not die, therefore, they have no resurrection experienced yet. There are seven categories of death and there are seven categories of resurrection as well. (see Bible Doctrine Book 1) The reality that Jesus Christ died and afterward rose from the death is both the central doctrine of Christian theology and the major fact in a defense of its teachings. It is the witness of the NT that the resurrection of Jesus is the pivotal point of Christian doctrine and practices. Paul reports an early creed in I Corinthians chapter 15 Which both includes the resurrection as an integral part of the gospel and reports several eyewitness appearances. Then Paul relates the importance of this event, for if Jesus did not literally rise from the dead, then the entire Christian faith is fallacious (vs. 14) and ineffective (verse 17). Additionally, preaching is valueless (vs. 14), Christian testimony is false (verse 15), no sins have been forgiven (vs. 17), and believers have perished without any Christian hope (vs. 18). The conclusion is that, apart from this event, Christians are the most miserable of all people (vs. 19). However, Christ rose from the grave won the victory for us. Christians are in the winning side. JR Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
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