CTP (S2E99) Full Context Faith: Balancing Old Testament Wisdom with New Testament Grace
The Constitution and New Testament aren't suicide pacts - both require proper context to understand when grace gives way to justice. We examine how Jesus fulfilled rather than erased the Torah, and why Christians must consider both Old and New Testament teachings for a complete biblical worldview.
• The New Testament is the preferred way but doesn't erase all Old Testament principles
• Jesus was born Jewish, became a rabbi, and fulfilled Jewish prophecies
• "Turn the other cheek" doesn't mean allowing yourself to be perpetually victimized
• Self-defense and the death penalty remain biblically valid in proper contexts
• Anti-Semitism contradicts core Christian beliefs and misunderstands God's plan
• The crucifixion was a necessary part of God's plan, not a reason to blame Jewish people
• Reading scripture requires full context rather than selective interpretation
The Constitution and New Testament aren't suicide pacts - both require proper context to understand when grace gives way to justice. We examine how Jesus fulfilled rather than erased the Torah, and why Christians must consider both Old and New Testament teachings for a complete biblical worldview.
• The New Testament is the preferred way but doesn't erase all Old Testament principles
• Jesus was born Jewish, became a rabbi, and fulfilled Jewish prophecies
• "Turn the other cheek" doesn't mean allowing yourself to be perpetually victimized
• Self-defense and the death penalty remain biblically valid in proper contexts
• Anti-Semitism contradicts core Christian beliefs and misunderstands God's plan
• The crucifixion was a necessary part of God's plan, not a reason to blame Jewish people
• Reading scripture requires full context rather than selective interpretation
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LearningTranscript
00:00Welcome to the Constitutionalist Politics Podcast, aka CTP.
00:07I am your host, Joseph M. Leonard, and that's L-E-N-A-R-D.
00:12CTP is your no-must, no-fuss, just-me-you-and-occasional-guest-type podcast.
00:19I really appreciate you tuning in.
00:22As Graham Norton will say, let's get on with the show!
00:25Hello, everybody, and welcome to Season 2, Episode 99, I think.
00:36I'm pretty sure that's correct.
00:39I'm recording ahead, so hopefully by the time you see or hear this,
00:46I will be scheduling it via Buzzsprout to make sure it releases regardless.
00:55Hopefully, I will be a couple weeks already into recovering from TAVR heart valve replacement surgery,
01:04so this will air even if something happens.
01:08I don't say that to be morbid.
01:10I don't say that to be pessimistic.
01:13That kind of surgery, a lot of surgeries today are pretty routine,
01:22even though heart surgery is pretty delicate.
01:27It's pretty routine these days, but it's realistic to say anytime you're under anesthetic for something,
01:37you never know.
01:39But I fully expect that I'll be recovering while this airs.
01:46I'm pre-recording.
01:48We'll pre-schedule it so that it drops, and it'll be automated.
01:54I won't have to worry about it at any rate.
01:57And since I said that, are you ready?
02:00You ready?
02:00I bet you know what's coming next, right?
02:03This is going to be another odd show.
02:07And yes, for the benefit of the transcript, I'm laughing.
02:12And indeed, abnormal seems to be my normal lately, so I've got to stop saying that.
02:19All these shows seem to be weird and odd.
02:23And it's kind of a point and purpose of constitutionalist politics stuff you're not going to hear anywhere else.
02:33It's like I posted online the other day on Truth and Gap something.
02:39Sorry, not sorry, but tough love you're not going to get everywhere else.
02:46Not the hippie hacky sack, peace and love, sit around the campfire singing kumbaya all the time.
02:57Hippie side of Jesus some want to portray, but the whole Bible in full context, including those tough love parts that a lot of people want to just gloss over.
03:12Oh my gosh, like I share a meme over Matthew 23 about Jesus calling some vipers, snakes, false guides, right?
03:28And it says at the bottom, some of today's modern fake Christians would unfriend Jesus in social media terms, calling him too judgmental, right?
03:42It's like, oh, can't we all just get along kind of parts of the Bible and, oh, let's pretend those tough love parts don't even exist.
03:54So, sorry, not sorry, you're getting full Bible context here, including the tough love parts.
04:02At any rate, what did I want to talk to you about today, now that I've blathered already about nothingness?
04:14The Constitution, as they say, is not a suicide pact, right?
04:20Rights end at someone else's nose, as the saying goes.
04:26Oh, hey, an accidental rhyme there.
04:28No pun intended.
04:31Seriously.
04:33The assault is not an extension and protected as a freedom of expression.
04:42Now, the odd part is, well, why am I saying that?
04:48Well, it is a political show and biblical community, free will versus communism, force, and theft.
04:59But I want to say that to relate to them, say, why it's odd.
05:07You'll certainly not likely hear anybody else say this ever before or even after I say it, maybe.
05:17At any rate, yeah, now that I'm saying it, maybe it'll catch on, right?
05:22The New Testament is not a suicide pact either.
05:27What do I mean by that?
05:30Well, Jesus never said, I'm here to supplant the Old Testament.
05:38I'm here to supplant the Torah.
05:41I'm here to replace and erase the Torah.
05:45No, Jesus was born a Jew into the Jewish faith, became a rabbi, began his teaching, his preaching officially, his church at age 30 under Jewish law, right?
06:08That's why the Old Testament is there as part of the Bible.
06:13Now, yes, of course, some things changed.
06:20Some things were supplanted.
06:23Some of what Jesus said as became the New Testament, here is the new way, like his death and resurrection, the final sacrificial blood sacrifice.
06:40We don't sacrifice animals these days, right?
06:45But an eye for an eye is still valid in some cases.
06:52The death penalty under Genesis, Leviticus, and Numbers is still valid.
06:59The New Testament, yes, indeed says and calls upon us to love even our enemies and to turn the other cheek.
07:08Well, for the benefit of the transcript and those on audio, you might hear, I'm slapping my cheek.
07:17Well, the other cheek.
07:21You have one other cheek.
07:25And why do I say the New Testament is not a suicide pact?
07:29It does not say continually be a sucker and allow yourself to be used and abused and taken advantage of.
07:43No, show grace, turn the other cheek, love even your enemy.
07:50But there's a limit to that, turn the other cheek.
07:56It doesn't mean you can't defend yourself.
08:01It doesn't mean you can't fight back.
08:04And therefore, again, the New Testament is the preferred new way but does not erase the old way when you've extended that olive branch that turned the other cheek.
08:23And evil continues to be evil, you have to eliminate the evil.
08:31And yes, an eye for an eye and the death penalty, he who sheddeth man's blood may have his blood sheddeth by man, applies in that case.
08:45Not as the first resort, but as a last result.
08:52This is that whole thing about, I'd say, Christitutionalist politics.
08:59The whole Bible, every chapter, the Old Testament, the New Testament, in full context.
09:10And, right, it's like the death penalty, right?
09:15Sheddeth man's blood, shout.
09:18Exodus 22, 2, alone, talks a thief in the night, dealt the fatal blow.
09:26You are not guilty of murder.
09:31It is a killing.
09:33That's why the commandment is really, thou shalt not murder innocent.
09:40It's not thou shalt not kill.
09:44The Bible there in Exodus 22, 2, and other places in full context, putting the commandment in context, tells you times that a killing, while unwanted and preferred not to be the case,
10:09is allowed, is defensible, is defensible, is not murder.
10:17These distinctions, this context, these details matter.
10:28Again, you know, Pastor Sean Todd of Wham Radio, Sunday's Noon, his The Intersection show, right?
10:41Kind of like Christitutionalist politics.
10:44Intersection.
10:45The intersection of faith and politics.
10:49Same thing I'm doing here.
10:50He was part inspiration for the show that I feel called to do and explain these contextual things that many of today's, unfortunately, Matthew 23 Christians want to leave out in a void, right?
11:11He's the one that coined the phrase about many fake Christians today wanting the hippie hacky sack Jesus as he coins it, and I use it.
11:27That's where I got it.
11:28Pastor Sean Todd, Wham Radio, Wham Radio.com.
11:33If you want to listen live, I listen to the Saturday shows, Abolitionist Roundtable in the Morning.
11:39In fact, I'm recording this on a Saturday following the Abolitionist Roundtable show, which I called into, and yet today is Saturday, April the 26th.
11:54If you want to go to tinyurl.com slash ART archives and maybe listen to the show from April 26th, I called in.
12:11I will be listening to my friend Ed Bondarenka's show, Your American Heritage, this afternoon from 1 to 2 and the second hour, 2 to 3.
12:21Dick Kupke, Trigger Talk, 11 to noon, and then again, a second hour, noon to 1.
12:29Shout out to Pastor Richard Clark Dietering.
12:33He used to do the show at 1 o'clock.
12:36Ed now took over that hour, does two hours.
12:41Pastor Rick, myocarditis due to the Wuhan hysteria jabs.
12:48He's retired now, doesn't do the radio.
12:52He had a moment of clarity show that I was also a frequent caller to.
12:58Pastor Sean Todd, noons, 12 o'clock.
13:02It's strictly a recorded show, no callers.
13:05My friend Derek Stone, Stone Cold Sports Truth, because yes, occasional breaks are healthy and important, but we can't be caught up and consumed by the bread and circus all the time.
13:20The Stone Cold Sports Truth show, 1230 to 1 on Sundays, and I'm a frequent caller to that.
13:28But the Bible isn't just hippie, hacky sack Jesus.
13:33There are a lot of tough love parts that some want to leave out, and that's why I now am coining the phrase, like, the Constitution isn't a suicide pact.
13:46The New Testament isn't a suicide pact, either.
13:51It doesn't eliminate the Old Testament.
13:57Now, why am I saying?
13:59So many Christians are claimed to be supposed Christians that are anti-Semitic.
14:06Jesus, born a Jew, fulfilled the Jewish Testaments to become the Messiah.
14:14We, as Christians, if you're honest about it, are Messianic Jews.
14:21So, I don't get this anti-Semitic stuff and some blaming Jesus being killed by the Jews, right?
14:34It wasn't all the Jews of the time.
14:38It was certain power and control freaks within the Jewish community wanted to protect their power and control.
14:48But even they, even though we're given free will, remember on the cross, Jesus says,
14:56Father, forgive them.
14:58They know not what they do.
15:01They didn't know what they were doing.
15:03Just as Judas had to, had to betray Jesus, just as those Jewish leaders had to ask Punctious Pilate, the Romans,
15:19to, to, why do I not want to say resurrect?
15:25That's what happens, right?
15:28Yeah, crucify.
15:30There's the word I'm looking for.
15:31Oh, my.
15:32Anyway, the crucifixion, I can't talk.
15:38The crucifixion, the betrayals of Jesus were a requirement to fulfill the Testament,
15:49proving and showing him as the Messiah, as well as the rising, the resurrection three days later.
15:59They had to betray Jesus.
16:03They were part of God's plan.
16:07So blaming them for God's plan makes you anti-God.
16:16Being anti-Semitic is anti-God.
16:20It's just plain stupid, and Jesus told you on the cross while dying, sacrificing himself for all of us, that final blood sacrifice.
16:35Father, forgive them.
16:37They know not what they do.
16:38They had to do what they did.
16:42We may not like it, but it was preordained.
16:46It was part of God's will.
16:49It was required, and to try to blame all Jews of today for something a few Jews did 2,000 years ago is just plain insane at any rate.
17:07All of that, the New Testament, the New Testament is not a suicide pact.
17:15The distinctions and the differentiations in the new versus the old, it didn't replace it or supplant it all.
17:24Some, yes, this is the new preferred way, but it doesn't erase and remove all the old ways.
17:33As part of the overall context and point of this show, Christitutionalist politics, the whole Bible in full context.
17:46So, yes, the New Testament is not a suicide pact, just as the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence was not a suicide pact.
17:59Though, as they said, we either all hang together or we all hang literally from the noose, the gallows together or separately.
18:14We as Christians must stick together and deal with the whole Bible in full context.
18:23The New Testament is not a suicide pact.
18:53Go forth, teach the whole Bible in full context.
19:00God bless you, my brothers and sisters.
19:23The New Testament, the Catholic, the only run bookstore still near you.
19:25They can order it for you.
19:27And let me remind, over time, the fancy high production items will come.
19:33But for now, for starters, it's just you as a very appreciated listener by me.
19:40All substance, no flow.
19:42Just straight to Key Discussion Points, a show that looks at a variety of topics, mostly politics, through a Christian U.S. constitutionalist lens.
19:54So again, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
19:57Take care. God bless.
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