Why I Don't Celebrate Jewish Feasts

I want to be a scriptural woman. I want to be a believer whose life is based on the Word and not based on the opinions of men.

This is what apostle Paul has to say about Jewish feasts and days, “"So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ." - Colossians 2:16-17 NKJV

If I go back to festivals and sabbaths, Paul says those things are shadows. Christ is the real deal. So why would I want to go backward?

Festivals, new moons and sabbaths have to do with the law. The law is part of the old.

The Cross of Jesus is the dividing line between the old and the new.

Christ is the end of the law as a means to righteousness, for those who believe in Him (Romans 10:4).

Concerning the law, Moses basically says that if you want to live by it, you will have to do what it says (Romans 10:5).

However, it’s clear that no one can keep the law.

So if I start to celebrate this feast or that festival, won’t I be obligated to keep “all” of the law of Moses? Where would it end?

"For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them."" - Galatians 3:10 NKJV

By the works of the law, no man can be justified (Galatians 2:16).

If I could be made righteous by keeping the law then Christ died in vain (1 Corinthians 15:3).

""I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."" - Galatians 2:21 NKJV

It is written that the “just shall live by faith,” not by the law (Galatians 3:11).

The law was added until the Seed should come. Now that the Seed has come, we’re no longer under that tutor—the law (Galatians 3:19, 24).

Observing days, months, seasons and years—Paul calls this “weak and beggarly elements” (Galatians 4:9-11).

Let me show you in scripture what Christ has done for the believer. In Christ, I’ve stepped into the eternal “now” of God.

He said, “Heaven is My throne and earth is My footstool” (Acts 7:49).

Born again means I am born from above (John 3).

The above is heaven, the Spirit, God’s throne, perfection. See how many times in scripture He refers to the “above”:

• John 3:31 heaven is above

• Romans 10:6 Christ is above

• John 8:23 NKJV - "And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world."

Jesus has brought heaven down to my level. I am not bound to the beneath. But rather, since my spirit is raised with Christ, I can step into the “above.” I can bring heaven to earth. I can superimpose heaven on the earth. I am not subject to seasons, days, and years—all that has to do with the “beneath.” The beneath is bound to space and time.

The above is eternal and timeless.

In summary, I don’t think we should simply follow everyone else’s opinion. We ought to follow the Word of God. We must compare the Word with the Word in order to gain understanding. Paul describes it as, “…comparing spiritual things with spiritual”—talking about the Word (1 Corinthians 2:13). The Word is spiritual. How do I know the Word is spiritual? Because in 2 Peter 1:20-21 He says, “knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." - 2 Peter 1:20-21 NKJV

I can’t rely on fiction or the opinions of men as the source of truth. The Word is truth. Let’s be like the believers in Berea; who searched the scriptures daily to see if what Paul and Silas taught was true (Acts 17:11).

© Solape Osoba 2019