1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

Of course, the new covenant is only made with the houses of Israel and Judah, but justification by faith does not build on the law in any way and does not require the shedding of blood.

Rom 9:6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
Rom 9:7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Rom 9:8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

Act 7:58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.
Act 7:59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Act 7:60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

"Atonement" is something that a perp does to express remorse and appeal to God for forgiveness. It does not describe the purpose of the death of Jesus as given in the Bible. The stated purpose of the death of Jesus in the writings of Paul is to justify God:

Ro 3:26 To declare, I say, at this time his [God's] righteousness: that he [God] might be just[ified], and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

The Jewish law required animal blood atonements but the new covenant does not require any shedding of blood.

The terms of the new covenenant are free forgiveness.

Of course, the new covenant is only made with the houses of Israel and Judah,

but justification by faith does not build on the law in any way and does not require the shedding of blood.

>>>...If the new covenant was made only with literal Israel & Judah, then unless you are an Israelite or a Jew, you and I are hopeless...

The new covenant is explicitly said to be with the houses of Israel and Judah - the northern and southern kingdoms:

Jer 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

Heb 8:8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

Paul never appeals to the new covenant on behalf of gentiles. He only refers to it in connection with the conversion of Jews after the full number of gentiles comes into God's flock. It is also referred to with the 12 in the context of the passover, and Hebrews mentions it with his Jewish audience. It is not relevant to gentiles.

And gentile believers are not sons of Abraham until they believe, so you can't appeal to Paul's "in Christ" message, either.

According to Paul, the gentiles are justified by faith, with the faith that Abraham had while yet uncircumcised, so there is no need to appeal to a covenant with Israel and Judah.

>>>...the whole purpose of justifying faith through grace is to bring rebellious & lawless people back to obedience that springs from faith, Rom 1:5; 16:26.

Not "back" but "forward." Not "back" to the law, but forward to the "breath."

Ga 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Ga 4:24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
Ga 4:25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Ga 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Heb 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Bill Ross

>>>o, are you saying Gentile believers are not bound by the terms of the covenant and are therefore free to steal, fornicate, murder, bow down to idols, etc.?

This may be the crux of the misunderstanding that motivates good people to be appalled by the idea of not being bound to the law... the idea that you only have two choices - the idea that if you are not under the law (Torah) then you are unrestrained and unaccountable. I can sympathize in why such a thought would evoke a visceral revulsion. If the only alternative to law is antinomianism, then you will naturally cling to the law.

But Paul, in his sometimes complex writings, addresses this. He argues that not only is there an alternative way to be righteous, but also that the law approach is a doomed approach - not because the law is flawed, but because men are under the control of sin.

I won't go into his dogmas right now, but I just want to warm up to the idea that there is a third option - other than law and other than antinomianism. For Paul, that which the law could not accomplish is accomplished by the divine breath.

I'll just point to one verse right now:

Ga 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness [righteous behavior] come[s] by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

So can you see how Paul is, like yourselves, shooting for righteous behavior... but he insists that if it were possible to get there from law observance, then Jesus didn't have to die.

More later.

Bill