|
Author
|
Topic: Sabbatarians are 100% refuted!
|
Carol Swenson
Admin
Member # 6929
|
posted
Caretaker ![[thumbsup2]](graemlins/thumbsup2.gif)
Are we obligated to keep the Sabbath today?
If you are saved “by grace” through faith in Jesus Christ without keeping the Sabbath do you need to keep the Sabbath to be saved? No.
Do you need to keep the Sabbath to be Spiritual or spiritually grow? No.
Jesus kept the Sabbath? True, but for what reason? He was born under the law and kept all the law, if he violated even the smallest point he would have been disqualified to be the Messiah.
Paul kept the Sabbath? True, but for what reason? He and the other apostles did not attend the synagogue to worship on the Sabbath by obligation under the law. The reason - this was the best way to reach their Jewish brethren. So they went into the Jewish synagogues to preach Jesus Christ to the Jews on their Sabbath day (Acts.13:14-43); Paul’s concept of evangelism (1 Cor.9:19-20). Acts 17:2 "And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures." Acts 18:4, 11 "And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath."
There is not one place in the New Testament that requires the church to keep the Sabbath AFTER the CROSS when the new covenant of grace was introduced.
Most of those who make an issue of the Sabbath day do not keep the SABBATH laws according to the Bible, they change it. Look at Leviticus 23:32, where the Sabbath is to be kept from SUNSET to SUNSET, or Jeremiah 17:21, do no work: and they are to stay in one place (Neh.10:31; 13:15-22; 28:9-1; Exod. 16:29), stay at home. If traveling, no long walks either, and they are to carry no loads. Jer .17:21-22 no gardening. In other words the Sabbath means to rest not worship.
Furthermore in the Sabbath law requirement according to the Bible is to work 6 days a week, not 5. Do you work for 6 days? Exod. 35:2: “Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.” Exod. 31:15 “Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 'Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death” (also Num. 15:32-36).
To violate the Sabbath meant death. You cannot separate the punishment from the law if you break it. When have you last seen someone stoned for breaking the Sabbath? So they do not keep the law of God as they claim. You cannot have grace replace the punishment and not the law itself. So keeping the Sabbath the wrong way equals not keeping the Sabbath at all. Lets be honest, imperfect law keeping is not proper law keeping. Since when does God say good intentions count in keeping the law! It’s falling short no matter if one has good intentions or not. Obedience to the Law never saved anyone; and obedience to the Sabbath cannot save or preserve a New Testament believer. The fact that so many want to keep the Sabbath shows them to want to be under the Old covenant instead of the New.
The Sabbath was given as a sign between God and the nation of Israel (Exodus 31:13) that he personally brought out of Egypt. The scripture specifically says Deut.5: 3 “The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us.” It began with the Israelites of the exodus out of Egypt. Exod.31:17 'It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever.” Each covenant had a sign (seal) accompany it, this is the seal of the covenant made with Moses, it is part of the Old covenant. We have two main different covenants, the Sabbath was the seal to the Mosaic covenant. The Bible teaches that Jesus took away the first that He might establish the second, meaning they are not the same nor a continuation (Heb. 10:5-9); Paul made it clear “now the righteousness of God is revealed without the aid of the law” (Rom. 3:21-22). The law is not part of the New Covenant, it is about a righteous sinless man, God becoming flesh and dying for our sins.
What is the Old covenant? Let me cite just a few Scriptures:
Exodus 34:27-28: " And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments." the 10 are the old Covenant.
Ex. 31:23 "The Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. And he wrote upon the tablets the words of the covenant, the TEN COMMANDMENTS." the 10 are the old Covenant.
Deuteronomy 4:13: "So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone." ." the 10 are the Old Covenant.
Deuteronomy 9:9- V11 "And it came to pass, at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant." the 10 are the Old Covenant.
1 Kings 8:9, 21: 2 Chronicles 6:11: "And there I have set the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord, which He made with the sons of Israel." The Bible teaches that the tablets are the old covenant.
The writer of Hebrews (8:7-8) “For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Vs.8 Because finding fault with them, He says: "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.” Heb. 8:13 In that He says, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away."
Paul describes the Mosaic covenant in 2 Cor.3: 7 He identifies the Ten Commandments with the covenant "done away" in Christ." He calls it a ministry of death, written and engraved on stones. And then explains the ministry of the Spirit for the New Testament believer.
Once the “10 commandments “ are identified as the Mosaic (old covenant) we can understand why it is “done away” we are not obligated to keep it – we can have a better, superior covenant, a NEW COVENANT, one that operates by grace and not law.
Another point that needs to be answered - is the Sabbath a moral law (like the other 9 commandments written on the tablets)? An example of a moral law, is-- you shall not kill- this means there is no day that you are allowed to kill, no exceptions (just for clarification murder is not the same in meaning), killing is wrong on any day of the week. If the law said you cannot kill anyone except for one day then this would no longer be a moral law, but a ceremonial law.
The Sabbath is not meant to be the set day to worship above every other day of the week. It does not say to only worship God on a certain day. The Sabbath is the day of rest, it is a verb meaning "to cease, stop, desist; to rest" (sabbaton means rest). Can you rest on other days? Of course- then its not moral, its ceremonial and it was part of the old covenant that was done away with by Christ whom you are to have faith in.
Jesus never commanded anyone to keep the Sabbath after his resurrection and none of His apostles ever commanded anyone to keep it either. Not once in the New Testament teachings are we told to keep the Sabbath. There is no continuing command for the church to meet for worship on Friday night or Saturday before 6 at night, None. Without any exception, every mention of Sabbath keeping in the book of Acts is connected with Jewish worship on that day, not Church or a Christian keeping of law.
Paul who was once a strict keeper of the law writes in Col. 2:16-17 “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, (this means any Sabbath) which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” If you have Christ you do not need to return to the inferior shadows.
The Bible commands believers to gather together regularly for their corporate worship but the day of the week is strictly optional, it is a personal choosing. It can be Monday, Wednesday or even Sunday. And yes, it can even be Saturday. But it is not restricted to Saturday. By understanding what the difference in the covenants are we can keep from being confused and not become legalistic but grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord.
http://www.letusreason.org/Biblexp128.htm
Posts: 6787 | From: Colorado | Registered: Dec 2007
| IP: Logged | 
|
|
Caretaker
Advanced Member
Member # 36
|
posted
How quickly you dismiss the "breaking of Bread", and deny that this was done in remembrance of Christ.
Lu 24:35
And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.
Ac 2:42
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Ac 2:46
And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
breaking:
Strong's Number: 2800 Browse Lexicon
Original Word Word Origin
klavsi? from (2806)
Transliterated Word TDNT Entry
Klasis 3:726,437
Phonetic Spelling Parts of Speech
klas'-is Noun Feminine
Definition
1. a breaking
King James Word Usage - Total: 2
breaking 2
bread:
Strong's Number: 740 Browse Lexicon
Original Word Word Origin
a[rto? from (142)
Transliterated Word TDNT Entry
Artos 1:477,80
Phonetic Spelling Parts of Speech
ar'-tos Noun Masculine
Definition
1. food composed of flour mixed with water and baked
1. the Israelites made it in the form of an oblong or round cake, as thick as one's thumb, and as large as a plate or platter hence it was not to be cut but broken
2. loaves were consecrated to the Lord
3. of the bread used at the love-feasts and at the Lord's Table
2. food of any kind
King James Word Usage - Total: 99
bread 72, loaf 23, shewbread + (4286) +&version=kjv 3588 4
20:7
And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.
break:
Strong's Number: 2806 Browse Lexicon
Original Word Word Origin
klavw a primary verb
Transliterated Word TDNT Entry
Klao 3:726,437
Phonetic Spelling Parts of Speech
klah'-o Verb
Definition
1. to break
1. used in the NT of the breaking of bread or communion
King James Word Usage - Total: 15
break 15
1Co 10:16
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?
break:
Strong's Number: 2806 Browse Lexicon
Original Word Word Origin
klavw a primary verb
Transliterated Word TDNT Entry
Klao 3:726,437
Phonetic Spelling Parts of Speech
klah'-o Verb
Definition
1. to break
1. used in the NT of the breaking of bread or communion
King James Word Usage - Total: 15
break 15
The First Sabbath Observance by man, in the Word:
Exodus 16:
23: And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.
24: And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein.
25: And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD: to day ye shall not find it in the field.
26: Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.
27: And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.
28: And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
29: See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.
30: So the people rested on the seventh day.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
< !-- m -->http://www.ldolphin.org/sabbathrest.html< !-- m -->
The weekly sabbath ended at the cross. Paul specifically says this. In the letter to the Colossians he confirms it to us. In Chapter 2, beginning with Verse 13, he says,
And you, who were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, having canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands; this he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it [not him; it, the cross].
Therefore, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a sabbath. These are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. (Colossians 2:13-17)
That should make it clear. This is why the claims of the Seventh Day Adventists, the Seventh Day Baptists, and other groups, that Christians changed the sabbath, are absurd, ridiculous. They claim that the Pope changed the sabbath by a papal edict from Saturday to Sunday, and that around the third or fourth century Christians began to celebrate Sunday rather than Saturday, out of obedience to this papal edict. But nothing could be further from the truth. History does not corroborate that in any degree. The Sabbath has always been Saturday and it always will be. It is the seventh day of the week. Sunday has always been the first day of the week. It has never been a sabbath, and it is pure legalism to call it a sabbath or to treat it as one. It is not a day of rest or restricted activity and it is not designed as such. It is the first day of the week; to Christians, the Lord's day.
The shadow-sabbath ended at the cross, as Paul has made clear. The next day was the day of resurrection, the day when the Lord Jesus came from the tomb. On that day a new day began -- the Lord's day. Christians immediately began to observe the Lord's day on the first day of the week. They ceased observing the Sabbath because it was ended by the fulfillment of its reality in the cross, and they began to observe the first day of the week. This is what you find reflected in the book of Acts. Justin Martyr, who writes from the 2nd century, says,
But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, when he changed the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ, our Savior, on the same day, rose from the dead.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
God has made a couple of everlasting covenants with Abraham and the Children of Israel:
Genesis 17:
7: And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
8: And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
9: And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.
10: This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
Exodus 31:
16: Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
17: It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
The everlasting covenant was between God and the children of Israel.
The Lord's Day is the day when Jesus arose from the dead. The Tomb was discovered empty on the First day of the week.
Believers came together and broke bread on the first day of the week:
Acts 20:
7: And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.
8: And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together.
9: And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead.
10: And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.
11: When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.
12: And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.
The Law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ but we are no longer under a schoolmaster:
Gal. 3:
24: Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25: But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
26: For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
27: For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
29: And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Do not place the yoke of bondage of the Law upon the neck of the Believer.
Gal. 5:
1: Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
2: Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
3: For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
4: Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
5: For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
6: For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
The Commandments of Christ:
1 John 3:
22: And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
23: And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
24: And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.
Matt. 22:
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Jesus is our Sabbath rest 24/7. Indeed I worship my LORD on the Sabbath, and on the Lord's Day, and on Tues. through Friday.
--------------------
A Servant of Christ,
Drew
1 Tim. 3:
16: And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh..
Posts: 3978 | From: Council Grove, KS USA | Registered: Jun 2002
| IP: Logged |
|
|
barrykind
Advanced Member
Member # 35
|
posted
45 scriptures that Proves 7th Day Sabbath
There are controversial subjects that the main stream Christian churches, have ignored
for over 1500 years. One of them, is The Ten Commandments, including The Seventh
Day Sabbath. Many believe that they have been done away with, or changed. You may
decide after reading this.
In the fourth century A.D. The Christian Church took a left turn. King Constantine changed
The 7th Day Sabbath worship to the first day of the week.
Keeping The Sabbath and The Ten Commandments is NOT unto salvation. Modeling
your life after them, will show your love, and obedience to Elohim. Your rewards in
heaven, maybe based on that. Yahshua said “ If you love Me, Keep My
Commandments“. (John 14:15)
This document is not linked to any one, denomination, although some do adhere to The
Ten Commandments. The writings here, will prove the validity of The Commandments
and The Sabbath. This will be done by showing scriptures that don’t have to be
interpreted, which will stand on their own.
Vague scriptures they choose, are for people who are inclined to put their own spin on
them. Most of the scriptures given, are after Yahshua was crucified. The reason is: many
are taught and believe that The Commandments, and The Seventh Day Sabbath,
were symbolically nailed to the cross. If they were, the following scriptures would not be
in the Bible.
(Luke 23:56) The women rested on The Sabbath, according to The Commandment.
(After His death.) (Mark 16:1) When The Sabbath was past, the women brought spices
to the tomb.
(Acts 13:14,15) Paul went into a synagogue on The Sabbath. The Law and the
Prophets were read. (Acts 13:27) The Prophets were read Every Sabbath.
Acts 14:42 The Gentiles begged the Apostles to preach to them on the next Sabbath.
Acts 13:44 Almost the whole city came to hear the word of Elohim on The Sabbath
(Acts 16:13) The Apostles went out of the city on The Sabbath, and preached to the
women. (Acts 17:2) Paul went into a synagogue and preached for Three Sabbaths to
the Thessalonians.
(Acts 18:4) Paul preached in Corinth’s synagogue Every Sabbath to the Israelites and
Greeks. (Acts 18:11) Paul continued there for a year and a half, teaching the Word of
Elohim. (That would amount to 78 Sabbaths.)
(Mark 2:27) Yahshua said “The Sabbath was made for Israel, and not Israel for The
Sabbath. “Oh!! excuse me,” Yahshua Messiah said “The Sabbath was made for
MANKIND.”
(Matthew 12:8) Yahshua said, “He is Master of The Sabbath Day.”
(Hebrews 13:8) “Yahshua Messiah is the same yesterday, and today, and for ever. ”
(Acts 1:12) The Apostles returned to Jerusalem, from a Sabbaths Day journey.
(Isaiah 58:13,14) Elohim said, “If you turn away your foot from The Sabbath. From
doing your own pleasure on My Holy Day, and call The Sabbath a delight. The Holy Day
of Yehovah Honorable, and Shall honor Him, not doing your own ways. Nor finding
your own pleasure, nor speaking your words. Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord.”
(Romans 10:12) There is no difference between Israelites and Greeks. (Gentiles) The
same Lord Over all, is rich unto all that call upon Him.
(Heb 4:9,10,11) “Therefore, there remains A Rest for the people of Elohim. For he who
has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works, as Elohim did from His.
Therefore be diligent to enter That Rest, lest anyone fall after the example of
disobedience”
“One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike”
(Romans 14:5) It doesn’t say anything, about The Sabbath, 10 Commandments
resting, or The law. These are the type of vague scriptures that people use, to put on
their own spin. They will try to refute, all the many scriptures, that prove the truth.
The Apostle Paul said “For I speak to you Gentiles; in as much as I am an Apostle to the
Gentiles. I magnify my ministry” (Romans 11:13) The Gentiles were mentioned about 100
Times in the New Testament. Most of the people, Paul preached to were Gentiles.
Would it not make sense, that he would have taught them, that The Law and The
Sabbath were done away with? As it was, the Gentiles craved his preaching on The
Sabbath.
Today’s church reasoning for changing to Sunday worship is: The Apostles came
together on that first day of the week to break bread, and Paul preached to Them. (Acts
20:7) Paul said nothing about change, that was ever noted in the Bible. As far as we
know, the scriptures show that Paul preached on Sunday only once.
Theologians say, “ We keep Sunday because, Yahshua rose on that day.” Again, no
authority to change it. In Daniel’s prophesy (Daniel 9:26,27) This was a double prophecy.
In 26 it talks about the 70 weeks (plural) Prophecy, when Yahshua was to be cut off
(killed). In 27 it talks about the sacrifices ending in the middle of the week (singular) The
Messiah was the Sacrificial Lamb.
The Bible week has always been seven days, and the middle of the week we now call
Wednesday. Do the math, Wednesday afternoon: to Saturday afternoon, is three days,
and three nights, just as Messiah predicted. (Matthew 12:40) The Israelites wanted
Yahshua taken off the cross that afternoon, after He died. It was preparation day for the
High Sabbath. The first day of Passover is a High Sabbath, (John 19:31) and no work
is to be done.
There were Two Sabbaths in that week: Thursday, Saturday and a preparation day for
each one. The Apostles and the women, didn’t visit the tomb again, until Sunday
morning. It was dark when they arrived, and no one witnessed the Messiah’s resurrection.
(John 20:1)
That morning: two people were walking, when Yahshua came upon them and asked, what
they were talking about? One said: “Are you a stranger? The Messiah was crucified, and
this is the third day this was done.” (Luke 24:17-21)
Remember, a day, is still a day and a night, which is 24 hours. The following explanation
ties it all together. “ When Yahshua was risen, early the first day of the week, He
appeared to Mary.” (Mark 16:9) Punctuations were not added to the Bible until the 9th
century A.D. In the 1611 Bible edition, the comma was put after early.
In the modern day Bible, it was put after the word week. Apparently those translators
weren’t inspired of Elohim. When the comma is put after the word risen. This proves
that all the factual evidence shows. Yahshua Messiah had already risen just before sun
down on Saturday night. In the Bible and Israelite tradition, sun down to sun down is a
day.
Would the Messiah be resurrected in the dark, when the Bible compares it to evil? (John
3:19,20) Would the Messiah be resurrected on a day that the pagans were worshiping the
sun god on pagan Easter? Or would Yahshua be resurrected on a day that was
Sanctified, Blessed, Hallowed, and written in stone by our Creator Elohim? Not a difficult
choice.
The Sabbath is the Fourth Commandment, and the last book of the Bible says. Keep
Elohim's 10 Commandments, (Revelations 12:17- 14:12- 22:14) Yahshua and the
Apostles kept them. There are no scriptures or authority in the Bible, that changes the 7th
Day Sabbath for another, or eliminates it.
They say, the days of the week have been changed over the centuries. Not so, only the
dates have been changed. An example is the leap year, we change only the date and not
the days of the week. The Israelites have never lost sight of The 7th Day Sabbath.
(Romans 3:2)
Some say: “We can keep any day we want for The Sabbath. Elohim was very emphatic
on which day, and how The Sabbath is to be kept. Elohim said. “Remember THE
Seventh Day, not A seventh day. “There remains a rest for the people of Elohim: for he
who has entered His rest, has also ceased from his works, as Elohim did from His” (Heb
4:9-11)
The following can’t be emphasized enough.Elohim said three times in the Old Testament,
and three times in the New. “If you love Me. You will Keep The Commandments.”
(Exodus 20:6) (Deuteronomy 5:10) (Nehemiah 1:5) (John 11:15) ( 1 John 5:2,3)
Some won’t accept all Bible teaching, you have to make a decision. The Big problem for
most, is That Sabbath. “Why should I give up: Friday night T.V, or the movies, Saturday
swap meets, shopping, or the beach after? I have work, and things to do on Saturdays. I
would have to change my whole life style. Just because the CREATOR of the universe:
inspired words to be written down, in a book thousands of years ago, called the Bible.
“Be doers of the WORD, and not hearers, only deceiving Yourselves.” (James 1:22)
Why do I keep the Sabbath? Because it's a day that I can show Elohim that I love Him.
You May say that you can love Him everyday, which is true. Elohim said "If you love Me,
keep the Commandments", and Honor Him on the Sabbath Day.
There are people that honor Elohim on Sunday, Which is wonderful, as any day you
honor Him. The one problem is that Elohim did not sanctify it or make it Holy. It is not
that it's evil to keep Sunday for the sabbath. It is just that Elohim did not make it a Holy
Day unto Elohim.
People want to keep the sabbath on Sunday, because their preacher told them to. When
you get right down to it. It started at the seminary, but even before that, it started around
the fourth century. We all know that the Catholic Church changed the Sabbath to the first
day of the week.
What I can't figure out is why they don't believe the Bible. The apostle Paul in Acts
preached over 80 times on the Seventh Day Sabbath. The Protestants have protested
the Catholic churches doctrines, so why do they keep following their doctrines? I wish
that someday they would wake up and smell the roses. Actually, I mean when they start
reading the Bible.
In the past I have given my email at the top of the page. I received hate emails from
people I knew, didn't read the document, by their comments. I assume you have, and if
you will give constructive criticism without hate, I would gladly reply. bottomlinez@yahoo.
com
Proverbs
Do not withhold good from those whom it is due. When it is in the power of your hand to
do so. Do not say to your neighbor go and come back, and tomorrow I will give it when
you have it with you. The Lord said to give attention to my words incline your ear to my
sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes keep them in the middle of your heart,
for they are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh. Put away from you, a
deceitful full mouth and put perverse lips far from you, let your eyes look straight ahead.
And your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet and let all your ways
be established do not turn to the right or the left. Remove your foot from evil.
--------------------
The HEART of the issue is truly the issue of the HEART!
John 3:3;Mark 8:34-38;James 1:27
Posts: 3529 | From: Orange, Texas | Registered: Jun 2002
| IP: Logged |
|
|
WildB
Moderator
Member # 2917
|
posted
Company commanders didn't give that option. It was always the NAVY WAY that ones task were performed.
--------------------
That is all.....
Posts: 8775 | From: USA, MICHIGAN | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged |
|
|
becauseHElives
Advanced Member
Member # 87
|
posted
WildB have you ever had a teacher that thought you the right way to perform a desired task?
--------------------
Strive to enter in at the strait gate:for many, I say unto you will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. ( Luke 13:24 )
Posts: 4578 | From: Southeast Texas | Registered: Jun 2002
| IP: Logged |
|
|
WildB
Moderator
Member # 2917
|
posted
THE CHRISTIAN—ETERNAL LIFE AND THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
A Christian is a person who has received eternal life from God. "The free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23. Jesus Christ said, I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish." John 10:28. Jesus Christ said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me hath everlasting life." John 6:47. In John 5:24 Jesus Christ said that the person who hears the Word and believes, passes out of death into life and will not come to judgment. Eternal life is received from God, as His free gift, by the person who hears the Word of God and believes, which, of course, means that he receives Christ as Saviour. The Christian is made free from the law of sin and death by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:2.
Here let us think of these most interesting and significant statements in Galatians 3:21 and 22:
"IF THERE HAD BEEN A LAW GIVEN WHICH COULD HAVE GIVEN LIFE, VERILY RIGHTEOUSNESS SHOULD HAVE BEEN GIVEN BY THE LAW. BUT THE SCRIPTURE HATH CONCLUDED ALL UNDER SIN, THAT THE PROMISE BY FAITH OF JESUS CHRIST MIGHT BE GIVEN TO THEM THAT BELIEVE."
The ten commandments gave life to no child of Adam. God's religious people, Israel, struggled with that law for about fifteen centuries. "They could not endure that which was commanded." Hebrews 12:20. It was against them and contrary to them. Colossians 2:14. It was the ministration of death and comdemnation II Corinthians 3:7 and 9. Christ said to Israel, "Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law?" John 7:19. Some years later when the religious Jews insisted that the saved Gentiles should keep the law, the apostle Peter asked a very important question, "Why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?" Acts 15:10; 15:5 and 24. Then the apostle Paul wrote to all believers, who had received God's free gift, eternal life, "ye are not under the law, but under grace." Romans 6:14. "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace." Galatians 5:1 to 4.
Concerning God's religious nation, Israel, we read in Galatians 3:24 and 25:
THE LAW WAS OUR SCHOOLMASTER TO BRING US UNTO CHRIST, THAT WE MIGHT BE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH. BUT AFTER THAT FAITH IS COME, WE ARE NO LONGER UNDER A
SCHOOLMASTER."
There is no truth more clearly and dogmatically stated in the Bible than the fact that the Christian is not under the law, during this present economy of grace. Read of the believer's deliverance from the law in Romans 7:1 to 6. When this truth is contended for by some Christians (and it should be by all Christians), then other Christians or religious sinners ask this question, "does this mean that Christians are not obliged to obey the ten commandments?" When this question is asked, I wish I could put into the hands and hearts of every person who asks this question a little message entitled, "No Creed But Christ; No Law But Love." Presently I shall refer to this, but now let us read and believe the truth of Romans 3:20 to 22: also 24 and 28:
"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God, without the law, is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets: Even the righteousness of God by faith of Christ Jesus unto all and upon all them that believe." "Being declared righteous freely (without a cause) by God's grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." "We conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law."
A justified man is a righteous man, a man who, by faith, has received the Divine, perfect righteousness of God,
"That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 5:21.
The believer is declared righteous, without a cause, without works, without the deeds of the law. Romans 3:24; 4:4 and 5; Titus 3:5 to 8; II Timothy 1:9; Romans 3:28 and Galatians 2:16.
"Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." "And by Him (Christ) all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." Galatians 2:16 and Acts 13:39.
Thus we see that God has done His utmost to teach the human race by His Word and by His dealings with man and by man's experience that no human being can establish righteousness with God by trying to be good, trying to do good, by striving to keep God's perfect law or by adopting and faithfully adhering to some religious program. Read of the ignorance of those religious people, in Romans 10:1 to 4, who went about to establish their own righteousness, instead of submitting unto the righteousness of God and believing that Jesus Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. It was the repetition of Cain and Abel, of the Pharisee and the publican of Luke 18:10. Is it not strange, after nineteen centuries of Christianity, that nearly all Jews and all Gentiles repudiate wholly or in part the "grace" gospel and follow in the footsteps of the foolish Galatians of Galatians 3:1 or the foolish Jews of Romans 10:1 to 4? And sad, but true: many of these foolish ones call themselves Christians.
Many who are Christians today are not like the Jews of Romans 10:1 to 4 and not altogether like the foolish Galatians of Galatians 3:1, but yet they feel sure that after God gives righteousness and eternal life to the believing sinner, God will take that righteousness and eternal life away from the believer, if he does not do his very best to keep the ten commandments, and some of them say emphatically this includes the seventh-day Sabbath. They agree that there is no life by the ten commandments, but the ten commandments should be the Christian's rule of life. We shall deal with this under "No creed but Christ; no law but love." But now let us compare two statements uttered by Jesus of Nazareth, in Matthew, with several statements in Galatians, truth which Christ later revealed from heaven to the apostle Paul, remembering the difference between Jesus Christ, the Minister of the circumcision in Romans 15:8, and the apostle Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles in Romans 11:13 and 15:16 and Ephesians 3:8, and the difference between Jesus of Nazareth's "gospel of the kingdom," under the law, to Israel (Matthew 4:2; 15:24), and Paul's "dispensation of the grace of God" for Gentiles and "the gospel of the grace of God" which Christ revealed to and through Paul (Ephesians 3:1 to 4; Acts 20:24 and Galatians 1:11 and 12). But now for the four verses:
FROM MATTHEW
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." Matthew 5:17.
"Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is
the law and the prophets." Matthew 7:12.
FROM GALATIANS
"Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them." "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written; Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." Galatians 3:10 and 13.
"But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the
law, to redeem them that were under the law." Galatians 4:4 and 5.
"If righteousness come by the law, then Christ has died in vain." Galatians 2:21.
In Galatians 4:4 and Matthew 5:17 we learn that Christ, while on this earth did not live under the dispensation, or reign, of grace. On earth, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, was identified with and ministered unto Israel, under the law. See how literally this is true, by reading Luke 2:39, Luke 4:16, Matthew 8:1 to 5, Matthew 23:1 to 3 and other Scriptures. On earth Jesus Christ was fulfilling the law. He was made under the law, lived and died under Israel's law. Therefore, He did not interfere with the law program, the religious ceremonies, offerings and ritual of Israel, except those things that had been added by tradition. Jesus Christ was with Israel under their law and with them observed their religious seventh-day Sabbath, their Passover and other feasts. But what happened on the cross? Read Ephesians 2:13 to 18, II Corinthians 3:7 to 17, Romans 10:4, Colossians 2:14, II Corinthians 5:21.
Christians do not have to qualify as full-aged Christians, partaking of strong meat (Hebrews 5:11 to 14), to know the difference between Jesus of Nazareth, with saved and unsaved Israelites on earth, under the law, and redeemed Gentiles, with Paul's "my gospel" (Romans 2:16; 16:25 and 26 and II Timothy 2:8 and 9), under the reign and economy of grace (Ephesians 3:1 to 4). These were not under the law (Romans 6:14.). Christians are now members of the Body of Christ, identified with Him in His death, burial, resurrection, ascension and heavenly seat. Christians are under the new law of Romans 8:2 and the new dispensation of Ephesians 3:1 to 4. They do not live in the same economy in which Christ, on earth, lived. Hence, the truth of II Corinthians 5:16 and 17 and Colossians 1:24 to 27. Something new; a great change. Simply compare Acts 2:22 and Colossians 1:27, and remember God's Word; "test things that differ" and God's instructions, "study to shew thyself approved of God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth." Philippians 1:10 and II Timothy 2:15.
The "MUCH MORES" of Romans 5:8 to 21 should teach every Christian that if the believing sinner receives eternal life and Divine righteousness from God by God's grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8 to 10), without the deeds of the law, not by human works or attainment, then as a saint, he certainly does not hold on to this eternal life and righteousness by good works or faithful law-keeping. God's Word is clear, that no flesh shall glory in His presence, and it cannot be of works, either before or after the believer receives the gift, lest any man should boast. I Corinthians 1:30 and 31; Ephesians 2:8 and 9.
Most assuredly this does not mean because a person cannot become a Christian by practicing the golden rule or by keeping the ten commandments that he should have a low moral or spiritual standard after he is saved by grace. Hear this clear message of grace:
"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, the glorious appearing of the great God, our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people zealous of good
works."
AS BECOMETH SAINTS
Surely there is no higher spiritual standard in all of the Bible, for this means what the same apostle writes in another Epistle, "abstain from all appearances of evil." (I Thessalonians 5:22). Again he writes, "But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not once be named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting; which are not convenient." Ephesians 5:1 to 3 and 4. "Put away lying." "Let him that stole steal no more." "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice; and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Ephesians 4:22 to 32. "Children, obey your parents, in the Lord: for this is right: Honor thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth." Ephesians 6:1 and 2.
ABRAM AND BODY-MEMBERS
If we read all of Paul's "grace" messages we would, perhaps, find reference to most of the ten commandments; but not one word in "grace," to keep Israel's seventh-day Sabbath. The explanation of that is Exodus 31:12 to 17, Romans 10:4 and Romans 11:25 and 26. That Sabbath was a sign between Jehovah and the children of Israel. Members of the Body of Christ, under "grace," are not the children of Israel, under the law. Israel has been set aside. Romans 11:15.
Members of the Body of Christ are like uncircumcised Abram, who did not find rest in a day, but in a Person. Abram, in uncircumcision, a heathen, was declared righteous by God, without the deeds of the law, 430 years before the Lord added the law with Israel's seventh day Sabbath and some other Sabbaths. Galatians 3:8 and 3:17; Romans 4:8 to 11; Genesis 15:6 to 8. God gave Abram no Sabbath to keep and no religious program. Abram was justified as a believing heathen at the age of 75. Genesis 12:1 to 6; 15:1 to 8. He was circumcised at the age of 99, when he became Abraham. Genesis, chapter 17. Abram was neither an Israelite, nor a Jew, nor an Old Testament character. He lived and died years before the law was added at Sinai, because of transgressions. (Galatians 3:19). Why was that law added? That the sin, that entered, by Adam, might abound. Romans 5:20, By the law, abounding sin. By Christ, abounding grace. Abram was not under the law. He was declared righteous by faith. Romans 4:1 to 5. About forty years after he received God's righteousness, by faith, he proved that he was a righteous man, by offering up Isaac. James 2:21 to 26. God then confirmed His covenant with an oath. Hebrews 6:13 to 18 and Genesis 22:12 to 19. Abram was just as righteous before he became circumcised Abraham, as he was thereafter, and just as righteous before he led Isaac to the altar as thereafter. This is the truth revealed in Romans 4:8 to 11. Abraham's works did not affect his righteous standing before God. They proved he had imputed righteousness which had been given to him by God.
Yes, Abram found rest by believing; not by keeping ten commandments, which were not given to Israel until 430 years after Abram was declared righteous in uncircumcision. Think of the folly of some so-called Christians who say Abraham was under the law. At the time God preached the gospel to that uncircumcised heathen (Abram) the Scriptures foresaw a great multitude would be saved, in the same way, by the preaching of the gospel of the uncircumcision (Galatians 3:6 to 8 and 2:7), without the deeds of the law. This was Paul's distinctive ministry and how he suffered for it. The preaching of the "grace" gospel by the apostle Paul was opposed by even many Christians of his day. The uncircumcised heathen were saved by grace, declared righteous without a cause by God's grace, without works, without the deeds of the law, and were not even required to be circumcised, because he that is circumcised is debtor to do the whole law. Galatians 5:3. Where does that place him? James 2:10; Galatians 3:10. Those uncircumcised Gentiles, like Abram, were not under the law either before they received Christ or after they accepted Him. It is because of this that Abram can be called "the father of us all." Romans 4:16. The heathen were accepted in the Beloved, when they believed. In Christ's blood they found redemption, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of God's grace. Ephesians 1:6 to 8. Not according to the law. "According to the riches of God's grace." Hear this. Because God had taken the law out of the way, all of their trespasses were forgiven and they stood in the presence of the holy God as though they had never committed one sin. Colossians 2:13 and Acts 13:39. Think of the crime of mixing law or religion with such a "grace" gospel. Then they were not to be judged with respect to religious days and legal ordinances. Colossians 2:15 to 19.
Christ Who said, I will give you rest, became their rest, their Sabbath. Christ was their peace, their hope, their holiness, their redemption, their righteousness and their life. Believers who are in Christ, are not under the law. They are not Israelites in the holy land but they are seated in the heavenlies. The law was the ministration of condemnation. II Corinthians 3:9. Believers in Christ are without condemnation, dead to the law; crucified to the law, delivered from the law, not under the law. Romans 8:1; John 3:17; Galatians 2:19 to 21; Romans 7:1 to 6.
NO CREED BUT CHRIST
NO LAW BUT LOVE
First let us compare Ecclesiastes 12:13 with Revelation 14:12 and Revelations 22:14:
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the
whole duty of man."
"Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of
Jesus."
"Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."
As we carefully consider these Scriptures we should think of Paul's statements in the seventh and eighth chapters of Romans: "The law is spiritual; but I am carnal sold under sin." "How to perform that which is good, I find not." Romans 7:14 to 21. "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Romans 8:1 to 4.)
Note Paul's testimony in Philippians 3:8 and 9: "That I may win Christ, And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith."
Again, in Romans 9:31: "Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained unto the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law.
For they stumbled at that stumblingstone."
Note carefully the two expressions, "the law of righteousness," by which no man found righteousness and "the righteousness of the law," which is fulfilled in the justified believer, who walks in the Spirit. The Bible clearly teaches that all believers are justified, but that all believers do not walk in the Spirit at all times; and many of them do very little of this. But no person is justified, because he walks in the Spirit, or by behavior, but by believing. Acts 13:39 and Titus 3:5 to 8. No one receives the Spirit by the works of the law, but by the hearing of faith. Galatians 3:1 to 5; 3:14 Ephesians 1:13 and 14. No unbeliever walks in the Spirit, for no one can walk in the Spirit until he receives the Spirit. The believer receives the Holy Spirit the very moment that he is saved by believing the gospel of salvation, the moment he receives Christ and passes out of death into life. No believer can pass back to death out of life; back in Adam out of Christ. Every believer has the same perfect standing before God. Hebrews 10:10; Romans 8:1; Romans 8:32 to 39. But all justified believers differ as to their spiritual state, their walk, works and Christian behavior; that is, the matter of manifesting the fruit of the Spirit, as to their testimonies by life and word of mouth. Therefore, they differ in the matter of fulfilling the righteousness of the law, by walking in the Spirit. But so far as their righteous standing before God and the indwelling earnest of the Spirit are concerned, all believers are the same. Concerning Jews we read: "There is a remnant according to the election of grace, and if by grace, then it is no more of works." Romans 11:5 and 6. Concerning Gentiles we read: "God Who hath saved us, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." II Timothy 1:9. Salvation for Jews and Gentiles is by grace and faith apart from the law.
But now we consider two questions in the sixth chapter of Romans with the statement of Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:19:
"Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?" Romans 6:1 and 2. "Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid." Romans 6:15.
"Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
As we read these Scriptures we surely think of God's message to saints in I John 1:8 to 2:1:
"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us." "These things write I unto you, that ye sin not; And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous." All of this is written to redeemed believers. I John 5:13.
When Jesus Christ the Righteous was here on earth He said to the adulterous woman, who called Him "Lord": "neither do I condemn thee." But He added, "go, and sin no more." John 8:11.
Every spiritual, intelligent Christian knows the difference between the "law" message of Jesus Christ, in Matthew, and His "grace" message, through Paul, in Romans, Galatians, Ephesians and other Epistles. There is a great difference between the kingdom of heaven which was at hand in Matthew 4:17 and Matthew 10:5 to 8, and the grace of God, which has been at hand since the day the risen Christ sent Paul forth to the Gentiles. Titus 2:11 to 14. Every such Christian knows the difference between sin, the transgression of the law, in Matthew, Mark and Luke, and the sin of John 16:8, "because they believe not on Me (Christ)." And most assuredly no such Christian will say or practice; "Because I have been saved by the grace of God and faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, I have the Scriptural right to continue in sin that grace may abound." But to any such devilish suggestion, he says, with Paul, "God forbid." But he knows, what God knows and what every human being should know; and that is, that Jesus Christ is the only one Person who has lived on this earth as a human being without and apart from sin. He needed not to be saved by grace. Whether He was not able to sin, or able not to sin, He never transgressed the perfect law of God in word, thought or deed. All others,including the most consecrated, spiritual saints, have had to confess: "God, I have done the things I should not have done. I have left undone the things that I should have done." "I have missed the mark." So if only those human beings, who have not missed the mark, are to be in heaven, Christ will be there alone. It would be interesting to ask the religious people, who have mixed their law and religious doing in with God's message and program of grace, just how many or how few of the ten commandments a Christian would have to break, and how many times or how few times, before he would lose His Christianity, righteousness or eternal life, his hope of heaven.
As Christians, we have not received the spirit of bondage unto fear, but the Spirit of adoption. Romans 8:15. "Wherefore those art no more a servant, but a son." Galatians 4:7. Israel, under the law, was a race of servants, "shut up unto the faith which should afterward be revealed." Galatians 3:22 to 24. The Christian, under grace, belongs to a race of sons. It is no longer, "Thou shalt" and "thou shalt not." But "forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you." "Having forgiven you all your trespasses." "Justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 2:13; Acts 13:39.
Jesus Christ, on earth, said: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Matthew 22:37 to 40. Christ said concerning the golden rule: "for this is the law and the prophets." Matthew 7:12.
Now we compare these statements with some statements which the risen Christ told Paul to write: "Love worketh no ill to his neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." Romans 13:10. "Now abideth faith, hope, love: these three; but the greatest of these is love." "Love thinketh no evil. Rejoiceth not in iniquity." I Corinthians 13:13 and 5 and 6.
Then Paul wrote, in Galatians 5:22 and 23, that love is the fruit of the Spirit; "and against such there is no law." Why? "The end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned." I Timothy 1:5. Love is the end of the law. The law demanded love. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. Romans 10:4. "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema." I Corinthians 16:22. "We love Him, because He first loved us." I John 4:19. "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." I John 4:10. When the believer receives God's love gift, Christ on the cross of Calvary (Romans 5:8 to 11), he receives the Holy Spirit, and then the love of God is shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Spirit Whom God has given. Romans 5:1 to 6. The believer fulfills the righteousness of the law, by walking in the Spirit. The righteousness of the law is the fruit of the Spirit, love. Love is the fulfilling of the law. Christ is the end of the law. He fulfilled the law.
Matthew 5:17. The believer is in Christ, and Christ is in the believer. The believer has within him the Fulfiller of the law; and may fulfill the righteousness of the law, or love, by walking in the Spirit. Against such there is no law.
Faith and love are linked together. With hope, they abide. The law was abolished. II Corinthians 3:7 to 18. God nailed it to the cross of Christ. Colossians 2:14. Christ was dead on Israel's Sabbath. If He is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth, He is the end of the Sabbath to every one that believeth. Time varies by hours in different parts of this world. It is impossible to have a universal Sabbath. Friday sundown in New York would not be Friday sundown in China, or even in San Francisco. The Sabbath was a sign between Jehovah and His earthly people. Members of Christ's Body are seated in the heavenlies and are not to be judged by Sabbath prohibitions and law ordinances. Colossians 2:15 to 19. Sunday is not the Christian Sabbath, Christ is the Christian's rest. Law, without a fixed penalty, is only advice. When God had His people under the law, He had Levites to throw stones. Now, whosoever is without sin is to cast the stone. No one but Christ could qualify. No one can cast stones at God's people. Romans 8:32 to 39. The devil does, for he is the accuser of the brethren. No one has the right to bring anything against the charge of God's elect or to condemn them.
Mixing law with grace is the leaven that God declared would leaven the whole lump. Galatians 5:9. In this same Epistle God says He does not want His people, under grace, to observe religious times and days. Galatians 4:10. What has this leaven done? Take a look at the present condition of the crops. More than ninety-five percent of professing Christians are in ritualism, modernism, fanaticism or in some metaphysical cult as the result of this leaven, directly or indirectly. Millions of saved church-members do not know whether they are old testament Israelites, marching to Zion, or members of the Body of Christ seated in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. They do not know whether they are saved by grace plus works, or by grace unto good works. Ephesians 2:8 to 10. The great majority of Christians frustrate the grace of God and prevent the "grace" gospel.
"AND THIS IS HIS COMMANDMENT, THAT WE SHOULD BELIEVE ON THE NAME OF HIS
SON JESUS CHRIST, AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER, AS HE GAVE US COMMANDMENT" I John 3:23.
Here we see that faith and love abide. What must I do to be saved? "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ." Acts 16:31. In this day of grace God wants His people to know that His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and His Body-members are delivered from the last vestige of Judaism. What must I do after I am saved by grace through faith? "Must" is not the right word for a son. But if I want to please Christ, I must walk in the Spirit and fulfill the righteousness of the law: "love." We are not saved by loving, but by believing. Love is the result of believing. Then love believeth all things. Love is not a factor. Love is the fruit or proof of salvation by grace without any of man's doing. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor. Christianity is "life," "love" and "heaven." "Life" by faith in Christ. Galatians 2:20. "Love" by walking in the Spirit. "Heaven," because of the guarantee of incorruptibility, together with life, in the gospel; not of works, but of grace. II Timothy 1:9 and 10.
This is what we mean by "No creed but Christ: no law but love."
In the ages to come God is going to show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:7.
--------------------
That is all.....
Posts: 8775 | From: USA, MICHIGAN | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged |
|
|
|
|
becauseHElives
Advanced Member
Member # 87
|
posted
2 Corinthians 3
7But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
Carol....yes the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was done away with ...but the ministration of the spirit (the Law of Yahweh written upon the heart is more glorious !
2 Corinthians 3
8How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
--------------------
Strive to enter in at the strait gate:for many, I say unto you will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. ( Luke 13:24 )
Posts: 4578 | From: Southeast Texas | Registered: Jun 2002
| IP: Logged |
|
|
Carol Swenson
Admin
Member # 6929
|
posted
Matthew Henry's commentary on this verse:
It must be understood of the ceremonial law, the hand-writing of ordinances, the ceremonial institutions or the law of commandments contained in ordinances (Eph. 2:15), which was a yoke to the Jews and a partition-wall to the Gentiles. The Lord Jesus took it out of the way, nailed it to his cross; that is, disannulled the obligation of it, that all might see and be satisfied that it was no more binding. When the substance came, the shadows fled away. It is abolished (2 Cor. 3:13).
Posts: 6787 | From: Colorado | Registered: Dec 2007
| IP: Logged |
|
|
Carol Swenson
Admin
Member # 6929
|
posted
becauseHElives,
WildB's OP addresses that very question:
quote:
All Sabbatarians are taught by their pastors, the false argument that the Plural "sabbaton" in Col 2:16 cannot refer to weekly Sabbath day. But as we can clearly see, there are at least 5 other places where the plural is used of the weekly Sabbath. The deception is even worse, given the fact that while most Seventh-day Adventist pastors know about these other passages, they do not tell their people in the pews!
Matthew 28:1, "Now after the Sabbath" [Greek- plural: sabbaton]
Luke 4:16, "He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath" [Greek- plural: sabbaton]
Acts 16:13, "And on the Sabbath day" [Greek- plural: sabbaton]
Exodus 20:8 (in Septuagint) "Remember the Sabbath day" [Greek- plural: sabbaton]
Leviticus 23:37-38 (in Septuagint) "besides those of the Sabbaths of the Lord" [Greek- plural: sabbaton]
C. Some Sabbatarians will put forth another false argument saying, "The lack of the definite article before the word "Sabbath" in the Greek in Col 2:16 proves it cannot refer to the weekly Sabbath. Of course this argument is no more valid than the one above regarding the plural "sabbaton". The truth is, we find several places where the weekly Sabbath lacks the definite article. An example of a definite article is the word THE in the following sentence: "Only Jews kept THE weekly Sabbath." The same sentence that lacks the definite article would be: "Only Jews kept weekly Sabbath." Or "Only Jews kept a weekly Sabbath."
Matthew 28:1, "Now after the Sabbath" [Sabbath lacks article in original Greek]
John 5:9, "Now it was the Sabbath on that day" [Sabbath lacks article in original Greek]
John 5:10, "It is the Sabbath" [Sabbath lacks article in original Greek]
John 5:16, "on the Sabbath" [Sabbath lacks article in original Greek]
D. A final false objection Sabbath keepers will sometimes raise against Col 2:14-16 referring to the weekly Sabbath, is the fact v14 calls that which was nailed to the cross "hostile to us". Sabbatarians continue to falsely argue: "The weekly Sabbath was not hostile to us!" However, 2 Cor 3:7 calls the entire ten commandment law, a "ministry of death". This effectively refutes their false argument!
Posts: 6787 | From: Colorado | Registered: Dec 2007
| IP: Logged |
|
|
becauseHElives
Advanced Member
Member # 87
|
posted
quote:
Sabbatarians are 100% refuted!
not quiet a 100%
The Adam Clarke Commentary
Verse 16. Let no man-judge you in meat, or in drink
The apostle speaks here in reference to some particulars of the hand-writing of ordinances, which had been taken away, viz., the distinction of meats and drinks, what was clean and what unclean, according to the law; and the necessity of observing certain holydays or festivals, such as the new moons and particular sabbaths, or those which should be observed with more than ordinary solemnity; all these had been taken out of the way and nailed to the cross, and were no longer of moral obligation. There is no intimation here that the Sabbath was done away, or that its moral use was superseded, by the introduction of Christianity. I have shown elsewhere that, Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, is a command of perpetual obligation, and can never be superseded but by the final termination of time. As it is a type of that rest which remains for the people of God, of an eternity of bliss, it must continue in full force till that eternity arrives; for no type ever ceases till the antitype be come. Besides, it is not clear that the apostle refers at all to the Sabbath in this place, whether Jewish or Christian; his σαββατων, of sabbaths or weeks, most probably refers to their feasts of weeks, of which much has been said in the notes on the Pentateuch.
http://www.studylight.org/com/acc/view.cgi?book=col&chapter=002 [QUOTE]
--------------------
Strive to enter in at the strait gate:for many, I say unto you will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. ( Luke 13:24 )
Posts: 4578 | From: Southeast Texas | Registered: Jun 2002
| IP: Logged |
|
|
Carol Swenson
Admin
Member # 6929
|
posted
barry, your article says they assume that Abraham kept the Sabbath. That is absolutely ONLY an assumption because it is not stated in scripture.
The 7th day Sabbath began in the time of Moses. Of course, this would mean that the 7th day Sabbath was not a preexisting eternal law as the SDA claim. Let me point out that even if we grant the SDA claim that the Sabbath law was in existence prior to Moses, this would not automatically make it binding on us today. Remember that both animal sacrifices (Genesis 4:4, 22:7-8, 13, 31:54; Job 1:5) and circumcision (Genesis 17:10-14) were in existence prior to Moses, but are not now binding on us (Hebrews 7:27; Galatians 6:15).
Let us now see what the Bible, God's word, has to say concerning when God's people received the Sabbath command. Listen to the scribe Ezra:
“On Mount Sinai you came down, you spoke with them from heaven; you gave them just ordinances, firm laws, good statutes, and commandments; your holy Sabbath you made known to them, commandments, statutes and law you prescribed for them, by the hand of Moses your servant” (Nehemiah 9:13-14).
Ezra clearly stated that the Israelites first received the Sabbath command from God through Moses. Moses is also very clear that the Sabbath command first came through him and that not even the great patriarchs had that command. “The Lord our God, made a covenant with us at Mount Horeb (Sinai); not with our fathers did He make this covenant, but with us, all of us, who are alive here this day” (Deuteronomy 5:2-3).
If an SDA should complain that Moses says “covenant” not “Sabbath”, refer him to the clear statement of Ezra above. Also remind him that the 7th day Sabbath was the sign of the covenant made at Sinai.
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘You must also tell the Israelites: Take care to keep my Sabbath, for this is to be a sign between you and me, throughout the generations, to show that it is I, the Lord, who makes you holy… So shall the Israelites observe the Sabbath, keeping it throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. Between me and the Israelites it is to be an everlasting sign…” (Exodus 31:12-18).
The Bible is clear that God made a covenant with the Israelites. The sign of that covenant was the 7th day Sabbath. He gave them the Sabbath command on Mount Sinai, not even the great patriarchs had the Sabbath. We can say this with confidence because there is no mention of anyone keeping the Sabbath until God gave it through Moses in Exodus 16:23. Then the people did not understand its regulations because it was something new. We can say this because after receiving the command through Moses, we read, “Still on the 7th day some of the people went out to gather it, although they did not find any” (vs.27). After a further explanation by Moses, we read, “After that the people rested on the 7th day,”(vs.30). Further, the ignorance of Moses and Aaron concerning what should be done to a Sabbath-breaker suggests that this law was not in force since Adam and Eve, but was a new law. “But they kept him in custody, for there was no clear decision as to what should be done with him” (Numbers 15:34). God says, “I gave them (the Israelites) my Sabbaths…” (Ezekiel 20:12). Please note the word “gave” not “restored” denoting a new institution and one belonging to the Israelites exclusively. Only the Israelites/Jews were ever charged with breaking the Sabbath. For example, Nehemiah told the Jews, “What is this evil thing you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day?” (Nehemiah 13:17). But to the Gentiles who were equally guilty of breaking the Sabbath there is no like condemnation.
An SDA will often appeal to Genesis 2:2 in the hope of proving that the Sabbath was given at the very beginning of Creation. “Since on the 7th day God was finished with the work he had been doing, he rested on the 7th day from all the work he had undertaken.” Please note that God “rested”, not man. God had done the work, not man. Also there is nothing in the text about God resting every 7th day. The statement the God “rested” is simply a way of saying that God's immediate creative acts were finished. God's “resting” is an anthropomorphic statement, for God does not get tired (Psalm 121:4; Isaiah 40:28). Importantly, there is no command for man to keep the Sabbath. Later, Moses would mention God's rest at Creation as one reason for keeping the 7th day holy (Exodus 20:11). Remember that there is no command at all for anyone to keep the Sabbath before Moses. One would think that Moses would have mentioned the great revered men of old –Adam, Seth, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob-as models of Sabbath-keepers for the Israelites. The reason that Moses doesn't mention them is obvious-they didn't keep the Sabbath because it was not given to them (Deuteronomy 5:2-3). It is a hard exegetical fact for the SDA to accept, but there is not a single command or explanation for Sabbath-keeping in the Creation account nor, for that matter, in the entire book of Genesis.
Even if the Sabbath were a Creation Ordinance it still does not follow that all people in all times must observe it. Both the SDA and other Christians accept marriage to be a Creation Ordinance. Let's look at the example of this agreed upon Creation Ordinance.
“The Lord God said: ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him'…The Lord God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man. When he brought her to the man, the man said: ‘This one, at last, is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called woman, for out of her man this one has been taken.' That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body” (Genesis 2:18, 22-24).
The above is very clear evidence that marriage is a Creation Ordinance. We can add to this the testimony of our Lord.
“Some Pharisees came up to him and said, to test him, ‘May a man divorce his wife for any reason whatever?' He replied, ‘Have you not read that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female and declared, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and cling to his wife, and the two shall become as one'? Thus they are no longer two, but one body. Therefore, let no man separate what God has joined'” (Matthew 19:3-6).
This should confirm for us that marriage is indeed a Creation Ordinance. The SDA say that the Sabbath is a Creation Ordinance, therefore, the Sabbath must be observed by all Christians. In accordance with SDA logic since marriage is also a Creation Ordinance it too must be observed by all Christians. Yet the New Testament gives ample evidence that this is not so. “Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to be married” (I Corinthians 7:1). The unmarried St. Paul also stated, “Given my preference, I should like you to be as I am” (I Corinthians 7:7). To the unmarried and widowed he gave this advice, “It would be well if they remain as they are, even as I do myself” (I Corinthians 7:8). Although St. Paul was an expert on the Scriptures he did not see the Creation ordinance of marriage as something essential for all Christians to observe. In this he blatantly contradicted the SDA logic. “She will be happier, though, in my opinion, if she stays unmarried. I am persuaded that in this I have the Spirit of God” (I Corinthians 7:40). St. Paul made it clear that he viewed being unmarried as being the superior state for Christians (see I Corinthians 7:32-35, 38). In this he was just following the clear and beautiful teaching of our Lord on the superiority of the unmarried life.
“Not everyone can accept this teaching, only those to whom it is given to do so. Some men are incapable of sexual activity from birth; some have been deliberately made so; and some there are who have freely renounced sex for the sake of God's reign. Let him accept this teaching who can” (Matthew 19:11-12).
So an honest student of the Bible should be able to see that just because something is labeled a “Creation Ordinance” does not mean that Christians must automatically observe it. A thorough study of the Bible reveals clearly that marriage is not an essential part of Christianity and neither is Sabbath observance.
Even more evidence against the Sabbath being a Creation Ordinance comes from St. Paul, “My point is this: a covenant formally ratified by God is not set aside as invalid by any law that came into being 430 years later, nor its promises nullified” (Galatians 3:17). St. Paul says that the Abrahamic Covenant was not invalidated by the Mosaic Covenant that came later. Also the promise of a worldwide blessing (Genesis 12:3) is not nullified by the Mosaic Covenant that was for Israel alone (Psalm 147:19-20). The Mosaic Law “was given in view of transgression” (Galatians 3:19). Therefore, its job was to make sin known (Romans 3:19-20; Galatians 2:19). The entire 613-law covenant “was valid only until that descendant or offspring came to whom the promise had been given” (Galatians 3:19). When Jesus came the Old Covenant was rendered invalid-all its 613 laws.
“In other words, the law was our monitor until Christ came to bring about our justification through faith. But now that faith is here, we are no longer in the monitor's charge” (Galatians 3:24-25).
As St. Paul says elsewhere,
“Now we have been released from the law-for we have died to what bound us- and we serve in the new spirit, not the antiquated letter” (Romans 7:6).
“For while the law was given by Moses, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). This simple fact has been missed by the SDA. All the law, including the Sabbath, came through Moses. But the greater, grace and truth (Hebrews 1:1-2), came through Jesus. When the greater arrives the lesser must leave. As St. John the Baptist illustrated for us, “He must increase, while I must decrease” (John 3:30; cf. Hebrews 8:13; 10:9).
The Believer now rests in the spirit not the flesh. This perfectly parallels the change in circumcision from the flesh to the spiritual (Romans 2:29; Colossians 2:11-12). We rest in Jesus, not in a day. St. Paul goes to great lengths to prove that no one has ever, nor will ever, find God's true rest in a day, that rest only comes by having faith in the gospel (Hebrews 3:7-4:11).
“Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. Your souls will find rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
In conclusion, all the Biblical passages that give us a summary of redemptive history, always note the beginning of the Sabbath to have been with Moses and never note it with Adam and Eve (eg. Nehemiah 9; Ezekiel 20). While the SDA argue from silence that the Sabbath was in effect since Creation they, unfairly, say that Christians cannot do the same for Sunday observance. In fact, unlike the Sabbath being a Creation Ordinance, there are at least some possible Biblical support for Sunday (Acts 20:7; I Corinthians 16:2; Revelation 1:10). Also there is the post-Resurrection example of Jesus appearing exclusively on Sundays (Matthew 28:9-10, 16-20; Mark 16:9, 12, 14; Luke 24:13-15, 33-34, 36; John 20:19, 26). Further the Holy Spirit gave birth to the Church on Sunday (Acts 2:1). The Biblical evidence for Sunday observance is massive when compared to the Biblical evidence for the Sabbath being a Creation Ordinance.
The Bible is clear that the Sabbath began 430 years after the promise to Abraham and the Sabbath ended with the coming of the one to whom the promise had been given, Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:17-19; Hebrews 8:13; 10:9). There is no biblical reason to believe that the Sabbath command predated Moses. There simply is no mention of the Sabbath until Exodus 16:23.
One final thought: the Jews today, as always, believe that the Sabbath command originated with Moses and is not binding on Gentiles. This is also the teaching of the Bible as we have seen.
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Seventh-Day-Adventists-2318/sabbath-start.htm
Posts: 6787 | From: Colorado | Registered: Dec 2007
| IP: Logged |
|
|
barrykind
Advanced Member
Member # 35
|
posted
wildb read the info..study it....its really well expounded and intensive... ![[type]](graemlins/type.gif)
work calls..sry
got to go..
YHWH bless and keep yall
barry
--------------------
The HEART of the issue is truly the issue of the HEART!
John 3:3;Mark 8:34-38;James 1:27
Posts: 3529 | From: Orange, Texas | Registered: Jun 2002
| IP: Logged |
|
|
WildB
Moderator
Member # 2917
|
posted
The law of Moses is a system of conditional blessing.
Believers today are not under the law but under grace (Romans 6:14). As such we have already been blessed by God with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3) and are under a system of unconditional blessing with grace on the throne (Romans 5:21).
--------------------
That is all.....
Posts: 8775 | From: USA, MICHIGAN | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged |
|
|
barrykind
Advanced Member
Member # 35
|
posted
The Seventh Day Sabbath – What Every Christian Should Know
What has troubled many Sunday-keeping Christians is the fact that Christ kept the seventh-day Sabbath. Not only did Christ keep the seventh-day Sabbath, He kept it habitually. “And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day. . . ” (Luke 4:16). Christ even went so far as to say He was the Lord of the Sabbath. “And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28). And why should He not make this claim? He was the one who created the Sabbath (John 1: 1-3). Christ’s disciples were also Sabbath keepers. See, for example, Luke 23:54-56 and Mark 16:1. These texts show that even during the crucial time of Christ’s crucifixion and burial, the disciples were observing the Sabbath.
The book of Acts gives us several examples of Sabbath keeping. Acts 13:14, 42, and 44, clearly show that the Apostle Paul kept the Sabbath and that the Gentile proselytes did the same. The Sabbath observance recorded in this chapter took place around 15 years after Christ’s ascension into the heavens. Paul did not believe for one moment that the death of Christ “did away” with the Sabbath. We read in Acts 13, “But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down. . . . And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath. . . . And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.” There is another example in Acts 16:13. “And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.” And yet another example. “And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures” (Acts 17:2). We see the same thing in Acts 18:4. “And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.” What these texts prove, is that many years after the sacrifice of Christ, both Jews and Christians attended the synagogue where they worshiped on the Sabbath. None of these worshipers assumed that the Sabbath no longer existed.
Sabbath Given at Creation
Christ said He was the Lord of the Sabbath. It is the day He gave mankind at Creation. Sabbath observance does not rest on any historical church tradition. It rests on biblical authority and was created at the beginning. “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made” (Gen. 2:1-3). “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it” (Ex. 20:11). Christ, the Creator (Col. 1:16), gave the Sabbath for the benefit of man (Mark 2:27).
The Bible describes the Sabbath as a memorial of Creation. This is found in Genesis 2:2-3, Exodus 20:11, Exodus 31:15-17, and Hebrews 4:4. Therefore, there is no credibility to the Jewish argument that the Sabbath was given by Moses for the exclusive use of Israel alone. While it belonged in the domain of Israel for many years, the New Covenant expanded the Law of God to include Gentiles. The Creation recorded in Genesis, chapter two, implies the Sabbath rest was intended for all mankind. This is what Jesus meant when He said, “the Sabbath was made for man.” The Jewish argument that the Sabbath was given by Moses was a result of the struggle between the rabbis and the radical Hellenists who were trying to coerce the abandonment of Judaism. The preservation of the Jewish identity was accomplished by the adoption of this exclusive and nationalistic view. The result was that the Sabbath was reduced from a Creation ordinance to a Mosaic ordinance. Church Fathers and later Reformists, as well as modern theologians, have utilized this same argument in order to challenge Christians who defend the obligation to keep the Sabbath in the Christian dispensation.
The fact that the Sabbath is to be “a day of delight” (Isa. 58:14) is taken from the Creation Sabbath which was a day of joy, harmony, and peace. This example was for all future times. The weekly Sabbath in the Old Testament period embraced the national aspiration for a resting place in the land of Canaan. But this is only a type of the future age of rest and peace during the Millennium. The idea that the Sabbath represented rest and prosperity led the school of Shammai to forbid the giving of contributions to the poor on the Sabbath. They viewed such acts as negating the prospects of future material prosperity typified by the Sabbath. Later, Jesus countered this notion by healing the sick on the Sabbath, which embodied the Messianic expectations which the Sabbath certainly depicted. The coming of Christ did not negate the Sabbath. Rather, it emphasized the redemptive nature of the Sabbath. Jesus was a habitual Sabbath keeper (Luke 4:16). Matthew 24:20 proves the permanence of the Sabbath.
Benefits of the Sabbath
The world today is filled with tension. Millions of people are restless and fearful. Stress-management programs of one type or another, meditation groups, and health clubs attempt to help people cope with the need for inner rest and peace. Pills, alcohol, and drugs are used as forms of escapism. Many others indulge in sports, vacations, TV, etc., to find relief from the stress and worry of modern life. But it is the Sabbath that truly provides the experience of inner rest, the release from the pressures of society, and the job. The Sabbath allows us to experience the reality of God’s presence and His peace and rest. It is not an abstract theological notion; Sabbath keeping is a tangible demonstration of the practice of one’s faith. One who ignores the Sabbath, more than likely, ignores God every day. One who is indifferent toward the Sabbath-who regards it as a workday or holiday-is harming his own best interests.
The fourth commandment reads:
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it (Ex. 20:8-11).
We have the instruction both to work and to rest in this fourth commandment. This is an imitation of the pattern God established during the Creation week. In Genesis 2:2-3 the word “rested” sums up how God felt about His creation. He said it was complete and perfect. When He rested from His perfect work, He was acknowledging His perfection.
Aside from receiving the physical benefits of rest, one who keeps the Sabbath acknowledges God’s total claim over his life. The bestowal of one’s time in obedience to God’s commandment regarding the Sabbath is an act of worship which acknowledges God as the possessor of the sum of human life-time itself! Human life is time. When time is used up, life itself ends. Sabbath keeping acknowledges God as the Creator of all things. The time He has set aside for worship designates the weekly Sabbath as a time period for holy use. Since He is our Creator we owe God the respect His creation calls for. The weekly Sabbath is the memorial of His creation, a reminder week by week of His sovereign power and creativity. It is the “day of delight,” the Bible reminds us.
Many are unaware of God’s instruction to keep the Sabbath. Those who know, but refuse to do so, indicate their distrust for God and His providence. If their disobedience hinges on the quest for pleasure, they are failing to recognize the true pleasures of life. If they worry about financial security and success on the job, they limit God’s power to help and bless them. The Sabbath command restricts the amount of time man can apportion for his weekly labor. It counteracts the temptation to deify work. We are given six working days which are fulfilled by rest on the seventh day. The idol of work is demolished when man rejects the lifestyle of financial success and status that often leads him to break the Sabbath. Activities on the Sabbath such as the quest for material pleasures, pursuing sports, attending amusement parks, the beach, the dance hall, the restaurant, or the ski resort cannot fulfill the longing man has deep in his soul. These are all forms of evasion-a temporary illusion which hides men from reality. In the end man is left with spiritual emptiness. This spiritual emptiness is what is behind the exhaustion and tension suffered by so many. The tyranny of materialism can be broken by means of keeping the Sabbath. There is great spiritual value in the Sabbath and the fellowship that comes about by meeting with those who are like-minded. True values are revealed to those who obey God and keep the Sabbath. When not balanced by rest, work becomes an oppressive and relentless taskmaster. It degrades the personality and destroys the balance between the body and the mind. The idol of work turns men into mere brutes.
The Sabbath exemplifies the ideal of God’s love and care-the method He has given to bestow human freedom at the physical level. The Sabbath grants man the freedom from the tyranny of work, from heartless exploitation, from the over- attachment to people and things, and from man’s greed. It refreshes and energizes man with renewed zeal for the coming week. Even when circumstances seem to be unfavorable, the man who observes God’s Sabbath has renounced the greed and selfishness brought on by the quest for material things. The Sabbath protects both man and animals from the abuses of greedy employers. It teaches the selfish-at least for one day a week-to resist the temptation for the continual accumulation of wealth. It teaches man to gratefully acknowledge the blessings of God. When work is completed at the end of the week, one can look forward to a day of rest. God’s plan for the week is completed in our lives when we experience the meaning and sense of direction that the Sabbath brings. If not, then our lives become a continuous, meaningless, linear existence.
When Israel was in slavery, the people could not keep the Sabbath. When God delivered them, they were told to remember the Sabbath. Sabbath keeping was to be a concrete experience even involving a future consideration for the more unfortunate (Deut. 5:15). Among other things, the Sabbath was given because it demonstrated a genuine concern for the rights and needs of others. But it anticipated, not only a personal rest and liberation from social injustice, but the future rest and peace to be realized at the return of the Messiah.
One who accepts the Sabbath, accepts what God has created. One who truly accepts God as the Creator, accepts the day God created for the Sabbath. One who accepts the Sabbath does not attempt to change the day to any other day than the day God commanded. The Sabbath, unlike the Temple of ancient Israel, is incorruptible. Men may corrupt what they do on the Sabbath, but they cannot alter the incorrupt nature of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is immaterial because it occupies time rather than space and matter. Ideas and concepts attached to material objects and things tend to deteriorate along with the objects they represent. Monuments grow old and fade. But not the Sabbath. It is incorruptible, universal, accessible to all men.
Many polls indicate Sunday keeping is losing ground and on the wane. Could it be that Sunday keeping has neither biblical nor apostolic authorization? Can one expect to take Sunday keeping seriously when it is regarded as a convenient time to appear in church, and then to be free the rest of the day for any other activity? Sunday keeping is essentially an hour of worship, not 24 hours devoted to God as the Bible instructs. Indifference toward Sunday worship is of vital concern to many theologians who view this indifference as a threat to the survival of Christianity itself. Sabbath keeping rests on explicit Bible commands. Sunday keeping rests on the edict of a human king. The vast majority of Christians today regard Sunday as a holiday rather than a holy day. Keeping a day holy to God rests on a strong theological conviction. Those truly convicted of God’s commands will not hesitate to keep the Sabbath holy from “even to even” as the Bible instructs.
The Sabbath “Regiven” to Israel
Exodus 16 reveals that Sabbath breaking was a violation of the fourth commandment. The command to rest on the seventh day of the week was a part of the Law of God. In the Exodus account, God miraculously revealed which day was the Sabbath (Ex. 16:4-6, 27-28). But this was not when the Sabbath was ordained. It was ordained at Creation. Israel’s long years in slavery had not only caused the people of Israel to lose sight of the significance of the Sabbath, but of the correct day as well. Moses said, “Six days ye shall gather it [the manna]; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none” (Ex. 16:26). “So the people rested on the seventh day” (v. 30).
The fourth commandment specifically states: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8). Later, Nehemiah wrote, “Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments: And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant” (Neh. 9:13-14). While Moses gave Israel the Sabbath, the fact is that it was “regiven” at that time. It can be demonstrated that all ten of the Ten Commandments were in force long before the time of Moses. Aside from that, the command to observe the Sabbath is found in several places in the Pentateuch. See for example, Exodus 23:12; 34:21; 35:2-3, Leviticus 19:3, 30; 23:1-3, and Deuteronomy 5:12-15.
Abraham was faithful to God. He was called out of his own country in order to serve God. “And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. . . . And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee” (Gen. 17:1, 7). Why did God choose Abraham? Notice Genesis 18:19. “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him” (Gen. 18:19). God promised to multiply the seed of Abraham “Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws” (Gen. 26:5). We can rightfully assume Abraham kept the Sabbath. Why? Because it was revealed at Creation and is a part of the Law of God. We should not assume that because the Sabbath is not mentioned between Genesis 2 and Exodus 16, that it was not kept. For example, based on 2 Kings 4:23, it is presupposed that the Sabbath was kept during the Old Testament period This text indicates the custom of visiting a prophet on the Sabbath, even though little about the Sabbath is mentioned during the Old Testament period.
Weekly Cycle Remains the Same
The notion that we cannot be sure which day is the seventh day of the week is disproved by both the Bible and history. Jesus kept the Sabbath. Since He was sinless (Heb. 4:15), He kept the correct Sabbath. So, the seventh day of the week was known in His day. Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:28). Historically, it has been easy to trace the Sabbath since that time. The seventh day sanctified at Creation, and kept by Christ, is the same seventh day of the week today. Time has not been lost and the weekly cycle remains the same. Chapters one and two of Genesis delineate the weekly cycle. The heavenly bodies were given to designate the years, months, and days (Gen. 1:14-18). Jeremiah records, “Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever” (Jer. 31:35-36). “Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season. . . . Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. . .” (Jer. 33:20, 25-26). The Psalmist adds, “Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. . . . He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass” (Ps. 148:3, 6). These texts candidly tell us the weekly cycle cannot be broken.
But what about the argument that the principle of Sabbath keeping means it is permissible to observe one day in seven rather than the seventh day of the week? This notion is a fiction. It is based on the idea that the seventh-day Sabbath is a ceremonial law given to Moses in order to teach Israel about the spiritual rest that is to be manifested in Christ. The Sabbath of Creation does not give the slightest hint of one day in seven. It specifically states the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week (Gen. 2:3). Both the Creation account and the Bible command tell us the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, not the first day nor sixth day, nor any other day of the week. Had any other day of the week been designated, God would have made this plain to the priests and Levites who labored on the Sabbath. Also, the notion that “every day of the week is a Sabbath to the Lord” is fatuous. This notion is merely an attempt to repudiate worshiping God on any day of the week. This attempt to repudiate the Sabbath is intended to eventually turn men from both belief in and the worship of God.
A Perpetual Covenant and an Everlasting Sign
The perpetuity of the Sabbath as an identifying sign is emphasized in Exodus 31.
God commands:
. . . Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. . . . Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed (Ex. 31:13, 15-17).
This same thing is emphasized in Ezekiel 20. “Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them. . . . I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God” (Ezek. 20:12, 19-20). The main reason the modern Jews are recognized as the descendants of Israel today is because of their faithfulness to the Sabbath law.
The word “forever” needs as explanation. As used in the Bible it means as long as the factors involved continue to exist. This is illustrated by an example given in Exodus 21:1-6. After seven years a Hebrew bondman could exercise the option to be free, but if he chose to remain with his master we read, “Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever” (v. 6). What are the factors here? As long as both the servant and the master were alive the factors continued to exist, but if either died the factors were no longer in force. With respect to the perpetuity of the Sabbath, the factors are: 1) Day and night continue to exist, so that the weekly cycle continues to exist; and 2) men exist on this planet who can observe the Sabbath. The factors continue to exist. The Sabbath is, therefore, a perpetual sign, an everlasting covenant-forever. These factors will continue on into the Millennium (Isa. 66:23).
Christ-a Sabbath Breaker?
Some say the Sabbath is no longer in effect because Christ broke the Sabbath. This is cited for “proof” that it is no longer necessary to keep the Sabbath. Matthew 12:1-8 is the text used. Christ’s disciples were criticized for plucking a few heads of grain to eat on the Sabbath. Jesus quickly dismissed this criticism by citing David’s example of what his men had done when they were hungry. He then pointed out how the priests worked on the Sabbath and were not censured for doing so. Next, he told the Pharisees that had they known who He was, they would not have been so quick to condemn. For, as the Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:27), He fully understood that the Sabbath was given for the benefit of man. Therefore, it was not wrong for His disciples to eat a few heads of grain on the Sabbath.
Matthew 12:10-13 is another text used to support the argument that the Sabbath is done away. In this incident Christ healed a man who had a withered hand. This was done on the Sabbath. Jesus anticipated the criticism of the religious leaders. He told them that if it were permissible by the law to rescue an animal on the Sabbath, it was certainly permissible to deliver a man from physical bondage. Another example of healing is found in Luke 13:10-17. Here the Pharisees were shamed by Jesus’ reply and quickly silenced.
A more detailed account of a Sabbath healing is found in John 5:1-9. Jesus miraculously healed a man who had been bedridden for 38 years. The religious leaders hurled their customary abuse. Jesus’ reply was, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work” (v. 17). What did He mean by this? Is it all right to work on the Sabbath? “Hitherto” means “unto now,” or “even unto now.” The meaning is that both the Father and the Son were working “even unto now.” Yet, the Bible tells us the Father rested from all His physical work (Gen. 2:2-3, Heb. 4:4). The work to which Jesus referred could not, therefore, be referring to any kind of physical work on the Sabbath. What did Jesus mean? In John 6:29 Jesus said the work of God is to believe on Him whom the Father had sent. If the people refused to believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, then they would surely reject the works He had performed-miracles, such as the healings on the Sabbath. These works were the work of God-the work to which Jesus referred. See John 10:37-38 and John 14:11. Jesus said His meat was to do the will of the Father and to finish His work (John 4:34). He emphasized, “If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father” (John 15:24).
Jesus’ works were of a spiritual nature. Both He and the Father had been working “even unto now” to bring to fruition the plan of salvation. The saving mission of Christ is implied in the statement, “I am working even unto now.” The physical work of God ended in the Creation as recorded in Genesis, chapter two. The spiritual work of God continues “until now”-the redemptive work of Christ. What Christ did, or did not do, on the Sabbath is a part of the redemptive nature of the commission given Him. He ministered to both the physical and spiritual needs of the people-the redemption of the whole man. Healing on the Sabbath was a part of that redemption. There were physical needs as well as spiritual needs. Notice the redemptive aspect of Jesus’ healing. He told the man in John 5:14, “Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.” After the blind man was healed, we find in John 9:35-38 this statement: “. . . Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him” (John 9:35-38).
In every case where Jesus or His disciples were criticized for the manner in which they kept the Sabbath, Jesus showed how wrong and vindictive the accusers were. He appealed to the Scriptures, proving that His activities were in harmony with the plan and purpose of the Sabbath. If, for example, to avoid breaking the law, it was permissible to circumcise on the Sabbath, it was certainly permissible to make a man whole by healing him on the Sabbath.
What Was the Penalty for Sabbath Breaking?
The children of Israel were obedient to God but only for a short time. This obstinance was apparent even before the Old Covenant was ratified. Notice this example. “Six days ye shall gather it [manna]; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none. And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none” (Ex. 16:26-27). Later, this rebellious spirit was dealt with severely. “And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him. And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the LORD commanded Moses” (Num. 15:32-36).
Much later during the time of Jeremiah we read, “Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction” (Jer. 17:21-23). Because of this refusal God warned, “But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched” (Jer. 17:27).
While in the wilderness, even before the Israelites reached the Promised Land, they polluted the Sabbath. God said through the prophet Ezekiel:
But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them. . . . Yet also I lifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands; Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols. . . . Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols. Wherefore I gave them [up to] also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live” (Ezek. 20:13, 15-16, 24-25).
That first generation of Israelites who refused to obey God died in the wilderness. They were not permitted to enter the Promised Land, while they doted on their own man-made laws that were not good.
In Ezekiel, chapter 23, Israel and Judah are likened to two women-Aholah and Aholibah. What did God say to them? Read it in verses 46-48.
The LORD said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah [Israel] and Aholibah[Judah]? yea, declare unto them their abominations; That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them. Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths. What punishment did God prophesy? For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will bring up a company upon them, and will give them to be removed and spoiled. And the company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire. Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness” (Ezek. 23:46-48).
A national punishment for Sabbath breaking is war and captivity.
We find the fulfillment of this punishment recorded in 2 Kings 17. Because of their continued obstinacies and Sabbath breaking, we read, “Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only. . . . Until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day” (2 Kings 17:18, 23). What about the people of Judah? Did they fare any better? “And the city [Jerusalem] was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. . . . And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon. . . . And the king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away out of their land” (2 Kings 25:2, 7, 21). Some 70 years later a remnant of the Jews returned to Palestine and set up their own nation again. But not Israel. The ten tribes never returned and were lost from sight. Today they are referred to as “the lost ten tribes of Israel.”
God grants blessings for obedience but curses for disobedience. In Leviticus 26 He says, “Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD” (Lev. 26:2). Then follows a series of blessings which fall upon the obedient. But notice also the curses for disobedience. “And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies’ land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths. As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it” (Lev. 26:33-35).
Did Paul Preach Christian Freedom?
We are assured there is no need to observe the seventh-day Sabbath because the Apostle Paul detached Christianity from its Jewish cocoon. We are told that only in the Gentile world could Christianity find its full expression. It is now liberated from the shackles of the law. Is this true?
In his epistles Paul uses the word “law” in a number of differing ways. Law sometimes refers to the Mosaic law (Gal. 4:21); sometimes to the entire Old Testament (1 Cor. 14:21); it refers to the will of God written in the minds of the Gentiles (Rom. 2:14-15); to the evil inclinations of man (Rom. 7:21); and sometimes to the influence and guidance of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:2). In the context of justification (i.e., right standing with God) Paul says the law is of no avail (Rom. 3:20). But, in the context of sanctification (right living before God) Paul tells us of the validity and value of the law (Rom. 7:12; 13:8-10, 1 Cor. 7:19). Man, born a sinner, transgresses the Law of God almost from birth (Ps. 51:5). When man comes to the realization that he must live right before God, his righteousness cannot clear him from past guilt, that is, for the sins he has already committed. Only his acceptance of the shed blood of Christ can justify or remove his guilty past. But, after being justified, can he continue to break the Law of God? Absolutely not, says the Apostle Paul! (Gal. 2:17-18). Right living requires obedience to the law. Paul upholds the law in the context of sanctification.
Did Paul observe the seventh-day Sabbath? Yes, indeed! See Acts 13:14, 42, 44; 16:13; 17:2; 18:4. Paul did not preach a message of “Christian freedom”? This idea is an interpretation read into Paul’s writings. The Apostle Peter referred to Paul’s epistles when he wrote, “. . . even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction” (2 Pet. 3:15-16).
The Sabbath and Acts 15
Some would have us believe that the decision made at the Jerusalem conference, as recorded in Acts 15, did away with the Sabbath. Is this the truth? The account shows that Jewish teachers came from Jerusalem to Antioch, located in Syria, and taught the brethren that in order to be saved they must be circumcised. This caused such an uproar that it was decided to take the matter to Jerusalem to be settled. A conference took place which included the apostles and elders, held at Jerusalem where the Church was made up of believing Jews who were zealous for the law (Acts 21:20). Some of the elders present at the conference had been Pharisees who had not yet recognized the error of the Pharisaic exclusiveness. They were the ones who insisted the Gentiles should be circumcised (Acts 15: 5). Peter quashed this notion by showing how God had used him to first take the gospel to the Gentiles and that circumcision was not required. Both Barnabas and Paul attested to God’s work among the Gentiles, also showing that circumcision did not enter into the picture.
The decision made was that the Gentiles should not be required to be circumcised-that it was not a requirement for salvation. However, it was decided there would be four things Gentiles would be required to do in addition to keeping the spiritual Law of God. They must refrain from pollutions of idols, from fornication, from animals that had been strangled, and from the eating of blood (Acts 15:20). This was because these prohibitions had been taught in all the Jewish synagogues around the world, having been an integral part of the Mosaic teaching from the beginning. These four practices were very much a part of the Gentile way of life and to permit this lifestyle by those Gentiles who attended Church would have been offensive to the Jewish Christians and sinful in the eyes of God. The Sabbath was not even a matter of consideration in this Acts 15 conference. To insist the Sabbath was abolished by the council in Acts 15 reveals the desperation of some who hate the Sabbath and would like to see it banished from the Christian way of life. There was no radical distinction made between the Old and New Covenants in this Jerusalem conference. The idea that the Sabbath was done away by this conference goes back to second and third-century theologians who viewed the Sabbath as a “temporary” ordinance derived from Moses, but which was to be abolished by the coming of Christ. The idea, carried down to our day, purports that the Sabbath was a “social institution” initiated after the Israelites entered the Promised Land, but later annulled by Christ. Sunday is regarded as the Christian innovation which celebrates Christ’s resurrection. Christ transcended the law. Therefore, His followers had a right to select Sunday as a day of worship. We have already seen that the Sabbath did not begin with Moses. It was given by God at the Creation. The entire argument falls flat in the face of that fact.
A concept that developed during the Middles Ages was that, while there is a basic unity between the Old and New Testaments, the decree by Constantine to require Sunday as a day of worship is theologically binding. Thomas Aquinas refined this idea by differentiating between the moral and ceremonial aspects of the fourth commandment. He said the moral aspect was made up of the principle of setting time aside (one day in seven) for rest and worship-this in accordance with natural law. The ceremonial consideration was comprised of a specific day (the seventh day) set aside for the purpose of commemorating the Creation, as well as the present and future rest in God. This reasoning was referred to as the “transference view” and accepted by most of the churches, including those who broke away from the Catholic Church during the Reformation. This “transference view” depends on an artificial distinction between the moral and ceremonial aspects of the fourth commandment. Luther added the view that there was a radical separation between natural law and the law of Moses, and between the Law and the Gospel. Many churches of the Reformation followed along and now believe Christians are free to observe any day. Calvin accepted the view of Thomas Aquinas and regarded the ceremonial aspect of the fourth commandment as abolished. The fact is: There is no biblical authority for the artificial and arbitrary distinction between the moral and ceremonial aspects of the fourth commandment, supposedly “done away” by Christ. Christ kept the seventh-day Sabbath and so did the Apostle Paul. Some today probably feel it is unfortunate that Christ and Paul did not understand the distinction between the moral and ceremonial aspects of the law. But there is only one consistent view that is compatible with both the Old and New Testaments. The Sabbath was not transferred to Sunday. It was established permanently and reveals the continuity between the Law of Moses and Christianity. The Jerusalem conference had nothing to do with the so-called abolition of the Sabbath for this very reason.
The Long Day of Joshua
The Bible clearly tells us the weekly cycle cannot be broken. Yet, some insist that Joshua’s long day disrupted the weekly cycle and that we cannot know for sure which day is the seventh day of the week. Joshua’s long day is recorded in Joshua 10:12-14. Israel was winning at war with the Amorites and needed more time to make the victory complete.
Joshua said to the Lord in the sight of Israel:
. . . Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for Israel (Josh. 10:12-14).
The text states that the sun did not hasten to go down “about a whole day.” So, the daylight portion of the day was lengthened about 12 hours. In the Bible a day is reckoned from “even to even,” that is, from sundown to sundown. This lengthening did not result in an additional day; sundown to sundown simply included a period of time longer than usual. The weekly cycle was not disrupted because no new calendric day was added. The Bible specifically states, “there was no day like that before or after it.” Regardless of the length of the day, it was one day only.
The Sabbath that Joshua and the children of Israel observed was the same Sabbath Jesus Christ observed. The Sabbath Jesus observed is the same seventh day of the week that Sabbath-keeping Christians observe today. It is the true Sabbath given at Creation, the day we call Saturday, the seventh day of the week.
God’s Law Does Not Change
Jesus Christ was the God of the Old Testament (1 Cor. 10:1-4). He does not change (Mal 3:6). He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8). In Matthew 4:4 He said, “. . . Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” The command to keep the seventh-day Sabbath proceeded out of the mouth of God (Ex. 20:1, 8-11). Jesus said His words are the words of life (John 6:63). His words, therefore, are the pathway to salvation. What was Moses inspired to write about God’s words?
Read it in Deuteronomy 4:1-2.
Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
Christ was the God of ancient Israel who spoke to Israel face to face. “The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. . . . The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire” (Deut. 5:2, 4). But God knew the weaknesses of men. He said to Moses, “. . . I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken. O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!” (Deut. 5:28-29).
God repeated this instruction to Moses:
Go say to them, Get you into your tents again. But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it. Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left (Deut.5:30-32).
There is no other command in the entire Bible, Old or New Testament, that instructs any other day of worship except the seventh-day Sabbath. The New Testament is an expansion of the Old. The Ten Commandments now live in the hearts and minds of spiritual Israel-the New Testament Church. Because the Law of God does not change, this includes the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath.
Texts That Are Questionable
Paul’s writings have been misinterpreted by many. We have already seen from the book of Acts that Paul kept the Sabbath. Would he practice one thing and preach another? Of course not! Let us now examine a number of texts written by the Apostle Paul to see what he really said.
Romans 3:20
This text is often quoted to “prove” Paul invalidated the law, and thus the Sabbath. The text is as follows: “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” What is justification? Justification takes place when the sinner is declared innocent or guiltless. Justification for sin comes only by accepting the shed blood of Jesus Christ. He gave His life for our sin. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Every human being is under the death penalty because every person has committed sin. These sins and the death penalty are erased once we accept the sacrifice of Christ. Therefore, keeping the law cannot remove sin. Why? Because man is unable to keep the law. Once we repent of past sins (Rom. 3:25), we come under the blood of Christ. But, we cannot continue to sin after that. Doing so places us under the death penalty once again. Paul does not nullify the Law of God by this text. He simply points out that in the context of justification, keeping the law is of no avail. Only the shed blood of Christ is.
Romans 14:5
This text reads: “One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.” This text has been interpreted to mean that it makes no difference which day one observes as the Sabbath. The day one keeps is a matter of personal choice.
Let us take a look at the context. Verses one and two state: “Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.” Paul instructs the brethren not to exclude from fellowship a spiritually weak brother who is a vegetarian. Verses three and four enjoin the brethren not to judge or find contempt for such a one because of his weakness or lack of understanding. In verse five Paul introduces the subject of certain days that are esteemed or regarded higher than other days. In verse six Paul brings up the matter of regarding or not regarding, or eating or not eating, on these days. Verse five cannot be referring to the Sabbath because the Sabbath is always a feast day (Lev. 23:2-3). Paul goes on to say that we will all be judged as individuals. Therefore, we have no right to judge those who are spiritually weak. We must, therefore, be careful not to place a stumbling block before our brother (verse 13). Why? “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy [Spirit]” (Rom. 14:17). What is the subject of this chapter? We are not to judge others for certain scruples they may have about eating, and for certain days on which they may choose to exercise these scruples. Attaining to the Kingdom of God is not a matter of meat and drink, but righteousness, and joy, and peace in union with the Holy Spirit. This chapter does not concern itself with the Sabbath day. Rather, it involves certain days on which some may choose to fast, or on which to refrain from eating certain foods. Christians are not to judge those who have such scruples.
2 Corinthians 3:7
Some believe this text says the Ten Commandments are now abolished. Is this the case? Beginning in verse six Paul writes: “Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away. How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?” (vv. 6-8). Does this passage say the Ten Commandments are done away?
Notice carefully. The text refers to “the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones.” The Ten Commandments were not written and engraved in stone. They were written by the finger of God upon two tables of stone. Was there, however, a ministration of death that was written and engraved in stones? In Deuteronomy 27:1-4 we read:
And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandments which I command you this day. And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaister them with plaister: And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey; as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee. Therefore it shall be when ye be gone over Jordan, that ye shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in mount Ebal, and thou shalt plaister them with plaister.
What was this law Moses talked about? The answer is found in Joshua 8:30-32.
Then Joshua built an altar unto the LORD God of Israel in mount Ebal, As Moses the servant of the LORD commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones, over which no man hath lift up any iron: and they offered thereon burnt offerings unto the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings. And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel.
Iron tools for building the altar were forbidden. This ministration of death was engraved upon this altar of whole stones, but the stones first had to be plastered. What, then, did Paul say was to be done away? The answer: The ministration of death-the curse for disobedience (Deut. 27:15-26).
The civil law required the death penalty for many infractions. A comparison of the proscriptions in Deuteronomy 27 with other Old Testament passages makes it clear to see the penalty was death for many of these. This was to change with the establishment of the New Testament. Paul explains to the Corinthian Christians: “Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart” (2 Cor. 3:2-3). New Testament obedience does not require a letter-of-the-law enforcement. An inward change in the heart and mind enables Christians to live according to the spiritual intent of the law. The Ten Commandments now become a part of the heart and mind. The ministration of death was not the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments were written on two tablets of stone by the finger of God (Deut. 9:9-11, Ex. 34:27-28). The civil law was written on plaster over whole stones and contained the ministration of death. The ministration of death was done away, not the Ten Commandments.
Galatians 3:10
The Sabbath is said to be abolished based on what Paul wrote in Galatians 3:10. The text reads: “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them” (Gal. 3:10). Paul warned the Galatians that righteousness cannot be attained by the works of the law (Gal. 2:21). Righteousness comes by faith in the sacrifice of Christ, acceptance of that sacrifice which was made in man’s stead, and repentance. Repentance means to change, to turn around and go the other way, not to sin any longer. Sin is the transgression of the law (1 John 3:4). One who repents no longer habitually breaks God’s Law. But certain of the Galatians were attempting to attain righteousness by performing the “works of the law.” They failed to understand the importance of the sacrifice of Christ, that they could not attain righteousness except by means of this sacrifice. In their minds circumcision was the sign of this righteousness (Gal. 3:2, 5; 5:1-6). Paul tells them they are under a curse for not doing all things written in the law. They were not under a curse for obeying the law; rather, they were under a curse for not obeying all things written in the law. Why did Paul say this? Notice what Peter said in Acts 15:10-11. “Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.” Peter says in Acts 15 that even the Israelites were unable to live according to the law, so now why try to burden the Gentiles with it?
This is why Paul tells the Galatians, “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith” (Gal. 3:11). Galatians 3:10 does not say the Law of God is abolished. It says that the man who tries to use the law as a method of justification is under a curse. Why? Because few, if any, have been able to keep all of its requirements. Faith in the sacrifice of Christ is what leads to justification. Rather than abolishing the Sabbath, Galatians 3:10 upholds the requirement to obey the Ten Commandments.
Galatians 4:10
Many take Galatians 4:10 to mean the Galatians, who had been delivered from Judaism, were reverting back to Jewish practices. These practices included Sabbath keeping. Paul warns them, “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? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain” (Gal. 4:9-11). Days, months, times, and years, it is believed, include the Sabbath. But is this true?
The epistle to the Galatians was written to Gentiles. While the Churches in Galatia were made up of both Jews and Gentiles, Galatians 4:10 clearly addresses the Gentiles. How do we know? Because verse eight could not apply to the Jews. God had committed the oracles to the Jews, and Gentile converts came into the New Testament Church as a result of their contact with the Jewish synagogues. The Gentiles were the ones who had not known God, not the Jews. Gentile religion was made up of forms of idolatry, which Paul calls the “weak and beggarly elements of the world.” The notion that “weak and beggarly elements” refers to the law of Moses is far-fetched. Arndt and Gingrich inform us that the meaning of “weak and beggarly elements” is much disputed. Some scholars take it to mean elements of learning, fundamental principles-applied to elementary forms of religion, both Jewish and Gentile (which have been superseded by the new revelation of Christ). Other scholars believe it means elemental spirits associated with the physical elements. Still other scholars understand it to mean heavenly bodies (signs of the Zodiac), since these bodies were regarded as personal beings and were given divine honors (A Greek-English Lexicon, p. 776). The fact is: No one completely understands the meaning of the expression “weak and beggarly elements.” Galatians 4:10, therefore, cannot be used as proof that Paul was referring to the Sabbath.
The word “again” is found two times in Galatians 4:9. What were these Gentiles doing? They were turning again to the “weak and beggarly elements.” Are the Laws of God ever called “weak and beggarly elements” in the Bible? Of course not! The Gentiles were turning back to what they had accepted and believed before they came into contact with the Truth of God. Prior to this time had they understood the Truth? Not at all. They had come into contact with the Truth via the synagogue, and then by the preaching of the Apostle Paul. The oracles of God are never called the “weak and beggarly elements.” What was this bondage they were in? It is common knowledge that the Gentile world offered sacrifices to a myriad of pagan gods. Go back to verse eight. Paul states that when these Gentiles did not know God they did service to them which are no gods. Clearly, this could not be referring to the Jews.
Also, take a look at the word “observe” in verse ten. Most people assume “observe” means “to celebrate,” or “to keep.” This is not the case. Arndt and Gingrich tell us “observe” means “to watch closely,” “to observe carefully,” “to watch someone to see what he does.” See A Greek-English Lexicon, page 627. In every place where the Greek word paratereo is used, except in Galatians 4:10, it means to “watch closely.” See also The Word Study Concordance, page 593; The Analytical Greek Lexicon, page 306; The Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Volume 2, page 153. This last reference states that paratereo means “to lie in wait,” “to watch,” as the modern English versions translate it. What Galatians 4:10 is really saying is that these Gentiles were closely watching these days for various signs of one kind or another. The word paratereo does not signify a religious observance. These superstitious inclinations of the Galatians were the weak and beggarly elements Paul warned them about.
What, then, were the “days, months, times, and years”? Are these referring to the weekly Sabbath? Notice what Arndt and Gingrich say regarding Galatians 4:10. “The meaning of eniautos in the combination kairoi kai eniautoi is not clear. It could be an allusion to the so-called ‘sabbatical years’ (Lev. 25), but may also means certain days of the year. . . as the New Year festival” (Arndt and Gingrich, 266). When an authoritative work, such as Arndt and Gingrich, admits the meaning of the Greek is not clear in this phrase, those who insist it means the weekly Sabbath are simply interpreting. The fact is: The meaning of “days, months, times,” and “years” is wide open to speculation. There is no proof Galatians 4:10 refers to the weekly Sabbath. It is a known fact that these Gentile nations observed many special days, set aside for pagan celebrations of one type or another. It is this superstition Paul is censuring.
Ephesians 2:15
Some refer to Ephesians 2:15, insisting this verse proves the Ten Commandments are done away. The text reads: “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.” What did Paul mean when he wrote this? Does it refer to the Ten Commandments?
The Gentile Churches that Paul raised up in Asia Minor were made up of both Jews and Gentiles. A look at the context of Ephesians, chapter two, tells us that the Gentiles had not been given the opportunity to participate in the promises and covenants made to Israel (vv. 11-12). Without the true God, they had no hope. But Christ changed all this (v. 13). The Gentiles have now been brought into a spiritual relationship, and Christ broke down the wall of partition that separated the Jews and Gentiles (v. 14). Then, in verse 15, Paul states that Christ abolished the enmity-the law of commandments-contained in ordinances. Peace and harmony between Jews and Gentiles had now resulted in a single new spiritual body-the Church. Both Jews and Gentiles are now reconciled to God by the sacrifice of Christ, and in Christianity the separation between Jews and Gentiles had now ceased.
Some would have us believe that the reconciliation between Jews and Gentiles was accomplished by the abolition of the Ten Commandments. Is this so? Notice the word “ordinances.” In the Greek language it is the word dogmasin which means “decrees.” Arndt and Gingrich tell us on page 200, that Ephesians 2:15 should read, in part, “law of commandments consisting in (single) ordinances.” The word “decrees” is used in Acts 16:4 to define the requirements laid upon the Gentiles in the Jerusalem conference of Acts 15. These decrees of Acts 15 were decidedly not the Ten Commandments. The Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Volume 1, page 330, states that Ephesians 2:15 uses the plural to denote the individual statutes of the commandments of the Mosaic Law. Were there any commandments in the Mosaic Law that forbade social and religious contact with the Gentiles? Yes, indeed! Notice Exodus 34:12-16, Deuteronomy 7:2-6, Joshua 23:11-13, and Numbers 1:51; 3:10; 18:4. To these laws the Jews added many other regulations, so that eventually Gentiles were considered to be as unclean as dogs. These are the “decrees” or “dogmas” to which Paul refers in Ephesians 2:15.
Paul now instructs the Ephesians that these decrees are nullified, and that Gentiles who accept Christ are permitted complete social and religious intercourse with the Jewish Christians. This approval had been given many years before when Peter went to the house of Cornelius (Acts 10:28). The remainder of Ephesians, chapter two, instructs the Christian brethren how unity should prevail in the church.
Colossians 2:14-17
The above text is a favorite of those who wish to repudiate the Law of God, and hence the Sabbath day. The usual interpretation is that Christ nailed the Law of God to the cross, thus doing away with the Sabbath. The text reads: “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. . . . Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”
Notice Arndt and Gingrich. They tell us on page 889 that “handwriting of ordinances” means “a (handwritten) document, specif. a certificate of indebtedness, bond. . . the bond that stood against us.” Paul tells us in Colossians 2:14 that the bond or debt against us was nailed to the cross. But the bond or debt of what? Notice, “ordinances” is the same Greek word-dogmasin-found in Ephesians 2:15. It is used in Colossians 2:20 where it is also translated “ordinances.” What ordinances? The word “ordinance” means “decree,” “ordinance,” “decision,” “command.” But what decree, ordinance, decision, or command? Paul gives us the answer in verses eight and twenty-two: philosophy, vain deceit, traditions of men, rudiments of the world, commandments and doctrines of men! “Ordinances of men” brought about the debt or bond that was against us. For example, how many traditions, philosophical ideas, rules of men, or man-made laws have caused us to walk contrary to the Law of God? By following these man-made “ordinances,” we have brought upon ourselves the death penalty-the debt we owe for breaking God’s commandments. This was the debt Christ blotted out when He died on the stake for us. He paid the penalty we owe. Christ, not the Law of God, was nailed to the cross.
Paul continues, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days” (Col. 2:16). The phrase “in respect of” should be translated “part.” See under meros (Greek Analytical Lexicon, by Harper, page 264). Bullinger points out in The Companion Bible that “part” means “in taking part.” Thus, the text should read: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in taking part of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.” Verse 17 goes on to say: “Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” The word “is” is not found in the original text. Translators added it to the English in order to make the meaning clear. But it does not make the meaning clear. It confuses what Paul said. What Paul is stating in verses 16 and 17 that it is not man’s right is to judge the above matters. The only judge in these matters is the Body of Christ-the Church. The word “judge” is from the Greek word krino. Besides meaning to judge or condemn, it means to “consider,” “to prefer.” (See Arndt and Gingrich, 452-453). Paul instructs the Colossians that one should be careful not to offend a brother on those public occasions of worship (Sabbaths, holy days) by what one eats or drinks. See 1 Corinthians 8:8-13; 10:31-32. Keep in mind there were false teachers in Colosse attempting to impose regulations on “touch not, taste not, handle not” as a means to achieve humility (Col. 2:23). Paul prohibited these teachers from instituting any kind of legislation (man-made rules) regarding the Sabbath or holy days. Paul pointed out that the Sabbath and holy days are shadows of things to come. Therefore, they should be observed today. The Sabbath was not done away. This letter, written about 30 years after the crucifixion of Christ, shows it should be kept or it would not be called a “shadow of things to come.” Colossians 2:14-17 does not say the Sabbath was nailed to the cross. It says the debt we owe for breaking the Law of God was nailed to the cross.
Hebrews 9:10
This text actually explains what was done away by the sacrifice of Christ. Referring to those things that were temporary, Paul wrote: “Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.” In the verses preceding verse ten, Paul describes the service of the Tabernacle. In verse nine he points out that this Old Testament system was of a temporary nature and not intended to bring about perfection in the worshiper. Then in verse ten Paul says this Old Testament system consisted of “only meats and drinks, divers washings, and carnal ordinances imposed upon them until the time of reformation.” What were these carnal ordinances? Were they the Ten Commandments?
Arndt and Gringrich tell us on page 197 that “carnal ordinances” should be translated “regulations for the body.” Clearly, “carnal ordinances” does not refer to the Ten Commandments. “Regulations for the body” had to do with various rules for ceremonial purity. These included washings regarding cleanliness and uncleanliness. These ceremonial laws were temporary in nature. The Temple, which was central to the entire ceremonial system, was destroyed in AD 70. During the Old Testament period one who was ceremonially impure or unclean could not participate in many of the biblical requirements. But he could be cleansed at the Temple. Someone today who fails to wash properly may be physically unclean, but he is not ceremonially unclean. Jesus disputed with the Pharisees over this very issue (Mark 7:1-9). This was why Paul could write: “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Heb. 9:11-12). The physical system of the Old Testament pointed to Christ. Paul says, “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance” (Heb. 9:14-15).
Hebrews 9:10 does not say the Ten Commandments were done away. Rather, it says the sacrificial system, with its attendant regulations for the body, were done away. The Law of God will never be done away. It is everlasting. “The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness” (Ps. 111:7-8).
Hebrews 4:9
This Scripture, in fact, teaches us to keep the Sabbath. The problem is that it is mistranslated in the Authorized Version. The Authorized Version reads: “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.” The chapter itself describes the physical rest Israel received upon entering the Holy Land. This rest is a type of the rest Christians will receive when they enter the Kingdom of God. The rest that the nation of Israel received when they entered the Holy Land under Joshua was not the fulfillment of the rest God finally intends to give His children. There is another rest coming. This rest is salvation in the Kingdom of God. This is why Paul wrote in Hebrews 4:9: “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.” Throughout this chapter the word for “rest” is katapausis. It means “a place of resting down.” But when we come to Hebrews 4:9 the word for “rest” is sabbatismos which means “a keeping of the Sabbath.” The text should read: “There remaineth therefore a keeping of the Sabbath to the people of God” (Heb. 4:9). A variant of this would be “a Sabbath rest is left behind (or remains) for the people of God.”
What Paul says in Hebrews, chapter four, is that since the Sabbath is the type of the coming Millennium, and Israel’s entry into the promised land was only a type of this, Sabbath observance remains for the people of God. The Millennium will be the time when the world will rest from sin. This great event will not take place until the return of Jesus Christ and the ushering in of the Kingdom of God. The Sabbath represents that coming time. It is a shadow of things yet to come. Paul made it plain in this chapter that the Sabbath should be kept.
Revelation 1:10
Revelation 1:10 has been taken by many to refer to Sunday, the first day of the week. This is the day customarily kept by the vast majority of professing Christians. According to verse ten, the writer of the book of Revelation-the Apostle John-is supposedly worshiping on the “Lord’s Day.” Does the Lord’s Day in the book of Revelation refer to Sunday, the first day of the week?
The book of Revelation was written around AD 100. Historically, Sunday was not called the “Lord’s Day” until the end of the second century-about 100 years later. In the Gospel of John, which was written about the same time as the book of Revelation, John refers to Sunday as the “first day of the week.” Therefore, the “Lord’s Day” in the book of Revelation cannot be referring to Sunday. If it is not referring to Sunday, to what then is it referring?
The book of Revelation is a detailed outline of many unfulfilled prophecies. Most of these prophecies occurred after the time of the Apostle John. They will culminate in the return of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom of God. John says he was “in the spirit” on the Lord’s Day. The Greek word for “on” is en, meaning “in” or “into.” The text should read: “I was into the Spirit on the Lord’s day. . . .” The text tells us that by God’s Spirit, John was taken by means of a vision into the Lord’s Day. What is the Lord’s Day? There are over 30 prophecies in the Old Testament which describe the Day of the Lord, or Lord’s Day. You can find a list of these Scriptures in any Concordance. This is a future time period when God will take a direct hand in the affairs of this world-a time of world-shaking catastrophic events, a time when the sun will turn black and the moon will turn to the color of blood, a time when the entire Earth will reel back and forth like a drunken man, a time of cataclysmic disaster and death. Those who think Revelation 1:10 refers to Sunday as a day of worship had better take another look. A look at the Old Testament passages which refer to the Lord’s Day will quickly dispel this notion.
Is Sunday Keeping Authorized in the New Testament?
Let us take a look at the New Testament Scriptures which mention “the first day of the week” to see if any of them authorize Sunday observance. There are eight texts to examine. If we are to observe Sunday, at least one of these texts will surely instruct us, or show by example, that we should do so.
Four of these Scriptures refer to the same event-early Sunday morning following the crucifixion and burial of Christ. This was when the disciples came to prepare Jesus for burial. These Scriptures are: Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:2, Luke 24:1, and John 20:1. In each of these Scriptures we find that Sunday was a work day, not a day of rest. The disciples would not have come to embalm Jesus, which took some time to do, if Sunday were a day of worship. Another one of the eight texts which mention the first day of the week is Mark 16:9. This Scripture refers to early Sunday morning also. In this case Christ appeared to Mary early on Sunday morning, but not for the purpose of worship, as she immediately left His presence to report the event to the disciples. John 20:19, another text which mentions the first day of the week, informs us the disciples were hiding for fear of the Jews. They were in a “safe house” for the purpose of personal security, not for the purpose of worship.
Now over to the book of Acts. We see in Acts 20:6-7 that Paul was in Troas. On the first day of the week the disciples gathered to “break bread.” Paul had been preaching to them and continued his speech until midnight. Verse eight tells us there were many lights in the upper chamber. Could this have been Sunday night? Biblical days are from sundown to sundown. If Paul preached to them until midnight, there is only one period of time that could be within the first day of the week. This would have been Saturday night, because had it been Sunday night, the Bible would have called it the second day of the week. This is because the first day of the week would have ended at sundown Sunday evening. Since the Sabbath ended at sundown and Paul continued preaching to them until midnight, he was preaching on into the beginning of a new biblical day-Sunday, which began at sundown on Saturday night. Notice they had gathered on the first day of the week (after sundown on Saturday) to “break bread,” that is, to eat a meal. Paul, because of the need, continued speaking after the Sabbath on into the first day of the week. Then, what did he do the next morning during the daylight portion of Sunday? He walked from Troas to Assos, a distance of 19 miles. Clearly, he was not observing Sunday as a day of worship. To Paul, Sunday was a day of work.
The last of the eight texts which refer to the first day of the week is 1 Corinthians 16:2. This Scripture tells us the Corinthians were instructed to “lay by him in store” on the first day of the week. This was intended as a collection for the needy saints. Paul specifically stated “that there be no gatherings when I come.” This offering was to be taken to the saints at Jerusalem. The Corinthians were Sabbath keepers; they did not keep Sunday (Acts 18:4). They were instructed to set this offering aside on Sunday, which was a work day, and to hold it until his arrival. We are not told where it was being held. It could have been in their homes, or it could have been in some central location. He would then be able to collect it upon his arrival and then quickly be on his way to Jerusalem. 1 Corinthians 16:2 shows Sunday to be a workday, not a day of worship.
The fact is: Every one of the New Testament Scriptures that refer to the first day of the week make it clear that Sunday was a workday, not a day of worship.
The Future of the Sabbath
Those who oppose the keeping of the seventh-day Sabbath may be in for a surprise. The seventh-day Sabbath has a bright future ahead. It will be observed in the Millennium when Christ sets up His world government. Notice Isaiah 66:23. “And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.” The context of this verse in Isaiah 66 is just after the return of Jesus Christ (vv. 15-23). The Sabbath is a memorial of Creation, and God will not allow mankind to continue ignoring it. The prophet Ezekiel foretold the same thing. We read: “Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before the LORD in the sabbaths and in the new moons” (Ezek. 46:3). It makes little sense to believe the Sabbath, which was kept for thousands of years before the Christian era, was “done away” by Christ, and then reinstated by Him during the Millennium. God is not the author of confusion (1 Cor. 14:33). The Sabbath instituted at the beginning is to be observed today and will be observed to the end of time.
How Should the Sabbath be Kept?
One who is converted will quickly come to understand the purpose of the Sabbath. He will recognize that a list of do’s and don’ts is unnecessary-that obedience to God’s Sabbath law is from the heart and his desire will be not only to please God, but to derive the benefit from the Sabbath that God intended. Here are some general principles:
If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it (Isa. 58:13-14).
Sabbath activities should be God-centered, not man-centered. On this day we are granted freedom from the drudgery and routine so often encountered in work. It is a day of spiritual rejuvenation, a day that is intended to refresh us mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. This kind of activity avoids the exhaustion and dissipation so often associated with weekend pleasure. The Sabbath is a day when benevolent services to others can be rendered. Activities which do not accomplish these goals, or which deprive us of the spiritual and physical benefits of the day, are not the kind of activities in which Christians should participate. When we realize the joy and the spiritual and mental rest that God intended for us to experience, we can truly appreciate the beneficence of God in giving us the Sabbath. This day has been set aside as holy time. No other day can give us the kind of benefits God intended.
--------------------
The HEART of the issue is truly the issue of the HEART!
John 3:3;Mark 8:34-38;James 1:27
Posts: 3529 | From: Orange, Texas | Registered: Jun 2002
| IP: Logged |
|
|
WildB
Moderator
Member # 2917
|
posted
In Colossians 2:16-17, the apostle Paul declares, Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.Similarly, Romans 14:5 states, One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.These Scriptures make it clear that, for the Christian, Sabbath-keeping is a matter of spiritual freedom, not a command from God. Sabbath-keeping is an issue on which God’s Word instructs us not to judge each other. Sabbath-keeping is a matter about which each Christian needs to be fully convinced in his/her own mind.
In the early chapters of the book of Acts, the first Christians were predominantly Jews. When Gentiles began to receive the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, the Jewish Christians had a dilemma. What aspects of the Mosaic Law and Jewish tradition should Gentile Christians be instructed to obey? The apostles met and discussed the issue in the Jerusalem council (Acts 15). The decision was, It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood (Acts 15:19-20). Sabbath-keeping was not one of the commands the apostles felt was necessary to force on Gentile believers. It is inconceivable that the apostles would neglect to include Sabbath-keeping if it was God’s command for Christians to observe the Sabbath day.
A common error in the Sabbath-keeping debate is the concept that the Sabbath was the day of worship. Groups such as the Seventh Day Adventists hold that God requires the church service to be held on Saturday, the Sabbath day. That is not what the Sabbath command was. The Sabbath command was to do no work on the Sabbath day (Exodus 20:8-11). Nowhere in Scripture is the Sabbath day commanded to be the day of worship. Yes, Jews in Old Testament, New Testament, and modern times use Saturday as the day of worship, but that is not the essence of the Sabbath command. In the book of Acts, whenever a meeting is said to be on the Sabbath, it is a meeting of Jews, not Christians.
When did the early Christians meet? Acts 2:46-47 gives us the answer, Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. If there was a day that Christians met regularly, it was the first day of the week (our Sunday), not the Sabbath day (our Saturday) (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2). In honor of Christ’s resurrection on Sunday, the early Christians observed Sunday not as the Christian Sabbath but as a day to especially worship Jesus Christ.
Is there anything wrong with worshipping on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath? Absolutely not! We should worship God every day, not just on Saturday or Sunday! Many churches today have both Saturday and Sunday services. There is freedom in Christ (Romans 8:21; 2 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 5:1). Should a Christian practice Sabbath-keeping, that is, not working on Saturdays? If a Christian feels led to do so, absolutely, yes (Romans 14:5). However, those who choose to practice Sabbath-keeping should not judge those who do not keep the Sabbath (Colossians 2:16). Further, those who do not keep the Sabbath should avoid being a stumbling block (1 Corinthians 8:9) to those who do keep the Sabbath. Galatians 5:13-15 sums up the whole issue: You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: Love your neighbor as yourself.’ If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Barry please stop your sillyness.
--------------------
That is all.....
Posts: 8775 | From: USA, MICHIGAN | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged |
|
|
Carol Swenson
Admin
Member # 6929
|
posted
quote:
Paul did not preach a message of “Christian freedom”? This idea is an interpretation read into Paul’s writings. The Apostle Peter referred to Paul’s epistles when he wrote, “. . . even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction” (2 Pet. 3:15-16).
Your point is lost here ???
2 Peter
3:15 OUR BELOVED BROTHER PAUL: Peter here returns to the theme of v. 9, the reason for the delay of the parousia. It is to permit greater opportunity for salvation among men, as the gospel spreads throughout the earth (see Romans. 2:4). Paul, too, had written of this salvation and its effect upon the behavior of those who find it. That Peter speaks of Paul with great affection confirms the dating of this letter in the late sixties of the first century when tradition places them together in Rome. Probably several of Paul's letters had reached Peter's readers and they were well aware of both his wisdom, and as v. 15 indicates, something of the difficulty experienced in understanding his penetrating insights.
3:16 THINGS HARD TO UNDERSTAND: How many of Paul's epistles Peter had read it is impossible to know. Certainly there was nothing unusual in the apostle's reading of one another's letters, for after the meeting of Paul with James, Peter, and John, described in Galatians. 2:9, there was full acceptance of Paul's apostleship among the Twelve. What he here calls things hard to understand probably describes Paul's discussion of justification by faith (See Romans. 3:5-8, 6:1 and Galatians. 3:10) for Paul himself admits that his teaching of freedom from the law was often twisted to condone license to sin. This was exactly what the heretical teachers of 2 Peter were doing. He has already said that their abuse of Christian teaching was leading to their own destruction (2:12). Not only did they twist Paul's teaching, but also the rest of the Scriptures. This phrase puts Paul's epistles on a par with the writings of the prophets, calling them equally Scripture. All the apostles were aware that what they taught was inspired by God (see 1 Thessalonians. 2:13).
http://www.raystedman.org/2peter/2peter3.htm
Posts: 6787 | From: Colorado | Registered: Dec 2007
| IP: Logged |
|
|
barrykind
Advanced Member
Member # 35
|
posted
wildb states:
quote:
Colossians 2:14-16 says the 10 commandments are abolished!
Colossians 2:14-16 so clearly states the weekly Sabbath was nailed to cross and abolished that Sabbatarians are at a loss to know what to do with it!
Oh not true my brother
Colossians 2:14-17
The above text is a favorite of those who wish to repudiate the Law of God, and hence the Sabbath day. The usual interpretation is that Christ nailed the Law of God to the cross, thus doing away with the Sabbath. The text reads: “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. . . . Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”
Notice Arndt and Gingrich. They tell us on page 889 that “handwriting of ordinances” means “a (handwritten) document, specif. a certificate of indebtedness, bond. . . the bond that stood against us.” Paul tells us in Colossians 2:14 that the bond or debt against us was nailed to the cross. But the bond or debt of what? Notice, “ordinances” is the same Greek word-dogmasin-found in Ephesians 2:15. It is used in Colossians 2:20 where it is also translated “ordinances.” What ordinances? The word “ordinance” means “decree,” “ordinance,” “decision,” “command.” But what decree, ordinance, decision, or command? Paul gives us the answer in verses eight and twenty-two: philosophy, vain deceit, traditions of men, rudiments of the world, commandments and doctrines of men! “Ordinances of men” brought about the debt or bond that was against us. For example, how many traditions, philosophical ideas, rules of men, or man-made laws have caused us to walk contrary to the Law of God? By following these man-made “ordinances,” we have brought upon ourselves the death penalty-the debt we owe for breaking God’s commandments. This was the debt Christ blotted out when He died on the stake for us. He paid the penalty we owe. Christ, not the Law of God, was nailed to the cross.
Paul continues, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days” (Col. 2:16). The phrase “in respect of” should be translated “part.” See under meros (Greek Analytical Lexicon, by Harper, page 264). Bullinger points out in The Companion Bible that “part” means “in taking part.” Thus, the text should read: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in taking part of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.” Verse 17 goes on to say: “Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” The word “is” is not found in the original text. Translators added it to the English in order to make the meaning clear. But it does not make the meaning clear. It confuses what Paul said. What Paul is stating in verses 16 and 17 that it is not man’s right is to judge the above matters. The only judge in these matters is the Body of Christ-the Church. The word “judge” is from the Greek word krino. Besides meaning to judge or condemn, it means to “consider,” “to prefer.” (See Arndt and Gingrich, 452-453). Paul instructs the Colossians that one should be careful not to offend a brother on those public occasions of worship (Sabbaths, holy days) by what one eats or drinks. See 1 Corinthians 8:8-13; 10:31-32. Keep in mind there were false teachers in Colosse attempting to impose regulations on “touch not, taste not, handle not” as a means to achieve humility (Col. 2:23). Paul prohibited these teachers from instituting any kind of legislation (man-made rules) regarding the Sabbath or holy days. Paul pointed out that the Sabbath and holy days are shadows of things to come. Therefore, they should be observed today. The Sabbath was not done away. This letter, written about 30 years after the crucifixion of Christ, shows it should be kept or it would not be called a “shadow of things to come.” Colossians 2:14-17 does not say the Sabbath was nailed to the cross. It says the debt we owe for breaking the Law of God was nailed to the cross
--------------------
The HEART of the issue is truly the issue of the HEART!
John 3:3;Mark 8:34-38;James 1:27
Posts: 3529 | From: Orange, Texas | Registered: Jun 2002
| IP: Logged |
|
|
barrykind
Advanced Member
Member # 35
|
posted
In his epistles Paul uses the word “law” in a number of differing ways. Law sometimes refers to the Mosaic law (Gal. 4:21); sometimes to the entire Old Testament (1 Cor. 14:21); it refers to the will of God written in the minds of the Gentiles (Rom. 2:14-15); to the evil inclinations of man (Rom. 7:21); and sometimes to the influence and guidance of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:2). In the context of justification (i.e., right standing with God) Paul says the law is of no avail (Rom. 3:20). But, in the context of sanctification (right living before God) Paul tells us of the validity and value of the law (Rom. 7:12; 13:8-10, 1 Cor. 7:19). Man, born a sinner, transgresses the Law of God almost from birth (Ps. 51:5). When man comes to the realization that he must live right before God, his righteousness cannot clear him from past guilt, that is, for the sins he has already committed. Only his acceptance of the shed blood of Christ can justify or remove his guilty past. But, after being justified, can he continue to break the Law of God? Absolutely not, says the Apostle Paul! (Gal. 2:17-18). Right living requires obedience to the law. Paul upholds the law in the context of sanctification.
Did Paul observe the seventh-day Sabbath? Yes, indeed! See Acts 13:14, 42, 44; 16:13; 17:2; 18:4. Paul did not preach a message of “Christian freedom”? This idea is an interpretation read into Paul’s writings. The Apostle Peter referred to Paul’s epistles when he wrote, “. . . even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction” (2 Pet. 3:15-16).
--------------------
The HEART of the issue is truly the issue of the HEART!
John 3:3;Mark 8:34-38;James 1:27
Posts: 3529 | From: Orange, Texas | Registered: Jun 2002
| IP: Logged |
|
|
WildB
Moderator
Member # 2917
|
posted
Colossians 2:14-16 says the 10 commandments are abolished!
Colossians 2:14-16 so clearly states the weekly Sabbath was nailed to cross and abolished that Sabbatarians are at a loss to know what to do with it!
"Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day- things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ." (Col 2:14-16)
The Ten Commandments are called, Statutes, Ordinances and Decrees. To the shock and horror of Seventh-day Adventists, they will learn they have been lied to by their leaders and that the 10 commandments are the ordinances that were abolished in Col 2:14 and Eph 2:15.
If Col 2:16 refers to the weekly Sabbath, then Sabbatarians are 100% refuted. Herein lies the battle ground. But as you will see, Sabbath keepers have little more than a few lame arguments that are easily falsified. Only the blind and deceived could miss the simple truth in Col 2:16.
A. One of the most stunning and irrefutable proofs that Col 2:16 must be the weekly Sabbath day, is the common "Year, Month, Week" pattern used in Col 2:16.
When God wanted to refer to the whole system of Jewish holy days, rather than name them all, He would refer to the yearly, monthly and weekly as representing the whole system. Sabbatarians argue that the Sabbath Day of Col 2:16 is the years Sabbaths. But yearly Sabbaths were already referred to in Col 2:16 as "festivals". The "Year, Month, Week" pattern is so well established in the Old Testament, that Col 2:16 must refer to the weekly Sabbath. Notice, even Gal 4:10, following this pattern, states the weekly Sabbath is abolished!
Yearly, monthly, weekly pattern proves it is the weekly sabbath
Yearly
monthly
weekly
1 Chronicles 23:31
fixed festivals
new moons
Sabbaths
2 Chronicles 2:4
appointed feasts
new moons
Sabbaths
2 Chronicles 8:13
annual feasts
new moons
Sabbaths
2 Chronicles 31:3
fixed festivals
new moons
Sabbaths
Nehemiah 10:33
appointed times
new moon
Sabbaths
Isa 1:13-14
Appointed feasts
New moon
Sabbath
Ezekiel 45:17
appointed feasts
new moons
Sabbaths
Ezek 46:1-11
appointed feasts
new moons
Sabbath
Hosea 2:11
festal assemblies
new moons
Sabbaths
Galatians 4:10
years
months
days
Colossians 2:16
festival
new moon
Sabbath day
B. All Sabbatarians are taught by their pastors, the false argument that the Plural "sabbaton" in Col 2:16 cannot refer to weekly Sabbath day. But as we can clearly see, there are at least 5 other places where the plural is used of the weekly Sabbath. The deception is even worse, given the fact that while most Seventh-day Adventist pastors know about these other passages, they do not tell their people in the pews!
Matthew 28:1, "Now after the Sabbath" [Greek- plural: sabbaton]
Luke 4:16, "He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath" [Greek- plural: sabbaton]
Acts 16:13, "And on the Sabbath day" [Greek- plural: sabbaton]
Exodus 20:8 (in Septuagint) "Remember the Sabbath day" [Greek- plural: sabbaton]
Leviticus 23:37-38 (in Septuagint) "besides those of the Sabbaths of the Lord" [Greek- plural: sabbaton]
C. Some Sabbatarians will put forth another false argument saying, "The lack of the definite article before the word "Sabbath" in the Greek in Col 2:16 proves it cannot refer to the weekly Sabbath. Of course this argument is no more valid than the one above regarding the plural "sabbaton". The truth is, we find several places where the weekly Sabbath lacks the definite article. An example of a definite article is the word THE in the following sentence: "Only Jews kept THE weekly Sabbath." The same sentence that lacks the definite article would be: "Only Jews kept weekly Sabbath." Or "Only Jews kept a weekly Sabbath."
Matthew 28:1, "Now after the Sabbath" [Sabbath lacks article in original Greek]
John 5:9, "Now it was the Sabbath on that day" [Sabbath lacks article in original Greek]
John 5:10, "It is the Sabbath" [Sabbath lacks article in original Greek]
John 5:16, "on the Sabbath" [Sabbath lacks article in original Greek]
D. A final false objection Sabbath keepers will sometimes raise against Col 2:14-16 referring to the weekly Sabbath, is the fact v14 calls that which was nailed to the cross "hostile to us". Sabbatarians continue to falsely argue: "The weekly Sabbath was not hostile to us!" However, 2 Cor 3:7 calls the entire ten commandment law, a "ministry of death". This effectively refutes their false argument!
Col 2:14
2 Cor 3:7
having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face
which was hostile to us
ministry of death
Sabbatarians have overlooked the fact that the 10 commandments were called a "ministry of death" What is the difference between "hostile to us" and "ministry of death"?
E. Sabbath keepers bind 3 ceremonial Laws of Moses:
Seventh-day Adventists wrongly dismiss that "Sabbath day" is not the weekly Sabbath, but must agree that "food and drink" is a reference to the prohibition against eating pork or other unclean foods. The Jewish law against eating pork was abolished by Christ, yet Sabbatarians continue to enforce what they call, "the ceremonial law of Moses": Mk 7:18-19; 1 Tim 4:1-4; Rom 14:2; Acts 10:9-16
The Jewish Sabbath was abolished in Col 2:14-16, yet Sabbatarians keep the Sabbath, which itself is the only ceremonial law of the 10 commandments.
The Jewish law of Tithing is forbidden in 2 Cor 9, yet Sabbatarians practice tithing from "the ceremonial law of Moses".
Sabbatarians practice the forbidden and the abolished, and forbid that which is allowed!
Ceremonial law of Moses:
What the New Testament says:
What Sabbatarians practice:
Tithing
Prohibited: 2 Cor 9:7
Practice Jewish tithing instead of freewill offerings.
Eating Pork
Permitted: Mk 7:18-19
Bind Jewish law forbidding the eating of pork instead of allowing any food to be eaten like in the time of Abraham.
Sabbath
Abolished: Col 2:14-16
Keep the Jewish Sabbath instead of keeping the Lord's day (1st day)
We Speak truth in LOVE
"you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth" Jn 8:40
--------------------
That is all.....
Posts: 8775 | From: USA, MICHIGAN | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged |
|
|
|
Printer-friendly view of this topic
