Bacsi
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3 days and 3 nights. Approx. 72hrs
Who Changed the Sabbath day from Saturday to Sunday?
- Thread starter phipps
- Start date
Bacsi
Star
- Joined
- May 3, 2018
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- 1,293
I wish I were smart... About my Biblie-related books, I started getting rid of them... Just collecting dust. I've left active Christian ministry around 1997... I remember maybe 1% of the Christian stuff I used to know.
But it is enough to know that Jesus Christ is God... and hear Him and do what He says.
That is true Christendom.
Obedience
The Bible is, in general, a very simple book to understand. The basics of salvation are plainly laid out to anyone who reads with an open and honest mind. A God who is “not willing that any should perish” (2 Peter 3:9) and “who would have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4) cannot produce a book of salvation that is difficult to understand.
Complicating Christ’s Message
One of the distinguishing marks of the preaching of Jesus is the childlike simplicity of His message. Sterling examples are the parables of the sower (Matthew 13), the lost sheep (Luke 15), and very famously, the Prodigal son (Luke 15).
"But our carnal minds love to make the simple complex and thus plunge us into error where no error previously existed. The Bible declares that “the common people heard him gladly” (Mark 12:37). Even children are supposed to understand the Gospel.
This would be impossible if God did not purposely make the essence of the Gospel very simple. But the very simplicity of His messages was a problem for the “high and mighty’” of His day.
Simple Obedience
I would suggest that no other Bible teaching is more plainly laid out than the need for strict obedience to God in all things. This teaching, understandable even to children, has been made so complex that many so-called believers no longer see its place in the grand plan of salvation.
Why are believers, and non-believers, so adamantly opposed to strict obedience to God, to the extent that they actually view obedience as hostile to salvation by faith?
The answer is as simple as the teaching of obedience itself. The deep roots of hatred for obedience are found in Jeremiah 13:23; 17:9, and preeminently in Romans 8:7-8.
All three texts declare that the state of a sinner is such that he cannot obey God. It is an impossibility. Paul explains the reason for this terrible condition: the carnal heart hates God because of His law. The King James Version of Romans 8:7 reads thus:
"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."
Because of sin, the human nature became incapable of pleasing God, because it could no longer obey Him. The law became the problem, not because of any defect in the law, but because of a genetic defect in the human nature, caused by sin.
Rebellion Against the Law
Expressed differently, one may say that the problem for an unconverted person is the law of God—nothing else. The problem of the un-renewed mind is not God Himself, nor Christ. If God and Christ had no law, there would be no enmity in the sinner toward them.
At the risk of being painfully repetitious, it must be restated that the only reason why sinners hate God is that He has a law! Take away the law and the enmity would vanish immediately.
This problem of hatred for the law, hatred for obedience, did not originate with sinners on earth. It began in the original sinner himself—Satan. His problem was also the law of God. It remains his problem today.
There is bold Biblical proof of this war in Revelation 12:17:
"And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ".
This verse requires some further explanation. The word “war” occurs twice in Revelation 12, in verses seven and seventeen. The war in heaven, mentioned in verse seven, is continued here on earth in verse seventeen.
Satan’s enemy in both wars is the same: the law of God. Two wars, one enemy! God’s one law, the Decalogue, is the object of Satan’s wrath on earth (Revelation 12:17), as it was in heaven.
Sides in the War
Revelation has many women: the pure woman in Revelation 12:1-2, and the great whore and her many daughters in 17:4-5. While there are only two kinds of churches, pure and corrupt, there is a vast number of churches.
Of all these churches, the dragon—Satan—is only angry with one: the one that obeys God’s law. He has no real problem with those who disobey!
Sadly, most people, ignorantly or willfully, are numbered with the disobedient. Disobedience is natural for unconverted sinners because that’s their nature. Those who don’t know Christ yet cannot help but rebel against God. In order to act contrary to their nature, and obey God, they must be reborn as an entirely different species—go from flesh to spirit. In the flesh, we naturally rebel and disobey gladly, therefore displeasing God. In the spirit after conversion, we naturally obey, and so please God.
Faith in Action
Since obedience pleases God (John 8:29), and since we can please God only by faith (Hebrews 11:6), it becomes gloriously obvious that obedience and faith are inseparable. Obedience is faith in action. The carnal mind cannot please God because it does not obey. If we reverse that statement we see that the spiritual mind pleases God because it obeys.
When God gives a command He desires one response: obedience from the heart—not discussion and argument and alternative suggestions. Why does God want obedience from the heart? Because the heart is where He writes His law when a person is born again (Hebrews 8:10). If God puts His law in the heart, what else would He want but obedience from the heart?
Obedience is the basis on which the redeemed will regain the right to the Tree of Life (Revelation 22:14), a right originally lost through disobedience (Genesis 3:17-24).
May God help you and me see that true spiritual obedience—not merely mechanical compliance to the letter of the law—is a gift from God to those who fully surrender to Christ.
The Bible is, in general, a very simple book to understand. The basics of salvation are plainly laid out to anyone who reads with an open and honest mind. A God who is “not willing that any should perish” (2 Peter 3:9) and “who would have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4) cannot produce a book of salvation that is difficult to understand.
Complicating Christ’s Message
One of the distinguishing marks of the preaching of Jesus is the childlike simplicity of His message. Sterling examples are the parables of the sower (Matthew 13), the lost sheep (Luke 15), and very famously, the Prodigal son (Luke 15).
"But our carnal minds love to make the simple complex and thus plunge us into error where no error previously existed. The Bible declares that “the common people heard him gladly” (Mark 12:37). Even children are supposed to understand the Gospel.
This would be impossible if God did not purposely make the essence of the Gospel very simple. But the very simplicity of His messages was a problem for the “high and mighty’” of His day.
Simple Obedience
I would suggest that no other Bible teaching is more plainly laid out than the need for strict obedience to God in all things. This teaching, understandable even to children, has been made so complex that many so-called believers no longer see its place in the grand plan of salvation.
Why are believers, and non-believers, so adamantly opposed to strict obedience to God, to the extent that they actually view obedience as hostile to salvation by faith?
The answer is as simple as the teaching of obedience itself. The deep roots of hatred for obedience are found in Jeremiah 13:23; 17:9, and preeminently in Romans 8:7-8.
All three texts declare that the state of a sinner is such that he cannot obey God. It is an impossibility. Paul explains the reason for this terrible condition: the carnal heart hates God because of His law. The King James Version of Romans 8:7 reads thus:
"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."
Because of sin, the human nature became incapable of pleasing God, because it could no longer obey Him. The law became the problem, not because of any defect in the law, but because of a genetic defect in the human nature, caused by sin.
Rebellion Against the Law
Expressed differently, one may say that the problem for an unconverted person is the law of God—nothing else. The problem of the un-renewed mind is not God Himself, nor Christ. If God and Christ had no law, there would be no enmity in the sinner toward them.
At the risk of being painfully repetitious, it must be restated that the only reason why sinners hate God is that He has a law! Take away the law and the enmity would vanish immediately.
This problem of hatred for the law, hatred for obedience, did not originate with sinners on earth. It began in the original sinner himself—Satan. His problem was also the law of God. It remains his problem today.
There is bold Biblical proof of this war in Revelation 12:17:
"And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ".
This verse requires some further explanation. The word “war” occurs twice in Revelation 12, in verses seven and seventeen. The war in heaven, mentioned in verse seven, is continued here on earth in verse seventeen.
Satan’s enemy in both wars is the same: the law of God. Two wars, one enemy! God’s one law, the Decalogue, is the object of Satan’s wrath on earth (Revelation 12:17), as it was in heaven.
Sides in the War
Revelation has many women: the pure woman in Revelation 12:1-2, and the great whore and her many daughters in 17:4-5. While there are only two kinds of churches, pure and corrupt, there is a vast number of churches.
Of all these churches, the dragon—Satan—is only angry with one: the one that obeys God’s law. He has no real problem with those who disobey!
Sadly, most people, ignorantly or willfully, are numbered with the disobedient. Disobedience is natural for unconverted sinners because that’s their nature. Those who don’t know Christ yet cannot help but rebel against God. In order to act contrary to their nature, and obey God, they must be reborn as an entirely different species—go from flesh to spirit. In the flesh, we naturally rebel and disobey gladly, therefore displeasing God. In the spirit after conversion, we naturally obey, and so please God.
Faith in Action
Since obedience pleases God (John 8:29), and since we can please God only by faith (Hebrews 11:6), it becomes gloriously obvious that obedience and faith are inseparable. Obedience is faith in action. The carnal mind cannot please God because it does not obey. If we reverse that statement we see that the spiritual mind pleases God because it obeys.
When God gives a command He desires one response: obedience from the heart—not discussion and argument and alternative suggestions. Why does God want obedience from the heart? Because the heart is where He writes His law when a person is born again (Hebrews 8:10). If God puts His law in the heart, what else would He want but obedience from the heart?
Obedience is the basis on which the redeemed will regain the right to the Tree of Life (Revelation 22:14), a right originally lost through disobedience (Genesis 3:17-24).
May God help you and me see that true spiritual obedience—not merely mechanical compliance to the letter of the law—is a gift from God to those who fully surrender to Christ.
If the Bible is so simple, why are you so wrong about EVERYTHING you've written?
Who is your apostle?
To obey 2Tim 2:15, where exactly do you make a straight cut in God's Word of Truth, in order to be approved unto Him?
If you believe anything in this list, you DO NOT OBEY 2Tim 2:15 and are, thus, not approved unto God, according to 2Tim 2:15.
1- The Church has replaced Israel
2- Saved Gentiles today will participate in the earthly Kingdom of Heaven
3- The Gospel taught by Jesus Christ takes precedent over everything else.
4- The Great Commission is the marching order for the Church today
5- The present day Church started with Christ's earthly ministry
6- The present day Church started at Pentecost, in Acts 2
7- True Israel is the Church
8- Israel are still God's chosen people, during this 2000 year period we're now in.
9- The Kingdom of Heaven is the hope of the Church.
10- The New Covenant is in effect for the Church today
11- The Sermon on the Mount applies to us today
12- The Lord's Prayer applies to us today.
13- Water Baptism applies to us today.
14- The Gifts of the Spirit, as given in Acts 2, are still applicable today.
15- Today's Gentile Church will be taken up in the rapture.
16- Abraham is the Father of all saints
17- We saved Gentiles are grafted into Israel, the good olive tree.
18 -The rapture is the same as the Appearing in Titus 2:13
19- Our future home is the New Jerusalem
20- The purpose during Acts was to start the church.
21- The Law is for us Gentiles today
22- The Lord's Supper applies to today's Gentile Church
For all believers today, our Hope and Calling and anything else that is written directly TO you and ABOUT us, is found in one place and one place only - Paul's 7 epistles written after Acts - Eph, Phil, Col, 1&2Tim, Titus, and Philemon. The other 59, ALL-ISRAEL books. are wrritten FOR our learning, but the only books that will tell us Gentiles anything about our future, are those 7 after-Acts books.
To be approved unto God, you must separate and eliminate from your doctrine, ALL things given ONLY to Israel from those things given ONLY to Gentiles today. Our rules, directions, and future were part of a Mystery hid in God since the beginning of the world (Eph 3:9, Col 1:26), and the mystery was revealed to no one until our Lord revealed it to Paul, (Eph 3:3), after Acts, and then Paul revealed it to us, mainly in Eph and Col. ALL of the other 59 books were written TO and ABOUT Israel ONLY. Nothing in them is required, by God, of any Gentile believer today.
It it obvious that you were taught that you are a Jew by the Denominational Church (in reality, Synagogue) system, who specialize in teaching unobtainable Jewish doctrine to unsuspecting Gentiles. You are not a Jew and you can't claim ANYTHING ever given to Israel, except for Jesus Christ. The main purpose of right Division (2Tim 2:15) is not to divide simple little obvious mundane things like the OT from the NT or the dispensations. It's purpose is Cut and Divide Everything belonging to Israel from those things belonging to ONLY us Gentiles. Otherwise, there are contradictions and confusion. For example, Israel's national hope from Gen 12 through Acts 28 was to spend eternity on the earth. Then we find that those special Israelites and those Gentiles during Acts that were grafted into Israel, had a Hope of the New Jerusalem, the Heavenly city that comes down out of the created Heavens and attaches to the New Earth. Then, in Paul's post Acts books, we find that our Hope is to be in the uncreated Heavenly Places, where Christ now sits at the right hand of God - Compare Eph 1:20 (Chtist) with Eph 2.6 (Us - same place). Other names in scripture for Heavenly Places are: the Holy Place, Heaven of Heavens, Glory, Far Above All Heavens.
Since you believe that you must put yourself into the entire Bible, which place will you PICK and CHOOSE - the New Earth, the New Jerusalem, or the Heaven of Heavens? Surely you don't think that God will let you pick and choose. That's why he will approve of you if you Correctly Cut His Word and eliminate all that Jewish stuff you are saturated with. The only place in His Word that a single cut will totally separate all things Israel from all things Gentile is at the very end of Acts. In other words, the cut will be between Paul's 7 post-Acts books and the other 59 all-Israel books. Nothing about your future and the rules and directions that apply to your future, can be found in any of those 59 all-Israel books.
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Red Sky at Morning
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I see no humor in this. To me, it's a very serious matter. Maybe God has not given you the eyes of understanding to enable you to see the Hope of God's Calling (resurrection in the "Appearing" to Heavenly Places) - see Paul's prayer in Eph 1:16-23
Eph 1:17-18
17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
You have a lot of company - about 98-99% of Christendom and all of the mainstream denominational preachers. Maybe Heavenly Places is filled up, although I don't think so. I think that God won't enlighten your eyes of understanding until you get rid of all that Israel baggage you're carrying around. This newest Calling to the Highest Heaven is the pinnacle and it takes a true believer in God's Word to even attempt to SEE it.. I don't think it's automatic for all Gentiles. If it were, there would be no need for Paul to pray that God would enlighten your eyes of understanding. If you don't have the guts to even try to see it, I think your future on the New Earth, as an underling to all those Jews that will be in charge.
It would cost you nothing to get rid of all that Jewish baggage. After all, you are saved and are without a Calling. All believers without a Calling will live on the New Earth as part of the "Nations". The only Calling available today is the one to Heavenly Places in Eph, Col, etc. But, you can't have that calling if you don't see that it IS YOUR CALLING. It's all a matter of Faith. And, the only way to SEE it, believe it, and claim it, is if you eliminate everything from your personal doctrine that involves Israel's Callings. Israel's Callings are not for Gentiles and you'll never get them anyway.
Eph 3:9
And to make all men see what is the fellowship (dispensation - NIV) of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
This Mystery includes everything in Paul's post-Acts books. Nothing in those books can be found elsewhere in scripture. According to Ac 26:22, the basis of everything in Paul's 6 or 7 Acts books is found in the OT. These 2 sets of epistles are incompatible with each other. Therie are numerous contradictions. It's impossible to believe that both sets apply to you.
Red Sky at Morning
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As I see it, you make a case for faith in a very particular formulation. This formulation is "unlocked" by an interpretation of certain verses which then set all else in a different light.
I don't get my theology from a particular denomination - I'm actually a bit jaded with most of them and am more of a maverick - I tend to read the Bible, pray over what I find and research it further...
My faith is not in knowing exactly how God will figure it out and what he does with who, but in the person and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. I trust Him to get the details of His eternal plans right and I'm easy going about how He does that.
Legalism: The Real Danger
You wouldn’t call a police officer a legalist if he or she gave a motorist a ticket for going the posted speed limit in a blizzard. Some traffic laws might even seem strange, yet we know deep down there is a reason for them: public safety. Somehow, somewhere, somebody died or was injured, and the law was put in place. (Likewise, the details of the fourth Commandment might seem strange, we might not understand them completely, but it is a law from God.)
Yet Christians who proclaim the importance of obeying all of the Commandments are often called legalists. And even before the discussion about grace can begin, they are said not to understand grace and are labeled Pharisees. The debate ends, and the confusing rhetoric provides more heat than light.
Still, this is an important concern, because the Pharisees treated God’s law in such a way that changed its nature, and Jesus rebuked them for it. They added religious pomp and circumstance to not only gain favor or merit with God (in fact, they really seemed to merit favor with people), but also to control the religion itself and His people (Matthew 23:15).
But the Jews, or even Jesus, never questioned the Pharisees’ zeal for the 10 Commandments themselves, only that they had altered their purpose; loyalty to God’s law was a must for any Jew. In fact, Jesus told His followers that the standards set by the Pharisees was in fact too low to enable human access to heaven (Matthew 5:20).
He told the Pharisees that their outward obedience to the Commandments did not hide the sins in their hearts. Our outward show of obedience to the Commandments cannot disguise from God the filthy rags we wear beneath our legalistic robes—God sees the filthy rags of lust, deceit, and murder in our hearts. Jesus said that how the Pharisees behaved was altogether different from their hearts, but that their outward behavior was, in fact, appropriate. In this sense they followed the letter of the law, but forsook its spirit (Matthew 23:27).
The Pharisees changed God’s law from a measuring stick to show us our need of God’s empowering grace into works that could get us into heaven. But this is not a real representation of what God meant for the Jews, who were always to be saved by grace in Jesus Christ. The New Testament tells us that it wasn’t works that made Abraham righteous; it was his faith in God’s promises. If he didn’t believe that God would do as He promised, his obedience would have been for nothing. Yet his works are considered a sign of his faith. Had he no works, no obedience, would he be remembered as the “father of the faithful”?
Was the New Testament calling Abraham a legalist? (James 2:21–22). No. It was calling him a Christian—an early version, perhaps, but still a trusting, obedient Christian.
Those who await the second coming of Jesus are described as keeping “the commandments of God” (Revelation 12:17). They live in harmony with Christ who said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). They obey Jesus’ call, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).
You wouldn’t call a police officer a legalist if he or she gave a motorist a ticket for going the posted speed limit in a blizzard. Some traffic laws might even seem strange, yet we know deep down there is a reason for them: public safety. Somehow, somewhere, somebody died or was injured, and the law was put in place. (Likewise, the details of the fourth Commandment might seem strange, we might not understand them completely, but it is a law from God.)
Yet Christians who proclaim the importance of obeying all of the Commandments are often called legalists. And even before the discussion about grace can begin, they are said not to understand grace and are labeled Pharisees. The debate ends, and the confusing rhetoric provides more heat than light.
Still, this is an important concern, because the Pharisees treated God’s law in such a way that changed its nature, and Jesus rebuked them for it. They added religious pomp and circumstance to not only gain favor or merit with God (in fact, they really seemed to merit favor with people), but also to control the religion itself and His people (Matthew 23:15).
But the Jews, or even Jesus, never questioned the Pharisees’ zeal for the 10 Commandments themselves, only that they had altered their purpose; loyalty to God’s law was a must for any Jew. In fact, Jesus told His followers that the standards set by the Pharisees was in fact too low to enable human access to heaven (Matthew 5:20).
He told the Pharisees that their outward obedience to the Commandments did not hide the sins in their hearts. Our outward show of obedience to the Commandments cannot disguise from God the filthy rags we wear beneath our legalistic robes—God sees the filthy rags of lust, deceit, and murder in our hearts. Jesus said that how the Pharisees behaved was altogether different from their hearts, but that their outward behavior was, in fact, appropriate. In this sense they followed the letter of the law, but forsook its spirit (Matthew 23:27).
The Pharisees changed God’s law from a measuring stick to show us our need of God’s empowering grace into works that could get us into heaven. But this is not a real representation of what God meant for the Jews, who were always to be saved by grace in Jesus Christ. The New Testament tells us that it wasn’t works that made Abraham righteous; it was his faith in God’s promises. If he didn’t believe that God would do as He promised, his obedience would have been for nothing. Yet his works are considered a sign of his faith. Had he no works, no obedience, would he be remembered as the “father of the faithful”?
Was the New Testament calling Abraham a legalist? (James 2:21–22). No. It was calling him a Christian—an early version, perhaps, but still a trusting, obedient Christian.
Those who await the second coming of Jesus are described as keeping “the commandments of God” (Revelation 12:17). They live in harmony with Christ who said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). They obey Jesus’ call, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).
The Real Power of Grace
God has given His people the power to rebuke immorality with His law, but we should place this charge in perspective. We should not force His law on anyone. Our first cause is to convince others of their personal need of Jesus, and in doing so, teach them the judgment is coming quickly.
Some believe that our relationship with God’s law changed with Jesus. But He came to cleanse us of our sins and give us the power to overcome them—not give us a free pass to sin more. Grace has always been God’s powerful gift, from Adam to the end of time. We should not take it for granted so easily, so cheaply.
What sense would it be for Jesus to come and explain the purpose of the law, to keep it, to die because humans broke them, only to say that the laws were no longer in effect after His death? The equation is simple: If there is no law, there is no sin. If there is no sin, there is no judgment needed. The final judgment, which all Christians believe in to some degree, makes it logically necessary to have a law! If Jesus did away with the law, at the very least those living today would not be sinners. But the Bible says we are sinners (Romans 3:23). We are all judged by a common standard; the righteous and the lost will be weighed by it. The difference: the righteous are thus because Jesus made them that way by His empowering grace.
Sometimes I am told that I don’t understand grace because I choose to obey the Commandments as they are written. But my testimony is a life utterly transformed by God’s grace, which has in turn made me recognize the astounding beauty and necessity of God’s moral law. How could the Holy Spirit convict me of my desperate need to repent and accept God’s grace without His rules spelled out in detail? It’s not a long-gone artifact of faith, but an eternal testament to God’s righteousness!
Realizing that my sins had been washed away, my love for God blossomed (1 John 4:19). Yet the more I studied His Word, the more I saw that sin devastated God’s heart. It was an unavoidable conclusion. I didn’t want to hurt Him any longer, or treat His law so lackadaisically. Grace has not only made me clean before the Father, it has enabled me to honor His Commandments so long as I cling to Jesus and His promises.
When we show God our real desire to stop sinning, real change begins. We experience true character-building—a real goal to reach for—a real purpose for living; something that grace without real responsibility won’t give us. (If you give a jobless person a job and a living wage, you will see real passion! But what happens when all you do is give money and walk away?) And that is why I am so passionate for God. His law, His government, has given me purpose to live, to work, and to die for.
God loves us. God has mercy. I count on that love and have faith in that mercy. I am aware of my sinful condition, but I have assurance that He is willing to forgive and that He will complete His work in me (Philippians 1:6). But I also believe He has a big problem with those who willfully defy His Commandments and pick and choose the details they will acknowledge. Can God allow someone into heaven who continues to recklessly defy Him? I think God would never want us to conclude that we love Him so much that we won’t worry about keeping His Commandments.
“So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty” (James 2:12).
God has given His people the power to rebuke immorality with His law, but we should place this charge in perspective. We should not force His law on anyone. Our first cause is to convince others of their personal need of Jesus, and in doing so, teach them the judgment is coming quickly.
Some believe that our relationship with God’s law changed with Jesus. But He came to cleanse us of our sins and give us the power to overcome them—not give us a free pass to sin more. Grace has always been God’s powerful gift, from Adam to the end of time. We should not take it for granted so easily, so cheaply.
What sense would it be for Jesus to come and explain the purpose of the law, to keep it, to die because humans broke them, only to say that the laws were no longer in effect after His death? The equation is simple: If there is no law, there is no sin. If there is no sin, there is no judgment needed. The final judgment, which all Christians believe in to some degree, makes it logically necessary to have a law! If Jesus did away with the law, at the very least those living today would not be sinners. But the Bible says we are sinners (Romans 3:23). We are all judged by a common standard; the righteous and the lost will be weighed by it. The difference: the righteous are thus because Jesus made them that way by His empowering grace.
Sometimes I am told that I don’t understand grace because I choose to obey the Commandments as they are written. But my testimony is a life utterly transformed by God’s grace, which has in turn made me recognize the astounding beauty and necessity of God’s moral law. How could the Holy Spirit convict me of my desperate need to repent and accept God’s grace without His rules spelled out in detail? It’s not a long-gone artifact of faith, but an eternal testament to God’s righteousness!
Realizing that my sins had been washed away, my love for God blossomed (1 John 4:19). Yet the more I studied His Word, the more I saw that sin devastated God’s heart. It was an unavoidable conclusion. I didn’t want to hurt Him any longer, or treat His law so lackadaisically. Grace has not only made me clean before the Father, it has enabled me to honor His Commandments so long as I cling to Jesus and His promises.
When we show God our real desire to stop sinning, real change begins. We experience true character-building—a real goal to reach for—a real purpose for living; something that grace without real responsibility won’t give us. (If you give a jobless person a job and a living wage, you will see real passion! But what happens when all you do is give money and walk away?) And that is why I am so passionate for God. His law, His government, has given me purpose to live, to work, and to die for.
God loves us. God has mercy. I count on that love and have faith in that mercy. I am aware of my sinful condition, but I have assurance that He is willing to forgive and that He will complete His work in me (Philippians 1:6). But I also believe He has a big problem with those who willfully defy His Commandments and pick and choose the details they will acknowledge. Can God allow someone into heaven who continues to recklessly defy Him? I think God would never want us to conclude that we love Him so much that we won’t worry about keeping His Commandments.
“So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty” (James 2:12).
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rainerann
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The sabbath is the ancient form of the 40 hour work week. There are many comparisons to this law that prevents your employer from forcing you to work 80 hours a week over the course of seven days. This is because the Torah creates a whole culture, and commanding rest for everyone including manservants and maidservants, was to be part of this culture. It wasn’t a commandment in the same way that thou shall not murder was a commandment, but it was a commandment that promoted a higher quality of treatment towards others. Throughout the history of the world, the concept of having a day to rest has only existed within the practice of the Torah, the modern world which includes labor laws, and for those who were wealthy enough to afford to rest everywhere else.
It is a presumption that people make that the sabbath was something harsh because they like to believe that their version of god is correct where they imagine that he doesn’t tell anyone what to do or when to rest as though this were the best way to lead a community to live at peace with each other, and it doesn’t work that way. Communities have to create boundaries so that people are treated fairly. The sabbath is a way of creating a boundary so that all people are treated fairly and given a day of rest including the servants and the animals. The sabbath is a manifestation of do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If it weren’t, the command would have been that only the priests could rest or only the men, but that is not what it says. It says everyone is to be allowed to rest and in a modern comparison, it would mean your boss would be guilty for making you do overtime.
In the modern world, we have ways of mitigating when things like this happen by creating different types of contracts between employers and employees so that an employee can agree to overtime with increased hourly rate or salary benefits because human nature seems to be inclined towards systems for accomplishing work that designates a leader managing the flow of work. When a person is in a position of leadership, there seems to be the temptation for pride that cause the oppression of those you are leading. Therefore, the sabbath is a practical solution that would prevent authoritarian oppression that is similar to many laws that exist today that are intended to do the same thing.
However, because most people think they have a better way of accomplishing this same goal, they object to the Bible rendition of the same means to an end, which is entirely the reason for the commandment as well. It is like the saying about the negative effects of having too many chiefs and not enough Indians. Nothing gets done if everyone is just sitting around thinking they have the better idea rather than using an idea that already exists that accomplishes the same goal. Basically, people object to the sabbath command because they want to reinvent the wheel and more than likely receive some kind of recognition for it.
Anyways, that is what the sabbath command is for. It has nothing to do with God wanting to make people into a race of puppets. It has everything to do with mitigating the source of oppression that is created by the development of positions of leadership which cannot be removed, and the sabbath allows and requires a community to coexist with an equal status. The poorest among them were equal to the richest among them on the sabbath. They were each given rest.
In the New Testament, this correlates to verses that say the first shall be last and vice verse. On the sabbath, the first were last and vice versa; I.e, they were all equal.
There are lots of things in the OT that would be very wise to adopt, but, as Gentiles under 100% Pure Grace, we're not under any obligation to do ANY of them. My favorites are the Jubile and letting the land lay fallow every 7th year. No usury sounds good, also
Hubert
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So you believe that God is a legalistic petty tyrant that wants us to follow his rules, because they are his, even though there might be a better or at least equally effective way to accomplish the same goal. Your version of God sucks.
Daciple
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Lol and you think that God, the one that created everything that exists doesnt know whats best for everything He created? You think that YOU know a better or equally effective way to accomplish things than God?
Your version of God sucks...
Hubert
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You're missing the point. I don't believe that god cares what day we worship on. What day of the week it is is a very human detail, it clearly came from men, not god. God is supposed to be eternal, omnipotent, and omniscient. Why would he care if he is worshiped at all, much less on what day of the week it is? People who insist on details like this turn god from an almighty creator into a tyrant.
KoncreteMind
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Sounds like you're worshiping a different entity than the One in the OT then...
What do you mean? The God of the Old testament is the same God of the New testament. He is the same God who gave Moses the ten commandments on two tablets of stone and is the same God who came on earth and obeyed the ten commandments and never sinned and was crucified on the cross for our sins.
KoncreteMind
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God of the OT: Eye for an Eye
God of the OT: I never change
God of the NT: Turn the other cheek
Sounds different to me....
Besides believing Jesus was God, I used to believe the same. But at the end of the day, the OT mentions God, but doesnt mention anyone named Jesus.
floss
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sometime, you gotta read between the line.
Isaiah 7:14 King James Version (KJV)
14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
They are the same God and He doesn't change. The Ten Commandments, God’s moral law represent His character and people of the Old covenant were under the law just as those of us of in the New covenant. With the old covenant they had a sacrificial system and the ceremonial laws which represented Jesus' death. Jesus’ fulfillment of the promise by His life and death on the cross is the new covenant.
There are at least 60 Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled by Christ in the New Testament. But there are more than 300 references to the Messiah in the Old Testament,
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