| (Copyright 2022) by James McBride (United Kingdom) |
|---|
| For Bible–believers a highlight of the week is sundown on Friday– in Bible terms the dawning of the weekly seventh-day Sabbath. A time to lay aside worldly pursuits, to focus on the spiritual essence of our being, to worship and learn from our great Creator and our Saviour. It is a day first set aside by God immediately following the creation of our first forefather and observed throughout time as a sign of our relationship with the creator of the material universe: ‘…the seventh day is a sabbath to Jehovah your God…For in six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all which is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; on account of this Jehovah blessed the sabbath day and sanctified it’ (Exodus 20:10-11). Sabbath is the God appointed memorial of His almighty creative power. For several centuries after the Flood (c.2300BC) mankind in general adhered to the true path, but with a gradual bend to idolatrous and often despotic practices. The descendants (Israel) of Abraham (who observed all God’s guiding principles: Genesis 26:5) were chosen to be the flag-bearer for the primeval way of truth. To protect the remembrance of the day God set the Sabbath at the heart of Israel’s Constitution, protected by legal boundaries (Numbers 15:32-35, Leviticus 20:9ff). Indeed, their failure to guard it resulted in invasion by a foreign aggressor, and their exile The Law—and especially the law on Sabbath observance—served to bind Israel’s allegiance to the one true God, though they all too often embraced idolatrous practices— with adverse consequences. By the first century of our era the religious establishment in Judaism had added burdensome strictures to the Sabbath law far beyond the written Law. Christian Observance Jesus—who is ‘…lord of the Sabbath’ (Mark 2:28)—restored its true significance and dismantled the harmful Pharisaic additions. While authenticating the written Mosaic law for mankind in general as a guide for life and governance, Jesus placed the Sabbath law in the context of those who through repentance and baptism would have God’s Spirit ’bearing witness’ in their minds (Romans 8:16). Christians are not ‘legally bound’ to the Sabbath law (though they joyfully embrace it) but will be held to account as to how — guided by the Word of God—they freely apply its principles in their daily lives. ‘Infants’ in the church must grow to maturity. The vast majority of Christians, as dictated by the Roman church— and as is universally known— abandoned the seventh day to observe the pagan Sunday. But God’s guiding Spirit in us is for now in an ‘embryo’ stage and must be carefully nourished by immersing ourselves in His Word, the written expression of His way, His thinking. Sabbath is our weekly ‘treat’, our rest from the daily grind, the refreshment of the weary human spirit, our dedicated time with our Father. Delight in it! ———————————————————————————————————- See James McBride’s other articles at: McBride, James – Church of God, Bismarck (church-of-god-bismarck.org) Reprinted with permission from: The Churches of God Outreach Ministries http://www.cgom.org/ ———————————————————————————————————- |
| Iron Sharpening Iron In regard to: Sabbath Rest Article by James McBride Comments by Laura Lee (Bismarck, North Dakota) |
|---|
| From the article: Christians are not ‘legally bound’ to the Sabbath law (though they joyfully embrace it) Honestly, I have no idea what he meant when he wrote this in an article about the Sabbath, however the law of God is binding on all people and the Sabbath Command is part of that law. |
| Iron Sharpening Iron In regard to: Sabbath Rest Article by James McBride Comments by Darwin Lee (Bismarck, North Dakota) |
|---|
| Sabbath Rest Command Such a good short article on why the Sabbath and need for it, then he ruins the message by saying we are not bound to keeping it even though Israel of old was bound to keeping it, as he makes it clear by scripture he quotes. If Christians are not legally bound to keeping the Sabbath laws, then why bother keeping them as says the mainstream “so called ‘Christian’ community”? So, they act on it, yet somehow, they recognize the value of keeping a “Sabbath” and make a day for one. It’s just not the one God says to keep because it’s so “Jewish”! He nullifies his own argument when he says Christians are not bound to that which God has made a law. Did he ever read the ten-commandment laws made clear in the “book of the law”? Number four to be exact. “Remember the sabbath to keep it holy”! Again, if not binding, why bother keeping it at all? Such utter nonsense! Can you imagine the state you are living in having the traffic laws as not mandatory and what madness that would result in? Most everyone would say you don’t have to keep them, guess what, “I can run red lights with impunity! Man, this is fun”! Well, for most people it’s fun for not keeping a Sabbath. One can do all sorts of fun things on Saturday-Sunday, hunting, fishing, gambling at the nearest casino, yada, yada, yada! Thank you, God, for not making it mandatory, praise the Lord! If you are one with that mind set, then repent and believe God when He says, “thou shalt”. Stop teaching lies. Anyone that teaches lies will not be a King and/or Priest for Christ in His coming kingdom. God will have nothing to do with liars. Make sure you are not one of them! |
| Iron Sharpening Iron In regard to: Sabbath Rest Article by James McBride Comments by Avram Yehoshua (Tulsa, Oklahoma) |
|---|
| Good article, but as both Laura and Darwin Lee present, if “Christians are not “legally bound” to keep the Sabbath law (though they joyfully embrace it),” as Mr. McBride writes, why keep it? The problem with Mr. McBride’s statement is his heretical theology that he has accepted from the Church: He’s not a Jew and so he doesn’t have to keep the Law. What he doesn’t realize is that he is part of the “Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16), and as such, all the laws and rules of Moses that apply to him (for there are many of the laws of Moses that apply to only women, or farmers, or Levites, etc., that don’t apply to him), but all the rules that apply to him, he is commanded by God to keep. Aside from various other laws that may or may not apply to you, there are Five Pillars of Mosaic Law that apply to all of us: Love of the God of Israel and Man The 7th Day Sabbath The Feasts of Israel The Mosaic Dietary laws Tithing Gentile Christians have been invited to come into the Commonwealth of Israel (Eph. 2:11f.; cf. Rom. 11:11f.), and as such, as bound by all the rules of Moses as their Christian lifestyle. This is not a question of salvation by keeping Mosaic Law, but once saved, does it matter if one sins? Why, of course it does. That’s not just my opinion, but also the Apostle Paul’s. Scripture says that Jesus never sinned (John 8:46; 2nd Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; 1st Peter 2:22; 1st John 3:5; cf. 1st Pet. 2:21-25), and it was Mosaic Law that judged Him sinless. Christians agree that Jesus never sinned. First though, to establish that I am not saying that Christians need to keep Mosaic Law to be saved, I want to state that there is nothing we can do to add to the Finished Work of Jesus on the Cross for our salvation. We can’t even say something like we’ll (also) keep the great commandment, to love God with all our heart. Only faith in Jesus can save us. Nothing can be added to His Finished Work. Anything added to it nullifies our salvation (cf. Gal. 5:4). Once saved though, does it matter if we sin? Paul is emphatic about that, saying, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” (Romans 6:1-3 NKJV) “Grace” is not a license to sin. Contrary to the Church, Paul teaches Two Streams of thought concerning Mosaic Law. One deals with salvation by faith in Jesus and the other deals with our Christian lifestyle. The Church only sees the former. Paul though, writes of the two Streams in Romans 3:20, but before we go there, my question to you is; “What is the New Testament’s specific definition of sin?” No one seems to know. Do you? If not, you might want to ask your pastor or other Christian friends, as a sort of quiz to see if they know because if we don’t know the New Testament’s specific definition of sin (after the Resurrection, as the Church teaches that Mosaic Law was nullified at the Cross for Christians), we can certainly be sinning in ignorance against the One we love, and most Christians are. Paul states in Romans 3:20: “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, FOR BY THE LAW IS THE KNOWLEDGE OF SIN.” (Romans 3:20 NKJV) The first phrase reflects Paul’s First Stream: No amount of good works, which Paul calls the “deeds of the law,” can justify a man, but once justified, the Law comes to the forefront as God’s Christian lifestyle, because Paul says “for by the law is the KNOWLEDGE of sin.” In other words, without the Law and it saying to keep the Sabbath day holy and to celebrate Passover, and not to eat unclean animals such as the pig, one is left without that divine knowledge of what is sin in God’s eyes. Interestingly enough the word for knowledge in Greek is gnosis, but Paul places a prefix on it (epi) to make it epignosis, which means “FULL knowledge.” In other words, according to the Apostle Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles (Rom. 11:13), without Mosaic Law’s rules, ordinances, and commandments, etc., Christians are walking in less than the full knowledge of what God considers sin and consequently, what God considers a holy Christian lifestyle. Remember, Jesus was judged sinless according to Mosaic Law. That was God’s Standard for His Son, and it’s our Standard also, despite the Church teaching against Mosaic Law. Paul said in Greek, “for by the Law is the FULL knowledge of sin.” Christians know not to steal or murder, and to love God and neighbor with all their heart, but without the Law they transgress the Sabbath and the Feasts of Israel, and they eat foods that were sin for Jesus, and according to Paul, are sin for us. Paul confirms this Second Stream on Mosaic Law in the same Letter to the Romans by saying that the Law is holy and spiritual: “Therefore the law is HOLY, and the commandment holy and just and good…For we KNOW that the law is SPIRITUAL, but I am carnal, sold under sin” (Romans 7:12, 14 NKJV). Why would Paul do that and not say that we don’t have to keep it, if what the Church teaches is true? I’d like to suggest that you read two short (2 page) articles of mine, a longer article, and my free online book on this issue of Christian lifestyle: A Snapshot of Church History and Mosaic Law at http://seedofabraham.net/A-Snapshot-of-Church-History-and-Mosaic-Law.pdf and 2. The Two Triangles of the NT at http://seedofabraham.net/The-Two-Triangles-of-the-NT.pdf 3. Law 102 at http://seedofabraham.net/Law-102.pdf and my book, 4. The Lifting of the Veil—Acts 15:20-21 at http://seedofabraham.net/The-Lifting-of-the-Veil.pdf. A further point I want to make concerning the New Testament and Mosaic Law is that in Jeremiah 31:31-34, the only place in all the Old Testament that literally speaks of the “New Covenant,” the Lord declares that He wants to place Mosaic Law on our hearts and minds: “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” (Jeremiah 31:33 NKJV) The Hebrew word for “law” in Jer. 31:33 is Torah, which is Mosaic Law; not just the Ten Commandments. This is confirmed twice in the New Testament in Hebrews 8:10 and 10:16: “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My LAWS in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Hebrews 8:10 NKJV) and “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My LAWS into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them.” (Hebrews 10:16 NKJV). See Mosaic Law and the Ten at http://seedofabraham.net/Mosaic-Law-and-the-Ten.pdf from another perspective as to why it’s Mosaic Law and not just the Ten Commandments) God’s definition of disobedience is found in Mt. 5:17-19; Rom. 3:20 and 1st John 3:4. Mosaic Law is God’s Way for Christians to walk out their faith in His Son. It’s only through Mosaic Law that one can FULLY know what is sin and consequently, what is God’s lifestyle for us, as it was for Jesus and all His Apostles including Paul, who said, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (1st Corinthians 11:1 NKJV; cf. 1st John 2:6). You cannot imitate Christ without keeping Mosaic Law as your Christian lifestyle. The New Covenant is for Israel. There were no Gentiles mentioned in Jeremiah 31:31-34, but they are mentioned in Isaiah 49:6. In relation to the Father speaking to His Son, He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant too raise up the Tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will also give You as a Light to the Gentiles that You should be My salvation to the ends of the Earth.” (Isaiah 49:6) The Gentiles are part of Israel, and as such, they need to follow all the rules of Moses that apply to any one of them, just as we Jewish Christians do, except for Gentile circumcision, which is the only rule of Moses that male Gentile Christians must not follow. For why that is, please see my article, Gentile Circumcision? at http://seedofabraham.net/Gentile-Circumcision.pdf. After all, we don’t want to be like the Pharisees. Jesus said of them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition” (Mark 7:9). Most Christians today are Pharisaic Christians; keeping the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church, watered down by the Protestant churches, but traditions none the less, of both theology and practice, that nullify God’s New Testament lifestyle for them. |
Views: 9
Sign up to Receive [The "New" Church of God Messenger] weekly newsletter: