| My family have been blessed by a day
of rest. We don't look at the school books (the children like that), we
stop our daily routine of work, and lay aside the common chores and
devote the day to spiritual nourishment. We talk, pray, study the Bible,
walk or drive in nature, visit with other like-minded people, and
sometimes visit neighbors, take gifts to people etc. We don't consider
"keeping the Sabbath" legalistic, but vital to strengthen our walk, and
faith in Christ.
Saved Jews in the Old Testament were
saved by faith.
No Jew in the old testament was saved by works. Ro 3:20 “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. Hebrews 11 speaks of the faith of
Samuel, David, Moses, Jacob, Isaac, etc. and Romans 4:3 says of Abraham
the father of the Jewish nation, “... Abraham believed God, and it was
counted unto him for righteousness.” All of these people kept Saturday
as Sabbath. So, it seems to me that keeping Saturday or Sunday is not
what determines if someone is trying to earn their salvation or not,
instead, the issue has to do with motives. Should we say that someone is
trying to be saved by works because they honor their father and mother,
keeping the fifth commandment? Of course not. Then why should we say
when someone keeps the 4th commandment as it is written, on Saturday,
they are trying to earn salvation by works?
Levitical laws
Concerning the levitical laws, it is obvious that not all the laws in
Leviticus are in the same category. Some are still to be kept and others
are not.
Safety and human relations
Some of the laws are dealing with safety and our relations with one
another. They are an expansion of the ten commandments. For example:
Having railings around our rooftops, and taking responsibility for our
animals behavior. If our cow hurts someone, or someone else's animal.
These principles still stand today, just the application of them may
vary according to circumstances.
Civil laws
Other laws are purely civil, having to do with the governing of a civil
government. Today God's church is international, and these laws
obviously don't apply.
Laws of Health and Hygiene
Other laws have to do with hygiene and health. These principles still
apply today, and only the application of them varies depending on
circumstances.
Shadows of things to come (days,
months, times, and years)
Still another class of laws are those established to teach the people
about the different events in the plan of Redemption. The Passover is a
good example. It illustrated the sacrifice of Christ, and not only that,
but the exact date when that would take place. (Christ died on the
Passover) These shadows of things to come were instituted because of
sin, and revealed the plan to deal with sin. These are what Colossians
2:14-17 (“...nailed to the cross...”) is speaking of, as well as
Galations 4:9-11
Moral Law – the standard of
Righteousness. It is still binding
The moral law, the ten commandments is the very standard of
Righteousness, and God's character ("the law is holy just and good." Rom
7:12). It existed before sin. There was never a time when it was ok for
man to kill, steal, take God's name in vain etc. So it is only obvious
that this law is still binding on Christians today. Even Paul, a
champion of Righteousness by faith, said “Do we then make void the law
through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” (Ro 3:31)
Sabbath existed before any Jew, it was created at the creation of the
world
But there is one more thing. The Sabbath commandment says “remember”. It
was something they already knew. When did it come into existence? The
commandment goes on to say, “for in six days the Lord made heaven and
earth...” God points to the origin of the Sabbath as being at creation.
Before there was sin, or the need for a Saviour. It had nothing to do
with working to be saved, for man was not lost yet. Genesis 2 speaks of
the Sabbath. It was a day of the week, created specifically for rest in
God.
Saturday was the day Christ Rested
after Creating the World
What is this rest? Genesis 2:2, 3 says “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.” (Ge 2:2-3)
Saturday, the 7th day Sabbath is the
Lord's day, in honor of His Creative Power
This rest day was not because God was tired. Rather, it was blessed and
set up as a memorial of Creation. It commemorated Christ's creative
power (for God created all things by Christ). It was Christ's day, the
“Lord's day”. And it was the day Christ rested in the tomb after
accomplishing the work on earth for our salvation. It would not be
appropriate to celebrate American independence day on any other day than
the fourth of July, because we can not change the day significant things
happened in our history. Neither can we change the day Christ rested
from creating this world. And there is not one scripture that authorizes
a change in the Sabbath. I would not expect the president to drop his
activities to meet my convenience to meet with me. I would expect to
re-arrange my schedule around his. How much more ought we to meet God's
schedule?
Sabbath is about Resting from our Works
The Sabbath is all about resting from our own works, chores, activities
and and spending time with our creator, thus allowing him to recreate
us, transforming our minds into His image. How anyone can get
righteousness by works from this is difficult for me to see. |
