[TruthTalk] Saturday Sabbath

[Dean Moore]

----- Original Message ----- From: ShieldsFamily To: TruthTalk@mail.innglory.org Sent: 12/12/2005 9:57:25 AM Subject: RE: [TruthTalk] Blaine Autumn equinox Please tell us your view of resting on the Saturday Sabbath.  I hesitate to bring up the subject because of such stinking attitudes from some on TT.  iz cd: The attachment I sent with this mailer gives a lot of info on the Saturday Sabbath-but what summed it up for me was the words of Jesus in Matt. 24:16,20 In verse 16 he is speaking to those in "Judaea" (Jews) in verse 20 "But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter,neither on the Sabbath day". I had to ask myself which Sabbath would those in Judaea recognize? Also if one of the Commandments were removed from the bible wouldn't it make bible headlines and it does not do so-and why is Jesus making reference to it in the end days? Things acceptable to do on the sabbath-Works of piety (helping poor), works of necessity (things one cannot do on another day), and preaching the gospel.Hope this helps and know it usually makes the demons of hell scream-listen and you will hear their objection in just a little while.

Here's an article by a dear friend of ours, Dr. Daniel Botkin.

 

Kay

 

shalom

 

 

e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

 

"Remember the Sabbath, to Keep It Holy?" or "Forget the Sabbath, and Call It

Common?"

 

 

A Parable

One hot, summer day, my wife bought some delicious frozen yogurt. My

three-year old daughter, when she heard the word “yogurt,” immediately made

it clear that she did not want any. The only yogurt she had ever tasted was

the plain, sour kind. We tried to explain to her that this yogurt was

different. “You’ll like this yogurt,” we told her. “It tastes just like

raspberry ice cream.” In spite of our coaxing and pleading, she stubbornly

refused to taste it. I know exactly what was going on in her mind. She was

thinking, “Don’t talk to me about yogurt. I know what yogurt is. It’s plain

and it’s sour and I can’t stand it!”

 

Many Christians react in a similar way when they hear the word “Sabbath.”

They immediately make it clear that they want nothing to do with it. As one

writer observed, “The pulpit ignores Exodus 20. Even church members despise

the fourth command, ‘Remember the Sabbath day.’”[1] One reason for this

negative reaction to the Sabbath is because Christians associate the Sabbath

with the kind of man-made legalism of Jesus’ enemies. If we conducted a

word-association test and asked Christians to say the first thing that comes

to mind when they hear the word “sabbath,” many would probably respond with

words like “Pharisee,” “hypocrite,” or “legalist.” Just as the word yogurt

made a negative impression on my daughter’s mind, the word sabbath leaves a

sour taste in the minds of many Christians. “Don’t talk to me about the

Sabbath,” they say. “I know what the Sabbath is. It’s something that

Pharisees, hypocrites, and legalists are concerned about!”

 

When my daughter finally agreed to taste the raspberry yogurt, she

discovered that it was not at all what she had expected. Instead of being

distasteful, it was sweet and delightful.

 

“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.

The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold:

Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.” --- Pslam 19:7-10

 

Tradition

 

Judaism teaches that the seventh-day Sabbath was binding on Israel alone

(Melkita Shabb. 1; Jubilees 2:19-21, 31). Traditional Christianity teaches

the same thing. Is it possible that so many sincere people could possibly be

wrong for so many centuries? History shows that it is very possible. Judaism

’s refusal to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah demonstrates that sincere

Jews can be mistaken. Christianity’s shameful history of anti-Semitism and

persecution is evidence that sincere Christians can be mistaken. Our

beliefs, attitudes, and actions should be shaped by a proper understanding

of the Scriptures, not by the opinion of the majority.

 

As a young believer in 1973, I was first made aware of the Sabbath question

by a Seventh Day Adventist friend. (Adventists teach that all Christians

should observe the seventh day Sabbath). After reading some Adventists

literature and some anti-Adventist literature, I came to the conclusion that

the Adventists were mistaken. My conclusion was based primarily on a

superficial, faulty understanding of Col. 2:16 (“Let no man therefore judge

you…in respect of…the sabbath days”) and Rom. 14:5 (“One man esteemeth one

day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully

persuaded in his own mind”). I choose to do what most of my peers were

doing, and esteemed “every day alike.”

 

As I continued to seek God over the years, I experienced a nagging,

persistent urge to reexamine the Sabbath question. A decade of serious study

and prayer had produced a few major concerns that made me question the

decision that I had made ten years earlier. These concerns were too

important to ignore. Paul wrote, “Let every man be fully persuaded in his

own mind.” It was clear that I was not fully persuaded regarding this issue.

I had seven major concerns. Studying, thinking, and praying about these

seven areas helped me to be fully persuaded in my own mind. I present these

concerns and the conclusions they pointed me to. Perhaps they will others

who are uncertain about the Sabbath question.

 

Concern #1: The Ten Commandments

Most Christians do not consider the Sabbath to be one of the “weightier

matters of the law.” Yet it was important enough in God’s eyes to be

included in the “Top Ten.”[2] Furthermore, the Sabbath is the only one of

the Ten Commandments which is introduced with the word “Remember….” The

implication is that of all the Ten Commandments, this is the one that is

most likely to be ignored and forgotten. It is not make sense to forget the

Sabbath when it is the one command that God clearly said to remember. Any

Christian in his right mind will agree that God expects all true believers

to keep the other nine commands. What gives us a right to ignore the Sabbath

while declaring the other nine to be valid?

 

It is easy to ignore and forget the Sabbath in our culture today because it

is the only one of the Ten Commandments that will result in either the

threat of punishment by civil authorities, or the tarnishing of our

reputation in the eyes of others. The Sabbath commandment, because of this

uniqueness, can serve as a true test of obedience. Our obedience to the

Sabbath is motivated only by a desire to please the Father in all things.

 

Jesus said that the two most important commands are to love God and to love

our fellow man (Mt. 22:40). The first three commandments of the Decalogue

deal with our vertical relationship with God. The last six commandments of

the Decalogue deal with our horizontal relationship with our fellow man. The

fourth commandment of the Decalogue, the Sabbath, serves as the hinge which

binds our love for God and man together.

 

Obedience to the Sabbath expresses our love for both God and man. We are to

“keep it holy” because it is “the sabbath of the Lord.” This expresses our

love for God. The commandment also requires that we let others rest: sons,

daughters, servants, and strangers. This expresses our love for our fellow

man.

 

Concern #2: The Law

Many Christians feel free to ignore the Sabbath because it was part of the

law. Because we are “not under the law” many assume that we are free to

ignore the law.[3] The Sabbath law, however, existed before the law given at

Sinai (Gen. 2:2f; Ex. 16, esp. vss. 4, 28)[4] and it will continue to be

enforced in the near earth after the Lord’s return (Isa. 66:22f).[5] God

declared the Sabbath command to be “perpetual” and “for ever” (Ex. 16:31f),

i.e., not to be nullified or changed by man. Should the Sabbath be ignored

simply because God incorporated it into Israel’s law? The other nine

commands were also part of Israel’s law. What is the basis for rejecting the

Sabbath command but none of the other nine?

 

Concern #3: Sanctified by God

God Himself “blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it” (Gen. 2:3). He

chose it to be a special day for man to remember Him as Creator (Ex. 20:11)

and Redeemer (Deut. 5:15). While many people choose to “esteem every day

alike,” it is obvious that God does not. He chose to esteem the seventh day

above the others. While any day can be blessed and sanctified in one sense,

the seventh day is forever blessed and sanctified in a unique way.

 

Does man have a right to “unsanctify” something that was sanctified by God

at creation and will continue to be sanctified in the new earth? Peter was

told, “What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common” (Acts 10:15). This

statement was not referring directly to the Sabbath, but we would do well to

heed the principle of this statement in every area of our life: Do not call

something common if God has pronounced it holy.

 

Concern #4: A Gift for Man

Many Christians say that the seventh-day Sabbath was something legislated

for the Jews only. But Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made [not ‘legislated’]

for man [not ‘the Jews’]” (Mk. 2:27). The word translated “man” is the Greek

word anthropos (anqrwpoß), a generic term for all humanity, both Jew and

Gentile. The instructions on the tablets of the law made it clear that the

Sabbath was to be kept not only by the Jews, but also by the non-Jewish

“stranger [NIV, alien] that is within thy gates” (Ex. 20:10; Deut. 5:14).

Isaiah speaks of a special blessing for the non-Jewish strangers (NIV,

foreigners) who keep the Sabbath (Isa. 56:2-7).

 

It is clear that the Sabbath was not made for the Jews only. The Sabbath was

made for man. The Talmud pictures God describing it as “a precious gift in

My treasury, named Sabbath” (Shab. 10b). The Sabbath was meant to be a day

which man could use like an aeolian harp to accompany him as he sang with

joy the praises of his Creator. Man has taken that harp and thrown it down

in the mud. “I gave them my sabbaths…and my Sabbaths they greatly polluted”

(Ezk. 20:12f). To reject the offer of such a wonderful gift is to risk

offending the Giver.

 

Concern #5: Paul’s Epistles

Most of those who ignore the Sabbath depend very heavily upon the writings

of Paul.[6] Some want to discard the “Old Testament rules” and draw up a

list of “New Testament rules” based on the epistles. This ignores the

purpose of these letters. Paul’s writings, those inspired, were not meant to

be used to create a “new torah” to replace the “old torah.”

 

Much of the epistles’ content is corrective in nature. If we are to know

what Paul meant when he wrote to correct the believers of his day, we must

have some knowledge of the problems Paul was addressing. When Paul wrote his

letters, he had no need to spell out the nature of the problems he was

writing about. When he referred to something such as “baptism for the dead,”

his readers knew what he was referring to. We, however, are removed from the

situation of the readers Paul was addressing. As a result, we often have

only partial knowledge or no knowledge of the situation Paul was addressing.

If we ignore the historical background of the epistles, we may totally

misunderstand some of the things Paul says.[7]

 

Peter tells us that some of Paul’s writings are “hard to be understood” and

that the “unlearned and unstable” wrest them for their own destruction (2

Pet. 3:16). If it was easy for Paul’s contemporaries to misunderstand his

epistles, how much easier it must be for us to do so, with our limited

knowledge of the situations and problems Paul was addressing.

 

On the surface, it may appear from the epistles that Paul rejected any form

of law keeping, especially observance of days. Yet it is clear that he

himself kept the law (Acts 18:18; 21:24; 23:6; 25:8) and appealed to the Ten

Commandments as authoritative (Eph. 6:1-3; Rom. 13:9).

 

Paul’s criticism of the observance of days is probably best understood by a

comparison to Isaiah 1:11-15, where the Lord complains of Israel’s

sacrifices and sabbaths. Isaiah was not telling the people they should not

do these things --- these were the very things God had commanded them to do!

He was telling them to observe them in the proper way, with a pure heart. We

might paraphrase it, “If you’re not going to do it the right way, and with a

pure heart, don’t even bother. I’d rather you not do it at all if your heart

isn’t right.” We might, in a similar way, criticize unregenerate people who

get baptized or partake of the Lord’s Supper; our criticism, however, would

not reduce the importance of these acts for true believers. Any action,

including sabbath observance, is only meaningful if the heart is right with

God.

 

In Paul’s epistles there are verses that, when isolated from the rest of

Scripture and divorced from their historical setting, suggest the

possibility that we can ignore the Sabbath. However, I do not want to base

my beliefs and conduct on suggested possibilities. There is a principle in

Bible interpretation that says the obscure passages of Scripture must yield

to the clear passages. Theologians have written countless books and articles

dealing with Paul’s position on the Sabbath.[8] The fact that there is such

a wide variety of opinion among scholars tells us that Paul’s teaching on

the Sabbath is obscure. The obscure must yield to the clear.

 

One writer (a non-Sabbatarian) poses an important question: “If Sabbath

observance…is binding for present day Christians, should it not have been

equally so for the first generation of gentile Christians, and if who, why

did the apostles fail to teach this?”[9] The answer to this writer’s

question is found earlier in his own book, where it states, “The Sabbath was

so well-known in the Gentile world that early converts to Christianity

probably assumed it was incumbent on them unless they were told otherwise.”

[10] It other words, it is safe to assume that Gentile Christians were

already observing the seventh-day Sabbath.[11] Therefore, no written

correction was needed. The fact that we have no written record of the

apostles teaching Sabbath observance does not prove that it was not done.

 

Paul was a great man of God, but we must remember that we are to be

disciples of Jesus more than disciples of Paul. On the Day of Judgment, we

will not give an account to Paul. It is Jesus’ words that will judge us, not

Paul’s words. This is not to suggest that we can ignore the writings of

Paul. They are Holy Scripture, and when we are able to understand the true

meaning and intent of Paul’s words, we are obliged to obey them. But we must

not twist the writings of Paul in an effort to excuse ourselves from

obedience to the will of God. A.W. Tozer wrote, “Probably no other portion

of the Scriptures can compare with the Pauline epistles when it comes to

making artificial saints.”[12]

 

Concern #6: The New Covenant

Hundreds of years before Messiah, God promised that He would someday make a

new covenant with His people (Jer. 31:31-34). The New Covenant was

instituted by Jesus at the Last Supper (Mt. 26:28). The difference between

the New Covenant and the covenant made at Sinai is this: Under the Old

Covenant, the law was written on stone. Under the New Covenant, God says, “I

will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts” (Jer.

31:33). Many Christians mistakenly interpret this to mean that we need

nothing more than an inward law of “personal conscience” or “personal

convictions” for moral guidance. This belief results in the same kind of

moral anarchy we read about in the book of Judges, when “every man did that

which was right in his own eyes” (Jdg. 17:6).

 

The important question is this: When God says, “I will write My law on their

hearts,” what law is He referring to? The answer is found in 2 Corinthians

3, where Paul speaks of the contrast between the “tables of stone” and the

“fleshly tables of the heart.” It is significant that Paul refers to the

tables of the heart. If God says that the laws written on the tables of the

heart are to be His laws, and if He wrote His laws on stone tablets at

Sinai, does it not make sense that He would write the same ten laws on the

fleshly tables of our heart? The fact that so many Christians do attempt to

give a special place to one day in seven by Sunday Church attendance is an

indication that the Sabbath law is written on the fleshly table of the

heart. Though written on the heart, it is either misread or misunderstood by

most believers, partly because they are unaware of the origins of Sunday

observance.

 

It is unsafe to depend on nothing more than a subjective law of “personal

conviction” for moral guidance. We still need God’s laws. The good news of

the New Covenant is that God writes His laws in our inward parts, on our

hearts. This means that we are motivated by an inward desire to obey rather

than by outward compulsion. It is the difference between “the law of the

Spirit of life in Messiah Jesus” and “the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2).

This change of motivation causes the old system to fade way (2 Cor. 3:11).

Under the Old Covenant (“the oldness of the letter”), we felt forced to

obey, as slaves. Under the New Covenant (“the newness of the spirit”), we

want to obey, as sons. It is no longer “I have to obey,” but “I want to

obey.”

 

Augustine wrote, “The same law which was given by Moses becomes through

Jesus…grace and truth” (Enarr. In Ps. 32 Sermo 2:6). Under the New Covenant,

the Ten Commandments are transformed into ten promises to be believed and

embraced. This is especially clear in the Hebrew text. The words, lo tinaf

(@ant al), for example, can be understood as either a command (Don’t commit

adultery) or a future tense promise (You won’t commit adultery). Because the

law is written on your heart, you will not want to disobey. To do so would

go against your nature as a son of the New Covenant.

 

The ten laws that were written on stone at Sinai are now written on our

hearts. New Covenant people need God’s laws as much as Old Covenant people

did. A tamed horse needs the bridle as much as a wild stallion does. The

wild, rebellious horse will resist the Master’s bridle. Even after the

bridle is on, he will fight against it and resist its guidance. The horse

who has been tamed and broken will joyfully accept the bridle and humbly

submit to its guidance.

 

Concern #7: Shadow and Substance

Some people resist Sabbath observance by viewing the Sabbath as an Old

Testament type, or prophetic shadow, of the inward rest we experience in our

souls as a result of having our sins forgiven through the death of Jesus.

“Because the fulfillment has come,” they say, “we can ignore the type. Why

embrace the shadow (a weekly sabbath) when you already have the substance

(daily rest in the soul)?” The main weakness of this argument lies in the

fact that the inward rest of our souls is only a partial fulfillment of the

prophetic shadow. The Sabbath prefigures not only our present inward rest;

it also speaks of the future rest and restoration of the entire earth in the

age to come. Jews and early Christians understood this, and often referred

to the Sabbath as a foretaste of the age to come.[13] As pointed out

earlier, the Sabbath will still be observed in the new earth (Isa. 66:22f).

The inward rest which Jesus gives (Mt. 11:28f) is a wonderful thing, but it

is only a measure of the final, complete rest He will one day bring to the

world when He returns.

 

Even if we assume that our present inward rest is the complete and final

substance of the Sabbath (which it is not), would that we a reason to

discard the shadow? There are other acts of worship and obedience that we

practice which are shadows of an inward, spiritual reality. The most obvious

of these are baptism and the Lord’s Supper.[14] These are both outward

rituals (shadows) which serve as visible demonstrations and reminders of

inward realities that the believer experiences (substance). By baptism, we

demonstrate our identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of

the Lord (Rom. 6:3-5). By partaking of the Lord’s Supper, we “show the Lord’

s death till he comes” (1 Cor. 11:26). Very few Christians suggest that we

discard baptism and communion just because we inwardly experience the

realities that they symbolize.

 

We must be careful not to overlook the fact that our inward rest is, indeed,

a partial fulfillment of the Sabbath. It is a precious measure of the

substance, and we do not want to lose sight of the fact that the Sabbath is

not an end in itself, but a means to remind us each week that a complete and

final rest awaits us in God’s Kingdom.

 

Aesop’s fable of the dog with a bone has a lesson for us. The dog, seeing

his reflection in the water, thought it was another dog with a bigger bone.

When he barked to try to frighten the “other dog,” his bone fell into the

water and was lost. We must beware that we not lose the substance by

grasping at the shadow. We do not want to worship the Sabbath of the Lord

instead of the Lord of the Sabbath. Proper Sabbath observance, however, need

not result in losing the substance. Rather, it can serve to make us more

aware of the substance. The present, inward rest, and the future, global

rest, will be most appreciated by those who now embrace the shadow of that

substance.

 

Practical Implications and Guidelines

Keeping the Sabbath holy naturally raises questions about what kinds over

activities should and should not be done on the Sabbath. The Scriptures do

not provide a long list of regulations; therefore, there is a need for a

certain amount of liberty. The rabbis felt a need to compile a list of

Sabbath regulations that would deal with every situation imaginable.

Sabbath-breaking was one of the major sins that led to the Babylonian

captivity (Jer. 17:21-27; Ezk. 20:13, 16, 21, 24) so this reactionary move

was understandable. Unfortunately, this resulted in countless man-made

restrictions that made the Sabbath seem more of a burden than a blessing.

The Essenes, one of the most extreme groups, went so far as to forbid

defecating on the Sabbath.[15]

 

The Pharisees obscured God’s Sabbath by attaching man-made restrictions in

the name of legality. We do not want to make the same mistake, nor do we

want to go to the opposite extreme and strip the Sabbath of all restrictions

in the name of liberty. If we make the Sabbath nothing more than a holiday

of recreation instead of a holy day of rest, we will obscure the Sabbath as

much as the Pharisees did. We will be doing it in a different way, but the

result will be the same. The true meaning and purpose of the Sabbath will be

lost.

 

There are a few specific restrictions in the Scriptures which we must heed.

Each person must determine to what extent these Scriptural restrictions

apply in different areas of his or her life. In addition, we must remember

the principles Jesus taught about the Sabbath in Matthew 12. Genuine needs

for the health and wellbeing of a person overrule the Sabbath restrictions

(v. 3f). The work of a ministry is to continue on the Sabbath (v. 5). Acts

of mercy, such as healing, are lawful on the Sabbath (v. 7, 10, 12).

Unforeseen problems of an urgent nature overrule Sabbath restrictions (v.

11).

 

Keeping the Sabbath holy can be a delight instead of an inconvenience if we

make the necessary preparations ahead of time. By completing our shopping,

cooking, and house work on Friday (“the day of preparation”), we are free to

enjoy God’s Sabbath rest from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday.

 

Loss of the Sabbath

The Church’s abandonment of the seventh-day Sabbath is rooted in the

anti-Judaism of the post-apostolic Church Fathers. During the early years of

the Church, both Jewish and Gentile believers continued to worship in the

synagogues every Sabbath (Acts 13:42ff; 18:4). As tensions increased between

Christians and non-Christian Jews, the two communities drifted further

apart. After the death of the apostles, the Church Fathers wanted to

distance, differentiate, and divorce Christianity from Judaism as much as

possible. This led to the abandonment of things that made Christianity

appear “Jewish,” including the Sabbath.

 

Restoration of the Sabbath

Martin Luther said, “Learn from me how difficult a thing it is to throw off

errors which have been confirmed by the example of all the world, and which,

through long habit, have become second nature to us.” Luther failed to throw

off some very serious errors in his own thinking, but his message of

justification by faith was at least a beginning in God’s plan to restore the

Church to her former glory.

 

Since Luther’s time, God has continued to restore blessings to the Church,

blessings which were lost and buried under layers of manmade traditions. I

am persuaded that proper Sabbath observance is among those things which the

Lord intends to restore to His Church. Scripture shows that there is a

definite link between Sabbath observance and restoration (See Isa.

58:12-14). Keeping the Sabbath holy may be an important key to releasing the

Church from its “Babylonian captivity.”

 

The Church Fathers’ desire to rid Christianity of its “Jewish” elements was

a mistake. It not only alienated Jews who might otherwise have been drawn to

their Messiah, it also robbed the Church of great blessings, the Sabbath

being perhaps one of the greatest. As the Lord continues to restore lost

blessings and truths to the Church, let us be willing to recognize the

errors of our predecessors and humbly make the necessary adjustments in the

practice of our faith.

 

Dr. Daniel Botkin is editor of Gates Of Eden, The Botkin Bimonthly and is

congregational leader of Gates of Eden Messianic Congregation in East

Peoria, Illinois. You can contact him via his website at

www.gatesofeden.org.

 

NOTES

 

[1] Walter Chantry, Today’s Gospel: Authentic or Synthetic (Carlisle,

Pennsylvania: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1970), p. 39.

 

[2] Judaism regarded the Ten Commandments as representative of the entire

613 commands of the Torah. This idea was reinforced by the fact that it took

exactly 613 Hebrew letters (plus seven reserved for the rabbinic d’rabanan

precepts) to write the Ten Commandments on the tablets (Numbers Raba 18,

21). This high regard for the Decalogue was adopted by early Christians, who

used it as a model for moral instruction (Eph. 6:1-3; Rom 13:9).

 

[3] We are not “under the law” in the sense that we do not need to depend

upon our obedience to it as the means of our justification. “Do we, then,

nullify the law by faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law” (Rom. 3:13,

NIV).

 

As one writer puts it, “Christ has abolished the law as a method of

salvation but has established it as a standard for Christian conduct.”

Samuele Bacchiocchi, The Sabbath in the New Testament (Berrien Springs,

Michagan: University Printers, 1985) p. 159.

 

[4] The fact that the Sabbath is not mentioned between Genesis 2 and Exodus

16 is not proof that it was unknown before Moses. It is clear in the

Scriptures that the seventh-day weekly cycle was used before Moses (See Gen.

7:4, 10; 8:10, 12; 29:27; 50:10; Job 2:13). According to Jewish tradition,

the Sabbath was observed by Adam (Pirke de R. Eliezer 20), Abraham and Jacob

(T.B. Yoma 286; Gen. R. 60, 15), and the Israelites in Egypt (Ex. R. 7, 28;

5:18). Both Luther and Calvin believed that Adam kept a weekly Sabbath in

Eden. Calvin believed that Sabbath observance was probably known to the

patriarch (Comm. Ex. 16:5) but had nearly died out by the time of Moses

(Comm. Ex. 20:11).

 

[5] It is interesting that many church pastors present tithing as an

obligation for all believers today, even though tithing was part of the law.

If asked why believers living under the New Covenant are obligated to tithe,

these teachers will point out that the practice of tithing appears in the

Bible before the law was given. Because it existed before the law, they

argue, it is still binding. It is inconsistent to present tithing this way,

but ignore the seventh-day Sabbath.

 

[6] The texts most frequently used to dismiss the Sabbath are Col. 2:14-17;

Rom. 14:5; and Gal. 4:8-11. Space will not allow me to discuss these

particular verses here. I refer any honest seeker to the Appendis of Samuele

Bacchiocchi’s book, From Sabbath to Sunday: A Historical Investigation of

the Rise of Sunday Observance in Early Christianity (Rome: The Pontifical

Gregorian University Press, 1977). D.A. Carson’s book, From Sabbath to Lord’

s Day, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1982), also mentions commentators

who do not see these verses as referring to the Sabbath (p. 408, fn. 60).

 

[7] It is important to note that many subjects Paul addresses can be clearly

understood with no knowledge of the historical or cultural background.

Unfortunately, many things in Paul’s writings are unclear because of the

lack of historical information.

 

[8] J.A. Hessey, Sunday, Its Origin, History and Present Obligation (London,

1860), lists over 1,000 treatises on the Sabbath in his bibliography. S.

Bacchiocchi, From Sabbath to Sunday, lists scores of more recent

publications in his bibliography.

 

[9] D.A. Carson, From Sabbath to Lord’s Day, p. 393.

 

[10] Ibid., p. 128.

 

[11] See Acts 13:42, 44; 18:4, where Paul met with Gentiles on the Sabbath.

 

[12] Gems From Tozer (England: Send the Light Trust, 1969), p. 18.

 

[13] For example, see A.J. Heschel, The Sabbath, Its Meaning for the Modern

Man (New York: Farrar, Straus, and Young, 1951) p. 10; Theodore Friedman,

“The Sabbath: Anticipation of Redemption,” Judaism 16 (1967) p 445; The

Epistle of Barnabas, 15.

 

[14] Some may object by saying that these are New Testament rituals, whereas

the Sabbath is an Old Testament institution. However, both baptism and

communion had their origins in Old Testament rituals. Baptism was taken from

the ritual immersion of the [Torah], and the Lord’s Supper was taken from

the…Passover.

 

[15] It may well be that Paul was referring only to man-made restrictions

when he wrote, “Let no man therefore judge you…in respect of…the sabbath

days,” i.e., do not let others condemn you if you do not observe the Sabbath

according to man-made, rabbinical restrictions.

 

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

----

 

----------

"Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org

 

If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.