Jesus, Our Example for What?

When Jesus was on earth, He lived a sinless life. Some say and even teach that because Jesus lived a sinless life, we can do the same. But is that true? Does Jesus really expect us to? My position is that He does not!

Firstly, Jesus is God. Jesus, as man, did not have a sinful nature so He could not sin. Humans are born with a sinful nature and will continue to sin as long as they have a sinful nature. In essence, Jesus did not come to show us how we can live a sinless life, He came to live it for us.

The Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) church teaches that in the incarnation, Jesus came to show us how to keep God’s law perfectly, and “he took upon Himself fallen, suffering human nature, degraded and defiled by sin,” possessing neither omniscience nor omnipresence. (Christ’s Humiliation by Ellen G. White, The Youth’s Instructor, December 20, 1900). (emphasis mine)  In disagreement, I submit that the Bible Says that Jesus came to live a perfect life, be crucified, die and rise again so that He might imput His gift of righteousness to all who believe and have faith in Him.

SDA’s encourage their congregants to attempt the impossible by trying to be ‘good enough’ to make it to heaven. It is true that Jesus left us (believers) an example to follow, but what was it? I submit to you that Jesus left His believers an example showing them how to:

Do good. (Acts 10:38

Love. (1 John 4:16-17)
Live to glorify God (1 Cor. 10:31)
Preach the Gospel (Mark 16:15)

Show humility. (John 13:14)

Give of self (self-sacrifice). (1 John 3:16-18)

Patiently endure suffering. (1 Peter 2:21)

Be totally dependent on the Father. (John 5:30)

Be led by the Spirit. (Luke 4:1)

Be prayerful. (Matthew 6:9-13)

Be forgiving.  (Luke 23:34)

A valid question SDAs always propose is, “Didn’t Jesus leave us an example to go into the synagogue on the Sabbath day since it was His custom?” Well, firstly, Jesus went into the synagogue every Sabbath to teach because He was born a Jew and under Jewish law.  Secondly, the written law was given to Israel and not Gentiles. Gentile Christians did not and never have had the written law. Gentiles were foreigners to the law. (see Ephesians 2:11-13) And thirdly, when Jesus died on the Cross, He fulfilled the law in its entirety and He (a Person) is now our Sabbath rest. 

Mattthew 11:28 reads, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (emphasis mine)

A day has no power to ‘give’ rest but it can be ‘set aside’ for rest. Only Jesus (a Person) can give rest IF we believe His Word. 

When we come to Christ and are born again, we are born of the Spirit and we are led by the Spirit. The function of the Spirit is to lead and guide us into all truth. The Spirit also empowers us to do His bidding, thus no need for the written law.  Galatians 5:18  (NIV) reads, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.’

Again, some SDAs make outlandish statements by saying that when believers say they are not under the law, they are lawless and are free to do whatsoever they desire. This is absurdity at its best. A living Spirit is leading, guiding and empowering believers – not written laws that can only point out sin and has no power to empower nor save.

The Spirit-led life is about inward change. It’s not about a legalistic list of do’s and don’ts to be checked off twice to see if we’ve been naughty or nice. It’s about love, forgiveness, being kind, caring, humility, self-sacrificing, suffering patiently, praying, being led by the Spirit and being completely dependent on the Father, etc. It’s about the ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ against such there is no law. The ‘work’ we are suppose to do is to love God and love others.

Every example Jesus left for us to emulate has to do with doing good, helping others and being a good example in pointing them to the Father. No where did Jesus tell us to live a sinless life because the truth is, we can’t in our sinful nature. Any goodness or righteousness we possess comes as a result of our faith in the death, burial and resurrection of our Savior. His righteousness becomes ours.

The Bible Says...

CHRIST IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS! I Cor. 1:30 (NIV) reads, ”It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.”

Christ lived for us; Christ died for us; Christ rose from the grave for us and Christ wants us to accept what He has already done for us.

In the end, we shall be rewarded according to how well or how little we loved others – not according to what day we worshipped on. 

The Bible Says....

Matthew 25:37-40 (NIV) reads:

37 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'  40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

Take your worry, your pain, your guilt, and your restlessness to Jesus. He loves you and He bids you to come to Him to find rest for your soul. It is not about what you can do but it’s about what He has already done for you. I invite you to take your burdens to the Lord and leave them there.

No Record of Jesus Keeping the Sabbath After His Resurrection

Jesus kept the Sabbath because He was born a Jew and under Jewish law. When He died and rose again, ushering in the New Covenant, according to the Bible He was on earth 40 days after His resurrection  before His ascension. 

Under the New Covenant, God changed the 7th day of rest to TODAY.  Hebrews 4:4-9 

4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: "And on the seventh day God rested from all his work." 5 And again in the passage above he says, "They shall never enter my rest." 6 It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. 7 Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day.
 
According to the above text, the first day God set for rest was the 7th day, then God AGAIN set a certain day, calling it TODAY. 

After Pentecost, the new believers worshiipped DAILY.  Acts 2:46 reads... 

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 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, 47. being saved those who were daily and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number  praising God. (emphasis mine)  

My question is: Why is there no record of Jesus keeping the 7th day Sabbath after His resurrection? During the forty days He was on earth, it is recorded that He spoke with a group of about 500, He visited with His eleven disciples, He visited James, etc. but no record of Him keeping the weekly Sabbath; no record of Him even entering the synagogue. Is it possible that 'TODAY" became effective upon His resurrection? 
If we are to follow His "example" in all things, why not this? 

Just wondering. 

(There were 255 responses to this article on Facebook. The link is: https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=144767535588994)

Human Reasoning Vs. The Bible by Heidi Burks

I'm sure we've all heard that we should take what the Bible says on a subject and not resort to human reasoning, but that's easier said than done.  Often, it's hard to sort out what is just a "good story" or what is actually in the Bible.  Just because something makes sense and sounds good doesn't mean it is Biblically supported.  If the Bible talks about the subject then we need to first look at what the Bible says while putting aside our own preconceptions and the "good stories" we've heard.  That's not to say that they aren't necessarily true - but when we read the Bible we shouldn't be doing so with the purpose of making our beliefs work.  If we do that, we can take texts completely out of context and twist them to say whatever we want.

Here are some examples of human reasoning (or "good stories") versus what the Bible actually says on the subject.

The 10 Commandments - Human reasoning says, "They were written on stone so God must have meant for them to last forever," "God spoke them with His voice, so we should pay attention to what God has deemed important," "They are God's perfect, royal, eternal law - they existed before the world was made and will continue to exist in heaven."  While these all seem like good arguments and they make sense (for the most part), there are some problems with them.  I haven't found a single text in the Bible to prove these assertions.  On the contrary, when we look at the Bible DOES tell us about the 10 Commandments, we get a completely different picture.  Over and over again, they were called the words of the old covenant or the tables of the covenant, and the new covenant has replaced the old covenant.

The Law - Human reasoning says, "God divided up the old covenant laws into moral, ceremonial, and civil.  Only the moral laws carry over" - in otherwords, "Only the 10 Commandments carry over."  The Bible, however, doesn't separate them.  It is "the law" - not "the laws".  And it intermittantly uses "Moses' law" and "the Lord's law" when talking about the law (one great example is Luke 2:22-24 & 39).  Contrary to popular belief, the 10 Commandments aren't "The Law of the Lord" and the "rest" of the law considered "the Law of Moses."  That is human reasoning and not what the Bible teaches.

The Sabbath - Human reasoning says, "The Sabbath was instituted at Creation.  Adam and Eve kept the Sabbath.  The patriarchs kept the Sabbath."  The Bible tells us otherwise.  The Bible doesn't mention the Sabbath until the time of Moses.  Multiple verses put the giving of the Sabbath at Sinai - not creation.  Yes, the Sabbath was given to the Israelites as a reminder that God was their Creator, but it was also given as a reminder that God delivered them from Egypt.  There is no Biblical record of anyone before Moses' time keeping the Sabbath.

Wine - Human reasoning says, "Wine is bad - God couldn't possibly have endorsed drinking wine.  All positive mentions of 'wine' in the Bible must refer to grape juice."  This is a prime example of humans reading things into the text.  I've had someone ask me - "You couldn't POSSIBLY think Jesus actually turned water into alcoholic wine?!?!?"  Well, yes, actually I do.  The Bible tells us it was wine, and it tells us that the custom was to bring out the best stuff first and save the poorer quality for later when the guests were too drunk to notice.

These are just a few examples (and since I've written on these subjects before, I'm not including the texts here, but I would be happy to provide them if you want).  If we are Christian like we claim to be then the Bible should be our authority.  We need to make sure that our beliefs line up with what the Bible says, and not try to force the Bible to match our beliefs.

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=197312573614179  - Biblical references here.

The Sign of God: My Rebuttal

THE SIGN OF GOD.

by Rodney A. Brown Sr.

Rebuttal by Patricia Allen

10/17/2010

3/23/2011

 "Thought Nugget" #99
by Rodney A. Brown Sr.

(For your understanding and convenience, the words to Rodney's article is in black and my response is in red)

My rebuttal is based on the Bible premise that the Gentiles never had the written law. Therefore, the law that was given to the children of Israel was exclusively for them. The Bible Says in Ephesians 2:11-13…

"Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)-- 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ."

The Bible Says in Romans 2:14-15…

14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, 15 since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)

We cannot take another nation's laws and apply them to us. Everything in the Bible is not written specifically for all people although we can benefit and learn from their experience.

The Sabbath has always been God's sign! It is the one true thing that identifies Him as being able to create something from nothing!

The Sabbath was a sign of the Old Covenant God made with the Israelites. The Sabbath and the Old Covenant had their origin in the wilderness. Any information other than this is 'adding' to the Scriptures.

It sets Him apart from every other god! None other can boast of this!

God as Creator sets Him apart from every other god, not a day!

This is why it is so important that we commemorate it in honor of Him.

When understanding the true meaning of the Sabbath, you begin to realize that God would never remove this sign!!!

As God, He can and will do as He pleases and we don't have to understand it. We cannot place boundaries around Him like 'God would never."

Why would He? Why & how could Jesus replace the sign that says that God is the true God?

Why would He? Because He had something better in mind for all people and not just the Israelites. He fulfilled the Old Covenant and after His death and resurrection, He introduced the New Covenant which is for ALL who believes (no exclusivity clause).

 Notice how these are phrased...

 Ezekiel 20:12 "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."

'them' is referring to the children of Israel.

Exodus 31:16-17 reads:

16 The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. 17 It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested.'"

Take note that Sabbath is singular in the above text.

Exodus 31:13 "Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, 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."

This text reiterates the fact that God was speaking to the Israelites regarding the Sabbaths He gave them. Please note that even though this text says Sabbaths, it is referring to the weekly Sabbath because the weekly Sabbath is the sign. Sabbaths and Sabbath can be used interchangeably.

Ezekiel 20:20 "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."

Hebrew #7676 Shabbath as a noun means 'the Sabbath." (11) The prophets rebuked Israel for their neglect of the sabbath (Isa. 1:13; Jer. 17:21-27; Eze. 20:12-24; Amos 8:5) Again, Sabbath and Sabbaths are used interchangeably.

Exodus 31:17 "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."

Hebrew #7673 Shabath is the verb meaning "to rest, cease." Shabath first occurs in Genesis 2:2-3: "And on the seventh day God ended His work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had made….." Genesis 2 only says that God rested (the verb Shabath) and it does not refer to the noun Shabbath (#7676), meaning 'the Sabbath."

Even if the Sabbath were still effective, according to the Bible it is for the children of Israel. Also the Bible says HE RESTED; nothing about Adam, Eve and the animals joining Him. To say otherwise is 'adding' to Scripture.

The Sabbath is about God being God! And for us to recognize that!

The Sabbath is about recognizing day of rest for people who had been in slavery for over 400 years. According to Deut. 5:12-15 says….

12 "Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do. 15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

We, Gentiles were not Egyptian slaves so there is no need for Christians to recognize it.

 Jesus did not & could not replace that particular sign!

Jesus as Sovereign God has, can and will do anything He chooses. We are subject to Him. He in fact did change the sign in the New Covenant to the Lord's Supper. Instead of remembering the Sabbath, He said 'this do in REMEMBRANCE of me".

 Why would He want to? What would be the purpose of that?

He wanted to make a change because He had a mystery that in due time He would reveal. The Israelites knew that one day the Gentiles would be invited into the fold but what they didn't know is that the Gentiles would be on equal footing with them because of the Cross. So before the rest of the world would be allowed to become a part of the fold, Jesus had to fulfill all of the laws given to Israel because Gentiles would not be subject to them. Gentiles never had the written law and God did not want to subject them to stone that could only point out sin but couldn't save. The New Covenant is about believing the Gospel and having faith in God.

Creation is the only physical evidence that mankind has that proves God's supremeness!

NOTHING that Christ did while living, dying, or rising from the dead, was applicable, or able to take this honor from His Father! 

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are supreme.

Think about it friends!... 

The Sabbath is not about rest alone! It is much more than that! It is about worshiping & honoring the only God that can create something from nothing!

The Sabbath, when given to the Israelites, was all about rest. In fact, initially they were told not to even leave their tents on the Sabbath.  The Sabbath was a day of worship as well as a day of refreshment for man.

Furthermore, God makes it plain that the Sabbath will NEVER end!... 

(KJV) Isaiah 66:22-23 "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. 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."

In Hebrews 4:7 (NLT), the Sabbath or day or rest was changed to TODAY! "So God set another time for entering His rest and that time is today."

That means continuous rest. According to the above text it says 'from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD." From one thing to another means all the time in between. Example: from one Sabbath to another means all the days in between (Monday – Friday) until you reach Sabbath again.

(NIV) Isaiah 66:22-23 "As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me," declares the Lord, "so will your name and descendants endure. From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me," says the Lord."

The Bible also says in Rev. 22:5 NIV, "5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever." This means there will be no separation of day and night, therefore, no ability to keep or need to keep track of a literal seven day week. According to 1 Cor. 13:13 (NLT) only three things will last forever: faith, hope and love.

Does this sound like Jesus did away with the Sabbath? Absolutely NOT!

Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30: 28: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Jesus is giving us spiritual rest – no need to work for our salvation by trying to keep laws that He kept for us; No need of trying to measure up and be perfect. Don't know about you but that is rest for my soul and better than physical rest any day.

Jesus is now our Sabbath rest and it is our privilege to worship and commune with Him every day. It's not about a day like under the Old Covenant. Under the New Covenant, it's ALL about a person, Jesus! 

As a matter of fact, Jesus prophesied concerning the destruction of Jerusalem which was to take place almost 40 years after His death, by saying in Matthew 24:20 "But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:"

NOTE: Remember! Jerusalem was not destroyed until AD 70. But yet, Jesus was still calling respect to the Sabbath day!

Bear in mind that Jesus is talking to the Jews. There's nothing in Matthew 24:20 that promotes 7^th day worship. All Jews did not become Christians so those that didn't still worshipped on the Sabbath. Back then, it is my understanding that the gates to the city were locked on the Sabbath to prevent merchants from bringing their goods in to sell on the Sabbath. If the destruction of Jerusalem came on the Sabbath, the gates would be locked and the people could not escape. This verse is not giving the Sabbath a plug to keep it holy.

Also, keep in mind that out of all the years that Jesus preached & taught, He never once spoke of the Sabbath being changed, or done away with in the future! And why, if the Sabbath had been no longer in existence, did Paul and others even refer to a day as Sabbath?

The Law or Torah, which included the Ten Commandments were given UNTIL the seed came and the Seed was Christ. He came and fulfilled the law and the prophets. The law had its beginning at Sinai and ended when Jesus died and rose again. He said He came to fulfill which says that once it was fulfilled, its no longer effective. Just like a marriage vow 'until death do us part'. If one partner dies, the contract didn't change but was fulfilled and the other person is no longer bound to that covenant and is free to remarry or remain single. UNTIL is an important word.

When the Apostles referred to the Sabbath, it was always when addressing a Jewish audience. Sometimes they used the law (Torah) to remind them that if they insisted on keeping the law, they were obligated to keep it in its entirety. If they broke one law, they were guilty of breaking them all.

Clearly, it still remains! Without being changed, or taken away, God's Holy Seventh Day Sabbath STILL REMAINS!!!

The Israelites 7^th day Sabbath has never been binding on Gentiles. For the Israelites it was the 7^th day; for Christians it is TODAY!

Hebrews 4:4-10 NIV

⁴ For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: "And on the seventh day God rested from all his work." ⁵ And again in the passage above he says, "They shall never enter my rest." ⁶ It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. ⁷ Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before:
"Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." ⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. ⁹ There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ¹⁰ for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his."

Notice the word AGAIN in verse 7. He set the 7^th day at first and now He is changing it to TODAY!

Ecclesiastes 3:14 "I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him."

'Forever' means until fulfillment. The only thing that will last forever is faith, hope and love.

 1 Chronicles 17:27 "Now therefore let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may be before thee for ever: for thou blessest, O LORD, and it shall be blessed for ever."

 Note same as above.

Most who attempt to prove it done away with, use the text in Colossians 2:16 "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]:"

This is referring to the Jewish Sabbath days (that were held on dates, and not on a day of the week) involved & included in the ceremonial law of Moses that was nailed & abolished on the cross of Jesus!

There is no difference between the Law of Moses and the Law of God. They are used interchangeably because God is the author of the entire law, the Torah. Exodus 24:12 reads: "12 The LORD said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commands I have written for their instruction."

As noted in previous comments, Sabbath and Sabbaths can be used interchangeably. The weekly Sabbath and the other Sabbaths are all ceremonial in nature. The Bible says, "Remember the Sabbath day to KEEP IT holy." The word 'Keep' means: to mark (a day or event) with ceremonies or respect, festivity, or rejoicing; celebrate, commemorate, observe, solemnize.

Please read Leviticus 23.  According to Leviticus 23, the weekly Sabbath was the first of the feasts mentioned. All the Sabbaths following were also called holy days or convocations and the people were instructed to not do any work. The weekly Sabbath had its rituals just like the other Sabbaths mentioned. It's interesting that you say the weekly Sabbath isn't considered ceremonial like the other Sabbaths when it is ceremonial in nature as the others. Also Samuel Bacchiocchi, the Sabbath champion for the SDA church and known by prominent scholars all over, has proven that Col. 2:16 is indeed referencing the weekly Sabbath, thereby going against the teachings of his church.

Also earlier Exodus 31:13 was quoted as saying, "12 Then the LORD said to Moses, 13 "Say to the Israelites, 'You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy."

Colossians 2:16 in The Greek Dictionary of the New Testament says: (10a) Col. 2:16, 'sabbath days', where it is listed among things that 'were a shadow of the things to come". (i.e., of the age introduced at Pentecost) and in (10b) Heb. 4:4-11, where the perpetual sabbatismos is appointed for believers.

In the early church, the new believers worshipped and communed DAILY! Acts 2:46-47 reads: "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, 47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Barnes Commentary:

Or of the Sabbath days - Greek, "of the Sabbaths." The word Sabbath in the Old Testament is applied not only to the seventh day, but to all the days of holy rest that were observed by the Hebrews, and particularly to the beginning and close of their great festivals. There is, doubtless, reference to those days in this place, since the word is used in the plural number, and the apostle does not refer particularly to the Sabbath properly so called. There is no evidence from this passage that he would teach that there was no obligation to observe any holy time, for there is not the slightest reason to believe that he meant to teach that one of the ten commandments had ceased to be binding on mankind. If he had used the word in the singular number - "the Sabbath," it would then, of course, have been clear that he meant to teach that that commandment had ceased to be binding, and that a Sabbath was no longer to be observed. But the use of the term in the plural number, and the connection, show that he had his eye on the great number of days which were observed by the Hebrews as festivals, as a part of their ceremonial and typical law, and not to the moral law, or the Ten Commandments. No part of the moral law - no one of the ten commandments could be spoken of as "a shadow of good things to come." These commandments are, from the nature of moral law, of perpetual and universal obligation." 

Nowhere in the entire Bible does it state that God's Holy Sabbath day was done away with!!!

OTHER BIBLICAL CONSIDERATIONS RELEVANT TO COLOSSIANS 2:14-17

Sabbatarians attempt to discredit the fact that this Sabbath is the Weekly Sabbath by saying that Paul used  the  plural form of the word, which would signify the numerous ceremonial sabbaths.  This attempt to evade the plain meaning of  the passage doesn't work because  there are about 20 other places  in Scripture where  the plural form  of  the word Sabbath, Sabbaton,  is used where  context demands  the meaning be  the Weekly Sabbath.  The Greeks didn't have the same concern over plural versus singular forms of words that is found in the English language.

The sentence structure FESTIVAL, NEW MOON, SABBATH is a phrase used in the Hebrew to imply the three aspects of Jewish  festival structure and designates  the order of ANNUAL, MONTHLY, WEEKLY.   This same annual, monthly  and  weekly  sequence  appears  five  times  in  the  Septuagint—i.e.,  2  Chron.  2:4;  31:3;  Neh. 10:33; Ezek. 45:17; Hosea 2:11.   All  through  the history of  the  Israelites we have Annual Sabbaths, Monthly Sabbaths, and Weekly Sabbaths.  If the word Sabbath as used here (Colossians 2:16) means monthly Sabbaths, the sentence would read, "Annual Sabbaths, Monthly Sabbaths, and Monthly Sabbaths."   If it were an annual Sabbath Paul meant here, the sentence would read, "Annual Sabbaths, Monthly Sabbaths, and Annual Sabbaths.

Whenever  the Old Testament  links  the New Moon  celebration with  the Sabbath,  as  in Colossians  2:16,  it  is referring to the Weekly Sabbath (2 Kings 4:23, 1 Chron. 23:31, 2 Chron. 2:4; Neh. 10:33; Isa. 1:13; 66:23; Ezek. 45:17; 46.1: Hosea 2:11: Amos 8:5). 

In the Old Testament, annual Sabbaths are always called  "a Sabbath of  rest"  in  the Septuagint.  This Greek version  of  the  Old  Testament  always,  or  nearly  always,  translates  this  as  Sabbata  Sabbaton—  not  simply Sabbaton— as here in Colossians 2:14-17.

Paul clearly states that these four things—diet, annual feasts, monthly feasts, and the Weekly Sabbath—are not to be made a test of Christian belief and practice because they are merely shadows of things that were to come, whereas Christ is the Reality.  To try to salvage Sabbatarianism, the Adventists say that Paul could not possibly have meant  a Weekly Sabbath  here  because  the Sabbath was  a memorial  pointing  backwards  to Creation.  This SDA approach fails miserably because the most significant Jewish memorials pointed both backward and forward at the same time.  In Colossians, prior to this passage, Paul refers to Adam as a symbol of Christ.  In fact, it is possible that all the major Jewish ordinances point both backward and forward at the same time.

(This excerpt was taken from an article written by Kerry B. Wynne entitled Lying for God.)

When Christ died on the cross, the Sabbath along with the other 612 laws died also.

That has never been proven throughout the history of the world!!!

If the Sabbath were still in effect after the resurrection, why is there no record of Jesus keeping it? He was on earth for six weeks (minus two days) after resurrection and there is no record of Him even entering the synagogue? There is a record of Him speaking to about 500 people and a record of Him meeting with James but no mention of Him preaching in the synagogue or worshipping there. Was He making a statement saying He is our rest now?

Most honest Sunday Pastors will admit that to you.

 I've heard people say..."were not under the bondage of the Sabbath anymore"!

 HOW CAN "REST", BE BONDAGE???

Bondage is setting special dates and times to worship God and making it necessary for salvation. Freedom is the privilege of worshipping God any time, any day and any place because God never sleeps nor slumbers and He is with us wherever we go, which is His promise to us. The Holy Spirit is our constant companion now and believers live by the Spirit. A person can experience physical rest and still be in spiritual bondage by trying to work his way into the Kingdom by law keeping and trying to be sinless and perfect and not seeing any improvement. That's pure misery!

 SHOULD WE EVER STOP HONORING GOD FOR CREATING US & THIS WORLD???

 God is ALWAYS due honor, praise and worship because of Who He is and what He has and is doing for us. One day out of the week just isn't enough.

Isaiah 58:13-14 "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."

The Israelites are being addressed in this text. Remember Gentiles did not have the law.

Some say that the lord's day is "Sunday". Referring to Revelation 1:10 "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,"

Every day is the Lord's Day! 'Today, if you hear my voice, harden not your hearts."

THAT'S NOT WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS!... 

Exodus 20:10 states "But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God:..."

Again, His audience is the Israelites. "I am the Lord thy God which brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." 

And again...Isaiah 58:13-14 "If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on MY holy day..."

Addressing Israelites.

Leviticus 23:3 says "Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings."

Addressing Israelites.

Matthew 12:8 "For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day."

Notes for 12:8

When Jesus said he was Lord of the Sabbath, he claimed to be greater than the law and above the law. To the Pharisees, this was heresy. They did not realize that Jesus, the divine Son of God, had created the Sabbath. The Creator is always greater than the creation; thus Jesus had the authority to overrule their traditions and regulations. —Life Application Bible Notes

 And as Lord and Sovereign God, He has the right to 'Again set another day, calling it Today!" God is not bound by our logic and the box we attempt to place and keep Him in.

Mark 2:28 "Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath."

 Again Jesus is addressing the Jews. The law had not been fulfilled as yet because He had not died. I would like to include verse 27 which reads, 27 Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

The Bible Says in Romans 5:12-14: "12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned-- 13 for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come."

The Sabbath was not here prior to the existence of man. The Sabbath was made for man (the Israelites were men, women, boys and girls: man ). To say that this text applies to all mankind is unbiblical. Deut. 4:8 reads: "And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?" God was speaking to the Israelites (man).

Luke 6:5 "And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath."

Same answer as above.

I believe the message is clear! 

This day belongs to GOD!!! It is HIS Holy day!!! And He has never chosen another!!!

Yes, it belongs to the Lord but so does Sunday – Friday! He has AGAIN set Today! 

The Lord's Holy Sabbath has been established since the very first seventh day! Though some struggle to think that is was established at Mt. Sinai. But that is not true! The Holy rest of God (the shâbath) was with Adam & Eve!

This statement is not biblical and is adding to Scripture. The Bible says, 'He rested."

Genesis 2:2-3 "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."

This statement IS biblical and notice it says 'and he rested' – no mention of Adam and Eve.

God Blessed, and Sanctified the Seventh day of the week, BECAUSE He had rested from all creation!

True!

It is the ONLY time God rested in the history of the world!

On the cross, Jesus declared, "It is finished"! After He rose from the grave, He ascended to His Father. According to the Bible, He sat down next to the Father because His work was completed. Sounds like rest to me.

The word rested means: 

H7673

שׁבת

shâbath

shaw-bath'

A primitive root; to repose, that is, desist from exertion; used in many implied relations (causatively, figuratively or specifically): - (cause to, let, make to) cease, celebrate, cause (make) to fail, keep (sabbath), suffer to be lacking, leave, put away (down), (make to) rest, rid, still, take away.

' to repose, that is, desist from exertion'.

Yep! Sounds like what Jesus is doing now. Just waiting on word from the Father to come get us!

The Sabbath, simply means "REST"! And this was the establishing of it.

As a matter of fact, the children of Israel kept the Sabbath far before it was given to them in stone at Sinai!...

Not biblical. This statement is adding to Scripture. The first mention of a Sabbath is found in Exodus 16.

Exodus 16:28-30 says "And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? 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. So the people rested on the seventh day."

This text is taken out of context. To understand it, one must begin reading Exodus 15:22-Exodus 16:4.

Exo. 16:4: Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.

Here the Sabbath is introduced to them for the first time (430 years later. Gal. 3:17). God said to Moses that He was going to test them by raining down bread from heaven and He gave Moses the instructions to pass on to the people. They were to gather double on the 6th day because (See Exodus 16:25-26):

25 "Eat it today," Moses said, "because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. You will not find any of it on the ground today. 26 Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any."

When God said, 'How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws', He was speaking about the command to gather enough for one day but double it on the 6^th day. All did not obey and He got angry and made that statement. Prior to this, Exodus 15:25 reads…

"Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made a decree and a law for them, and there he tested them."

Again Exodus 16:4 says, "4 Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions."

The commandments and laws spoken of here were not the Ten Commandments. They weren't given until Exodus 20.

Also, I'd like to make the point that a minimum of four 7^th days (a month or more) had passed before the Israelites kept their first Sabbath after leaving Egypt. And when God gave it to them He never mentioned how their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had kept it. Also when the world was completely destroyed by a flood and God was starting all over again with Noah. God gave Noah and his family oral commandments to keep but no mention of a Sabbath and no warning from God to remember to keep it. The simple truth is that the Sabbath did not exist until after the Israelites were freed from Egypt and then not immediately.

This was before the declaration of Exodus 20.

This is true, but again this statement is being misrepresented as explained above.

And so, not only has the Sabbath of the Lord existed from the beginning, but it will NEVER have an end!!!

The Sabbath did not exist from the beginning. This is unbiblical and a teaching of Ellen White. The law came AFTER sin came into the world. We will be worshipping God every day even in heaven. There will be no light there because the Son will be our light which disables us to keep track of days. Everyday will be Sabbath just like it is now. We rest in Jesus! He is our Sabbath rest!

Remember what God Himself said... 

Isaiah 66:22-23 "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. 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."

Remember, " from one new moon and from one Sabbath to another' means ALL the moons and ALL the days in between – every day, today! Acts 2:46 reiterates the fact that the Christians worshipped and communed daily!

Dear friend, if you are not a Sabbath keeper, and you love the Lord & His truth,...Here is your challenge today!...

Dear friend, the Sabbath was the sign of the covenant with Israel ONLY! Under the New Covenant it is about the Person of Jesus, your Sabbath rest, Who came to suffer, die and rise again just for you. IF you believe the Good News of the Gospel (summed up in 1 Cor. 15:1-4), you have eternal life NOW because Jesus paid the price and has done a completed work just for you. He is waiting to take your burden of trying to keep the law and feeling ashamed and guilty because you can't. The price has been paid so accept Him and give Him glory daily. He simply wants you to rest in Him. TODAY if you hear His voice, please don't harden your heart. Jesus is all you need and He really did pay it all.

Stand up for that truth! For surely, the 7th Day Sabbath is TRUTH!!!

Stand up for TRUTH! JESUS is the way, the TRUTH and the light, not the Sabbath!!!

Why continue to miss out on the sweet peace that the Sabbath brings? It was made for man's benefit! :-)

Why continue to miss out on the peace, rest, security and joy you can experience every day – not just one out of seven. It's about a Person and a daily relationship – not a day! 

Blessings!

God bless you today and always

~RABS~ 

Patricia Allen

 

The Nitty-Gritty of Perfectionism

What is perfection? The answer depends on who is answering the question.

The Bible Says in 1 Peter 1:19 "It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God." Perfection is Jesus.

According to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, perfection is the ability for sinful man to live a sinless life prior to Christ's second return.

Why is there such a disparity in definition and why don't Seventh-day Adventists accept the Bible for what it clearly reveals? I suggest that the reason for this disparity is because the Seventh-day Adventist Church's leadership teach that "the Voice of the General Conference" – or the Official Decisions and Recommendations of Their Highest Administrative Body – Represents "the Voice of God" on Earth!

In the Book, 'Testimonies for the Church,' Vol. III, p. 492, Mrs. Ellen White says" "I have been shown that no man's judgment should be surrendered to the judgment of any other man. But when the judgment of the General Conference, which is the highest authority that God has placed upon the earth, is exercised, private independence and private judgment must not be maintained, but be surrendered." (In the book, "Testimonies for the Church," Vol. IX, pp. 260 and 261, the same author refers to 'the voice of the General Conference' as the voice of God.")

It is noteworthy that Mrs. White said that the Lord told her ('I have been shown') that when the General Conference speaks, private independence and private judgment must be surrendered. Are we to surrender what the Holy Spirit reveals to us personally or privately to the General Conference? Is not the General Conference a collection of fallible men? Is her revelation biblical?

The Bible Says in Hebrews 1:1-2: "Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe."

The Bible Says in Matthew 17:5: "But even as he spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him."

The Bible Says in Ephesians 1:22: "God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church."

The Bible Says in Colossians 1:18: "Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything."

According to the aforementioned texts, 'in these last days' God speaks to us through His Son and the Father has instructed us to listen to His Son, not the General Conference.. Furthermore, The Bible Says that God has put His Son in charge of everything, which means the church or body of Christ is under His authority. The Adventist church is blinded by the fact that the church is a Spirit-born organism, thereby Spirit led, and it is not subject to nor restricted to human dictatorship and administration as other misguided churches have done.

Let's look at a few of Ellen White's quotes regarding perfection. Some of her die-hard supporters are still defending these quotes even today! Also, remember that the newly elected General Conference President, Ted Wilson, is a STRONG advocate of Ellen White and is seeking to shower targeted communities with free copies of The Great Controversy authored by Ellen White, instead of Bibles.

"Christ died to make it possible for you to cease to sin, and sin is the transgression of the law" (Review and Herald, vol. 71, No. 35, p. 1, August 28, 1894.)

"To be redeemed means to cease from sin" (Review and Herald, vol. 77, No. 39, p. 1, September 25, 1900).

"Those only who through faith in Christ obey all of God's commandments will reach the condition of sinlessness in which Adam lived before his transgression. They testify to their love of Christ by obeying all his precepts" (Manuscript 122, 1901, quoted in the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 1118).

"To every one who surrenders fully to God is given the privilege of living without sin, in obedience to the law of heaven. ... God requires of us perfect obedience. We are to purify ourselves, even as he is pure. By keeping his commandments, we are to reveal our love for the Supreme Ruler of the universe" (Review and Herald, September 27, 1906, p. 8).

I cannot help but ask, "How do we purify ourselves? Why did Christ come to shed His blood and die for us if we can obey perfectly? Where in the Bible does it tell us that Christ died to make it possible for us to cease to sin?" I thought that to be redeemed means to be bought back for a price, but Mrs. White says "To be redeemed means to cease from sin." Why would God reveal to Mrs. White statements that are contrary to His Word?

Now let's look at what The Bible Says about perfection....

The Bible goes straight to the heart of the matter. The Greek word for heart in the New Testament is 'kardia', yet each time it is used, it is not talking about our blood pumper. When the Bible talks about your heart, it is speaking of your core – your inner being.

When Jesus said the greatest commandment was to love God with all your heart, He wasn't talking about the surface of your mind. He meant you are to love God with the core of your being. Your love for God is to come from the very center of your soul.

The Bible Says in Proverbs 4:23: "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."

The Bible Says in Proverbs 21:2: "All a man's ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart."

The Bible Says in 1 Samuel 16:7: "…..Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

The Bible Says in Jeremiah 17:9: "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; Who can know it?"

God wants us to understand that from His perspective, He looks beyond our body language, our words and our deeds. He looks at motive because we can honor Him with our lips while our hearts are far away from Him. The Bible Says in Matthew 23:25, "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence!"

God's task is to go beyond the nitty-gritty of what we think we are, who we think we are and what we say we are in our minds. He determines what we really are in the core of our being…. our Heart!  

The Bible Says in 1 Corinthians 4:5 "….. wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts…"

If the heart is desperately wicked and only God can know it, how can a wicked heart be perfect? The Bible Says in 1 Chronicles 16:9, "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him…" A perfect heart is a heart fully committed to God.

The Apostle Paul confessed (Philippians 3:11-14) by saying, "I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us."

Paul also said in Romans 3:23-26, "For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus."

People who died before Christ came and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice were not sinless, just as we are not sinless. They (believers) died looking for Him to come and pay for their redemption. We all fall short of God's glorious standard, but God has declared us righteous because of what Jesus did; not because we became sinless and are considered worthy to enter into His kingdom. Just as the High Priest was required to offer an unblemished goat for the sins of the people on the Day of Atonement, Jesus came and offered His sinless body, spilled His blood to atone for our sins and rose again. Because of His sacrifice, we are declared 'right in His sight' even though we still have a sinful nature but have a fully committed heart towards God.

Christians are perfect when they are covered by Christ. Look at the faith heroes listed in the Faith Hall of Fame found in Hebrews 11 (Abraham, Noah, Rahab, Sarah, Moses, etc.). No where in the Bible are they said to have been sinless. They were declared righteous because they believed what Jesus was going to do to redeem them. The Lord bids us in Isaiah 1:18, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." 1John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  If we are cleansed from all unrighteousness, that means we are righteous.If we are sinless, there is never a need to confess, so why would John tell us to confess if we never sin?

We can have a perfect heart towards God. I did not say a sinless heart but a heart focused and uplifted towards God. When we are born again, it is a spiritual rebirth. Flesh gives birth to flesh but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. The purpose of the rebirth is to have our sins forgiven and have a relationship with God

Nicodemus (John 3:1-21) was a prominent Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin and a man who needed a heart change – a spiritual transformation, a new birth. Being born again is the act whereby God imparts eternal life to the person who believes. John 1:12, 13 indicate that being 'born again' also carries the idea of becoming children of God through trust in the name of Jesus. So, how does the new birth take place?

The Bible Says in Ephesians 2:8-9, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." When one is "saved," he/she has been born again, spiritually renewed, and is now a child of God by right of the new birth. Trusting in Jesus Christ, the One who paid the penalty of sin when He died on the cross, is what it means to be "born again" spiritually. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Cor. 5:17.

Does this new birth mean we are sinless, that we cease to sin? The natural man – this physical man on the outside – still contacts the natural world with its five senses. The spirit man on the inside contacts the spirit world through the spirit. If we have been born again, our spirit is in contact with God. But even if we have been born again, the natural man on the outside – our body – has NOT been born again. Our body is the house we live in. The real you is the spirit man on the inside. The Bible Says in Roman 8:7 (NLT), "For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws, and it never will." As long as we have a sinful nature, we will sin, BUT we, by grace through faith, can allow the Spirit to control our sinful nature.

The Bible Says in Romans 8:9, "But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) NLT

To believe that we no longer have a sinful nature and can live a sinless life is heresy. But the Good News is that IF we believe the Good News of the Gospel we will be saved.  The Bible Says  in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.  "Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said."

We are not on a 'works' system but a 'belief' system. It is not about 'outward ' behavior but 'inner' yielding to God. It is not about 'religion' but it is all about 'relationship'.  

God sent His Son to be the covering for our sins and imperfections. When God looks at us, He sees Jesus and the nail prints in His hands! Contrary to Ellen White, God never asked us to be sinless neither does He expect it. He can be trusted to save us if we believe the Good News!

The Bible Says in 1 Peter 1:9,  "The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls."  Please note that the verse says 'salvation of your souls' (spirit) and not 'bodies" (sinful); but that's a whole other topic!

Ellen White's gospel is not the Gospel of the Bible. In fact, trying to serve God and trying to obey Ellen's 'Handwriting of Ordinances' cause conflict and duplicity in the lives of Christians because it places us in a position of trying to serve two masters. What I mean is this: If the Holy Spirit convicts us on a certain matter and the church (under the influence of Ellen White) tells us to do otherwise and we obey the church and not the Holy Spirit, we have seared our conscience and it is sin.  On the other hand, if we obey the voice of the Holy Spirit and not the church, the church will judge us and in some cases punish us by demotion if we have a certain position in the church. Who or what caused this need to balance what the church says with what God says?  Shouldn't they speak the same language?

God is our Master and as our Master, we are accountable to Him only. With outstretched arms, our Master and Savior pleads with us, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavily laden and I will give you rest…." It's okay to stop trying; it's okay to stop fearing; it's okay to stop checking your spiritual progress only to be disappointed; it's okay to listen to the Holy Spirit and ignore church dogma if there is a conflict. Just give it ALL to Jesus. Jesus can handle it and only Jesus can give you salvation. You are covered from head to toe in His righteousness because He was the PERFECT sacrifice and He is faithful who promised. Now that's the gospel truth!

With much Christian love,
Patricia Allen

(For further elaboration, please check January's 2011 archived article: 'Are Believers on Probation? Can Believers Be Perfect?")

Proof That The Old Covenant Stood Before The Cross and Fell After The Cross.

Following is an article by Sal @ www.allexperts.com. Sal's specialty is answering questions regarding Seventh-day Adventism from a Biblical perspective. He gave me permission to post this 'question and answer' dialog on my blog.  Thanks again Sal!

Expert: Sal - 2/10/2011

Brother Sal -

On 1/2/2011, you stated, "If you would like I can prove from the Bible that the Old Covenant was one covenant containing moral, civil, and ceremonial laws all of which stood together before the cross and fell together after the cross."

Brother Sal, please prove this for me.  I truly appreciate your time and effort and the many years you have served Jesus Christ by answering people's questions.  - Brother Steve

Answer

Dear Brother Steve:

In Scripture, the Law of Moses is always spoken of as one unit comprised of 613 commandments. The purpose of this Old Covenant Law was to reveal God’s standard of righteousness and man’s sinfulness. This in turn teaches man that he needs a substitutionary atonement—a savior. The Old Covenant Law was a monitor over one immature in faith. When one moves to a mature faith, characterized by accepting the finished work of Christ, that person is no longer in the monitor’s charge (see Galatians 3:23-25). Therefore, the monitor has reached its goal and is dismissed. The entire Old Covenant Law becomes obsolete and the Christian comes under the Law of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 9:21; Galatians 6:2).

Even the SDAs realize that the vast majority of the Old Covenant laws are obsolete in the New Covenant. In the hope of salvaging their Sabbath keeping, sabbatarians try to force distinctions on the Mosaic Laws. The usual distinctions invented are to call some moral laws (the Ten Commandments), some ceremonial, and some legal or civil. The reason for these unbiblical categories is so that they can claim that Christians are not under the ceremonial or civil laws, but are still under the Ten Commandments especially the Sabbath.

It is crucial for the serious student of the Bible to understand that the Mosaic or Old Covenant laws, all 613 commands, are viewed as one unit in the Bible. The Bible nowhere gives us permission to separate the laws of the Old Covenant. The word “law” (Torah in Hebrew & Nomos in the Greek) when applied to the Mosaic or Old Covenant Law is always singular even though it contains 613 separate commandments. For example, “This is the law which Moses set before the Israelites. These are the ordinances, statutes, and decrees which he proclaimed to them when they came out of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 4:44-45). Clearly “the law” here is all 613 laws not just the Decalogue. “Then were read aloud all the words of the law, the blessings and the curses, exactly as written in the book of the law. Every single word that Moses had commanded, Joshua read aloud…” (Joshua 8:34-35). Again all the law without separation is referred to. “Keep the mandate of the Lord, your God, following his ways and observing his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees as they are written in the Law of Moses…” (1 Kings 2:3). All the requirements are the Law. One final example of many, “Many nations will come and say, ‘Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths’.  The Law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Micah 4:2). Other passages showing that the Law of the Old Covenant is one unit include Leviticus 18:5; 24:22; Deuteronomy 4:1, 5, 8; 6:25; 31:12-13; 28:58; Joshua 1:7-8; 2 Kings 17:3; 18:12; 21:8; 23:25; 1 Chronicles 16:40; 2 Chronicles 33:8; Ezra 7:6; Psalm 78:5; 119:1, 55, 108, 137, 174; 147:20; Proverbs 31:4-5; Isaiah 5:24; Jeremiah 18:18; Lamentations 2:9; Ezekiel 7:26; Hosea 4:6; Amos 2:4; Habakkuk 1:4; Zephaniah 3:4; Zechariah 7:12; Malachi 2:9; Mark 15:31; John 1:17; Acts 13:39; Galatians 3:10; Ephesians 2:14-15; I Timothy 1:7-8; Titus 3:9; Hebrews 10:28; James 2:10.

The idea that the Law of the Lord equals the Ten Commandments and that the Law of Moses equals the now obsolete ceremonial law is not supported by Scripture. The ceremonial law is called “the Law of the Lord” numerous times in Scripture. “From his own wealth the king allotted a portion for holocausts, those of morning and evening and those on Sabbaths, new moons and festivals, as prescribed in the law of the LORD” (2 Chronicles 31:3). This obvious reference to the ceremonial laws (weekly, monthly, yearly sequence) is called the Law of the Lord and not that of Moses as the SDA thesis requires. In Nehemiah 8 we have the example of the “Law of Moses” and the “Law of the God” being used to refer to the same books. “…they called upon Ezra the scribe to bring forth the book of the law of Moses…” (v.1). “Ezra read plainly from the book of the law of God…” (v. 8). In a clear reference to the ceremonial law we read, “They found it written in the law prescribed by the Lord through Moses that the Israelites must dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month” (v. 14; see Leviticus 23:33-36). From what book was this read? “Ezra read from the book of the law of God…” (v.18). This passage from Nehemiah 8 uses the two terms in question interchangeably. Other passages where the ceremonial law is called the Law of the Lord/God are Exodus 13:7-9; 1 Chronicles 16:40; 2 Chronicles 31:3-4.

In the New Testament we read from the lips of our Lord, “Have you not read in the Law how the priests on temple duty break the Sabbath rest without incurring guilt?” (Matthew 12:5). This is a clear reference to the ceremonial law called by Jesus “the Law”. This indicates that Jesus considered the Old Covenant Law to be one inseparable unit—the Law. When Jesus was asked which of the commandments of the Law was the greatest he quoted two commandments neither of which was from the so-called moral law, that is the Ten Commandments (see Matthew 22:34-40). Instead he quoted from the so-called ceremonial or civil law (see Deuteronomy 6:5 & Leviticus 19:18). Again it seems that Jesus understood the Mosaic Law to be one inseparable unit. One final New Testament example, “When the day came to purify them according to the law of Moses, the couple brought him up to Jerusalem so that he could be presented to the Lord, for it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every first born male shall be consecrated to the Lord’. They came to offer in sacrifice ‘a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons’, in accord with the dictates in the law of the Lord (Luke 2:22-24). Here we see once again the Law of Moses and the Law of the Lord equated. The ceremonial law is clearly in view, as also can be seen in Luke 2:39, and is referred to as the “Law of the Lord.”

The obvious truth is that the Bible never even once makes any distinction in terms of the Law between one moral and one ceremonial. On the contrary the 613 laws of the Old Covenant are always viewed as one unit. This helps to explain why we read, “Cursed be he who fails to fulfill any of the provisions of this law!” (Deuteronomy 27:26). “It is written, ‘Cursed is he who does not abide by everything written in the book of the law and carry it out’” (Galatians 3:10). “Whoever falls into sin on one point of the Law, even though he keeps the entire remainder, he has become guilty on all counts” (James 2:10). These Scripture makes perfect sense if the Law is one inseparable unit. The Old Testament has over 200 references to the Law. The much shorter New Testament has almost 200 references. The New Testament is full of discussions on the Law. Yet in all of these discussions never is the observance of the Ten Commandments mentioned as necessary for Christians. It is never stated to be our standard. The reason is simply because the Ten Commandments were treated as 10 of the 613 commandments God gave the Israelites through Moses. The New Testament is very clear that the entire Old Covenant is no longer binding on Christians. We have a new covenant. “This cup is the new covenant in my blood” (1 Corinthians 11:25). “When he says, ‘a new covenant’, he declares the first one obsolete” (Hebrews 8:13). In the New Covenant we are obliged to follow a much higher moral standard (see Matthew 5:20-48). The New Testament appeals to Jesus when telling us to be moral, it never appeals to any of the Ten Commandments (see 1 Corinthians 6:18-20).

In conclusion, the Bible knows nothing of the man-made divisions of the Old Covenant Law. It is all one unit all of which has become obsolete.  

I hope this answers your question. If I can be of further help please let me know.

God Bless You,

Brother Sal