'Let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon or of the sabbath days. which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ' - Colossians (2:16-17)
Some months ago, there was a brother (i guess he might be an sda member) who argued about how Christians who worship on Sundays are worshiping idols; trying to prove his point that the real days of worship (the sabbath) are Saturdays only as given by God.
While maintaining my stance that I had no problems with Christians who worship on either Saturday or Sunday; i told him he had no right to Judge or condemn Sunday Christian worshipers that only God is the righteous Judge. He then
resorted to all manner of libelous attacks on me and other commentators on the thread of discussion who didn't approve of his arguement or beliefs.
According to him,Christians who worshipped God on Sundays, 'were breaking the laws of God and to break one law is to break all the laws' (referring to James 2:10) and so 'these set of Christians were condemned already.
Dear Brethren, the apostle Paul, a disciple of Jesus Christ dealt extensively on this subject in his epistles to the gentile church. If you read the entire book of Galatians, one would have a better understanding of this issue.
It is quite unfortunate that some people think they can impress God by keeping the laws perfectly. It is pertinent to note that righteousness does not come by keeping the law but through faith in Christ Jesus 'for if righteousness comes through the law then Christ died in vain' - Galatians (2:21). it was also written; 'knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.' - Galatians (2:16)
And so my dear SDA brethren, having read these things in scripture, what gain have you in trying to justify your saturday worship, and condemn your brethren who worship on sundays for as we have read, Faith in Christ Jesus is our Justification and not the works of the law.
Dear Brethren, let us not glory or boast in the works of the law but rather, let us glory in the accomplished work of Jesus on the cross who redeemed us to the Father through His blood. The apostle Paul Himself said; 'But God forbid that i should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom the world has been crucified to me and i to the world' - Galatians (6:14)
The law brings a curse to all who cannot perfectly follow it for it has been written; 'cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them' - Deuteronomy (27:26) Dear SDA member or teacher..this means that you are cursed already, if you keep the Saturday Sabbath faithfully but are found wanting or guilty in keeping other aspects of the law .Because you rely so much on your works in keeping the law. Your Saturday Worship does not make you a better Christian than Sunday Worshipers.
I then asked this brother a question he was not able to answer. my question to him went thus; 'whenever you commit sin, why do you not still take a young bull or a lamb without blemish to a levite priest to make sacrifices on your behalf as atonement for your sin. After all, it is the law, is it not?' see Leviticus (6:24-30) and Leviticus (16:3 & 11) To beak one law is to break all.
The thief that hung beside Jesus; if you ask me, i doubt it very much if he kept the sabbath (not like there is anything wrong in keeping the Saturday Sabbath), but did he receive salvation? ... An emphatic YES; Why? because he repented of his sins and acknowledged Jesus (the King of kings) as the only way to the Kingdom of Heaven and not through his works of the law.
So, 'what purpose does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made and it was appointed through the angels by the hand of a mediator'- Galatians (3:19) Did you notice the words...'TILL THE SEED SHOULD COME'. and who is that seed? your guess is as good as mine. To my understanding, that seed is Jesus Christ who is a fulfillment of the law. The law was added till the coming of the messiah and as my friend David Odell puts it, Jesus is our Sabbath rest.
Does this then mean the laws of old are irrelevant? But of course not; the laws of old ARE STILL ALIVE BUT HAS BEEN SUMMARIZED IN ONE WORD; 'LOVE'. FOR IT HAS BEEN WRITTEN; 'FOR ALL THE LAW IS FULFILLED IN ONE WORD, EVEN IN THIS: 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF' - Galatians (5:14)
And so Brethren and to my SDA brothers, i have nothing against the SDA (Seventh Day Adventist) Church and your preferred day of Saturday Worship, but know one thing...while you claim to uphold the laws of God,even you have not fulfilled all the law when you DO NOT show love to your neighbor (according to Galatians 5:14) but rather judge and condemn Sunday Christian worshipers.
Finally brethren, it has been written; 'Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days. Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ'- (Colossians 2:16-17)
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