For many years now I have felt envy toward the Old Testament Saints.... They had a complete, laid out plan of how to live a holy life and what to do to make atonement for their sins.
Christians on the other hand have a verbose outline which vaguely lays out a guideline of what we need to do as believers. Which generally ind icates that we are free of the law and that relationship with God through the Holy Spirit makes obedience to God possible.
Please bare with me. I know that I am being marginally sacrilegious in stating this. However, I have increasingly felt that something is missing in the way we are interpreting the scripture and in what Christians are choosing to believe about the law.
Jesus said in “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill...” NASB So we may be set free from the law but that freedom comes through fulfillment of the tenants of the law. Through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the only begotten Son of God. We are empowered to live according to the law, in success and triumph and victory. In the power of the Holy Spirit the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ, is revealed in us and we are sanctified to holiness to the Lord our God.
Romans 8: 3-5 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
Therefore it is necessary for every Christian to know and understand the law for if we know it not how can we know what our precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, has set us free from. How can we be sure that we are walking in the right direction.
Have you read the Ten Commandments lately? Below is a short form version.
- You shall have no other gods before Me.
- You shall not make idols.
- You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
- Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
- Honor your father and your mother.
- You shall not murder.
- You shall not commit adultery.
- You shall not steal.
- You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
- You shall not covet.
Is there a commandment in that list that any Christian would have a problem admitting that they should be following? So when the apostle Paul says “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death...” Romans 8:21 NASB http://biblehub.com/romans/8-2.htm
What does he mean? He means we are free from the law of sin and death because in the power of the Holy Spirit and the blood of Christ our sin is wiped away. That through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we can overcome sin and fulfill the requirements of the law. Thus the law is fulfilled not abolished as the Lord Jesus said it would be.
Now I want to turn to the fourth commandment, Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. I want to point out that no where in scripture does it say that this commandment has been changed from the last day of the week, to the first day of the week. Yet today most churches keep the first day of the week.
Now there are various arguments for this. For example, Jesus was raised on the first day and in so doing changed the Sabbath for Christians to the first day or Sunday. But it doesn’t say that in scripture. Another argument is that the early Christians changed the day to establish a difference between Judaism and Christianity. This may be the case but they did this themselves and scripture again is silent except to chronicle that this may have happened.
The reality is that the early Roman Catholic Church changed the day of worship to Sunday (The day of worship of the Sun) at the Council of Laodicea in AD 364. My understanding is that: (1) the true scripture following and teaching Church stayed true to the fourth commandment and (2) kept the seventh day Sabbath through the centuries and were persecuted for holding to these articles of faith in particular.
So am I saying we should abandon Sunday Worship and revert to keeping the Seventh Day Sabbath? Honestly I believe we could do worse. However, the apostle Paul says “One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God” NASB http://biblehub.com/romans/14-4.htm
Personally, I prefer to let Joshua the Son of Nun have the last say on this one. "If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
See you next week. Love and God Bless B.
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