Expert: Rev. Robert Woods - 6/13/2007

Question
QUESTION: Why do we say that the Law of God is old testament or things in the old testament does not apply to Christians today? I've noticed a contradiction in so doing this. We pay tithe and offering which was established in the old testament. We also teach that we should love God and our neighbors and not to commit adultery, lie, steal, or kill which is part of Gods 10 commandment law but we don't observe it fully or we say it was done away with at the cross. Why?

ANSWER: Blessings and thank you for your question.

The Old Testament is still the word of God.  What we have to remember is that the Old Testament gave the people of Israel 613 laws of Judiaism.  Those 613 laws deal with food, blood, disease, circumcision, worship and working on the Sabbath.  The ten commandments were not part of the 613 laws.  When Jesus came and died for us, He fulfilled the law.  So for Gentiles, we are not bound by that law: "Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law" (Gal 3:25)

That does not mean we can ignore the 10 commandments, because they define morality for us.

If you really want a complete view of the law and Christianity, read the entire book of Galatians.  Paul outlines what the law was and how Christ fulfills it.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Okay, thank you for that answer. This brings up another question though. If we are not to ignore the 10 commandments, then should I honor the 7th day?
ANSWER: Blessings and thank you for your followup.

We, as Christians, meet on "The Lord's Day" or Sunday.  The Jewish Sabboth begins on Friday Night at sun down and continues until sun down on Saturday.

The Christian Sabbath or “Lord’s Day” has been tradition since apostolic times.  It came early to be known as the “Lord’s Day” to distinguish it from the Jewish Sabbath.  That this change was divinely authorized is show (1) by the example of Jesus, (2) by the authority of the apostles, (3) by the practices of the early church, and (4) by the testimony of the early apostolic fathers.
1.   Jesus placed approval upon the 1st day of the week, by meeting with His disciples on this day.  The resurrection took place on the morning of the 1st day of the week.  The four accounts of the gospels agree that the Savior arose early “the first day of the week.”  His first meeting with the body of His disciples was on the evening of the resurrection day (John 20:19); and the second on the evening of the 8th day, which would of course, be the following first day of the next week.  There were 3 more “first days” before the ascension, but it is not said whether Jesus met with His disciples on any or all of them.  However, there were 3 more appearances: to the 500, to James, and to the apostles (1 Cor.15:1-4).
2.   The Apostles authorized the change, doubtless due to the unrecorded instructions of Jesus during the 40 days (Acts 1:2).  Twenty five years later St. Paul worshiped, shared communion, and preached at Troas on Sunday (1 Cor 16:1-2).  This clearly indicates that the apostle sanctioned the 1st day as the Christian Sabbath.
3.   The practices of the early churches are further proof of worship on Sunday.  This is shown by the passages just cited, and also by St. John’s reference to the Sabbath as the “Lord’s day” (Rev 1:10).  Since he uses the phrase without any reference to the first day, evidence shows that when the Apocalypse was written, the 1st day was generally know as the “Lord’s Day” in contradiction to the Jewish 7th day.  
4.   Since some of the early apostolic fathers were associated with the apostles, their writings from the historical standpoint, furnish conclusive evidence as to the current thought of that time.  For example, Ignatius, Polycarp, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Theodoret, Eusebius, Origen, the Didache or Teaches of the Twelve all mention the Sabbath observance being on the Lord’s Day.

On top of all of that, we are told in Hebrews 10:25 that we should not stop meeting together to worship and encourage one another.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for the reply. I would like to ask a very important follow up question now. Is there Holy Writ as to the change of the days? I don't want to go by tradition or man's example when it comes to my salvation. I just want a plain 'thus saith the Lord'. So far, I have yet to see a commandment indicating the change. Can you find a text that says so?

I want to make sure God changed it and not man. Please provide the text. As the bible declares: Ish 8: 20.  'To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.' Also: Heb 4: 8.  'For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.' Also, the fact that the Law of God will not change until heaven and earth pass away bothers me when it comes to this contradiction of worship days: Matt 5: 18.  'For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
19.  Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.' Thank you for your understanding.

Answer
Blessings and thank you for your question.


Without trying to get into an argument, asking to find one text to claim the Sabbath is now Sunday is like building a straw man. It is not the issue. The New Testament makes that a moot point because it says it doesn't matter what day you worship on.

Read Romans 14:5:

   "One man regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind."

   Galatians 4:9-11 "But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain."

   Colossians 2:16-17 "Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day--things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ."

The 7 post-resurrection appearances of Christ show that Jesus purposefully chose the first day of the week to meet with His disciples to encourage and exhort them. The evidence shows that five of these appearances occurred on a Sunday, the first day of the week. We do no have a record of what the actual day on which the other appearances (John 21 and Acts 1:6-10) occurred to His disciples. What we can say with accuracy is this, after Jesus' resurrection whenever He met with His disciples and the day is identified, it is NOT the Sabbath, it is the first day of the week!

   1). To Mary, On the morning of the resurrection -- Matthew 28:8-10; Mark 16:9; John 20:11-18

   2). To two disciples going to Emmaus -- Luke 24:13-33; Mark 16:12-13

   3). To Simon (Peter) -- Luke 24:31-35.

   4). To the eleven disciples on the evening of Resurrection Sunday - Mark 16:14-18;

   Luke 24:36-44; John 20:19-23

   5). To the Eleven disciples "Eight days later" -- John 20:26-29

       Pentecost happened on the first day of the week! The Church was born on the first day of the week! That doesn't make Sunday the Sabbath, it just tells you that after the resurrection of Jesus, the Sabbath is not emphasized.

       When a day is mentioned in connection with the appearances of the risen Lord Jesus, it is always the first day of the week. Look at the extremely important events that occurred in the life of the first followers of Christ on the first day of the week.

       1). Jesus startled them by appearing to them on the first day (John 20:19).

       2). Jesus received worship from Thomas (John 20:27-28).

       3). Sunday evening Jesus took bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it to His disciples evidently like He had in instituting the communion meal (Luke 22:19) and their "eyes were opened and they recognized Him" (Luke 24:31).

       4). Sunday evening Jesus blessed His disciples twice saying "Peace be with you" (John 20:20; 26).

       5). That same Sunday evening Jesus "...breathed on them and said, 'receive the Holy Spirit'" John 20:22.

       6). On Sunday evening Jesus gave His disciples the ecclesiastical authority to proclaim forgiveness to those who believe in Him through the Gospel (John 20:23).

NOTE: Why did the Disciples meet on Sunday?

   1). Because it now carried a special symbolic/anti-typical significance for them

   2). Even if it didn't and was by chance, -- Jesus still chose to reveal Himself to them only on Sunday, when we know what day it is. That must also hold some kind of Divine significance.

   3). Jesus could have chosen to meet with His disciple on the Sabbath. This would have clearly set a New Covenant precedent. He did not chose to do this. The Sabbath was the sign of a fulfilled covenant (see Exodus 31:17 and Hebrews 8:13).

THE NINE "MORAL" COMMANDS OF THE 10 COMMANDMENTS ARE REITERATED in the New Testament:

   1). To worship the Lord God only (1st commandment): no less than 50 times
   2). Idolatry (2nd commandment): condemned 12 times
   3). Profanity (3rd commandment): condemned 4 times
   4). Honoring parents (5th commandment) is taught 6 times
   5). Murder (6th commandment) condemned 6 times
   6). Adultery (7th commandment) condemned 12 times
   7). Theft (8th commandment) condemned 4 times
   8). False Witness (9th commandment) condemned 4 times
   9). Covetousness (10th commandment) condemned 9 times

JESUS WAS ALSO ACCUSED OF SABBATH BREAKING. Why, if He wanted to be our "example" in Sabbath keeping didn't He make it clear that He was not breaking the Sabbath? Instead He clearly admits to it. He also admits that His disciples were breaking the Sabbath and He defends them. Read Matthew 12:1-14 carefully. Jesus is clearly saying that His disciples are like the priests who may work in the temple every Sabbath and be innocent of breaking the Sabbath. When Jesus says that He is "Lord of the Sabbath" He is declaring that He is above the Sabbath. He may do what He wishes on the Sabbath and therefore His disciples may do whatever they wish as well.
Apparently Jesus did break the Sabbath: "Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, "This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath."..." John 9:15. If Jesus did not want us to understand that He was breaking the Sabbath why did He not speak against these accusations. It's because Jesus had the right and the authority to break the Sabbath because He is Lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath does not bind Him. Think about this, if it does not bind Him, are we not "in Christ"? Why would it be any more binding upon us. (read again Matthew 12:1-14 carefully).
EVIDENCE THAT THE EARLY CHURCH WORSHIPPED ON SUNDAY FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS

   THE EPISTLE OF BARNABAS: about A.D. 100 -- "Wherefore, also we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead."

   THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS: A.D. 107 -- "Be not deceived with strange doctrines, nor with old fables, which are unprofitable. For if we still live according to the Jewish Law, we acknowledge that we have not received grace....If, therefore, those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord's Day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him and By His death."

   THE WRITINGS OF JUSTIN MARTYR: A.D. 145-150 -- "And on the day called Sunday all who live in cities or in the country gather together in one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read....But Sunday is the day on which we all hold a common assembly, because it is the first day of the week on which God...made the world; and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from the dead."

   APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTIONS: Church life in the 2nd Century: -- "On the day of the resurrection of the Lord--that is, the Lord's Day--assemble yourself together without fail, giving thanks to God and praising Him for those mercies God has bestowed upon you through Christ."

   IRENEAEUS: A.D. 155-202 -- "The Mystery of the Lord's Resurrection may not be celebrated on any other day than the Lord's Day, and on this alone should we observe the breaking off of the Paschal Feast."

WHO CHANGED THE SABBATH FROM SATURDAY TO SUNDAY? WAS IT THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH?

   "Often the question is asked, "Isn't it paying homage to the Roman Catholic church to worship on Sunday because didn't Constantine change the day of worship?"

   It is claimed that Constantine's edict of March 7, 321 changed the day. Constantine's edict reads:

       "On the venerable Day of The Sun [venerablili dei Solis] let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits Codex Justinianus, book 3, title 12,3, trans. in Schaff, History of the Christian Church 5th ed. (New York: Charles Scribner, 1902), vol. 3, p. 380, note 1.

   PLINY'S LETTER, AD 107

   Pliny was governor of Bithynia, in Asia Minor, from AD 106-108. He wrote in AD 107 to Trajan, the emperor, concerning the Christians. This is what he said:

       They were wont to meet together, on a stated day before it was light, and sing among themselves alternately a hymn to Christ as God....When these things were performed, it was their custom to separate and then to come together again to a meal which they ate in common without any disorder."

   We know the day the early church broke bread on was Sunday. "Upon the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread" Acts 20:7.

   IN AD 120 THE EPISTLE OF BARNABAS says in chapter 2:

       "Incense is a vain abomination unto me, and your new moons and Sabbaths I cannot endure. He has, therefore, abolished these things.

       When he speaks of the first day of the week, Barnabas says: "Wherefore, also, we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day, also, on which Jesus rose again from the dead" Chapter 25.

   JUSTIN MARTYR (140 AD)

   Justin's 'Apology' was written at Rome about the year 140, only 44 years after the apostle John received the vision of The Revelation at Patmos.

   The Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge says this about Justin's works:

       "In these works Justin professes to present the system of doctrine held by all Christians and seeks to be orthodox on all points. The only difference he knows of as existing between Christians concerned the millennium. Thus Justin is an incontrovertible witness for the unity of the faith in the Church of his day, and the fact that the Gentile type of Christianity prevailed." Quoted by Canright in The Compete Testimony of the Early Fathers, Fleming H. Revell, 1916, pp. 24-25.

       NOTE: At this early date, AD 140, the only major difference among Christians was concerning the millennium. At that time they had no disagreement in keeping Sunday, and as you will see, Justin says that was the day on which all Christians worshipped.

In chapter 67 of his first Apology, entitled, "Weekly Worship of the Christians," writing to the pagan emperor, Justin states:

   "... we bless the Maker of all through His Son Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Ghost. And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought...But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought the change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from the dead."The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1, pp. 185-186 (emphasis added).

DIONYSIUS, BISHOP OF CORINTH IN GREECE, (AD 170)

   Dionysius was Bishop of Corinth, the Church which Paul raised up and to which he gave the command about Sunday collections, in 1 Corinthians 16:1-2. He says:

       "We passed this holy Lord's Day, in which we read your letter, from the constant reading of which we shall be able to draw admonition." Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, Bk. 4, Chapt. 23 (emphasis added).

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA, in Egypt, (AD 194)

   Clement, writing around AD 194 says:

   "He, in fulfillment of the precept, keeps the Lord's day when he abandons an evil disposition, and assumes that of the Gnostic, glorifying the Lord's resurrection in himself" Book 7, Chapter 12 (emphasis added).

IGNATIUS, the third bishop of Antioch, who died in AD 108, wrote:

   "If, therefore, those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord's Day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him... Let us therefore no longer keep the Sabbath after the Jewish manner, and rejoice in days of idleness; for "he that does not work, let him not eat."...let every friend of Christ keep the Lord's day as a festival, the resurrection-day, the queen and chief of all the days [of the week]" "Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians," The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, pp. 62-63 (emphasis added).

TERTULLIAN of Africa, wrote around AD 200:

   In his Apology, Chapter 16, Tertullian says:

   "We solemnize the day after Saturday in contradistinction to those who call this day their Sabbath, and devote it to ease and eating, deviating from the old Jewish customs, which they are now very ignorant of."

   "Others, with greater regard to good manners, it must be confessed, suppose that the sun is the god of the Christian, because it is a well- known fact that we pray towards the east, or because we make Sunday a day of festivity" The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3, p. 123 (emphasis added).

   NOTE: The early church explained why they prayed toward the east. It was because, "as the lightning which lighteneth from the east and is seen even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of man be:" that by this we might know and understand that He will appear from the east suddenly" Ancient Syriac Documents, The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 8, p. 668.