Expert: Cooper P. Abrams III - 3/14/2005

Question
I was reading an answer you provided regarding worshiping on Sunday vs. Saturday when a person asked specifically in regards to the book National Sunday Law by A. Jan Marcussen.  In your answer you said you had not read the book.  After having read this book myself, I have to ask if you believe in keeping any of the 10 commandments such as thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adulterey, etc.?  If you beleive in keeping these commandments, what about the fourth commandment which begins with remember the sabbath day to keep it holy, six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work, but the SEVENTH day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God?  Is this the only commandment that has been done away with?  Have you read National Sunday Law?  This is a unique look at this issue that I hadn't read before.  

Answer
Hi Kimberly,
   Let me try to answer your question by explaining to you what the OT Law was.   The OT law as given to Israel by God and...it was "their" written law in the same way that we have laws in our country expressed in our constitution, Federal, State and local laws.    These laws dealt with setting up statutes that dealt with keeping civil order and setting principles that the government is to enforce.

   In the case of Israel, these ten laws were the foundational rules of conduct God given government somewhat like our constitution, but there were only ten of many other laws God gave them in the Books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy....all called the Law of Moses.  Israel was a special people, a nation, chosen by God and were to be ruled as a theocracy which was expressed in the laws that God gave them.  These laws made the unique in the world and was given to preserve them as God's people.

   As a Christian I keep the principles on which these specific laws were based and expressed in every day life,  like not killing, stealing, etc.  These law were actions of righteousness within the context of the Nation of Israel.     However, as a Christian I am not an Israelite and not a citizen of Israel and the many laws of Leviticus are not given to me.    This does not mean that I ignored God's righteous principles and sin. God has given Christians in the dispensation instructions also as expressed in the Epistles of the New Testament.   We are to live by them.

  We need to understand that these numerous laws given to Israel were based on righteous principles given by God to all men.   They were to be enforced by their government which as I said was a theocracy.    It was the responsibility of the priests to administer the law, to judge and to carry out penalties.    

  God's program for today is that we live by the principles found in God's word.   It is an individual and personal thing with us.   We are to assembly voluntarily in congregations to worship the Lord.(Heb. 10:21-15)    But our churches and pastors do not have the authority to execute people who commit murder, thievery, etc.   To be a valid law, it must be administered by someone who has the authority to carry out penalties when the law is broken.   It is our government has that God given responsibility and authority, not our churches (Rom. 13:1-5).

    Behind every law God gave Israel was a principle of righteousness.  Deuteronomy 6:25  “And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.”   Psalms 4:5  “Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.”   Isaiah 42:21 “The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable.”

  Let look at the practical side of this matter:    For example: God told Israel in Leviticus 20:27   “A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.”    Do we have the authority to stone people who deal in the occult?   Of course not...  If you read the Books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy you quickly see that the OT laws were given to govern Israel and we as Christian are not under the OT law.

  God first gave the Sabbath as a duty to man in the book of Exodus to the new nation of Israel. It is true that the Sabbath originated at the completion of the creation (Ge. 2:1-3), but that was God's rest, not man's.     There is no record in Genesis that God gave the Sabbath to man, and there is no record of men keeping the Sabbath before Israel in the wilderness. Neh. 9:13,14 plainly states that the Sabbath was first given to Israel.   Group like the Seventh-day Adventists and others teach that men kept the Sabbath from the days of Adam onward, but this is contrary to the Bible's own record.   There is no record of people keeping the Sabbath before God gave it to Israel.

  Ex. 31:12-18 plainly states  the Sabbath was a special sign between God and Israel.   If mankind in general had been given the Sabbath following creation, it could not have been a special sign for Israel.    The fact is that the Sabbath belongs to the nation Israel and not to any other people. It is also important to note that the Sabbath will be an eternal possession of Israel as Exodus. 31:16 clearly states.  This sign will never be annulled or transferred to another people. This explains why the prophets foretell that Israel will keep the Sabbath even after the kingdom of Christ is established on earth in the Millennium (Isa. 66:23).   It also explains why Jesus Christ mentioned the Sabbath in His prophecies of the Tribulation (Matt. 24:20). Israelites in the land of Palestine still keep the Sabbath today.   I spend tens days in Israel in October 2002 and can testify of that.
  In their writings to the churches, the Apostles only mentioned the Sabbath three times.
  (1) The Sabbath is a symbol of salvation rest in Christ (Hebrews. 4). Note that this passage is addressed to Christian Jews.'
  (2) The N.T. believer is not bound to keep the Sabbath (Col. 2:9-17).
  (3) The N.T. believer has liberty in the matter of holy days (Rom. 14). Those who teach that the Sabbath is binding upon the Christian, are going contrary to what the Apostles taught.
  
  Why, then, did Jesus keep the Sabbath? He kept the Sabbath for the same reason He kept all the other Mosaic laws.    He also observed the feasts. Jesus did these things because He was born a Jew, born under the law, that He might fulfill it and redeem His people from its penalty and bondage (Gal. 4:4; Rom. 9:5).

  Christians worship God and rest on Sunday.   Not as a commandment, but in respect and love for our Lord and Savior.    We do not live godly lives because we are under the law....we do so because we love God and know that to live righteous lives honors the Lord and is a testimony of His righteousness.

  As Christians we do obey God's laws and principles because they are right and to do otherwise is sin.    Galatians 5:18 “But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.”   You see we as Christians in the age live by a higher principle....we obey God because we love Him...not because the law makes us.    Galatians 3:24 gives us the purpose of the law to Israel.....”Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”      The just live by faith....not because we are under the weight of the law. Do you see the difference?
  
  Respectfully, may I suggest that you not let some church or church leader put you under Israel's laws that were not intended for you.    These people and groups do not keep the OT laws themselves....God say to break one law is to break the all.  James 2:10  For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”  Do we stone witches, and children who are disobedient to their parents?   Do we stone to death, adulterers, and those that commit fornication?   Do we not allow our children to marry another race of people?   Are we not allowed to wear clothes made from two different materials.....well if you are under the law...that is what the OT law requires.

  God says....Romans 10:4 “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”

  Ephesians 2:15 “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.”

  The Sabbath is for Israel, not for us, yet we worship the Lord as well, on Sunday the day Jesus arose from the grave and won the victory over sin and death.

  Keeping a particular day...or law does not make one spiritual....what makes one spiritual in living by the principles of God from the heart....not because some person or church says we must do this or that.

  I hope you will carefully consider these things.   

  2 Cor.  3:17 “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
  Gal 2:4 “And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage.”
  Gal. 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”
  Gal 5:13 “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”

Respectfully,
Cooper Abrams