Expert: Brenda Martin - 5/29/2006

Question
Dear Brenda,
  I wich to thank you for this ministery, and I do wish to acknowledge I am a student in Siminary.
I am 50 Years old.
  The question I have is this.
  The 10 commandments state we should keep the sabbath, (sabbot, shabbos). The modern day church's as is, do not maintain the sabboth as was Jewish custom, and as Christ maintained them.
The sabbath was and is from dusk friday till dusk
saturday. This is a commandment, one of the 10.
  As I see it we are in violation of this this commandment. As a nation we use the time differential to adjust to the whims of corporate America way back when.
  My question is this, what is your take on this, and should we fallow the lead of the first centry church?

Answer
Dear Tony, you asked--"SABBATH--WE ARE IN VIOLATION OF THIS COMMANDMENT?

Please let me explain a few things okay—

The Law was not given to all humankind. God made a covenant, or an agreement, with the descendants of Jacob, who became the nation of Israel. God gave his laws to this nation only. The Bible makes this clear at Deuteronomy 5:1-3 and Psalm 147:19, 20.

The apostle Paul asked the question: “Why, then, the Law?” Yes, for what purpose did God give his law to Israel? Paul answered: “To make transgressions manifest, until the seed should arrive to whom the promise had been made . . . Consequently the Law has become our tutor [or, teacher] leading to Christ.” (Galatians 3:19-24) The special purpose of the Law was to protect and guide the nation of Israel so that they might be ready to accept Christ when he arrived. The many sacrifices required by the Law reminded the Israelites that they were sinners who needed a Savior.—Hebrews 10:1-4.

“CHRIST IS THE END OF THE LAW”

Jesus Christ, of course, was that promised Savior, even as the angel proclaimed at his birth. (Luke 2:8-14) So when Christ came and gave his perfect life as a sacrifice, what happened to the Law? It was removed. “We are no longer under a tutor,” Paul explained. (Galatians 3:25) The removal of the Law was a relief to the Israelites. It had shown them up as sinners, for all of them fell short of keeping that Law perfectly. “Christ by purchase released us from the curse of the Law,” Paul said. (Galatians 3:10-14) So the Bible also says: “Christ is the end of the Law.”—Romans 10:4; 6:14.

The Law actually served as a barrier or “wall” between the Israelites and other peoples who were not under it. By the sacrifice of his life, however, Christ “abolished . . . the Law of commandments consisting in decrees, that he might create the two peoples [Israelite and non-Israelite] in union with himself into one new man.” (Ephesians 2:11-18) Concerning the action that God himself took toward the law of Moses, we read: “He kindly forgave us all our trespasses and blotted out the handwritten document against us, which consisted of decrees [including the Ten Commandments] and which was in opposition to us [because of condemning the Israelites as sinners]; and He has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the torture stake.” (Colossians 2:13, 14) So, with the perfect sacrifice of Christ, the Law was brought to an end.

Notice, too, what the apostle Paul was inspired by God to write: “Now we have been discharged from the Law.” Was it only the laws other than the Ten Commandments that the Jews were discharged from? No, for Paul goes on to say: “Really I would not have come to know sin if it had not been for the Law; and, for example, I would not have known covetousness if the Law had not said: ‘You must not covet.’” (Romans 7:6, 7; Exodus 20:17) Since “You must not covet” is the last one of the Ten Commandments, it follows that the Israelites were discharged from the Ten Commandments also.

Does this mean that the law to keep a weekly Sabbath, which is the fourth of the Ten Commandments, was also removed? Yes, it does. What the Bible says at Galatians 4:8-11 and Colossians 2:16, 17 shows that Christians are not under God’s law given to the Israelites, with its requirement to keep the weekly Sabbath and to observe other special days in the year. That keeping a weekly Sabbath is not a Christian requirement can also be seen from Romans 14:5.

LAWS THAT APPLY TO CHRISTIANS

Does this mean that, since Christians are not under the Ten Commandments, they do not need to observe any laws? Not at all. Jesus introduced a “new covenant,” based on the better sacrifice of his own perfect human life. Christians come under this new covenant and are subject to Christian laws. (Hebrews 8:7-13; Luke 22:20) Many of these laws have been taken from the law of Moses. This is not unexpected or unusual. A similar thing often happens when a new government takes over the rule of a country. The constitution under the old government might be canceled and replaced, but the new constitution may keep many of the laws of the old one. In a similar way, the Law covenant came to an end, but many of its basic laws and principles were adopted into Christianity.

So Christians are urged to “fulfill the law of the Christ,” rather than to keep the Ten Commandments. (Galatians 6:2) Jesus gave many commands and instructions, and by our obeying them we are keeping or fulfilling his law. In particular, Jesus stressed the importance of love. (Matthew 22:36-40; John 13:34, 35) Yes, to love others is a Christian law. It is the basis of the entire law of Moses, as the Bible says: “The entire Law stands fulfilled in one saying, namely: ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’”—Galatians 5:13, 14; Romans 13:8-10.

The law given through Moses, with its Ten Commandments, was a righteous set of laws from God. And even though we are not under that law today, the divine principles behind it are still of great value to us. By studying and applying them we will grow in appreciation for the great Lawgiver God. But especially should we study and apply in our lives Christian laws and teachings. Love for God will move us to obey all that he now requires of us.—1 John 5:3.

"SHOULD WE FOLLOW THE LEAD OF THE FIRST CENTURY CHURCH?"

Most definitely and here is what the first century congregation practiced—

To learn the truth, early Christians met as congregations, often in private homes. (Romans 16:3-5) They thereby received encouragement and incited one another to love and fine works. (Hebrews 10:24, 25) Regarding professed Christians of later times, Tertullian (c.155–after 220 C.E.) wrote: “We meet to read the books of God . . . With those holy words we feed our faith, we lift up our hope, we confirm our confidence.”—Apology, chapter 39.

In the early Christian congregations, overseers taught the truth, and ministerial servants assisted fellow believers in various ways. (Philippians 1:1) A governing body that relied on God’s Word and holy spirit provided spiritual guidance. (Acts 15:6, 23-31) Religious titles were not used because Jesus had commanded his disciples: “Do not you be called Rabbi, for one is your teacher, whereas all you are brothers. Moreover, do not call anyone your father on earth, for one is your Father, the heavenly One.” (Matthew 23:8, 9)

Persecuted for Preaching the Truth

Although they proclaimed the peaceful Kingdom message, the early Christians were persecuted, even as Jesus had been. (John 15:20; 17:14) Historian John L. von Mosheim called first-century Christians “a set of men of the most harmless inoffensive character, who never harboured in their minds a wish or thought inimical to the welfare of the state.” Dr. Mosheim stated that what “irritated the Romans against the Christians, was the simplicity of their worship, which resembled in nothing the sacred rites of any other people.” He added: “They had no sacrifices, temples, images, oracles, or sacerdotal orders; and this was sufficient to bring upon them the reproaches of an ignorant multitude, who imagined that there could be no religion without these. Thus they were looked upon as a sort of atheists; and, by the Roman laws, those who were chargeable with atheism were declared the pests of human society.”

The Truth and Religious Observances

Those walking in the truth avoid unscriptural observances because ‘light has no sharing with darkness.’ (2 Corinthians 6:14-18) For instance, they do not celebrate Christmas, held on December 25. “No one knows the exact date of Christ’s birth,” admits The World Book Encyclopedia. The Encyclopedia Americana (1956 Edition) states: “Saturnalia, a Roman feast celebrated in mid-December, provided the model for many of the merry-making customs of Christmas.” M’Clintock and Strong’s Cyclopædia notes: “The observance of Christmas is not of divine appointment, nor is it of N[ew] T[estament] origin.” And the book Daily Life in the Time of Jesus observes: “The flocks . . . passed the winter under cover; and from this alone it may be seen that the traditional date for Christmas, in the winter, is unlikely to be right, since the Gospel says that the shepherds were in the fields.”—Luke 2:8-11.

Easter supposedly commemorates the resurrection of Christ, but reputable sources link it with false worship. The Westminster Dictionary of the Bible says that Easter was “originally the spring festival in honor of the Teutonic goddess of light and spring known in Anglo-Saxon as Eastre,” or Eostre. In any case, the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th Edition) states: “There is no indication of the observance of the Easter festival in the New Testament.” Easter was not an early Christian observance.
Jesus did not command his followers to commemorate either his birth or his resurrection, but he did institute the Memorial of his sacrificial death. (Romans 5:8) Indeed, this is the only event he commanded his disciples to observe. (Luke 22:19, 20) Corinthians 11:20-26.

The Truth Declared Throughout the Earth

Those who know the truth consider it a privilege to devote their time, energy, and other resources to the work of preaching the good news. (Mark 13:10) Early Christian preaching activity was supported by voluntary donations. (2 Corinthians 8:12; 9:7) Wrote Tertullian: “Even if there is a chest of a sort, it is not made up of money paid in entrance-fees, as if religion were a matter of contract. Every man once a month brings some modest coin—or whenever he wishes, and only if he does wish, and if he can; for nobody is compelled; it is a voluntary offering.”—Apology, chapter 39.


All the best
Brenda