Expert: Brenda Martin - 1/3/2005

Question
Rom. 10:4 is taking out of context in your reply.  The law that was against us was the CEREMONIAL law of sacrifices that could save.

Col. 2:13-16 is misquoted and is about ceremonial sabbaths like the feast of tabernacles and the wave sheaves.

You said it is the tradition buy God says why do you sacrifice the law of God to follow the traditions of men.  

The Ten Commandments to not steal and kill are not against us!  You agree with all the commandments EXCEPT ONE!

Rev. 14:12, "... saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

Keep them all or keep none.

If Jesus could have saved us without the keeping the law why did he come a did.

Sin is the transgression of the law.  If there is no law, there is no sin and Satan is allowed back into heaven!

I was in love with a beautiful girl, and I thought she liked me too. But I had a problem. The only opportunity for us to spend any special time together was once a week. The first time we made arrangements for this special occasion, I told her I would arrive at her house just as the sun was setting, and the sky was beautiful, purple and romantic. When the prearranged time arrived, I came up the front steps, anxious to see her, and I knocked on the door.

Her little brother came to the door. “Where's your sister?” I asked.
“Oh,” he said, “I think she's in the shower. But you can come in and wait if you want to.”
So I waited. After a while she came through the house headed toward the kitchen. Her hair was all wet and up in curlers. As she went past me she said a quick hello, then disappeared into the kitchen.
This was rather disappointing. She seemed to be doing something out there in the kitchen with an iron and ironing board, preparing something for the next day I guess. I also heard some pots and pans rattling as the oven door opened and shut.
I began to wonder just how anxious she really was to see me, but I continued waiting. After a while some of the other members of her family came in. She came out of the kitchen, introduced us, and said, “Maybe we can sit down and get acquainted.”
But her little brother said, “When are we going to eat?” After a bit of discussion they decided we would eat first, so we went to the table and sat down.
After supper someone said, “Why don't we go into the family room and get acquainted with our guest.”
Her brother said, “Do we have to?”
I didn't feel too good about that, but we went into the family room anyway and began to talk. I noticed that several of them were terribly sleepy, including the young woman I had come to see. She kept nodding and yawning. Finally, her little brother went to sleep while we were talking.
My weekend with this young woman's family was off to a poor start. She apologized however, and said, “Listen, I had an awful lot to do this week, and I'm sorry I wasn't ready for your coming, but things will be better tomorrow. We've made some special plans.” My heart began to pick up, and I felt better.
I went to bed and dreamed of going to some quiet place where we could really communicate and get to know each other better.
The next day I discovered she had invited a group of friends to get together to go out in nature. At first I looked forward to it, but then I found out that all of her friends were bringing their motorcycles. We went out in nature all right-but I couldn't even talk above the roar of the engines. Finally noontime came, and we sat down for a picnic lunch. She seemed to be very tired, and after we'd eaten, she and her friends spread their blankets out under the trees for a siesta. We couldn't talk then. I ended up spending most of the afternoon walking alone in the woods.
When I returned to the group, they were awake. As I approached I could hear them talking. I overheard my friend saying she could hardly wait until I left, because she had exciting plans for that evening-after I was gone. I left that weekend, sad and disappointed!
It would be terrible to love someone who really doesn't want to spend time with you. Did you know that Jesus likes you so much that He has set aside some special time each week for you and He to spend together? You could think of it as a date with God ...


“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-leaden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]” Matthew 11:28 (The Amplified Bible)

A young boy put a lot of time into carving and painting a model boat. While he was testing it in a river, the current caught it and swept it away. Several weeks later he saw it displayed in a shop window. When he told the shopkeeper that it was his boat, the man said he had purchased it and would not let it go without getting his money back. Weeks passed and the boy returned with hard-earned money to redeem his boat. As he left the store with it, the shopkeeper heard him say, “Now you're twice mine. Once, because I made you, and twice because I bought you back.”
Sabbath gives us a beautiful picture of a God who loves us so much that He has set aside special time each week to spend with us! This time reminds us of who He is, of the special relationship we have together, and of where He wants to take us!!  
1.   Who is the Creator of all things?
·   Genesis 1:1
·   John 1:3 & 10
·   Hebrews 1:1-2
2.   What is the Creator's relationship to the Sabbath?
·   Genesis 2:1-3
·   Exodus 20:8-11
·   Matthew 12:8
Spending special Sabbath time with our Friend, Jesus, each week reminds us that He made this world and everything in it (including us—and the Sabbath). It is sort of like a weekly birthday celebration. Sabbath helps us acknowledge and appreciate the power and majesty of our Friend!
3.   What additional reason does Deuteronomy 5:12-15 gives us to remember this special Sabbath time (notice especially vs.15—this passage is a repeat of the command given in Exodus 20 with this important addition).
4.   Are the Israelites the only ones who need freedom from slavery?
·   John 8:34-36
·   Romans 3:23-24
·   Romans 5:6-8
·   Romans 8:2
Some have said that the Sabbath was for the Israelites (Jews), but God made it at creation, 2,500 years before Abraham (the first Jew) was even born. Man has needed freedom from the slavery of sin since Adam and Eve believed Satan's lies and chose not to trust their Friend, Jesus. From the beginning until now, Sabbath has been a reminder that Jesus is both our Creator and Savior!! As illustrated by the story of the boy and his sailboat, the Sabbath is a message from Jesus saying to us, “ Now you're twice mine...”
5.   If Jesus had nothing more to say to us through a special Sabbath time than what we have already discovered, it would be great news—but it gets even better! What problem is common to all of us as people?
·   Job 14:4
·   Isaiah 64:6
·   Jeremiah 13:23
Suppose I were to offer you a brand new Mercedes or Ferrari for no money down. Would you be interested? Probably! If I told you that your payments would be $1,000 a month for the rest of your life, would you still be interested? Probably not! Being offered salvation as a free gift is great. But if after that, you have to work for the rest of your life trying hard to “behave the way a Christian is supposed to,” chances are, you'd lose interest in the free gift.
6.   How does this problem relate to the Sabbath?
·   Exodus 31:13
·   Ezekiel 20:12
7.   Webster defines the word sanctify as “to make holy, to purify.” Is a Christ-like life your responsibility or His?
·   Philippians 1:6
·   Philippians 2:13
·   1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
·   Hebrews 12:2
Part of the good news of the Sabbath is that not only will Jesus free you from the guilt of sin—He will free you from its power as well! Jesus not only offers you a “car for no money down,” He promises to “make the payments” for you!! Sabbath is a reminder that our Friend, Jesus, is our Sanctifier.
8.   What does Jesus promise you in  Matthew 11:28
Many passages in Scripture which refer to the Sabbath mention rest. Jesus is the Rest-giver. Sabbath is a symbol of depending on Him. When we “remember the Sabbath day” we remember the power and majesty of our Friend, the Creator; we remember the love of our Friend, the Savior; we remember the strength of our Friend, the Sanctifier. Sabbath reminds us that we can truly rest because our hope is not in ourselves, but in the Lord of the Sabbath!!   

  The beneficent Creator, after the six days of Creation, rested on the seventh day and instituted the Sabbath for all people as a memorial of Creation. The fourth commandment of God's unchangeable law requires the observance of this seventh-day Sabbath as the day of rest, worship, and ministry in harmony with the teaching and practice of Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a day of delightful communion with God and one another. It is a symbol of our redemption in Christ, a sign of our sanctification, a token of our allegiance, and a foretaste of our eternal future in God's kingdom. The Sabbath is God's perpetual sign of His eternal covenant between Him and His people. Joyful observance of this holy time from evening to evening, sunset to sunset, is a celebration of God's creative and redemptive acts.    

   Genesis 2:1-31 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation.  Exodus 20:8-118 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your manservant, or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates; 11 for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Luke 4:1616 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the Sabbath day. And he stood up to read; Isaiah 56:5, 6; 58:13, 14(56) 5 I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which shall not be cut off. 6 "And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, every one who keeps the Sabbath, and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant(58) 13 "If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; 14 then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." Matthew 12:1-121 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath." 3 He said to them, "Have you not read what David did, when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of man is lord of the Sabbath." 9 And he went on from there, and entered their synagogue. 10 And behold, there was a man with a withered hand. And they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" so that they might accuse him. 11 He said to them, "What man of you, if he has one sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." Exodus 31:13-1713 "Say to the people of Israel, 'You shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you. 14 You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you; every one who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. 16 Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign for ever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.'" Ezekiel 20:12, 2012 Moreover I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I the LORD sanctify them.20 and hallow my Sabbaths that they may be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I the LORD am your God. Deuteronomy 5:12-1512 "'Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your manservant, or your maidservant, or your ox, or your ass, or any of your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your manservant and your maidservant may rest as well as you. 15 You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out thence with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. Hebrews 4:1-111 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest remains, let us fear lest any of you be judged to have failed to reach it. 2 For good news came to us just as to them; but the message which they heard did not benefit them, because it did not meet with faith in the hearers. 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, "As I swore in my wrath, 'They shall never enter my rest,'" although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way, "And God rested on the seventh day from all his works." 5 And again in this place he said, "They shall never enter my rest." 6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 again he sets a certain day, "Today," saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, "Today, when you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not speak later of another day. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God; 10 for whoever enters God's rest also ceases from his labors as God did from his. 11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, that no one fall by the same sort of disobedience. Leviticus 23:3232 It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves; on the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath."  Mark 1:3232 That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons.      


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Followup To
Question -
If you have extensively studied the bible fro 27 years why do you still not obey it and go to church on Saturday.  You can't show me where it says to change it because it doesn't exist!
Answer -
"WHY DO YOU NOT GO TO CHURCH ON A SATURDAY?"

First let me explain something—

The weekly Sabbath of the Jews, the seventh day of their calendar week, is from sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturday. Many professed Christians have traditionally kept Sunday as their day of rest and of worship; others have adhered to the day set aside on the Jewish calendar. J.W. don't keep either a Saturday or a Sunday as a Sabbath.

Are Christians under obligation to keep a weekly sabbath day? We believe no.

Rom. 10:4: “Christ is the end of the Law, so that everyone exercising faith may have righteousness.” (Sabbath keeping was a part of that Law. God used Christ to bring that Law to its end. Our having a righteous standing with God depends on faith in Christ, not on keeping a weekly sabbath.) (Also Galatians 4:9-11; Ephesians 2:13-16)

Col. 2:13-16: “[God] kindly forgave us all our trespasses and blotted out the handwritten document against us.. observance of the new moon or of a sabbath.”

(we are not under that Law. As shown in the scripture here quoted, an approved standing with God no longer requires observance of the sabbath requirement given to Israel.)

So JW do not keep ANY DAY as a Sabbath, as we believe what the bible says, that it was a law given only to the Israelites, and the Law was done away with at the death of Christ.

"YOU CAN'T SHOW ME WHERE IT SAYS TO CHANGE IT BECAUSE IT DOESN'T EXIST!"

Correct-

How did Sunday come to be the principal day of worship for much of Christendom?

Although Christ was resurrected on the first day of the week (now called Sunday), the Bible contains no instruction to set aside that day of the week as sacred.(which we don't)

“The retention of the old Pagan name of ‘Dies Solis,' or ‘Sunday,' for the weekly Christian festival, is, in great measure, owing to the union of Pagan and [so-called] Christian sentiment with which the first day of the week was recommended by Constantine [in an edict in 321 C.E.] to his subjects, Pagan and Christian alike, as the ‘venerable day of the Sun.' . . . It was his mode of harmonizing the discordant religions of the Empire under one common institution.”—Lectures on the History of the Eastern Church (New York, 1871), A. P. Stanley, p. 291.

But the bible doesn't say to keep the Sabbath on a Saturday either, it tells us the Law no longer exists and only applied to Israel anyway.

The history of a weekly 24-hour Sabbath observance began with the nation of Israel in the wilderness in the second month after their Exodus from Egypt in 1513 B.C.E. (Ex 16:1) the arrangement for the weekly Sabbath was announced. (Ex 16:22, 23) Israel was obligated from that time forward as shown by God's words at Exodus 16:28, 29.

In summing up then--

Jesus, being a Jew under the Law, observed the Sabbath as God's Word (not the Pharisees) directed. He knew it was lawful to do fine things on the Sabbath. (Mt 12:12) However, the inspired Christian writings state that “Christ is the end of the Law” (Ro 10:4), which results in Christians' being “discharged from the Law.” (Ro 7:6) Neither Jesus nor his disciples made any distinction between so-called moral and ceremonial laws. They quoted from the other parts of the Law as well as from the Ten Commandments and considered all of it equally binding on those under the Law. (Mt 5:21-48; 22:37-40; Ro 13:8-10; Jas 2:10, 11)

The Scriptures plainly state that Christ's sacrifice “abolished . . . the Law of commandments consisting in decrees” and that God “blotted out the handwritten document against us, which consisted of decrees . . . and He has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the torture stake.” It was the complete Mosaic Law that was “abolished,” “blotted out,” taken “out of the way.” (Eph 2:13-15; Col 2:13, 14)

Consequently, the whole system of Sabbaths, be they days or years, was brought to its end with the rest of the Law by the sacrifice of Christ Jesus. This explains why Christians can esteem “one day as all others,” whether it be a sabbath or any other day, with no fear of judgment by another. (Ro 14:4-6; Col 2:16) Paul made the following expression concerning those scrupulously observing “days and months and seasons and years”: “I fear for you, that somehow I have toiled to no purpose respecting you.”—Ga 4:10, 11.

After Jesus' death, his apostles at no time commanded Sabbath observance. The Sabbath was not included as a Christian requirement at Acts 15:28, 29, or later. Nor did they institute a new sabbath, a “day of the Lord.” Even though Jesus was resurrected on the day now called Sunday, nowhere does the Bible indicate that this day of his resurrection should be commemorated as a “new” sabbath or in any other way.

From the foregoing it is clear that literal observance of Sabbath days and years was not a part of first-century Christianity. It was not until 321 C.E. that Constantine decreed Sunday (Latin: dies Solis, an old title associated with astrology and sun worship, not Sabbatum [Sabbath] or dies Domini [Lord's day]) to be a day of rest for all but the farmers.

All the best
Brenda

Btw, its 31 years now :¬)

Answer
Hi Debra, you mentioned--"ROM. 10:4-- CEREMONIAL SACRIFICES
         COL. 2:13-16-- CEREMONIAL SABBATHS"

The purpose of the Law was, as stated by the apostle Paul, “to make transgressions manifest, UNTIL THE SEED SHOULD ARRIVE.” It was a “TUTOR LEADING TO CHRIST.” It pointed to Christ as the objective aimed at (“Christ is the end of the Law”). It revealed that all humans, including the Jews, are under sin and that life cannot be obtained by “works of law.” (Ga 3:19-24; Ro 3:20; 10:4)

Did Jesus refer to the Law in a manner that indicated division of it into two parts?

Matt. 5:17, 21, 23, 27, 31, 38: “Do not think I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I came, not to destroy, but to fulfill.” Now, notice what Jesus included in his further comments. “You heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You must not murder [Ex. 20:13; the Sixth Commandment]' . . . If, then, you are bringing your gift to the altar [Deut. 16:16, 17; no part of the Ten Commandments] . . . You heard that it was said, ‘You must not commit adultery [Ex. 20:14; the Seventh Commandment].' Moreover it was said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce [Deut. 24:1; no part of the Ten Commandments].' You heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye and tooth for tooth [Ex. 21:23-25; no part of the Ten Commandments].'” (So, Jesus mixed together references to the Ten Commandments and other parts of the Law, making no distinction between them. Should we treat them differently?)

Some persons say that the Law is divided into two parts: The Ten Commandments, and the rest of the laws. The rest of the laws, they say, are what ended, but the Ten Commandments remain. Yet this is not true. In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus quoted from the Ten Commandments as well as other parts of the Law and made no distinction between them. Jesus thus showed that the law of Moses was not divided into two parts.—Matthew 5:21-42.

REV. 14:12,-- "KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD"

Yes and all true Christians "keep the commandments of God"

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.

"SABBATH; MADE AT CREATION"

God proceeded to rest as to his works of material, earthly creation after preparing the earth for human habitation. This is stated at Genesis 2:1-3. But NOTHING IN THE BIBLE RECORD says that God directed Adam to keep the seventh day of each week as a Sabbath and anyway the evidence shows these "creative days" were not 24hrs in length.

"JESUS PROMISE IN  MATTHEW 11:28"

Jesus denounced the scribes and Pharisees, saying: “They bind up heavy loads and put them upon the shoulders of men, but they themselves are not willing to budge them with their finger.” (Mt 23:2, 4) Jesus was evidently referring to minute rules and burdensome traditions that these men laid upon the common people, being unwilling to lift even one small regulation to make things easier for them.—Mt 23:13, 23, 24.

On the other hand, Jesus freed persons spiritually from such oppressive traditions. (Joh 8:31, 32) He invited those who were toiling and loaded down to come to him, to take his yoke upon them, and to become his disciples, for he was mild-tempered and lowly in heart, and they would thus find refreshment for their souls. He said: “My yoke is kindly and my load is light.” (Mt 11:28-30)

The kindly yoke Jesus offers is one of complete dedication to God, being able to serve our compassionate, merciful heavenly Father. And the light load Jesus offers to those who come to him is that of obeying God's requirements for life, His commandments, which are not at all burdensome. Matthew 11:16-30; Luke 1:15; 7:31-35; 1 John 5:3.

All the best
Brenda