AboutPastor Don Carpenter Expertise I believe that every word of the Bible is God-Breathed. This blessed book is the foundation of truth for faith and practice. If you ask this volunteer a question you will receive an answer from the Bible that is based upon a litteral, normal interpretation, taking into account the grammar and culture of the time. If you are interested in a Biblical understanding of SDA theology, I believe that I can help you.
Experience I have been in the ministry 20+ years. I am an avid student of the scriptures, and of theology. During the past 6 years I have spent much of my efforts studying SDA doctrines.
Question I’m searching for a certain denomination and was hoping that by contacting you, you could help me in my search. This denomination or church will need to have God’s law, the Ten Commandments, and the second coming of Jesus as the basis for their beliefs.
Please correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Jesus write the following Ten Commandments with His own finger and give them to Moses and the Children of Israel?
1) Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
3) Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
4) Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
5) Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
6) Thou shalt not kill.
7) Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8) Thou shalt not steal.
9) Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
10) Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's
Some people have mentioned to me that this is the Jewish Law and does not apply to Christians in general. What do you think? After creating the first man and woman, Adam and Eve kept the Sabbath holy with Jesus. Adam and Eve were not Jewish. Do you think that God was only applying these Ten Commandments to one certain group of people or to all people?
I have found in Genesis that when God created the earth, He created something on every day and then on the seventh day, He created the Sabbath. Also found that Jesus worshiped on His Sabbath day. His disciples worshiped on the Sabbath day. John 14:15 says “If you love me, keep my commandments”. Revelation 14:12 says, “Here is the patience of the saints, here are they that keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus”. It seems to me that these two texts, which both are found in the New Testament, point back to the law, the Ten Commandments, which God gave to the Children of Israel at Mount Sinai. God did not just give these Ten Commandments to the Jews, but to the whole world.
I understand that Jesus was raised from the grave on the first day of the week. This event, in itself, is very important and has great meaning to the salvation of mankind, but nowhere in the Bible does it say that Jesus changed the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day because of His resurrection. Matthew 5:18 says “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”.
When God made the Sabbath on the seventh day, He blessed and hallowed it (to make holy). As I see in the Scriptures, nowhere does God bless and hallow the first day of the week because of His resurrection. As I can see, the disciples were meeting on the first day of the week sometimes just like we meet in church in the middle of the week for prayer meeting.
Man has no right to change God’s commandment’s to meet his/her needs or wants. God is infinite and eternal. Man is sinful and mortal. It seems like the Sabbath has been changed by man and not by God. Why should a God who “changes not” change His own commandments. Is it better to obey God or to obey man?
Why do most denominations, Baptists included, worship on Sunday, the first day of the week, and not on Saturday, the seventh day of the week which God has pointed out as the Sabbath?
God wrote His commandment’s in stone so that man would know that they do not change just as God Himself does not change.
Why does it seem like that the only commandment that people don’t keep is the one that starts with the word “Remember”?
I’ve seen other versions of the fourth commandment which only say, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy”. Man changes it to fit his needs. The full text is as above and was given by God Himself. The text points out that the seventh day is the Sabbath.
A person told me once, who really knows what day is the seventh day. God made the seven day week and I believe that He has kept a meticulous eye on the days of the week and that Saturday, the seventh day, is the Sabbath.
Do you worship on the Bible Sabbath? If not, I would like to ask why not and do you think that the Ten Commandments, God’s Law, are still prevalent today.
I am again looking for a church that worships God and follows all Ten Commandments. I would like to have your input in this matter.
Sincerely,
Craig E. Latham
Answer Hi Craig,
Thank you for this great question. I am very sorry for my late response. I believe that the denomination you are looking for would either be Seventh Day Baptists, or Seventh Day Adventists. With SDA, however, you will have to decide if you are comfortable with accepting Ellen White as a modern day prophet even though God said that there should be no prophecy added to the last chapter of the Bible.
Revelation 22:18
18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.
Now as to my personal view of the Sabbath.... I agree with you the Sabbath has never been changed from Saturday to Sunday. Instead, it has been nailed to the cross and we are no longer under its bondage.
Colossians 2:14-16
14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.
I keep every day the same and I worship every time that the church doors are open, be it on Sunday, Wednesday, Friday, or any other time the church schedules a meeting.
