The Law given on the mountain
(The Ten Commandments) consists of basic statements.
The first four, deal with our relationship with God. The next four deal with our relationship with people. The last two begin to address the intent of the heart.
When it is said that we are not under the Law, it is referring to the rules and regulations concerning offerings, ceremonial cleansing, food regulations, hygiene, and civil justice.
These how-to rules are called “the letter of the Law” - the 600 plus rules which we’re no longer under.
These regulations were not given to Moses at the same time as the Ten Commandments.
The rabbis even went beyond these rules and established the Talmud – an oral tradition of even more rules and various loopholes making “the Law” even more demanding.
And according to their logic, their rules actually superseded the Law of Moses.
When Jesus spoke of “the teachers of the Law”, He was referring to those who taught the Talmud.
When the New Testament refers to the “letter of the Law”, it is dealing with the rules and regulations given to Moses.
So did God declare that He would abolish the Ten Commandments?
No. Actually, He said He would them on our hearts as a new covenant.
"Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,
not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt,
My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD.
"But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD,
"I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Jeremiah 31:31-33
Did Jesus say he had come to free us from these Ten Commandments?
"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
"For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
Matthew 5:17,18
Some people say it was finished on the cross, but heaven and earth haven't yet passed away.
The remainder of Chapter five shows us what it means to have the Law written on our hearts.
And Paul distinguishes the difference between the Spirit of the law and the letter of the Law in Romans 8.
We must be led by the Spirit
(8:16) and that includes the Spirit of the Law.
Some say that Sunday is the day, but Jesus called Himself Lord of the Sabbath.
(Mat 12:8)
Who changed it?
Man.
How much of the Ten Commandments is subject to being changed?
Not a jot or a title – not one stroke, until heaven and earth are passed away.
While I advocate the keeping of the Sabbath, it is important to note that I advocate the Spirit of the Law, which means don’t start trying to adhere to food regulations and other rabbinical law.
Once I began keeping the Sabbath, I began to see how integral it is to God’s plan.
While I don’t follow OT rules, I’ve studied God’s timetable and the Sabbath is a repeating theme.
There are Sabbath years every seven years.
There is a year of Jubilee beginning every seven Sabbath years.
(49 years)
(The instance of the 50th year applied to the first one; that was the beginning of the next 7 sevens.)There are actually other special Sabbath days in addition to the regular seventh.
These were discredited by Paul - as are festivals of new moons and food regulations. (Col 2:16)
At the time, the Judizers sought to bring Christians back under rabbinical law.
God’s repeating theme of seven is also found in Genesis 1.
Some hold to a literal seven days, but I think it refers to the seven millenniums.
In adding up the generations from Adam to Christ and adding two thousand years, we can see that we are about to enter the seventh millennium.
This is creation’s rest from Satan, since he will be locked away.
It will also be a Sabbath rest for believers as we’ll not have to engage in spiritual warfare.
There are jobs which require a person to work – as in the case of emergency and medical personnel.
It is always acceptable to do good on the Sabbath.
There are small business owners who have employees who depend on this prime day for business, so the issue is now complicated because of the ways of the world.
However, the world is in sync with Sunday, but that does not make it right.
It is inconvenient to be out of sync with the world and out of our comfort zone.
Ever since the early fourth century, we’ve been programmed to adhere to the day of the Sun by the Papal edict in keeping with Constantine’s Pagan and Christian synthesis.
Before one objects too strenuously to the Sabbath, do your research in the Word and in history.
Understand the Sabbath beyond the surface.
Understand how these things changed and who changed them.
Protestants love to object to Catholic doctrine, and yet they cling to the day of the Sun.
...Just as if Jesus Himself declared that the Lord of the Sabbath had come to abolish or even change the Sabbath.
Consider what He DID say:
"Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven;
but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:19
If you do decide to begin keeping the Sabbath, make sure you actually understand Romans 8 and the Spirit of the Law.
"The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
Mark 2:27
It was established as a rest for us. If we approach it as a task and even a chore, that defeats the purpose.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Bless.
"...If thou wilt enter into life, keep the Commandments."
