The Sabbath, the fulfilled law, and the law of Christ
Claim examined: Baptism and conversion
Scriptural Answer
WHEN WAS THE SABBATH CHANGED TO SUNDAY? For fifteen hundred years the Ten Commandments given by God to the children of Israel on Mt. Sinai was esteemed as the noblest and highest moral code known among men. Some people still consider it so. But Jesus Christ gave even a higher and better one. That's why we keep saying over and over that the Lord's Way to live is the best we've ever known. Christ's way is superior to the moral code of the Jewish law because it controls behavior from the heart outwardly. Jesus replaced the "Thou shalt not kill" of the Ten Commandments with "Thou shalt not hate." And, the "Thou shalt not commit adultery" of that law with, "Thou shalt not even look upon one another with lust." Please read His Sermon On The Mount in Matthew chapters 5, 6, 7. In Matthew 5:18-19 Jesus says, "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Heaven and earth have not yet passed away, why do most preachers teach that the 10 commandments are no longer for us? Now let's see why. Jesus said, "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Not one jot or tittle would pass from the law till it was fulfilled. Earlier in that chapter Jesus said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." The word destroy in this passage simply means to destroy utterly, to overthrow completely. Jesus did not come to do that to the law or the prophets. Some of the critical Pharisees might have thought so, but He did not do that. He came to "fulfill," which means to complete, accomplish or finish. Now, not one jot or one tittle (jot is the smallest Hebrew letter and tittle is little horn that's used on some Hebrew words to distinguish word from another) would pass from the law till all be fulfilled, then the law would pass. And Jesus did that. He fulfilled it all. The idea is fully expressed in Acts 13:19. Paul is preaching in Antioch and by the Holy Spirit he says, "Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God. to you is the word of this salvation sent. For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath day, they have fulfilled (completed, accomplished or finished) in condemning him. And when they had fulfilled (completed, accomplished, finished) all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre." Now, don't you see that Jesus did not come to completely overthrow the law or the prophets, He came to fulfill, complete, accomplish and finish it. Do you see the difference? Perhaps it's more easily understood if we use the term "abolish" as Ephesians 2:14-15 does: "For He (that is Christ) is our peace, who hath made both (Jew and Gentile) one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us (Jew and Gentile); having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain (Jew and Gentile) one new man, so making peace." So then He did "abolish" the law of commandments, didn't He. The verse just said He did. But that word abolish doesn't mean to overthrow, or utterly destroy. It means to reduce to inactivity. He reduced the law contained in ordinances to inactivity by fulfilling or accomplishing or finishing it. Paul asks the Galatians, "Wherefore then serveth the law?" Then he answers, "It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made..." (Galatians 3:19). The seed was Christ. So you see, the law was not intended to be permanent. It had a purpose and when that purpose was accomplished, it ceased to be effective. That law from which Christ has set us free is the one that contained the commandment "Thou shalt not covet." See Romans 7:1-7. So then, when Christ said He had not come to destroy the law or the prophets, He laid to rest the idea that some people had (and still have) that He was a religious rebel, come to completely overthrow the teachings of Moses and the prophets. That isn't what He did. He fulfilled, completed, finished them and laid them to rest. The law and the prophets had served their purpose. So now we preach Christ, and His better covenant which is enacted on better promises (Hebrews 8:6). During Christ's earthly ministry, He kept the Sabbath day holy. We have just seen how that Christ came to "fulfill" the law and did so, but He had not fulfilled or taken it out of the way UNTIL His earthly ministry was completed. Therefore, Paul affirms in Colossians 2:14 that "He took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross." That means then that, being of the seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:16), Jesus was subject to the law of Moses and He obeyed it. Of course He kept the law. It was not fulfilled, completed, finished or taken out of the way while He lived on earth. But, we are not under the law, therefore, we're not bound keep it. We are under the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2), which is a new and better covenant enacted on better promises (Hebrews 8:6). We don't offer the animal sacrifices He offered either, or burn the incense, or keep the feasts He kept. In Exodus 31:12-18, it's written that "The Lord spake unto Moses saying, "Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations. . . Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout your generations for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel." The Sabbath was a sign between God and Israel throughout their generations (until God's planned removal of it at the cross). The Sabbath day was a sign between God and the children of Israel throughout their generations, but it means absolutely nothing to any other people in the world, and not even to them since the cross. Did you hear me? When He came down from the mount with the ten commandments engraved in stone by the finger of God "Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers (not with Abraham, Isaac or Jacob), but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day" (Deuteronomy 5:1-3). If God had intended to say that He was making that covenant with Israel only, just Israel, His chosen people Israel and no one else, how could He have possibly said it any more clearly, distinctly and emphatically than in the words we just read? Then in verse six he begins with the Ten Commandments: (1) "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." (2)"Thou shalt not make thee any graven image." (3) "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." (4) "Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee." In verse 15, He tells Israel why He wants them to keep the Sabbath. Here it is, so listen to this while I read it from God's own word: Here's why God gave the Sabbath day. "And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore, the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day." He gave the ten commandments to Israel, only to Israel. The fourth commandment (the Sabbath command) was for a memorial of Israel's freedom from slavery in Egypt. It means no more to a gentile who was never in bondage to Pharaoh than July 4th means to the people of Brazil. July 4th is an American memorial to our freedom, and those of you who have lived abroad know that it means absolutely nothing to people of other nations. The post offices and banks don't close on July 4th in Australia, or Austria or Argentina. The Sabbath day was a Jewish memorial to their freedom from Egyptian slavery, and it has no meaning to anyone else. But, a people's memorials are important to their continued existence and security. That's why it was so very important for Israel not to desecrate, abuse, or just simply neglect the Sabbath, which thing they did on numerous occasions. And, when they did they went into bondage to gentile nations. We Christians have our memorial; it's the Lord's Supper. Instead of concern for keeping Israel's Sabbath to their deliverance out of Egypt, we need to be concerned that many churches today who call themselves Christian are neglecting the observance of the Lord's Supper on the first day of the week as the New Testament congregations did (Acts 20:7). It is vitally important to the continuance and strength of Christians and Christianity to remember Christ our Deliverer. It's in memory of Christ and the deliverance from sin which the Christian has in Him, that Christians of the New Testament observed it on the first day of the week. There is no record of New Testament congregations observing the Sabbath Day. So we don't keep the first day of the week because some pope is said to have changed it to the "Christian Sabbath." We don't keep it as a mere human tradition. We observe the Lord's Supper on the first day of the week because that's what the early Christians did under the leadership of inspired men. Now, they assembled on other days for other purposes, but that doesn't mean they kept those days as holy day. Acts 5:42 says "And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ," but that doesn't mean they kept every day as a holy day. When Paul and his companions in evangelism came into a city, they often went to the Jewish synagogue on the Sabbath day and addressed the people assembled there. They did so in Antioch of Pisidia (Acts 13:14), in Thessalonica (Acts 17:2) and in other places. Of course they did, not as a matter of Sabbath observance, but as an opportunity to preach Christ to the people of Israel who would be assembled there on the Sabbath day according to the law of Moses. Perhaps you've heard it said if we advocate freedom from the law which contained the ten commandments, we're advocating lawlessness and are responsible for the killing, adultery, stealing and lying that are going on in our nation today. But, that isn't true. It does not follow that because we're not under that law, that we're entirely without a law. We're under a better law. We're subject to the law of Christ. His law is written, not on tables of stone, but in human hearts (Hebrews 8:10). The religion of Jesus Christ is the only world religion (including even Judaism) that seeks to control the person from the inside, outwardly, rather than from the outside, inwardly. Jesus shocked the people when He said, "A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things" (Matthew 12:35). So Jesus doesn't say, "Thou shalt not kill." He prevents murder by saying, "I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you" (Matthew 5:44). He prevents adultery, not by saying, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," but by saying, "That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Matthew 5:28). Get it out of the heart and you prevent the deed. -- [name omitted] ([contact omitted]), November 28, 2003.
KJV Scriptures Used
Read each passage in its chapter and compare the Scriptures together.