Jesus the Christ in the flesh was God Incarnate. He came on the scene 2000 years ago, and the people He went to; the Jews of the time, were as careless about listening to Him as their forefathers where who came out of Egypt. God communicated to them through Moses. When He came among His own and spoke to them directly, they too took little heed to what He said.
While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. – Matthew 17:5
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: – John 10:27
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, °Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; – Hebrews 1:1-2
Odd, don’t you think, that given this information, Sabbatarians would resort to substituting what Jesus said and taught with what God spoke to the Hebrews upon coming out of Egypt; the Decalogue spoken from Mt. Sinai, overlooking why God spoke to them at Mt. Sinai.
And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD. – Exodus 19:9
God thundered out the Decalogue from the mount, knowing full well they would not believe Him as they had already proven. This was for the express purpose of them believing Moses.
Sabbatarians are very careless with what God spoke directly to the people. Alterations are made with the actual quotes from Scripture, as well as alterations of the meanings of what He spoke.
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. °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. °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. – Matthew 5:17-19
Everything Jesus said here is altered on a wholesale basis.
Jesus references the law and prophets and what is located in both with the potential to be destroyed or fulfilled, but Sabbatarians will cite this passage sans the prophets so as to imply He was talking about the legalities of the law, seeing as there are no laws codified in the prophets. Then, they substitute the Hebrew idiom about heaven and earth with a modern definition of cosmology so as to also alter the meaning given there so as to negate what the context reveals about prophesies in both the law and prophets He came to fulfill, following up with claiming “these” commandments which grammatically requires cited commandments, with “the” commandments of the old covenant law where the transgression of any of those resulted in a condemnation and death sentence, and not a situation or condition of entering into the kingdom of Heaven in a lesser capacity.
“These” commandments follow; commandments of His, where He contrasts them to old covenant commandments, even to the point of negating one located in the law.
Sabbatarians claim He is saying here that the law remains inviolate right down to the jots and tittles, then ignore His alteration of some of those commandments way beyond the scope of jots and tittles, with the crowning touch that, upon His death, He even went so far as to destroy over 98% of the law, claiming all those commandments were ‘ceremonial’ and done away with.
It is a masterful stroke of contradiction carried out in just a few verses, and Sabbatarians themselves are blind to the manipulation.
But wait! There’s more! … Much much more.
Jesus declared Himself Lord also of the Sabbath, where Sabbatarians cite this, usually with the exclusion of the word “also” so that people don’t conclude He is Lord “also” of the other days of the week; part of His creation, specifically the first day of the week, aka “Sunday” in the Roman Catholic calendar, used by many nations for the sake of standardization.
While acknowledging Jesus as the Lord of the Sabbath, they overlook and ignore what all He had to say in relation to the Sabbath, specifically that good works are lawful on the Sabbath, as contrasted to evil works. For once again, what He had to say flies in the face of Sabbatarian dogma.
In cults, like Adventism and the Worldwide splinters, fear and phobia induction is crucial to control. This is where the OC law comes into play. It is the means by which such religious cults control and manipulate their members. It is about the “management” of sin in order to manage the members. By defining sin as the transgression of the law, thanks to the poorly translated passage found at 1 John 3:4, and then citing only half of it while re-defining the law to mean just the Decalogue, the membership can be managed through fear by managing the law. If sin is the transgression of the law, then the avoidance of sin is through keeping the law; their interpretation of it, where they set themselves up as the administers of the law, however defined, where the law is presented as “do-able” and where the law serves the administrators of it. There is profit in being a prophet.
But take careful notice, even though the translation of 1John 3:4 is sloppy, for it begins declaring sin “ALSO” transgresses the law, where the passage in Greek defines sin, not through the transgression of the law, but through the words “hamartia” and “anomia” both of which need to be understood in their Greek context.
There is sin, and sin transgresses the law, where we would define sin, based on the terms presented in the Greek as evils and iniquities, often lumped together under the English word “lawless(ness) which reflects the Greek “anomia” from a transliteral perspective.
Regardless of how you want to define sin, the law was what gave “strength” to sin so that the law, in concert with the sin, condemns the sinner to death, and where Scripture declares that all have sinned, therefore all are under that death penalty.
It is here where Christ Jesus stepped in, and solved the problem of condemnation by taking upon Himself that condemnation so deservedly earned by all mankind. And it is also here that deceivers in religion must overcome; mitigate the sacrifice of Christ by convincing people they are still subject to the consequences of sin, should they sin again.
Faith in Christ Jesus regarding His sacrifice is compromised, should you “continue in sin” sin again, which all do also. It is defined as though you paid the penalty for your previous “crimes” and now, you’ve committed another crime, resulting in another round of condemnation, denying the fact that Christ paid the debt, once, for all, for all time.
A believer is removed from the law, through death, so that the law can NEVER charge them again. They exist now, and forever, in a state of Grace, like ‘diplomatic immunity’ from prosecution which concept is met, not with biblical evidence, but with rationalizations; human reasoning designed to actually overthrow the facts of Scripture:
“Why, if we (you) were free of the law, then you could sin with impunity without fear of any divine reprisal!”
You could, and you might, if it were not for another matter associated with that sacrifice, that being the issuance of the Holy Spirit to those who actually believe God and Christ for what Christ did; removing their sins; forgiving their sins, and preserving them in a state no longer subject to the condemnation of the law, especially those points of law specific to the law; “works” of the law, where the transgression was not against either God or fellow man, but the law itself.
One of the common mantras of Sabbatarianism is that the law (that remains) is how one expresses love; for God and fellow man. The works of the law, specific to the law itself, effect neither God or fellow man; rather, they affect the law itself, so that following the Sabbatarian logic, keeping those works of the law would be a reflection of one’s love of the law; not God or fellow man.
The unspoken real issue here is hidden in all this distraction over the law by those intent on administering it, illegally, I might add, for once Christ’s sacrifice was “finished” it was finished. Done. Completed, so that the law could never affect anyone’s condemnation again.
“Blasphemy!” Screams the Sabbatarian, usually followed by more rationalizations sans biblical evidence. For in the eyes of Sabbatarians, it is by and through the law God will be judging all mankind. Their theology demands it; their theology and control are dependent upon it.
This is perhaps then the greatest distraction or deception in all of Scripture, for its claim means that God does judge mankind as does mankind itself, with what God stated was UNRIGHTEOUS judgment, according to appearance, where the appearance of sin can be manipulated by man.
What did God say, Himself, was the means whereby He judges mankind?
But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. — 1 Samuel 16:7
God judges according to the heart.
When you broach this subject with Sabbatarians, it’s like holding a cross up to a vampire, figuratively speaking. They don’t want to discuss the heart. They want to keep the focus and attention on the Decalogue, specifically the Sabbath.
Christ came and took away the sin(s) of the world. The law, despite the best efforts of Sabbatarianism, Catholicism, and a few more .isms cannot judge anyone. Only one judgment remains, to be conducted by God, who judges righteous judgment, and not according to appearance. He will judge all according to the heart of a man, and this revelation does not bode well with those who have used the law to cloak their evil hearts.
The heart is associated with the Spirit; the “heart, soul, mind” of a person. That non-corporeal aspect of a person, addressed in the Great commandment of the law that Sabbatarians have relegated to the artificial division of law referred to them as “ceremonial” and not applicable in their theology, and no wonder, for it destroys their legal construct of “moral” law.
Master, which is the great commandment in the law? °Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. °This is the first and great commandment. °And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. °On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. — Matthew 22:36-40
One’s whole focus is on God and a total dedication to Him; not a split devotion between Him and the law that could only expose the evil heart one will be judged by, and the law that could only condemn sins committed by those with an evil heart… of unbelief. It is not the function of that law to regulate the lives of the righteous, whose righteousness is derived through faith. What guides and leads the believer, with the new heart, is the Holy Spirit.
As long as those with the evil hearts of unbelief are kept occupied with the law, convinced the law will lead and guide them, they won’t be looking elsewhere. But truth is found in the Spirit; not the law.
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. — John 16:13
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. — John 14:6
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. — John 1:17
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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )
Acts 17:11
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