Most studies on the Sabbath are rejected by Bible-believing Christians because they have been taught that the Sabbath is a Jewish institution and that the fourth (Sabbath) commandment, a part of the Ten Commandments, was done away with at the Cross. Additionally, Many sincere Christians divide Scripture as relevant (New Testament) and irrelevant (Old Testament). The purpose of this study is to highlight two things: 1) there were no Jews for over a thousand years when God gave man the Sabbath at Creation, and, 2) there is a red-thread of continuity from Genesis through Revelation that connect these two divisions and the manner in which the Sabbath is treated.
1) QUESTION: Who is the Creator?
ANSWERS: (Revelation 14: 6, 7 "Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth--to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people--saying with a loud voice, 'Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.' ") (Hebrews 1:1 - 3 "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.") (Colossians 1:15, 16 "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.") (John 1:1-3 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.)
CONCLUSION: Jesus Christ is the Creator.
QUESTION: Who is Lord of the Sabbath?
ANSWERS: (Luke 6:1-10 [Only verse 5 is quoted] "And He said to them, 'The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath." ') (Matthew 12:1-12 [Only verses 7 and 8 are quoted] "But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice' [Hosea 6:6], you would not have condemned the guiltless, for the Son of Man is Lord even* [*omitted in NU- & M-text] of the Sabbath."
CONCLUSION: Jesus Christ, the Creator is Lord of the Sabbath.
QUESTION: Were the Ten Commandments abolished at the Cross?
ANSWERS: [Paul makes a lengthy discussion of the law, grace, faith, sin, etc., and the reader should read Romans in its entirety because only key verses are quoted here] (Romans 3:31. "Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law. (Romans 7:7 "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, we would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet.") (Romans 7:12, 13 "Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good. Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful." (Matthew 5:18, 19 "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be call least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:27, 28. You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery,' but I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
COMMENT: Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul attest to the durability, goodness, and necessity of the law [Obviously the Ten Commandments; because they are quoted] but also to the futility of works, the necessity of faith, belief, and grace [Genesis 15:6; Romans 5:1; Romans 4:2, 3; Romans 3:27, 28; Romans 1:17; Habakkuk 2:4.
More, tomorrow
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