Sorry for responding so late…I went out of town.

No “debunking” here…just consistency with Scripture. My above-stated position is the position among the evangelical church and the associated academia.

I Corinthians 10:11 states that, “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.”

Romans 15:4 says, “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

In John 5:46-47, Jesus says, “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?” (…This is an interesting study in itself.)

Given the above passages, it is clear that the Old Testament is not “obsolete”.

It is the inspired and accurate historical record of the world and of God’s chosen people, which points to Christ. The thread of redemption runs throughout the Old Testament.

I take the Old Testament literally unless the passage specifically points out that it is an analogy, or such. I am a six day creationist and believe that Jonah was swallowed by a great fish, and so forth.

However, where the Old Testament is not obsolete, the law is obsolete in a New Testament believer’s righteousness before God. Romans 10:4 says that Christ is the end of the law. Colossians 2:14 says that Christ cancelled the written code, with its regulations…He took it away and nailed it to the cross.

Christ fulfilled the law and His righteousness is imputed to the believer (through faith in His death, burial and resurrection).

The law and its regulations now have no authority as it relates to the believer’s righteousness and practice. There are no more special days (see the above-mentioned passages in previous posts).

However, every one of the Ten Commandments, except for the keeping of the Sabbath, has a New Testament parallel command. These we obey out of love for our Savior. If truly love Him, then we will obey Him. A true believer is marked by this obedience.

The Great Commission (Matthew 28:20) says, “and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Notice no law…it is fulfilled, nailed to the cross and replaced by soemthing better…faith in Jesus Christ.)

There is no more Sabbath…There is absolutely no New Testament command for it. In fact, just the opposite…Hebrews 4:9-11 says that there remains a Sabbath rest for the New Testament believer. It is an every day rest that comes in faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Because of this faith, a believer no longer works on behalf of his/her salvation and righteousness…These come through faith in Jesus Christ and the finished work of the cross.

Hopefully this helps clarify what I posted previously.

Have a good one.

Paul

It is cool when you look at the other needs of our bodies and cross reference them in the Bible: Food, shelter, sex, to love and be loved…

Every day is an equal pursuit of God in which we have the Sabbath rest of Hebrews 4 and we should be, continually, offering ourselves as living sacrifices being constantly transformed with the renewing of our minds (via study of Scripture).

The Apostle Paul preached in the synagogues something like eighty-four Sabbaths in a row…Where was his rest?

I am also saying that New Testament believers are not commanded to keep the Sabbath holy (as proposed).

I didn’t leave…I just had nothing to offer on the subject of best rock album ever.

I trust that you and your family had a good Christmas and a happy New Year!

Please tell your Mom and Dad that Heather and I (Austin and Eliza too) said, “Hello”. Thank you.

Among much said you stated, “I struggle with the Sabbath and how to keep it holy…making that day separate and special from the rest of the week is beautiful. In observing the Sabbath we reorient our lives to match up with the reality of being the people of God…I think it is the intentionality of the Sabbath that is transformative.”

The point I was attempting to make was the point Dr. John MacArthur made in saying: “It is believed that the Old Testament regulations governing the Sabbath observances are ceremonial, not moral, aspects of the law. As such, they are no longer in force, but have passed away along with the sacrificial system, the Levitical priesthood, and all other aspects of Moses’ law that prefigured Christ.”

As the New Testament never commands Christians to observe the Sabbath (in fact, just the opposite – Colossians 2:16-17, Galatians 4:10, which specifically refers to not observing “special days”), early church fathers (Ignatius, Augustine and etc.) Reformers (Calvin and etc.) and Evangelicals (D.A. Carson, MacArthur, Geisler, Dr. Wallace Webster and etc.) all held/hold that the Sabbath was no longer observed but that the Church met on the first day of the week to break bread and to hear the Word of God (Acts 20:7, I Corinthians 16:2)

I Galatians 3:25, Paul says that because of faith in Jesus Christ “we are no longer under the supervision of the law”. It is no longer our tutor or task-master.

As Hebrews 4:9-11 references, the New Testament believer’s Sabbath is now an everyday event marked in faith in Jesus Christ which eliminates the need to work for salvation. This is our Sabbath rest and it is ongoing.

Turning back to observance of special days is called “weak and miserable principles” by the Apostle Paul.

In regard to the hermeneutic I am using, I believe that I am sound and in good company (see above-mentioned names). (I have read through Virkler’s book on the subject and I also just had a Men with a Mission class on this very subject.)

I also think that the Apostle Paul offers important Holy Spirit inspired insight on this subject in saying, “One man considers one day more sacred than any other; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord.” (Romans 14:5&6) (By the way, which man is the weak in faith and which man is the strong in faith?)

Have a good one.

Paul

There is some debate as to the special days and months and seasons Paul is talking about, but a good number of scholars do think this is a reference to Jewish practices of Sabbath and the festivals and not special days of the empire or the local culture. If they were practicing these it was most likely the influence of the Judaizers who were also pushing circumcision.

But, while Paul clearly thought the requirements of the law, such as cirmcumcision were fulfilled by Christ, he had high regard for God’s law and the role it played in preparing the coming of Christ and teaching about sin. He obviously argues for its lack of power in redeeming or making righteous its adherents, but it did have value.

Thought you had left us, good to hear from you. But your post confused me. I reread what I wrote several times and i don’t hear myself advocating for the observance of Sabbath laws anywhere. What I actually do is explore the idea of Sabbath, trying to find God’s intention behind it and apply it to our lives as redeemed believers in Jesus Christ.

I would also challenge the hermeneutic you are using to understand Old Testament law. If you read through good Evangelical scholarship such as The Hermeneutical Spiral by Grant Osbourne or Introduction to Biblical Interpretation by Blomberg, Kline, and Hubbard you will find that there are really 3 different criteria for understanding OT Law.

The 1st category is for those laws that were fulfilled in the coming of Christ. This is what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 5. The laws regarding the sacrificial system, dietary laws, and yes Sabbath laws are fulfilled by the coming of the Messiah.

The 2nd Category is for laws that the NT reaffirms are still applicable to us as Christians. This would include the 2 greatest commandments, to love the LORD our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

The 3rd Category is for the laws that Jesus addresses, teaches and reapplies to our lives. You will especially find these throughout the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus takes many of the 10 Commandments and teaches us the true intent of the laws and the binding nature that they have on our lives.

Regardless of which category the laws fall under what we can always hold onto is that the laws of God reflect the heart of God. Behind each of them we can an intent and a desire of God that we should be very mindful of. So while the rabbinic laws of the Sabbath are certainly not binding for us, God’s command in the Ten Commandments to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy should have a bearing on our lives. We should hear the voice of God calling us to remember him and honor him with our lives and to make room for him. Jesus doesn’t abolish the Sabbath, he participates in it with his followers and declares his Lordship over it. In Mark 2 Jesus declares that the Sabbath was made for people not people for the Sabbath. Sabbath is a gift from God. We are thankful that as Christians it is a gift we can experience daily and forever.

Shabbat Shalom!

Steve.

http://newpsalms.wordpress.com/