Sabbath Archives - Examining the World Mission Society Church of God An in depth look at the World Mission Society Church of God Sun, 23 Jun 2013 01:00:59 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.examiningthewmscog.com/ex-content/uploads/2020/03/cropped-Examining-updated-favicon-32x32.png Sabbath Archives - Examining the World Mission Society Church of God 32 32 The law of Moses, the sabbath acc. to the WMSCOG and Jesus fulfillment of the law https://www.examiningthewmscog.com/forums/topic/the-law-of-moses-the-sabbath-acc-to-the-wmscog-and-jesus-fulfillment-of-the-law/ Sun, 23 Jun 2013 01:00:59 +0000 https://www.examiningthewmscog.com/forums/topic/the-law-of-moses-the-sabbath-acc-to-the-wmscog-and-jesus-fulfillment-of-the-law/ The WMSCOG teaches to remember to keep the sabbath day holy.  They teach it is a mandatory commandment and if we do not keep it; we will not be saved. However, when Jesus Christ came, he became the fulfilment of that Law. In Matthew’s record of what is commonly called the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Matthew 5:17-18).

Jesus went to the synagogue on Saturday to teach (Matt. 12:9; John 18:20) as did the apostle Paul (Acts 17:2; 18:4). So, if in the Old Testament we are commanded to keep the Sabbath and in the New Testament we see Jews, Jesus, and the apostles doing the same thing, does that mean we must keep it as a binding law? Within the New Testament there is evidence that the seventh day Sabbath is no longer a requirement. What I mean by this, is that it is no longer a binding law like it once was. The entire section of Rom. 14:1-12 is worth careful study.  The instructions here are that individuals must be convinced in their own minds about which day they observe for the Lord. If the seventh day Sabbath were a requirement, then the choice would not be mans’, but God’s.

It is frequently argued that if Jesus did not “abolish” the law, then it must still be binding. Accordingly, such components as the Sabbath-day requirement must be operative still. This assumption is grounded in a misunderstanding of the words and intent of this passage. Christ did not suggest here that the binding nature of the law of Moses would remain forever in effect. Such a view would contradict everything we learn from the balance of the New Testament (Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:23-25; Ephesians 2:15).

It is especially important to note how the word is used in Matthew 5:17. In this context, “abolish” is set in opposition to “fulfill.” Christ came “…not to abolish, but to fulfill.” Jesus did not come to this earth for the purpose of acting as an opponent of the law. His goal was not to prevent its fulfillment. Rather, He revered it, loved it, obeyed it, and brought it to fruition. He fulfilled the law’s prophetic utterances regarding Himself (Luke 24:44). Christ fulfilled the demands of the Mosaic law, which called for perfect obedience under threat of a “curse” (see Galatians 3:10, 13). In this sense, the law’s divine design will ever have an abiding effect. It will always accomplish the purpose for which it was given.

If, however, the sabbath day of the OT, bears the same relationship to men today, in terms of its binding status, then it was not fulfilled, and Jesus failed at what He came to do. On the other hand, if the Lord did accomplish His goal, then the law was fulfilled, and it is not a binding legal institution today. According to the WMSCOG, Jesus did fulfill the law of Moses. However, we must still keep the Sabbath day holy. We must note, that the OT system of law required keeping the Sabbath as part of the overall moral, legal, and sacrificial system by which the Jewish people satisfied God’s requirements for behavior, government, and forgiveness of sins. The Sabbath was part of the Law in that sense. In order to "remain" in favor with God, you had to also keep the Sabbath. If it was not kept, then the person was in sin and would often be punished (Ezek. 18:4; Rom. 6:23; Deut. 13:1-9; Num. 35:31; Lev. 20:2, etc.).

But with Jesus’ atonement, we no longer are required to keep the Law as a means for our justification. Then why does the WMSCOG teach we must keep the sabbath? The awnser is simple. It is for means of justification. Unless we do not keep this command, we will not be saved nor will we be cleansed. This is to make a law seem "keepable". They argue that even though we do not need to keep it the way of the Law of Moses, it is still a command of God. Well is it? Of the 10 commandments listed in Exodus 20:1-17, only 9 of them were restated in the New Testament. (Six in Matt. 19:18, murder, adultery, stealing, false witness, honor parents, and worshiping God; Rom. 13:9, coveting. Worshiping God properly covers the first three commandments) The one that was not reaffirmed was the one about the Sabbath. Instead, Jesus said that He is the Lord of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:8)

The requirements of the Law were fulfilled in Christ.  We now have rest from the Law.  We now have "Sabbath", continually. Further, if the law of Moses was not fulfilled by Christ—and thus remains as a binding legal system for today or as the WMSCOG like to call it "the law of Christ"—then it is not just partially binding. Rather, it is a totally compelling system. Jesus plainly said that not one “jot or tittle” (representative of the smallest markings of the Hebrew script) would pass away until all was fulfilled. Consequently, nothing of the law was to fail until it had completely accomplished its purpose. Jesus fulfilled the law. Jesus fulfilled all of the law. We cannot say that Jesus fulfilled the sacrificial system, but did not fulfill the other aspects of the law. Jesus either fulfilled all of the law, or none of it. What Jesus' death means for the sacrificial system, it also means for the other aspects of the law.

Various New Testament scriptures state that Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament Law, bringing it to completion and conclusion (Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:23-25; Ephesians 2:15). In place of the Old Testament Law, Christians are to obey the law of Christ. Rather than trying to remember all of the individual commandments in the Old Testament Law, Christians are simply to focus on loving God and loving others. If Christians would truly and wholeheartedly obey those two commands, we would be fulfilling everything that God requires of us. Christ freed us from the bondage of the hundreds of commands in the Old Testament Law and instead calls on us to love. 1 John 4:7-8 declares, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 5:3 continues, “This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome.”

Some use the fact that we are not under the Old Testament Law as an excuse to sin. The Apostle Paul addresses this very issue in Romans chapter 5. “What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!” (Romans 6:15). For the follower of Christ, the avoidance of sin is to be accomplished out of love for God and love for others. Love is to be our motivation. When we recognize the value of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf, our response is to be love, gratitude, and obedience. When we understand the sacrifice Jesus made for us and others, our response is to be to follow His example in expressing love to others. Our motivation for overcoming sin should be love, not a desire to legalistically obey a series of commandments. We are to obey the law of Christ because we love Him, not so that we can check off a list of commands that we successfully obeyed.

I hope this evidence is good to show you that it is not required that we worship on Saturday as a binding law. People have every right to worship on the Sabbath and they should if they are convinced that is the right thing to do.  However, if any member of any church were to require a person to worship on the Sabbath as a sign of "true" Christianity or "true" redemption, then that is wrong.  According to Rom. 14:1-12, we are free. In regards to the law of Christ, yes that is biblical, but I'll save explaining that for another time.

 

]]> The Law and the WMSCOG https://www.examiningthewmscog.com/forums/topic/the-law-and-the-wmscog/ Sun, 22 Jul 2012 06:27:22 +0000 https://www.examiningthewmscog.com/forums/topic/the-law-and-the-wmscog/ When I was a member of the WMSCOG, I remember being taught that observing the feasts was a requirement for my salvation.  But what I read in my Bible today does not support that claim.  Romans 2:12-16.

12 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.)16 This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

What stood out here to me was that according to these verses, the Gentiles who did not practice the law (that means that they did not observe the Sabbath, Passover, and other Jewish feasts) were said to "do by nature things required by the law…even though they do not have the law".  How do the Gentiles observe the law by nature?  How do the Gentiles show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts if they do not spend all Saturday in the church or observe the other feasts at 5am and 730pm the way that the wmscog does?  

Simple…they don't.  It is impossible to observe the law or feasts the way that the wmscog does, and not even know the law like the Gentiles do in the verses above.  I'm not sure if I'm communicating this clearly enough, so here's the bottom line as I see it.  Observance of the Mosaic law is not required for salvation.  I believe that we are under Jesus' moral law.  Anyone else have any thoughts on this? 

]]> Lunar Calendar https://www.examiningthewmscog.com/forums/topic/lunar-calendar/ Fri, 27 Apr 2012 05:04:22 +0000 https://www.examiningthewmscog.com/forums/topic/lunar-calendar/ This comment was originally posted by shimon on When Does the Sabbath Begin and has been moved here for further discussion:

Lunar calendar has nothing to do with when a day begins you are changing the meaning of lunar calendar to suit your purpose.

Likewise Mark and John both JEWS in their Gospels call Evening the SAME DAY between being Jewish and moved by Holy Spirit it seems unlikely they would make such a fundamental mistake.  Likewise Michal David's wife when Saul was going to have him killed said.. flee tonight or tomorrow you will be killed…. and Nehemiah called Friday Evening BEFORE the Sabbath.. ALSO The Passover lamb was to be sacrificed on the 14th day of the first month and eaten the evening of the 14th day but if a day started at evening that would be impossible because you'd need to eat it before it was even dead.

]]> Why Ahnsahnghong was baptized into the SDA church https://www.examiningthewmscog.com/forums/topic/why-ahnsahnghong-was-baptized-into-the-sda-church/ Tue, 09 Aug 2011 07:01:16 +0000 https://www.examiningthewmscog.com/forums/topic/why-ahnsahnghong-was-baptized-into-the-sda-church/ [This comment was moved from Ahnsahnghong Followed a False Prophet For 16 Years And Comes Up Short On the “Prophecy of King David” to this forum thread by admin on 08/09/11]

[Originally posted by nick on August 1, 2011 9:00 PM]

First of all about your comment on how Jesus wasnt baptized into another religion so Ahnsahnghong shouldnt’t be baptized into another religion further’s the fact that you don’t know what you’re saying. Jesus was brought up Jewish because they were the only one’s looking for God, and He was then baptized into Christianity. Besides that Jews were the only religion back then…the clean and the unclean.

Secondly just because Father was a member of the SDA church that means that He couldn’t preach the Passover?? I don’t think that any church follows around anyone of it’s members all day long and makes sure they dont preach something else?…Father began to preach after He was baptized in 1948 and after finding some followers He set up a church so that the Passover could be kept correctly. Please don’t twist the meaning of sentences you pulled out of an article.

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