[Joshua]

I have been reading a book called "Difficult Scriptures" and in this book the pastor reveals details of how they were mislead, how they in turn mislead others the same way, and how they are coming to realize how misinformed they really were. I'm going to quote several parts that recently touched me. They may seem a little dissimilar as they come from a couple different parts of the book. I hope this reaches into all of you.

Paul, in his writtings contrast the ten commandments, sabbaths, special days, sacrifices, etc… with shadows of things to come. The things to come that he refers to is Jesus. Jesus is the light and all od the former things were the shadows. "When contrasted with substance, shadow suggest that which is fleeting, changing, temporary, or imperminanent, as in Psalm 109:23, "I am gone like a shadow when it lengthens." Here, David likens his exhistence to a shadow that grows longer and longer as the day declines, until at sunset, it disappears and is gone."

"Bible students will also be familiar with the use of shadow in a verse that describes God the Father. We read in James 1:17 that "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." (NKJV)"

Col. 2:17 These are shadows of things that were to come, the reality, however is found in Christ.

"Paul said, "the things to come have come." And the things that anticipated then and prefigured them, whether they were days or sacrifices (and he used the same term for both) are temporary shadows. We no longer need to cling to the shadows or celebrate the shadows. Neither must we staunchly defend the shadows as essential to understanding God's plan of salvation. Nor can we require of others that they celebrate and observe the shadows as something essential for their salvation.      We, as members or former members of the Worldwide Church of God, would have little or no trouble seeing this if we hadn't been so heavily programmed to believe otherwise. I have on several occasions even heard some ministers insist that you cannot understand the plan of salvation at all without the holy days. I am quite certain that such a thought would never have occured to Paul."

This last part struck me pretty good seeing as how this minister openly realized the "PROGRAMMING" that his group was participating in. Let's go on.

"Seeking to put sin out of our lives by the power of the Christ in us through the Holy Spirit? Is that incomprehensible to Christians without certain days? We have always said in the Worldwide Church of God that the Feast of Trumpets pictures Christ Second Coming at the last trump, and indeed it may. But with entire, clear cut chapters such as Matthew 24, I Corinthians 15, and II Thessalonians 2, and the powerful apocalyptic language of the Book of Revelation, can we honestly believe that it is impossible to understand the Second Coming of Christ and it's role in God's plan, without keeping an Old Testament festival? Aren't the major events of God's plan of salvation clearly spelled out in Scripture? Don't the teaching passages of God's Word make salvation clear even without the interpretation of Old Covenant days? Must we insist, as some still do, that we must understand and observe certain days in order to understand salvation and to be saved? You will search in vain to find that idea in the New Testament."

What did Paul need in order to preach God's gospel of salvation at Corinth? Jesus Christ and the true meaning of each of the sabbaths and annual festivals? Jesus Christ and the law of Moses? Jesus Christ and the prophecies of future events in God's plan? No! Paul needed nothing "except Jesus Christ and Him crucified."

 

Where do people get the idea that understanding certain days is essential for salvation? Not from the Bible!

 

You might be surprised to learn that the phrase "the Ten Commandments" cannot be found in the Nwe Testament and that no New Testament writer or speaker ever seeks to support his position by appealing to the fact that something is found in the Ten Commandments.

 

I hope this helps bring light into your lives in some way. Light disspells darkness. Thank you for taking time to read this.