Christians have, should have, no difficulty in observing the laws of the land. (Don't you?) At least insofar as they reflect the will of God. And if we transgress those laws we - as Jesus tells us - pay the penalty imposed on us.
We steer clear of the courts: we pay our taxes, we don't steal or perjure or inflict harm, we live peaceably with our neighbours as far as is in our power.
Without law life would be intolerable, and every society knows it must have a civil and criminal justice system. All sane folk recognize that fact of life.
Why, then, do some Christians have a problem with the Law of God? Why - when every sane human law can be found in God's Law? The divine civil law - summed up in the last six of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) - is the foundation for most civil administrations. And when sensibly enforced society is at peace.
Yet when it comes to God's Law most Christians perceive any Christian who professes to observe those laws as a 'legalist'. Somehow obeying God brands you as a virtual unbeliever.
Challenge this belief, however, LAW... cont'd
and an interesting fact emerges. No Christian says you should be permitted to abuse the elderly, kill, steal, commit perjury, etc. Nor would any 'born again' Christian say you are free to worship other gods or bow before images or take God's name in vain.
God's Mistake?
Clearly this isn't where lies the problem, for ninety percent of the Ten Commandments are obeyed in practice by committed Christians. Or should be.
But God, apparently, made a mistake with that other ten percent! When He told us how to regulate society - way back before the time of Moses - He marred His perfect Law by including one that said you must rest and worship Him one day a week. And He specified the day - the seventh, today known largely as Saturday. For mankind in general it is a reminder - long ignored - that God is Creator. It identifies Him.
Now that bothers most Christians. For they have swallowed hook, line and sinker the erroneous pre-Christian notion that we ought to worship the Creator on the day that was assigned by the pagans to the sun - Sunday. It was an aspect of the nature worship by which mankind substituted the 'host of heaven' for that of the Creator of nature.
The House of Israel, too, sank into this depravity - and as a direct result were expelled by God from 'the land of promise' (see II Kings 17:15-18). The House of Judah ignored the lesson of their northern neighbour and were exiled for the same reason (II Chronicles 36:21).
New Testament Observance
Given God's fierce jealousy over the Sabbath in 'Old Testament times' - why would He suddenly change? Indeed Jesus observed the Sabbath throughout his life and confirmed it. The apostles and the first Christians observed it. Towards the end of his life, the apostle Paul tells the Jews: "I have committed nothing against the people or customs of our fathers" (Acts 28:17). Again (ch 24:14) "...so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and the Prophets". With Paul, believing meant doing!
Indeed there is not one scrap of evidence in the New Testament that would indicate Christians began to observe Sunday! [For more detail request our free booklet Why Do You Observe Sunday?]
What About Legalism?
So - is it 'legalism' to obey God? As Christians we recognize the Father and Jesus Christ as 'LORD'. Even the New Testament scriptures urge us to 'fear God' (I Peter 2:17) - have a healthy respect for Him. Jesus told us to fear God (eg Matthew 10:28). And why not? But is our obedience 'legalism'?
All of us, even after conversion, have in some manner transgressed the law of God - sin, according to John (I John 3:4). And no amount of law-keeping will wipe clear our debt Only the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ applied to our life will do that: 'by grace you are saved'.
Back to Sabbath observance. Can even the most ardent of Sabbath-observers claim never to have transgressed the Sabbath? Never to have slipped up? And where we do 'catch ourselves on', only God's mercy, His grace through Jesus, can forgive.
The apostle Paul had experience of this. He tells us (Romans 7:18-19): "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do I do not do, but the evil I will not to do, that I practice".
Surely the experience of every Christian! The apostle continues (v.25-8:8) to glory in the total forgiveness we experience freely in Christ - as long as we are 'walking in the Spirit'. That is, 'subject to the law of God' (v.7) As he writes elsewhere: "For by grace you have been saved through faith; not of works lest anyone should boast'" (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Delight In The Sabbath
Perfect obedience to the Law will not save. It will not wipe away past sin. It will not void the legacy of sin we inherit through Adam. Only our personal repentance, forgiveness through the death and resurrection of the Saviour of all mankind, baptism and receiving the Spirit of God into our minds can cleanse us and fit us for the Kingdom of God. Coupled with our willing submission to the divine Law we come to more closely resemble the divine character as lived by Jesus Christ.
Do you wish to 'inherit the Kingdom of God'? Heed the powerful warning of the apostle Paul to the church of God in Corinth: "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God?" He then proceeds to list virtually all of the Ten Commandments (I Corinthians 6:9-10).
Our observance of the Sabbath - the seventh day of the week - identifies us with 'the Lord of the Sabbath' - Jesus (Mark 2:28). All else is a form of idolatry.
The light that shines through the prism of Sabbath observance illuminates for us the many-faceted diamond of the Word of God. The closer we come to a fuller observance of it the more we are blessed. As we distance ourselves we edge closer to neglect of our great salvation.
To comment on this article or request more information, please contact James McBride by e-mail at the comment form below.
For PDF or mailed copy, see CGOM. Excerpt from New Horizons Volume 6 No. 6, November/December 2002. Edited by James McBride of the Churches of God, United Kingdom.
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