Are there only Nine Commandments?
One of the most controversial subjects among Christians today, is whether or not the Ten Commandments are still valid today. While many concede that Nine of them are still valid, but the 4th one concerning keeping of the Sabbath on the day ordained and sanctified by God is no longer necessary, some even go as far as to say that all Ten have been abolished and that we are now "Under Grace not the Law".
How do these view points line up biblically?
Perhaps the best place to start is at the very beginning. After all it was at the time of creation that God implemented the Sabbath day, as a memorial to his wondrous work. The bible says, Gen 2:2-3 "And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made".
When Moses was given the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, the fourth Commandment was written stating Exo 20:8-11 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it". Using the word "remember" reiterated the fact that the Sabbath was already in existence, it was not created when the Ten Commandments were written as many seem to think.
What the people who are today of the view that none of the Commandments are valid anymore seem to fail to recognize is the fact that they are all about Love. The first four show us how to love God, and the last six how to love our fellow man.
For those who have forgotten them, here is a quick rundown of the Ten Commandments:
1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image…….
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy………
5. Honour thy father and thy mother:…….
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
It is easy to see from looking at these Commandments that they were all implemented for our own benefit. They show so beautifully how we should treat God (with all reverence and love) and how we should treat everyone else. How much better and safer would this world be if everyone obeyed these wonderful rules? There would be no more murders, rapes, robberies, unwanted pregnancies etc.
To obey these Commandments is the real test of our love for God. This is why they are so necessary in the experience of a true believer. Jam 2:20 "Faith without works is dead." Jesus said, Mat 7:21 "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.". Words and profession are not enough. The true evidence is our obedience.
I think the strongest evidence there is about the validity today of these Commandments is the words of our Lord Jesus himself. He said, John 14:15 "If ye love me, keep my commandments."
One of the most powerful texts in the Bible on this subject is found in 1 John 2:4. "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." John could write this with such assurance because it is one of the most deeply established truths in the Bible. Jesus spoke of those who said, "Lord, Lord," but did not do the will of the Father. He then described many who would seek entrance to the kingdom claiming to be workers of miracles in the name of Christ. But He would sorrowfully have to say, Mat 7:21-23. "I never knew you: depart from me." This is serious because Jesus is saying is "Not everyone who calls me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of heaven". God's grace does not cover deliberate disobedience, because this shows that there was no genuine repentance of our sinful act, because had there been, we would not have kept on doing it.
To know Christ is to love Him, and to love Him is to obey Him. The valid assumption of the Bible writers is quite clear and simple: If you are not obeying Christ, you don't love Christ. And if you don't love the Master, then you don't know Him. So we can see that knowing and loving and obeying are all tied closely together and are absolutely inseparable in the life of God's faithful people. The beloved disciple John summed it up in these words: 1 John 5:3 "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous."
All Bible references are from the King James Version.
Debra Lohrere is the author of several books. Her website is http://debra.lohrere.com/home.shtml
For more information on this topic, please visit http://www.godsbibletruth.com
Did the Sabbath change to Sunday?
In over 105 languages Saturday translates to Sabbath. In Italy it is called Sabbato, in Russia Subbota, in Portugal Sabbado, in Spain Sabado and in Poland Sobota. All of these names mean "Sabbath" or "rest day" in the various languages.
The fourth commandment of the Bible says Exo 20:8-11 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God…"
So if Saturday, or more accurately Sunset Friday to Sunset Saturday, is the true Sabbath of the Lord, then why do people go to church on Sunday?
Who changed the day to Sunday, and when? Did Jesus? Do we keep Sunday in honour of his resurrection?
It has been established by many historians and theologians that the books of Matthew and Luke were written between 60 and 80 AD. Luke does not tell us of a day change, but instead he states in Luke 23:56, "…And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment."
Jesus also showed that the Sabbath would still be kept after the cross when He was talking to the Disciples about the forthcoming destruction of the temple in about 70 AD. Jesus says in Matthew 24:20, "And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath."
Historians also confirm that the seventh day Sabbath was kept by Jews and Gentiles alike, until about 120 AD when the persecution of the Jews for Sabbath keeping became so great that many Christians decided to start keeping Sunday, so as to distance themselves from the Jews. Some began using the excuse that it was in honour of the resurrection, as there was no biblical basis for the change.
In 321 A.D. Constantine, who was a pagan, became Caesar in Rome and when he began to see the balance of power shift from paganism to the Church he passed the first law enforcing Sunday worship in 321 AD. Two years later he joined the Roman Catholic Church and began mingling paganism and Christianity. It was well after 400 AD before Sunday eventually took on the name of the Lord's Day.
In many papers and documents the Roman Catholic Church openly take credit for moving the sanctity of the Seventh day Sabbath to Sunday, by their own authority, which they say is above that of the scriptures.
"The authority of the church could therefore not be bound to the authority of the Scriptures, because the Church had changed...the Sabbath into Sunday, not by command of Christ, but by its own authority." Canon and Tradition, p. 263.
So it seems that if we keep the Sabbath on the seventh day, we are following God's commandment, but if we keep Sunday, we are following the traditions of man. Does that really matter?
The Bible says in Mark 7:6-9 "Jesus answered them, "How right Isaiah was when he prophesied about you! You are hypocrites, just as he wrote: 'These people, says God, honor me with their words, but their heart is really far away from me. It is no use for them to worship me, because they teach human rules as though they were my laws!' "You put aside God's command and obey human teachings." And Jesus continued, "You have a clever way of rejecting God's law in order to uphold your own teaching."
All Bible references are from the King James Version.
For more information on this topic, please visit http://www.godssabbathtruth.com
Is the Seventh day really the Sabbath?
The Bible tells us that God implemented the Sabbath day, at the time of creation as a memorial to his wondrous work. It says, Gen 2:2-3 "And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made".
This shows clearly that at the beginning of time the seventh day was the day set apart by God as His Sabbath. This was later reiterated on Mount Sinai when He wrote the Ten Commandments in stone and gave them to Moses. The fourth commandment plainly states Exo 20:8-11 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it".
This means that in Moses time the Sabbath day was still the seventh day, but did it change after the cross?
Undoubtedly a lot of things changed when Christ died and was resurrected. All of the old Jewish ordinances, with their feasts, fast days, sacrifices and ceremonies (which had been written by Moses in his handwriting and placed in the side of the Ark of the covenant) were abolished. They were no longer necessary as they had all been pointing to the coming of the Messiah, and with His one perfect sacrifice that allowed forgiveness of sins for all time through grace, they were no longer needed. However Jesus never said anything to in any way even imply that the Sabbath day would be changed or altered, and in fact if He had, He would have been contradicting what he had previously said about the Law of God, which included the Sabbath commandment, and that was Mat 5:18 "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled".
Why does God want us to keep the Sabbath, and how do we do it?
The biblical Sabbath begins at sunset on Friday night and ends at sunset on Saturday. The Bible describes how to keep it as follows. Isaiah 58:13-14 "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight...not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth…" This means we are not to do any kind of real work on the Sabbath like our normal occupation, personal business, housework or any laborious activity. Of course, preparing or cleaning up after a light meal would be all right as we find a number of occasions when Jesus enjoyed a Sabbath meal with others. He never condemned acts of hospitality on the Sabbath (see Luke 14:1-6). Since Jesus said in Matthew 12:10-12 "…it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath", such as healing the sick or rescuing an animal, obviously performing medical services is fine.
The point of the Sabbath is that, whatever we do, God must be an intrinsic part of it. Taking a walk with your family through a natural setting is a wonderful way to get in touch with God who made the beautiful creations we see. To keep the Sabbath in the true spirit, we have to focus our minds on God and those things He wants us to be concerned with during His holy time. Then, as God promised, we will be truly blessed. As it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath, it is a great time to make encouraging phone calls or visit the sick. The Sabbath is also a Leviticus 23:3 "…sabbath of rest, an holy convocation" and is an ideal time for worship services. When we fellowship with others in whom God dwells, we are also fellowshipping with Him (see 1 John 1:3, 7). We should view the Sabbath as a very special day, a period when we can take time to deeply study and thoughtfully analyse the scriptures. It is a time when we can sit quietly, meditating over and contemplating the truly big issues of life and eternity. In addition, the Sabbath is the perfect time for heartfelt prayer to our Father in heaven to commune with and worship Him, to get to know Him intimately. This is why we can call God's Sabbath a delight.
All Bible references are from the King James Version.
For more information on this topic, please visit http://www.seventh-day-sabbath.com