Previously: Sabbath addendum
In the last post, I listed the opinions of Christians — those that I have been able to discover — on seventh- day Sabbath keeping. Believe it or not, the end of this series will tie into the Babylon connection series, the Revelation series, and the Safeguard your investment in your children series, so if any of you are following any of those posts, stick with this series too.
One opinion was, that “following commandments as obligations has been done away with by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the “law” that we obey today is the law of love. How we are to live proceeds from our hearts now, and does not require us to adhere to a written code.” After reviewing all the opinions (and also those which were posted in the comments), this is the question we should begin with. If this opinion is proven true, it will make moot the discussion on all the rest of the opinions. So I began to ask, Is it a true statement, that following commandments has been done away with, and we are no longer required to adhere to a written code?
First, some background on how I will proceed:
I marshalled the Scripture which addressed this topic. I collected the sayings of four witnesses: 1) Moses speaking the words of YHVH in the Torah; 2) the prophets speaking the words of YHVH in the Old Testament; 3) Jesus speaking the words of YHVH His Father in the Gospels, 4) and the apostles speaking the words of YHVH through the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. Since the one and the same Holy Spirit is the “speaker” through which Moses, the prophets, Jesus, and the apostles spoke and wrote, all four witnesses should, and must, agree, in order for us to be assured that we have arrived at the truth — the true understanding — of the matter.
This is the nature of truth: examination affirms it, and more than one witness establishes it. It is impossible for YHVH to lie, change His mind, or contradict Himself. Since He is the same, yesterday, today, and forever, and has told the end from the beginning, we should find just as much affirmation of the true position in Moses as we do in the apostles, and vice versa.
If we make a claim based on the writings of Moses, which the apostles clearly contradict, then that is our clue that we have not yet understood Moses, or perhaps it is the apostles that we have misunderstood. If we make a claim based on the writings of the apostles, which Jesus clearly contradicts, then that is our clue that we have not yet understood the apostles. So my goal will be to search until all four witnesses agree, with the help of the Holy Spirit, our teacher and leader into all truth.
How good it is of our Heavenly Father to give us so many witnesses, and so much agreement, so that we can have checks and balances on an erroneous claim, and assurance when we have arrived at the truth of the matter! He has given us Scripture because He is trying to communicate a message to us and the world, and He wants us to get it! He wants we who are His children to understand Him!
To be continued … TOMORROW …
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Update: continued in The Sabbath, part four
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