| Author | Message | ||
| Jtree |
Paul the apostle has a special warning to Christians who are observing the Sabbaths of the Old Covenant (Gal 4:9-11): "But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain." Consider: Sabbath-keeping is bondage. Paul here addresses those who "observe days and months and seasons and years." A most prominent aspect of these events was Sabbath-keeping. The "days" were the weekly Sabbaths, the seventh day of every week, Saturday, which God in Old Covenant times required Israel to hallow (Exod 20:8-11). The "months" were the first days or "New Moons" of the months of Israel's lunar calendar. The observance of these days was closely related to the Sabbaths (Num 28:9-15; Isa 1:13; 66:23). The "seasons" were the three annual festivals every Israelite male was required to attend in Jerusalem (Exod 23:14-17): Unleavened Bread (Passover), Harvest (Pentecost), and Ingathering (Tabernacles). These involved convocational Sabbaths (Lev 23:7,21,35). The "years" were the Sabbath-years: every seventh year and Jubilee, the fiftieth year (Exod 25:1-22). Paul declares that all who obligate themselves to observe these Sabbaths of the Old Covenant are 1."in bondage" to 2."weak and beggarly elements". Sabbath-keeping is "weak and beggarly" because it is incapable of saving anyone or giving rest to the soul. Sabbath-keeping is "bondage" because those who are most ardent in it will become more enslaved by it, eventually believing that man was made for the Sabbath and refusing to find liberation in the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus Christ (Mark 2:23-28). Such persons are accused of plotting the destruction of Jesus Christ and His gospel (e.g. Mark 3:1-6). Jesus Christ has liberated believers from this bondage. This freedom is experienced "after you have known God, or rather are known by God." Paul testifies to believers that Jesus Christ has redeemed them from the bondage of the Law of Moses and its Sabbaths, resulting in these slaves to the Law being transformed into sons of God and heirs with Jesus Christ (Gal 4:3-7). Believers call this "our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus" (Gal 2:4). Every believer in Jesus Christ is therefore approved by God if he "esteems every day alike" (Rom 14:5). And he is required by God to "let no one judge you ... regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths" (Col 2:16). He is not under the bondage which characterized Old Covenant Sabbath-keeping: being forbidden on Sabbaths to perform any work, or to enjoy any recreation, or to cook a meal, or to take a trip, and so forth. The believer who obligates himself to Sabbath-keeping has denied his liberty and reverted to bondage. Paul therefore asks such persons "how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage. You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain." These professors of faith in Jesus Christ were being led astray by "false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage)" (Gal 2:4). Such false brethren are found today among Sabbatarians (e.g. Seventh-Day Adventists) who instruct believers, "It is good that you have trusted in Jesus Christ. But faith in Christ is not enough for pleasing God. You must also observe Sabbath-keeping." Paul refers to such persons as those "to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you" (Gal 2:5). Peter rebuked such persons with "Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear" (Acts 15:10). Have you trusted Christ and forsaken Sabbath-keeping? Joshua of the Rock! |
