Someone wrote:
“John MacArthur holds to a similar view and writes, "Now what was the biggest barrier, the biggest genuine barrier between a Jew and a Gentile? What was it? Basically the ceremonial law, wasn't it? The whole Jewish thing." He goes on to say, "Let me hasten to say this. God has a moral law and God's moral law never changes. Never. It never changes. ..God's moral law was formalized in the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20."
So according to Cheung and MacArthur, at very minimum we are under the Ten Commandments. What do you think? You do realize that the command to "keep the Sabbath" is part of the Ten Commandments. So then I guess we are still under the Sabbath law? Do you remember what the penalty was for Sabbath breakers?:”
They continued:
“Most teach that God has done away with the ceremonial and civil aspects of the Law, but not with the moral aspect of the Law. Such a distinction is not drawn anywhere in the Scriptures. The Law is viewed as a unit, or as a whole. James said that anyone who breaks one point of the Law, breaks the whole Law. So what I am saying is that Christ abolished the Mosaic Law, every bit of it. It was given to Israel, not to us and it has been abolished. So what Law are believers under?”
The dilemma of what to do with the Sabbath was one of the major reasons for the rejection of the law of God by some recent theologians. Previously the teaching was:
1)Sunday was the new Sabbath and by observing that day in a manner similar to the Sabbath,the fourth commandment was being upheld.
2)Sunday was the Lord’s day and by observing the same as such the fourth commandment was being upheld.
3)Others viewed the Sabbath as a spiritual rest and by attaining this rest the fourth command was being upheld.
One person of this view wrote:
“We are all told not to eat things offered to idols as that is idol worship, and if anybody thinks that the 10 Commandments no longer apply are deceived !!!”
And he further explains:
“Did you not even look at the list provided to you, as it clearly showed the 4th Command of the Sabbath talked about in Acts 13:14, 42,44, 15:21, 16:13, 17:1-2, and 18:4. However the clearest understanding of how the Sabbath is observed under the New Covenant is stated in Hebrews:
(Hebrews 4:1) "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it."
(Hebrews 4:3) "For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world."
(Hebrews 4:4) "For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
The Sabbath rest is in Jesus now as the Sabbath day rest was a shadow of the true rest to come through Faith in the Lord. We do not get salvation by being obedient to the shadows, we get salvation by remaining in the Faith. Also see Romans 14:5 as it gives insight to this as well that under the New Covenant we no longer have to esteem one day more then another.”
With these types of belief/understanding there could be vigorous preaching and enforcing of the ten commandments as a part of Christian doctrine and practice, without any reservation about the Sabbath. As far as they were concerned,the Sabbath command was being upheld. This was the practice of many esteemed theologians of the recent past and the stance of many orthodox denominations as I have shown in previous posts. I wrote:
As William Tyndale wrote:
“….through Christ's purchasing and merits; they begin to love again, and to consent to the law of God, how that it is good and ought so to be, and that God is righteous which made it; and we desire to fulfill the law, even as a sick man desires to be whole, and hunger and thirst after more righteousness, and after more strength, to fulfill the law more perfectly. And in all that they do, or omit and leave undone, they seek God’s honor and his will with meekness, ever condemning the imperfectness of their deeds by the law”
And :
“The general covenant wherein all other are comprehended and included, is this. If we meek ourselves to God to keep all his laws after the example of Christ: then God has bound himself unto us to keep and make good all the mercies promised in Christ, throughout all the scripture. All the whole law which was given to expose our corrupt nature, is comprehended in the ten commandments. And the ten commandments are comprehended in these two: love God and your neighbor. And he that loves his neighbor in God and Christ, fulfills these two, and consequently the ten, and finally all the other ...”
And also:
“Now if any man that submits not himself to keep the commandments, do think that he has any faith in God: the same man’s faith is vain, worldly, damnable, devilish and plain presumption, as it is above said, and is no faith that can justify or be accepted before God. And that is what James means in his Epistle. For how can a man believe says Paul, without a preacher (Rom. 10). Now read all the scripture and see where God sent any to preach mercy to any, save unto them only that repent and turn to God with all their hearts, to keep his commandments. Unto the disobedient that will not turn, is threatened, wrath, vengeance and damnation, according to all the terrible curses and fearful examples of the Bible. Faith now in God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ, according to the covenants and appointment made between God and us, is our salvation ...”
The views of the Baptist denomination are similar and they speak positively of the law of God and the ten commandments as being a part of Christian doctrine and practice. Here are some of the statements which affirm this truth:
"We believe that the law of God is the eternal and imperishable rule of His moral government." —(Baptist Church Manual.)
"The first four commandments set forth man's obligations directly toward God.... The fourth commandment sets forth God's claim on man's time and thought.... Not one of the ten words [commandments] is of merely racial significance.... The Sabbath was established originally [long before Moses] in no special connection with the Hebrews, but as an institution for all mankind, in commemoration of God's rest after six days of creation. It was designed for all the descendants of Adam." —(Adult Quarterly, Southern Baptist Convention series, Aug. 15, 1937.)
“The moral law doth for ever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof, and that not only in regard of the matter contained in it, but also in respect of the authority of God the Creator, who gave it; neither doth Christ in the Gospel any way dissolve, but much strengthen this obligation.”—(1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, Chapter 19, Section 5)
As some men began to see the errors in the interpretations of how the Sabbath is to be observed in the new covenant, the solution to this problem was to denounce the law of God as a whole. The reasoning was; get rid of the law and you get rid of the ten commandments and the Sabbath.
They make statements like:
"I am one who claims to keep nine out of ten, and it's because I can find in the New Testament where it clearly tells me that nine of them are commanded for me, as a Christian, to keep. In fact, five of them are spoken by Jesus in Matt 19."
And:
"The Ten Commandments are given no prominence in the scripture…..The Law is a unit and includes the six hundred and thirteen (613) commandments of the Pentateuch."
Their rule of faith is thus stated:
"The instructions to the Church are clear and direct and embodied in the New Testament."
They also say:
“Finally for you Safswan you do realize that Apostle Paul was referring to the 10 Commandments when he called them this............"The ministry of condemnation." ???You don't believe me go read 2 Corinthians 3:3-7 again as Paul said twice the ministry that was WRITTEN ON TABLETS OF STONE was the ministry of condemnation/death.What was written on stone tablets ??? Answer: It was the 10 Commandments.”
And hence some form of morality is proclaimed, with nine of the ten commandments being upheld, or a ten commandment law is preached with a distorted fourth commandmen,t and at the same time the law is also depreciated, as it is called a ministry of condemnation while a principle termed, “the law of Christ” is promoted as being for Christians.
Many declare that the ten commandments has served a purpose and is therefore no longer needed.
They say:
"The law acted as a mirror revealing the filthiness of the heart and need for cleansing but having seen the filth of sin, the mirror can no longer help us. We must turn from the mirror to a cleansing agent, capable of removing sin. Only Jesus' blood could have accomplished this end."
Or:
“They accused Paul because he taught the laws proper use, which was that it was only to point out sin and lead people to Jesus to be saved (Romans 7, Galatians 3), it was not a requirement to continue to obey to seek eternal life, righteous, or perfection from as the Jews tried to force across.”
Continued in the following post.
