Do you believe not keeping the Sabbaths is a salvation issue?
Paul said we are not to judge according to Sabbaths (Colossians 2:16).
Paul said in Romans 14 that some regard some days as being all alike and others regard one day over another. In fact, there are no Sabbath commands given to us under the New Covenant. They are ceremonial laws and not God's eternal moral laws.
Let's look at that verse in context though:
Romans 14 3:6
3 Let not him that
eateth despise him that
eateth not; and let not him which
eateth not judge him that
eateth: for God hath received him.
4 Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that
eateth,
eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that
eateth not, to the Lord he
eateth not, and giveth God thanks.
People think that this is talking about the sabbath, but when looked at in context, it's talking about fasting. Sabbath is never once mentioned in this chapter, in fact, it's not even once mentioned in the entire book of Romans. There was a big dispute back in the 1st century about
which day was the best and most acceptable day to fast to the Father, but what Paul is saying is "bruh, it doesn't matter, whether or not you eat, you're doing it to God, don't judge, fast on whatever day you want". Not, "nah man, have the sabbath any day you want, God's commandment doesn't matter."
In fact, I believe we do have to be obedient to God's commands as a part of faith (i.e. the Sanctification process). But these are God's Eternal Moral Laws like "do not murder," "do not covet," "do not steal," "do not commit adultery," "love your neighbor (like helping the poor, and the brethren), etc.
Colossians 2:16.
Okay, so Here in Colossians, Pau was writing to Gentiles. Right? I think we can both agree on that. Well, follow me here.
Let no man therefore judge you in
meat, or in
drink, or in r
espect of an holyday, or of the
new moon,
or of the sabbath days:
Meat: First off, if gentiles eat anything, all meats, without judging, and the church Paul is writing to, is surrounded by, and in the middle of gentiles, who would judge them for eating meat? Unless they were abstaining from certain meats.
Drink: Gentiles at this time, observed many feasts. The feast of saturnalia, the feast of Ishtar, etc. All of them were observed with large quantities of alcohol. Gentiles drank often, they saw it, and being drunk as synonymous with spirituality. So, why would the be judged if they were drinking? Gentiles greatly respected, and cherished alcohol and it's effects. They weren't being judged because they were drinking, but because they weren't getting drunk anymore.
Holy Days: Can man make a day holy? No. God gave His people Holy days to follow. The gentiles had several gods, and all of which had their own celebrations. So, why would they be judged? Unless it was for a God that was not their own, and was in fact, the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob.
New Moon: What do gentiles have to do with new moons? Absolutely nothing. Gentiles have worshipped the sun for thousands of years. They have since long before Jesus used the sun to regulate and determine their calendar years. They were being judged regarding new moons, because according to God, and the Torah, the moon, and more specifically the new moon, was how they were to determine when the new month came. Even today, Judah still uses the new moon (which is a phase of the moon) to determine when a new month starts. They were being judged because they were doing exactly the opposite of the gentiles they were surrounded by. The calendar we use today is taken from these gentiles that were judging them. We observe new months and such based on the locations of the sun, whereas, God had His people use a calendar that was reliant on the phases of the moon, not the positioning of the sun.
Sabbath Days: It's plural. Why? Because, several of the holy days God gave to us, have sabbaths. Sukkot is coming up this friday. The first, and the last day of Sukkot are sabbath days, not to mention trumpets, atonement, and the regular sabbath days. All of these are Sabbath days. Why were they being judged for them? Because, gentiles, especially around this time (1st century) hated the jews and thought they were lazy because it wasn't normal for people to take days off of work. Let alone the weeks taken off by jews each year according to the days the Torah gives them.
Jesus came to fulfill the Law. This means that the Law has changed (Hebrews 7:12).
Jesus was saying He came not to abolish all forms of Law like God's Eternal Moral Laws.
Paul says you fulfill the whole Law by loving your neighbor in Romans 13:8-10.
This would be the Moral Law like do not murder, do not covet, do not steal, etc. (as Paul says).
There is no moral law, that's a man-made term. The whole law deals with things like that. There is no moral law in the bible, the term doesn't even exist. The only thing that was done away with, was the priesthood. It itself wasn't even done away with really, but Jesus Himself is our Priest now. Whereas before we had priests from the children of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi, now we have Jesus.
At that time, the Old Law (as a whole) was in effect, but it was waxing old and it was ready to vanish away until Christ died upon the cross. Oh, and yes. I agree that sin is transgression of the Law. This is what 1 John 3:4 says. But this would be God's laws under the New Covenant and not the Old Covenant. We primarily look to the commands in the New Testament and not the Old Testament to obey God. All ceremionial laws (like the Sabbaths, dietary laws, laws on animals sacrifices and the priesthood) are done away with. They are the ordinances that were against us that Christ nailed to the cross.
The priesthood was changed, that was the only change in the law. The law that we are freed from, was the law of the adulterous bride. We were once married to God, as Israel. But, because we kept being unfaithful, He put us away. According to the Torah, the only way to remarry anyone as a wife put away, was for the husband to die, which meant living until the death of the husband as a curse. No one would associate with you, and you couldn't remarry. Well, God was our husband, so He
had to come down and die to for us to free us from that. The reason He resurrected was so we'd have an eligible bachelor to be married to. He brought us back to Him, by His death. The law doesn't just go away.
We are to fear God. Fear means fear. Jesus said if you look upon a woman in lust you are in danger of hellfire. So... there are consequences to anyone who breaks God's laws today (Which would be the commands primarily in the New Testament).
Right, I definitely agree that there are consequences for breaking the law, the law is the Torah. And you'll never know if you're breaking the Torah, if you don't pay attention to it. Can we fulfill the Torah? Eh, I mean mostly yes. But we will obviously sin, no one is perfect.
The change in the law paul was talking about in Hebrews 7, if you read it, was talking about the priesthood. That was the necessary change in the law, the priesthood. Like I said, before, the only priests that God would accept were the sons of Aaron of the tribe of Levi. Jesus is the only Priest, EVER to have NOT been not only of Levi, but also the son of Aaron.
