Rom 14 does not mention the weekly Sabbath at all - it says of the Lev 23 annual holy days "one man observes one day above another while another many observes them all".
Well, I have heard this excuse used before by Sabbath keepers but I don’t think it jives with a natural reading of Romans 14:5. Paul says that there are those who regards all days alike and Paul does not clarify the point by saying: “
With the exception of the weekly Sabbath, there are some who say all days are alike.” There needs to be some kind of clarification in the context that lets us know that Paul is exclusively referring to the annual holy days and not the weekly sabbaths.
Also, reading Leviticus 23 does not really change the reading on Romans 14:5. There is nothing clearly mentioned between these two chapters that is an exclusive tag word to mean only “annual feast days” in both chapters.
You said:
Acts 15:1 is specifically about circumcision -- not the ten Commandments.
Not true.
“But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them,
and to command them to keep the law of Moses.” (Acts of the Apostles 15:5).
“Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying,
Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:” (Acts of the Apostles 15:24).
Also, while circumcision first began with Abraham, it was included and or attached later into the Law of Moses.
For Paul, who was a Jew said:
“For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.” (Galatians 5:3).
You said:
As noted in my earlier post - this is not even a Sabbatarian response - it is the the "TEN are still valid" position of almost Bible scholars on both sides of the Sabbath/Lord's-day topic.
I don’t have a problem with the discussion we are having now. I just don’t want to get off track or topic in regards to the day of the Lord in Revelation 1:10.
You said:
Galatians 5:3-4 -- also does not mention the weekly Sabbath at all. It says "you who are seeking to be justified by law" but never says "if you choose not to take God's name in vain then you are seeking to be justified by law" nor does it mention any other from among the Ten Commandments.
Paul says in Galatians 5:4 that if you seek to be justified by the Law you have fallen from grace. The sabbath was a sign between God and the Israelites involving the Mosaic Law (that is a part of the Old covenant).
16 “Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations,
for a perpetual covenant.
17 It
is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for
in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.” (Exodus 31:16-17).
The Old Law was given to the Israelites and not anyone else.
Jesus came to take away the first covenant and to establish the New Covenant or New Testament.
“He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.” (Hebrews 10:9).
The Law and the priesthood have changed (See: Hebrews 7:12).
Also, Paul mentions circumcision and that was a part of the Law of Moses. Paul said if you seek to be circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. So this means Paul is condemning a ceremonial Law that was not repeated in the New Covenant. Yet, the keeping of the Moral Law still applies like: Do not murder, do not covet, do not commit adultery, etc. (Galatians 5:19-21). Nothing is mentioned about the sin of breaking the Sabbath in Galatians 5:19-21 or anywhere else in the New Testament (for that matter).
Under the Old Covenant you had to be circumcised otherwise you would be cut off from among your people (the Israelites). But this is not the case under the New Covenant because this command was not repeated in the New Covenant, and circumcision is actually now condemned if one is doing so as a requirement of the faith.
You said:
you don't even have one text that actually says that - but you are stating your POV exactly right. The problem is that it is not compelling without a text that actually says it.
Yes, I do. Here it is.
“And upon the first
day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread,” (Acts of the Apostles 20:7).
You said:
The argument here is not against the Lord's table, the communion service or the New Covenant of Jer 31:31-34 where the Law of God known to Jeremiah and his readers is written on heart and mind.
Jeremiah 31 speaks of the time of Millennium of when the nation of Israel will have already accepted the New Covenant (before at Christ’s second coming that is yet future). For they will not have to say “Know the Lord” because everyone living in the Millennium time will already know the Lord.
You said:
True - but it does not
1. call week-day-1 "the Lord's Day" - even though it calls the 7th day by its name of honor "the Sabbath" in Acts 18:4 and in Acts 13 and in Acts 16 and in Acts 17:1-6.
2. Say that they broke bread every week-day-1 even though it does say they preached the Gospel "every Sabbath" in Acts 18:4.
Indirectly it does if we connect the dots of the phrases: the Lord’s supper, Lord’s table, and the cup of the Lord in
1 Corinthians 10-11, and connect that with how they broke bread (the Lord’s supper) on the first day of the week (Acts of the Apostles 20:7).
Lords supper, Lord’s table, cup of the Lord…. Lord’s day.
Lord’s supper involves breaking of bread which happens on the 1st day of the week.
You said:
Acts 15 says that the Sabbath celebrating Christian practice of hearing scripture every Sabbath was the solution for the dispute that arose in Acts 15:1
No, that’s not what it says. The Gentiles Christians were told that they do not have to keep the Law in Acts of the Apostles 15:24; For the apostles were basically saying that the Gentile Christians were not given any such commandment. The Law would naturally be the Law of Moses (which naturally includes the Saturday Sabbath), and nothing is clarified how the Gentile Christians must keep the weekly Sabbath.
So the Lord’s day is Sunday in Revelation 1:10 and not the Sabbath because Gentile Christians were told that they did not have to keep the Law of Moses.