As in every election cycle, there seems to be much misinformation on all sides.
In general, I stay away from politics. But lately I’ve heard snippets on the radio news or read headlines at news sites on the Internet, that seem to me to indicate that so-called “Evangelicals” have lost their moorings.
Some do not seem to have a moral compass. The current President was faulted for that just recently in a headline I saw. But I did read a while back that our President does read from the Bible each night. If true, that is a very good thing. Now if he could just learn about this site and learn how to do Real Bible Study he might be greatly blessed as a result.
I ran across a link recently to a site on the Internet which has a downloadable PDF file which lists the current presidential candidates, and provides a matrix or chart with links to candidate statements and U-tube videos documenting in their own words what their positions are on a great many issues.
I will try to give the link, but I have never found out how to make a link “work” when I post it in my main article. Links always work fine when I post them in comments below the article. Maybe some kind soul can patiently tell me how to get this stuff to work right! Just leave a comment below.
Here is the link to the “Positions of GOP Candidates for President” file. Last updated on 1-1-12 at 8:30 pm, there are two versions in PDF format available. One is the Condensed (19 Issues), the other the Full Version (64 Issues), located in the upper right corner of the page at the link to the “Southern New Hampshire 9.12 Project.”
http://www.southernnh912.com/
Notice the top article listing the contributors to Romney’s campaign, with Goldman Sachs on top with $354,700. (At least this was the article visible when I went to the site a few days ago).
None of the candidates is perfect. Neither am I, so we are even on that score.
However, I agree with Karl Denninger at the Market Ticker blog he writes (I strongly recommend you read his site daily–it is short, to the point, and crucially important). As I recall, Karl Denninger recently remarked that a person with the record of Mitt Romney and his actions with Bain must not become our president. The reason? While what Romney did in connection or conjunction with Bain Management was technically legal, it was atrociously morally wrong. We need a President that follows a clear-cut moral standard, not one who violates basic justice and morality, and I will add, the Bible.
What part of the Bible did Romney violate? Try this verse on for size:
Malachi 3:5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.
All political candidates, all persons in leadership or management, indeed, everyone needs to get hold of this verse and understand it fully, then abide by what God clearly says he wishes all of us to do.
Malachi 3:5 is surely one major practical application verse in the Bible that Evangelicals and probably everyone else have missed, or totally ignored to their obviously eternal peril.
So-called Evangelicals and the likewise so-called “religious right” seem to have never discovered that this verse really is in the Bible. If they would discover it is there, and then obey what it teaches, this nation and world would be a much better place.
It would also help everyone to learn how to do real Bible study. Dust off the cover of your Bible. Learn to search the Scriptures (in obedience to the direct command of Christ in John 5:39), and look up the cross references given for each part of Malachi 3:5.
Here is a more complete set of cross references for this verse which I just lately assembled in my ongoing project to expand the number of cross references available for serious Bible study:
5. I will come near. *Ml 2:17. +Ex 32:34. Nu 5:24. Jsh 9:20. *Ps 50:3-6. +*Ps 96:13. *Ps 98:9. Je 5:29. Ezk 34:20-22. Zc 13:8. *Lk 18:7, 8. *He 10:30, 31. *James 5:8, 9. 1 P 4:17. *Jude 1:14, 15. Re 2:14, 20-23. 18:21, 23, 24. and I will be. Note: The coming of the Messiah would be followed by the condemnation and punishment of the Jewish nation. He would come near unto them in judgment, and be a swift witness to testify that their works were evil; and thus he would speedily convict the sorcerers, and other notorious criminals, of which the bulk of the nation at that time principally consisted, and bring them to condign punishment. Indeed the prevalence of the sins here enumerated, and of similar crimes, caused the Jews to reject Jesus the true Messiah, and his holy Gospel, and thus brought on the ruin of the whole nation. Mic 1:2. a swift witness. Ml 2:14. Ge 31:50. Dt 9:13. Jg 11:10. Ru 1:21. Jb 20:27. 31:12. *Ps 50:7. Ps 81:8. 146:7. Ec 5:8. *Je 29:23. 42:5. Mic 1:2. Mt 7:12. *Mt 23:14-35. Jn 7:7. *2 P 2:1. the sorcerers. Ex 22:18rp. Le 19:26. *Le 20:6, 10, 27. Dt 18:10rp. *Je 7:9, 10. 27:9. Ezk 22:6-12. +*1 Cor 6:9, 10. *Ga 5:19, 20, 21. +Re 9:21. +*Re 21:8. *Re 22:15. *S#3784h: Ex 7:11. 22:18 (witch). +*Dt 18:10 (witch). 2 Ch 33:6 (witchcraft). Da 2:2. adulterers. Ge 39:11. +**Ex 20:14rp. Le 18:20. 20:10rp. +*Dt 5:18, 21. Pr 6:29. *Je 5:7. *Je 7:9. 23:10. *Ezk 22:11. 1 Tim 1:10. +*He 13:4. false swearers. Le 6:3-5rp. Le 19:12rp. +*Dt 5:11, 20. 1 K 21:13. Ps 24:4. Ec 9:2. Je 5:2. *Je 7:9. **Ezk 17:16. +*Zc 5:3, 4. 8:17. Mt 26:72. 1 Tim 1:10. +*Re 21:8. against those. *Ex 22:21-24. +*Le 19:13. +*Dt 24:14, 15, 17. 27:19. +*Ps 12:5. *Pr 22:22, 23. *Pr 23:10, 11. *Je 22:13-17. +*Ezk 16:49. *Ezk 22:7. Mic 2:2. +*James 5:4, 12. oppress. or, defraud. Ex 22:21rp. Ex 23:6. +*Dt 24:14rp. Jb 27:13. +**Ps 15:4. Ec 4:1. Is 3:5. 10:2. 29:21. Je 7:6. 17:11. Ezk 18:7. 22:7. Ho 12:7. Am 4:1. 5:12. Mic 2:2. Zp 3:1. Zc 7:10. *Mk 10:19. 1 Cor 6:8. +*1 Th 4:6. the hireling. **Dt 15:7-14. Jb 7:2. *Ep 6:9. in his wages. +*Ge 29:15. 30:28. *Ge 31:7. +*Le 19:13. +**Ps 15:4. +*Je 22:13. Mt 20:2, 9n, Mt 20:10, 11, 12, 13, 14. Lk 3:14. +*Lk 10:7. 1 Cor 9:7n, 1 Cor 9:14n. +*Col 4:1. +*1 Tim 5:18. +*James 5:4. the widow. Jb 22:9. Ps 94:6. +Is 1:17. Je 22:3. 49:11. Ezk 22:7. *Zc 7:10. *Mt 23:14. Mk 12:40. Ac 6:1. fatherless. +Ge 11:28. +Ex 22:22rp. +*Dt 10:18. 14:29rp. Dt 16:11, 14rp. Dt 24:17rp. Jb 6:27. Is 1:23. Je 22:3. 49:11. stranger. Ge 23:4 (*S#1616h). Ex 12:48mg. Le 19:33. Dt 23:16. +Dt 26:11. Ps 146:9. Je 22:3. Zc 7:10. +Mt 25:35. fear not. ver. +*Mal 3:16. Ge 20:11. 42:18. *Ex 1:17. *Ex 18:21. Le 25:17, 43. Ne 5:15. +*Jb 21:14, 15. *Ps 36:1. *Pr 8:13. *Pr 16:6. Is 1:2. 48:1. +*Je 10:25. **Je 22:13, 16. Lk 18:4. 23:40. Ro 3:18.
Copy and paste for personal use, if you need to, the above cross references and sit down with your Bible, and read these passages. It may help to use two Bibles, perhaps a larger one opened to Malachi 3:5. Use a smaller Bible to turn to the cross reference passages. If you have access to Bible software, you could type each reference into the search box, which is easier and faster than turning to the passage in a hard copy Bible.
May I suggest that this upcoming Presidential election may prove to be most important in our lifetime. We really do not need another president who follows the same mistaken and broken policies that have been followed for at least the past thirty years or more.
Our nation can no longer afford the nonsense promoted by the banking community, the so-called Federal Reserve–which is neither Federal, nor is it a reserve. It is a banking cartel which does not have the interests of this nation in mind whatsoever, but their own pockets.
The Bible declares in a most straightforward manner that national debt is the curse of God.
I wrote a post last year about that, documenting the Biblical evidence for my claim. Read it under the category “Politics and the Bible” linked immediately to the right under “Categories.”
I am old enough to remember when the United States was the largest creditor nation in the world. That was under the blessing of God, according to my Bible. We have since become the world’s largest debtor nation, and the Bible declares that this is the curse of God.
Our current President has added more debt to this nation’s national debt than all the previous presidents from George Washington until George Bush before him combined.
But the President is not alone in this fault. Both houses of Congress are insane, and utterly ignorant of basic mathematics and the Bible, and are fully responsible for this runaway debt spiral.
We cannot continue on this pathway much longer. Some suggest two years more is the limit. Some give it four or five. Like the timing of the Rapture, the tipping point and its date are utterly unknown, but could be soon. When our economy implodes, the resultant catastrophe will likely be uncontrollable, and may possibly lead to the destruction of our society and nation.
Of course, nobody believes me when I say that the Bible addresses the issue of national debt head-on. That is because nobody seems to have ever done any Real Bible Study on this subject.
It is the most important financial and political issue facing our nation today, yet none of the candidates have said anything of substance which addresses the issue realistically.
Quote:”But the New Testament in its entirety only mentions nine of them as commandments.
Why has the Fourth Commandment so obviously been omitted from mention as a commandment by all of the New Testament writers?”
On the contrary. The New Testament talks of the Sabbath MANY times. The Sabbath commandment was well known, for all the Jews kept it. But they kept it for legalistic reasons. Jesus showed true Sabbath keeping. John 5 and 9 speak of the work of God in restoration, right in line with Ezekiel 20:12 and Exodus 31:13.
Galatians 4:10 “Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.”
Paul here refers to the seven ceremonial sabbaths and the new moons of the ceremonial system ( Leviticus 23; Numbers 10:10; Numbers 28:11-15). There is no basis in Scripture for assuming, as you do, that the “days” of which Paul here speaks refer to the seventh-day Sabbath. Nowhere in the Bible is the seventh day referred to in the language here used. Furthermore, the seventh-day Sabbath was instituted at creation (Genesis 2:1-3; compare with Exodus 20:8-11), before the entrance of sin and some 2,500 years before the inauguration of the ceremonial system at Mt. Sinai. Even you believed that until about a year ago, I’m sure I do not need to jog your memory. But it becomes to inconvenient to believe that now because it cuts across your chosen beliefs.
The New Covenant, when was it spoken about? In the Old Testament, see Jeremiah 31:33. But look back to Deuteronomy 5 and 6. Chapter 5 repeats the 10 commandments. Were the ceremonial Sabbaths mentioned here? No. Chapter 6: Deuteronomy 6:1-6 Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you go to possess it: (2) That you might fear the LORD your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, you, and your son, and your son’s son, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged. (3) Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with you, and that you may increase mightily, as the LORD God of your fathers has promised you, in the land that flows with milk and honey. (4) Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: (5) And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. (6) And these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart:
Who gave these commandments? It was Jesus!!
More OT quotes:
Exodus 20:6 And showing mercy to thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Deuteronomy 5:10 And showing mercy to thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.
Deuteronomy 30:16 In that I command you this day to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that you may live and multiply: and the LORD your God shall bless you in the land where you go to possess it.
Joshua 22:5 But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to hold to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Nehemiah 1:5 And said, I beseech you, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keeps covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:
Daniel 9:4 And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;
Zoom forward to the New Testament.
John 14:15 If you love me, keep my commandments.
John 15:10 If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
1 John 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
Revelation 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Revelation 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Revelation 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Now, you will continue in your belief that all the commandments, except 1, are included. But no where, has the 4th commandment been done away with, and in particular, no where has the observance of Sunday been substituted for the 7th-day. In truth, all the commandments are now slowly being completely dismantled in the world. Labor unions are laying siege to the 10 commandments, particularly the 8th and 10th. Children’s rights are being elevated making parental rights secondary. Many Christians take the name Christian, but in vain. The 9th commandment has been totally trashed by government policy on education of evolution in the schools. The teaching of evolution is bearing false witness. The 7th is being trashed by Holywood, and in all manner or licentiousness, even becoming the law of the land. Praying in the name of Jesus publicly is banned, but in the name of Allah, fine. No other God? The last one to go will be the 4th commandment. Already, in Europe, Sunday is an enforced rest day in many places. Will you Jerry, speak out for Religious Freedom when government writes laws demanding that everyone work on the 7th-day? Or will you say, finally, put those heretics in their place? I wonder what you will do when this happens! It is coming, there is lots of evidence of this fact. It is the last commandment that is still hanging by a thread. What will you say?
Dear A. Way,
This may be a nice statement of Seventh-day Adventist propaganda and heresy, but you know very well what you have stated does not represent the truth of the Bible.
You have NEVER ONCE in any post provided even one example of a New Testament reference to the Fourth Commandment regarding the keeping of the Seventh Day holy stated as a commandment.
And you know you can’t.
Therefore, your whole system of belief is proven false, and your argument utterly fails.
It is interesting that you resort to ad hominem arguments, rather that what is written in the comment.
So, when religious freedoms are impinged, will you stand up and support religious freedom? Or only if it supports your belief system? Should the power of the state enforce religion. One of the current U.S. presidential candidates believes the state should be involved in religion. And it is interesting to view his religious affiliation…
Dear A. Way,
It is equally interesting that you do not address the argument.
The New Testament does not place emphasis on the Fourth Commandment in the manner you do.
Not once is the Fourth Commandment mentioned as a commandment in the New Testament.
And as for ad hominem attacks, it is your position that is attacking others in general all the time.
You think Sunday will be enforced somewhere by Christians against those who choose to worship on Saturday. Nonsense. That clearly is not in the cards. It may have been either a prophecy or an interpretation by Mrs. Ellen G. White, but it is not what is found in Bible prophecy pertaining to the present dispensation.
You seem to have already forgotten that I affirmed the last time you raised this Sabbath keeper persecution issue that I believe in letting everyone believe however they wish. They don’t even have to believe at all. Bible believing Christians do not believe in using force to compel belief. Moslems believe in that, but not genuine Bible believing Christians.
I remarked before that these mistaken ideas on the part of Seventh-day Adventists have formed a rift between Seventh-day Adventists and all other Christians.
You could not come up with your point of view as a result of doing Real Bible Study alone on Robinson Crusoe’s Desert Island entirely apart from denominational and false cult literature.
Quote:”Bible believing Christians do not believe in using force to compel belief.” What is a labor union strike, but the use of force to compel?
And just what do you base your notion of labor union use of force having anything to do with freedom of religion or Bible believing Christians?
The only reason we need unions is because of bad management.
You are obviously in favor of bad management, and therefore in violation of God’s written word found in the Bible.
If management in whatever form would obey the Bible, unions would be unnecessary.
But you claim that “soon” we will see Sabbath worshipers persecuted because they will be forced to work on Saturday.
Nonsense.
Anyone who works in retail, or in service industries or trades, is already required to work on Sunday. They are also required to work on Saturday. This has been so because of the whim of management. Unions secured the five-day, 40-hour work week we once were accustomed to. Corporate management greed has led to more days of work and longer working hours.
It was the union movement in Detroit and surrounding manufacturing cities like Flint that stood up to management and brought about the right to collective bargaining and the five-day, 40-hour work week as the standard. I see support for collective bargaining in what Jesus taught at Matthew 20:2, “and when he had agreed with the laborers….” The inviolability of contracts is a central theme in Scripture.
Those who favor so-called “right to work” legislation clearly are trying to find a legal way to force workers to work any day and every day and longer hours without commensurate increase in pay for additional hours worked.
Those who favor “right to work” do so because they do not want to let employees have due process rights.
Those who favor “right to work” do so because they want to renege on agreed-to contracts and violate and change them at will, contrary to plain Scripture I’ve cited before in Psalm 15:4.
Job and God know better. Perhaps there is an unread chapter in your Bible. Try Job chapter 31 on for size (yes, the whole chapter, of which the following is a snippet):
Job 31:13 If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;
Job 31:14 What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?
Thank you Jerry – you make my point exactly. Your trust in you your works, not what God will do. You trust the labor unions, not God. If I’m wrong, please tell me.
Matthew 20 fits your unfair management, at least the workers thought management was unfair. Look what happened at the end of the day. The workers had agreed to work for a wage. But at the end of the day, they thought they had been mistreated. Matthew 20:10-11 “But when the first ones came, they expected to receive more; but they also got each one a penny. (11) And when they received it, they murmured against the householder.” Of course, this story is a parable and it is not primarily about workers rights.
You idea of “right to work” ignores the unfair acts of unions. But management and workers are accountable to God. Are not both workers and management our neighbors?
Quote:”And just what do you base your notion of labor union use of force having anything to do with freedom of religion or Bible believing Christians?”
Everything. A Christian is one that lives all aspects of his life in line with God. ALL aspects, every moment, of every day…
Dear A. Way,
You asked,
It has been my general observation that you are sometimes wrong! So I’ve told you.
You suggest I ignore the “unfair acts of unions.” On the other hand, you ignore the unfair acts of management. What are employees to do when management refuses to bargain with them? What are employees to do when management imposes arbitrary new conditions of work not originally agreed to, like being forced to work longer hours without an increase in pay? Like being forced to work more days without an increase in pay? What are employees to do when management imposes unfair methods of evaluation and arbitrarily and without due process terminate workers without justification?
Labor Unions are a provision in our general culture providentially provided by God to give the working public a voice against oppressive management. They are a means through which the Bible principles of justice may be spoken for. The unions are not churches. Generally, they are not Christian organizations. In my personal experience neither unions nor management is generally Christian. But individuals within management and within unions sometimes are. Both the management side and the union side had great respect for me as a Christian. They knew I always stood for what is right.
You suggest that I “trust in you your works, not what God will do.”
Is the pot calling the kettle black?
Seventh-day Adventism is well known to be a works-based religion at its core, even though it constantly affirms a disclaimer to the contrary. It partakes of both the heresy of the Sadducees in affirming a theology of materialism, and the Galatian heresy, which affirms the necessity of keeping the Ten Commandments, in theology called legalism.
So I would suspect that you may be guilty of the very error you think you see in me!
If you were to become familiar with my book, The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, you would find that in the notes and cross references I supplied over and above what was already in the original Treasury of Scripture Knowledge an emphasis on obedience. My listing and discussion of the Commands of Christ at 1 John 2:3 would be a prime example. My much fuller references for each of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 would be another example. The cross references I furnished at Hebrews 5:9 will lead to many other sets of cross references given elsewhere upon this important theme. That I was unbiased in my presentation will be readily apparent when you discover, for example, that I have placed notes on the Sabbath that Sabbatarians would favor, because I derived them from commentaries and authors (such as William Paley) who favor that view.
The necessity of obedience is clear in all of Scripture. But that does not support legalism in any form. The power to obey is received by faith in Christ, who makes us a new creature in Him, and who provides the Holy Spirit in our lives to produce the fruit of the Spirit, against which there is no law. THAT is the proper focus of the true Gospel, not an over-emphasis upon the Fourth Commandment, a commandment not given as a command even once within the pages of the New Testament.
To be correct in our understanding of the Bible, and in the formation of our belief system or theology, we must maintain the same balance of emphasis that the Bible does, especially as represented in the New Testament.
I will ignore the ad hominem argument again, for you are commenting on a religious group and not on what I have written on your blogs.
Quote: You suggest I ignore the “unfair acts of unions.” On the other hand, you ignore the unfair acts of management.
On the contrary sir. I have acknowledged that BOTH sides act unfairly. I am not one sided as you are. Perhaps you have only worked one side, I don’t know. There are good managers. There are evil unions.
Quote: “What are employees to do when management refuses to bargain with them?”
Answer: Trust God. Abraham took matters into his own hands and look what that has done to us. Trusting God is not idle statement. Yes, one may need to make hard choices. Read Matthew 5. How are we to respond to those who act unfairly.
Justice: Reading what you wrote above it appears to me that what you are demanding is to have justice done to you. But what does God say, Romans 12:14-21 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. (15) Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. (16) Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. (17) Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. (18) If it be possible, as much as lies in you, live peaceably with all men. (19) Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place to wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, said the Lord. (20) Therefore if your enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing you shall heap coals of fire on his head. (21) Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
This is what God requires: Micah 6:8 He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
You said the 4th Commandment was not mentioned in the N.T. Yeshua said when asked how can we achieve heaven, Yeshua said, ” What do the Commandments say” . The 4th says the seventh day is the Sabbath. This is the Commandment I follow. A lie told long enough becomes the truth. There is nowhere in the N.T. the Lord changed the 4th Commandment, they take Scripture and pervert it. God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. This is one of satans biggest victory! Changing it to Sunday(A day of sun worship. God hates anything pagan.
Dear William,
Thank you for taking the time to visit my site. You have posted a challenging comment. That is the kind of comment I especially like.
The Fourth Commandment is never once mentioned as a commandment in the New Testament. Nine of the Ten Commandments are quoted or cited as commandments, but not the Fourth Commandment about keeping the Sabbath Day for it is holy.
That is a very strange and striking omission in the New Testament. It was left out, as a Commandment, because it was not one of the moral commandments, but a practice commanded of the Jews. It does not apply at all to Christians because as a type of rest and eternal rest (Hebrews 4:8, 9) it is now completed. Christians do not offer ritual sacrifices because Christ fulfilled the types they represented, and His final sacrifice is never to be repeated, as the author of Hebrews emphasizes in chapter one of his book.
The Seventh Day certainly was and yet remains the Sabbath. The Sabbath was NEVER changed to Sunday. The Sabbath is still obligatory for Jews. It absolutely does not apply to Christians, though Christians may freely choose to worship on the Seventh Day if they so please.
In the New Testament record, Christians NEVER ONCE observed the Seventh Day for distinctly Christian worship. And there is a difference between Christian worship and Jewish worship. The Lord’s Supper is never observed in genuinely Jewish worship, in that day or this. Christians do observe the Lord’s Supper in Christian worship, though different denominations vary in the frequency of the observance.
You are very correct that God hates anything pagan. Proof of that in the Bible will be found at Jeremiah 10:2, where we are told to “learn not the way of the heathen.”
But worship on the First Day of the week is not pagan, it is the memorial of the day of our Lord’s resurrection, and is the only day Christians in the New Testament record regularly devoted to exclusively Christian worship. The examples are not many, but they are very clear.
At the beginning of the New Testament church as recorded in the book of Acts, Christian believers were nearly all Jewish until the message was brought to the Gentiles, as in Acts 10. As Jews in good standing, these first Christian believers worshipped as Jews like they always did on the Sabbath, for customary Jewish worship, but not for Christian worship. They did so for outreach to fellow Jews, for the Christians were for a time permitted to comment in the Synagogue service, and were invited to do so.
One of Satan’s biggest victories is side-tracking present Christian witness in some circles by enticing untaught believers in Christ to relinquish the freedom they have been given in Christ (Galatians 5:1) and instead entangling them again in the yoke of bondage by supposedly following the Law. Scripture plainly tells us that the Law brings death, with specific reference to the Ten Commandment Law. This emphasis on the Law and keeping the Sabbath is a deception and rank heresy, and a total misrepresentation of the New Testament Gospel message.
Jerry said: “The Fourth Commandment is never once mentioned as a commandment in the New Testament.” The Sabbath was mentioned many times in the NT. The Sabbath is only defined by the commandments. There is also this: Luke 23:56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment. So, yes, the fourth commandment was mentioned many times in the NT.
Dear A. Way,
I guess I’ll have to invite you to attend my “reading clinic.”
I said that the New Testament never repeats as a command the Fourth Commandment regarding keeping the Sabbath day holy.
I did NOT say that the Sabbath is never mentioned in the New Testament.
So, when you answer my statement that the Sabbath COMMANDMENT is never repeated anywhere in the New Testament by saying the SABBATH is frequently mentioned, or even that the Sabbath was clearly observed by persons included in the historical narrative, you have missed the point.
But you have not addressed the argument.
Me thinks you are just feeding your own agenda. Which of course, you will turn around and say that I feeding my own agenda. I think you are blind to what the NT is saying. You take Acts 20:7 and blow it way out of proportion to the rest of Acts where the Apostles did gather on Sabbath to study and preach. and Acts 20:7 you claim as a “Christian Worship” service when it is no such thing, as the gathering was for the send off of Paul on a journey. So do I need you reading clinic? Only if I want the same narrow reading.