Going Behind Borders Ministry
Are we still under the law?
Often we hear this
argument in an effort to
belittle the law of God:
"Well, since we are not
under the law but under
grace, we do not need to
keep the Ten
Commandments any
longer." Is this a valid
point? The Bible certainly
does say that we are not
under the law, but does
that imply that we are free from the obligation to obey it? The text is found in Romans 6:14, 15. "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid." How easily we could prevent confusion if we accepted exactly what the Bible says. Paul gives his own explanation of his statement. After stating that we are not under the law but under grace, he asks, "What then?" This simply means, "How are we to understand this?" Then notice his answer. In anticipation that some will construe his words to mean that you can break the law because you are under grace, he says, "Shall we sin (break the law) because we are not under the law but under grace? God forbid." In the strongest possible language Paul states that being under grace does not give a license to break the law. Yet this is exactly what millions believe today, and they totally ignore Paul's specific warning. If being under grace does not exempt us from keeping the law, then what does Paul mean by saying that Christians are not under the law? He gives that answer in Romans 3:19. "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." Here Paul equates being under the law with "being guilty before God." In other words, those who are under the law are guilty of breaking it and are under the condemnation of it. This is why Christians are not under it. They are not breaking it - not guilty and condemned by it. Therefore, they are not under it, but are under the power of grace instead. Later in his argument, Paul points out that the power of grace is greater than the power of sin. This is why he states so emphatically, "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." Grace overrules the authority of sin, giving power to obey God's law. This is the effective reason that we are not under the law's guilt and condemnation and also why Paul states that we will not continue to sin. Suppose a murderer has been sentenced to death in the electric chair. Waiting for the execution the man would truly be under the law in every sense of the word - under the guilt, under the condemnation, under the sentence of death, etc. Just before the execution date the governor reviews the condemned man's case and decides to pardon him. In the light of extenuating circumstances the governor exercises his prerogative and sends a full pardon to the prisoner. Now he is no longer under the law but under grace. The law no longer condemns him. He is considered totally justified as far as the charges of the law are concerned. He is free to walk out of the prison and not a policeman can lay hands upon him. But now that he is under grace and no longer under the law, can we say that he is free to break the law? Indeed not! In fact, that pardoned man will be doubly obligated to obey the law because he has found grace from the governor. In gratitude and love he will be very careful to honor the law of that state which granted him grace. Is that what the Bible says about pardoned sinners? "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." Romans 3:31. Here is the most explicit answer to the entire problem. Paul asks if the law is nullified for us just because we have had faith in Christ's saving grace. His answer is that the law is established and reenforced in the life of a grace-saved Christian. The truth of this is so simple and obvious that it should require no repetition, but the devious reasoning of those who try to avoid obedience makes it necessary to press this point a bit further. Have you ever been stopped by a policeman for exceeding the speed limit? It is an embarrassing experience, especially if you know you are guilty. But suppose you really were hurrying to meet a valid emergency, and you pour out your convincing explanation to the policeman as he writes your ticket. Slowly he folds the ticket and tears it up. Then he says, "All right, I'm going to pardon you this time, but ..." Now what do you think he means by that word "but"? Surely he means, "but I don't want to ever catch you speeding again." Does this pardon (grace) open the way for you to disobey the law? On the contrary, it adds compelling urgency to your decision not to disobey the law again. Why, then, should any true Christian try to rationalize his way out of obeying the law of God? "If ye love me," Jesus said, "keep My Commandments." John 14:15.
Can the true seventh day be located?
This is a fallacy that
has comforted many
in their disobedience
of the fourth
commandment. It
just is not true. Here
are four positive
proofs which identify
the true Sabbath today: 1. According to the Scriptures, Christ died on Friday and rose on Sunday, the first day of the week. Practically all churches acknowledge this fact by observing Easter Sunday and Good Friday. Here is the Bible evidence: "This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid. And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on." Luke 23:52-54. Here is proof that Jesus died the day before the Sabbath. It was called "the preparation day" because it was the time to get ready for the Sabbath. Let us read the next verses: "And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment." Verses 55, 56. Please notice that the women rested over the Sabbath "according to the commandment." The commandment says, "The seventh day is the Sabbath," so we know they were observing Saturday. But the very next verse says, "Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared. ... And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre." Luke 24:1, 2. How clearly these three consecutive days are described for us. He died Friday, the preparation day, commonly called Good Friday. He rested in the tomb on the seventh day, Sabbath, "according to the commandment." That was Saturday. Then on Sunday, the first day of the week, Easter Sunday to many, Jesus arose from the grave. Anyone who can locate Good Friday or Easter Sunday will have absolutely no difficulty finding the true Sabbath. 2. The calendar has not been changed so as to confuse the days of the week. We can be positive that our seventh day is the same day Jesus observed when He was here. Pope Gregory XIII did make a calendar change in 1582, but it did not interfere with the weekly cycle. Our present Gregorian calendar was named after him when he made that small change in 1582. What did Pope Gregory do to the calendar? Before 1582 the Julian calendar had been in effect, instituted by Julius Ceasar about 46 B.C. and named after him. But the Julian calendar had calculated the length of the year as 365 1/4 days, and the year is actually eleven minutes less than 365 1/4 days. Those eleven minutes accumulated, and by 1582 the numbering of the calendar was ten days out of harmony with the solar system. Gregory simply dropped those ten days out of the numbering of the calendar. It was Thursday, October 4, 1582, and the next day, Friday, should have been October 5. But Gregory made it October 15 instead, dropping exactly ten days to bring the calendar back into harmony with the heavenly bodies. Were the days of the week confused? No. Friday still followed Thursday, and Saturday still followed Friday. The same seventh day remained, and the weekly cycle was not disturbed in the least. When we keep the seventh day on Saturday, we are observing the same day Jesus kept, and He did it every week according to Luke 4:16. 3. The third evidence for the true Sabbath is the most conclusive of all. The Jewish people have been observing the seventh day from the time of Abraham, and they still keep it today. Here is a whole nation - millions of individuals - who have been counting off time meticulously, week after week, calendar or no calendar, for thousands of years. Could they have lost track? Impossible. The only way they could have lost a day would have been for the entire nation to have slept over an extra 24 hours and for no one ever to tell them about it afterwards. There has been no change or loss of the Sabbath since God made it in Genesis. The origin of the week is found in the creation story. There is no scientific or astronomical reason for measuring time in cycles of seven days. It is an arbitrary arrangement of God and has been miraculously preserved for one reason - because the holy Sabbath day points to the creative power of the only true God. It is a sign of His sovereignty over the world and over human life; a sign of creation and redemption. Is this not the reason God will preserve Sabbath-keeping throughout eternity? We read in Isaiah 66:22, 23: "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord." The Sabbath is so precious to God that He will have His people observe it throughout all time to come in the beautiful new earth. If it is so precious to Him, should it not be precious to us? If we are going to keep it then, should we not keep it now? In an age of false gods, of atheistic evolution, and traditions of men, the world needs the Sabbath more than ever as a test of our loyalty to the great Creator-God and a sign of our sanctification through His power. 4. Proof number four lies in the fact that over one hundred languages of the earth use the word "Sabbath" for Saturday. For example, the Spanish word for Saturday is "Sabado," meaning Sabbath. What does this prove? It proves that when those hundred languages originated in the long, long ago, Saturday was recognized as the Sabbath day and was incorporated into the very name of the day.
Couldn't we rest on the Sabbath but worship on Sunday?
The idea of separate rest and
worship days has recently
started to catch on in some
circles. Michael Card
(the singer/song writer) and
Steven Green (singer), for
example, rest on Sabbath,
but worship with local
congregations on Sunday.
But this was not the practice
of either Jesus or Paul. They didn't rest on the Sabbath and worship on Sunday (Luke 4:16; Acts 17:2). We can applaud these men for recognizing the biblical truth of the seventh-day Sabbath rest, but, if we are going to worship The Creator (Revelation 14:7), why not do so on the day that He picked out (Genesis 2:1)? All too often when we get someone a gift, we pick out something that we ourselves would like. But if we really want to please the other person, wouldn't it be better to find out what he or she would really like? God has not left it a mystery as to which day He prefers, and He promises: "... them that honor Me I will honor ..." 1 Samuel 2:30. When all other voices are hushed, do you not hear God's voice calling through the Scriptures for you to spend time with Him? "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28 Putting aside all lesser loyalties, can you not ... give God His due by giving God His day? - Sabbath Rest, Kevin Morgan, p. 93-94
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