Is insistence on Sabbath-keeping legalism?
The blogpost that has generated the most comments on my blog is “I went to a church service that was held on Saturday instead of Sunday and was told that was when we should worship God. What does the Bible say about this topic?” This post was written in 2011. No one has clicked the “Like” button, but at least 18 people have left comments. So it has generated lots of discussion. Most of the commentators disagree with the opinion expressed in the post.
Legalism
After his commentary on the book of Galatians, MacDonald (1989) states that “On completing a study of Galatians, one might conclude that Paul defeated the teachers of legalism so effectively that the issue would never trouble the church again. History and experience prove otherwise! Legalism has become so important a part of Christendom that most people believe that it actually belongs. Yes, legalists are still with us.”
The major example MacDonald gives of contemporary legalism is insistence on Sabbath-keeping. He refers to those who warn Christians that they must keep the Sabbath if they are to be saved at last. Then he gives the following warning of this false teaching and how to answer it.
The (false) teachers of the Sabbath usually begin by preaching the gospel of salvation by faith in Christ. They use well-known evangelical hymns to lure the unwary, and appear to place much emphasis on the Scriptures. But before long, they put their followers under the law of Moses, especially the commandment concerning the Sabbath. (The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, or Saturday).
Moral law and ceremonial law
How do they do this in the light of Paul’s clear teaching that the Christian is dead to the law? How do they get around the plain statements of Galatians? The answer is that they make a sharp distinction between the moral law and the ceremonial law. The moral law is the Ten Commandments. The ceremonial law covers the other regulations given by God, such as rules concerning unclean foods, leprosy, offerings to God, and so forth.
The moral law they say has never been revoked. It is an expression of God’s eternal truth. To commit idolatry, murder, or adultery will always be contrary to God’s law. The ceremonial law, however, has been done away in Christ. Therefore, they conclude, when Paul teaches that the Christian is dead to the law, he is speaking about the ceremonial law and not the Ten Commandments.
Since the moral law is still in effect, Christians are bound to keep it, they insist. This means that they must keep the Sabbath, that they must do no work on that day. They assert that one of the popes of the Roman Catholic Church (or the Emperor Constantine) ordered the change from Sabbath-observance to observance of Sunday, in utter violation of the Scriptures.
This reasoning sounds logical and appealing. However, its great condemning feature is that it is entirely contrary to God’s word! Note the following seven points.
Seven points
- In 2 Corinthians 3:7-11, the Ten Commandments are definitely stated to be “brought to an end” for the believer in Christ. In verse 7, the law is described as “the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone”. This could only mean the moral law, not the ceremonial law. Only the Ten Commandments were engraved in stones by the finger of God (Ex.31:18). In verse 11, we read that the ministry that brought death, though glorious, was “being brought to an end” (ESV), “fading away” (HCSB), “made ineffective” (NET), or “transitory” (NIV). Nothing could be more decisive than this. The Sabbath has no claim on the Christian.
- No Gentile was ever commanded to keep the Sabbath. The law was given to the Jewish nation only (Ex. 31:13). Although God Himself rested on the seventh day, He did not command anyone else to do so until He gave the law to the children of Israel.
- Christians did not switch from the Sabbath to the first day of the week because of the decree of any pope (or Roman Emperor). We set aside the Lord’s Day (Sunday) in a special way for worship and for service because the Lord Jesus rose from the dead on that day, a proof that the work of redemption was completed (Jn. 20:1). Also, on that day the early disciples met to break bread (celebrate the Lord’s Supper), showing forth the Lord’s death (Acts 20:7), and it was the day appointed by God for Christians to set apart their offerings as the Lord had prospered them (1 Cor. 16:1-2). Furthermore, the Holy Spirit was sent down from heaven on the first day of the week.
Christians do not “observe” the Lord’s day as a means of achieving holiness, or from fear of punishment; they set it apart because of loving devotion to the One who gave Himself for them. - Paul does not distinguish between the moral law and the ceremonial law. Rather, he insists that the law is a complete unit, and that a curse rests on those who seek to attain righteousness by it, yet fail to keep it all.
- Nine of the Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament as moral instruction for the children of God. They deal with things that are inherently right or wrong. The one commandment which is omitted is the law of the Sabbath. The keeping of a day is not inherently right or wrong. There is no instruction to Christians to keep the Sabbath. Rather the Scripture distinctly states that the Christian cannot be condemned for failing to keep it (Col. 2:16)!
- The penalty for breaking the Sabbath in the Old Testament was death (Ex. 35:2). But those who insist on believers keeping the Sabbath today do not carry out the penalty on offenders. They thus dishonour the law and destroy its authority by failing to insist that its demands be met. They are saying, in effect, “This is God’s law and you just keep it, but nothing will happen if you break it”.
- Christ, and not the law, is the believer’s rule for life. We should live as He lived. This is an even higher standard than was set by the law (Mt. 5:17-48). We are empowered to live holy lives by the Holy Spirit. We want to live holy lives because of love for Christ. The righteousness demanded by the law is fulfilled by those who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Rom. 8:4)
Conclusion
Thus, the teaching that believers must keep the Sabbath is directly contrary to Scripture (Col. 2:16), and is simply a “different gospel” upon which God’s word pronounces a curse (Gal. 1:7,9).
May each one be given wisdom from God to discern the evil doctrine of legalism in whatever form it may appear! May we never seek justification or sanctification through ceremonies or human effort, but depend completely and only on the Lord Jesus Christ for every need. May we always remember that legalism is an insult to God because it substitutes the shadow for the Reality—ceremonialism for Christ.
Reference
MacDonald William (1989) “Believer’s Bible commentary”, 2nd edition, Thomas Nelson, p. 1928-1930.
Written, April 2017
Also see: What about keeping the Sabbath day?
I went to a church service that was held on Saturday instead of Sunday and was told that was when we should worship God. What does the Bible say about this topic?
What does the New Testament say about the Sabbath?
I’ve been told that Christians should keep the ten commandments as they were God’s law and not the law of Moses. Is this true?
The Sabbath day difference between Jesus and Paul
Why the new covenant is better
The sin of legalism
George's Journal 
Great argument and great reminder. I have faced a bit of this from a Christian brother and these are some good Scriptures that we can use to discuss the topic.
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April 5, 2017 at 11:01 pm
Acts 18:4
Acts 13:42
Acts 17:4
Luke 4:16
Mark 2:27
Matthew 12:8
For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
Why would He be the Lord of something He was to abolish?!
Where are you getting your teaching from the Bible or man?!
Scriptures listed proves Yahshua and His disciples kept the Sabbath.
So why shouldn’t we too if we are true followers of Christ?
John
14:15
Says
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Do you love Him enough to obey His word and commands?
Praise Yahshua for truth!
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March 4, 2018 at 8:25 am
Thanks for the comment Alicia. I will look at the meaning of the verses you quote.
“Every Sabbath he [Paul] reasoned in the synagogue [at Corinth], trying to persuade Jews and Greeks” (Acts 18:4). This is during Paul’s second missionary journey. At this time “Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, ‘Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles’” (Acts 18:5-6). The reason that Paul went to the synagogue on the Sabbath was to preach the good news about Jesus to the Jews and those at the synagogue. When they rejected him, Paul stopped going to the synagogue on the Sabbath and preached to the Gentiles instead. So, Paul’s aim was to preach about Jesus – it was not to keep the Sabbath day.
“As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue [at Pisidian Antioch] , the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath” (Acts 13:42). This is during Paul’s first missionary journey. The reason that Paul went to the synagogue on the Sabbath was to preach the good news about Jesus to the Jews and those at the synagogue. A summary of his message is given in v.16-41. He spoke at the synagogue again on the following Sabbath (v. 44-45). But “When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. They began to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him” (v.45). When they rejected him, Paul stopped going to the synagogue on the Sabbath and preached to the Gentiles instead (v.46-48). So, Paul’s aim was to preach about Jesus – it was not to keep the Sabbath day.
“As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue [at Thessalonica], and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. ‘This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,’ he said” (Acts 17:2-3). This is during Paul’s second missionary journey. After this “But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd” (v.5). So Paul escaped and went to Berea. ). The reason that Paul went to the synagogue on the Sabbath was to preach the good news about Jesus to the Jews and those at the synagogue. When they rejected him, Paul stopped going to the synagogue on the Sabbath. So, Paul’s aim was to preach about Jesus – it was not to keep the Sabbath day.
Jesus kept the Sabbath day because He was a faithful Jew who lived in Israel under the law of Moses (Lk. 4:16). The disciples also kept the Sabbath day because they also lived under the law of Moses.
After a discussion on what was permissible on the Sabbath, Jesus “said to them [the Pharisees], ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath’” (Mk. 2:27-28). God instituted the Sabbath for the benefit of the nation of Israel (the command was given to Moses). It was meant to be beneficial, not onerous. The Sabbath day belonged to God (Ex. 20:10; Isa. 58:13). This was also an indirect reference to Christ’s deity.
Christians are not commanded to keep the Sabbath. Rather, they cannot be condemned for not keeping it (Col. 2:16). The Sabbath was a shadow, the substance is Christ – “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ” (Col. 2:16-17). After the resurrection of Christ, the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost marked a new beginning.
In the Upper Room Discourse, just before He was crucified, Jesus told His disciples, “If you love me, keep my commands” (Jn. 14:15). These commandments are the instructions given (for those living under the new covenant) by Jesus in the gospels (while He was living under the Old Covenant). Nowhere do they command that Christians indwelt with the Holy Spirit are required to keep the Jewish Sabbath. The same applies to the teaching of the apostles in the New Testament.
We need to remember that we live under a different covenant to the Jews who lived between the times of Moses and Jesus.
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January 9, 2019 at 11:59 am
Is not is the apostle Paul the one that talks about the law in Romans 7? The commandment is “holy” … Also, in Rom 5 he mentioned that without the law sin has no power. In addition to this, John in 1 Jn 3,14 also talks a bit about sin and what it is (i.e., breaking the law) … just adding a balance to the discussion. Btw., whoever and whenever tries to earn points through any other means apart from Christ is legalist, full stop. You can call yourself whatever you want but you are still a legalist. That being said, do not mix legalism with obedience. As for the repetition of 9 commandments in the New Testament and leaving out the Sabbath commandment … that is a very inconsistent interpretation. Please bear in mind that Sabbath predates any other commandments (I base this on biblical chronology – not on the chronology of what books of the Bible was written first). So, it’s a package. Therefore, either throw out everything or leave everything. My suggestion only … Btw., even biblically oriented Jews were making distinction between what you call moral and ceremonial law. Namely, the tablets of the commandment were placed in the ark while all other prescriptions were place next to the ark. Atonement was made on the ark only … again, just saying this …
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May 12, 2018 at 5:02 pm
Hi folks, forgot to add Revelation 12, 17. As far as I understand it, second half of the chapter happens after Jesus’ ascension … so, it means that the commandments of God still play a role after his death…
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May 12, 2018 at 5:24 pm
Jack says that “the commandments of God still play a role after his [Christ’s] death” and quotes “Then the dragon [Satan] was enraged at the woman [Israel] and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus” (Rev. 12:17). The book of Revelation deals with John’s vision of Christ (Ch. 1), letters to seven first century churches (Ch. 2-3), and future events (Ch. 4-22) (Rev. 1:19). While the church is in heaven (Ch. 4-5), there will be a period of tribulation on earth (Ch. 6-18), which will end with the “appearing” of the Lord Jesus Christ in great power and glory (Rev. 19:11-21).
Revelation 12 deals with Satan as a key figure in the time of tribulation. Satan is depicted as a dragon (v.9). The woman represents Israel – the archangel Michael who defeats Satan (v.7-9) protects Israel and will deliver her during the tribulation (Da. 12:1; Rev. 12:13-17). Christ’s birth and ascension is described in v.4-5. The present church age is passed over between v.5 and v.6. So, v.6-17 is in the tribulation between the rapture of believers and their appearing when Christ returns to rule over the earth. During this time, Jews who believe in Jesus will be persecuted for their faith (v. 11). These are “those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus”. We are not told which of God’s commands they will keep.
Jack concludes “so, it means that the commandments of God still play a role after His death”. However, the verse he quotes doesn’t relate to the present church age. So, even if it refers to the law of Moses, it’s not applicable to today.
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January 9, 2019 at 10:04 am
Thanks for the comment Jack.
You quote: “the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good” (Rom. 7:12). Romans 7 deals with the place of the law of Moses in the believer’s life. It has three sections:
– Christians are released from the law of Moses (v. 1-6).
– When he was an unbeliever, Paul was convicted of his sin by the law of Moses (v. 7-13).
– How Paul experienced conflict between his divine and sinful natures (v. 14-25).
Before chapter 7, Paul taught that Christians “are not under the law (of Moses), but under grace” (Rom. 6:14). Romans 7 is written to Jewish believers who knew the law of Moses (v.1). But when they followed Christ, they died to the law of Moses: they “died to the law (of Moses) through the body of Christ” (v.4). By Jesus’ death on the cross, Christians died in their relationship to the law of Moses. Paul supports this with an illustration from marriage. Like a widow changes her allegiance when she remarries, such believers are now bound to Jesus Christ, and not to the law of Moses. These believers “have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code (the law of Moses)” (v. 6).
After saying that the law of Moses is obsolete for Christians, Paul says that it convicted him of his sinfulness when he was an unbeliever. He was convicted of his covetousness (v.7). The law of Moses revealed and stimulated his sin (v.4, 8-10). But the law wasn’t to blame – it was caused by his sinful nature (v. 11, 13). Instead, the law of Moses was “holy, righteous and good” (v.12) because it was God-given to the Israelites. It was designed to reveal their sin. That’s what’s good about the law of Moses. It was like an X-ray that reveals a tumor but does not provide the cure. So the law of Moses was the instrument that God used to convict Paul of his sinfulness before he decided to follow Jesus. And people today are largely unaware of their sin without explicit revelation from Scripture.
So the context of the law of Moses being “holy” is not Christian living, but the conversion of Paul.
I’m not sure what verse you mean in the statement: “Also, in Rom 5 he mentioned that without the law sin has no power”. Is it “sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law” (v.13), or “God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were” (v.20NLT)? Before the time of Moses, people were not charged with sin in the sense of “breaking a command” (v.14). So, it’s addressing the past, and not the present.
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January 9, 2019 at 9:59 am
Jack, I assume the other verse you refer to is, “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness” (1Jn. 3:4ESV). This book addresses false teaching within the church. It describes the characteristics of those in Christian fellowship which include: obedience, love, doctrine, and doing what is right. This verse is in the section dealing with doing what is right.
A NET Bible translation note says,
“The Greek word ἀνομία (anomia) is often translated “iniquity” or “lawlessness” and in the LXX refers particularly to transgression of the law of Moses. In Jewish thought the ideas of sin (ἁμαρτία, hamartia) and lawlessness or iniquity (ἀνομία) were often equated because sin involved a violation of the Mosaic law and hence lawlessness. For example, Ps 51:5 LXX sets the two in parallel, and Paul in Rom 4:7 (quoting Ps 32:1) does the same. For John, it is not violation of the Mosaic law that results in lawlessness, since he is writing to Christians. [In this context] The ‘law’ … is the law of love, as given by Jesus in the new commandment of John 13:34-35. This is the command to love one’s brother, a major theme of 1 John and the one specific sin in the entire letter which the opponents are charged with (3:17)”.
So once again the verse isn’t speaking about the law of Moses. The word “law” has many meanings in the Bible. Which one is applicable depends on the context. It’s poor exegesis to assume that “law” always means the law of Moses. This is particularly so for letters in the New Testament written specifically to Christians.
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January 9, 2019 at 10:00 am
Jack, says “As for the repetition of 9 commandments in the New Testament and leaving out the Sabbath commandment … that is a very inconsistent interpretation”.
This is what the Bible says. Nine of the ten commandments are given between Acts to Revelation as God’s principles for holy living for Christians:
1. Don’t worship any other god except the one true God (1 Cor. 8:4-6)
2. Don’t worship idols (1 Cor. 10:7,14; 1 Jn. 5:21)
3. Don’t misuse God’s name (Jas. 2:7)
4. Keep the Sabbath day – This instruction is not mentioned in Acts to Revelation, and Christians shouldn’t be condemned for failing to keep it (Col. 2:16)
5. Honor your parents (Eph. 6:1-3)
6. Don’t murder (Jas. 2:11)
7. Don’t commit adultery (Jas. 2:11)
8. Don’t steal (Eph.4:8)
9. Don’t give false testimony (Col. 3:10)
10. Don’t covet (Eph. 5:3)
For an explanation of this see: I’ve been told that Christians should keep the ten commandments as they were God’s law and not the law of Moses. Is this true?
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January 9, 2019 at 10:00 am
Jack says, “Please bear in mind that Sabbath predates any other commandments (I base this on biblical chronology – not on the chronology of what books of the Bible was written first). So, it’s a package. Therefore, either throw out everything or leave everything”.
The first mention of the Sabbath as a command was early in the Hebrew exodus from Egypt (Ex. 16:21-30). When God gave them manna, they were to gather twice the usual daily amount on the sixth day because they were prohibited from going out to gather manna on the seventh day (Ex. 16:5, 29). This occurred in the Desert of Sin about one month after they left Egypt (Ex. 16:1).
The next mention of the Sabbath commandment was when the ten commandments were given at Mt Sinai (Ex. 20:8-11). This occurred about one month after they left the Desert of Sin (Ex. 19:1).
But, God’s covenant with Noah after the flood included the death penalty for murder (Gen. 9:5-6). Therefore, God had prohibited murder, which is the sixth commandment. So this commandment was announced at least 670 years before the Hebrews were commanded to keep the Sabbath. So the Sabbath law doesn’t predate the law against murder.
You may be thinking of Genesis 2:2-3, which says that God rested on the seventh day. But as this says nothing about people resting on the seventh day, it’s not the first mention of Sabbath keeping in the Bible. The Bible says that the Hebrews were informed of the Sabbath law for the first time during the exodus: “You [God] came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them [the Hebrews] from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good. You made known to them your holy Sabbath and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses” (Neh. 9:13-14).
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January 9, 2019 at 10:01 am
Jack says, “Btw., even biblically oriented Jews were making distinction between what you call moral and ceremonial law. Namely, the tablets of the commandment were placed in the ark while all other prescriptions were place next to the ark. Atonement was made on the ark only”.
The Ten Commandments were inscribed by God on stone tablets and He rewrote them on new stone tablets (Ex. 31:18; 32:15-16; 34:1, 28). “And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments” (Ex. 34:28). “He [God] declared to you His covenant, the Ten Commandments, which He commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets” (Dt 4:13). They are often called, “the tablets of the covenant law” (Ex. 25:16, 21, 22; 40:20). So the word “covenant” is associated with the Ten Commandments.
Moses was commanded by God to put the two stone tablets that had the Ten Commandments written on them in the ark of the covenant (Ex. 25:16; Dt. 10:1-5). And that is what happened (Ex. 40:20; Heb. 9:4). Because of this, it is referred to as “the ark of the covenant law” (Ex. 25:22; 26:33-34; 27:21). As the ark was located inside the tabernacle, the tabernacle was called, “the tent of the covenant law” (Num. 9:15; 17:7). So the word “covenant” is also associated with the ark and the tabernacle because they contained a copy of the Ten Commandments.
The “book of the covenant” is mentioned in Ex. 24:7. According to the NIV Study Bible its contents were Ex. 20:22-23:19 (and implying the stipulations of Ex. 20:2-17; 23:20-33), which are expansions and expositions of the Ten Commandments. And God promised rewards for obeying His commands and punishment for disobedience (Lev. 26). Disobedience is called “breaking the covenant” (Lev. 26:25, 44). So the many laws given to Moses listed in the Pentateuch are also called “the covenant”.
So the word “covenant” has more than one meaning in the Pentateuch – The Ten Commandments are called “the covenant” and the collection of laws in the old covenant are referred to as “the covenant”. Clearly the Ten Commandments are a summary of the hundreds of laws found in the Old Testament.
The laws of Moses are written in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Israelite kings were to have their own copy of the law (Dt. 17:18-20). His writings, which were called the “Book of the Law”, were to be placed beside the ark of the covenant (Dt. 31:26). Joshua called it “the Book of the Law of Moses” (Josh. 23:6). The book was lost during the time of idolatry under Manasseh and Amon, but was found in the temple during the reign of Josiah (2 Ki. 22:8). And Ezra read from the Book of the Law after the exile (Neh. 8:3). The Book of the Law contained all the commands that the king and the nation of Israel were to obey as part of their covenant with God.
Furthermore, Moses doesn’t divide the laws into moral laws, civil laws and ceremonial laws. Any such division is man-made. The Bible describes that laws as follows. “These are the decrees, the laws and the regulations that the Lord established at Mount Sinai between Himself and the Israelites through Moses” (Lev. 26:46). “take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today” (Dt. 7:11). David told Solomon, “observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to Him, and keep His decrees and commands, His laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses” (1 Ki. 2:3).
Australian legislation is in the form of Acts and Regulations. An Act sets out the broad legal/policy principles while details of how the provisions of the Act are applied is given in the Regulations. The Act has broad principles and the Regulation has implementation detail. The relationship of the Ten Commandments to the whole law of Moses is a bit like the relationship between an Act of Australian law and its Regulations. But there is a difference as the Ten Commandments are a part of the law of Moses. Other illustrations of this relationship are the abstract or precis of an article or the executive summary of a report. The Ten Commandments are like an abstract, precis, and a summary of the law of Moses.
Jack claims that the ten Commandments were moral law and the rest of the decrees and commands, laws and regulations in the Book of the Law were ceremonial (or civil) law. The major social concerns of the covenant have been listed as: personhood, false accusation, women, punishment, dignity, inheritance, property, fruit of labor, fruit of the ground, rest on the Sabbath, marriage, exploitation, fair trial, social order, law, and animals. Some of these are dealt with in both the Ten Commandments and the other regulations. For example, the Sabbath, marriage and property. Moral laws are not only in the Ten Commandments, they are also in the rest of the regulations. For example, see the regulations on unlawful sexual relations in Leviticus 18; on idolatry in Deuteronomy 13 and 17, and on marriage violations in Deuteronomy 22. The difference between the Ten Commandments and the other regulations is not in their content, but in their coverage – The Ten Commandments are broad summary statements, while the details are given in the rest of the law of Moses.
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January 9, 2019 at 10:03 am
This is an important issue that highlights the spiritual decay of Christendom which can no longer differentiate between the Old and New covenants. It’s not just the SDA and fringe cults where this error is promulgated but it’s also strong within the evangelical Reformed Churches, both Baptist and Presbyterian.
Much of the problem can be placed around faulty hermeneutics ie too many Christians interpret the plain later revelation of the NT Scriptures through the lens of the shadow/typology of the OT rather than the other way around. In this way they mix law and gospel. The puritans in England were guilty of this by breaking with the continental reformers who saw a strict distinction between law and gospel. The puritan reformers used a systematic theology that, unbiblically, divided OT law into moral, judicial and ceremonial parts, thereby placing Christians back under the law of Moses, something the Scriptures doesn’t do and actually teaches against.
New Covenant Theology has been helpful in bringing the Law and Gospel issue back to the fore and putting Moses back in his proper place- a servant subject to the new and greater law giver, Christ.
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March 20, 2022 at 8:19 am
Excellent post that still stands true today. You still find these Christian judaizers arguing you lose salvation if you don’t subscribe to their rigid legalistic sabbath-keeping just like Pharisees denied that Jesus came from God for a similar reason
“Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.”
John 9:16
It’s really saddening to see Christians giving up the Gospel to return back to the law of Moses.
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December 27, 2022 at 7:48 am