Sermon Audio Archive

What Must I Do To Be Saved?

  

FROM: 4/14/02 Radio Program

Question:

God made the Sabbath before the Jews. He rested on the seventh day. The Sabbath then would withstand the abolishment of the Mosaic law. In other words, the Sabbath law predates the Mosaic law.

Answer:

If one wishes to talk about a law predating the Mosaic law, what of circumcision? Fleshly circumcision predates the Mosaic law (see: Genesis 17:10). Yet, will our Sabbatarian friends declare and demand that a baby boy be circumcised at eight days old in order to be considered a child of God? In reading the Scriptures, we learn that Paul said if one was circumcised in order to be considered a child of God (and in keeping with a law that predated the Mosaic law), "Christ shall profit you nothing" (Gal. 5:2). He went on to say that circumcision or uncircumcision did not avail anything (Gal. 5:6, 6:15). Therefore, here was a practice which predated the law of Moses, yet Paul taught that it would profit men nothing to continue to practice it as some type of religious service as Abraham and the Jewish people had done.

Further, let us also remember that the Sabbath law ("Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy") does not predate the Mosaic law, but was a part of the Mosaic law. Please read Exodus 20:8 and see that this is true. While we recognize that the word "Sabbath" was first mentioned in Exodus 16, the purpose of speaking of it there was explained in verse 4 of the chapter ("...that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no."). So far as the people being commanded to "remember" and "keep ... holy" the Sabbath, this is first said in Exodus 20:8. Reading in Deuteronomy 5:2-3, 15, we find that the Sabbath was not for their "fathers" (v. 3), but was for those who are "here alive this day" (i.e., the generation about to enter into Canaan.). Moses explained why the Sabbath law was commanded: "Remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm" (v. 15). Now, is there anyone today in the U.S. that fits this description? No! Therefore, this covenant was not with us, and we are not expected to observe, or keep holy the Sabbath day today. For further proof that the Sabbath law was a part of the law of Moses, and did not predate it, please read: Nehemiah 9:13-14 which says: "Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments: And madest known unto them thy holy Sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant." Notice when it was that God "made known" His holy Sabbath to the people - upon mount Sinai, not before!

* Related Articles *

The Ceremonial Law Has Been Done Away, But Not The 10 Commandments

How Can The Sabbath Be Abolished If God Does Not Change?

Jesus Did Not Raise On The First Day Of The Week

Is Sunday Our "Day Of Rest" Like The Sabbath Was?

The Sabbath Day Is The 4th Commandment, How Is This False? Where Does God Make Sunday False?

You Said There Is A New Covenant Today, But This Is Not True. There Is No New Covenant Today. Hebrews 4:9 Speaks Of Rest, This Is The Sabbath Day Rest.

You Have Removed An Ancient Landmark (Prov. 22:28) By Saying That The Sabbath Day Is Not For Men Today...

Old Paths Bulletin - "A Sabbatarian Called Me..."

Back to Radio Program Questions - Answers