Today I received an email from a student who was in my youth group when I was a youth pastor. She asked some awesome questions about the Bible, specifically regarding why Christians don't typically observe the Sabbath, various Jewish Festivals and the dietary laws regarding meat, etc. Because these are such common questions, I decided to post part of my response here in case it can be of help to you!
Let's start with the question about the Sabbath, because it also ties into the other questions about meat and Jewish holidays. To put it succinctly, all of those celebrations, rituals and commands were given as part of the Old Covenant to Israel, in distinction from the New Covenant given to the Church. The Sabbath was given as a covenental sign between Yahweh and the Hebrews.
What is important to remember when we read the Scriptures is that everything changed after the cross and resurrection of Jesus. This is when the New Covenant began. Whereas God commanded His Old Covenant people to rest on the Sabbath day, the Christian tradition began immediately among the early Church based upon Sunday being the day in which Jesus rose from the dead (i.e. the first day of the week rather than the seventh). We are now free from those observances.
For example, Paul wrote in Colossians 2:16, which is a New Covenant verse, "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." Then he goes on to imply that those who get preoccupied with this stuff can become puffed up with pride. Paul also told Christians that they were free to eat anything sold in the meat market without raising any questions of conscience, because we are no longer bound by these Old Covenant regulations (1 Corinthians 10:25).
When speaking about the Old Covenant versus the New Covenant, the book of Hebrews actually goes so far as to say that the Old System of the Law of Moses is now "obsolete" and no longer valid for the Christian (see Hebrews 8:13). This does not mean that the Law is bad, for it obviously reflects a perfect standard of ethics in terms of the moral parts of the commandments, etc. The Law still serves a very important purpose - which is that it shows a sinner his or her need for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, since it proves to all humanity that every single person has in many ways fallen short of God's standard of perfection (Galatians 3:21-25 explains this very nicely).
When it comes to celebrating so-called "pagan holidays" - some legalistic groups will say that since Christmas and Easter were invented by mere men, we should therefore not celebrate them. This argument breaks down in numerous ways, most significantly because of the fact that Jesus Christ has redeemed the meaning of every day of our lives - and celebrating his birth and resurrection is a noble thing no matter what day we choose. We are free to choose ANY day (or EVERY day) as believers to formally celebrate these things, and so we are free to participate in the cultural elements of our lives as we see fit, as long as we are not condoning acts of sin or immorality by what we choose to do!
The reason Jesus celebrated the Jewish holidays is because He came to fulfill their meaning. For example, the Passover was a feast which vividly pictured our human need for a sacrificial lamb - which was ultimately fulfilled in the one, final sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Isn't that awesome? Certainly we as Christians are free to observe the ancient Jewish holidays if we want to - but we should do so with an emphasis upon how each of them point us to the fulfillment of their meaning found in Jesus Christ.
One of the things Christians sometimes forget is that when Jesus physically lived on earth, it was still technically during the Old Covenant era. The New Covenant didn't actually begin until after Christ rose from the dead - so even though the books which record Jesus's life are placed in the "New Testament" in terms of how our Bibles are organized, they are actually still about people living under the "Old Testament" up until Christ's death, burial and resurrection. Does that make sense? Understanding this will help you greatly in understanding the amazing message of the Bible and the freedom we have in Christ!
A lot of Christians erroneously believe that we are to live by the 10 Commandments - but that is not really true. The 10 Commandments are designed to lead us to discover how desperately we need Christ's forgiveness and new life! Once we receive that free gift of salvation by grace through faith, we then begin to live by the Spirit - not by the law. As Galatians 3:25 says, "Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law."
So the logical question remains, "If I'm not under the Law, how do I know how to judge the standards of morality I should live by?" And that's a great question which Jesus and the Apostles answer for us repeatedly. We now live by the love and life of the Spirit. As a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you, and you do not need the 10 Commandments to convince you that lying is wrong, or murder is wrong, or stealing is wrong, etc. You have a brand new nature, and whenever you choose to sin, the reason you feel bad is because you're behaving in a way which contradicts that new nature of Jesus Christ living in you - not because the 10 Commandments say this or that! Isn't that amazing?
This is why Paul wrote to the Galatians that "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." (Galatians 5:1). In the context of Galatians, this "yoke of slavery" is a reference to elements of the Old Covenant Law that the Christians were being duped into believing they were obligated to keep.
Jesus didn't come to abolish the Law, but rather to FULFILL the Law (Matthew 5:17). When He fulfilled the Law, that means that He lived in perfect obedience to the Law because we would fail do so. And then - as amazing as it sounds - upon our faith in Him, Christ actually exchanges HIS perfect record of obedience for our imperfect record of sin. This is why 2 Corinthians 5:21 says "God made him who had no sin (Jesus) to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
Hebrews describes Jesus as our Sabbath rest - and while for practical reasons it is wise for us to take adequate time for physical rest and deliberate worship, we are not required by Law to observe a literal Sabbath day on Saturdays. The awesome reality of the Christian life is summarized by Paul in Galatians 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
Thank God that the true essence of Christianity is NOT religion, but relationship - through which God lives His life through us, using our unique gifts, talents, passions and personalities to make an impact in the world. The bottom line is this: Jesus has done it all, fulfilled it all and finished it all. Therefore, rest in His finished work and live from your identity in and through Him!
i believe in the sabbath and would like to offer a counter perspective to your blog. i agree we are no longer under the old covenant. however there were two covenants given at mt saini. i also agree we no longer observe jewish high sabbaths described in leviticus 23 such as passover etc... as afar as observing pagan rooted modern festivals like easter or Christmas i disagree but i am not going to talk on that because it is for a whole other discussion. so back to the sabbath...
ReplyDeletewe see in exodus 34 lets start with verse one.."And the Lord said to Moses, “Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke." this is to establish exactly who wrote on the stone the first and second time. now lets skip doen to verse 27 "Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for according to the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments."
so we know God wrote the ten commandments. and verse 28 calls them a covenant. verse 27 also talks about a covenant according to the words moses writes. it speaks of two separate covenants. now when we look at the new testament techings on the covenants like hebrews 9. i suggest you read the whole chapter for just a moment. but i would like to talk about verses 18-22...18 Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood. 19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.”[b] 21 Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
this goes into detail what was in the old covenant. no tablets of stone. only the book moses wrote. no wonder we read in Colossians 2:14
having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
why are we adding to it and saying the stone tablets are nailed as well? it says the "handwriting" not the engraving of the finger of God. is the covenant of the rainbow also nailed to the cross? of course not...it was not in the book of law that moses wrote. neither was the ten commandments. that is why God wrote them a second time after moses broke them and "HE added no more" (deut 5:22) that is why i observe all ten commandments and not just nine. because you can serve any god of this world and do all nine but to do the 4th commandments means you worship the Creator of this universe.
side note....you say our "new christian traditons" began on sunday because this is the day Jesus rose from the dead. the only way we are commanded to observe his death and resurrection is by Lords supper and baptism. this is not justification for sunday observance and an outright lie because it is not scripturally supported.)
one more thing to add about the ten commandments and the law of moses....the differences...
ReplyDelete1 authors- God and moses
2 materials-stone and paper
3 positions in and on the ark
4 shedding of blood only on paper not stone
5 one is spoken from the mouth of God and the other by the mouth of moses.
the signifigance of the materials used...stone vs. paper....shows the perishable nature vs the imperishable one. it symbolizes it physically that one is permanent and the other temporary. while one can fade away by even the elements of weather the other can not.
also the positions in and on the ark. the stone was put inside while the book was put on the side. if it was all one law why not have equal importance in the ark?
isreal broke the covenant with God by making a molten calf. also significant is moses breaking the covenant they had then....the stone tablets....so they had to be re written. do you see the connection between the two? isreal broke it and moses did so physically as well... as a symbol. this does not mean it was done away with...thus it had to be re written by God again. and then what happened...
Galatians 3:19
[ Purpose of the Law ] What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator."
the law of moses was added because of isreals transgressions. you can read the whole chapter to get the context...it speaks of the law with curses...handwritten...not the ten commandments. daniel also speaks of the same things...
Daniel 9:11, "Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him."
"thy law" was "thy voice" so we know he is speaking of the ten commandments. then he says they departed from them therefore....the law of moses was given because of their sin. this verse separates the two yet again.
once you look a little deeper you can it is not all one law. other verses start to become clearer and more defined such as colossians 2:14 and you stop putting your interpretations on the verses to fit your beliefs and see what they really say.