THE LAW OF GOD

-by Robert L. Rael

“Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.  Was then that which is good made death unto me?  God forbid.  But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.  For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.” Romans 7:12-14

Sin, as defined in Holy Scripture is the transgressing of any part of God's Holy Law:

"And this is love, that we walk after his commandments.  This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.”   II John 1:6

The Ten Commandments – to keep or not to keep? 

Exodus 20:8-10:  “Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy.  Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:  But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.”  (Italics added for emphasis.)

What can we understand from these first few words of the 4^th Commandment of the Law of God?

1.  God said remember this day.  So men have insisted on forgetting or trying to change it to a different day!
2. “…to ‘keep’  it holy.”  It is utterly impossible to “keep”  any other day holy if it was never first made holy by God.  Just as you cannot “keep”  hot water hot unless it is first made hot!  (Also read Exodus 31:13.)
3. “Six days shalt thou labour…” Here God actually commands us to do work on all the other days of the week!  If this is so, how can we possibly keep “every day” holy, as some would argue?

Matthew 5:7:  Christ said in The Sermon on the Mount, “Think not that I come to destroy the law…”  Some professing Christians think otherwise.

Genesis 2:2-3:  The 7^th Day Sabbath is (1) a memorial of God’s creation and (2) the witness to His claim upon man’s reverence and homage.  The worshipers of God will be especially distinguished by their regard for the 4^th Commandment. 

Exodus 31:13-17:  The Sabbath is a “sign” between God and his children “throughout your generations” and “forever” (a) identifying and distinguishing God’s children (from those who are not His children) and (b) identifying the true God of creation (as opposed to all other false gods).  (Also read Ezekiel 20:12.)

Revelation 14:12:  “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”  (Read also Revelation 22:14 & Romans 8:4.)

Exodus 20:10:  Here God Himself (Exodus 20:1-2) speaks clearly and “in a loud voice” to all the people assembled at Horeb:  “But the 7^th day of the Lord thy God…”  Not the Sabbath of the Jewish people – but The Lord’s Day!

Nowhere in God’s Holy Scripture does it identify Sunday – or the 1^st day of the week – as "The Lords Day.”  Nowhere in the Bible will one find the Sabbath referred to as “The Day of the Jews.”  "The Lord’s Day” is the day the Lord is Lord of!  The only day the Bible has ever mentioned as being the "Lord's Day" is the Bible Sabbath.

Isaiah 58:13:  "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day..."  (Bold/italics added for emphasis.)

Other Bible text references identifying Sabbath as the Lord's Day include:  Exodus 16:23, Exodus 16:25, 
Exodus 31:15, Exodus 35:2, Exodus 20:10, Leviticus 23:3, Deuteronomy 5:14, Matthew 12:8 & Mark 2:28.

The seventh day Sabbath is the Memorial Day of the Creator (Genesis 2:3 & Exodus 31:17), the Memorial Day of the Redeemer (Ezekiel 20:12 and Ezekiel 20:20).  It is the Lord's own day.  A day He wants to share with those that love Him and keep His Commandments.

Mark 2:28:  Here Jesus Christ tells us that He is “Lord of the Sabbath” – not of the Sunday!  Therefore, the 7^th day is the Lord’s Day.  The same law that commands us not to steal and not to commit adultery, also commands us to keep The Lord’s Day holy.

Exodus 31:12-17:  “And the Lord spoke unto Moses saying… Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep…” (vs. 13)  They do not belong to us.  They are not our Sabbaths, nor the Sabbaths of the Greeks, nor the Sabbaths of the Jews – as some would contend – but rather the Sabbaths of the Lord!  The Lord’s Day is the day by which we may know that He is the Lord that made us holy.  It identifies God.  (See also Ezekiel 20:12, Exodus 20:8, Deuteronomy 5:12 & Nehemiah 9:14.)

But, doesn’t everybody already know who the true God is?                                                                                         II Corinthians 11:13-15:  “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.”

II Corinthians 4:4:  "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."  

Ephesians 6:12:  "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darrkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

Matthew 24:24:  "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."

Revelation 12:9:  “…Satan, which deceiveth the whole world…” 

Isaiah 29:13:  “…Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by man.”

II Timothy 4:3-4:  "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn their ears away from the truth, and shall be turned into fables."

One cannot find any such term as “The Jewish Sabbath” or “The Sabbath of the Jews” anywhere in the Bible.  Many Christians have rationalized internally that the Sabbath covenant does not apply to them; “all that was simply a covenant between God and Israel (The Jewish people) – and I’m a Gentile!”

Remember, “The Sabbath was made for man,” i.e., for all mankind.  There were no Jewish people when God made the Sabbath.  God Does not have one standard for the Jews and another for the Gentiles.  We are all one in Christ!  (Read Ephesians 2:19, 6:10)

I personally find the term “The Jewish Sabbath” as a derisive, scornful, contemptuous and racial epithet!  It came from non-Christian “wolves in sheep’s clothing.”  It is a divisive, racially biased prejudice against the truth of God!  Furthermore, it is the slurring, discrediting, misleading language and terminology employed by the “deceitful workers” and “false apostles” (referred to in II Corinthians 11:13) and upholders of Pagan doctrines and customs contrary to the Word of God.  It is simply not Bible language!

Wolf in sheep's clothing!

Is God the God of the Jewish nation only, or of "all nations"  who fear Him and do what is right?

Matthew 28:19:  "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" (Bold/italics added for emphasis)

Galatians 3:8-9:  "And the scripture, forseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.  So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham." (Bold/italics added for emphasis)

Romans 3:22:  "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all  and upon all  them that believe: for there is no difference:"    (Italics added for emphasis)

Romans 4:9:  "Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also?  for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness."
  
Acts 10:34-35:  "Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respector of persons: But in every nation  that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.  (Bold/italics added for emphasis)  

Ephesians 2:14:  "For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken the middle wall of partition between us;"

John 10:16:  Jesus speaking:  "And the other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one  fold and one shepherd."  (Bold/italics added for emphasis) 

Isaiah 11:12:  "And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth."

Isaiah 56:8:  "The Lord God which gathereth the outcast of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, besides those that are gathered unto him."

Psalms 147:2:  "The Lord doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel."

Galatians 3:28-29:  Is it a sin for a Jewish Christian to break the Sabbath and those of other nationalities the Sunday?  Did not Jesus say “a house divided would fall?”  Are there two kinds of Christians? 

Exodus 12:49:  "One law  shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you."  (Bold/italics added for emphasis) 

Numbers 9:14:  "...ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land."  (Bold/italics added for emphasis) 

Exodus 20:10:  "but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work... nor thy stranger  that is within thy gates."  (Italics added for emphasis)

Acts 7:38:  "This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sinai, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us.”  “Us” here meaning all  of “God’s people.”

In the Old Testament days, the only people on earth who were “God’s people” were the Israelites.  And the Sabbath was the sign that identified them as such.

But what about the Gentiles?  Did they then become God’s people when they received God’s Holy Spirit and become truly converted Christians?

Romans 3:29:  "Is he the God of the Jews only?  is he not also of the Gentiles?  Yes, of the Gentiles also:"

Ephesians 3:8:  "Unto me whom am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;"

Romans 1:16: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth;  to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."  (Bold/italics added for emphasis) 

John 7:35:  "Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him?  will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?"  

Colossians 1:27-28:  "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:  Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom;  that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:"  (Bold/italics added for emphasis)

Galatians 3:28-29:  "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all  one in Christ Jesus.  And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."  (Italics added for emphasis)
 
"God is no respector of persons" (Acts 10:34), He is not divided, He does not have one way for Jews and one way for Gentiles!  We are all one in Christ.  Therefore, we are all  “God’s People.”

Romans 1:16:  As a Christian, one has to admit that salvation and Christianity are open “to every one that believeth; to the Jews first and also to the Greek.”

Exodus 31:13-17:  God gave the Sabbath covenant to identify first, the true God, as distinct and separate from false gods, and second, to identify those who are God’s people as separate and distinct from those who are not His people. 

Israel in captivity

All other nations had lost knowledge of God – lost knowledge of His identity.  So many fictitious and imaginary gods had been set up in their minds, originally as intermediaries between humans and the one Supreme God, that all knowledge of the one God had been erased.  Israel was to show other nations the true blessings of God’s “Law of Liberty.’”                                                  (Refer to James 1:25 and James 2:12.)

God chose to give Israel His "right ways"

"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."  I Peter 2:9

References 1-5: “Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.”  Luke 24:1

This text, which was written by St. Luke shows us that on the “first day of the week” these women came to do the work of a common weekday, after having rested the Sabbath day, “according to the Commandment” (Luke 23:56).  This statement was inspired by the Holy Spirit through Luke.  God knew the Sabbath was not abolished at the time of Christ’s death!  This text was written approximately 30 years after the establishing of the New Testament Church.  This statement by Luke would not be possible had the 4^TH Commandment been abolished.  The command to rest on the Sabbath had not been abolished!  (John 20:1 confirms the facts above.)

Reference # 6: Following Christ’s crucifixion, the Disciples were “huddled together behind doors barred shut for fear of the Jews.”  Since at that time, the disciples remained unconvinced of the resurrected Savior, this event cannot possibly be construed as a celebration of His resurrection!  John 20:19, Mark 16:12-14, and Luke 24:33-49   

“Since the Sabbath was first instituted, there was never such a Sabbath as this; during all of this Sabbath our Lord Jesus lay in the grave.  It was to Him a Sabbath of rest, but a silent Sabbath; to His disciples it was a sad Sabbath, spent in tears and fears…”  Martin H Manser, “The New Matthew Henry Commentary”  pg. 1612

Reference # 7: Here Luke reports that “upon the 1^st day of the week, when the Disciples came together to break bread, Paul spoke to the people and … kept on talking until midnight.”  Acts 20:7-11 

What does this text tell us?       

1. As sunset marks the Jewish start of each new day, this means that the Apostles actually convened on Saturday and continued until midnight, Saturday night!  “And there were many light in the upper chamber where they were gathered together” (v. 8).  (Read Leviticus 23:32.)
2. The Apostles “broke bread” together on a regular basis.  Breaking bread in the Old Testament times simply refers to the act of dining - or dining together.  There is no mention of wine being served here and there is no indication that this event was a communion service.  (Read Acts 2:46.)

Apostles breaking bread before a long day of ministry

Reference # 8: In this verse Paul instructs the brothers to systematically store up a “collection” of food for the benefit of the famine stricken believers in Jerusalem by “laying aside” something on the 1^st day of the week, which was considered a common working day.  I Corinthians 16:2 (Also read Romans 15:25-28.)

In these 8 references to the 1^st day of the week in the Bible, there is not a shred of evidence that God transferred His Holy Day from Saturday to Sunday.  Nothing in these Scriptural texts even remotely suggests that (a) it was the “Lord’s Day,” (b) this first day of the week was hallowed or sanctified by God as a holy day, (c) God commands us to observe it, (d) it is set apart as a memorial to God’s creation or Christ’s resurrection, (e) it has been declared a “sign” of God’s authority over His people or (f) God commands that it should be done every first day of the week “forever” as a “perpetual covenant.”

Exodus 16:29:  “See, for the Lord hath given you the Sabbath…”  Nowhere in all God’s Holy Word can you find any statement that “the Eternal has given you the Sunday.”

Why is the 4^th Commandment the only one which starts with the word “Remember?”  Does this suggest to us that the 7^th day Sabbath was already being observed prior to Mount Sinai and should continue to be observed forever?  (Read Isaiah 66:23.)

Genesis 26:5:  “Abraham obeyed my voice, my Commandments, my statutes and my laws.”  (Also read Daniel 9:4 & Nehemiah 1:5.)  Centuries before Moses was born, God judged men and women by the standard of whether they “obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my Commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”  The early patriarchs – including Abraham, “The father of faith” – knew the requirements of God’s Ten Commandment Law.

Galatians 3:18:  “For if the inheritance be of the Law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
John 8:56:  “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day, he saw it and rejoiced.”

Israelites gathering manna

Luke 23:56:  Can we also find New Testament evidence that all Ten Commandments remained in force after Christ’s death and resurrection? 

Acts 18:4:  A resurrected Savior appointed Paul to be an Apostle.  And on what day did Paul worship God?  “And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.”

Acts 13:16, 42-43:  When “Paul stood up” (v. 16) and spoke, preaching Christ to them “…The Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.”  (v. 42)

Now, since Paul was preaching “the Grace of God” (v. 43), here was his perfect opportunity to correct these new believing Gentiles and explain to them that the Sabbath had been “nailed to the cross.”  If the day had now been changed to Sunday for the Gentiles, why didn’t Paul enlighten them that the very next day, Sunday, was now the proper day for this service?  But instead, Paul waited a full week in order to preach to the Gentiles on the Holy Sabbath Day (as ordered by God!).

Paul preaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath day

Acts 15:19-21:  Paul, after consulting with James only mentioned 4 prohibitions to the new Gentile believers:  “to abstain from idol worship, from fornication, from things strangled, and from blood.” He never said they should not keep the 4^th Commandment.  God's Law was never in question!  Only the ritual Mosaic law of circumcision.

Acts 16:13-14:  “And on the Sabbath we (Paul and Silas at Philippi) went out of the city by a riverside, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.”

Here again Paul and his companions waited until the Holy Sabbath and then went to a place of worship and prayer. This passage indicates that it was customary for Paul and his companions to seek a place of prayer and worship upon the Sabbath Day (years after Christ’s death and resurrection).

The Apostle Paul, ministering to the women
"by a riverside" at Philippi on the Sabbath day.  
Acts 16:13

Hebrews 4:1-11:  The Apostle Paul wrote the following admonition in his epistle to the Hebrews.  This admonition  was written about 35-40 years after Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection:  “… a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it (v. 1).  For He spoke in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, and God did rest the seventh day from all His works (v. 4)… If they shall enter into My rest (v. 5)  …and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: (v. 6).  Again, He limited a certain day… (v. 7) harden not your hearts.  There remaineth therefore, a rest to the people of God (v. 9).  For he that is entered into His rest, he also had ceased from his own works, as God did from His (v. 10).  Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, least any man fall after the same example of unbelief.  For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them.”  (Italics added for emphasis.)

Matthew 24:14-20:  Here Jesus is speaking of the events marking the end of time for His church on earth:  “…and then shall the end come (v. 14) …when ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of Daniel the prophet… (v. 15)  …Then let them flee…into the mountains (v. 16).  But pray that your flight be not on the Sabbath Day (v. 20).  For there shall be great tribulation, such as was never seen since the beginning of the world to this time, no nor ever shall be (v. 21)."  (Italics added for emphasis.)

In contrast to popular teachings, there is no record in the entire New Testament that any of the early Christians observed any other day but Saturday as the weekly day of worship.  After the crucifixion and resurrection – after whatever was “nailed to the cross” was nailed – you will find the Sabbath still remains the 7^th day of the week!

Romans 14:5-12:  This is an often misunderstood but frequently quoted scriptural text by those who would choose to believe the Sabbath change to Sunday.  Let’s take a close look at its true message as interpreted by Frank E. Gaebalein, Editor of “The Expositor’s Bible Commentary,” vol. 10, pp. 145-147.

Vs. 5  “if the 1^st day of worship is in view, it is strange that any believer could be said to consider ‘every day alike.’  The close contextual association with eating suggests that Paul had in mind a special day set apart for observance as a time for feasting (Vs. 2 & 3)… More important…is the certitude of the individual involved that his motivation is his desire to honor the Lord in whatever he is doing.”

Vs. 9-12  “Here Paul makes the point that both groups will answer to God in the coming day.  So it is premature to pass judgment on another.  Seeing that an infallible judge will assume that responsibility.”

Vs. 10-12  “The true judge is God, and His time for judging is coming, making man’s judgment not only premature but also a usurpation of God’s role.”

“In summary of the situation, the note of judgment is retained, but the emphasis falls on the fact that each person must give account of himself to God.”  (See Ecclesiastes 12:14.)

It should give us all great assurance with the knowledge that God the Eternal, does not change:

Psalms 89:30:  “God said ‘My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of my lips.’”

Malachi 3:6:  “For I am the Lord, I change not...”

Hebrews 13:8:  “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today and forever.”

Deuteronomy 4:2:  “Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I gave you.”

Deuteronomy 5:22:  “These are the words spake unto all your assembly in the Mount…with a great voice and He added no more.”

Luke 16:17:  “It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the law.”

Matthew 5:18:  “…not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished.” (NIV)

Daniel 7:25:  Daniel prophesies about end time events:  “He will speak against the most high and oppress His saints and try to change the set times and laws.”  (Italics added for emphasis.)  How would you interpret this text?

Revelation 12:17:  “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which kept the Commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”  (Also read I John 5:3.)

Isaiah 24:5:  “The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant.”   (Italics added for emphasis.)  (Also read Isaiah 59:13 & 14, Hebrews 3:15, Psalms 89:30-34 & Romans 16:17.)

The Lord, speaking to Moses makes reference to this “everlasting covenant” between God and His people:  “Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant… forever.”  (Exodus 31:16-17)  (Italics added for emphasis.)

Mark 7:8-9:  “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men… you have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions.”

Many churches agree that God’s Ten Commandment Law is still in effect today, but they choose to ignore the 4^th.  They even confess that Sunday keeping is the result of the “tradition of man,” rather than God-inspired instruction.

Isaiah 56:2:  “Blessed is the man… that keepeth the Sabbath.”  (Also read Isaiah 58:13-14.)

Revelation 22:14:  “Blessed are they… which keep the Commandments of God.”

Romans 2:13:  “For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.”  (Also read II Peter 2:21.)

Isaiah 30:8-14:  “That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord (v. 9).  (Also read Proverbs 28:9 & Isaiah 24:5.)

So how does the modern day Christian worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24)? 

To believe that we are to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience is contrary to what God says.

The Bible is the authority of God.  What authority do people have for Sunday?  To worship God in both spirit and in truth is to worship Him when and how He says in His word – which is truth!

God Himself set apart the one and only day that identifies Him as the Creator.  He set it apart for a blessing, for our physical rest and for spiritual refreshing!

Those who choose to assemble to worship God and the Lord Jesus Christ in any way contrary to the manner or the time God’s word commands are not worshiping Him in spirit and in truth!

Mark 7:7:  “Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men… Ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.”

Worshiping God in vain?

Proverbs 14:12 and Proverbs 16:25:  "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man; but the way thereof are the ways of death." 
Assembling for worship on Sunday is nothing but the tradition of men – and a pagan tradition at that!  Those who disobey God’s commandment to keep His Sabbath day holy are worshiping God in vain!

So how are we to keep the Lord's Day?  The Sabbath has to do with our fellowship, assembly and worship of God. Jesus kept the Sabbath while living in human form on earth.  He worshiped on the Sabbath and taught us through example, how to keep it. He showed us that it is right to gather or prepare food to eat on the Sabbath (Mark 2:23).

Jesus healed the sick on the Sabbath.  This was not doing business or labor by which He earned a living.  It was an act of mercy – and of love.  Jesus said it is right to do good on the Sabbath day. 

Jesus showed it is even right to pull an ox out of the ditch on the Sabbath day.  But too many today would throw the poor ox in the ditch on Friday, so that they could have an excuse to pull it out on the Sabbath Day!  Jesus expects us to use wisdom and judgment, and above all to be honest.

It is true we shall be saved by grace, but God does lay down conditions.  One can comply and receive glorious grace – or one can rebel, and pay the penalty – for eternity!  The choice is ours to make.

John 14:15:  “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

I John 5:3:  “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments."

Matthew 5:19:  "Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven."

Jesus instructing his disciples: "If you love me, 
keep my commandments."  John 14:15

Ecclesiastes 12:13:  “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:  Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”

Isaiah 66:22-23:  Will all the Saints of Jesus Christ come together to worship before the Lord on the Holy Sabbath day in God’s heavenly Kingdom?  What does the Word of the Lord reveal to us through His prophet Jeremiah regarding Sabbath observance in heaven?

II Timothy 3:16-17:  “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

I have many wonderful Catholic friends who are dedicated Christians.  I also have many sincere Christian friends who are Sunday-keeping Protestants.  I do not agree with either group about the Sabbath issue, but neither God, nor any carnal authority appointed me to pass judgment on any of them.

This document was written not with the intent to judge, offend or condemn.  But rather it was written with the sole and sincere purpose of extending the challenge to all who would, with the divine blessing of the Holy Spirit be diligent in seeking God’s will for mankind, through the study of His Holy Scriptures.  May God bless you in the reading of His Word.

-Robert L. Rael

COMMENTARY

“By His life and His death, Christ proved that God’s justice did not destroy His mercy, but that sin could be forgiven, and that the law is righteous, and can be perfectly obeyed.  Satan’s charges were refuted.  God had given man unmistakable evidence of His love.

“Another deception was now to be brought forward.  Satan declared that mercy destroyed justice, that the death of Christ abrogated the Father’s law.  Had it been possible for the law to be changed or abrogated, then Christ need not have died.  But to abrogate the law would be to immortalize transgression, and place the world under Satan’s control.  It was because man could be saved only through obedience to its precepts, that Jesus was lifted up on the cross.  Yet the very means by which Christ established the law Satan represented as destroying it.  Here will come the last conflict of the great controversy between Christ and Satan.

“That the law which was spoken by God’s own voice is faulty, that some specification has been set aside, is the claim which Satan now puts forward.  It is the last great deception that he will bring upon the world.  He needs not to assail the whole law; if he can lead men to disregard one precept, his purpose is gained.  For ‘whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend on one point, he is guilty of all,’  James 2:10.  By consenting to break one precept, men are brought under Satan’s power.  By substituting human law for God’s law, Satan will seek to control the world.  This work is foretold in prophecy.  Of the great apostate power which is the representative of Satan, it is declared, ‘he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand,’ Daniel 7:25.

“Men will surely set up their laws to counterwork the laws of God.  They will seek to compel the consciences of others, and in their zeal to enforce these laws they will oppress their fellow men.

“The warfare against God’s law, which was begun in heaven, will be continued until the end of time.  Every man will be tested. Obedience or disobedience is the question to be decided by the whole world.  All will be called to choose between the law of God and the law of men.  Here the dividing line will be drawn.  There will be two classes.  Every character will be fully developed and all will show whether they have chosen the side of loyalty or that of rebellion.  Then will the end come."  REFERENCE:  "The desire of Ages,"  Ellen G. White, pp. 447-448

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