₦airaland Forum

DoctorAlien:
Romans 6:1-2 "...Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? GOD forbid!..."

What is sin? 1 Jn 3:4 "...Sin is the transgression of the Law"

What have you to say about these verses?

read this thread https://www.nairaland.com/2173054/what-jesus-meant-fullfiled-law

DoctorAlien:
I have a question for you: did Jesus obey the 10 Commandments when He was on earth?

do you know the meaning of " Lord of the sabbath?"

Scholar8200:
Through Christ! The Spirit inspired Paul to write what he wrote.

...made under the law, to redeem them that are under the law, that we might we receive the adoption of sons
Galatians 4:4b,5

We were sinners and were helpless to attain the righteous demands of the law. Jesus came, fulfilled the law (so He owed no debt arising from a violated law), and died paying the penalty we deserved for violating the law. As we identify by faith with His death, we are also freed from the demands of the law we violated but He imparts His nature and by the Holy Spirit indwelling us enable us to live a life that meets and satisfies the righteous demands of the law
Romans 8:1-4

The Law demands you don't steal, kill, bear false witness. Have you been freed from these demands?

DoctorAlien:
LOL. Since you don't know whether He obeyed the 10 Commandments or not, explain the word "FULFILL" as used in that text.

HE FULFILLED THE LAW, ITS RIGHTEOUS DEMANDS, TYPES AND SHADOWS ENDING THE OT AND USHERING IN THE NEW COVENANT! THAT IS WHY HE COULD INSTITUTE THE LORD'S SUPPER IN PLACE OF THE PASSOVER.
Do you realise that the passover too was to be observed forever Exodus 12:14 that pointed to He that would fulfil all things!

DoctorAlien:
The Law demands you don't steal, kill, bear false witness. Have you been freed from these demands?

The righteous demands with all its application to heart disposition and external actions is made possible for me by the Spirit that came after I believed. Hence I dont try to please God by straining after the 10 commandments! Rather I endeavour to walk in the Spirit by continual faith.

DoctorAlien:
So how do you relate this with Rom. 6:1 and 1 Jn 3:4?

When we abide in Him, we receive grace to live in victory over sin. John defines sin as transgression of the law but reveals that the way of freedom is Christ: believing on, and abiding in Him (not the law).
Jesus was so named because ,''He would save... from their sins''. That is what the law could not do.
All men are born sinners hence no amount of striving to keep the law will justify us. But when we receive the righteousness of God (see Romans 3:19-22 through faith in Christ, we are made free from sin and enabled by Grace to live in righteousness and holiness.

DoctorAlien:
Did Jesus also not command you not to break any of the commandments of GOD nor teach men to do so? (Matt. 5:17-19)

And Jesus fulfilled those commandments and that is also done by the Spirit for those who believe on Jesus! Romans 8:3,4. That is why Jesus called us to believe on Him (He being the True Vine and we the branches sharing the same life) because the law came by Moses, Grace and Truth came by Jesus.

DoctorAlien:
Answer with yes or no: Does GOD have His own commandments while Christ has His own commandments?

The Old covenant and New covenant with all their various terms were by God's design! It is a case of one dispensation giving way for the other. Hence the dichotomy you are trying to make has no place.

DoctorAlien:
What does Matt. 5:17-19 talk about teaching men to disregard any part of GOD's law?

This is where you should realise the fact. The pharisees religiously held to the law and sabbath(even accusing Jesus of violating same) yet Jesus said we must have righteousness that exceed that of the pharisees! That is why Paul said he desired to be,''found in Him, not having the righteousness which is of the law but that which is of the faith of Christ...''Phil 3:9 The latter is higher than the former by eternity.

Scholar8200:
Kindly summarise it. But note that it must agree with other declarations in scripture, particularly the NT.

Now I see your bias. You annul some parts of the OT but uphold all of the NT.

Scholar8200:
Because it could only go as far as revealing man's sinful nature and need Romans 7:13,14
Besides:
For what the law could NOT do, in that it was weak through the flesh ... Romans 8:3a (read on).

The law was to bring us to Christ!

Oh! So you need what would hide your sins and guilts? No wonder you are so bent on dealing treacherously with the 4th commandment as it doesn't bring an immediate guilt when you break it. I see

Scholar8200:
He fulfilled the law.

James 2:8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: 2:9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. 2:11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. 2:12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

Meaning Jesus kept the 10 commandment.

You just shot yourself in the leg.

Scholar8200:
Because it could only go as far as revealing man's sinful nature and need Romans 7:13,14
Besides:
For what the law could NOT do, in that it was weak through the flesh ... Romans 8:3a (read on).

The law was to bring us to Christ!
Philadelphia:
Oh! So you need what would hide your sins and guilts? No wonder you are so bent on dealing treacherously with the 4th commandment as it doesn't bring an immediate guilt when you break it. I see

Say that to the writer of Romans 7 and 8 and He Who Inspired him. Besides, do you realise that the law stops at this point and justifies NO ONE?

16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Galatians 2:16,17

The law only brings us to Christ:

24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto [size=14pt]Christ, that we might be justified by faith.[/size] 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster
Galatians 3:24,25

Philadelphia:
Now I see your bias. You annul some parts of the OT but uphold all of the NT.

Specify that which I nullify.
You will need to level these accusations to those who wrote the NT who, having far better understanding of the law than you, wrote such as:

Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
Galatians 5:4

There are two dispensations, Moses- Law, Jesus- Grace and Truth(that sets free from sin and its power).

malvisguy212:
you don't know what you are saying here, are you a jew ? Scripture say, the latter kill but the spirit give life, what does it mean ? Keeping the law, will NEVER made you holy, if keeping the law will bring righteousness in you, then the bible is wrong for saying " salvation is of the Lord". In Titus 3:5 the bible indicate, Good works are not the MEANS of salvation but in verse 8 the bible say Good works are the RESULT of salvation. Honestly, you do not know what you are saying.

Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

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

What commandments is Jesus asking us to keep?
What else would keeping the scripture do to us? If keeping the law is irrelevant, why did Jesus keep the law and encourage us too to keep it?

1 John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. So tell me, can a sinner enter into heaven?
If a sinner can't, then it's essential that the law must be kept.
Jesus kept the law and Wass sinless. This is one of the reasons he was "spotless" and fit to be our sacrificial lamb.

Philadelphia:
James 2:8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: 2:9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. 2:11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. 2:12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

Meaning Jesus kept the 10 commandment.

You just shot yourself in the leg.

The royal law is not the 10 commandments! Jesus fulfilled all the Law and the prophets, He said this Himself. Besides, that passage was not written to Jesus, or about Jesus!

malvisguy212:
it is written in our heart.

Genesis 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
What was God warning Cain about here? Was it killing or stealing? Where is this command (not to kill found)? On the tables of Stone or in his heart?

Oya start explaining.

Philadelphia:
Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

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

What commandments is Jesus asking us to keep?
What else would keeping the scripture do to us? If keeping the law is irrelevant, why did Jesus keep the law and encourage us too to keep it?

Pray, show me where He said this should be done as a means of receiving eternal life! (When He even told a member of the sanhedrin and a high standing Jew/Pharisee, except a man be born again, born of the Spirit)

1 John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. So tell me, can a sinner enter into heaven?
If a sinner can't, then it's essential that the law must be kept.

When the Bible states that NO ONE is justified by the law?

Jesus kept the law and Wass sinless. This is one of the reasons he was "spotless" and fit to be our sacrificial lamb.

So Jesus spotlessness arose from keeping the Law What heresy!!!

malvisguy212:
do you know the meaning of " Lord of the sabbath?"

To be Lord over something means "to own, rule or govern that thing". It brings ones mind also to creation () God created the Sabbath.
Oya let me here your own explanation.

Scholar8200:
HE FULFILLED THE LAW, ITS RIGHTEOUS DEMANDS, TYPES AND SHADOWS ENDING THE OT AND USHERING IN THE NEW COVENANT! THAT IS WHY HE COULD INSTITUTE THE LORD'S SUPPER IN PLACE OF THE PASSOVER.
Do you realise that the passover too was to be observed forever Exodus 12:14 that pointed to He that would fulfil all things!

Do you find the passover in the moral law or in the ceremonial law?

Scholar8200:
Say that to the writer of Romans 7 and 8 and He Who Inspired him. Besides, do you realise that the law stops at this point and justifies NO ONE?

16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Galatians 2:16,17

The law only brings us to Christ:

24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto [size=14pt]Christ, that we might be justified by faith.[/size] 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster
Galatians 3:24,25

Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

Scholar8200:
Specify that which I nullify.
You will need to level these accusations to those who wrote the NT who, having far better understanding of the law than you, wrote such as:
Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
Galatians 5:4
There are two dispensations, Moses- Law, Jesus- Grace and Truth(that sets free from sin and its power).

Scholar8200:
Pray, show me where He said this should be done as a means of receiving eternal life! (When He even told a member of the sanhedrin and a high standing Jew/Pharisee, except a man be born again, born of the Spirit)

When the Bible states that NO ONE is justified by the law?

So Jesus spotlessness arose from keeping the Law What heresy!!!

You said so

Scholar8200:
Pray, show me where He said this should be done as a means of receiving eternal life! (When He even told a member of the sanhedrin and a high standing Jew/Pharisee, except a man be born again, born of the Spirit)

When the Bible states that NO ONE is justified by the law?

So Jesus spotlessness arose from keeping the Law What heresy!!!

So are the 10 commandments still valid?

[b]Sabbath

Definition: Sabbath is taken from the Hebrew sha·vathʹ, meaning “rest, cease, desist.” The sabbatical system prescribed in the Mosaic Law included a weekly Sabbath day, a number of additional specified days throughout each year, the seventh year, and the fiftieth year. The weekly Sabbath of the Jews, the seventh day of their calendar week, is from sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturday. Many professed Christians have traditionally kept Sunday as their day of rest and of worship; others have adhered to the day set aside on the Jewish calendar.

Are Christians under obligation to keep a weekly sabbath day?

Ex. 31:16, 17: “The sons of Israel must keep the sabbath, so as to carry out the sabbath during their generations. It is a covenant to time indefinite [“a perpetual covenant,” RS]. Between me and the sons of Israel it is a sign to time indefinite.” (Notice that sabbath observance was a sign between Jehovah and Israel; this would not be the case if everyone else were also obligated to keep the Sabbath. The Hebrew word rendered “perpetual” in RS is ‛oh·lamʹ, which basically means a period of time that, from the standpoint of the present, is indefinite or hidden from sight but of long duration. That can mean forever, but not necessarily so. At Numbers 25:13 the same Hebrew word is applied to the priesthood, which later ended, according to Hebrews 7:12.)

Rom. 10:4: “Christ is the end of the Law, so that everyone exercising faith may have righteousness.” (Sabbath keeping was a part of that Law. God used Christ to bring that Law to its end. Our having a righteous standing with God depends on faith in Christ, not on keeping a weekly sabbath.) (Also Galatians 4:9-11; Ephesians 2:13-16)

Col. 2:13-16: “[God] kindly forgave us all our trespasses and blotted out the handwritten document against us, which consisted of decrees and which was in opposition to us . . . Therefore let no man judge you in eating and drinking or in respect of a festival or of an observance of the new moon or of a sabbath.” (If a person was under the Mosaic Law and was judged guilty of profaning the Sabbath, he was to be stoned to death by the whole congregation, according to Exodus 31:14 and Numbers 15:32-35. Many who argue for sabbath keeping have reason to be glad that we are not under that Law. As shown in the scripture here quoted, an approved standing with God no longer requires observance of the sabbath requirement given to Israel.)

How did Sunday come to be the principal day of worship for much of Christendom?

Although Christ was resurrected on the first day of the week (now called Sunday), the Bible contains no instruction to set aside that day of the week as sacred.

“The retention of the old Pagan name of ‘Dies Solis,’ or ‘Sunday,’ for the weekly Christian festival, is, in great measure, owing to the union of Pagan and [so-called] Christian sentiment with which the first day of the week was recommended by Constantine [in an edict in 321 C.E.] to his subjects, Pagan and Christian alike, as the ‘venerable day of the Sun.’ . . . It was his mode of harmonizing the discordant religions of the Empire under one common institution.”—Lectures on the History of the Eastern Church (New York, 1871), A. P. Stanley, p. 291.

Was the requirement of sabbath keeping given to Adam and thus made binding on all of his offspring?

Jehovah God proceeded to rest as to his works of material, earthly creation after preparing the earth for human habitation. This is stated at Genesis 2:1-3. But nothing in the Bible record says that God directed Adam to keep the seventh day of each week as a sabbath.

Deut. 5:15: “You must remember that you [Israel] became a slave in the land of Egypt and Jehovah your God proceeded to bring you out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. That is why Jehovah your God commanded you to carry on the sabbath day.” (Here Jehovah connects his giving of the sabbath law with Israel’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt, not with events in Eden.)

Ex. 16:1, 23-29: “The entire assembly of the sons of Israel finally came to the wilderness of Sin . . . on the fifteenth day of the second month after their coming out of the land of Egypt. . . . [Moses] said to them: ‘It is what Jehovah has spoken. Tomorrow there will be a sabbath observance of a holy sabbath to Jehovah. . . . Six days you will pick [the manna] up, but on the seventh day is a sabbath. On it none will form.’ . . . Jehovah said to Moses: . . . ‘Mark the fact that Jehovah has given you the sabbath.’” (Prior to this, there had been a marking off of weeks of seven days each, but this is the first reference to a sabbath observance.)

Is the Mosaic Law divided into “ceremonial” and “moral” parts, and is the “moral law” (the Ten Commandments) binding on Christians?

Did Jesus refer to the Law in a manner that indicated division of it into two parts?

Matt. 5:17, 21, 23, 27, 31, 38: “Do not think I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I came, not to destroy, but to fulfill.” Now, notice what Jesus included in his further comments. “You heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You must not murder [Ex. 20:13; the Sixth Commandment]’ . . . If, then, you are bringing your gift to the altar [Deut. 16:16, 17; no part of the Ten Commandments] . . . You heard that it was said, ‘You must not commit adultery [Ex. 20:14; the Seventh Commandment].’ Moreover it was said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce [Deut. 24:1; no part of the Ten Commandments].’ You heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye and tooth for tooth [Ex. 21:23-25; no part of the Ten Commandments].’” (So, Jesus mixed together references to the Ten Commandments and other parts of the Law, making no distinction between them. Should we treat them differently?)

When Jesus was asked, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” did he isolate the Ten Commandments? Instead, he replied: “‘You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. The second, like it, is this, ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments the whole Law hangs, and the Prophets.” (Matt. 22:35-40) If some cling to the Ten Commandments (Deut. 5:6-21), saying that they are binding on Christians but that the rest are not, are they not actually rejecting what Jesus said (quoting Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18) as to which commandments are the greatest?

When referring to the passing away of the Mosaic Law, does the Bible directly say that the Ten Commandments were included in what came to an end?

Rom. 7:6, 7: “Now we have been discharged from the Law, because we have died to that by which we were being held fast . . . What, then, shall we say? Is the Law sin? Never may that become so! Really I would not have come to know sin if it had not been for the Law; and, for example, I would not have known covetousness if the Law had not said: ‘You must not covet.’” (Here, immediately after writing that Jewish Christians had been “discharged from the Law,” what example from the Law does Paul cite? The Tenth Commandment, thus showing that it was included in the Law from which they had been discharged.)

2 Cor. 3:7-11: “If the code which administers death and which was engraved in letters in stones came about in a glory, so that the sons of Israel could not gaze intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, a glory that was to be done away with, why should not the administering of the spirit be much more with glory? . . . For if that which was to be done away with was brought in with glory, much more would that which remains be with glory.” (Reference is made here to a code that was “engraved in letters in stones” and it is said that “the sons of Israel could not gaze intently at the face of Moses” on the occasion when it was delivered to them. What is this describing? Exodus 34:1, 28-30 shows that it is the giving of the Ten Commandments; these were the commandments engraved on stone. Obviously these are included in what the scripture here says “was to be done away with.”)

Does doing away with the Mosaic Law, including the Ten Commandments, imply the taking away of all moral restraint?

Not at all; many of the moral standards set out in the Ten Commandments were restated in the inspired books of the Christian Greek Scriptures. (There was, however, no restating of the sabbath law.) But no matter how good a law is, as long as sinful inclinations dominate a person’s desires, there will be lawlessness. However, regarding the new covenant, which has replaced the Law covenant, Hebrews 8:10 states: “‘For this is the covenant that I shall covenant with the house of Israel after those days,’ says Jehovah. ‘I will put my laws in their mind, and in their hearts I shall write them. And I will become their God, and they themselves will become my people.’” How much more effective such laws are than those engraved on stone tablets!

Rom. 6:15-17: “Shall we commit a sin because we are not under law but under undeserved kindness? Never may that happen! Do you not know that if you keep presenting yourselves to anyone as slaves to obey him, you are slaves of him because you obey him, either of sin with death in view or of obedience with righteousness in view? But thanks to God that you were the slaves of sin but you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were handed over.” (See also Galatians 5:18-24.)

Of what significance to Christians is the weekly Sabbath?

There is “a sabbath resting” that Christians share in every day

Hebrews 4:4-11 says: “In one place [Genesis 2:2] he [God] has said of the seventh day as follows: ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,’ and again in this place [Psalm 95:11]: ‘They shall not enter into my rest.’ Since, therefore, it remains for some to enter into it, and those to whom the good news was first declared did not enter in because of disobedience, he again marks off a certain day by saying after so long a time in David’s psalm [Psalm 95:7, 8] ‘Today’; just as it has been said above: ‘Today if you people listen to his own voice, do not harden your hearts.’ For if Joshua had led them into a place of rest, God would not afterward have spoken of another day. So there remains a sabbath resting for the people of God. For the man that has entered into God’s rest has also himself rested from his own works, just as God did from his own. Let us therefore do our utmost to enter into that rest, for fear anyone should fall in the same pattern of disobedience.”

From what are Christians here urged to rest? From their “own works.” What works? Works by means of which they formerly sought to prove themselves righteous. No longer do they believe that they can earn God’s approval and gain eternal life by complying with certain rules and observances. That was the error of faithless Jews who, by ‘seeking to establish their own righteousness, did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.’ (Rom. 10:3) True Christians recognize that all of us were born sinners and that it is only by faith in the sacrifice of Christ that anyone can have a righteous standing with God. They endeavor to take to heart and apply all the teachings of God’s Son. They humbly accept counsel and reproof from God’s Word. This does not mean that they think they can earn God’s approval in this way; instead, what they do is an expression of their love and faith. By such a course of life they avoid the “pattern of disobedience” of the Jewish nation.

The “seventh day,” referred to in Genesis 2:2, was not merely a 24-hour day. (See page 88, under the heading “Creation.”) Similarly, the “sabbath resting” that true Christians share is not limited to a 24-hour day. By exercising faith and obeying the Bible’s counsel, they can enjoy it every day, and especially will they do so in God’s new system.[/b]

Philadelphia:
Do you find the passover in the moral law or in the ceremonial law?

The emphasis there is in the word forever as it relates to the observance of the passover. Why then did Christ establish the Lord's supper in its place?

Philadelphia:
Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

Dead to sin not by following the law but by faith in Christ!

Philadelphia:
So are the 10 commandments still valid?

and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
Philipians 3:9

TheRector:
[b]Sabbath

Definition: Sabbath is taken from the Hebrew sha·vathʹ, meaning “rest, cease, desist.” The sabbatical system prescribed in the Mosaic Law included a weekly Sabbath day, a number of additional specified days throughout each year, the seventh year, and the fiftieth year. The weekly Sabbath of the Jews, the seventh day of their calendar week, is from sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturday. Many professed Christians have traditionally kept Sunday as their day of rest and of worship; others have adhered to the day set aside on the Jewish calendar.

Are Christians under obligation to keep a weekly sabbath day?

Ex. 31:16, 17: “The sons of Israel must keep the sabbath, so as to carry out the sabbath during their generations. It is a covenant to time indefinite [“a perpetual covenant,” RS]. Between me and the sons of Israel it is a sign to time indefinite.” (Notice that sabbath observance was a sign between Jehovah and Israel; this would not be the case if everyone else were also obligated to keep the Sabbath. The Hebrew word rendered “perpetual” in RS is ‛oh·lamʹ, which basically means a period of time that, from the standpoint of the present, is indefinite or hidden from sight but of long duration. That can mean forever, but not necessarily so. At Numbers 25:13 the same Hebrew word is applied to the priesthood, which later ended, according to Hebrews 7:12.)

Rom. 10:4: “Christ is the end of the Law, so that everyone exercising faith may have righteousness.” (Sabbath keeping was a part of that Law. God used Christ to bring that Law to its end. Our having a righteous standing with God depends on faith in Christ, not on keeping a weekly sabbath.) (Also Galatians 4:9-11; Ephesians 2:13-16)

Col. 2:13-16: “[God] kindly forgave us all our trespasses and blotted out the handwritten document against us, which consisted of decrees and which was in opposition to us . . . Therefore let no man judge you in eating and drinking or in respect of a festival or of an observance of the new moon or of a sabbath.” (If a person was under the Mosaic Law and was judged guilty of profaning the Sabbath, he was to be stoned to death by the whole congregation, according to Exodus 31:14 and Numbers 15:32-35. Many who argue for sabbath keeping have reason to be glad that we are not under that Law. As shown in the scripture here quoted, an approved standing with God no longer requires observance of the sabbath requirement given to Israel.)

How did Sunday come to be the principal day of worship for much of Christendom?

Although Christ was resurrected on the first day of the week (now called Sunday), the Bible contains no instruction to set aside that day of the week as sacred.

“The retention of the old Pagan name of ‘Dies Solis,’ or ‘Sunday,’ for the weekly Christian festival, is, in great measure, owing to the union of Pagan and [so-called] Christian sentiment with which the first day of the week was recommended by Constantine [in an edict in 321 C.E.] to his subjects, Pagan and Christian alike, as the ‘venerable day of the Sun.’ . . . It was his mode of harmonizing the discordant religions of the Empire under one common institution.”—Lectures on the History of the Eastern Church (New York, 1871), A. P. Stanley, p. 291.

Was the requirement of sabbath keeping given to Adam and thus made binding on all of his offspring?

Jehovah God proceeded to rest as to his works of material, earthly creation after preparing the earth for human habitation. This is stated at Genesis 2:1-3. But nothing in the Bible record says that God directed Adam to keep the seventh day of each week as a sabbath.

Deut. 5:15: “You must remember that you [Israel] became a slave in the land of Egypt and Jehovah your God proceeded to bring you out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. That is why Jehovah your God commanded you to carry on the sabbath day.” (Here Jehovah connects his giving of the sabbath law with Israel’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt, not with events in Eden.)

Ex. 16:1, 23-29: “The entire assembly of the sons of Israel finally came to the wilderness of Sin . . . on the fifteenth day of the second month after their coming out of the land of Egypt. . . . [Moses] said to them: ‘It is what Jehovah has spoken. Tomorrow there will be a sabbath observance of a holy sabbath to Jehovah. . . . Six days you will pick [the manna] up, but on the seventh day is a sabbath. On it none will form.’ . . . Jehovah said to Moses: . . . ‘Mark the fact that Jehovah has given you the sabbath.’” (Prior to this, there had been a marking off of weeks of seven days each, but this is the first reference to a sabbath observance.)

Is the Mosaic Law divided into “ceremonial” and “moral” parts, and is the “moral law” (the Ten Commandments) binding on Christians?

Did Jesus refer to the Law in a manner that indicated division of it into two parts?

Matt. 5:17, 21, 23, 27, 31, 38: “Do not think I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I came, not to destroy, but to fulfill.” Now, notice what Jesus included in his further comments. “You heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You must not murder [Ex. 20:13; the Sixth Commandment]’ . . . If, then, you are bringing your gift to the altar [Deut. 16:16, 17; no part of the Ten Commandments] . . . You heard that it was said, ‘You must not commit adultery [Ex. 20:14; the Seventh Commandment].’ Moreover it was said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce [Deut. 24:1; no part of the Ten Commandments].’ You heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye and tooth for tooth [Ex. 21:23-25; no part of the Ten Commandments].’” (So, Jesus mixed together references to the Ten Commandments and other parts of the Law, making no distinction between them. Should we treat them differently?)

When Jesus was asked, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” did he isolate the Ten Commandments? Instead, he replied: “‘You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. The second, like it, is this, ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments the whole Law hangs, and the Prophets.” (Matt. 22:35-40) If some cling to the Ten Commandments (Deut. 5:6-21), saying that they are binding on Christians but that the rest are not, are they not actually rejecting what Jesus said (quoting Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18) as to which commandments are the greatest?

When referring to the passing away of the Mosaic Law, does the Bible directly say that the Ten Commandments were included in what came to an end?

Rom. 7:6, 7: “Now we have been discharged from the Law, because we have died to that by which we were being held fast . . . What, then, shall we say? Is the Law sin? Never may that become so! Really I would not have come to know sin if it had not been for the Law; and, for example, I would not have known covetousness if the Law had not said: ‘You must not covet.’” (Here, immediately after writing that Jewish Christians had been “discharged from the Law,” what example from the Law does Paul cite? The Tenth Commandment, thus showing that it was included in the Law from which they had been discharged.)

2 Cor. 3:7-11: “If the code which administers death and which was engraved in letters in stones came about in a glory, so that the sons of Israel could not gaze intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, a glory that was to be done away with, why should not the administering of the spirit be much more with glory? . . . For if that which was to be done away with was brought in with glory, much more would that which remains be with glory.” (Reference is made here to a code that was “engraved in letters in stones” and it is said that “the sons of Israel could not gaze intently at the face of Moses” on the occasion when it was delivered to them. What is this describing? Exodus 34:1, 28-30 shows that it is the giving of the Ten Commandments; these were the commandments engraved on stone. Obviously these are included in what the scripture here says “was to be done away with.”)

Does doing away with the Mosaic Law, including the Ten Commandments, imply the taking away of all moral restraint?

Not at all; many of the moral standards set out in the Ten Commandments were restated in the inspired books of the Christian Greek Scriptures. (There was, however, no restating of the sabbath law.) But no matter how good a law is, as long as sinful inclinations dominate a person’s desires, there will be lawlessness. However, regarding the new covenant, which has replaced the Law covenant, Hebrews 8:10 states: “‘For this is the covenant that I shall covenant with the house of Israel after those days,’ says Jehovah. ‘I will put my laws in their mind, and in their hearts I shall write them. And I will become their God, and they themselves will become my people.’” How much more effective such laws are than those engraved on stone tablets!

Rom. 6:15-17: “Shall we commit a sin because we are not under law but under undeserved kindness? Never may that happen! Do you not know that if you keep presenting yourselves to anyone as slaves to obey him, you are slaves of him because you obey him, either of sin with death in view or of obedience with righteousness in view? But thanks to God that you were the slaves of sin but you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were handed over.” (See also Galatians 5:18-24.)

Of what significance to Christians is the weekly Sabbath?

There is “a sabbath resting” that Christians share in every day

Hebrews 4:4-11 says: “In one place [Genesis 2:2] he [God] has said of the seventh day as follows: ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,’ and again in this place [Psalm 95:11]: ‘They shall not enter into my rest.’ Since, therefore, it remains for some to enter into it, and those to whom the good news was first declared did not enter in because of disobedience, he again marks off a certain day by saying after so long a time in David’s psalm [Psalm 95:7, 8] ‘Today’; just as it has been said above: ‘Today if you people listen to his own voice, do not harden your hearts.’ For if Joshua had led them into a place of rest, God would not afterward have spoken of another day. So there remains a sabbath resting for the people of God. For the man that has entered into God’s rest has also himself rested from his own works, just as God did from his own. Let us therefore do our utmost to enter into that rest, for fear anyone should fall in the same pattern of disobedience.”

From what are Christians here urged to rest? From their “own works.” What works? Works by means of which they formerly sought to prove themselves righteous. No longer do they believe that they can earn God’s approval and gain eternal life by complying with certain rules and observances. That was the error of faithless Jews who, by ‘seeking to establish their own righteousness, did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.’ (Rom. 10:3) True Christians recognize that all of us were born sinners and that it is only by faith in the sacrifice of Christ that anyone can have a righteous standing with God. They endeavor to take to heart and apply all the teachings of God’s Son. They humbly accept counsel and reproof from God’s Word. This does not mean that they think they can earn God’s approval in this way; instead, what they do is an expression of their love and faith. By such a course of life they avoid the “pattern of disobedience” of the Jewish nation.

The “seventh day,” referred to in Genesis 2:2, was not merely a 24-hour day. (See page 88, under the heading “Creation.”) Similarly, the “sabbath resting” that true Christians share is not limited to a 24-hour day. By exercising faith and obeying the Bible’s counsel, they can enjoy it every day, and especially will they do so in God’s new system.[/b]

From your last paragraph, you must mean that the earth was not created in 6 literal days.

Scholar8200:
HE FULFILLED THE LAW, ITS RIGHTEOUS DEMANDS, TYPES AND SHADOWS ENDING THE OT AND USHERING IN THE NEW COVENANT! THAT IS WHY HE COULD INSTITUTE THE LORD'S SUPPER IN PLACE OF THE PASSOVER.
Do you realise that the passover too was to be observed forever Exodus 12:14 that pointed to He that would fulfil all things!

For this debate to continue, you have to answer the question: Did Jesus Christ obey the 10 Commandments when He was on earth? Yes or No?

Scholar8200:
The righteous demands with all its application to heart disposition and external actions is made possible for me by the Spirit that came after I believed. Hence I dont try to please God by straining after the 10 commandments! Rather I endeavour to walk in the Spirit by continual faith.

Did Jesus Obey the 10 Commandments when He was on earth? Yes or No?

Scholar8200:
When we abide in Him, we receive grace to live in victory over sin. John defines sin as transgression of the law but reveals that the way of freedom is Christ: believing on, and abiding in Him (not the law).
Jesus was so named because ,''He would save... from their sins''. That is what the law could not do.
All men are born sinners hence no amount of striving to keep the law will justify us. But when we receive the righteousness of God (see Romans 3:19-22 through faith in Christ, we are made free from sin and enabled by Grace to live in righteousness and holiness.

Did Jesus Christ obey the 10 Commandments when He was on earth? Yes or No?

Scholar8200:
And Jesus fulfilled those commandments and that is also done by the Spirit for those who believe on Jesus! Romans 8:3,4. That is why Jesus called us to believe on Him (He being the True Vine and we the branches sharing the same life) because the law came by Moses, Grace and Truth came by Jesus.

If you agree Jesus commanded us not to break any of those laws, why do you continue in disobedience to His words?

You seem to assert too much the fact that Jesus "fulfilled the Law". Can you please define what "fulfill" means? What happened to the Law after it was fulfilled?

Did Jesus obey the 10 Commandments when He was on earth?