Dd-5. What does the LAW Contained in ORDINANCES Mean? DOWNLOAD to SAVE as a PDF Doc to read OFFLINE. Dd-5. What does the Law Contained in ORDINANCES Truly Mean? Is the law of the fourth commandment of the weekly Sabbath day one of the laws of the commandments of God contained in ordinances that were abolished at the cross? In other words, does the fourth commandment CONTAIN any ORDINANCES? YES! The fourth commandment is a commandment contained in ORDINANCES. And, according to Ephesians 2:15, the ORDINANCES contained in the FOURTH commandment were abolished on the cross. Please understand that the SIX MORAL commandments in the TEN Commandment were NOT abolished at the cross. It is ONLY the law of commandments containing ORDINANCES that were abolished at the cross. Also, understand that the FOURTH commandment ITSELF was NOT abolished. But rather, it is the ORDINANCES contained in the fourth commandment that are abolished and nailed to the cross. And ALL of the commandments for the Sabbath DAYS contain “ordinances” in them. All the feast DAYS contain ordinances. ALL the ceremonial commandments contain ordinances. All the dietary laws contain ordinances. And the ceremonial commandment of the FOURTH commandment is ALSO contained in ORDINANCES. So then, what is an ordinance? Simply put, an ordinance is a verbal or written “instruction” giving the directions of what to do and HOW to perform a commandment of God. So then, what are the ordinances contained in the fourth commandment? Please read Exodus 35:2,3. “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a Sabbath of REST TO the LORD: whosoever does work therein shall be put to death. 3. You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath day.” The law of the fourth commandment itself simply states in Exodus 20:8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” But the ORDINANCES contained in the fourth command are many. Exodus 35:2,3 only gives 2 ordinances and one judgment for not obeying the ORDINANCES contained in the FOURTH commandment. Here are some of the other ordinances contained in the fourth commandment. ORDINANCE #1 contained in the FOURTH commandment. There are six DAYS to do work in. ORDINANCE #2 contained in the FOURTH commandment. The seventh DAY is an holy day. . ORDINANCE #3 contained in the FOURTH commandment. The Sabbath is a rest TO Yahweh. ORDINANCE #4 contained in the FOURTH commandment. You shall kindle no fire on the seventh DAY. Now there are SHADOWS in the ORDINANCES contained in the FOURTH commandment that point to our REST in Jesus, the New PERPETUAL Covenant, and the future 1000 year long SEVENTH day Sabbath OF Yahweh. But there are more ORDINANCES contained in the fourth commandment. Please read Numbers 15:32-36 where Moses and the children of Israel learn for the first time that anyone who disobeys any ORDINANCE of the fourth commandment must be put to DEATH and that THEY are the ones who must put to death those who break the fourth commandment. Please read Numbers 15:32-36. “And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. 33. And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. 34. And they put him in ward, because it was NOT declared what should be done to him. 35. And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. 36. And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the LORD commanded Moses.” Now, if you are just simply reading the LETTER of the law contained in ORDINANCES of the FOURTH commandment, then you will not see the SPIRIT of the law which is to OBSERVE or the DISCERN the MEANING of the SHADOWS hidden in the “ordinances contained” in the fourth commandment. The GATHERING of STICKS symbolically represents Yahweh gathering TWO sticks prophesied in the Old Testament in Ezekiel chapter 37 to be GATHERED by the Messiah, the Son of MAN, Jesus Christ. The MAN that was put to DEATH for gathering the sticks symbolically represents the Jews and the Gentiles being gathered by Yahweh to be ONE people in His HOLINESS in or by His Son Jesus Christ. Also, the deeper meaning is that the Jews had the Roman Gentile soldiers crucify or put to DEATH the MAN who was prophesied to GATHER the STICKS. So then, the SHADOW written in the ordinances instructing that the MAN gathering sticks on the seventh DAY is to be put to DEATH can mean one of two things or even BOTH things. It could mean that all people who WORK by keeping the Old Testament law on the Lord’s Sabbath DAY, speaking of the seventh 1000 year long Sabbath day of Yahweh's rest, shall be put to death for doing the work of the LETTER of the law. Or it could be prophetically speaking of the specific MAN, the Son of MAN, Jesus who was put to DEATH by the congregation of the children of Israel crying out to the Gentile Julius Caesar to CRUCIFY him. For you see, Jesus is the MAN that was put to death for GATHERING the TWO sticks, the Jews and the Gentiles who BELIEVE in Jesus to be ONE stick, the new creation created by God in the MAN, Jesus Christ. The point that I am making is that being put to DEATH for simply picking up sticks was a HARSH punishment. So to me, there is something significant about NOT RESTING on the seventh DAY of the week SHADOWING those NOT RESTING in Jesus for righteousness to be saved, being put to DEATH. There are many types or figures of Jesus in the Old Testament like Joseph, and I believe that the Son of MAN in the Book of Ezekiel is also a figure PICTURING Jesus. And Ezekiel 37:15- is a prophecy of the Son of MAN gathering TWO STICKS together to make them ONE stick and that task will be completed on or during the TRUE seventh day which is Yahweh’s Sabbath rest while Jesus rules for Yahweh as the Lord of the SABBATH. Then there is another ordinance contained in the fourth commandment on how far to WALK on the seventh DAY and then CEASE from walking to REST and walk no further on the Seventh DAY. And to me, this is a shadow teaching the children of Israel to walk in the Old Covenant so far and then CEASE from walking in the Old Covenant to REST in the New PERPETUAL Covenant that was established when the MAN Jesus was put to death on the cross by a congregation of the children of Israel crying out to have their Messiah crucified. Please read Acts 2:36-42. “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God has made that same Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ. 37. Now when they (The unsaved congregation of the children of Israel) heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 38. Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. 40. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. 41. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. 42. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Now, the Seventh Day Adventist Church argues that the keeping of the weekly Sabbath DAY on the SEVENTH day of the WEEK is still binding on Christians and it must be kept lest a Christian sins. The SDA Church argues that the fourth commandment is NOT a commandment contained in ORDINANCES and that ONLY the Law of Moses has commandments contained in ordinances. And they argue that if any Christian breaks any of the MORAL commandments in the TEN Commandments then they would be sinning so WHY is not keeping the weekly Sabbath day NOT a sin? And it would be as sin if the fourth commandment contained no ordinances that Jesus abolished and nailed to the cross in order to CHANGE the WAY in which we NOW keep the TRUE SPIRITUAL MEANING of the weekly Sabbath commandment as keeping the SPIRIT of the law and NOT the LETTER of the law. The law was added UNTIL Christ came to be made the Lord of the SABBATH. And as you have just seen, there are no less than seven ORDINANCES and one judgment of DEATH contained in the fourth commandment. And they are all SHADOWS pointing to Jesus, the New PERPETUAL COVENANT, and the TRUE seventh 1000 year long Sabbath DAY OF Yahweh’s rest in the world to come. Here are no less than seven ORDINANCES contained in the law of commandment number four, the FOURTH commandment, CONTAINED in ORDINANCES that Jesus abolished at the cross. Remember that Jesus did not ABOLISH ANY of the TEN Commandments themselves or ANY of the feast DAY commandments themselves, but rather, Jesus abolished the ORDINANCES contained in ALL of the CEREMONIAL commandments UNTO the Lord, including the ordinances contained in the FOURTH commandment. ORDINANCE #1 contained in the FOURTH commandment. There are six DAYS to do work in. ORDINANCE #2 contained in the FOURTH commandment. The seventh DAY is an holy day. . ORDINANCE #3 contained in the FOURTH commandment. The Sabbath is a rest TO Yahweh. ORDINANCE #4 contained in the FOURTH commandment. You shall kindle no fire on the seventh DAY. ORDINANCE #5 contained in the FOURTH commandment. No gathering of STICKS. ORDINANCE #6 contained in the FOURTH commandment. Put to DEATH those who break any of the ordinances of the fourth commandment. ORDINANCE #7 contained in the FOURTH commandment. Walk so far and then REST to walk no further on the seventh DAY. Can you not see that Christians ARE keeping the TRUE meaning of WHY the ceremonial commandments of service UNTO Yahweh were given to the children of Israel FOR in the first place? I can, and so can almost all other Christians. We KNOW that it is NOT a sin to NOT keep the weekly Sabbath DAY because Christians ARE keeping the “SPIRIT” of the Law of God’s Sabbath REST by our FAITH in Jesus as our TRUE Sabbath rest. The “spirit” of the law is the spiritual significance for why the law was given in the first place. And the “letter” of the law is the ORDINANCES teaching the children of Israel HOW to keep each individual commandment under the Old Covenant. Think of an ordinance as being an INSTRUCTION on what to do and HOW to do it in order to be keeping a law of a commandment. In other words, there are INSTRUCTIONS in the Old Testament even before the Law of Moses was given on how to keep a commandment of God called circumcision. And ALL of mankind “inherited” a CONSCIENCE because of Adam and Eve eating from the tree of KNOWLEDGE of good and evil. But there were no ceremonial laws until the Law of God was ADDED because of TRANSGRESSION of God’s MORAL law written in the God given CONSCIENCE that man “inherited” when Adam sinned. Now, the Law of God is also called the Law of Moses even though it may SEEM as if they are different to some Christians. But, in truth, they are NOT different, the law of God is one and the same thing as the Law of Moses. However, the “LETTER” of the law and the “SPIRIT” of the law are DIFFERENT. For you see, the “LETTER” of the law spoken of in the New Testament means that the children had to obey the law of commandments ACCORDING to the handwriting of the ORDINANCES written by the hand of Moses. And thus, there is a difference between the “letter” of the law and the “spirit” of the law. It is the SAME law but the ORDINANCES of the SAME law have CHANGED. Let me explain what I mean by this. Let us use the example of Abraham being given a COMMANDMENT by God to be circumcised as a TOKEN or as a SIGN of being in a COVENANT with Almighty God. In other words, no circumcision means you have no covenant with God. Now the ORDINANCES of the law of CIRCUMCISION are the INSTRUCTIONS on HOW to obey the law of commandment to be “circumcised”. Just because the word commandment is not used, we all know and understand that God was not SUGGESTING for Abraham to circumcise himself and his seed. In other words, God “commanded” Abraham to be circumcised in the flesh as a sign of being in a COVENANT with God. Please read Genesis 17:9-14. “And God said unto Abraham, You shall keep my covenant, therefore, you, and your seed after you in their generations. 10. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your seed after you; (And here is the commandment contained in ordinances or in INSTRUCTIONS on what to DO and HOW to do it to ENTER into a COVENANT with God) Every man child among you shall be circumcised. (So being “circumcised” is the “commandment” itself. And the ORDINANCES are written in the following verses of Scripture) 11. And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token (Or a SIGN) of the covenant between me and you. 12. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of your seed. (Or two more ordinances on how to be circumcised under the Old Covenant) 13. He that is born in your house, and he that is bought with your money, must need to be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in YOUR flesh (Abraham) for an everlasting covenant. (For you see, Abraham obeyed God to circumcise his own flesh of his foreskin. God made Abraham a PROMISE that he would always be in covenant with God. This is a SHADOW pointing to Jesus who CUT away the sins in our flesh to circumcise the HEARTS of those who BELIEVE so that we can be in COVENANT with Almighty God, Yahweh’s NEW COVENANT. And Jesus circumcised his own flesh by suffering temptation and NOT sinning during the days of his FLESH to establish the PERPETUAL COVENANT by shedding his OWN BLOOD on the cross. So the cutting of the flesh symbolically represents the cutting away of sins) 14. And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is NOT circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” So then, the circumcision ITSELF is the COMMANDMENT itself and the ORDINANCES are the INSTRUCTIONS on HOW to be circumcised under the Old Covenant. And in the Old Testament times the ordinances of the law of commandment of the FIRST circumcision was the cutting away of the foreskin in the FLESH made with hands. Now the law of commandment to be circumcised which I will call the law of commandment of circumcision continued for the next 430 years and God told Moses on Mount Horeb to write DOWN the commandment AND the ORDINANCES contained in the law of circumcision in a book that became to be called the Book of the Law, the Law of God, and the Law of Moses. There is only ONE law and that is the law of Yahweh who COMMANDED Moses what to give to the children of Israel. You can NOT separate the Law of God from the Law of Moses, but you can discern the difference between the commandment and the ORDINANCE contained in each CEREMONIAL commandment, including the FOURTH commandment. For you see, there are no ORDINANCES in the SIX MORAL commandments in the TEN Commandments. Again, all the feast days are ceremonial commandments and so are the weekly Sabbaths a ceremonial service UNTO Yahweh. This is why Yahweh says My Sabbaths. ALL of the Sabbaths are SHADOWS that point to RESTING in Jesus. The feast of the Passover lamb is a SHADOW pointing to Jesus as the TRUE Passover Lamb and by our FAITH in Jesus as our Passover Lamb that God provided for us. And thus, we ARE keeping the NEW ORDINANCE on HOW to keep the feast of Passover under the New Covenant which is by our FAITH in Jesus as our TRUE Passover Lamb. And thus, we are NOT obligated to keep the ORDINANCES written in the Old Testament under the Old Covenant where a DAY had to be kept. In fact, it is DISHONORING God and His Son by KEEPING what Jesus ABOLISHED on the cross. Now, under the New Covenant written in the New Testament, we can clearly see that the LAW of commandment of circumcision ITSELF is still BINDING. But the ORDINANCES under the Old Covenant have been ABOLISHED and NAILED to the cross. In other words, all the INSTRUCTIONS in the Old Testament on what to DO and HOW to do it in order to keep the law of circumcision have been abolished and nailed to the cross so that they could be CHANGED to NEW ordinances or NEW instructions on how to KEEP the commandments of God. In other words, the Old Testament ordinances have been CHANGED to the NEW ordinances, under the NEW Covenant written in the New Testament. And the NEW ordinance or instruction on HOW to keep the LAW of circumcision under the New Covenant is our FAITH in Jesus as BEING our circumcision NOT made with hands. Please read Colossians 2:11. “In whom (Or by FAITH you are in Jesus Christ and in whom) also you ARE CIRCUMCISED with the circumcision made WITHOUT hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh BY the circumcision of Christ:” Now, since we ARE keeping the LAW of circumcision by our FAITH in Jesus as BEING our circumcision, then we are not OBLIGATED by Almighty God to keep the Old Testament ORDINANCES or the INSTRUCTIONS on HOW to keep the law of commandment of circumcision under the Old Covenant written in the Old Testament that were abolished and nailed to the cross. In other words, our FAITH in Jesus is the TOKEN or the SIGN that we are in a covenant with God being under the New PERPETUAL Covenant which is a BETTER covenant, according to Hebrews 8:6-13. So then, the law of the commandments itself was not abolished, but the ORDINANCES or the instructions on HOW TO keep the law of commandments under the Old Covenant written in the Old Testament were indeed abolished and nailed to the cross. And again, to KEEP what Jesus ABOLISHED on the cross is actually DISHONORING God and His Son Jesus, and thus, it is DISPLEASING to God. With that being said, the FOURTH commandment ITSELF was NOT abolished, but rather, the ORDINANCES in the fourth commandment were abolished and nailed to the cross. For you see, the ordinances are SHADOWS pointing to the TRUE. To say this another way, the actual COMMANDMENT itself to REST is still in force. However, the ORDINANCES or the instructions of WHEN to rest, HOW to rest, how long to rest, what day to rest, and where to rest were all ABOLISHED on the cross. The ordinances of the fourth commandment were SHADOWS pointing to Jesus and the New PERPETUAL COVENANT. And under the New covenant the ordinances have CHANGED from resting on the seventh DAY as being the SIGN of the Old Covenant to RESTING in Jesus as being the SIGN of the NEW Covenant. In other words, the SHADOW of RESTING on the SEVENTH DAY points to the TRUE meaning of WHY the fourth commandment was given in the first place. To say this another way, the REST on the seventh DAY of the WEEK points to the TRUE REST on the TRUE SEVENTH 1000 year long DAY Yahweh's REST in the world to come. And the ONLY way to enter that TRUE REST that REMAINS on ANOTHER DAY for the people of God is to ENTER into REST in Jesus for righteousness. That is the true sound Biblical meaning of Hebrews 4:1-11. Please read the study called Dd-45. WHAT does HEBREW 4:1-11 TRULY MEAN? Plain and simple, the WAY that the fourth commandment was kept under the Old Covenant by resting on the seventh DAY has been abolished and CHANGED. And the new WAY that we KEEP the fourth commandment under the New Covenant is by our FAITH in Jesus for HOLINESS. In other words, by our RESTING in Jesus for Holiness, we ARE keeping the fourth commandment. And thus, we are NOT obligated to keep the “letter” of the law contained in the OLD ordinances written in the Old Testament under the Old Covenant in the fourth commandment. Plain and simple, we are not obligated to keep the Sabbath DAY or any other DAY as a DAY of rest. So it is NOT a SIN for Christians who do not keep the seventh DAY or the FIRST day to rest. Paul teaches us in Romans 14 that we are not to esteem ANY DAY above any other DAY and to esteem EVERY day the same. So then, by our remaining in Jesus to endure unto the END by CEASING from the works of the law contained in ORDINANCES, then we ARE also keeping the THIRD commandment as well to NOT take the Lord’s NAME in VAIN or for no profit. Please read the study called Dd-19. What does the LORD'S NAME in VAIN mean? But for now, please read Exodus 20:7. Exodus 20:7. “You shall NOT take the (Aleph Tav Messiah Jesus) NAME of the LORD your God in VAIN; for the LORD will NOT hold him guiltless that takes his NAME in VAIN.” In other words, those who take the Lord’s NAME in VAIN will be held ACCOUNTABLE. Now, in most Bibles you would not know about the Aleph and the Tav because these two Hebrew letters are NOT translated. The Aleph and the Tav are the FIRST and the LAST letters of the Hebrew alphabet and Jesus said that he is the FIRST and the LAST. Jesus also said, “The Scriptures testify of me.” So the untranslated Aleph and Tav are hidden pointers to Messiah Jesus. And the untranslated Aleph and Tav SHADOW is found everywhere in connection with the FOURTH commandment of the weekly Sabbath DAY. Some concordances and some study Bibles have the Strong’s numbers by each word. Here is an example on E-Sword that you can download on your computer for free. I highly suggest you do so if you have not already downloaded it. It is a great Bible study tool. Exo 20:7 Thou shalt not H3808 take H5375 (H853) the name H8034 of the LORD H3068 thy God H430 in vain; H7723 for H3588 the LORD H3068 will not H3808 hold him guiltless H5352 (H853) thatH834 taketh H5375 (H853) his name H8034 in vain. H7723 In other words, you shall NOT take or receive Aleph Tav NAME of Yahweh your God in VAIN. Now translate the untranslated Aleph and Tav as H853 Aleph Tav Messiah Jesus and read this verse again. Here is Exodus 20:7 translated with (H853 Aleph Tav Messiah Jesus) “You shall NOT take (Or you shall NOT receive) the (H853 Aleph Tav Messiah Jesus) NAME of the LORD (Or Yahweh) your God in VAIN; (Or to not profit you) for the LORD will not hold him (Speaking of Yahweh holding the believer in (H853 Aleph Tav Messiah Jesus) guiltless that takes his (H853 Aleph Tav Messiah Jesus) NAME in VAIN.” The untranslated Aleph and Tav is found three times in this one verse of Scripture that is the THIRD commandment in the TEN Commandments. The word “VAIN” symbolically means that if any Christian receives the TRUTH to believe that the NAME of Jesus is the ONLY NAME given among men whereby we MUST believe and they take Jesus to be their Lord and Savior but they do NOT ENDURE unto the END then their faith in Jesus would in VAIN, as in, their faith in Jesus did not profit them to receive eternal life in the world to come. So the TRUE gospel is centered on our FAITH in Jesus for HOLINESS and for RIGHTEOUSNESS. And you can NOT be more holy or more righteous than what God Himself MADE us by FAITH in His Son Jesus Christ. This is why Paul WARNS Christians in Ephesians 2:8,9 that we are NOT saved by WORKS. And the “WORKS” that Paul is referring to that do NOT save us are the WORKS of the law of commandments CONTAINED in ORDINANCES that is the ENMITY that Jesus abolished and nailed to the cross, according to the CONTEXT in Ephesians 2:15. So then, any Christian who KEEPS any law of commandment contained in ordinances are being DISOBEDIENT to the gospel of TRUTH. And the keeping of DAYS, as in, ANY DAYS whether they are a holy DAY like the weekly Sabbath day, according to Exodus 34:2. Or whether they are the Sabbath DAYS like the weekly Sabbath days are Sabbath DAYS. No matter if it is a holy day or a Sabbath day, they are the WORKS of the law of commandments contained in ORDINANCES that Jesus nailed to the cross. So then, rather than PLEASING God by doing the WORKS of the law of commandments contained in ORDINANCES, Christians who keep the Sabbath DAYS, a holy DAY, or the dietary laws in the Old Testament as being OBLIGATORY lest they sin, then they are actually DISPLEASING God by NOT honoring what Jesus did on the cross to abolish and nail those ORDINANCES to the cross. You see, all Sabbath-keeping Christians only use PART of the Scriptures by taking verses of Scripture out of context and then twisting the New Testament Scriptures to agree with their OWN private interpretation of the Old Testament Scriptures. Now let us read some verses where the Apostle Paul WARNS Christians that THEIR faith in Jesus is in VAIN because they are observing DAYS. And is not the observing of the weekly Sabbaths on the seventh DAY the observing of DAYS? YES, all seventh DAY of the week Sabbath-keeping Christians observe DAYS! Also, keep in mind that the weekly Sabbath is A HOLY DAY as well, according to Exodus 35:2. Let us go ahead and read Exodus 35:2. “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever does work therein shall be put to death.” Now what did Paul say in Colossians 2:16 that were NAILED to the cross and taken out of the way? Let us read this verse as well and notice that BOTH a holy DAY and the Sabbath DAYS were nailed to the cross. So then, you cannot argue that BOTH a holy day and the Sabbath DAY are NOT the weekly Sabbath DAYS. Clearly, the weekly Sabbath day is a Holy DAY and the weekly Sabbath DAY are Sabbath DAYS. Now the SDA Church argues that the Sabbath DAYS are referring to the FEAST days. So then, what is a Holy DAY? Is not the weekly Sabbath called a Holy DAY? You see, it makes no sense for the Apostle Paul to list the feast days TWICE as being a Holy DAY AND as being Sabbath DAYS. Please read the in-DEPTH study called Dd-3. What COLOSSIANS 2:14-17 TRULY MEAN? But for now, here is Colossians 2:16 and a short explanation to its true meaning. Colossians 2:16. “Let no man, therefore, JUDGE you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy DAY, or of the new moon, OR of the Sabbath DAYS:” So BOTH a HOLY DAY AND the Sabbath DAYS were nailed to the cross. So no matter how one INTERPRETS the words of Paul to mean to THEM, the weekly Sabbath DAYS are DAYS that are called SABBATHS AND an HOLY DAY. And the feast days are also called a holy DAY. And some of the feast days are also specifically called Sabbaths as well. So then, is the weekly Sabbath A HOLY DAY? YES! According to Exodus 35:2, the weekly Sabbath DAY is a Holy DAY. Is the fourth commandment NOT about keeping the SEVENTH day Holy as a Sabbath or as a DAY of REST? YES! So then, the weekly Sabbath DAY to rest on the seventh day are Sabbath DAYS. The weekly Sabbaths are DAYS that were commanded to be observed according to the WAY they were instructed in the ORDINANCES under the Old Covenant that is no longer accepted by God. So then, the ORDINANCES contained in the FOURTH commandment are no longer BINDING on Christians because we ARE keeping the TRUE meaning of the SHADOW of the ORDINANCES contained in the FOURTH commandment to REST in Jesus for righteousness. In other words, under the New Covenant we do not keep any DAY as a day of REST, but rather, we rest in Jesus as our TRUE Sabbath REST. Please read the study called Dd-13. Is JESUS OUR TRUE SABBATH REST? But for now, the Apostle Paul WARNS those Christians who keep DAYS that their FAITH in Jesus is in VAIN. Please read the following verses of Scripture. 1 Corinthians 15:1,2. “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached (And NOT the perverted gospel that the SDA Church preaches, but rather, DECLARE the TRUE gospel that the Apostle Paul preaches) unto you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand; 2. By which also you are saved, if you keep in memory WHAT I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain.” Will Christians who believe a false perverted gospel be SAVED? Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling is what the Apostle Paul said to the Judaizing Christians. 2 Corinthians 6:1. “We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that you receive not the GRACE of God in VAIN.” Were you SAVED by the hearing of the law? Are you saved by you keeping the law? Or were you initially saved by GRACE through FAITH to RECEIVE the forgiveness of all your past sins is a GIFT from God? We are God’s workmanship by His GRACE to save us His WAY so that we will do GOOD works of walking in LOVE toward our fellow man. And by walking in love, we FULFILL ALL the law that God REQUIRES of us. Please read Galatians 2:2. “And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them (Speaking of the sect of Jewish Christians who were subverting and compelling the Gentile Christians to be circumcised AND to keep the Law of Moses. In other words, God revealed to Paul that it was time to preach to THEM) that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.” In other words, if Paul were to preach the TRUE gospel to a whole congregation of MIXED Christians having both the Gentile believers and those of REPUTATION, then he would have been wasting his time preaching to the Gentiles because of the CONTENTION from the Jewish Christians disputing with him. So Paul preached to the Jewish Christians privately. And this proves that the TRUE gospel Paul preached to the Gentile that was indeed in opposition to or AGAINST what the Jewish Christians THOUGHT the gospel of salvation should be according to them. But by the end of the day the WHOLE church came into agreement that the gospel Paul preached to the Gentiles is the TRUTH. And that truth is that from that day forward neither the Jewish Christians nor the Gentile Christians are to be compelled to keep ANY of the Law of Moses. For you see, all of the MORAL laws in the Law of Moses are REPEATED under the New Covenant written in the New Testament. So STAY in the New Testament to know what we MUST obey in order to receive eternal life in the world to come. Now, James said for the safety of the Gentile Christians preaching the gospel in Jewish dominated cities, we should tell the Gentile Christians to abstain from eating meat sacrificed to idols because many Jews still preach Moses. And thus, the unsaved Jews would kill the Gentile Christians if they eat meat that is sacrificed to idols even though we are FREE to eat even the meat sacrificed to idols, according to 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 and 1 Corinthians 10:25-33. Let us continue reading the same CONTEXT in Galatians 2:21. Galatians 2:21. “I do not frustrate the GRACE of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in VAIN.”
So then, to those Christians who keep the law of commandments contained in ORDINANCES that Jesus nailed to the cross to take out of the way, the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross for them is in VAIN. They are FALLEN from GRACE. Again, the ceremonial commandments are services UNTO God and the SIX MORAL commandments are DUTIES toward our fellow man. We MUST obey the moral commandments in order to be found worthy to receive eternal life in the world to come. But we are NOT obligated to keep any of the ceremonial commandments UNTO Yahweh. There are only TWO commandments under the New Covenant written in the New Testament. The first and greatest commandment of all is to LOVE God. And if we truly LOVE God in spirit and in TRUTH we will LOVE Jesus and OBEY the commandments of Jesus written in the NEW Testament under the NEW COVENANT. The second commandment, and the only other commandment under the New Covenant written in the New Testament, is to LOVE one another even as we love ourselves. And by Christians obeying these TWO commandments, we ARE keeping ALL of the Law of God that Yahweh REQUIRES us to keep in order to receive the END of our salvation which is eternal life in the world to come. Galatians 3:4. “Have you suffered so many things in VAIN? If it is still in VAIN?” Paul is saying that all the persecution they suffered for converting to Christianity has been in VAIN! But that suffering will only remain in vain if they continue to NOT HEED Paul’s WARNING to repent from keeping the Law of Moses. Christians were being persecuted from without the church and from within the church. Paul was being persecuted by the unsaved Jews for teaching BECAUSE Paul taught AGAINST the Law of Moses to be circumcised in the flesh made with hands. But WHY did Paul teach against circumcision and the Law of Moses seeing that circumcision in the flesh is God’s LAW that Yahweh gave to Abraham 430 years before the Law of Moses? It is because the Law of Moses was ADDED only UNTIL Christ came. Also, Paul was also being persecuted by Jewish Christians for teaching the TRUTH that they THOUGHT was against the Law of God for the same reason of NOT understanding that the Law of Moses was added only UNTIL Christ came. The Jewish Christians were still LEARNING from Jesus through VISIONS. For you see, when Peter FIRST heard God say slay and eat all manners of meat he said, no Lord! I will never eat unclean meat! But after Peter LEARNED that God had cleansed all manner of meat, then he ate as the Gentiles ate. So Paul is saying to the Christians who had not yet learned to CEASE from doing the works of the law of commandments contained in ORDINANCES that their faith in Jesus is in VAIN. Then Paul quickly adds IF your faith is yet in VAIN which means that IF they repent to OBEY the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ under the New Covenant to CEASE from doing the WORKS of the law of commandments containing ORDINANCES, then their faith in Jesus would no longer be in vain and all the suffering they endured for their faith will not be in vain either. Let us move on to the next passage of Scripture. Please read Galatians 4:10-12. “You observe DAYS, and months, and times, and years. 11. I am afraid of you, (Or I am in fear FOR you) lest (Or for fear that) I have bestowed upon you labor in VAIN. 12. Brethren, I beseech you, BE AS I am; (Did the Apostle Paul observe DAYS? NO! According to Romans 14:5, Paul teaches us NOT to esteem ANY DAY above any other DAY. So Paul is saying for us to BE AS he is and NOT esteem ANY DAY of the week, month, or year as being above any other DAY of the week, month, or year. And Paul also said NOT to observe TIMES. The word “times” here means appointed times. And another ORDINANCE which I did not remember until now is the ORDINANCE of the TIME in which the weekly Sabbath is to be observed. The TIME for the Sabbath to begin is at sunset on Friday and the TIME that the Sabbath would end is at sundown on Saturday) for I am as you are: (Here, Paul is saying that he is a natural born Jew just like the BRETHREN he is speaking to about NOT keeping DAYS lest their faith in Jesus be in VAIN) you have not injured me at all.” And in the last sentence Paul is saying your persecuting me for preaching the TRUTH has not injured me at all. I am not moved from the TRUTH by all of your PERSUASION that does NOT come from Him that has called you to His GRACE. Now, all of you seventh DAY of the week Sabbath-keeping Christians can try to reason away this WARNING of the Apostle Paul so you can keep believing in the perverted gospel of the SDA Church and all the other seventh day of the week Sabbath DAY keeping Christians that the word “DAYS” in verse 10 is not the weekly Sabbath DAYS. But in TRUTH, Saturday is a DAY, so if you observe the weekly Sabbath DAYS on ANY DAY of the week, then you are observing DAYS. Colossians 2:6-8. “As you have, therefore, received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk you in him: (Being) 7. Rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as you have been taught, (Speaking of being taught the TRUE gospel that the Apostle Paul taught and NOT by any PERVERTED twisted gospel by your own church denomination) abounding therein with thanksgiving. 8. BEWARE lest ANY man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, (The word translated as “philosophy” means Jewish sophistry and sophistry means the use of fallacious arguments of persuasion that is not from God) after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, (The rudiments of the world are speaking of the ceremonial services TO God contained in ORDINANCES in the Jewish SYSTEM. The Greek word translated as world also means SYSTEM. So Paul is talking about the traditions of the Jewish SYSTEM) and NOT after Christ.” The CONTEXT of these verses is speaking about the Jesus traditions that they had been keeping all their life and these sayings of Paul are HARD to understand. I hear questions like, How can God give TEN Commandments and NOW we only have to keep NINE of the TEN Commandments? And like some of the Jewish Christians in Paul’s day some Sabbath-keeping Christians in our day still argue with the Apostle Paul. They argue that Paul has to be talking about man-made so-called “twisted” traditions and NOT the true tradition of the Jewish customs. And IF Paul is talking about the Jewish traditions, then he must be talking about the Scribes and the Pharisees that were not keeping the law correctly by their own traditions. But in truth, the Son of MAN, Jesus, born UNDER the law contained in ORDINANCES kept the TRADITION of the Jewish customs to keep the weekly Sabbath DAYS. But that is NOT the EXAMPLE we are to follow. We are to follow the steps of Jesus who did no SIN. Jesus kept BOTH the MORAL commandments AND the ceremonial commandment because he was UNDER the Law of Moses. That is what God called His Messiah to do to FULFILL the ceremonial law. Jesus kept the ORDINANCES of all of the CEREMONIAL laws of God UNTO his God and Father. to FULFILL THEM. AND Jesus also kept all the MORAL laws of God that have NO ordinances toward his fellow man to live a godly and righteous life. So Paul is warning us to BEWARE of ANY man who through their fallacious Jewish persuasion AFTER the Jewish TRADITIONS of KEEPING the Law of Moses to the LETTER of the law try to subvert you to keep what Jesus FULFILLED and thus abolished on the cross. Paul says that PERSUASION to keep the Law of Moses is not from God, according to Galatians chapter 5. 1 Timothy 1:3-7. “As I besought you to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that you might charge some that they teach no other doctrine, (In other words, SOME of the Jewish Christians were wrongly teaching ANOTHER gospel that Christians Must keep the Law of Moses contained in ordinances that Jesus nailed to the cross) 4. Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. 5. Now the END of the commandment is LOVE out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: (Jesus is the END of the law for righteousness and the END of the Old Testament commandments contained in ORDINANCES is LOVE, to love God and also LOVE one another. And thus, there is no other law that is binding on Christians, not even the keeping the weekly Sabbath DAYS) 6. From which some having swerved have turned aside unto VAIN jangling; 7. Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.” This describes the Hebrew Roots Movement to the “Tee” so to speak. It is like Paul knew that there would be the same kind of DOCTRINE of vain jangling that would arise in the last days where deceived Christians would desire to be teachers of the LAW. It is called VAIN jangling because those who become DECEIVED by it have fallen from GRACE and their faith in Jesus is in VAIN and it profits them nothing. Titus 1:10. “For there are many unruly and VAIN talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision:” 1 Timothy 4:1-6. “Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2. Speaking lies in hypocrisy; (The Greek word translated as “hypocrisy” means speaking what is NOT the TRUTH by using only PART of God’s word by taking verses of Scripture OUT of their CONTEXT) having their conscience seared with a hot iron; (And here is just a couple of the doctrines of devils that use PARTS of Scripture to PERSUADE weak Christians to believe and obey what those who have DEPARTED from the faith wrongly teach as doctrines of devils) 3. Forbidding to marry, (Sounds like the Roman Catholic doctrine not allowing the clergy to marry based only on PART of Paul’s SUGGESTING that it is better for the ministry that neither men or women marry and be single like him) and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. (And the TRUTH is that Christians are FREE to eat all manners of meat, EVEN meat that has been sacrificed to idols, according to 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 and 1 Corinthians 10:25-33) 4. For EVERY creature of God is good, and NOTHING to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: 5. For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. 6. If you put the brethren in remembrance of these things, you shall be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.”
Now, the SDA Christians as well as all other seventh day of the week Sabbath-keeping Christians are keeping the “LETTER” of the Law of God. They wrongly teach that Christians OUGHT to keep the dietary instruction in the Old Testament of the Bible. And they do it in such a way as to INTIMIDATE Christians that if they do not follow the dietary instructions in the Old Testament then they are not GOOD Christians. And the SDA Church also teaches their followers that Christians MUST keep the FOURTH commandment lest they SIN and they become DISPLEASING to God. However, the SDA Church teaches the TRUTH concerning NOT keeping any of the feast days. Please read the following quote from a Seven Day Adventist website.
Should we keep the Feast Days?
*1 Corinthians 5:7-8, "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
Truth is, we no longer need to sacrifice a Passover lamb according to this passage. This is actually common knowledge among most Christians of today. The exact same principle therefore applies to all the Jewish feasts as they are indeed fulfilled already, just as the sacrifice of the Passover lamb was fulfilled… ...The Jewish feast days were a shadow of things to come. They pointed forward in a prophetic manner as to what Christ would do when He came to this Earth for us. I ask, why should we embrace or seek to keep feast days that speak of things already done? My faith alone in the "Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world" [John 1:29] already proclaims that which the feast days looked forward to as fulfilled at Calvary. In fact, some of the feast days required the believer to offer sacrifice in the Jerusalem Temple did they not? How is that possible today? How was that possible in fact since 70ad when the Jerusalem Temple was completely destroyed by Rome? Scriptures openly declare these feast days "nailed to the cross" in the following passage… *Colossians 2:14, "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;"... ...Was it prophetically BLUNT? Daniel the Prophet declares the Feast Days as something that was to STOP the moment Christ died on the cross... *Daniel 9:27, "And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate."... ...Prophecy itself confirms the feast days CEASED at the time of the cross. In the "midst of the week" (3.5 yrs after Jesus was baptized) the Temple veil RIPPED completely in two. At the exact moment the "Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world" spoke from His very lips, "IT IS FINISHED"-John 19:30… ......We need to understand that orthodox Jews to this day still observe the feast days because they refuse to accept the sacrifice of the Messiah Jesus Christ in their behalf. When we echo their observance of these abolished ordinances today, we are doing the exact same thing as those Jews who are not moved by faith in Christ Jesus as Lord. In fact, some of the early Christians continued on with the feast days as well. How did Paul respond to this? *Galatians 4:9-11, "But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain."
Now, the SDA Church, as you have just seen, knows full well that all of the feast days AND the observing of DAYS under the Old Covenant written in the Old Testament have been abolished and nailed to the cross. And they openly admit that if any Christian KEEPS that which has already been FULFILLED in Jesus is NOT moved by FAITH IN Jesus, the same as the Jews who rejected Jesus as their Messiah. In other words, if any Christian KEEPS the feast of Passover then they are NOT having FAITH in Jesus AS their TRUE Passover Lamb. They are, in truth, REJECTING that Jesus FULFILLED the shadows of the feast of the Passover lamb. Thus, their faith is WEAK. They lack understanding of the TRUTH that the REASON for WHY the feast of Passover was given in the first place was to lead the children of Israel to Jesus as being the TRUE Passover Lamb. But the SDA Christians, as well as ALL of the seventh day of the week Sabbath-keeping Christians, fail to see that the law was a SCHOOLMASTER teaching in SHADOWS about Jesus. All Sabbath-keeping Christians fail to see that when FAITH IN Jesus came that the Jews who became Christians are NO LONGER under the obligation to keep the “ceremonial” Law of God CONTAINED in ORDINANCES.
Please read Galatians 3:21-29.
“Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for IF there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22. But the Scripture has CONCLUDED ALL under sin, THAT the promise BY FAITH of Jesus Christ might be given to them that BELIEVE. 23. But before faith came, we (Speaking of the Jewish Christians BEFORE the cross) were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster (Again, speaking of the children of Israel before the cross) to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. (In other words, AFTER a person BELIEVES in Jesus as their Lord and Savior then the LAW is no longer BINDING. And the law here is referring to the law of commandments CONTAINED in ORDINANCES and NOT the SIX MORAL commandments of God that are listed in the TEN Commandments) 26. For you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29. And if you are Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
So then, the question under discussion is whether or not the FOURTH commandment is a law of commandments CONTAINED in ORDINANCES spoken of in Ephesians 2:15 and Colossians 2:14-17?
Let us read Ephesians 2:15.
“Having ABOLISHED in his flesh the ENMITY, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;”
Well, we all agree that the FOURTH commandment is a Law of God and that it is indeed a commandment. But is the fourth commandment a law of the TEN Commandments that has ORDINANCES contained IN the fourth commandment? The answer is YES! We already read SEVEN ordinances and then God brought to my remembrance an eighth ordinance of walking so far on the Sabbath day and then walk no further. So YES, there are no less than EIGHT ORDINANCES contained in the FOURTH commandment. So to me, the SHADOW of the eighth ordinance to walk so far and then REST to walk no further is for the children of Israel to walk in the Law of Moses so far until faith in Jesus comes to them and then walk NO FURTHER in the Law of Moses by RESTING in Jesus for righteousness. We learned that the Sabbath is a HOLY DAY and that the Sabbath days are DAYS. So no matter how one INTERPRETS the words of Paul in Colossians 2:16 they must CONCEDE that either the weekly Sabbath is a HOLY DAY OR the weekly Sabbath is the Sabbath DAYS. So then, if you TRULY desire to know the TRUTH on the subject of the weekly Sabbath DAY and WHY it was given ONLY to the children of Israel for THEM to keep throughout THEIR generations as a SIGN for a PERPETUAL COVENANT, then please read the study called Dd-15. THE WEEKLY SABBATH REST is a SIGN! Also, please read all of the studies under the heading >>>Dd-0. What is the TRUE Sabbath?<<< In that heading you will find links to all the studies I have written concerning the weekly Sabbath DAY and why Christians are not obligated to keep ANY DAY of the week, month or year to be PLEASING to God. Please feel free to send a link to any of my studies to help others to know and understand the TRUE Gospel of Jesus Christ. Thanks for reading and may God bless you richly as you continue to read ALL the studies that I gave links to throughout this study concerning this subject on Sabbath TRUTH. My heartfelt prayer is that all Christians RETURN to the TRUE FOUNDATION of the church that is taught by the very Apostles of Jesus in the first century. So let us all come into the UNITY of the faith and return to what Jesus and his Apostles taught us in SIMPLICITY in the New Testament.
To learn more TRUTH, then please return to
If you have any questions, please feel free to write to me. My contact email is MarkatAMatterOfTruth@Gmail .com. Some Sabbath-keeping Christians CLAIM that the early church kept the Sabbath as the Jews, but I assure you that the early first-century church was accustomed to gathering together BEFORE the light of daybreak on the FIRST day of the week that THEY called the Lord's day. Please read all the studies linked within this study and all the studies linked below. This study was just the TIP of the iceberg of exposing the ERRORS of interpretation made by the Saturday seventh day of the week Sabbath-keeping churches, and the Sunday first day of the week Sabbath-keeping Christians. All of the studies listed under the subject heading >>>Dd-0. What is the TRUE Sabbath?<<< And also read Dd-20. Did The Early Church KEEP the Sabbath day to learn the truth of what the early church believed. Thanks again for reading and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the truth of the whole word of Almighty God.
Your Brother in our Lord Jesus Christ, Brother Mark.
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