In Revelation 2:9 the Lord says, "I know your tribulation and poverty (but you are rich) and the slander from those who call themselves Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan." One of the sufferings of the church in Smyrna is the slander from those who call themselves Jews. Who are these ones who call themselves Jews? According to Romans 2:28-29 and John 8:39-47, all those who believe in the Lord Jesus sincerely from their heart are the true Jews. Those who call themselves Jews are, of course, not the true Jews. They are those who are Jews in the flesh only. The Judaizers are those who have come into the church but have not genuinely believed in the Lord and His salvation. Instead, they try to introduce Judaism into the church. They have been blaspheming the Lord since the day He was on earth. After the church was produced, they continued to slander the apostles. Their slander was actually a reviling of the word of the gospel (Acts 13:45; 18:6; 19:9; 28:22; Rom. 3:8). We will call these ones the Judaizers. They are not ordinary Jews. They creep into the church with the intention of mixing Judaic thoughts with the truth.
In Revelation the Lord shows that the first group of people who frustrated the church were the Judaizers in Smyrna. By then it had become a "synagogue of Satan." The Judaizers were organized and utilized by Satan to damage the church. When we come to the church in Philadelphia in Revelation 3:9, we find these ones continuing to disrupt the church. From church history we see that Christianity has been very much frustrated by Judaism. Once Christianity lets down its guard, Judaism creeps into the church. The Old Testament priesthood was transformed into the pastoral system of the congregations. The law became the standard of one's conduct. The festivals became ritualistic days which men had to keep. This mixture of Judaism began from the time of the church in Smyrna and was not checked until the time of the church in Philadelphia. The work of the Judaizers during that period appeared mainly in the form of the practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Thank the Lord that in the nineteenth century a group of people was raised up. They overcame Judaism. These ones belonged to the church in Philadelphia. But today there are still works of the Judaizers in the church. These people preach some very serious heresies. We have to pay close attention to them. We want to consider the three great errors of the Judaizers under three headings. The first concerns their heretical stand with regards to the law. The second concerns their attitude towards the Lord's redemption. The third concerns their attitude towards life after death and the future judgment. We have to spend some time to study the teaching of the Judaizers so that new ones can identify their errors and deal with them when they encounter them.
First, let us consider the Judaizers' heresy regarding the law. They base their heresy on the Old Testament law which is of two kinds, ceremonial and moral. The Lord came to annul the ceremonial ordinances. This means that He annulled the ceremonial law, but He kept the moral law. The Judaizers say that we should keep the Ten Commandments. Since the fourth commandment is the keeping of the Sabbath, they say we should keep the Sabbath as well. They say that the Sabbath should be kept on Saturday, not Sunday. Let us see if this teaching is Scriptural. We are not here to argue but to examine if a teaching is heretical. If it is, we have to be careful. In order to study the Judaizers' heresy regarding the law, we have to know the Scripture's teaching regarding the law.
First, we have to realize that God did not give the law to the Gentiles; He only gave it to the nation of Israel. Psalm 147:19-20 says, "He declares His word to Jacob,/His statutes and His ordinances to Israel./He has not dealt so with any other nation;/And as for His ordinances, they have not known them." This shows clearly that God only gave His statutes and ordinances to the Israelites. Concerning the Gentiles, Romans 2:14 in the New Testament says that the "Gentiles, who have no law, do by nature the things of the law, these, though they have no law, are a law to themselves." Here we find the phrase Gentiles, who have no law. This proves that the Gentiles are not under the law of God. This is the clear teaching of the Bible. When a Gentile is saved, does he have to keep the law? Acts 15:29 says, "To abstain from things that have been sacrificed to idols and blood and things strangled and fornication, from which if you carefully keep yourselves, you will do well." After Paul preached the gospel, many Gentiles were saved. Some Jews from Judea said that the Gentile believers should be circumcised and should keep the law of Moses. Later the apostles and elders in Jerusalem made the decision not to ask these Gentile believers to keep the law. They only had to abstain from four things. Before the Gentiles were saved, they had "no law." After they were saved, the Bible does not ask them to keep the law. They were only asked to abstain from things that had been sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from fornication. God has not given the law to the Gentiles. This is true both in the case of saved ones as well as unsaved ones.
When the Bible speaks of the law, it says that God gave the law to the Jews. The Jews are born under the law. To them, the heaven and the earth may pass away, but one iota or serif shall by no means pass away from the law. In Matthew 5:18 the Lord says that one iota or one serif shall by no means pass away from the law until all come to pass. The Lord has no intention to annul the law among the Jews. His intention is to put the Jews under the law. He says that the law must be fulfilled. The fulfillment in this case is a kind of complement. Originally, the law said that one should not kill. Now not killing is not enough; one must not even hate. This is a kind of complement, and this is the way the law is to be fulfilled.
Since the law is given to the Jews, what should the Jews who have believed in the Lord do? What is their relationship to the law? After a Jew is saved, he becomes a member of the church and is no longer a Jew. Romans 7:1-4 says that a Jew believing in the Lord is like a woman marrying a man. The woman in this case already had a husband — the law. In order for her to marry another man, her first husband must die. This is the only way. But Matthew says that not one iota or serif of the law can pass away. This husband — the law — will never die. What shall we do? This is the reason Romans 7:4 clearly shows us that the law controls a man only as long as he lives. Although the law, which is the husband, will not die, God caused Christ to die so that we, the woman, can die with Christ in Him. In this way we are freed from the law through death. We are freed from the first husband through dying with Christ. Then we are resurrected together with Christ and married to Christ the second husband. This death must be a real death. Only then will we not be an adulterer when we are given to Christ in resurrection. Within the Lord's death, God included our death. What an assurance this is! Our resurrection is included within the Lord's resurrection as well. How sure is this resurrection! To one who was under the law, it is a miracle to be able to receive a new life in resurrection through dying with the Lord. "For sin will not lord it over you, for you are not under the law but under grace" (6:14). This is so because the Lord has died. Since we have died to the binding law, we are now discharged from the law (7:6). By believing in the Lord and through participating in His death and resurrection, we are freed from the law. This is what happens to a Jew when he believes in the Lord. We must be clear about Romans 7 before we can deal with the question of the law. The law cannot be annulled. But we have died and have been liberated from the law. The Christian position is one that declares that we are dead. We stand on the position of death. We have been crucified with Christ. Today the law has nothing to do with us any longer. The law can only deal with the old man; it can do nothing to the new man that has passed through death and resurrection.
Some new believers may ask, "Since the law is a bondage to man, why did God give this law to man in the first place?" First, we have to realize that the law is not God's original thought; it was added later. It was instituted to meet certain needs, to deal with certain conditions. Galatians 3 expounds the function of the law in a very clear way. Verse 17 says, "A covenant previously ratified by God, the law, having come four hundred and thirty years after, does not annul so as to make the promise of none effect." Verse 19 says, "Why then the law? It was added because of the transgressions until the seed should come to whom the promise was made." Verse 21 says, "Is then the law against the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given which was able to give life, righteousness would have indeed been of law." Verse 25 says, "But since faith has come, we are no longer under a child-conductor." These verses tell us the reason God gave the law in the Old Testament.
According to Galatians, four hundred and thirty years before God gave the law, He promised Abraham that he would be justified by faith and that through him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Abraham is the father of faith. This means that his descendants are saved through faith. God's promise is His grace. The gospel was not yet announced, but there already was the promise. Justification by faith is something that God promised at the beginning. This shows that the law is not in God's original thought; grace is in God's original thought. In order for man to receive grace, however, he must realize his need. In order for man to receive salvation, he must first commit transgressions. If a man does not have a need, he will not receive grace. If a man has never transgressed, he will not want to be saved. In God's eyes, man is altogether a sinner, but man does not know that he is a sinner. This is the reason he does not come to God to receive grace. He has to commit some sins before he knows that he is a sinner and before he will come to God for grace. A man knows his sin through the law. When the law comes, transgression follows. Paul showed us that before he saw God's law about not coveting, he did not know covetousness. He was covetous, but he did not know that it was a sin. When God's law said, "You shall not covet," he knew that covetousness was a sin (Rom. 7:7-8). God says, "You shall not covet." If a man covets, he has transgressed against the law and sinned. This shows that the function of the law is to expose man's sin. Moses forbade the Israelites from worshipping any images. Before this time, the Israelites could have worshipped a thousand images and would not have known that it was sin. When Moses came down from the mountain with the tablets of stone, however, they realized it was sin to worship the calf.
Four hundred and thirty years before God gave the law, He preached the gospel to Abraham. His covenant with Abraham was that he would be justified by faith. Once God established this covenant, a law instituted four hundred and thirty years later could not annul it. Galatians 3:15 says, "Brothers, I speak according to man, though it is a man's covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one nullifies it or makes additions to it." Once a covenant is established, it is impossible to add any more conditions to it or to delete anything from it. Some may ask: "Since God had established a covenant with Abraham, why did He give man the law four hundred and thirty years later? What was the purpose behind God's giving of the law?" In verse 19 Paul speaks of the function of the law: "It was added because of the transgressions." The law was added because of the transgressions. Once the law was added, there was transgression. Romans 4:15 says, "Where there is no law, neither is there transgression," and 5:20 says, "And the law entered in alongside that the offense might abound." From Adam to Moses, sin was in the world, but man did not know about his sins because the law was not made manifest. Man's sins were manifested as transgressions only after the law was instituted. Man was sinful, but he was unable to receive God's grace because he did not know his condition. God gave the law so that man would fall into transgressions and know his true condition, thus humbling himself to accept grace. God gave the law so that His covenant would become effective, so that man would know that he is a sinner, and so that he would come to God to receive grace.
The law lies in waiting for the Lord Jesus to come. Matthew 11:13 says, "For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John." The function of the law is to fulfill the promise. God's goal is grace, while the law is merely the means. Man must go through the law before he can be ushered into grace. Does this mean that the law was against God's grace? Of course not. Paul said, "But before faith came we were guarded under law, being shut up unto the faith which was to be revealed. So then the law has become our child-conductor unto Christ" (Gal. 3:23-24). The law is God's servant; it leads us to Christ. Since we have touched Christ, we are no longer under the child-conductor. This means that we are no longer under the law. In the final analysis, God has not put us under the law. We are brought to Christ through the law, and from that point onward, we no longer follow the law. The law does not frustrate us. Before man is brought to Christ, the more he keeps the law the less he can go on. In the end he has to come to Christ. In this way the law fulfills grace. This is the function of the law.
Some ask, "It is true that we are saved by Christ and not by the law. But after we are saved, should we not keep the law?" We have to study Galatians because it deals exclusively with this question. Before many people believed in the Lord, they mistakenly thought that they could be justified by the law. After they believe in the Lord, they still think that they should keep the law. Paul said that it is useless for a man to keep the law before he is justified. After he is justified, it is equally useless for him to keep the law. Paul wanted to show the Galatians that they were still unable to keep what they once could not keep. Let us see how Paul dealt with those who insisted that believers should keep the law. Some told the Galatians that they should keep the law after they were saved. In 1:6 Paul said, "I marvel that you are so quickly removing from Him who has called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel." Verse 7 continues, "Which is not another gospel, only there are some who trouble you and desire to pervert the gospel of Christ." These ones made the gospel of Christ no longer a gospel. In verse 8 Paul spoke a strong word: "If even we or an angel out of heaven should announce to you a gospel beyond that which we have announced to you, let him be accursed." Then verse 9 says, "If anyone announces to you a gospel beyond that which you have received, let him be accursed." Paul said that those who were distracting the Galatians should be accursed. In 2:18 Paul said, "For if I build again the things which I have destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor." Paul said that those who preached another gospel should be accursed. He also said that if he were to build again the things which he had destroyed, that is, if he were to ask a saved person to keep the law again, he would prove himself to be a transgressor. Christ died to the law in order that we could live to Christ. Verse 20 says, "I am crucified with Christ." Since I am crucified with Christ, putting me under the law again would be unlawful. Although I am a living person, I am crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. We who live to Christ can no longer be placed under the law. The law only speaks to the natural man; it cannot speak to a dead man.
In verses 3:1 and 3 Paul spoke to the Galatians: "O foolish Galatians...are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" Paul was saying that the law only addresses those who are in the flesh. Galatians 5:22 and 23 say that there is no law against the fruit of the Spirit. This means that the fruit of the Spirit is not under the control of the law. Since it is not under the control of the law, the same Holy Spirit in us would never lead us to keep the law. The law is only meant for those in the flesh. Those who break the law are in the flesh, and those who keep the law are also in the flesh. Once the law comes, the flesh becomes active, and the Holy Spirit is stifled because the flesh wars with the Spirit. Once a man tries to keep the law, the flesh is activated. If a man does not try to keep the law, the flesh will not move. The target of the law is the flesh. Galatians 3 clearly shows that we cannot be justified by the law. Since we have begun by the Spirit, we cannot go back to the law. Today many Christians still carry the flavor of Judaism. We have to be on the alert. Not only are there Judaizers in the church, we may become a Judaizer ourselves if we are not careful. Some do not understand God's plan and arrangement in His redemption; they only pay attention to the things of the law and thus make themselves Judaizers.
Since a Christian does not need to keep the law, does this mean that he can break the law? Please notice that God's intention for giving man the law was not for man to keep it. God never says that those who keep the law will satisfy His heart. God did not give man the law with the intention that he would keep it, but with the intention that he would gain the righteousness of the law. We have to differentiate between the law and the righteousness of the law. Not being covetous, honoring one's parents, and refraining from idolatry — these are the righteousnesses of the law. God does not want man to keep the law but to gain the righteousness of the law. In summary, God's intention in instituting the law is as follows: First, He apparently wants man to keep the law, but only for the purpose of exposing him so that he would see the futility of his flesh. Second, He wants man to inherit the righteousness of the law. Third, He wants man to have His life. In order to have life, a man cannot be lawless. Without the righteousness of the law, he cannot receive life. When man inherits Christ as his righteousness, he inherits life as well. According to the law, a man receives the righteousness of the law and inherits life if he keeps the law (Lev. 18:5). Today we can inherit the righteousness of the law and have life without keeping the law. As long as we believe in the Lord, we become righteous (Gal. 2:16), and we have life. But after we have inherited life, the Judaizers say that we should keep the law in order to gain the righteousness of the law. This is wrong. Once a man tries to keep the law, the old man is revived. We are saved when God puts us into the death of Christ. We inherit righteousness through the blood of the Lord, and we receive life by inheriting righteousness. This life is not under the law. If we want to keep the law, our flesh will have to keep it. When we try to keep the law, the flesh is revived. The new life the Lord has given us is not under the law; rather, it fulfills the righteousness of law automatically within us.
After we receive the new life, we should realize that the righteousness of the law can be ours without trying to keep the law. Romans 8:4 says, "That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit." Since we have received life in the spirit, we do not need to gain the righteousness of the law through keeping the law. "Do not covet" — this is a law. But not coveting is a righteousness of the law. The Judaizers say, "Do not covet," yet they cannot free themselves from covetousness. They say, "Keep the law," yet they cannot keep it (Rom. 3:20). They do not have any righteousness. We can be free from covetousness through the righteousness that comes from the life of Christ. We can gain the righteousness of the law without keeping the law. This is the gospel. A Christian does not covet because he is walking according to the Spirit, not because there is the law forbidding covetousness. When he walks according to the Spirit, he fulfills the righteous requirement of the law. This is the true gospel. The law is not an end in itself. The end of the law is righteousness. God brings us to righteousness through another avenue; we do not gain righteousness through keeping the law. Keeping the law is useless, both before and after salvation. When we were saved, we were justified, not through the law, but through crucifixion with the Lord. We were saved by the righteousness of God. Having begun by the Spirit, we should continue with the Spirit. The Spirit accomplishes the righteousness within us.
Galatians 4:9 says, "But now, having come to know God, or rather having been known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and poor elements, to which you desire to be enslaved yet again?" Galatians 5:1 says, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not be entangled with a yoke of slavery again." God wants us no longer to be the slaves of the law; He does not want us to be entangled with its yoke again. Romans 7:4 says, "So then, my brothers, you also have been made dead to the law through the body of Christ so that you might be joined to another, to Him who has been raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit to God." Everyone who has received life has been joined to Christ. A Christian has died with Christ through His death. He has also risen with Christ and is now married to Him. Actually not only have we received a life, but we have been joined to Christ's life. A saved person is one who is risen from the dead and who is joined to Christ. When we are joined to Him, we are married to Him. The Galatians wanted to go back to their former husband — the law. Anyone who tries to turn us back to the law is trying to make us an adulterer. This is to be accursed.
Romans 7:4b says, "So that you might be joined to another, to Him who has been raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit to God." We do not refrain from idols just because the law says that we should refrain from them. We refrain from idols because the Holy Spirit is bearing His fruit in us. We have the righteousness of the law, but this righteousness is not produced through keeping the law; it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. After we are saved, we can gain the righteousness of the law without keeping the law. We are not saying that after a man is saved he does not need to keep the law and that he can sin at will. We are saved by grace, and the Lord's life is in us. Spontaneously we will not sin. This is the fruit of the Spirit.
The Ten Commandments which Moses instituted speak of keeping the Sabbath. Even today the Jews are still keeping it. The church began keeping the Sabbath from the time of Smyrna. Lapsed Jews who returned from Rome to Smyrna brought the Old Testament law which they held dearly into the church life. After the Roman Catholic Church gained prominence, Judaism became more mixed up with Christianity. For over a thousand years, the church considered the Lord's Day as the Christian Sabbath. In the last century, Judaizers have reappeared, supporting the keeping of the Sabbath. They have lifted high the Ten Commandments in their chapels and made Saturday their Sabbath day. They have changed the Jewish Sabbath day into a Christian Sabbath day, making this Sabbath the Lord's Day. But Christians should not keep the Sabbath; we are not obligated by the fourth commandment. We cannot even make the seventh day the Sabbath day. This is not a matter of which day the Sabbath should fall on. The basic issue is that Christians should not keep a Sabbath at all because they are not under the law.
Let us now come to the teaching of the Bible concerning the Sabbath. In the Bible the first mention of the Sabbath is in Genesis 2:3. After God finished His work of creation, He rested on the seventh day. After this, there was no mention of the Sabbath until two thousand and five hundred years later. In Exodus 16:29 God gave the Sabbath to His people. Then He made the keeping of the Sabbath a law and told the Israelites to keep this law: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy" (20:8). In Exodus 31:13 and 17 Jehovah said to the Israelites, "Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations....It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever." In Ezekiel 20:12 He said that He gave the Sabbath to the children of Israel for the purpose of sanctifying them and making them His people. God told the Israelites that the keeping of the Sabbath was a sign of their deliverance from Egypt (Deut. 5:12-15). From these verses we see clearly that the Sabbath was given by God to the Jews as a sign that they were the redeemed people.
Let us now consider Paul's teaching concerning the Sabbath. He said that the Sabbath is a thing of the past. In Colossians 2:13-14 he said, "And you, though dead in your offenses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our offenses; wiping out the handwriting in ordinances, which was against us, which was contrary to us; and He has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross." The handwriting refers to the entire law. The Lord wiped out the entire law on the cross because this law was against us and contrary to us. The Lord demands holiness, yet we are sinful. According to the law, we can never be justified. This is the reason it says that the law is against us and contrary to us. By being crucified for us, the Lord wiped out the law. We are now able to come to God. The Judaizers say that the Lord's crucifixion only removed the ceremonial law, not the moral law. They say that the moral law still stands, but Paul said that the Lord has wiped out all the laws.
In reality the Bible does not make a clear distinction between moral laws and ceremonial laws. The Judaizers say that the new moon and the feasts belong to the ceremonial laws; these have indeed been wiped away. But they say that the Ten Commandments belong to the moral laws and should still be kept. The Bible does not teach this. It does not separate moral laws from ceremonial laws. All ceremonial laws are moral in nature. The sacrifices are moral, and the ordinances regarding eating and drinking are moral in significance. This is like the fourth commandment in the Decalog — the keeping of the Sabbath; it is moral in nature. Colossians shows clearly that the entire handwriting in ordinances was wiped out, not just the ceremonial laws. The handwriting refers to the document of a covenant. It is like a contract, a signed pledge. Exodus 19:8 tells us that after God gave the Ten Commandments, the Israelites responded immediately, saying, "All that the Lord hath spoken we will do." They did not make a distinction between ceremonial and moral laws. Hence, the handwriting includes the moral laws; it does not refer merely to ceremonial laws. We have to point out to new ones the meaning of this handwriting so that they will know that all the handwriting of the law that was against us and contrary to us was wiped out and nailed to the cross.
Romans 7:7 speaks of the existence of the law, while Colossians 2:14 shows us that the law is wiped out and crucified. Verse 16 follows verse 14, saying, "Let no one therefore judge you in eating and in drinking or in respect of a feast or of a new moon or of the Sabbath." The entire law has been wiped out before God. We can quote Exodus 19:8 and show them that the Jews did not make a distinction between ceremonial and moral laws. The only way for us to deal with the Judaizers is to tell them that the law is not separated into parts. Colossians 2:16 says that since the law is wiped out, everything related to eating, drinking, feasts, new moon, or the Sabbath should be done away with. These things have nothing whatsoever to do with a Christian. The Judaizers may respond by saying that the Sabbath does not refer to the regular Sabbath in a week, but the Sabbaths within the feasts. But they should know better that the word Sabbaths in Colossians is plural, as the word feasts is also plural. This includes all the Sabbaths and feasts of the Jews. Since Sabbaths is plural, there is no distinction as to whether the weekly Sabbath or the feast-time Sabbaths are referred to; both are included. The more inclusive term always includes the less inclusive ones. Any Sabbath is included in the word Sabbaths. No one can say that weekly Sabbaths are not included in Sabbaths. Paul knew the Jews in Colossae; they never paid attention to the feast-time Sabbath. To them the important thing was the weekly Sabbaths. This is the reason Paul wrote a letter and told them that a Christian is free from feasts, new moons, and Sabbaths. Only recently can we find men making a distinction between weekly Sabbaths and feast-time Sabbaths. In verse 17 Paul said, "Which are a shadow of the things to come." They are not worthy of judgment. No Christian should allow another to judge him in these things. The which in verse 17 refers to all the things spoken of in verse 16. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body is Christ. If we read further, we will be clear that both the ceremonial as well as the moral laws are gone.
When we come to the "law regarding the husband" in Romans 7:2, the Judaizers again argue that this refers to the ceremonial law. This is absurd. Verse 7 says, "Neither did I know coveting, except the law had said, `You shall not covet.'" The Judaizers readily concede that this law is part of the Ten Commandments, and therefore, is moral, not ceremonial. From its context, however, we can see that this law, as one of the commandments of the Decalog, is the very "law regarding the husband" spoken of in verse 2. The Judaizers contradict what they say. Actually, we are free from all laws, moral or ceremonial. When Paul said that we are freed from our husband, he was referring to the law of the Ten Commandments. Through our crucifixion with Christ, we are freed from the first husband, which is to be freed from all the laws.
Second Corinthians 3:7, 9 through 10, and 13 show the difference between the ministry of the law and the ministry of the spirit; it shows the difference between Moses' ministry and Christ's ministry. The law which is engraved on the stone belongs to the ministry of death; it is a ministry of condemnation and is to be done away with. "The end of that which was being done away with" clearly refers to the law. The Judaizers admit that the law kills, but they resort to their only excuse, saying that this refers to the ceremonial law. We know that not all the laws were engraved in stone; only the moral laws, that is, the Decalog, were engraved. The ceremonial laws were never engraved in stone. Moses' ministry is a ministry of death engraved in stone. Clearly, the ministry that will be done away with includes the moral law. Today this law is engraved in our heart. In 2 Corinthians 3:3 we see only a contrast between the tablets of stone and the tablets of the heart. We are freed from all the laws, including the ceremonial laws and the moral laws.
Today God has given Christ to us through the Holy Spirit to be our righteousness. There is no longer any need to keep the law. The matter of the Sabbath is a thing of the past. Romans 14:5 says that some judge one day above another, while others judge every day alike. Verses 1 through 6 of this chapter deal with two things: keeping or not keeping the day and eating or not eating meat. Some are vegetarians; they do not take meat. Paul said that these ones are weak in faith or weak in conscience. He also said that those who keep the day are weak in faith. In the Old Testament if a man would not keep the Sabbath, he would be stoned to death. In the New Testament when the Lord Jesus came, the Jews tried to kill Him because He did not keep the Sabbath. They were stopped, however, by a miracle. At the time of Paul, the apostle said that one day is the same as another day; all days are the same. What a great change! All days are the same. Keeping the Sabbath is a moral law; it is one of the items of the moral law. Consider the law: "Do not commit adultery." One cannot say that both those who commit adultery and those who do not commit adultery are all right, and that those who commit it commit it to the Lord and those who do not commit it do not commit it to the Lord. The keeping of the Sabbath does not earn one the righteousness of the law; it is a shadow of things that are coming. There is one part within the law which has to do with types. There is another part which has to do with righteousness. The types are already fulfilled. We cannot separate the law into ceremonial and moral parts, like the Judaizers do. However, we can say that a part of the law is typological and that these types are all fulfilled in the Lord Jesus. This means that we have a dispensational change.
In the Old Testament we find numerous commandments on keeping the Sabbath. But these commandments are for the Jews. By the time the kingdom comes, the Jews will still keep the Sabbath and offer sacrifices. In the New Testament Paul did not exhort anyone to keep the Sabbath, not even once. It would be surprising indeed if one should keep the Sabbath and the New Testament did not say anything about it. We can see that the dispensation has changed. We can see this clearly in the conference in Acts 15. Verse 22 of that chapter says that the apostles, the elders, and the whole church were gathered together. If the Sabbath was important, some decision should have been reached in the conference regarding it. It would be strange indeed for Christians to keep the Sabbath without finding any references to that decision. This shows that the Sabbath must be over. The New Testament tells us that according to God's plan, "all the prophets and the law prophesied until John" (Matt. 11:13). In God's work Christ is the end of the law. In the New Testament the Lord does not charge men to keep the law. Colossians says that the Sabbath is over. Paul said that it is all right to keep or not to keep the day. None of us live to ourselves, and none of us die to ourselves. Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.
Finally, we have to see that nothing in the New Testament can be fulfilled by borrowing things from the Old Testament. The Roman Catholic Church says that keeping the Lord's Day is a keeping of the Christian Sabbath. This mixes Judaism with Christianity. Once the Judaizers come in, they try to bring the entire Jewish religion in. If anyone wants to keep the Sabbath, that man is not a Christian. Just as it is wrong for a Christian to keep the Chinese mid-autumn festival, it is wrong for him to keep the Sabbath. If we accept the Judaizers, we might as well throw away all hint of Christianity and simply become a pure Jew. Paul spoke in Galatians 4:10-11 to the Galatians: "You observe days and months and seasons and years..." — which include the Sabbaths and the Jubilee — "I fear for you, lest I have labored upon you in vain." Keeping the Sabbath annuls grace. We have to guard against the Judaizers' attempt to bring in the Sabbath.
The Acts of the Apostles is a record of the history of Christianity; it does not give explanations to the facts. It only contains history, not doctrines. The whole body of truth from God, as presented in the entire Bible, was not completed until A.D. 96, which is the time of the fulfillment of the Lord's prophecy to His disciples when He said that the Spirit of truth would come and would bring them into all truths. It was also at that time that the power and influence of Judaism gradually disappeared from Christianity. At the time of the Lord's death, there was not yet a complete presentation of the Christian faith. The complete picture of the Christian faith gradually emerged and was not completed until the writing of the Epistles. We have to understand the progression of the Christian faith. In Acts 15 we do not see any dispute for the Sabbath. There was only the dispute for circumcision. Later, Paul even went up to the temple to take care of his vow. It is not surprising for the Jews to want circumcision, because they always wanted to draw back. I hope that the brothers will see the beginning, the development, and the completion of the Christian faith. Only then will we be able to ascertain the proper faith of a Christian.
At the beginning of the New Testament, when our Lord was on earth, He kept both the Sabbath and the circumcision. In Galatians the matter of the Sabbath was settled, and the matter of circumcision was also settled. Some of Paul's Epistles were written after A.D. 70, and it was then that a proper standing for the Christian faith was established. Before that time, the temple, the priests, and the law were still present. It was still easy for men to straddle the fence. It was still easy for men to enjoy two kinds of lambs. It was easy to hold onto Judaism on the one hand and to believe in Jesus on the other hand. This is the reason Paul wrote the book of Hebrews. The last clause in Hebrews 10:26 says, "There no longer remains a sacrifice of bulls and goats for sins." Christ has been offered as our sacrifice. No one can straddle the fence any longer. Here we see the great advancement and development of the Christian faith! Any truth, however, must receive its final verdict from the Word of God. Concerning the law and the Sabbath, the final word is in Colossians 2:14: "Wiping out the handwriting in ordinances, which was against us, which was contrary to us; and He has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross." The law and the Sabbath are completely over. If the temple and the priesthood are still with us today, we will have a problem. It is easy for the Judaizers to bring in all kinds of "halfway" items. We have to remember one basic principle: In making a judgment concerning any truth in the Bible, we must not stop halfway. The Sabbath and the law are all "halfway" things. In teaching about the Sabbath, the Judaizers are bringing in Old Testament items that have been annulled already.
