Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: rvp@softserver.canberra.edu.au (Rey Paulo) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Was it NAILED to the CROSS ? Message-ID: Date: 19 Feb 91 04:47:23 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of Canberra Lines: 92 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article tja@mungunni.cs.mu.oz.au (Tim ARNOLD) writes: > >So what does this mean with regard to the Law. In chapter 2, Paul goes on to >develop this idea. Our fulness is given to us by Christ, (vv9-10) not earned >by observing the law. We are 'circumcised' by Christ (vv11-12) while we were >sinners (v13).... > "Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to > everyone, to win as many as possible ... To those under the law > I become like one under the law (though I myself am not under the > law), so as to win those under the law." (1 Cor 9:19-20 NIV) > "`Everything is permissible' - but not everything is beneficial. >Are people saved through observing the Sabbath or by grasping the saving >death of Jesus? If strict Sabbath observance leads others to focus on what >I do for God not what he does for me, out the window it goes. The question of the sevetnh-day sabbath observance (4th commandment) is undobtedly a topic of potential controversy. This is because Paul seems to uphold the law in some of his writings while in some others, it appears he is preaching against the law. Note that by LAW, I am referring to the ten commandments. This teaching has produced two lines of thinking among christians. Those who believe in justification by observing the law per se, and those who believe in justification by faith per se. The former believes that one can be saved if and only if he observes perfectly the law (which is impossible) and the later believes that law is unnecessary as long as you accept Jesus as your redeemer (which is correct up to the act of acceptance, but understood wrongly after the act of acceptance). I believe both of these disciplines have misunderstood the writings of Apostle Paul. The source of misunderstanding is Paul's word "under the law" as in "Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible ... To those under the law I become like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law." (1 Cor 9:19-20 NIV) There are other passages that mention "under the law" but I don't have my bible here to quote them. Anyway, the point I would like to stress here is that, many christians believe that "under the law" means the law has nothing to do with us anymore after we accept Christ as our personal lord and saviour. In short, they would say forget abouth the law, once you have Christ. This is very, very wrong, I believe. To avoid misunderstanding "under the law", we would better be safe if we ask "When are we under the law?" which gives us the clear answer "We are under the law whenever we transgress the law." When we transgress the law, we become sinners (under the law) and then the law obviously will call us up to answer for the transgressions. The analogy with our day to day living is very clear. If you haven't done any crime, then you are not under the law. But if you commit something like parking violations, stealing, etc., etc., then you are under the law and expect the police to come and file charges against you. In light of this view, try re-reading 1 Cor 9:19-20 or any other verse in which you find "under the law" with the understanding that the word means "transgressing the law". I believe you will arrive at more sensible as well as more consistent understanding of Paul's writings. Now, when we are under the law (sinners), we need some sort of ways to get us out of the punishment that the law requires. If you have parking offences, that way may be to pay the fines, or in other offenses may be some months or years in jail. But if we are under the law of G-d (sinners of the law of G-d), the punishment is the forfeiture of our salvation. There is only one way that G-d provides for us to get out of this punishment, and that is, by accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Saviour. Jesus Christ paid the fines for our sins with His blood on the cross of calvary. Now the question is, after Christ has paid for your fines, does the law become invalid or does the situation change such that if you continue commiting parking violations the law is no longer applicable. This was asked by Paul in one verse (I cann't remember). The answer is certainly NO. The law still applies so that if you continue transgressing the law, you sin again. This is as simple as this. And since the seventh-day sabbath (4th commandment) is one of those commandments, then I believe that Christians who don't observe it continue to trangress the law and hence continue to commiting sins. Note that there is no difference between the sabbath commandment and the other commandments like, "Thou shalt not kill", "Thou shalt not steal", etc., etc. If you regard the order of their listing in the ten commandments important, then the sabbath is more important than "killing" or "stealing". To sum up my points as regards to the sabbath: (1) The bible is all consistent. Paul does not say something about a topic in one verse and another quite contradictory in another verse. (2) The law (ten commandments) is always binding for if it is not, we wouldn't have any way of knowing whether what we do is a sin or not. -- Rey V. Paulo | Internet : rvp@csc.canberra.edu.au University of Canberra | "One and one and one is three" PO Box 1, Belconnen ACT, AUSTRALIA | -The Beatles --------------------------------------+-----------------------------------