Sabbath (again)
Sabbath.
A verse:
“When the neighboring peoples bring merchandise or grain to sell on the Sabbath, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on any holy day.” (Nehemiah 10:31)
This is ‘relatively true’ if the “Sabbath” was to be observed.
That is, if your church teaches you to ‘honour the Sabbath’, then you ‘must’ follow this ‘rule’ of Scripture as well regarding it.
I wonder how many Sabbath-respecters ‘don’t buy’ anything on the Sabbath day?
“For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” (James 2:10)
As for me, I know that the Sabbath is ‘not’ a requirement to be kept under the New Testament following Christ’s Advent by which the Old Testament ‘Ritualistic’ Laws are “nullified”.
“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days” (Colossians 2:16)
“By calling this covenant “new,” He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.” (Hebrews 8:13)
P/S:
The reason ‘many’ still cannot accept it is because they love the ‘law’ more than ‘God’ Himself (chiefly because they feel ‘proud’ that they’re fulfilling it —> depending on ‘their righteousness’ instead of “His Righteousness”).
Further, such ‘ritualistic’ obedience has produced ‘false humility’ based on which they ‘feel great inside’ being “puffed up” in their “un-spiritual minds” as apostle Paul himself writes just “two verses later” after the one-indicating above (verse 16) which nullifies any ‘Sabbath days – observations’:
“Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind.” (Colossians 2:18)
Paul explains further that these have “lost connection” with the “Head” (Christ):
“They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.” (Colossians 2:19)
And briefly, these ‘rules’ are considered as ‘merely human commands & teachings’ (under the New Testament) even though some were once Old Testament Commands in the earlier times (as the context of this chapter relates):
“Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings.” (Colossians 2:20 – 22)
Lastly, these will “seem to have wisdom” but actually they’re “torturing themselves” in doing it and these are considered as “false humility” when they obey such “regulations” as the verse below ‘concludes’ in truth:
“Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.” (Colossians 2:23)
In the end, they love the ‘Scripture’ (Law too) more than ‘Him’ (the Person):
“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have age-during life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.” – Lord Jesus Christ in (John 5:39 – 40)