The Sabbath Day, Should You Keep or not Keep?

[mfblume]

To say that the wording in that verse in Colossians is interpreted differently just like John 3 & 5, is a completely different situation.... apples and oranges. Interpreting What being "born of the Spirit" means is totally different than reading "but the body of Christ", referring to the church or body being able to judge, as opposed to interpreting it as the Body Casting the Shadows is Jesus. You're not even reading it the same way. In John 3 & 5 they're reading it the same way but they're just not interpreting what born of the spirit means. But both of us agree you are born of the spirit. But you're changing the entire way of reading "but the body is of Christ" . So it's not the same at all.

[mfblume]

Not one commentator or scholar changes the entire manner of reading that one phrase the way you are. That should say something. It's one thing to interpret it as the Body Casting The Shadow is something other than what I'm saying it is. That would be similar to other people interpreting John chapter 3 verse 5 differently than we do. But you're not even reading it like the body is casting any Shadow at all. You're reading as though the body has the ability to judge when no other person can.

[mfblume]

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Originally Posted by mfblume

John said in his first epistle and first Chapter that we can walk in the light as Jesus is in the light.

1 John 1:5-7 KJV This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (6) If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: (7) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

If God has no darkness and is fully in the light, and we are invited to walk into that light as He is, then the fact is we can walk in total light TODAY.

With that in mind, recall that Paul said sabbaths are a shadow of things to come.

Colossians 2:16-17 KJV 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: (17) Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

I thought of what Esaias said about this, as though the sabbath is currently, not in old testament times alone, a shadow of things to come. Esaias. you believe the things to come have still not yet come. You believe we must keep a shadow, because there are still things to come that have not yet.

I believe that makes the scripture of John's first epistle contradict your view. Where it does not contradict my interpretation of Colossians 2.

If there are any shadows in our day, then that means we're in the dark on some things. Some things are not here yet.

And if sabbath is a shadow new testament people must keep, then there is some light we cannot walk in right now.

Is that how God is in the light?

We're invited to walk in the light as He is in the light. And John plainly said there is no darkness at all. Shadows are forms of darkness. Good ones, but nonetheless darkness.

But John said we can walk in the light at Jesus is in the light. He is not in any shadows. That means we can walk in light to the extent we aren't in any shadows at all! And if sabbath is a shadow, then it cannot be for us today! Otherwise John would have said, "God has no darkness at all, and we can walk PARTIALLY in the light like He is. We still are in a shadow of sabbath, so we cannot walk in the light as totally as God is in the light. We cannot have perfect fellowship right now."

But he didn't say that.

This means the sabbath is a shadow of things THAT ALREADY CAME. And that means the phrase "things to come" is speaking in terms of the time period BEFORE the cross. At the time of the old covenant when sabbaths were instituted, they were shadows of things that at that time had not yet come. It is not speaking of things that have not come in our day after the atonement.

That doe snot mean there isn't anything still to come! But there are no shadows of what is to come today. As far as things to come are concerned, we have no shadows of them. But we're not in any times when God ordained shadows for US, and more light LATER. We can have ALL LIGHT NOW.

Paul meant sabbath foreshadowed Jesus when it was instituted. The full light has come, because we can now walk in the light as Jesus is in the light.

Jesus did not say he was the shadow. He did not tell us to keep shadows. He said he was the light. Why Hold onto a shadow when you can have the full light??

[mfblume]

Originally Posted by mfblume

Not one commentator or scholar changes the entire manner of reading that one phrase the way you are. That should say something. It's one thing to interpret it as the Body Casting The Shadow is something other than what I'm saying it is. That would be similar to other people interpreting John chapter 3 verse 5 differently than we do. But you're not even reading it like the body is casting any Shadow at all. You're reading as though the body has the ability to judge when no other person can.

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[mfblume]

Originally Posted by mfblume

Not one commentator or scholar changes the entire manner of reading that one phrase the way you are. That should say something. It's one thing to interpret it as the Body Casting The Shadow is something other than what I'm saying it is. That would be similar to other people interpreting John chapter 3 verse 5 differently than we do. But you're not even reading it like the body is casting any Shadow at all. You're reading as though the body has the ability to judge when no other person can.

Bump

[mfblume]

Originally Posted by mfblume

Bump

Well?

[Raffi]

Greetings, Friends.
Sorry for the long absence. I had been hospitalized shortly after the Holiday Peek Season where I work. I am back home now, and I am fine. Give me some time to review what has been posted since I was last online here, and I will try to jump back in where I left off, as well as try to address whatever is current.

[Esaias]

Originally Posted by Raffi

Greetings, Friends.
Sorry for the long absence. I had been hospitalized shortly after the Holiday Peek Season where I work. I am back home now, and I am fine. Give me some time to review what has been posted since I was last online here, and I will try to jump back in where I left off, as well as try to address whatever is current.

Sorry you were hospitalized! Your absence from the forum is excused.

[Esaias]

Originally Posted by mfblume

Not one commentator or scholar changes the entire manner of reading that one phrase the way you are. That should say something. It's one thing to interpret it as the Body Casting The Shadow is something other than what I'm saying it is. That would be similar to other people interpreting John chapter 3 verse 5 differently than we do. But you're not even reading it like the body is casting any Shadow at all. You're reading as though the body has the ability to judge when no other person can.

I'm sorry if your favorite commentaries refuse to follow the simple grammar of the text, just like they do with John 1:1 and many other inconvenient passages.

But if you want to read a scholar of a different opinion, try this:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3266938

[Aquila]

I'm finding this interesting.

Some wish to keep the Sabbath per the 4th Commandment (without the stipulations added by the Law of Moses), out of a pure and loving desire to keep God's 10 Commandments.

Others agree that if we love the Lord, we will keep His commandments. Only they take exception with the 4th Commandment, arguing that to keep the commandment binds one under the Law and is a form of legalism (which they do not argue for the remaining 9 commandments). In addition, they appear to legalistically condemn anyone who disagrees with the position that we should gather on Sundays.

And still some, again taking exception with the 4th commandment, argue that we should be able to gather on any day... except the 7th Day, because such an obedience would become a legalism.

I really don't see the big issue on one seeking to keep the Sabbath per the 10 Commandments.

For example: Even when I've attended a Sunday church, I've devotionally kept the Sabbath from Friday night to Saturday evening as a day of rest and devotion. For example, right now, we attend gatherings on Sundays, but beginning on Friday night, I begin my Sabbath observance. For the next 24 hours I devote my time to devotions, Bible reading, family altar, and recreational pursuits that bring rest and refreshment to my (and my family's) soul.

I honestly don't see the issue with finding rest and refreshment for both soul and spirit on the Sabbath.

I'm always brought back to this question. Here are the 10 Commandments. They reflect the most basic principles of holiness. Of course, love goes well beyond these, but these are considered the "basics". Who would argue that any of these commandments are abrogated? They are not only moral expressions defining what is unholy and what is expected of man, but they are indeed blessings for man's benefit. The Ten Commandments, why are we so down on them?

The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:2-17 NKJV)
1 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My Commandments.
3 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
4 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
5 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
6 “You shall not murder.
7 “You shall not commit adultery.
8 “You shall not steal.
9 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10 “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.”

It all sounds good to me. lol