I BELIEVE THIS IS IMPORTANT FOR SUNDAY WORSHIPPERS TO READ....

[Nice & Wavy]

I think that this is needed, this is NOT for a debate...i'm serious


Does the Bible allow Christians to worship on Sunday?


In the Old Testament, God stated, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you," (Exodus 20:8-10, NASB). It was the custom of the Jews to come together on the Sabbath, which is Saturday, cease work, and worship God. Jesus went to the synagogue on Saturday to teach (Matt. 12:9; John 18:20) as did the apostle Paul (Acts 17:2; 18:4). So, if in the Old Testament we are commanded to keep the Sabbath and in the New Testament we see Jews, Jesus, and the apostles doing the same thing, then why do we worship on Sunday?


First of all, of the 10 commandments listed in Exodus 20:1-17, only 9 of them were restated in the New Testament. (Six in Matt. 19:18, murder, adultery, stealing, false witness, honor parents, and worshiping God; Rom. 13:9, coveting. Worshiping God properly covers the first three commandments) The one that was not reaffirmed was the one about the Sabbath. Instead, Jesus said that He is the Lord of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:8).


In creation, God rested on the seventh day. But, since God is all powerful, He doesn’t get tired. He doesn’t need to take a break and rest. So, why does it say that He rested? The reason is simple: Mark 2:27 says, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." In other words, God established the Sabbath as a rest for His people, not because He needed a break, but because we are mortal and need a time of rest, of focus on God. In this, our spirits and bodies are both renewed.


The OT system of Law required keeping the Sabbath as part of the overall moral, legal, and sacrificial system by which the Jewish people satisfied God’s requirements for behavior, government, and forgiveness of sins. The Sabbath was part of the Law in that sense. In order to "remain" in favor with God, you had to also keep the Sabbath. If it was not kept, then the person was in sin and would often be punished (Ezek. 18:4; Rom. 6:23; Deut. 13:1-9; Num. 35:31; Lev. 20:2, etc.).


But with Jesus’ atonement, we no longer are required to keep the Law as a means for our justification. The requirements of the Law were fulfilled in Christ. We now have rest from the Law. We now have "Sabbath", continually.
Are we free to worship on Sunday?

Within the New Testament is ample evidence that the seventh day Sabbath is no longer a requirement.

"One man regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God," (Rom. 14:5-6).​

The entire section of Rom. 14:1-12 is worth careful study. The instructions here are that individuals must be convinced in their own minds about which day they observe for the Lord. If the seventh day Sabbath were a requirement, then the choice would not be mans’, but God’s. To me, this verse is sufficient to answer the question beyond doubt. Furthermore,

"Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— 17things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ." (Col. 2:16-17).​

Notice the time sequence mentioned in Col. 2:16-17 above. A festival is yearly. A new moon is monthly. A Sabbath is weekly. No one is to judge in regard to this. The Sabbath is defined as a shadow, the reality is Jesus. Jesus is our Sabbath. So, if someone is judging you because you worship on the Sabbath, they are wrong. Likewise, if you regard Sunday above Saturday (Rom. 14:5-6), all you need to do is be convinced in your own mind that that is alright.
Is there any evidence in the NT that Christians met on Sunday?

"And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to depart the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight," (Acts 20:7).​

The first day of the week is Sunday and this is the day the people gathered. This passage can easily be seen as the church meeting on Sunday, though it does not necessitate it. It has two important church functions within it: breaking bread (communion) and a message (preaching/teaching). Additionally, Luke included the Roman system as well as the Jewish system of counting days. The Jewish system was sundown to sundown. But Luke also used the Roman system: midnight to midnight (Luke 11:5; Acts 16:25; 20:7; 27:27). This is a subtle point that shows the Jewish Sabbath system was not exclusively used by Luke.
If the Sabbath was mandatory, why the use of the non-Jewish system?

"Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also. 2On the first day of every week let each one of you put aside and save, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come," (1 Cor. 16:1-2).​

Notice here that Paul is directing the churches to meet on the first day of each week and put money aside. It would seem that this is tithing. So, the instructed time for the church to meet is Sunday, the first day of the week and it is that day the Galatians were to set money aside collections. Is this an official worship day set up by the church? You decide. Does this verse apply to Christians today? It most certainly does.

"I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, 11saying, "Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea," (Revelation 1:10-11).​

The New Bible Dictionary says regarding the term, ‘The Lord’s Day’ in Rev. 1:10: "This is the first extant occurrence in Christian literature of "te kuriake hemera." The adjectival construction suggests that it was a formal designation of the church’s worship day. As such it certainly appears early in the 2nd century" (Ignatius, Epistle to the Magnesians, 1. 67).
In many churches today, the term "The Lord’s Day" is used to designate Sunday, the same as it was in the second century.
I hope this is evidence enough to show you that the Bible does not require that we worship on Saturday. If anything, we have the freedom (Rom. 14:1-12) to worship on the day that we believe we should. And, no one should judge us in regard to the day we keep. We are free in Christ and not under law, (Rom. 6:14).
Conclusion

The Seventh Day Adventists have every right to worship on the Sabbath and they should if they are convinced that is the right thing to do. However, if any member of any church were to require a person to worship on the Sabbath as a sign of "true" Christianity or "true" redemption, then that is wrong. According to Rom. 14:1-12, we are free.

Additionally, Sunday is the day that the Lord Jesus rose from the dead. The Jewish people who had rejected Jesus continued to worship on Saturday, the Sabbath. But it was the Christians who celebrated Jesus' resurrection and this was most probably the driving force to gather on the first day of the week.

This article is also available in: Español

 

[divya]

Below is a list of over 500 Sabbath keeping Churches of all different denominations. Many say that Sabbath keeping is legalism but legalism is something you do to earn your way to heaven. The hundreds of different Sabbath keeping Churches that know the blessings of keeping God's Sabbath do not keep the day to earn entrance into the kingdom but keep the day because they love God with all their heart, might and soul. There is nothing we can do to earn our entrance into the kingdom as we are justified by faith and not by works of the law. Does this mean we do not have to obey the law? Thankfully, Paul made the answer to this question clear and informs us that we do NOT make void the law through faith. Romans 3:31. For even further clarity, Romans 2:13 leaves no doubt as to who is justified before God. Select the following for Frequently Asked Questions and misunderstandings on the fourth Commandment.

http://www.the-ten-commandments.org/sabbathkeepingchurches.html

 

[Nice & Wavy]

Below is a list of over 500 Sabbath keeping Churches of all different denominations. Many say that Sabbath keeping is legalism but legalism is something you do to earn your way to heaven. The hundreds of different Sabbath keeping Churches that know the blessings of keeping God's Sabbath do not keep the day to earn entrance into the kingdom but keep the day because they love God with all their heart, might and soul. There is nothing we can do to earn our entrance into the kingdom as we are justified by faith and not by works of the law. Does this mean we do not have to obey the law? Thankfully, Paul made the answer to this question clear and informs us that we do NOT make void the law through faith. Romans 3:31. For even further clarity, Romans 2:13 leaves no doubt as to who is justified before God. Select the following for Frequently Asked Questions and misunderstandings on the fourth Commandment.

http://www.the-ten-commandments.org/sabbathkeepingchurches.html

I knew that you would come in here with this

Divya, what I put in this thread is important for SUNDAY WORSHIPPERS, if you feel the need to counteract what I'm doing...so be it, but it makes you look like you want a fight.

I'm not going to give in to that nonsense and neither should you.

I'm asking you, please...don't bring this stuff in this thread. Start a new one if you will, but I really, really don't want this in here.

Thank you.

 

[Nice & Wavy]

JESUS IS LORD, OVER ALL!

JESUS IS LORD OVER THE SABBATH!

Hallelujah!!!

 

[joy2day]

God Bless you Sis... That takes care of that issue.

 

[divya]

I knew that you would come in here with this

Divya, what I put in this thread is important for SUNDAY WORSHIPPERS, if you feel the need to counteract what I'm doing...so be it, but it makes you look like you want a fight.

I'm not going to give in to that nonsense and neither should you.

I'm asking you, please...don't bring this stuff in this thread. Start a new one if you will, but I really, really don't want this in here.

Thank you.

The truth should be shared about Sabbath-keeping faiths. Having read the implication that Sabbath-keeping is for justification, I simply thought I would clarify and also be clear that there are over 500 Sabbath keeping faiths, not just one.

I don't disagree that people are free to worship on Sunday! I do! So no fighting here! Take care!

 

[Nice & Wavy]

The truth should be shared about Sabbath-keeping faiths. Having read the implication that Sabbath-keeping is for justification, I simply thought I would clarify and also be clear that there are over 500 Sabbath keeping faiths, not just one.

I don't disagree that people are free to worship on Sunday! I do! So no fighting here! Take care!

Can you put your truth in another thread? I'm am clarifying here and being clear in here, so as to NO CONFUSE THE SUNDAY WORSHIPPER!

Thank you and take care too!

 

[divya]

Can you put your truth in another thread? I'm am clarifying here and being clear in here, so as to NO CONFUSE THE SUNDAY WORSHIPPER!

Thank you and take care too!

As you and others are free to and have posted in other threads related to this topic, so I will post here. We should be able to extend the same privileges to others as we ourselves enjoy.

Please see your posts here:
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=417116

I am being very cordial and will continue to do so.

 

[Nice & Wavy]

As you and others are free to and have posted in other threads related to this topic, so I will post here. We should be able to extend the same privileges to others as we ourselves enjoy.

Please see your posts here:
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=417116

I am being very cordial and will continue to do so.

Oh, yes...do what others do..that's right, I forgot about that one.

Ok...do whatever you want, divya. You are an adult.

 

[divya]

Oh, yes...do what others do..that's right, I forgot about that one.

Ok...do whatever you want, divya. You are an adult.

Again, my statement was as follows:

We should be able to extend the same privileges to others as we ourselves enjoy.

With love,

Divya

 

[Nice & Wavy]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Christians are not to attempt to put 'new wine into old wineskins'! What we must hold on to from the Sabbath command amounts to 3 points:

a. That - as Christians - we do need to continue to meet regularly for worship (Hebrews 10:25)

b. That we should never lose sight of the glorious principle that we now find true rest, repose and joy in Christ alone (Matthew 11: 28-12:8), whom we can worship at any time, but should take into account New Testament precedent. And finally,

c. Knowing that as we continue to cleave to Christ, we will eventually enter the ultimate 'rest' from all of our labours, in the New Heavens and the New Earth - Eternal Life in unspeakable joy in the very company of God (Hebrews 3:18-4:11).

The truth is, Holy Spirit - led Christianity is not about keeping days! - we can be sure about this (if we otherwise doubted) from comments which the Apostle Paul makes. In fact, he seems to give the impression that believers who are too concerned about keeping days are immature,

"Let no one pass judgement on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a new moon or Sabbath, these things are only a shadow of what is to come. But the real substance belongs to Christ." (Colossians 2: 16-17)

In Galatians 4, Paul takes a legalistic element at Galatia to task about their immature desire to keep, "…days, and months, and times, and years" He tells them, "I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain" (verse 11)

He goes on to give his famous allegory about Hagar and Sarah. Hagar, says Paul, typified the Old Covenant while Sarah typified the New. He concludes the chapter by saying,

"What says the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son : for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free" (verses 30-31)

This really should be crystal clear to all. We are no longer to be legalistic about these things! These two verses also clearly show us the error of trying to live within two covenants.

Will be accept the straightforward teaching that the Old Covenant (or, the 'bondwoman') has to be cast out in order for us to serve Christ?

So we find within the New Testament no specific command to assemble for worship on any particular day nor should we expect to find such an instruction since there is a certain freedom in Christ, His blood having released us from Old Covenant penalties/prohibitions. Nevertheless, we do find a strong precedent for assembling for worship on what soon became known as 'The Lord's Day' - Sunday : the day of the resurrection, the day of the disciples meeting and seeking after Christ - with the risen Christ's revealing of Himself to them, the day of Pentecost, the day on which Paul can be found preaching to other Christians (rather than to Jews), the day on which Paul requested the Corinthians to make a collection for Christians affected by the famine in Judea (1 Corinthians 16: 1-3), the day on which John wrote that he found himself, 'In the Spirit' (Rev 1:10) and the day of which Justin Martyr wrote, 'We all hold our communion and assembly'.

Some people might just ponder that they resolutely hold to the day which was a main mark of the Old Covenant, identifying God's Old Covenant people who placed their trust in the sufficiency of that particular covenant to save them. The Christian, on the other hand, prefers to be associated with the Day of the Lord which identifies them as followers of Jesus Christ whom they look to as Saviour, Lord and Master - and who is fully sufficient for salvation.

Despite all of the above, if Christians prefer to assemble on the seventh day (Saturday) they do no wrong, but the danger is in the legalism and judgmentalism of other Christians (to say nothing of the distortions of church history) which so often seems to accompany seventh-day observance.[/FONT]

 

[Nice & Wavy]

Again, my statement was as follows:

We should be able to extend the same privileges to others as we ourselves enjoy.

With love,

Divya

Yes, with love..you should.

N&W

 

[Nice & Wavy]

About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepped, he fell into a trance.

He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat."

"Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean."

The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven. While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon's house was and stopped at the gate.

While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them." Acts 10:9-17, 19-20


Despite the deep work of the Spirit that had taken place in Peter, he was still fairly bombastic, and still blinded by his own ethnic prejudice. Although he had heard Jesus’ mandate for them to take the Gospel outside of the Jewish world, he had absolutely no desire to be the one to do it.

God, however, had other plans for His reluctant ambassador. In fact, His plans were to start that very day.

As usual, Peter was hungry. Even though he was supposed to be praying, he was already thinking about lunch. “I wonder what I’ll have,” he thought to himself. At that moment, he fell into a trance.

In this state, he saw heaven open, and a gigantic sheet being lowered down to the earth by its four corners. The sheet contained all kinds of unclean, defiled, animals, reptiles, and birds.

As he was contemplating this teeming mass of uncleanness, God’s voice spoke to him from heaven. “Get up, Peter. Kill, and eat.”

“No, Lord,” Peter said. “I have never eaten that which is impure or unclean.”

God’s voice spoke again: “Do not call anything impure which God has made clean.” After this had happened three more times, the sheet was immediately taken back into heaven.

While Peter was pondering the meaning of the vision, a group of men appeared at his door. They had been sent by a God-fearing Roman centurion named Cornelius. The Holy Spirit told Peter that the men were there, and that he was to go with them because they had been sent by God.

Through Peter’s obedience, Cornelius’s house would be radically transformed, and the evangelization of the Gentile world would begin.

Many of us, like Peter, are in danger of missing the harvest for which we were born. We are in danger because we consider the people who are ripe to harvest to be so unclean and so defiled that we would never even attempt to reach them.

For all Peter’s anointing, he still had trouble seeing beyond the small, tight-knit insular culture of his youth. Therefore, God had to use drastic measures with Peter.

The emotional, spiritual, and ethnic barriers he would have to cross in order to eat the picnic lunch God had sent him in the sheet, were the same barriers that needed to be traversed before he could reach Cornelius and his Gentile household.

Cornelius, however, presented additional challenges to Peter, for he was not simply an ordinary Gentile. He was a centurion – a high-ranking officer in the army that had conquered Peter’s nation.

Despite these barriers, there was no mistaking God’s word. “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat,” the Lord had commanded him.

“Stop calling anything impure that I have made clean,” God said. With these words echoing in his ears, Peter chose to obey the God he knew he could trust.

It should be no different for you. If you will be faithful to sow seed in the soils of God’s choosing, He will be faithful to bring forth a harvest that is beyond your imagination.

 

[Laela]

This is true.. The day of rest God commands us to keep is for our service, not the other way around.

Jesus himself reprimanded the Pharisees when they accused him of violating their Law.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Geneva]Jesus answered, "If any of you has a sheep, and the sheep falls into a ditch on the Sabbath day, then you will take the sheep and help it out of the ditch. Surely a man is more important than a sheep. So the law {of Moses} allows people to do good things on the Sabbath day.

[/FONT]It's really not about a DAY..we ought to commune with God daily, anyway, as those who belong to Him. Our daily walk, praying, healing others, etc., are all services we provide to one another any day of the week, not just on one day.



[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Geneva]
[/FONT]

I think that this is needed, this is NOT for a debate...i'm serious


Does the Bible allow Christians to worship on Sunday?


In the Old Testament, God stated, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you," (Exodus 20:8-10, NASB). It was the custom of the Jews to come together on the Sabbath, which is Saturday, cease work, and worship God. Jesus went to the synagogue on Saturday to teach (Matt. 12:9; John 18:20) as did the apostle Paul (Acts 17:2; 18:4). So, if in the Old Testament we are commanded to keep the Sabbath and in the New Testament we see Jews, Jesus, and the apostles doing the same thing, then why do we worship on Sunday?


First of all, of the 10 commandments listed in Exodus 20:1-17, only 9 of them were restated in the New Testament. (Six in Matt. 19:18, murder, adultery, stealing, false witness, honor parents, and worshiping God; Rom. 13:9, coveting. Worshiping God properly covers the first three commandments) The one that was not reaffirmed was the one about the Sabbath. Instead, Jesus said that He is the Lord of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:8).

 

[Nice & Wavy]

This is true.. The day of rest God commands us to keep is for our service, not the other way around.

Jesus himself reprimanded the Pharisees when they accused him of violating their Law.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Geneva]Jesus answered, "If any of you has a sheep, and the sheep falls into a ditch on the Sabbath day, then you will take the sheep and help it out of the ditch. Surely a man is more important than a sheep. So the law {of Moses} allows people to do good things on the Sabbath day.

[/FONT]It's really not about a DAY..we ought to commune with God daily, anyway, as those who belong to Him. Our daily walk, praying, healing others, etc., are all services we provide to one another any day of the week, not just on one day.



[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Geneva]
[/FONT]

And, that He is...LORD OF THE SABBATH!

Thank you for your post

 

[divya]

Yes, with love..you should.

N&W

And I do...which is why I had no problem with you voicing your beliefs in the other thread. Those of us who have differing beliefs should have the opportunity to voice ours as well. However, as seen with the closing of the other thread and the idea that a differing perspective is not welcomed here, that is not the case.

Have a nice day.

 

[pebbles]

Thank-you, all. Thread closed.