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Should Christians follow the Law of Moses?
Some of our church family have been exposed to what is called the Hebrew Roots movement.
There are various organizations within this movement, with a variety of beliefs.
Some have a proper view of the gospel of being saved by grace through faith.
Others do not.
Some have a proper view of Jesus as the Son of God, the second person of the trinity (Father, Son and Holy Ghost being the three persons of the tri-une God—One God, three persons, all equally God, yet distinct).
Others deny the deity of Jesus.
What is common to all of them is that they teach that believers should study Hebrew and learn about Jewish culture.
They most importantly adhere to following the Old Testament Law in order to live righteous lives.
They emphasize the Sabbath, and the feasts of Israel.
The Hebrew Roots movement has a large presence on the internet, teach that Christian churches are far off the mark of true Christianity.
Thus, they do not attend a local church, but listen to these teachers online.
Some of the key passages they refer to are the following:
Do Christians need to follow the Law to be righteous?
Are we wrong for not worshipping on the Sabbath?
Are we wrong for not following the Jewish calendar of feasts?
Are we wrong for not teaching people to follow the law?
Let’s pray and ask God to give us wisdom as we dig into the word this morning.
What is the purpose of the Law?
Is the Old Testament the real scriptures that are useful for teaching and training in righteousness.
Do we need to worship on the Sabbath?
Answering the questions at hand, is something that really involves opening up the Bible, and studying it through.
Something, we cannot accomplish in a mere 30 minutes.
So, what I want to do, is just look at a couple of the key ideas that will help us understand the issues.
What is the purpose of the Law?
Why the Law was given, and knowing that will give us understanding into whether Christians need to keep the law.
Are the Old Testament passages really the scriptures that we need to follow for teaching and training in righteousness? 2 Timothy 3:16
Also, one of the questions that has been raised is whether we need to worship on the Sabbath.
I do want to address this as well.
I am going to hit the two easier first.
Is the Old Testament the real scriptures?
Peter recognized Paul’s writings as scripture.
Paul referenced Deuteronomy 25:4, and Luke 10:7 in 1 Timothy 5:18, calling both scriptures.
The earliest church writings acknowledged the gospels and epistles as scripture.
So, the New Testament is also scripture, and carries a lot of weight in how we view the Old Testament.
Second, why do we worship on Sunday, and not the Sabbath.
Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2 reference the church meeting on the first day of the week.
Now, 119 ministries and other hebrew roots movement groups show that the Greek uses the word ‘one’, not ‘first’, and the word used for week is same word used for sabbath.
Therefore, they say, this really should say one sabbath.
What they do not tell you is that this is a common expression for the first day of the week, as the word for sabbath can be used for week, and the phrase is the same as occurs in Matthew 28:1.
No one, even the Hebrew Roots people try to argue that Jesus rose on the Sabbath, that is Saturday.
So, when they try to use the Greek, which sounds so convincing, they are not being faithful to the Greek.
We worship on Sunday, as did much of the church even from the beginning of the church because it was on Sunday that Jesus rose.
That is what our hope is in!
Jesus’ death and resurrection!
It was a Sunday that Jesus appeared to the disciples again.
It was a Sunday that Pentecost took place with the coming of the Spirit, and the beginning of the church.
And, honestly, if you choose to worship on Saturday, it does not truly matter.
We do not worship according to law, but in the Spirit!
We do not worship on one day, but everyday!
We do not worship in one place, but everywhere.
Sunday is just the day we, and most of the church of Christ, have chosen to remember Jesus, our hope, and to gather together to worship Him!
So, All Scripture is valuable.
Both Old and New.
We worship Sunday, and worshipping on Saturday is no better or worse.
Colossians, Galatians, Hebrews all mention that the observance of days is not the important issue.
Now, the bigger issue behind these and the whole Hebrew Roots movement is, Why then the Law?
What does Jesus mean when He says He came to fulfill the law?
To know that answer, we need to understand the point of the law.
When was it given?
Why was it given?
What was it’s purpose?
Let’s review the Old Testament for a second.
God Created the World
Man Sinned and was condemned.
Note: There was no law until Moses came a few thousand years later.
Abel was accepted.
Cain condemned.
Note: No law.
Why? Faith.
By the time of Noah, everyone was only sinning.
But Noah found grace in the eyes of God.
Note: No law.
However, they were still condemned.
Noah was saved by Faith.
Abraham was an idolater.
However, he was shown grace, and was saved by Faith.
Note: No law.
Melchizedek was a priest of God.
Not a descendent of Abraham.
God was at work with those outside Israel.
He has always loved the World.
How were they sinners if sin is ONLY lawlessness, meaning without the Law of Moses?
I say that because the Hebrew Roots movement uses 1 John 3:4 to say that sin is lawlessness, therefore, to not follow the law is the very definition of sin.
Therefore, we must follow the law or we are sinning.
So, is sin JUST lawlessness?
Well, all of these people who lived and died before the Law was given were sinners.
So sin must be something more than just lawlessness.
Let’s look at a couple passages in Romans.
Paul was showing those in Rome that both Jews and Gentiles, those with the law, and those without the law were sinners.
How? God has put a conscience into each person.
That is part of being created in the image of God.
So, those without the written laws, had the conscience, so they were still sinners.
To sin without a command is still sin.
It’s just clearer when there is a law, and no way to argue your way out of it.
That’s the gist of Romans 5:12-13.
So, sin is more than just lawlessness.
I think of it this way.
My pet Max is a Lab.
He is also a, well, there are lots of opinions as to what else he is.
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