Page 595 - Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible Christianity. Based on the King James Bible

SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISM

it a yoke of bondage “which neither our fathers nor we to destroy the law, but to fulfill it, which He did. Jesus
were able to bear” (Ac. 15:10). lived under the law that believers need not be.
James 2:10 informs us that the law cannot be 2. It cannot be proven that the apostle Paul and the
broken. Thus, anyone desiring to observe the sabbath early churches observed the sabbath. Adventists teach
must observe it exactly as God commanded in the Old this as fact, but it is mere conjecture. It is true that Paul
Testament, and he must observe every other detail of met in the synagogues on the sabbath in order to preach
the law as well. This is what Paul told the Galatian to the Jews assembled there, but this does not mean
legalizers. “For I testify again to every man that is that he observed the sabbath law of the Mosaic system.
circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole Rather, Paul testified concerning the sabbath question,
law” (Ga. 5:3). The Old Testament law is not the “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or
Christian’s standard; Christ is! in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or the
By reducing the requirements of the sabbath law, the sabbath days” (Co. 2:16).
SDA church destroys the power of the Mosaic Law to The apostle Paul plainly taught that sabbath-keeping
reveal the sinner’s need for the Saviour. The Law of is not binding upon New Testament believers. To
Moses was never intended as a way of life for the observe or not to observe holy days is a matter of
justified man—“knowing this, that the law is not made individual Christian liberty. “One man esteemeth one
for a righteous man...” (1 Ti. 1:9). It was intended solely day above another: another esteemeth every day alike.
as a schoolmaster to bring the sinner to Christ (Ga. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind” (Ro.
3:24-25). 14:5). Surely the apostle did not act contrary to his own
2. There is no Bible authority for a change in the teaching.
sabbath law. The Lord Jesus did not change the law. He According to the Bible, the reason Paul visited
simply condemned the traditions that the Pharisees had synagogues on the sabbath was to preach the gospel.
added. Christ said: “Think not that I am come to destroy Paul’s desire after was to preach Christ. He was
the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but burdened for his own people, the Jews. So he went
to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth where the Jews were to preach Christ to them. Consider
pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Acts 13:14-44; 16:13-14; 17:2-4; 18:4. “And Paul, as his
law, till all be fulfilled” (Mt. 5:17-18). manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days
3. This is another instance in which Ellen White reasoned with them out of the scriptures.”
added to the inspired revelation. She saw the sabbath The fact that Paul went to synagogues on sabbaths
law as more important than all others; it “shone above does not prove he kept the sabbath law any more than
them all.” The inspired apostles, on the other hand, saw his going to the Jewish feasts in Jerusalem proves he
no importance in it for the N.T. believer. believed himself bound to those laws. According to his
Fourth Adventist Teaching about the Sabbath: Since own epistles, he felt bound to none of these things. He
Jesus and the apostles kept the sabbath, Christians should was free in Christ. He went, rather, as a soul winner to
keep it today. witness to his kinsmen of the freedom in Christ that he
“The example of Jesus is clear and consistent. His himself enjoyed.
custom was a Sabbath-keeping custom. ... Yet in spite 3. There is much evidence in the Bible and in other
of this, we find a strange situation in the world today. historical sources that the early Christians, from the
For though we have the same Christ as our example, days of the apostles, met and worshipped on the first
the same Bible as our guide,, yet we find two Sabbath day rather than on the sabbath. [See Sunday.]
days kept by Christians...” (George Vandeman, Planet Fifth Adventist Teaching about the Sabbath: The
in Rebellion, p. 277). change of the day of worship from sabbath to Sunday was
“Christ’s followers were careful to keep the Sabbath on done by Rome in the fourth century. Adventists contend
which their buried Lord rested from His death struggle
with sin” (New Life Bible Correspondence Course, Guide that the law of the sabbath was kept by Christians until
#16). the Roman emperor Constantine required all men to
What the Bible Says observe Sunday. Adventist leaders see Constantine as a
1. Jesus kept the sabbath because He was born under type of the future Antichrist, whom they believe will
make Sunday worship a law binding upon all men.
the law to fulfill the demands of the law (Ga. 4:4-5).
The Lord Jesus made Himself a servant, born under the “Constantine was a sun worshiper, but he was also a
Mosaic law, that He might redeem sinners from the keen politician. He wanted to please everybody. It was
while still a pagan that he decreed that all government
curse and bondage of the law into the eternal liberty of offices should be closed upon the first day of the week
sonship. In Matthew 5:17-20 Jesus expounded the —‘the venerable day of the sun.’ The church, which
demands of the law, which is perfection. Christ came not had now been established in Rome, had been quick to

Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible & Christianity 595