10 Comandments

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The Sabbath, is it Saturday or Sunday?

GRANT SWART

God instituted the sabbath observance of the Old Testament for exactly the same reason he instituted the temple, the priesthood, and the sacrifices of that particular period in history. God did this to portray to man the way of salvation and life by faith in Christ. Just as a man, in keeping the sabbath, ceased from his own works, trusting God to provide everything he needed, so Christians come to Christ, ceasing from our own works, trusting Him alone for everything. Resting in Christ, we keep the sabbath of faith (Matthew 11: 28-30: Hebrews 4:7-10). Our rest is not merely on a day of the week, our rest is eternal in Christ.

However, when the Lord says the sabbath was made for man, we must never imagine, as is so often and erroneously done, that it was made for all men. The Scriptures are explicitly clear in telling us that the sabbath was made for the Jews of the Mosaic dispensation. It was never given to or required of Gentiles (Exodus 31:16,17). The word of God makes it quite clear that sabbath observance was a special sign between God and Israel, which only came about after God led the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt, and after Moses had received the Ten Commandments in Sinai. Between Adam and Moses there was no sabbath. Enoch walked with God, but he never kept a sabbath day. Noah was a righteous man, but he never observed a sabbath. Abraham was the friend of God, but he never kept a sabbath day.

Examination of the New Testament reveals that there is no obligation for the believer to keep the sabbath and also shows that the idea of a Sunday or Christian sabbath is unscriptural. There is one referral to the sabbath by the Apostle Paul in Colossians 2:16’17: “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ”. The Jewish Sabbath was abolished at the cross where Christ canceled the written code, with its regulations (Colossians 2:14).

Christ is the Lord of the sabbath. The simple, clear and obvious meaning of this is that He who is the Christ of God instituted the church, fulfilled the sabbath, dispensed with the sabbath, and abrogated the sabbath, in exactly the same way and to exactly the same degree as he did all all the other carnal ordinances, rituals, and ceremonials of the legal (Old Testament) dispensation. Therefore sabbath day observance is expressly and positively forbidden in the New Testament (Galatians 4:10, 11; Colossians 2:16, 17).

The sabbath was given to Israel, not the church. The Jewish Sabbath is still Saturday, not Sunday, and has never been changed. The sabbath is exclusively part of Old Testament law, and Christ fulfilled all the laws setting Christians free from the bondage of the law (Galatians 4:1-26; Romans 6:14). Sabbath keeping is not a Christian “duty”, neither on Saturday nor Sunday.

Those who remain of the conviction that sabbath keeping is expected of the Christian, should then surely implement the sabbath law in its complete form, rather than choosing to implement only a part of it. These days most people leave their homes to go to church, which is explicitly forbidden by the sabbath law (Exodus 16:29), neither could sabbath observers build a fire on the sabbath day (Exodus 35:3), and in South Africa and many other nations, Saturdays and Sundays are by far the most popular days of the week on which barbeques (braais) are held. Furthermore, sabbath observers could not cause anyone else to work (Deuteronomy 5:14), which would mean that there should be no municipal services, medical personnel, policemen, astronauts, pilots, television, internet service or electricity provision on sabbath.

Most alarmingly, any person breaking the sabbath laws was to be put to death (Exodus 31:15; Numbers 15: 32-35). These laws have never been changed, except that the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled them on behalf of the believer, removing the Christian from the bondage of the laws.

We are to worship God every day, not just on Saturday or Sunday. It is my strong conviction and hope to remind the reader again to test everything, including my words, in the Scriptures. Do not to allow false teachings by self-appointed legalistic and doctrinally unsound “pastors” to place you back into the bondage where lost people were before Christ became our Saviour and our sabbath, and provided for us our rest in Him, through faith.

*Much appreciated PeterDeHaan.com for the use of the attached image above

**Many thanks for the seeds which grew from Pastor Don’s printed work

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The REAL Jews of South Africa?

lemba 1

Grant Swart

Over time we have posted numerous articles on this blog in both English and Afrikaans which address the subjects of British-Israelism (“Israel Vision”) and the Hebrew Roots Movement. In South Africa, these belief systems have a rather large following, and in particular among the Afrikaner people. Although there are many different streams within these belief systems, they all have in common some form of false belief that they are either descendants of the Jewish people by inheritance, by birthright or by divine proclamation.

Additionally, as in some other, mostly Western, countries, these remain highly controversial subjects and the indoctrinated followers of these cult-like movements vehemently defend their positions, often with great eloquence and with what they firmly believe to be, Old Testament Scriptural support. Many of the deceived followers of these incorrect and false belief systems have commented at length in opposition to our articles and, in an almost equal number of instances, we have not approved their comments. With predictable regularity, these misled people lose all semblance of the measured, intellectual decency and Christian attitudes they portray at first, once they resort to cursing us when we do not publish their deceitful responses. There are very few names which we have not been called by these religious terrorists.

Although, to some this may seem to be unfair practice on our part, it remains our prerogative as to what is made public on this blog. This blog is not entitled, “For the Love of Falsehood”. We are accountable to all true Christians and to all those whom we do not know, but whom God has drawn to faith and salvation by His grace. The reason for posting the related articles has always been to expose the dangers posed by these false belief systems and to refute them. We do not post articles which oppose the “Israel Vision” and Hebrew Roots Movements in order to create a platform from which followers of these religious falsehoods, can further advertise their deceptive messages.

Neither has it been our intention to use the blog as a forum for any long-winded and, more than likely, fruitless, debate with those who are opposed to simple biblical and historical facts. By not approving many of the comments which support the South African form of British-Israelism, “Israel Vision” and Hebrew Roots Movements, we are at least able to limit, to a small degree, the exposure given to their false and deadly religious beliefs.

However, there is a group of South Africans who can rightfully lay claim to being of Jewish descent, and I’m sure that there will be many readers, and in particular many of our South African readers, who will find the following article very surprising. Continue reading →

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How We Got The Bible

John F. MacArthur, Jr.

Ever since Eve encountered Satan’s barrage of doubt and denial (Gen. 3:1-7), mankind has continued to question God’s Word. Unfortunately, Eve had little or no help in sorting through her intellectual obstacles to full faith in God’s self-disclosure (Gen. 2:16,17).

Now the Scripture certainly has more than enough content to be interrogated, considering that it’s comprised of 66 books, 1,189 chapters, 31,173 verses, and 774,746 words. When you open your English translation to read or study, you might have asked in the past or are currently asking, “How can I be sure this is the pure and true Word of God?”

A question of this kind is not altogether bad, especially when one seeks to learn with a teachable mind (Acts 17:11). The Scripture invites the kinds of queries that a sincere student asks. Continue reading →

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Torah Observance – Opposing God, Following Blind Men

Grant Swart

In keeping with previous articles on this blog regarding the Hebrew Roots Movement, the following article serves to further illustrate the severe and often deadly error in the religious teachings of the Hebrew Roots Movement (HRM). It clearly contrasts the deceiving practice of Torah Observance, as practiced by the HRM, against Christianity.

It draws our attention to the fact that the HRM does not complete or compliment Christianity, it does not fill in missing pieces, but rather it downplays and nullifies the atonement of Christ and overthrows the New Covenant and the perfect sacrifice of the Lamb of God. The teachings of the HRM remove all possibility of salvation by grace through faith.

The HRM and Christianity are not similar faiths that differ in non-essential aspects. The HRM and Christianity do not simply read from the same Book and interpret essential doctrines in different ways. Christianity does not lack that which is found in the practices and belief system of the HRM. Torah Observance is not an alternative form of Christianity and it cannot be practiced in conjunction with Christianity, it is a regressive form of religion in which there can be no forgiveness of sin or salvation.  Continue reading →

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The War Against Reason

Excerpt from Reckless Faith: When the Church Loses Its Will to Discern, © 1994 by John MacArthur.

True discernment has suffered a horrible setback in the past few decades because reason itself has been under attack within the church. As Francis Schaeffer warned nearly thirty years ago in The God Who Is There, the church is following the irrationality of secular philosophy. Consequently, reckless faith has overrun the evangelical community. Many are discarding doctrine in favor of personal experience. Others say they are willing to disregard crucial biblical distinctives in order to achieve external unity among all professing Christians. True Christianity marked by intelligent, biblical faith seems to be declining even among the most conservative evangelicals.

Continue reading →

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The Thrill of the Bungee Jump

This is an absolutely excellent post done  From Ray Comforts blog

It hit a real nerve with me  !!! I do hope it does for our dear readers here too – God bless.

Comfort Food
Read the Bible in a year: Genesis 25-26, Psalm 31, Matthew 16

I watched a video clip of a bungee jumper recently, whose cord looped around his neck. He was more than likely already dead when his friends were calling for him to take the noose off his neck and to lift his knees. This came hard on the heels of a shallow-thinking woman who jumped off a bridge in South Africa. Continue reading →

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What the Bible Says about The DOCTRINES OF GRACE

Taken by Avalon - Vernelle Imaging

Romans 9:20-24

(20) But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”  (21)  Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?  (22)  What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,  (23)  in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory–  (24)  even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?

Nathan Pitchford

“Ever since the Serpent first tempted Eve in the garden by casting doubt on God’s word and his character as he had revealed himself to her, mankind has always been engaged in the idolatrous pursuit of fashioning a god after his own imagination…There is no cure for this, but to cast off all our prior ideas of who we think God should be, or what we think he should mean when he speaks of his love, his grace, his justice, and his salvation, and to go to His Word for all our answers.” (from the Introduction)

DOCTRINES OF GRACE – CATEGORIZED SCRIPTURE LIST

God has recently given us the opportunity to discuss some theological issues with other Christians who believe differently than we do on a number of points, most notably the doctrines of grace. In such a circumstance, given the overwhelming supply of scriptural evidence that comes to bear on the topic, it seemed to me that the best approach would be a simple categorized scripture list: the fact that the entire paper would be scriptures, with the exception of a few brief explanatory notes, would underscore the truth that this is God’s own word and teaching; and the fact that it would be categorized would facilitate the ready comparison of scripture with scripture so as to lead one to a full-orbed understanding of the biblical teaching. Although I found a few good scripture lists of that nature available online, none of them was laid out in quite the progression that I was looking for, and so I developed my own. I’m posting it

Continue reading →

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The 180 Movie – “Shocking”

Why Did 8 People Turn 180 Degrees on Abortion Stance in Seconds?

http://www.180movie.com/ Award-Winning Documentary – “Shocking!” 33 minutes that will rock your world!

For more information or to order “180” on DVD, please go to: http://www.heartchanger.com