UCG has an article from John Elliot on why the Sabbath is still commanded for UCG members, which ultimately leads to this comment about "upgrading" their observance standards and actions:
All humans are imperfect and we need to “upgrade” our Sabbath observance to fully keep it holy in accordance with both God’s original and His magnified commands. When we observe the Sabbath properly, it is a two-way sign identifying the true God and identifying His true children (Exodus 31:13-17).
Elliot seems to forget that the children of God are identified in a better way than through sabbath keeping. Their identity is secured in Christ, not in a day. Their rest is in Christ, not in a day when they turn on their TV's so they can sing along with Jelly about the Sabbath.
The Ten Commandments and all the Law remain in force today (Matthew 5:18). The Ten Commandments alone did not fully exemplify God’s mindset, nor did they completely codify God’s Law for the New Covenant saints. Consequently, Jesus came, in part, to “fill-full/magnify” them to their full spiritual intent (Matthew 5:17).
Jewish leaders of His day were considered examples of obedience to the letter of the Law within their culture. But Jesus said that unless our righteousness exceeds theirs, we will not even be in God’s Kingdom (Matthew 5:20). From the President...
The seventh-day Sabbath was the covenant sign of the Mosaic Law given to national Israel. Christians are under the New Covenant, in which Christ is our rest (Matthew 11:28–30; Hebrews 4). We are free to honor any day (or no day) as special, but no day, including Saturday, is commanded or required. That is why the overwhelming majority of Christians throughout history and today do not treat the seventh-day Sabbath as binding.
3 comments:
When Jesus says our righteousness needs to exceed that of the religious leaders, He wasn’t stating they were righteous. They weren’t. He wasn’t giving anyone a pep talk to “try harder” in fact all of that would make people feel very depressed. Because an honest assessment of anyone would show, we are NOT righteous, nor can a sincere believer ever think they can on their own, be righteous. No one is righteous, nor will ever be considered righteous.
“as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;”
Romans 3:10 ESV
Only in Christ are any of us considered righteous. And His righteousness is counted as our righteousness.
“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:”
Romans 3:21-22 ESV
And yes, Believing is what is required of children of God. Not a mainstream idea, but rather instruction from Jesus Himself.
Believe.
Hope this helps someone.
It is most convenient for UCG (and others) to demand a sabbath and law upgrade because coming with that is the all important demand for tithes which they falsely claim applies today.
Yes helps and best to you as the New Year approaches
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