NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — “One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.” Rom. 14:5-6 (Read chapter 14)
Are we, as Christians, required to rest on the Sabbath Day and to observe the other holy days and dietary laws of the Old Covenant? The answer of God’s Word is “No.”
St. Paul wrote to the believers at Colosse: “Let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ” (Col. 2:16-17).
Jesus Christ, God the Son in human flesh, fulfilled all the requirements of the law for us, and He took upon Himself our just punishment and paid in full for all our sins when He suffered and died upon the cross androse again in victory. We are complete in Him. Through faith alone in Him and His shed blood, we have forgiveness for all our sins and the everlasting joys of heaven. We need not add anything to His perfect atoning sacrifice for our salvation! Cf. Col. 1 and 2.
And, since Christ has fulfilled all the demands of the law for us, we are not bound by the the Old Testament worship laws or required to observe certain days and eat only certain foods. Yet, though we have freedom in Christ to worship on any day we choose and eat any food God provides us (cf. 1 Tim. 4:1-5), Christian love moves us to consider those whose conscience is weak and not, by the exercise of our liberty, cause a weak brother or sister to sin against his or her own conscience (cf. v. 23).
Paul writes: “I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do notdestroy with your food the one for whom Christ died” (v. 14-15).
Thus, we do not sin against our God and Savior if we should work on Saturday or eat foods which were forbidden under the Old Covenant, for we have been redeemed and made free by Christ. In Him we stand and are acceptable before God (cf. Eph. 1:6-7). However, in the exercise of our freedom in Christ, we avoid causing weak brothers or sisters to sin against their own consciences, for we recognize that they too are redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus and we would want to do nothing to cause them to stumble or fall in their faith in Christ Jesus.
O Lord God, our heavenly Father, we thank You for making us complete in Christ Jesus - for the sake of His atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. Grant that we exercise our freedom in love toward our fellow believers. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Devotion by Randy Moll. Scripture taken
from the New King James Version®.
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Opinion, Pages 6 on 10/17/2012