Sunday, June 12, 2011

Sabbath-Keeping, Pork and Pagan Holidays...

Today I received an email from a student who was in my youth group when I was a youth pastor. She asked some awesome questions about the Bible, specifically regarding why Christians don't typically observe the Sabbath, various Jewish Festivals and the dietary laws regarding meat, etc. Because these are such common questions, I decided to post part of my response here in case it can be of help to you!

Let's start with the question about the Sabbath, because it also ties into the other questions about meat and Jewish holidays. To put it succinctly, all of those celebrations, rituals and commands were given as part of the Old Covenant to Israel, in distinction from the New Covenant given to the Church. The Sabbath was given as a covenental sign between Yahweh and the Hebrews.

What is important to remember when we read the Scriptures is that everything changed after the cross and resurrection of Jesus. This is when the New Covenant began. Whereas God commanded His Old Covenant people to rest on the Sabbath day, the Christian tradition began immediately among the early Church based upon Sunday being the day in which Jesus rose from the dead (i.e. the first day of the week rather than the seventh). We are now free from those observances.

For example, Paul wrote in Colossians 2:16, which is a New Covenant verse, "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." Then he goes on to imply that those who get preoccupied with this stuff can become puffed up with pride. Paul also told Christians that they were free to eat anything sold in the meat market without raising any questions of conscience, because we are no longer bound by these Old Covenant regulations (1 Corinthians 10:25).

When speaking about the Old Covenant versus the New Covenant, the book of Hebrews actually goes so far as to say that the Old System of the Law of Moses is now "obsolete" and no longer valid for the Christian (see Hebrews 8:13). This does not mean that the Law is bad, for it obviously reflects a perfect standard of ethics in terms of the moral parts of the commandments, etc. The Law still serves a very important purpose - which is that it shows a sinner his or her need for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, since it proves to all humanity that every single person has in many ways fallen short of God's standard of perfection (Galatians 3:21-25 explains this very nicely).

When it comes to celebrating so-called "pagan holidays" - some legalistic groups will say that since Christmas and Easter were invented by mere men, we should therefore not celebrate them. This argument breaks down in numerous ways, most significantly because of the fact that Jesus Christ has redeemed the meaning of every day of our lives - and celebrating his birth and resurrection is a noble thing no matter what day we choose. We are free to choose ANY day (or EVERY day) as believers to formally celebrate these things, and so we are free to participate in the cultural elements of our lives as we see fit, as long as we are not condoning acts of sin or immorality by what we choose to do!

The reason Jesus celebrated the Jewish holidays is because He came to fulfill their meaning. For example, the Passover was a feast which vividly pictured our human need for a sacrificial lamb - which was ultimately fulfilled in the one, final sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Isn't that awesome? Certainly we as Christians are free to observe the ancient Jewish holidays if we want to - but we should do so with an emphasis upon how each of them point us to the fulfillment of their meaning found in Jesus Christ.

One of the things Christians sometimes forget is that when Jesus physically lived on earth, it was still technically during the Old Covenant era. The New Covenant didn't actually begin until after Christ rose from the dead - so even though the books which record Jesus's life are placed in the "New Testament" in terms of how our Bibles are organized, they are actually still about people living under the "Old Testament" up until Christ's death, burial and resurrection. Does that make sense? Understanding this will help you greatly in understanding the amazing message of the Bible and the freedom we have in Christ!

A lot of Christians erroneously believe that we are to live by the 10 Commandments - but that is not really true. The 10 Commandments are designed to lead us to discover how desperately we need Christ's forgiveness and new life! Once we receive that free gift of salvation by grace through faith, we then begin to live by the Spirit - not by the law. As Galatians 3:25 says, "Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law."

So the logical question remains, "If I'm not under the Law, how do I know how to judge the standards of morality I should live by?" And that's a great question which Jesus and the Apostles answer for us repeatedly. We now live by the love and life of the Spirit. As a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you, and you do not need the 10 Commandments to convince you that lying is wrong, or murder is wrong, or stealing is wrong, etc. You have a brand new nature, and whenever you choose to sin, the reason you feel bad is because you're behaving in a way which contradicts that new nature of Jesus Christ living in you - not because the 10 Commandments say this or that! Isn't that amazing?

This is why Paul wrote to the Galatians that "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." (Galatians 5:1). In the context of Galatians, this "yoke of slavery" is a reference to elements of the Old Covenant Law that the Christians were being duped into believing they were obligated to keep.

Jesus didn't come to abolish the Law, but rather to FULFILL the Law (Matthew 5:17). When He fulfilled the Law, that means that He lived in perfect obedience to the Law because we would fail do so. And then - as amazing as it sounds - upon our faith in Him, Christ actually exchanges HIS perfect record of obedience for our imperfect record of sin. This is why 2 Corinthians 5:21 says "God made him who had no sin (Jesus) to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

Hebrews describes Jesus as our Sabbath rest - and while for practical reasons it is wise for us to take adequate time for physical rest and deliberate worship, we are not required by Law to observe a literal Sabbath day on Saturdays. The awesome reality of the Christian life is summarized by Paul in Galatians 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Thank God that the true essence of Christianity is NOT religion, but relationship - through which God lives His life through us, using our unique gifts, talents, passions and personalities to make an impact in the world. The bottom line is this: Jesus has done it all, fulfilled it all and finished it all. Therefore, rest in His finished work and live from your identity in and through Him!