IF your faith in the merits of Christ's righteousness does not result in OBEDIENCE TO HIS 10c, are you still saved?

Gerry

Thief on the Cross

Who told you that you were obeying? Obedience is 100% compliance to the law. Nothing less...

No, God is not the creator of sin.

The fact of sin today does not at all detract from God's being the creator of a perfect world THEN. The fact of sin also does not affect the immutability of the Ten Commandments.

We were sinners and imperfect when God spoke and wrote the Ten Commandments. Those words include the Sabbath as a memorial of creation. That fact alone proves that sin in the world does not affect the fourth commandment.

Sin in the world actually makes the Sabbath as memorial even more important because it gives us time for needed rest and for consideration of God as our Creator and Lord. He saves us from sin and will make the world perfect again. These are all great reasons to keep the Sabbath, just as Hebrews 4: 9 says. Every time we rest as God did, we are reminded of the heavenly peace that awaits us. The Sabbath rest each week is compared positively to the rest of faith that we experience in Jesus and to the ultimate salvation in heaven.

Notice that it does not say that we rest because the world is perfect today. That is never mentioned in any of the verses dealing with the Sabbath. "Resting AS God did" cannot mean "Resting for the same reason." It means resting like God did. How did God rest? By ceasing His work. Therefore, every Sabbath that we cease our work as God ceased from His work, we show and are reminded that we have entered by faith into God's salvation.

NKJV-- having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children.

NASB-- having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children;

According to 2 Peter 2: 14, who cannot cease from sin?

Answer: those that walk after the flesh (v. 10).

(It is obvious that not all are walking after the flesh and that some people are ceasing from sin. Who are ceasing from sin?)

Paul and John give the same answer. (See Rom. 8: 4-8; 1 John 3:9; 5:18.)

Do any of these verses assume that "ceasing from sin" means never sinning or not being sinful?

Does 1 John 5: 5 say that no one can keep the commandments of God?

That verse only makes sense if some people are keeping the
commandments of God.

In your mind, are they legalists? I hope not. Remember they are keeping the commandments of God because of the Holy Spirit and because of their faith-based relationship with Christ.

NOTICE THAT NONE OF THESE VERSES DISCOUNT OR CONTRADICT 1 JOHN 1: 8-10.

God realizes that the thief on the cross heard of Jesus and accepted him only in the last hours of his life. God holds us responsible according to our own knowledge and opportunities, not the knowledge and opportunities that other people have.

Remember the parable of the men hired to work in the vineyard. Some workers received the same payment even though they only worked for a few minutes. What does that have to do with those of us who were "hired" much earlier in the day?

To the person to whom God gives much, much will be required.

The point is that the thief put all of his faith in Christ and in His promise. We don't know any more than that. We can be sure there was a change in his life from that moment on. Even the Roman centurion who watched Jesus die said, "Surely this was a good man." If it affected the Roman officer that way, you can be certain it would have had a great affect on the thief who ended up putting all his faith in Christ.

Spin!

The commandment says nothing like this. Do you just make this stuff up as you go? I mean how many different reasons must you make up to "keep the Sabbath"? Maybe you can come up with hundreds of rules, just as the Pharisees did!

More spin! This is a subtle from of legalism. We are saved by faith from faith to faith.

Nothing in that reply answered the above....Nothing!

I didn't say the commandment in Exodus 20 says this. I am saying that Hebrews 4: 9, 10 teaches this.

See below--

9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.

9 So there is still a Sabbath rest for God's people. 10 God rested from his work. Those who enjoy God's rest also rest from their work.

Given the fact that Paul's readers were Christian Sabbath-keepers, I believe the message here is obvious: the writer of Hebrews is saying that when we rest from our own works on the Sabbath-- ceasing from our labors like God ceased from his work-- we are reminded that salvation is ours by faith now and that this salvation will be fully realized in heaven.

The important point often overlooked is that this is a positive association of the Sabbath with salvation, and there is nothing in it indicating that the Sabbath is a thing of the past. The Sabbath in fact is viewed as a pointer to something yet future. Therefore, it seems unreasonable to assume that the symbol would be done away with before the thing it symbolized is realized.