Also I think we should settle once and for all this notion of whether we - the body of Christ - are to judge or correct the body of Christ in matters of their faith walk...or at least wrestle with what scripture says before trying to tackle particulars like the Sabbath.
Examples from OT, to the Messiah, to NT:
- Leviticus 19:15
"You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly.
- Deuteronomy 1:16
At that time I charged your judges: "Hear the disputes between your brothers, and judge fairly between a man and his brother or a foreign resident.
- Psalm 58:1,2
Do you indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do you judge uprightly
- Zechariah 7:9
"This is what the LORD of Hosts says: 'Administer true justice. Show loving devotion and compassion to one another.
- John 7:24 (Messiah)
Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
- Matthew 7:1-5 (Messiah)
Judge not, lest ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, FIRST take the plank out of your own eye, AND THEN you will see clearly TO REMOVE the speck from your brother’s eye.
^In full context; not a commandment not to judge, but a commandment not to be a hypocrite, i.e. JUDGE RIGHTEOUSLY; "practice what you preach", which is in harmony with what he also said in John 7:24.
Luke 17:3 (Messiah)
So watch yourselves. "If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them.
^A sin is a transgression against Yah's law. Here's an example of direct instruction to judge and rebuking someone who breaks Yah's law against us (such as one of the commandments regarding how to love our neighbors).
- ANY of Paul's letters to believers ANYWHERE.
Paul is not the head of this body, and yet Paul judged and reproved converts on their walk AND sins. Paul even judged Peter for wrongdoing. Paul is an equal member of the body judging another member of the body in their walk, so wouldn't he be braking his own instructions in Colossians 2:16 by his actions?
Consider for a moment; what sense would it make to write a long letter reproving believers in other sections only to say in one section, "let no man judge you..."? What, "no man" like Paul? Such instructions are completely contradictory to Paul's efforts elsewhere, including Christ's words regarding righteous judgment.
So we have to reexamine the Colossians passage since it the only passage that doesn't seem to fit the rest of scripture regarding the same topic. The italicized words in the passage don't fit the rest of Yah's instruction in scripture.
- Ephesians 4:11-13
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying [i.e. building] of the body of Christ: UNTIL we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:
^It's literally some members job in the body to perfect the faith walk of the members of the body, this requires judgment, as designated by Yah. Judgment is not the same as condemnation.
- Peter's letters to believers...James'...Jude's...John's letter
NONE of these men are the head of the body and yet EACH of these members of the body judged the body on what the body was and wasn't meant to do in their faith walk.
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So based on scripture, we ARE to judge & reprove & edify the body of Christ in their walk as different members of the body, yet with one spirit. I think we're making a doctrine out of a single passage in one of Paul's letters that was corrupted with italics, which is - the corruption itself, that is - contradictory to the very purpose for which the letter was written to the Colossians: to judge & reprove & edify the body of Christ in their walk.
All judgment should be in righteousness and in love for edification of the body.
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Next the question is, what does "Judge in righteousness" mean? And how does that relate to the Sabbath?
Well "Righteous" = Sedeq (Heb) = "accurate, fairly, just, just cause, justice, rightly, what is right." And there is only one standard that determines accuracy/fairness/justice/what is right, and that is the Law of Yah. So to be righteous (Sedeq) is to be lawful. And when we sin (i.e. break Yah's law) we are no longer righteous and must be cleansed. But there is no law that can cleanse us of our sin, it can only determine what's right and wrong, so we need Christ's blood to cleanse us (through faith). And then when we are justified/cleanse again we're expected to be righteous and "sin no more" (i.e. to obey Yah's law).
So to "judge in righteousness" means to judge in "what's right" based on the royal law of Yah, through the Spirit. And one of His laws is "remember the Sabbath and keep it holy".
So let's remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. We are set-apart for a reason. Christ brought us out of the world without condemnation as we were, and now we are to be sanctified into a holy priesthood. We should be operating less and less like the rest of the world and more and more like Christ did, as time passes in this faith walk. "Attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ".
