the Sabbath

I cannot argue with you on that one, I don't know why i did not changed it later I guess I forgot. I was about 20 when Jesus appeared briefly in front of me, it was then my understanding changed forever, I belong to Christ and will follow no other.

Peace

sorry something happened with my reply see post 1140 and scroll down from your post the answer is below.

At least we agree on many of my main points in my post. So what do you believe it means to believe the gospel? (Romans 1:16) Where do you draw the line in the sand on believing the gospel and not believing the gospel?

End of the law...... I can steal cars, I can covet, I can take God name in vain and forget the sabbath... oh this is easy, no law , to keep, the law is ended when Jesus died. No need to repent. No guilt.

OR.... End of the law.... means Jesus was the result of the law, the end result of keeping the law. JESUS is the keeping of the law in the flesh. The greatest example of righteousness by keeping the law..

Did Jesus keep the law perfectly?

So can we transgress it without guilt?
No....

Jesus perfectly obeied so that we could be give His righteousness by faith (Justification). And so Jesus could live in us and help us keep it perfectly (sanctification).

The righteousness of Jesus is what makes us perfect by faith. But not so that sin could be acceptable. Repentance is what we are asked to do. If there is no law to repent of why are we asked to repent.

Act 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
Mat 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Heb 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

To believe is not simply a passive action but requires action, what good does it do if we believe in Christ and his teachings but do not put them in practice or at least try to imitate him by his actions, his works. Jesus announced the kingdom of Heaven and repentance meaning to turn away from sin, Paul focused on the death of Christ and resurrection and salvation by grace, of course Salvation was given by the grace of GOD through Christ who paid the penalty of sin for us, the penalty of sin was nailed to the cross, not the commandments of GOD that define sin however.

Unfortunately many believe that the commandments are null and void due to lack of comprehension, or wrongful teachings that have been repeated in churches for hundred of years. At the end there is only one truth. As proof i offer a few verse from Paul on the Law or Commandments;
Rom 7:12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.
Rom 3:29 Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,
Rom 3:30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.
Rom 3:31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Certainly not! Instead, we uphold the law.

Following the commandments is the proof of our faith to GOD and Love for him.

What does it mean to be dead to the law?

Dead to the penalty of the law, since Jesus paid the price with his blood, with his life, it is his testament he left for us all who believe in him and do the will of Our Father in Heaven.

Mat 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
Mat 26:27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
Mat 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Never Jesus mentioned the commandments were removed, same for the sabbath.

You left out something. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. (Romans 10:4) So, belief in Christ for salvation ends our futile quest for righteousness through imperfect attempts to save ourselves through our efforts to obey the law. You shall not steal. - Romans 13:9-10; Ephesians 4:28. You shall not covet. - Romans 13:9-10; Ephesians 5:3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. - 1 Timothy 6:1; James 2:7. Keep the sabbath day holy. - Not binding on the Church - Colossians 2:16-17.

Since the old covenant has been made obsolete, does this leave us with no moral direction? Absolutely not. God made obsolete the old covenant to legally put into place the new covenant. (2 Corinthians 3:6-9; Hebrews 8:6-13) The life of discipleship flows out of the new command, to love one another as He loved us (John 13:34), which Paul refers to as the "law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2) Love fulfills the law' (Romans 13:8-10) and out of this single command comes other commands, including references for the moral aspect of 9 of the 10 commandments which are reiterated under the new covenant, yet the command to keep the sabbath day is not binding on Christians under the new covenant.

1. You shall have no other gods before Me. - Acts 14:15
2. You shall make no idols. - 1 John 5:21
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. - 1 Timothy 6:1; James 2:7; James 5:12
4. Keep the sabbath day holy. - Not binding on the Church - Colossians 2:16-17
5. Honor your father and your mother. - Ephesians 6:1-2
6. You shall not murder. - Romans 13:9-10; 1 John 3:15
7. You shall not commit adultery. - Romans 13:9-10; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
8. You shall not steal. - Romans 13:9-10; Ephesians 4:28
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. - Romans 13:9-10; Colossians 3:9-10
10. You shall not covet. - Romans 13:9-10; Ephesians 5:3

Again, Christ ends our futile quest for righteousness through imperfect attempts to save ourselves through our efforts to obey the law.

Yes, and Jesus was without sin. (Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5) Unlike mankind who is not without sin. (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10)

None of us have flawlessly kept the law. ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God and the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 3:23; 6:23)

Repentance does not mean sinless perfection. God imputes righteousness apart from works. (Romans 4:5-6) It's not our own righteousness, which is of the law, but the righteousness of God which is by faith. (Philippians 3:9) You keep trying to "shoehorn" sinless perfection and law keeping into the equation.

Romans 3:24 - being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.

At the moment of salvation, we are sanctified - set apart/made holy in standing before God positionally in Christ. 1 Corinthians 6:11 - Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Yet the reality of that holiness becomes more and more evident in our actions, words, thoughts, attitudes, and motives. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4, we read - For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor.

So, becoming washed, sanctified and justified in Christ is a one-time event and is not a process, yet abstaining from sexual immorality is not a one-time event, but an ongoing process. The believer possesses a positional, judicial standing of righteousness in Christ and, second, an ongoing process of growth in practical, progressive holiness which becomes increasingly evident in our actions, words, thoughts, attitudes, and motives. It's not about Jesus helping us to perfectly keep the law and save ourselves.

Repentance is a "change of mind" and the new direction of that change of mind is believe/believe the gospel/faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. (Matthew 21:32; Mark 1:15; Acts 20:21) Two sides to the same coin. Repentance is not defined as will never sin again. We are not sinless, without fault or defect, flawless, 100% of the time. (1 John 1:8-10)

Putting the teachings of Christ into practice is the fruit of believing. (Matthew 7:17) Children of God practice righteousness and not sin. (1 John 3:7-10) If we believe in/have faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, then we are trusting in Him as the ALL-SUFFICIENT means of our salvation. Now this belief/faith does result in actions appropriate to the belief (to one degree or the other/all genuine believers are fruitful, yet not all are equally fruitful - Matthew 13:23) - but the actions are NOT INHERENT in the belief/faith. Belief/faith is not defined as works.

When we repent unto salvation, we "change our mind" and place our faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ as the ALL-SUFFICIENT means of our salvation. (Acts 11:17,18; 15:7-9) The Bible also tells us that true repentance will result in a change of actions. Acts 26:20 declares, "I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds." This is the fruit of repentance (Matthew 3:8) and not the essence of repentance (change of mind). Certain people confuse the "fruit of repentance" with the "essence of repentance" (and also do the same thing with faith) and end up teaching salvation by works.

See post #1,148.

In regard to Romans 3:31, we establish or uphold the law (Romans 3:31) by putting our faith in the One who fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the law on our behalf and who offers us His perfect righteousness as a free gift. (Romans 4:5-6) For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. (Romans 10:4) If the law, as a legal system, is still binding on us today, then Jesus was wrong in claiming to fulfill it and His sacrifice on the cross was insufficient to save us. Thank God, Jesus fulfilled the whole law and now grants us His righteousness as a free gift. (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8; Philippians 3:9)

1 John 2:3 - By this we know that we have come to know Him, (already know Him/already saved/demonstrative evidence) if we "keep" (Greek word "tereo" - guard, observe, watch over) His commandments. (This is descriptive of genuine believers) 4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep (guard, observe, watch over) His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (That is descriptive of unbelievers)

Strong's Greek: 5083. τηρέω (téreó) -- to watch over, to guard (biblehub.com)

John is not talking about flawlessly obeying the 10 commandments under the law of Moses here.

So are we saved by believing/faith or are we saved by actions/works? I was once in a discussion with a Roman Catholic who made this statement below in blue:

We are saved by faith - as long as you properly define "Faith". Faith is not simply "believing". Faith INCLUDES: Being water baptized, Eating His body and drinking His blood/partaking the Lord's Supper during Mass, works of mercy and charity, obeying his commandments etc..

Roman Catholics basically teach that we are saved by faith "infused" with works and I hear people who attend the church of Christ say that we are saved by faith "conjoined" with works. Both groups re-define faith to "include" works and end up trying to "shoehorn" works "into" salvation through faith, not works. (Ephesians 2:8,9) Work-salvationists will basically take faith and works then wrap them both up in a package and simply stamp "faith" on the package.

Hi Mailman,

I see that many people put too much weight on the words of Paul and forget again and again the teachings of Christ. If Paul said the same things as Christ there would be no arguments on this and any other forum. Paul is difficult to understand the way he writes is sometimes contradictory. I urge everyone to return to the teachings of Christ he is the way to eternal life. You cannot and will never go wrong if you follow his teachings. Jesus is the son of God who sits on the right of our Holy Father in Heaven, he did all things, gave us everything not Paul. We have to give importance to the words of Jesus above all else and not place Jesus in rank 2 behind Paul. When there is a discrepancy in the teachings we must follow Jesus teachings. what It means to believe in Christ, is to do as he asks, to proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven and to repent, abandon sin as defined by the commandments. It is not to constantly debate the law and commandments of GOD but also to teach them.

Peace

I am preparing a new post and will have less time to reply but I eventually will if needed.

I was raised as a catholic, in the province of Quebec, I totally disagree with most of their teachings, they are idolaters and place importance on the ritual instead of loving their neighbours, most but not all are liars and thieves who prey on the week and elderly. I am not certain what they teach today however as I have abandoned their way a long time ago when I started to read the Bible myself.

Thats your definition of believe? As in whosoever "believes" in Hin shall not perish but have eternal life? (John 3:16) Just as I suspected. That is salvation by works. You mentioned nothing about trusting in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ for salvation. (Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4) You also downplay the teachings of Paul which he received from Christ. (Galatians 1:11-12)

No, its not salvation by works, it is righteousness by faith. We are only saved by Jesus through His blood by faith. Those who are saved live differently than the lost. Rev 14:12 You said so yourself, if we are sinning (breaking God's law) we are not in Christ.

Regarding John 3:16, everyone stops there, but John kept going. . .

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

Here John makes the clear distinction that believing in Jesus is related to our obedience to Him. Those who choose to do evil (sin) does not come to the light because their deeds are evil, but we are called to come to the Truth (light) so our deeds can be exposed. This is what the Ten Commandments does- it shows us our sin/deeds just like a mirror. Rom 7:7 Romans 3:20 James 1:22-24 When we bury our sins (stay in darkness) we don't confess or forsake them and therefore God can't give us His mercy and grace and give us the power to help overcome. Proverbs 28:13 Those who seek God want to come to the Truth so Jesus can help us overcome our sins. Our salvation is from sin Mat 1:21 not in sin.

It's just common sense- if we believe we would believe His teaching and have faith to do them, not to be saved, but because one is saved.

God's will is we don't sin, as that separates us from God Isa 59:2 and shows we have another father 1 John 3:8 and why God doesn't want us to rebel against what He wrote in our hearts and minds. Heb 8:10 which is His will Psa 40:8

You cannot use one verse but all of them they are all linked and complete each other, you know the scripture;

James 2:19 (KJV)
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

and no I never said salvation by works. works cannot save you but they prove you love the lord and your neighbour. Jesus explains it perfectly well;

Mat 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
Mat 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Mat 5:15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Mat 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

I am telling you Jesus told us everything and explained it all and did it all.


Peace

If you go to the cemetery, how many of the dead people are being arrested for breaking the law?

Jesus is our judge, not me.

"And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, (WAIT! Did Paul just say that what was written by God's hand was wiped out?!) which was contrary to us.(Oh!, Okay, not for all people, just for 'US' and 'us' means '..the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse'. So for the saints and faithful.)

Paul continues...

"And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it."

Disarmed principalities and powers? How was that accomplished? We must first know what their power was. Paul actually wrote about that too:

"The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law."

Ah, so for us who are saints in Christ, the strength of sin, which is the law, was taken away.

"Are we sure Paul was talking about the the law AND the 10 Commandments?"

Well, let's see..

16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths..."

There it is: "..let no one judge you in sabbaths."

Are these 'sabbath preachers' judging you because you don't follow the sabbath?

Of course, they are calling us disobedient to Jesus, claiming He'll say "I never knew you", "Depart from me you workers of iniquity...", etc.

How can anyone be blind to this?

I'm trying to broaden your understanding of what it means to be dead to sin. It does mean as you suggested. The penalty of sin is no more for the believer. But the same power that resurrected Jesus from the dead is at work in us. It is possible to live as those in the graveyard and not have the law affect your life; not only having the penalty of sin done away with, but its power on your life.

Do you believe this is possible?

Jas 1:19 My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,
Jas 1:20 for man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness that God desires.
Jas 1:21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and every expression of evil, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save your souls.
Jas 1:22 Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.
Jas 1:23 For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror,
Jas 1:24 and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
Jas 1:25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does.
Jas 1:26 If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless.
Jas 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.