Entender El Día De Reposo

 

ENTENDER EL DÍA DEL SÁBADO

Parte 1

¿Debería un cristiano observar el sábado del séptimo día?

El tiempo es muy importante para Dios. La Biblia habla mucho sobre el tiempo. Aquí hay un ejemplo: ¡El libro de Daniel predijo que algún día habría un poder en la tierra tan influyente que realmente intentaría cambiar el tiempo! Hay muchas profecías importantes en el libro de Daniel. Veamos el de Daniel 7 donde nos cuenta sobre cuatro grandes imperios que gobiernan el mundo. Estos reinos no son de Dios. Son del mundo. Ellos son de Satanás. Segundo Corintios 4: 4 dice que Satanás es el “dios de este mundo”. Su trono está aquí.

Y, en estos cuatro reinos mundanos, Daniel 7 cuenta sobre un sistema de gobierno que intenta hacer algo increíble. Leamos el versículo 25:

“Y él pronunciará grandes palabras contra el Altísimo, y desgastará [es decir, afligirá] a los santos del Altísimo, y pensará en cambiar los tiempos y las leyes …”.

¿Qué significa cuando dice que este sistema de gobierno “pensará en cambiar los tiempos”? Aquí hay tres ejemplos:

  • Dios comienza su año en la primavera, pero este sistema de gobierno profetizado en Daniel 7:25 comienza su nuevo año en pleno invierno.

  • Dios comienza sus meses en la luna nueva, pero este sistema de gobierno comienza sus meses en cualquier momento, independientemente de cualquier observación lunar.

  • Dios comienza su día alrededor del atardecer, pero este sistema de gobierno comienza su día en medio de la noche.

Dios tiene su manera de calcular el tiempo, pero (como resultado de este sistema que fue profetizado en Daniel) el mundo ha creado un sistema falso de cálculo del tiempo. Y gran parte de esta falsificación gira alrededor de qué día deben ser observados como santos por los creyentes del gran Dios de la Biblia.

Es importante que un cristiano sepa si Dios espera que los cristianos observen un día de descanso. Y si lo hace, ¿qué día es? ¿Es viernes como la mayoría de los musulmanes creen? ¿Es domingo como la mayoría de los cristianos creen? ¿Es sábado, que la mayoría cree que solo los judíos deberían observarlo? ¿O podría ser el día de descanso de Dios cualquier día de la semana que elijas?

Pregúntese: “¿Voy a las Escrituras solo para ‘probar’ lo que ya creo? ¿O busco en las Escrituras la verdad que Dios me ha dado “. Deberíamos tener hambre y sed de justicia. Nunca deberíamos seguir los movimientos del estudio de la Biblia para justificar alguna posición. Con suerte, tienes un amor genuino por la verdad. Con suerte, está dispuesto a cambiar lo que cree si descubre que está equivocado.

Ahora, todos en el cristianismo están de acuerdo en que el sábado del séptimo día fue creado por Dios. Y la mayoría está de acuerdo en que los días de Dios comienzan y terminan alrededor del atardecer, no a medianoche.

Leamos Génesis 2: 2–3 :

And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

Notice that God blessed the seventh-day Sabbath. And he sanctified it. So we see that the weekly Sabbath was created by God in the first week of Creation—long before Moses ever went up to Mt. Sinai to communicate with God. The Sabbath existed before the Ten Commandments were given to the Israelite people.

Now let’s read Genesis 1:5: “The evening and the morning were the first day.” In other words, the beginning of God’s days started at the dark part of the day, that is, around sunset.

Later in the Torah, we find God instructing the Hebrews on when the day begins. Leviticus 23:32 says, “From evening to evening, you shall celebrate your Sabbath.”

We get the word “evening” from the word “even” which means to divide something evenly into two equal halves. Evening is when the sun is even on the horizon during the start of the dark part of the day.  When you can see just half of the sun as it sets, it’s evenly divided at that point. And when the sun is evenly divided, this is the end of one day and the beginning of another. This is not just a biblical definition of the word “evening.” This is the same definition that can be found in secular dictionaries.

So we can clearly see that God created, blessed, and sanctified the seventh-day Sabbath. And we can clearly see that God’s days begin around sunset—at evening.

Also, it’s interesting to note that God only named one day of the week—the Sabbath. He gave no names to the other six days of the week. The Bible only refers to those days as the first day, second day, third day, etc. The names of the days we have now are man’s names. And man chose to name these days after pagan gods. For example, Thursday is named after the god, Thor. Monday is named after the moon. Wednesday is named after the god, Voden. The seventh day of the week is so special to God that He named it Himself.

It is so fascinating how the word “Sabbath” has carried through to the current languages of the world today. English is not typical in how it labels the seventh day of the week. In English, we call it Saturday. We have named it after the god, Saturn. Many other languages don’t come up with some artificial name like Saturn’s Day for the seventh day of the week. Instead, they actually use the word “Sabbath” to label the seventh day of the week.

For example, if you talk to a Spanish speaking person about meeting him later in the week, you would say, “I’ll meet you on Sabado at 7:00 a.m. They call the seventh day of the week Sabado.

Here are examples of other languages:

  • Italian: Sabato

  • Arabic: Sabet

  • Armenian: Shabat

  • Polaco, eslovaco y checo: Sobota

  • Croata: Subota

  • Ruso: Subbota

Ahora, investiguemos si el sábado de Dios fue eliminado o no. Comenzamos nuestra investigación mirando la vida de Jesús. Veamos Marcos 1: 38–39 :

“Y él les dijo: Vayamos al pueblo de al lado, para que yo también predique allí; porque por eso salí. Y predicó en sus sinagogas por toda Galilea, y expulsó demonios.

Encontramos esto verificado por Lucas 4:16 que Jesús predicó en las sinagogas. Bueno, si Jesús predicó en las sinagogas, ¿qué día crees que predicó en esas sinagogas? Por qué, en el séptimo día de reposo, por supuesto. Si predicara en una sinagoga en un día que no sea el día de reposo del séptimo día, probablemente estaría vacío. Ahora, alguien va a decir: “Por supuesto que predicó en las sinagogas el sábado porque era cuando los judíos estaban en esas sinagogas. Tenía que ir allí el día de reposo o echaría de menos estar allí con la gente “.

Vamos a seguir leyendo.

En Marcos 2:23 , encontramos un incidente en el que los discípulos de Jesús estaban caminando a través de un campo de grano y comenzaron a arrancar grano y comerlo directamente de la planta. Esta acción hizo que fueran condenados por los líderes religiosos que dijeron que los discípulos estaban haciendo algo mal. Y note lo que Jesús dice en respuesta en los versículos 27 y 28:

“Y él les dijo: El sábado fue hecho para el hombre, y no el hombre para el sábado; Por lo tanto, el Hijo del hombre es Señor también del sábado “.

¿Dijo Jesús: “Tengo el poder de eliminar el sábado”? ¿Dijo Jesús: “El sábado pronto será eliminado después de mi crucifixión y resurrección”? No. ¡Reconoció que el sábado existía! ¡Y señaló que era el Señor de ese día!

And this claim that Jesus made shouldn’t surprise us. The first chapter of the Gospel of John shows how Jesus has existed from eternity. He didn’t just come into being in Bethlehem in His earthly birth. Like His Father, Jesus has always existed. He was alive during Creation and was and is Lord of the Sabbath day that was blessed and sanctified during Creation week.

Christians are confused by this Mark 23 verse, thinking that Jesus was doing away or cancelling some Old Testament commandment that His disciples were breaking. There is no biblical command that the disciples were breaking by plucking grain just like there was no biblical command that the lame man was breaking by carrying his mat after Jesus healed him. The Pharisees were talking about extra-biblical commands instituted by the Pharisees themselves. Jesus never broke or taught the breaking of any biblical commandments, but He did teach against the pharisaical commandments that men added to God’s Word.

It must always be remembered that Jesus never did away with the Sabbath or the Ten Commandments. The disagreements that Jesus had with the religious leaders of His time were never about His desire to do away with the teachings of the Torah. Rather, Jesus’ disagreement with the Pharisees was over what they added to the Torah. He took great exception to the traditions of the elders. That’s why He said the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. The religious leaders had made the Sabbath a burden, when God intended it to be a delight.

¿Por qué hay tanta confusión sobre esto en las iglesias? ¿Es porque leemos las Escrituras desde una perspectiva gentil, occidental y de habla inglesa? ¿Por qué los predicadores dicen que Jesús abolió la ley cuando las propias palabras de Jesús dijeron: “No piensen que vine a destruir la ley sino a cumplirla! El cielo y la tierra pasarán, pero ninguna jota o tilde de la ley pasará jamás “.

La palabra “cumplir” en griego es pleroo (4137). Significa “predicar completamente”. ¿Cómo nos confundimos tanto que muchos piensan que la palabra “cumplir” es lo mismo que destruir? Primero Juan 3: 8 nos dice que por esta razón se nos manifestó el Hijo de Dios, aquí está; espérelo: “para que pueda destruir las obras del diablo”. ¿Cómo confundimos esto y pensamos que Él vino a destruir la Ley?

Ahora, ¿qué dice Jesús sobre el sábado en el futuro? Bueno, sus propias palabras muestran que sus seguidores guardarían el sábado en el año 70 dC en el momento de la destrucción del templo.

En Mateo 24:20 , Él dice: “Pero oren para que su huida no sea en invierno, ni en el día de reposo”.

Este versículo, como muchas profecías en la Biblia, se dio con un cumplimiento parcial que fue la destrucción de Jerusalén en el año 70 DC. Pero Mateo 24 es realmente una profecía sobre el cumplimiento final durante la aparición del anticristo durante la Gran Tribulación. Sabemos que Mateo 24 está hablando de la tribulación del tiempo del fin (no solo de los eventos del año 70 DC) porque justo en el mismo capítulo Él dice …

  • “For then will be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to that day nor ever shall be” (verse 21). The destruction of Jerusalem is not the Great Tribulation which Jesus said will be the worst time on planet earth…ever.

  • “Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of man and all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven” (verse 30). This never happened in AD 70 because, when Jesus comes, it says in Revelation 6:16 that they will cry out to the rocks and mountains: “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand?”

If Jesus’ followers were to conclude that His resurrection ended Sabbath observance, He would have made no reference to the Sabbath observance by His followers over thirty years after His resurrection and during the destruction of Jerusalem and in the Great Tribulation many centuries after His resurrection, just before His Second Coming. Jesus never taught His followers to abandon the Sabbath. And neither did His apostles talk about abandoning the Sabbath in their teachings and observances following their receiving the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.

Jesus’ followers continued to observe the Sabbath long after His death. Notice:

Acts 17:2: “And Paul, as was his custom, went in unto them, and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures.”

Acts 18:4: “And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.”

Acts 13:14–15: “But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down. And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.”

Acts 13:44: “And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.”

There is no evidence whatsoever that the earliest Christians were worshiping on Sunday. Sunday worship came to Christianity later as Gentile influences infiltrated the Body of Christ and corrupted the teachings of Moses and the apostles.

Some say that the New Testament shows the early church keeping the first day of the week. This is not true. In the pagan Roman Empire, the most honored day was the venerable day of the sun. This was the day businesses were closed and people didn’t work. Of course this would be a great day to collect money for the less fortunate since it wasn’t permitted to take money to the synagogues on the Sabbath day. The New Testament mentions the first day of the week only eight times, and none of them mean anything at all about attending worship services on Sunday. (See Part 4 of this booklet for more information.)

Right now, you’re probably asking this question: “Well, if Jesus and His disciples didn’t do away with the Sabbath or change it to another day of the week, then why are all these churches worshipping on Sunday? Surely, two billion Christians can’t be wrong. Right?”

To find our answer to this question, we have to look at history a few hundred years after the death of Jesus. During the years between 200 and about 400, AD, there was a definite bias against anything Jewish in the Roman Empire. The Roman government banned things like circumcision, sacrificing, observing the Passover on the 14th of Nisan, and the seventh-day Sabbath. Again, just as we saw in many parts of Europe in the 1930s and 1940s, anti-Semitism prevailed in the Roman Empire.

It became expedient for Christians in Rome to differentiate themselves from Jews by keeping Sunday instead of the seventh day. At that time, Christians and Jews had many similarities. For example, they both revered the Hebrew Scriptures. But many Christians decided (for their own safety and convenience) they needed to put distance between themselves and the Jews. In the process, they accepted many pagan practices of the many religions of Rome. Many decided to begin worshipping God on the day named after the sun.

By the time Emperor Constantine officially recognized Christianity as an acceptable religion in the fourth century, he put the power of the empire behind Sunday observance. From then on, Sunday became established as the “Christian Sabbath.” By the time of the Protestant Reformation, Sunday was so established that even the great Reformers couldn’t dislodge it from their liturgy even though they claimed authority from the Bible and the Bible alone. Today, Sunday observance is based solely on tradition and not on Scripture.

As modern science continues to learn more about the human body, the more they recognize that people actually need a day of rest. Of course, they don’t recommend which day we should rest, but they’re coming to agreement more and more that people need a day of rest. This is one more piece of science that backs up the Bible.

Mankind was created by God, and God has provided us with a manual in the same way Ford provides a manual for each car it produces. The manual for man is the Bible. Will you follow the manual that was put together by your Creator? Will you obey His commands? Once you start obeying God’s laws, it won’t take you long to figure out that His laws are not a bunch of selfish do’s and don’ts created by a mean god for the purpose of holding us back from what we want to do. God’s laws were made to help us find the only true happiness that exists. We only find happiness thru the blood of Jesus and obedience to His Father.

El sábado es tan importante que Dios incluyó un mandato sabático en el Decálogo, los Diez Mandamientos. Hoy, los cristianos están ansiosos por promover los Diez Mandamientos al predicar contra el asesinato, el adulterio, dar falso testimonio, etc. Pero no llegan a promover el Cuarto Mandamiento como está escrito en Éxodo 20. Dios creía que la observancia del sábado era tan importante que la incluyó en Los Diez Mandamientos que abraza el cristianismo. ¿Por qué lo incluiría en los Mandamientos y luego lo sacaría después de la resurrección de Jesús? Como vimos en las Escrituras que acabamos de leer, Dios no retiró el Cuarto Mandamiento del Decálogo. Todavía está ahí para nosotros hoy. Y, como los otros nueve mandamientos, está ahí para nuestro propio bien, para el bien de toda la humanidad.

Jesús espera que guardemos los Diez Mandamientos si queremos recibir vida eterna.

Mateo 19:17 : “Y él le dijo: ¿Por qué me llamas bueno? no hay nada bueno sino uno, es decir, Dios: pero si quieres entrar en la vida, guarda los mandamientos “.

Apocalipsis 22:14 : “Bienaventurados los que hacen sus mandamientos, para que tengan derecho al árbol de la vida, y puedan entrar por las puertas de la ciudad”.

Santiago 2: 10–12 : “Porque cualquiera que guarde toda la ley, y sin embargo ofende en un punto, es culpable de todo. Porque el que dijo: No cometerás adulterio, también dijo: No mates. Ahora, si no cometes adulterio, pero si matas, te convertirás en un transgresor de la ley. Hablad, y hacedlo, como los que serán juzgados por la ley de libertad.

Please don’t deny yourself the blessing of celebrating and observing God’s laws? And if you want more information on keeping the Sabbath, please see our message entitled, “Sabbath Keeping in the 21st Century.” It’s free. It’s on our website (cgi.org).

Well, you’re probably asking right now, “If the Bible didn’t change the seventh-day Sabbath to Sunday, how did this change get made?”

Excellent question. Let’s go to the churches out there that keep Sunday and let’s let them answer that question for us. I’m going to read you some quotes from the literature of various churches. You’ll notice that the dates of some of these quotes are quite old. That’s because churches back then were more open to admitting how this Sabbath change got made. These days, it seems they really don’t like to talk about how this change was made.

These quotes are from a website called SundayLaw.net. We have also included quotes from a publication done by the Voice of Prophecy. It was called, “Authoritative Quotations on the Sabbath and Sunday.” Let’s read a few and see what all these churches have said about the subject of Sabbath vs. Sunday.

BAPTIST

“There was and is a commandment to keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sabbath day was not Sunday…. It will be said, however, and with some show of triumph, that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week…. Where can the record of such a transaction be found? Not in the New Testament, absolutely not. There is no Scriptural evidence of the change of the Sabbath institution from the seventh to the first day of the week.

“Creemos que la ley de Dios es la regla eterna e inmutable de su gobierno moral” ( Manual de la Iglesia Bautista , Art. 12).

CATÓLICO

“Desde esta misma Iglesia Católica has aceptado tu domingo, y ese domingo, como el día del Señor, ella lo ha transmitido como una tradición; y todo el mundo protestante lo ha aceptado como una tradición, porque no tienes ni un ápice de Escritura para establecerlo. Por lo tanto, lo que has aceptado como tu regla de fe, por inadecuado que sea, así como tu domingo, has aceptado sobre la autoridad de la Iglesia Católica Romana “(DB Ray, The Papal Controversy , 1892, página 179).

“Puedes leer la Biblia desde Génesis hasta Apocalipsis, y no encontrarás una sola línea que autorice la santificación del domingo. Las Escrituras hacen cumplir la observancia religiosa del sábado, un día que nosotros [los católicos] nunca santificamos ”(James Cardinal Gibbons, La fe de nuestros padres , página 111).

“Solo hay una iglesia en la faz de la tierra que tiene el poder, o reclama poder, para hacer leyes vinculantes para la conciencia, vinculantes ante Dios, vinculantes bajo pena del fuego del infierno. Por ejemplo, la institución del domingo. ¿Qué derecho tiene otra iglesia para mantener este día? Respondes en virtud del tercer mandamiento [el papado cambió el cuarto mandamiento y lo llamó el tercero], que dice: ‘Recuerda que santificas el día de reposo’. Pero el domingo no es el sábado. Cualquier escolar sabe que el domingo es el primer día de la semana. Repetidamente he ofrecido mil dólares a cualquiera que pruebe solo con la Biblia que el domingo es el día que debemos guardar, y nadie ha pedido el dinero. Fue la Santa Iglesia Católica la que cambió el día de descanso del sábado, el séptimo día, al domingo, el primer día de la semana “(T. Enright,

“Question: What Bible authority is there for changing the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week? Who gave the pope the authority to change a command of God?

“Answer: If the Bible is the only guide for the Christian, then the Seventh-day Adventist is right in observing the Saturday with the Jew. But Catholics learn what to believe and do from the divine, infallible authority established by Jesus Christ, the Catholic Church…. Is it not strange that those who make the Bible their only teacher should inconsistently follow in this matter the tradition of the Church?”—Question Box by Conway, 1903 Edition, pages 254, 255.

“Question: Which is the Sabbath day?

“Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day.

“Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?

“Answer: We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea (A.D. 336), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday” (Peter Geiermann, The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, Second Edition, 1910, page 50).

“It was the Catholic Church which, by the authority of Jesus Christ, has transferred this rest to the Sunday in remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord. Thus the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] church” (Mgr. Segur, Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today, page 213).

“Nowhere in the Bible do we find that Christ or the apostles ordered that the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of God given to Moses to keep holy the Sabbath day, that is, the seventh day of the week, Saturday. Today most Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the church [Roman] outside the Bible” (Catholic Virginian, Oct. 3, 1947).

CHURCHES OF CHRIST (also Disciples of Christ)

“There is no direct Scriptural authority for designating the first day the Lord’s day” (Dr. D.H. Lucas, Christian Oracle, Jan. 23, 1890).

CHURCH OF ENGLAND, or Episcopalian

“Is there any command in the New Testament to change the day of weekly rest from Saturday to Sunday? None” (Manual of Christian Doctrine, page 127).

“The Lord’s day did not succeed in the place of the Sabbath…. The Lord’s day was merely an ecclesiastical institution. It was not introduced by virtue of the fourth commandment, because for almost three hundred years together they kept that day which was in that commandment…. The primitive Christians did all manner of works upon the Lord’s day even in times of persecution when they are the strictest observers of all the divine commandments; but in this they knew there was none” (Bishop Jeremy Taylor, Ductor Dubitantium, Part 1, Book II, Chap. 2, Rule 6, Sec.51, 59).

“Sunday being the day on which the Gentiles solemnly adore that planet and called it Sunday, partly from its influence on that day especially, and partly in respect to its divine body (as they conceived it), the Christians thought fit to keep the same day and the same name of it, that they might not appear causelessly peevish, and by that means hinder the conversion of the Gentiles, and bring a greater prejudice than might be otherwise taken against the gospel” (T.M. Morer, Dialogues on the Lord’s Day, pages 22, 23).

“¿Dónde se nos dice en las Escrituras que debemos guardar el primer día? Se nos ordena guardar la séptima; pero en ninguna parte se nos ordena guardar el primer día … La razón por la que guardamos el primer día de la semana santo en lugar del séptimo es por la misma razón que observamos muchas otras cosas, no porque la Biblia, sino porque la iglesia lo ha ordenado ”(Isaac Williams, BD, Plain Sermons en Catecismo , Vol. 1, páginas 334–336).

“Hemos realizado el cambio desde el séptimo día hasta el primer día, de sábado a domingo, bajo la autoridad de la única Iglesia Católica” (Obispo Seymour, Why We Keep Sunday ).

CONGREGACIONALISTA

“La noción actual de que Cristo y sus apóstoles sustituyeron autoritariamente el primer día por el séptimo, no tiene absolutamente ninguna autoridad en el Nuevo Testamento” (Dr. Lyman Abbott, Christian Union , 19 de enero de 1882).

LUTERANO

“El festival del domingo, como todos los demás festivales, siempre fue solo una ordenanza humana” (Augustus Neander, Historia de la Iglesia y Religión Cristiana , Vol. I, página 186).

METODISTA

“La razón por la que observamos el primer día en lugar del séptimo se basa en ningún comando positivo. Uno buscará en vano la autoridad en vano para cambiar del séptimo día al primero. Los primeros cristianos comenzaron a adorar el primer día de la semana porque Jesús resucitó de entre los muertos ese día. Poco a poco, este día de adoración se convirtió también en un día de descanso, un feriado legal. Esto tuvo lugar en el año 321.

“Nuestro sábado cristiano, por lo tanto, no es una cuestión de orden positiva. Es un regalo de la iglesia ”(Clovis G. Chappell, Diez reglas para vivir , página 61).

INSTITUTO BÍBLICO MOODY

“El sábado fue vinculante en el Edén, y ha estado en vigor desde entonces. Este cuarto mandamiento comienza con la palabra ‘recordar’, que muestra que el sábado ya existía cuando Dios escribió la ley en las tablas de piedra en el Sinaí. ¿Cómo pueden los hombres afirmar que este mandamiento ha sido eliminado cuando admiten que los otros nueve siguen siendo vinculantes? (DL Moody, Weighed and Wanting , página 47).

PRESBITERIANO

“El sábado es parte del decálogo: los diez mandamientos. Esto por sí solo resuelve para siempre la cuestión de la perpetuidad de la institución … Hasta que, por lo tanto, se pueda demostrar que toda la ley moral ha sido derogada, el sábado permanecerá … La enseñanza de Cristo confirma la perpetuidad del sábado ”(TC Blake, DD, Theology Condensed , páginas 414, 475).

Parte 2

El primer día de la semana en las Escrituras

La mayoría de los cristianos te dirán que la resurrección de Jesús es muy importante para ellos. ¿Por qué? Dicen que es porque la resurrección de Jesús prueba sin lugar a dudas que Él es el Hijo de Dios. Y dicen que su resurrección también nos da la seguridad de que se nos dará el regalo gratuito de la vida eterna.

Estas declaraciones sobre la resurrección son absolutamente correctas. Sin embargo, cuando se discute cuán importante es la resurrección para los cristianos, ¡muchas veces estas mismas personas tratarán de darle información errónea sobre esa misma resurrección!

Nos dicen que, aunque Jesús profetizó que estaría en la tumba durante tres días y tres noches (un total de 72 horas), dicen que fue crucificado un viernes por la noche y resucitó un domingo por la mañana. Esta afirmación es totalmente contradictoria. No hay forma de exprimir tres días y tres noches en una crucifixión los viernes por la noche y una resurrección los domingos por la mañana. No importa cómo intentes hacer que esta falsa ecuación funcione, la verdad es que Jesús fue crucificado el miércoles por la tarde y resucitó el sábado por la tarde. Tenemos más información sobre eso en cgi.org. Es gratis.

Ahora, una vez que el inquisidor estudiante de la Biblia supera la idea errónea de que la resurrección fue un domingo por la mañana, invariablemente se pregunta sobre las referencias del Nuevo Testamento a los eventos que rodearon a Jesús, los discípulos y el primer día de la semana.

Veamos todas las referencias al primer día de la semana que encontramos en la Biblia. Todos ellos. Veamos si alguna de estas Escrituras da crédito a una resurrección dominical o al argumento de que los cristianos deben observar el domingo como “el Día del Señor”.

La primera vez que escuchamos sobre el primer día de la semana en las Escrituras es Génesis 1: 1–5 :

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

And what do we see here? We see the Creator working on the first day of the week! He creates the light on the first day of the week. There is nothing here to demonstrate a day of worship on the first day of the week.

Again, that’s the first mention of the first day of the week in Scripture. Let’s look at the second reference to the first day of the week in Scripture. Exodus 20:8–11:

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Here God gives us a commandment. We are to work six days a week—including the first day of the week! In the entirety of the Old Testament, we don’t find Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob worshiping on the first day of the week. We don’t find the prophets doing it. We don’t find a single righteous Old Testament person worshiping on the first day of the week. For at least 4,000 years, the Hebrews worked on the first day of the week.

Now, here’s our third reference to the first day of the week.

Ezekiel 46:1: “Thus saith the Lord God: The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days, but on the Sabbath it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened.”

Once again, God commands us to work six days a week—including the first day. In this passage, God is commanding that His people work on the first day of the week.

When Jesus lived as a mortal man on this earth, there is no implication at all the He used Sunday as a worship day instead of a work day. As the son of a carpenter, the first day of the week was just another work day for Him. Just about any reputable Bible scholar will agree on this point. In the New Testament, we find absolutely no prohibition of work on the first day of the week. The New Testament never calls the first day of the week “the Christian Sabbath.” The New Testament never talks of a blessing being associated with the first day of the week. The New Testament never calls the first day of the week a rest day or a holy day. There is absolutely no record of Jesus ever mentioning the first day of the week as some kind of worship day.

The New Testament does mention “first day of the week” eight times. Let’s look at them. The first four we are going to see…tell how the women came to the tomb after Jesus was resurrected. This incident is recounted in all four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Let’s read all four of them:

Matthew 28:1: “In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.”

Mark 16:2: “And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.”

Luke 24:1: “Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.”

John 20:1: “The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.”

Notice what is not said in these four Scriptures. There is no mention of a church meeting, a special assembly, or a day of worship. It clearly says that the Sabbath day was over and it was drawing toward the first day of the week. Two women came to the sepulcher and saw that Jesus was not in the tomb. It also says that the day before the first day of the week was the Sabbath. There is no indication in this Scripture that the seventh day of the week was being replaced by the first day of the week as a holy day set apart by God.

It is important to note what intentions these women had as they approached Jesus’ tomb. Were they going to the tomb to have a Sunday morning worship service? No. They were going to the tomb to work! They were carrying supplies up a steep hill. They had planned to perform additional funerary functions on the body of Jesus. This would involve unwrapping the body and rubbing various salves and spices upon it. Then, they were going to re-wrap the body and place it back into the tomb. This is hard work! In these four mentionings of the women going to the tomb, there is nothing that can be taken as instruction to change the day of the Sabbath. Further, these women genuinely believed that Jesus was still dead. None of the women believed He was resurrected. They were as surprised as anyone that the stone had been rolled away and that Jesus was gone. Remember that one of them asked a man (whom she thought was a gardener), “What have you done with the body of my Lord?” When the women found an empty tomb, they assumed the body have been moved. There was no assembly for the purpose of celebrating Jesus’ resurrection. They didn’t know the resurrection had taken place.

(Now, the timing of the crucifixion and resurrection is something that you need to understand. We’re not going to get into this topic right now. We’re just examining all the mentionings of the first day of the week in Scripture. For more information on the timing of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, please contact us at cgi.org. All our information is free.)

Now let’s look at another Scripture that talks about the first day of the week.

John 20:19: “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.”

What we have here is an assembly. What was the purpose of the assembly? Was it a religious observance? No, no, no. These men had just seen their leader tortured and killed a few days ago. No doubt they thought they were next on the hit list of the religious leaders. They were assembled “out of fear of the Jews.” Again, there is no way you can twist Scripture and claim this was a Sunday church service that was for the purpose celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. They didn’t even know Jesus was alive until He unexpectedly showed up at this meeting. Yes, this was an assembly, but it was no religious assembly that pictured the changing of the seventh-day Sabbath to the first day of the week.

Acts 20:7: “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.”

So many, many churches try to twist this scripture into saying that it shows we should have weekly communion on Sunday. It says no such thing. In this situation, Paul had already preached to a group of believers a few hours before. He had preached to this group while it was the Sabbath. And he was getting ready to leave the next day. So he continued his speech until midnight. Again, God begins and ends His days around sunset. Man begins his days at midnight.

Cuando la Biblia usa la frase “partiendo el pan”, la comida de la que habla incluye más que solo pan. “Romper el pan” significa una comida completa que incluiría pan, carne, verduras, bebidas y tal vez cosas como frutas. Así que este pan partido fue solo una comida que ocurrió después del atardecer en lo que ahora llamaríamos un sábado por la noche. El momento de esta comida fue que era en la noche parte del primer día de la semana. Los planes de Paul eran irse al amanecer a la mañana siguiente. Otros hombres que estaban con Paul ese día ya se habían ido porque tuvieron que hacer un viaje de 60 millas en bote en el Mar Egeo desde donde estaban en Assos hasta un lugar llamado Troas. Tuvieron que navegar alrededor del fondo de una península en Asia Menor. Paul iba a caminar a la mañana siguiente. Su viaje fue una ruta directa de 19.5 millas por tierra. Y el viaje de Paul iba a ser difícil. Tuvo que caminar casi 20 millas por caminos empinados y ásperos. ¡Su viaje iba a involucrar mucho trabajo! Si el primer día de la semana había reemplazado el sábado del séptimo día, estaba trabajando muy duro en ese primer día de la semana y, por lo tanto, violando este “nuevo sábado cristiano” – “el día del Señor”. No, esta Escritura no muestra que el séptimo día de reposo haya sido reemplazado por el primer día de la semana. En realidad, muestra que estas personas se estaban reuniendo para adorar el sábado y que estaban haciendo un trabajo duro el primer día de la semana. violando este “nuevo sábado cristiano” – “el día del Señor”. No, esta Escritura no muestra que el séptimo día de reposo haya sido reemplazado por el primer día de la semana. En realidad, muestra que estas personas se estaban reuniendo para adorar el sábado y que estaban haciendo un trabajo duro el primer día de la semana. violando este “nuevo sábado cristiano” – “el día del Señor”. No, esta Escritura no muestra que el séptimo día de reposo haya sido reemplazado por el primer día de la semana. En realidad, muestra que estas personas se estaban reuniendo para adorar el sábado y que estaban haciendo un trabajo duro el primer día de la semana.

1 Corintios 16: 2 : “El primer día de la semana, que cada uno de ustedes permanezca junto a él en la tienda, como Dios lo ha prosperado, para que no haya reuniones cuando yo venga”.

En esta Escritura, el apóstol Pablo y la iglesia están lidiando con una hambruna. Pablo está preocupado por el hambre de los hermanos en Judea. Quería hacer una colección para estos santos. Esta ocasión fue una colección especial para un propósito especial. Sus instrucciones no tienen nada que ver con los diezmos y las ofrendas regulares. Más tarde se jactó de cómo llegaron los hermanos en esta colección especial para los hermanos de Jerusalén ( 2 Corintios 9: 1–2 ). En 1 Corintios 16: 2 , Pablo les dice a los hermanos que trabajen mientras recolectan dinero y alimentos para ser transportados de Corinto a Jerusalén. Esta no fue una asamblea para adorar el primer día de la semana. Era una campaña de alimentos que requeriría una considerable mano de obra y levantar y transportar para lograrlo.

In all of the above references, there’s no indication that it was their custom to meet on the first day of the week. Nowhere in the New Testament is there an instruction to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus on the first day of the week. Nowhere in the New Testament is there an instruction to transfer the holiness of the seventh-day Sabbath to the first day of the week.

And what’s with this phrase, “the Lord’s Day”? How many times have you heard, “We go to church on the Lord’s Day [meaning Sunday]”? When we say we are going to church on the Lord’s Day, we’re twisting Scripture. This phrase, the Lord’s Day, comes from Revelation 1:10, which says, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day and heard behind me a great voice.”

Let’s put this Scripture in its proper context. The book of Revelation is John’s recounting how he is transported in a vision into the future. This time period that John enters is the Lord’s Day, which is also called the Day of the Lord in Scripture. Some translations use the phrase “the Day of the Lord” instead of “the Lord’s Day.” In his vision, John sees some incredible images. They are nothing less than cataclysmic. Other Bible writers such as Isaiah, Joel, and Micah saw these events. After this Day of the Lord vision, John sees and writes in graphic, symbolic detail what is going to happen in that great and terrible Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord is not some 24-hour day. It is a time period that goes on for at least several days—probably even several weeks or months.

There is no way that this phrase (“Lord’s Day” or “Day of the Lord”) can be used to say that John was speaking of the first day of the week as being a replacement day for the seventh-day Sabbath. No matter what translation of the Bible you read, you can’t get that interpretation from reading Revelation 1. There is no church meeting referred to in Revelation 1. There is no transference of the seventh-day Sabbath to the first day of the week.

We have already read in Mark 2:27 that the Sabbath was made for man (not just the Hebrews), and that the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath. If we are going to call a day of the week the Lord’s Day, it wouldn’t be the first day of the week. The Lord’s Day is without a doubt the seventh-day Sabbath. It is so clear from Mark 2:27 that the Sabbath belongs to Jesus. The seventh-day Sabbath is Jesus’ day. The seventh-day Sabbath is the Lord’s Day.

Finally, let’s do an exercise. Let’s ask some questions with just “yes” or “no.” If you answer any of these questions with “yes,” then we must ask if it can be backed up with a scripture.

Here are the questions:

  • Does the Bible say that God blessed the first day of the week? No!

  • Does the Bible say that God hallowed the first day of the week? No!

  • Does the Bible say that God commands keeping the first day of the week? No!

  • Does the Bible say that God rested on the first day of the week? No!

  • Does the Bible say that God calls the first day of the week a holy day? No!

  • Does the Bible say that God offers a reward for keeping the first day of the week? No!

  • Does the Bible say that the first day of the week will be kept in the Kingdom of God? No!

  • Does the Bible say it was Jesus’ custom to keep the first day of the week? No!

  • Does the Bible say it was Paul’s manner to worship on the first day of the week? No!

Now, let’s change the wording of these questions:

  • Does the Bible say that God blessed the Sabbath? Yes! Where? Genesis 2:3: “And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.”

  • Does the Bible say that God hallowed the Sabbath? Yes! Where? Exodus 20:11: “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”

  • Does the Bible say that God commands keeping the Sabbath? Yes! Where? Exodus 20:11: “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”

  • Does the Bible say that God rested on the Sabbath? Yes! Where? Exodus 20:11: “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”

  • Does the Bible say that God calls the Sabbath a holy day? Yes! Where? Isaiah 58:13: “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words.”

  • Does the Bible say that God offers a reward for keeping the Sabbath? Yes! Where? Isaiah 58:13–14: “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”

  • Does the Bible say that the Sabbath will be kept in the Kingdom of God? Yes! Where? Isaiah 66:23: “And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.”

  • Does the Bible say it was Jesus’ custom to keep the Sabbath? Yes! Where? Luke 4:16: “And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.”

  • ¿Dice la Biblia que era la manera en que Pablo adoraba en sábado? ¡Si! ¿Dónde? Hechos 17: 2 : “Y Pablo, como era, fue a ellos, y tres días de reposo razonaron con ellos fuera de las Escrituras”. Hechos 16:13 : “Y en el día de reposo salimos de la ciudad a orillas del río, donde no se hacía oración; y nos sentamos y hablamos a las mujeres que recurrieron allí.

Parte 3

¿Existía la ley antes de Moisés?

No es raro que la gente pregunte: “¿Por qué alguien querría guardar los Diez Mandamientos?” Dicen: “Después de todo, este Decálogo se le dio a Moisés para la nación de Israel . Estos mandamientos son para los judíos , pero ciertamente no son para los cristianos en el siglo XXI “.

¿Es esto cierto? ¿Dio Dios los Diez Mandamientos solo a los hebreos? ¿O es posible que estas leyes se hicieron para todas las personas de todos los tiempos?

Podemos responder estas preguntas descubriendo si los Diez Mandamientos se guardaron o no antes de Moisés. Porque, si encontramos que estas leyes fueron cumplidas por personas antes de que Moisés naciera, entonces eso muestra claramente que estos mandamientos no eran solo para los judíos, sino que eran para todas las personas de todos los tiempos. Vamos a ver eso ahora mismo. Vamos a responder la pregunta: ¿existía la ley de Dios antes de Moisés?

La mayoría de los cristianos son conscientes de Romanos 5:12 , que dice: “Por lo tanto, como por un hombre … el pecado entró en el mundo y la muerte por el pecado; y así la muerte pasó a todos los hombres, porque todos pecaron “.

Y la mayoría está familiarizada con el versículo 14: “La muerte reinó de Adán a Moisés”.

Wait! We have to stop right there. These verses tell us that sin existed in the Garden of Eden. Sin? At this point, we have to define sin. How do we determine what sin is? What is sin?

According to 1 John 3:4, “Sin is transgression of the law!”

Then there was law during the time of Adam? What law? Was it man’s law? No. Adam and Eve hadn’t been around long enough to start setting up any laws. And why would they need to set up laws for a husband and wife living in such a beautiful garden? The fact of the matter is that God’s law existed during the time Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden! It says so in Romans. God had laws in place long before Moses was born.

Further, when Paul again talks about sin, he says in Romans 7:7, “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.”

Paul is clearly saying that he wouldn’t know he was guilty of lusting if it weren’t for the commandment that says, “You shall not covet.”

How could Adam and Eve sin in the Garden of Eden unless there was some law to define what sin is? When they disobeyed God (their Father) by lusting, they were breaking the commandment that says, “You shall not covet.” They were also breaking the commandment not to steal. And they were breaking the commandment about honoring their Father. In Luke 3:38, Adam is called a son of God. Yes, God was indeed his Father.

And it shouldn’t surprise us that the commandments about coveting, stealing, and dishonoring were in existence in the Garden of Eden, should it? After all, we know that God created the seventh-day Sabbath in the first day of Creation. This is the Fourth Commandment.

So here we have clear evidence that least four commandments existed in the earliest days of humanity’s existence! Now, let’s see if we can find other examples of where people were expected to follow the Ten Commandments long before Moses.

When we examine the situation with Cain and Abel, we find out that Cain was guilty of sin. Let’s read in Genesis 4:8–11:

And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand.

God did not try to excuse Cain’s behavior by saying, “There is not yet a law against killing your brother.” God didn’t say, “Well, you didn’t know better because people won’t know about the law of murder till later on when there’s going to be a guy named Moses.” No, God made it very clear that what Cain did was wrong. Cain violated the commandment against murder. And how did Cain know that murder was wrong? Again, the Law tells us not to murder. The Commandments were in existence in the earliest days of mankind—long before Moses.

Let’s now talk about Abraham’s father. His name was Terah. We talk about how Abraham was a righteous man who had great faith. His father wasn’t that way. His father worshipped idols! We read about that in Joshua 24:2:

“And Joshua said unto the people, Thus saith the Eternal God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.”

Joshua was relating a sin that was being practiced before Moses and also before Abraham—the sin of worshipping false gods. This is another violation of the Ten Commandments.

We also find that adultery was a sin long before Moses.

We have the unfortunate situation where Joseph is a slave in Egypt. He had been sold by his own brothers! He eventually ended up being owned by a man named Potiphar. In Genesis 39:7–9 we read, “And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. But he refused…,” and went on to say, “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”

Sin against whom? Did Joseph say he didn’t want to sin against his master, Potiphar? No. He says he doesn’t want to sin against God! Joseph knew that God forbade adultery. Joseph knew about the commandment against adultery. Once again, this was long before Moses.

Do you want more examples? OK. Let’s continue. Let’s talk about stealing. Let’s read Genesis 30:33, where Jacob and his father-in-law Laban are attempting to keep peace among all their family members. When talking about their animals:

“Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me.”

This verse is talking about stealing. Here we see that, hundreds of years before Moses, these people knew that stealing was a sin.

So you can see from these examples that God’s Law, His Great Commandments, existed long before Moses. These laws are eternal. They’re not some temporary rules for a certain racial group in the Middle East. These laws are for all people and for all times.

We read in Acts 13:42–44 that Gentiles asked Paul to preach to them on the Sabbath day—this special day that’s talked about in the Ten Commandments.

Notice that Jesus expects those who want eternal life to keep all Ten Commandments.

Matthew 19:17: “And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.”

Revelation 22:14: “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.”

James 2:10–12: “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.”

Jesus is the Person in the Godhead who wrote the Ten Commandments. According to John 1 and Hebrews 1, he is our Creator. First Corinthians 10:4 tells us that he was the Rock that followed the Israelites in the wilderness:

“And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.”

This, then, makes Jesus the Creator of the Sabbath Day and (as we see in Mark 2:28) He is Lord of the Sabbath.

Hebrews 13:8 tells us that “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”

In Malachi 3:6, God says, “For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

These Commandments that we’re talking about are full of love. They were created in love by a God of love. His desire is for us to be happy. And He knows that our keeping His Commandments brings us happiness. Conversely, breaking His Commandments brings us misery. Just think how much better off the world would be if mankind kept these wonderful Commandments of love.

Finally, we have a message on the 613 laws of the Torah. Which ones do we still keep? Which ones can no longer be kept because there is no longer a Tabernacle or a Temple? This message is free on our website cgi.org

Part 4

Were the 10 Commandments Abolished At Calvary?

Were the Ten Commandments done away with by the crucifixion of Jesus? Many churches say this is so. They say the Ten Commandments were nailed to the cross.

It’s important that we understand whether or not this statement about nailing the Commandments to the cross is true. Do the Ten Commandments have any relevance for Christians today? Has the Decalogue been done away with?

Let’s begin our study by reading the Scripture about nailing things to the cross. Let’s turn to Colossians 2:13–14:

And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.

Now let’s really understand what Paul is saying when he talks about nailing things to the cross. I’m sure we can agree that there were indeed certain things nailed to the cross.

First, Jesus was nailed to the cross. No problem there.

Second, we see in the Gospels that some signs were nailed to the cross. We find these signs mentioned in all four of the Gospels. These signs seemed to be in different languages and the gist of them was, “This is Jesus Christ, the king of the Jews.” Again, no problem there. We’re probably in agreement on this one that there were signs nailed to the cross.

And third, Colossians 2:13–14, which we just read, says there was something else that was nailed to the cross.

Now, did Paul say that the Ten Commandments were nailed to the cross? Absolutely not! Did someone during the time of the crucifixion take a parchment with the Ten Commandments written on it and then nail it to the cross along with Jesus? Absolutely not! If Paul were talking about the Law, he would have used the Greek word nomos. But the word nomos is not found anywhere in the entire chapter of Colossians 2. Here are the three words Paul wrote that got translated into “handwriting of ordinances.”

Cheirographon = handwriting

Tois = in the

Dogmasin = decrees

Again, the word nomos is not here. Then what’s Paul talking about when he uses the phrase cheirographon tois dogmasin?

He is saying that the handwriting of ordinances against us was nailed to the cross. Again, the “handwriting of ordinances against us” is not the Ten Commandments. Nowhere in the Old Testament or New Testament is there some formula that tells us that a definition of the Ten Commandments is some handwriting of ordinance against us. That’s because the Ten Commandments are not synonymous with cheirographon tois dogmasin, which is a handwriting of ordinances against us. They are not the same thing.

Then what is the handwriting of ordinances? The answer: It is our a note of guilt. It is a list of our sins. It’s all the evil that we have committed. It’s the certificate of our debt. Once a person accepts Jesus and agrees to follow His example in his or her daily life, this note of guilt—that summary of sins and certificate of debt—is now nailed to the cross; that is, it is gone. Completely!

Isn’t that beautiful? Once you accept Christ, it doesn’t nullify God’s holy Law called the Ten Commandments. Once you accept Christ, you are forgiven of all the horrible things that you’ve done. Psalm 103:12 tells us that, at that point, your sins become as far from God as east is from the west.

“As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”

East and west can’t touch. Your sins are so far removed from you and God that they are totally out of His sight and it’s as though they never existed.

That’s the beauty of Colossians 2:14. There is no ugliness in Colossians 2:14 that does away with God’s wonderful Ten Commandments that we should love. Once we accept Christ, this does not mean that we can (or even want to) disregard God’s Law.

The apostles never preached doing away with this nomos. If they did, they would be antinomian. But, quite the opposite, the apostles kept the Law. And we’re going to see some examples of that. Before we do that, let’s set the stage by examining the teachings of Jesus. Let’s Read Matthew 19:16–17:

And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

Now here’s where so many Christians jump the track. Here’s where they say, “This Scripture simply means that Jesus wants us to obey His commands about loving each other and forgiving each other.”

Really? Notice that Jesus actually gave some examples of the commandments he told the man to obey! Notice in verses 18 and 19 the inquiring person asked Jesus which Commandments and Jesus replied by mentioning things like not murdering, not committing adultery, not stealing, not bearing false witness, and honoring your father and mother.

What commandments are these that Jesus is speaking of? Where do these commandments come from? They come from the Ten Commandments! The Commandments we find in Exodus 20!

Notice that Jesus did not say, “Keep these commandments for the time being until I am crucified and resurrected.” No. He put no time limit on them.

At this point, the skeptic is going to say, “Ah ha! Jesus never said to keep the seventh-day Sabbath in this scripture!” That’s correct. But He also didn’t mention coveting or using God’s name in vain or bowing down before graven images. Does the Christian who makes this argument mean that we can now covet and use God’s name in vain and bow down before graven images because Jesus didn’t mention them in this passage.  Of course not. They know better than to advocate these things.

Jesus’ list in this passage was never meant to be comprehensive. He was simply giving examples of the Decalogue so that the inquiring young man would know which commandments Jesus said we should follow if we would have eternal life.

In Matthew 19:18, we read about Jesus quoting the Ten Commandments by saying, “Thou shalt do no murder.” But then He goes further by saying that you are guilty of murder not only when you do it. He says you are also guilty with you think it.

Matthew 5:21–22: “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: but I say unto you, that whosoever shall be angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.”

You may attempt to twist Scripture as much as you’d like, but you can’t escape the fact that Jesus kept the Ten Commandments and He told others to keep them!

Does Jesus want us to love Him and our neighbor? Yes. And one of the best ways to show love for God is to obey the Ten Commandments, which are all about loving God and our neighbor. When we obey the first four Commandments, we are showing love for God. When we obey the last six Commandments, we are showing love for our neighbor.

Do you want more? Okay. Let’s turn to Luke 12:15:

“And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”

Aquí Jesús está predicando contra el incumplimiento del Décimo Mandamiento, que condena la codicia.

Y no debería sorprendernos que Jesús predicó los Diez Mandamientos. Isaías 42 es una maravillosa promesa de Dios enviando un Mesías para traer paz a la tierra. Esta profecía entra en detalles sobre todas las cosas que el Mesías —Jesús— hará cuando gobierne como Rey de reyes y Señor de señores. Note el versículo 21:

“El Señor está complacido por causa de su justicia; él magnificará la ley y la hará honorable ”.

¿ Isaías 42:21 dice que Jesús eliminaría la Ley de Dios? No. Dice que lo magnificará. Jesús magnificó la Ley dando un ejemplo perfecto de cómo guardarla. Lo magnificó al predicarlo. Lo magnificó exponiéndolo.

¿Qué pasa con el apóstol Pablo? Pablo fue enviado a los gentiles. ¿Les dijo a los gentiles: “Predicamos la obediencia a la Ley de Dios a los judíos convertidos, pero a ustedes, los gentiles, predicamos que ya no existe”? ¿Dijo eso? No. En Efesios 4: 4–6 , Pablo deja en claro que no había reglas diferentes para diferentes razas y nacionalidades. Él dice que hay un cuerpo, un espíritu, un Señor, un Dios, una fe y un bautismo. Note lo que Pablo escribió a la iglesia en Éfeso. Y recuerda que Éfeso era una iglesia gentil. Leamos Efesios 6 comenzando en el versículo 1:

“Hijos, obedezcan a sus padres en el Señor: porque esto es correcto. Honra a tu padre y a tu madre; cual es el primer mandamiento con promesa; Para que te vaya bien, y puedas vivir mucho en la tierra.

And where did Paul get this commandment about honoring parents? Paul is clearly pointing his readers to the Ten Commandments that we find in Exodus 20.

Paul also points to the Ten Commandments in Romans 13:8–10:

“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”

Does Paul then conclude by saying, “Just love one another and you have fulfilled the Law and you no longer have to obey the Ten Commandments? No. He says in verse 9:

“For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”

Like Jesus, Paul points his readers to the Decalogue and encourages them to obey what is written in Exodus 20.

Is this enough information to convince you? No? Here’s more. Let’s turn to Romans 7:7.

Paul writes, “I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, ‘Thou shalt not covet.’”

Paul is clear that, if you want to know what sin is, you must understand the Law. Once you know the Ten Commandments, then you know what sin is so you can avoid sinning by keeping that Law.

It’s very clearly stated in 1 John 3:4 that “sin is the breaking of the Law.”

Notice that 1 John 3:4 does not say that sin is doing something that doesn’t seem quite right. Or that sin is doing something that your pastor says you shouldn’t do. No. Sin is the breaking of God’s Law.

Do you need more examples? Fine. Let’s look at I Corinthians 10:7:

“Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them….”

Again, Paul is writing to a Gentile church in the city of Corinth. And he’s pointing them to the Ten Commandments of Exodus 20 when he condemns idolatry.

And, yes, the Fourth Commandment is clearly mentioned by Paul. We read in Hebrews 4:9:

“There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.”

When the King James scholars translated this verse, they didn’t do justice to the word “rest.” The Greek word for this scripture was sabbatismos. In other words, “Sabbath-keeping.” The original Greek word was not katapausis, which simply means “rest.”

Many other translations do better than the King James Version on this verse. Here are a few examples:

ASV: “There remaineth therefore a sabbath rest for the people of God.”

CEB: “So you see that a sabbath rest is left open for God’s people.”

CJB: “So there remains a Shabbath-keeping for God’s people.”

DLNT: “Therefore a Sabbath-rest remains for the people of God.”

HCSV: “Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains for God’s people.”

ESV: “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.”

Again, Jesus preached the Law. The apostles preached the Law after Jesus’ crucifixion. And here are some final scriptures to ponder:

1 Peter 2:21: “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.”

1 John 2:6: “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.”

Acts 17:2: “And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures.”

Hechos 13: 42–44 : “Y cuando los judíos salieron de la sinagoga, los gentiles suplicaron que se les predicara estas palabras el próximo sábado. Ahora, cuando la congregación se disolvió, muchos de los judíos y prosélitos religiosos siguieron a Pablo y a Bernabé: quienes, hablando con ellos, los persuadieron para que continuaran en la gracia de Dios. Y al siguiente día de reposo se reunió casi toda la ciudad para escuchar la palabra de Dios ”.

Hechos 18: 4 : “Y razonaba en la sinagoga cada sábado, y persuadía a los judíos y los griegos”.

1 Juan 2: 4 : “El que dice: Yo lo conozco y no guardo sus mandamientos, es mentiroso, y la verdad no está en él”.