Thursday: Why Turn Back to Slavery?
Read Galatians 4:8-20. Summarize on the lines below what Paul is saying there. How seriously does he take the false teachings among Galatians?
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Paul does not describe the exact nature of the Galatians’ religious practices, but he clearly has in mind a false system of worship that resulted in spiritual slavery. Indeed, he deemed it so dangerous and destructive that he would write such an impassioned letter, warning the Galatians that what they were doing was akin to turning away from sonship to slavery.
Though he didn’t get into specifics, what does Paul say the Galatians were doing that he found so objectionable? Gal. 4:9-11.
Many have interpreted Paul’s reference to “days and months and seasons and years” (Gal. 4:10, ESV) as an objection not merely against ceremonial laws but against the Sabbath, as well. Such an interpretation, however, goes beyond the evidence. For starters, if Paul really wanted to single out the Sabbath and other specific Jewish practices, it is clear from Colossians 2:16 that he easily could have identified them by name. Second, Paul makes it clear that whatever it is the Galatians are doing, it has led them from freedom in Christ to bondage. “If observance of the seventh-day Sabbath subjects a man to bondage, it must be that the Creator Himself entered into bondage when He observed the world’s first Sabbath!” — The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 967. Also, why would Jesus not only have kept the Sabbath but taught others how to keep it, if its proper observance were in any way depriving people of the freedom that they have in Him? (See Mark 2:27-28; Luke 13:10-16.)
| Might there be any practices in Seventh-day Adventism that take away from the freedom that we have in Christ? Or instead of the practices themselves being problematic, what about our attitudes toward the practices? How could a wrong attitude lead us into the kind of bondage that Paul warned the Galatians about so vehemently? |
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Isaiah 58:13,14 is one of several texts including Exodus 20:8-10, that is quoted when discussing the Sabbath.
There are a number of ways that take away our freedoms in Christ other than Isiah 58:13. Our choices or decisions are at times just plainly sinful. I turned to Romans 7:18-20, and Romans 8:26-28. These along with 1John 1:8-10, are helpful In contemplating our relationship with God.
I guess if we become way too legalistic about the practices, or the practices themselves become the main focus instead of God, then we will be returning to slavery in a sense. We follow God's laws not because we are obligated to; we should follow them because we love Him.
It is not within us as humans to even follow God's laws even though we may know that he loves us or the fact that we love him. That is why we can only follow God by faith in his son Jesus.
A piece of spiritual advice by Ellen White on how to understand the bible message. She advises "Be sure that the evidence of truth is in the Scripture itself.One scripture is the key to unlock other scriptures...thipTEd 228.1. Galatians 4:8-9 has unlocked verse 1-3. It's now clear what are these elementary principles. No doubt this isn't about the law of God. It is about their religious life before converting to Christianity.
The setting aside of the Sabbath question was a result of trying to unite the gospel of Christ with pagan traditions and partly failing to discern Paul's teaching about the law. We rely on history see the setting aside of the Sabbath. One of the Pope's vicars said ["You may read the bible from Genesis to the Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday (Sabbath) a day which we never sanctify. " James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers(1917 ed.),pp.72,73.] Meaning Christ nor his disciples are responsible for the change of the law.
Historians Socrates and Sozomen say by the fifth century almost the entire Christian community outside the Jewish territory observed a dual worship day system except Alexandria and Rome on account of tradition. These two worshipped on Sunday. The rest worshipped on both the Seventh and the First day of the week. This practice is also indicated in books of Ignatius of Antioch and even Barnabas the disciples of Peter and Paul respectively. This shows how half converted people confused the true religion of Christ by including traditions of men.
The council of Laodicea, in minor Asia ,fourth century. Canon 29 reads: [" Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday, [Sabbato, the Sabbath], but they shall work on that day, but the Lord's day they shall especially ,honour, and as being Christians, shall, if possible, do no work on that day. If however, they are found Judaizing, they shall be shut out from Christ.. " Charles Joseph Hafele, A History of the Council of the Church. vol 2 (2896 ,English ed.).p.316.] How ironic? The same church Christ said is neither hot nor cold. [Rev 3:14-22] The church founded by Paul.
Prior to this Ellen White noted that even before the death of John the last disciple, the disciples of the disciples had already started confusing the gospel of Christ introducing doctrines that were not in harmony with the basic principles of His gospel.[Unlikely Leaders pg 211.4]. Therefore verse 10 has nothing to do with setting aside the Sabbath. This was a result of apostasy and nothing else.
I see two forms of spiritual enslavement in my local church and faith community:
(1) I feel that the overly strict enforcement of church ‘requirements’ such as dressing, hygiene and diet principles that seem to take away the focus of the personal relationship that one has with God. Which I think may be a form of spiritual slavery of sorts if not understood that these principles help enrich our daily relationships with God to live long, healthy & frutfull lives. Eg: It was even preached that ‘loose dress’ was the appropriate church wear for women and not appropriate to wear tights, pants or leggings as everyday wear.
(2) Coming into the SDA church family 2 years ago, in a 3rd -world developing country so deep into cultural practices and traditions rooted in paganism, I find that the challenge for us is still our mindset that enslaves most people. Who cannot be wholly free even after accepting the truth and the light in Jesus. One such practice is sicknesses still being treated by witch doctors than modern medicine and faith. Fear of sorcery is so widespread that it’s being whispered in the pews even during Sabbath church worship. I pray for the full release and liberation of our local churches and to believe the promise in Gal 4:6-7 (6)“Because we are His children, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, ‘Abba, Father’”.(7) Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are His child, God has made you His heir.
Please do keep us in prayer! The devil is cunning and can easily work inside and outside of the church if we are not focused and have the Holy Spirit to help us discern these things.
Stephanie, I agree with your first point that those who will adapt these lifestyle changes will enhance their personal relationship with God.I then think slavery is in the ignorance on the benefits of the same principles so that people are still hooked to worldly fashions and dietary habits which imprison them.It is therefore those who oppose such admonitions who are in slavery. For the preaching of it is calling people to freedom.
We need to constantly remind ourselves of the freedom we have in being able to worship Jesus and pray in His name to the Father, and know that He hears us, what a blessed privilege!
Paul admonished Galatians for observing days months and years, that is, the ceremonial law that pointed to Christ as our redeemer. My question is where do we, as adventists, place the camp meeting? Please help
Not everything we do has to have a Biblical precedent.
Please explain what you mean by the camp meeting question. I guess I don't understand how that equates to what Paul is saying.
I believe that the camp meeting question has to do with the two main yearly festivals of the OT: 1. Was the Passover that was celebrated around the beginning of the Jewish year and was sort of camp meeting like in that the Jewish people met in Jerusalem for a period of almost one entire month for spiritual refreshment. Then the second one 2. Was celebrated around the middle of their year----the day of atonement and it was also camp meeting like in nature etc. And I do believe that Ellen White counseled God's end time people to observe a yearly camp meeting for spiritual refreshment like God's OT people did twice a year. And yes I can see how this can become a legalistic form of worshiping God for his end time people and lose sight of righteousness by faith in Jesus.
I think that camp meetings has its closest equivalence in the Feast of Tabernacles, but it is hardly a precedent for the modern camp meeting.
In North America, during the 1800s, camp meetings were a popular form of evangelism and revival in quite a number of revivalist churches. Our church was simply using a mechanism that was popular at the time and has continued to hold them at least in some areas until now. Any book on the religious history of North America will describe the popularity of church camp meetings in the 1800s.
I don't see camp meetings as observing ceremonial law and I don't know of any church instruction to the effect that attending has anything to do with salvation. In some areas camp meetings have been replaced by regional meetings held in a large public meeting place where a number of churches can come together, but once again they have no ceremonial significance.
The Feast of Tabernacles was a sub feast of the Day of Atonement which also had another sub feast called the Feast of Trumpets and these sub feasts surrounded the Day of Atonement at about the middle of their year. God's people then met for about one whole month for the main feast of the Day of Atonement and the Day of Atonement was a main feast because of the Lord's goat, bullock, and scape goat sacrifices that signified Jesus becoming sin and ending Satan and sin and cleansing of sin and sanctuary for the universe. Then there were the sub feasts that surrounded the main Passover feast (unleavened bread and first fruits,) but the Passover was the main feast then because it was celebrated at about the beginning of the Jewish year and it also had to do with sacrificing a lamb that signified Jesus sinless and flawless sacrifice of himself for all sin and God's people met again for about one whole month with two sub feasts and the main Passover feast. So God's ot people essentially met twice a year for camp meeting with two main feasts and two subfeasts to each main feasts; one main one at about the beginning of their year and another main one at about the middle of their year. There was no end of the year celebration for God's ot people. There was only the beginning of the year Passover and sub feasts surrounding that and then the middle of the year day of atonement and sub feasts surrounding that one.
Thank God for sending His only begotten son to die for us!!If you are in Christ you are a new creature and former things have passed away!!When you are in Christ ,i agree with Jackson you cannot be a slave of worldly fashions and EGW admonitions us to dress modestly.When you are in Christ,He directs you even the way you dress,eat,drink,talk and generally the way you do the things you do,you do not need anyone to keep admonitioning you as to the christian standard as regards to dressing.We enslave oursrlves by wanting to keep going back to Egypt where we have been freed!!Help us God!We as SDAs are a chosen generstion,a royal Priesthood and a perculiar people so if we imitate the world,where is our perculiarity then?Help us God lest we continue in slavery yet we have been freed through Christ Jesus who became a sacrificial lamb for us to gain freedom over sin and death etc.!!Help us God !!
"If you are in Christ you are a new creature." This does not mean that now you never sin anymore or that now you are suddenly a flawless and sinless human. It just simply means that now you seek to witness to others about Jesus' sinless sacrifice for you and them and also move in the direction of becoming like Jesus that will take the rest of your life in failing and getting up again etc.