The Passing of the Sabbath

In this part of the sermon: Martin provides two keys for proper interpretation, starting with the historical context of the early church's transition from the Old to the New Covenant, including the inclusion…

The reluctance of Peter and the Jerusalem church to accept Gentiles without them becoming Jews first illustrates the slow, transitional nature of understanding New Covenant realities.

No, there was a period of transition that occurred in the church. A simple illustration of this, for example, is what we've been considering in the book of Acts, the inclusion of the Gentiles. You remember, we've been seeing that it took a while for that before what was at that time a Jewish church in Jerusalem came to really understand and to come to grips with the fact that Gentiles were included in the blessings of the gospel and that believing Gentiles were to be given full rights. And so, we've been seeing that.

18:47 - 19:19 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin provides two keys for proper interpretation, starting with the historical context of the early church's transition from the Old to the New Covenant, including the inclusion…

Paul's practice of going to the synagogue on the Sabbath illustrates his willingness to adapt to Jewish customs to avoid being a stumbling block, as long as it didn't compromise the gospel.

Observing the Lord's Day, baptism in the Lord's Supper, but also continuing to observe the Seventh Day, Sabbath, circumcision, and the Passover. Paul himself did this kind of thing sometimes in order to not be an unnecessary stumbling block to the Jews. Don't we find that often, what's the first thing he usually does when he goes into a city? Where's the first place he goes?

20:22 - 20:46 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin provides two keys for proper interpretation, starting with the historical context of the early church's transition from the Old to the New Covenant, including the inclusion…

Paul having his head shaved and engaging in purification rites in the temple demonstrates his effort to show Jews he hadn't completely abandoned his Jewish heritage, again to avoid unnecessary offense.

Paul sometimes did this kind of thing in order not to be an unnecessary stumbling block to the Jews as long as the situation was such that doing so would not amount to a compromise of the gospel. We see an example of this in Acts 21. When Paul went to Jerusalem, we find Paul having his head shaved and engaging in purification rites in the temple.

21:00 - 21:23 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin provides two keys for proper interpretation, starting with the historical context of the early church's transition from the Old to the New Covenant, including the inclusion…

Paul having Timothy, who had a Greek father and Jewish mother, circumcised illustrates Paul's strategic flexibility to open doors for gospel witness among Jews.

And you may remember that he also had Timothy circumcised. Timothy's father was a Greek. His mother was a Jew. When Paul began to take Timothy around with him to preach in the different churches in order that the door wouldn't immediately be closed.

21:46 - 22:00 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He interprets Colossians 2 as addressing a hybrid heresy combining Judaistic legalism with Gnosticism, where Paul rejects the reintroduction of the Old Covenant religious calendar…

The image of a monk living in a cave is used to explain asceticism, the denial of legitimate pleasures, which was part of the heresy addressed in Colossians.

This was a philosophy that taught that Christ was an emanation from God through a series of lesser, divine, beings. And it also taught the worship of angels and abstinence from certain foods and from legitimate material and physical pleasures. This is what is meant by asceticism. Like when you think of a monk, monk living up in the cave somewhere, he's an ascetic.

33:12 - 33:39 Read in full sermon

The point: Be careful about our attitude toward others, how we judge others, and be patient in our dealings, seeking to lead them to the truth about the Sabbath.

The analogy of not finding books debating whether Christians should steal or commit adultery highlights the unique difficulty and confusion surrounding the Fourth Commandment due to the discussed New Testament passages.

Because I'm not aware of any other creation ordinance or commandment in the Decalogue that has problem texts like these in the New Testament for you. I can't think of any. How many Christian books have been written debating whether it's OK for Christians to steal under the New Covenant or to honor your father and mother or to commit adultery? I don't I don't I doubt you'll find any book debating whether or not those commands apply to us or any of the other nine.

43:40 - 44:08 Read in full sermon