Colossians 2:14-17, “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; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”
Anyone
who teaches that Christians are obligated to observe the Sabbath Day in
these modern times is woefully ignorant of the Scriptures. They are a
false teacher! What saith the Scripture? Look at our text passage again
from Colossians 2:14-17. Verse 17 plainly says that the Sabbath Day was
a “SHADOW” of things to come. Your shadow is only visible when the sun
is off in a distance, but when it is directly overhead your shadow is
gone. Likewise, when Jesus died on the cross, He became the
fulfillment of what the Old Testament Sabbath Day represented, which is
salvation by resting completely in Christ. Jesus is our Sabbath today!
Hebrews 4:10-11, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” Please don't be thrown off by the word “labour.” The Bible is simply saying that faith is the only righteous thing that I can do. Jesus confirms this truth in John 6:28-29, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” The people asked Jesus what “WORK” they needed to do to please God. What labor must we do?, they asked. Jesus told them simply to “BELIEVE” on Him. Did the Lord tell them to repent of their sins? No, He did not.
Yet, when I heard Pastor Marty Herron telling a dying man to “repent of your sin” to be saved last year, my heart broke, I got angry at the Devil, and I pitied the woeful ignorance of Mr. Herron. Why do religious men foolishly add to the Gospel what God has not added? It is because they are following the influence of their apostate peers in the ministry, instead of obeying the Lord to “SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES” (John 5:39a). There is nothing in the Holy Bible about turning from sins to be saved. There is nothing in the Holy Bible that teaches us to keep the Sabbath Day in the New Testament. Jesus is our Sabbath in Whom we rest for salvation. That means you don't have to “repent and turn from your sins” to be saved, because that would not be resting, it would be laboring.
The Bible says that Jesus came to save us from our sins, not require us to be willing to save ourselves. Matthew 1:21, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” Jesus is the Savior, not you or me! Luke 19:10, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Repeatedly we are taught in the Bible that Christ came to SAVE US, and not we ourselves (Ephesians 2:8-9). Turning from one's sins is foreign to the Gospel. Certainly God wants every believer to depart from iniquity (2nd Timothy 2:19), but that is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, and not a requirement of saving-faith.
I am so sick of Pacific Garden Mission's (PGM) 'UNSHACKLED' radio using 2nd Corinthians 5:17 as their Go-To verse to bolster their heresy of Lordship Salvation. 2nd Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Notice that the Bible says if any man “BE IN CHRIST.” That means he is already saved. This has nothing to do with the Gospel by which we are saved (Romans 1:16; 1st Corinthians 15:1-4). PGM perverts the Gospel, adding the requirement to repent and turn away from your sins to be saved. That is a false plan of salvation, which absolutely cannot produce regeneration (i.e., the new birth).
The changes wrought by the indwelling Holy Spirit come later on, after a person is saved. The Bible calls this the “fruit” of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25). But a believer must CHOOSE to walk in the Spirit, otherwise they will walk in the flesh, and you would never know they are saved by watching their life. That is why it is false doctrine to say that we must watch someone's life after they profess faith in Jesus Christ, to determine if they really got saved. You cannot know how much fuel is in a car's fuel tank by the sound of the horn!
Getting back to our main subject, please look again at what the Apostle Paul said in Colossians 2:14-17, “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; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” What does “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us” means? It simply means that the Old Testament ceremonial laws were nailed to the cross. Romans 10:4, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” The man who believes (trusts) Jesus Christ is “justified from all things” (Acts 13:39). A saved person is totally freed from the power (curse) of the law.
There are approximately 720 moral, civil and ceremonial laws for the Jew in the Old Testament under Mosaic law. To get to Heaven by works, a Jew was required to perfectly keep ALL of these laws. Romans 2:7, “(For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.” Many Bible students grossly misunderstand this passage of Scripture. The Apostle Paul is not giving a plan of salvation here, as Evangelist Dan Corner heretically claims. Paul is doing the same thing that Jesus did in Mark 10:17-21 with the Rich Young Ruler, using the law as a measuring stick, to show them that they are needy sinners who haven't perfectly keep God's law.
In Romans chapter three Paul turns around 180 degrees, explaining that NO ONE can be justified by the works of the law. Romans 3:19-20, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Since no one can perfectly keep God's law, no one has ever been justified by the law. That is why Jesus Christ came to die on the cross, to pay our debt of sin, so that God could freely offer all humanity forgiveness of sins and eternal life as a gift. All we have to do is believe.
Satan's two main tactics has been, and always will be, imitation and infiltration of everything that God does. God gives the Comforter to believers (Romans 8:9); Satan gives unbelievers his false spirit (Ephesians 2:2). God gives salvation to man (John 1:12-13); Satan offers a religious experience as a substitute for the Gospel (Acts 15:1). That is what Kabbalah is. That is what Roman Catholicism is. That is what Lordship Salvation is! God gives man a Savior (John 3:16); Satan will send the false messiah (2nd Thessalonians 2:4).
One of the most deadly religious cults today is Seventh-Day Adventism (SDA). SDA's believe and preach Lordship Salvation—the same as the heretical Jehovah Witnesses, Pacific Garden Mission (Unshackled), and the apostate Bob Jones University crowd today. Colossians 2:16-17, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” There is no Sabbath Day today. It was a ceremonial law for a specific group of people (Jews), who lived in a specific place (Israel), during a specific time period (the Old Testament). Jesus is our Sabbath today, in Whom we completely REST to receive God's gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23). John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”
The Bible teaches that we meet on the first day of the week, Sunday, for church. 1st Corinthians 16:2, “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.” The first day of the week is Sunday. The Sabbath was the seventh day, or Saturday. SDA's teach that Baptists who attend church on Sunday are part of the Antichrist system of the world. SDA's have some really strange beliefs. Hebrews 13:9, “Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.” SDA's deny that Hell is a place of fire, torment and eternal punishment. Oh how wrong they are!
The SDA religion worships the Sabbath Day instead of what the Sabbath symbolized—salvation by faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why God ordered Moses to kill a man who picked up sticks on the Sabbath Day, because doing so symbolized adding human effort to God's grace! To subtract or add to the Gospel is to be cursed by God almighty (Galatians 1:6-9). Run from the Seventh-Day Adventist religion dear reader! Run from Dr. Steve Pettit, Harvest Baptist Church on Guam, and Bob Jones University, who all preach the same deadly heresy of Lordship Salvation as does Ellen G. White! Jesus Christ is our Sabbath today, in Whom alone we rest by faith for the gift of forgiveness of sins and eternal life!!!
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus Christ, my righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.
