Subject: The Seventh Day |
Bible Note: Generally throughout the Restoration, it is well recognized by many history books of that Restoration that there are 3 dinstinct categories of commands. I'll reproduce them here as best I can remember as I've studied this subject many times. 1) Imperatives directly from God's Word. I infer from your comment this is only category that you would accept but I'm afraid most christians would insist on a few more if they're forced to think about it logically. Examples here would be anything from the steps of salvation to the elements of modern worship, but there is so much more. 2) Commands by Examples. Here I'm talking about actions performed mostly by Apostles or at least by christians that were clearly endorsed by the Holy Spirit. Items that should be avoided in possible misinterpretation would be those like foot washing, anoiting of oil or exchange of holy kiss. These acts appear obviously as customs of their time and place, like our shaking hands. Examples of commands would be the day of worship and the appointment of elders and deacons. 3) Commands of inference. These are commands necessitated by common sense to carry out the other two above. I would stress these should be held to the minimum and must be considered necessary or the command being supported cannot be executed. An example here would be an accounting report in regular intervals to the elders so they can make wise decisions with the Lord's resources. Apparently, you would encourage me to expand on the 2nd command of example. It is perfectly logical for this kind of command to be inferred from God's Word. As I've been emphasizing in other previous posts, God expects us to grow in our spiritual development as well as our knowledge and handling of His Word. Toward this end, God set up the custom throughout the OT, of setting a pattern (example if you will). He had Noah build His ark to very exacting specifications as He did with Solomon and his building the Temple. Both of these were a foreshadow of things to come in the future. The ark as a perfect model of the church saving its occupants from a world of sin and the Temple as a perfect model of our own bodies as a modern dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. Another endorsement of the practicality of taking commands from the Apostles as examples is our own parenting of our kids. Maybe you're not a parent quite yet but believe me, when and if you become one, you'll appreciate the value of "commands by example." You may even now experience that appreciation from your own relationship with your parents. Neither God or any parent wants to dictate every little detail in the upbringing and training of their child(ren). In the same way, the Lord and His Apostles expect us to use our intellect, our common sense and infer certain commands from their activities, especially when those acts are done repeatedly and with some obvious purpose. In this case with the first day of the week being the day of worship in the abscence of their doing so on the Sabbath in the NT, the command is rather simple and easily inferred. This pattern of worshiping of Sunday is in stark contrast with the thousands of years of worship in the Temple with the OT. So you may begin to see why I issued this initial statement so matter-of-factly with no scripture in support. I thought this was a well recognized and very basic principle of Christianity. You know how we humans err with assumptions. I do hope this helps to clarify the issue and God bless. --Rowdy |