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Proclamation magazine is geared toward ex Seventh Day Adventists and helping them to understand doctrinal issues with SDA teachings, but it is also excellent for understanding the misunderstandings that other Sabbathkeeping groups continue to perpetuate. I have benefitted from it immensely on specific topics relating to my past association with Worldwide Church of God, a group that taught bad doctrine related to the Sabbath, Holy Days and clean/unclean laws.
Here is a link to their magazine website. Note that you can get a free paper copy sent to your home or you can read the issues online in pdf form. Select a magazine issue, and on the left side, you can choose to view the PDF copy.
Proclamation Magazine
The overall focus is a New Covenant perspective that acknowledges the Old Covenant is done away with. The moral law of God applies to New Covenant Christians, but not ceremonial and ritualistic aspects of the Old Covenant.
I was thinking about something the other day from my WCG days...three favorite Scriptures that some of these cultic groups try to use to convince people that they need to keep Old Covenant laws are these:
I John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
Romans 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
II Pet 3:15-16 [SUP]15 [/SUP]And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; [SUP]16 [/SUP]As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
I John 3:4 is used by them to assert that the fundamental definition of sin is transgression of the Old Covenant law, or the Ten Commandments, depending on the group you are talking to. It is talking about the moral law of God, irrespective of the source. The word "nomia" is used in other manners to refer to other "laws", even the "law" of the husband over the wife, as Romans 7:1-7 indicates. Anomia, in these verses, also relates to the general state of rebellion that unconverted mankind exhibits...those who care nothing about obedience to God.
In order to expose their folly, ask them how they define law in these verses.
If they say the Ten Commandments (as a SDA likely will), then ask them why they claim it is a sin to eat unclean meats. The unclean meats were part of the "book of the covenant" which they claim no longer applies, but they still assert that the unclean meat laws apply. Ask them why there is such an inconsistency...if they claim that the Ten Commandments only apply but they are still picking and choosing between the rest of the laws, why?
If they say the Torah or entire Old Covenant, ask them if they dwell in Sukkots for all 7 days of the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles) as the Old Covenant specifies (by the way dwelling in a hotel room is not a substitute; the Law specifically indicates that observers must live in booths made in a particular manner with palm fronds..see Leviticus 23). Ask them if they clean all of the leaven out of their homes before the Days of Unleavened Bread. If not, they are following some man-made skinnied down version of the Old Covenant law, perhaps one designed by Herbert Armstrong, Ellen G. White or some other authority figure in their lives..maybe even themselves.
Christians do follow the moral law of God..in fact God grants His spirit to help them to understand and obey the enduring moral law of God. Some of these moral laws are specified in the Old Covenant, and God's spirit gives Christians spiritual eyes to see the underlying moral or spiritual principles that apply, even if the specific application to the nation of Israel no longer applies.
Regarding Romans 8:7, the common accusation of these groups is that you are "hostile toward God's law" if you don't accept their doctrinal position on the Sabbath, annual festivals, or clean/unclean meats. Some of them definitely mean that you are unconverted if you don't accept these laws as being binding on New Covenant Christians. Others claim that you are less holier than themselves or carnal. The same explanation applies as above..Christians delight in the moral law of God. These elements are not moral in nature but they are ritualistic elements of the Old Covenant which no longer apply under the New Covenant.
Regarding II Peter 3:15-16, it is very common for these groups to claim that they have "the truth" and that they are the "elect" and that they are enlightened and that others are not. The insinuation when they bring up these verses is that they are the ones with the true faith or the fullest revelation of knowledge, and that you are "unlearned and unstable". They make this claim in specific to issues relating to the law, as Paul wrote extensively and definitively on this topic.
They reject the portions where Paul clearly stated that the Sabbath and Holy Days no longer apply but were mere shadows of Christ, who is the substance (Colossians 2:16-17). They deny other sections which say that the entire Old Covenant is done away with, such as II Cor 3, Romans 7:1-7, Galatians 3). They come up with alternate contexts, definitions, or alternate explanations to deal with anything that refutes their teachings. They strain and fight against those verses because if they are true, their worldview is false.
Part of their defense mechanism is to declare others ignorant and unstable, and to assault their knowledge of the Scriptures. False pride is very evident in these organizations. The boastful claim that they have "the truth" and that other Christians are deceived is a part of this mentality. Armstrongites went so far as to claim that other Christian pastors were "ministers of Satan".
Anyways..I was just thinking about how these three verses come out constantly when discussing Sabbath related issues with those who hold these doctrines. The accusations are that those who disagree with them are in violation of God's law (which they define in a manner that is in alignment with their doctrines), that they are hostile toward God's law, and that they are ignorant and unstable. When these verses come up in a conversation, I am quick to remind them that I know what's up with their accusations and label them as such.
Here is a link to their magazine website. Note that you can get a free paper copy sent to your home or you can read the issues online in pdf form. Select a magazine issue, and on the left side, you can choose to view the PDF copy.
Proclamation Magazine
The overall focus is a New Covenant perspective that acknowledges the Old Covenant is done away with. The moral law of God applies to New Covenant Christians, but not ceremonial and ritualistic aspects of the Old Covenant.
I was thinking about something the other day from my WCG days...three favorite Scriptures that some of these cultic groups try to use to convince people that they need to keep Old Covenant laws are these:
I John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
Romans 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
II Pet 3:15-16 [SUP]15 [/SUP]And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; [SUP]16 [/SUP]As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
I John 3:4 is used by them to assert that the fundamental definition of sin is transgression of the Old Covenant law, or the Ten Commandments, depending on the group you are talking to. It is talking about the moral law of God, irrespective of the source. The word "nomia" is used in other manners to refer to other "laws", even the "law" of the husband over the wife, as Romans 7:1-7 indicates. Anomia, in these verses, also relates to the general state of rebellion that unconverted mankind exhibits...those who care nothing about obedience to God.
In order to expose their folly, ask them how they define law in these verses.
If they say the Ten Commandments (as a SDA likely will), then ask them why they claim it is a sin to eat unclean meats. The unclean meats were part of the "book of the covenant" which they claim no longer applies, but they still assert that the unclean meat laws apply. Ask them why there is such an inconsistency...if they claim that the Ten Commandments only apply but they are still picking and choosing between the rest of the laws, why?
If they say the Torah or entire Old Covenant, ask them if they dwell in Sukkots for all 7 days of the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles) as the Old Covenant specifies (by the way dwelling in a hotel room is not a substitute; the Law specifically indicates that observers must live in booths made in a particular manner with palm fronds..see Leviticus 23). Ask them if they clean all of the leaven out of their homes before the Days of Unleavened Bread. If not, they are following some man-made skinnied down version of the Old Covenant law, perhaps one designed by Herbert Armstrong, Ellen G. White or some other authority figure in their lives..maybe even themselves.
Christians do follow the moral law of God..in fact God grants His spirit to help them to understand and obey the enduring moral law of God. Some of these moral laws are specified in the Old Covenant, and God's spirit gives Christians spiritual eyes to see the underlying moral or spiritual principles that apply, even if the specific application to the nation of Israel no longer applies.
Regarding Romans 8:7, the common accusation of these groups is that you are "hostile toward God's law" if you don't accept their doctrinal position on the Sabbath, annual festivals, or clean/unclean meats. Some of them definitely mean that you are unconverted if you don't accept these laws as being binding on New Covenant Christians. Others claim that you are less holier than themselves or carnal. The same explanation applies as above..Christians delight in the moral law of God. These elements are not moral in nature but they are ritualistic elements of the Old Covenant which no longer apply under the New Covenant.
Regarding II Peter 3:15-16, it is very common for these groups to claim that they have "the truth" and that they are the "elect" and that they are enlightened and that others are not. The insinuation when they bring up these verses is that they are the ones with the true faith or the fullest revelation of knowledge, and that you are "unlearned and unstable". They make this claim in specific to issues relating to the law, as Paul wrote extensively and definitively on this topic.
They reject the portions where Paul clearly stated that the Sabbath and Holy Days no longer apply but were mere shadows of Christ, who is the substance (Colossians 2:16-17). They deny other sections which say that the entire Old Covenant is done away with, such as II Cor 3, Romans 7:1-7, Galatians 3). They come up with alternate contexts, definitions, or alternate explanations to deal with anything that refutes their teachings. They strain and fight against those verses because if they are true, their worldview is false.
Part of their defense mechanism is to declare others ignorant and unstable, and to assault their knowledge of the Scriptures. False pride is very evident in these organizations. The boastful claim that they have "the truth" and that other Christians are deceived is a part of this mentality. Armstrongites went so far as to claim that other Christian pastors were "ministers of Satan".
Anyways..I was just thinking about how these three verses come out constantly when discussing Sabbath related issues with those who hold these doctrines. The accusations are that those who disagree with them are in violation of God's law (which they define in a manner that is in alignment with their doctrines), that they are hostile toward God's law, and that they are ignorant and unstable. When these verses come up in a conversation, I am quick to remind them that I know what's up with their accusations and label them as such.
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