Does It Matter WHICH DAYS We Observe

Does It Matter WHICH DAYS We Observe?

Some brethren need to WAKE UP from their spiritual laxity and

begin to perform what Jesus commanded!

by Herman L. Hoeh

OUR BAPTIZING tours have discovered a dreadful spiritual

condition among some brethren. They have found, for example,

that some have been carelessly neglecting Jesus' passover

command: "DO this in remembrance of Me."

Some admitted they just "forgot" about the passover service.

Others insisted they did not know where to purchase wine!

Brethren! IF, INDEED SOME OF YOU ARE BRETHREN, THIS MUST NOT

BE!

THINK of it! Some of you have supposedly ACCEPTED THE BLOOD

OF JESUS CHRIST -- His PERFECT, Holy, Righteous Self, in YOUR

stead! You have asked your Heavenly Father to apply the

sacrifice of THAT perfect Life to blot out YOUR SINS!

WHAT AN INEXCUSABLE, UNTHINKABLE, HEEDLESS, CARELESS,

UNGRATEFUL ACT -- to IGNORE the command of YOUR SAVIOUR to

observe the commemoration of the SHEDDING of that precious blood!

You who have done such a thing, I sternly REBUKE with the very

indignation of Almighty God, and in the name of the Jesus Christ

you have been FORGETTING!

Don't carelessly say: "I don't see as it makes any difference

whether I observe these days"!

It Does Make a Difference!

Brethren, it does make a difference! YOUR ETERNAL DESTINY

depends on it! You are soon -- very soon -- going to stand

before the judgment bar of Christ. Then you won't carelessly

say: "I do not think it makes much difference"; or, "Here is the

way I look at my situation."

It does not matter how YOU look at it, or what you think. God

says it makes a difference WITH HIM! You can't treat His Son

with disrespect and get away with it! There is a way that seems

right to a man -- to some of YOU but the end result are the ways

of DEATH (Proverbs 14:12).

You will be judged by what God says -- not by what you think!

But neglect of the passover service is not the only cause of

spiritual lack. Many more of you have been neglecting to attend

the Feast of Tabernacles. Some living no more than 250 miles from

the Tabernacle grounds claim "it is too far to go" -- or they

just did not have the money."

These typical excuses are NOT valid reasons. The only reason

some of you do not have sufficient money is that you have failed

to save your second tithe -- you have been disobedient! And as

for distance -- there is no distance too great to keep you from

the feast IF YOU WANT TO COME. Some brethren travel 2500 miles

each way to attend!

The real reason why some of you have not been coming is that

you are ashamed of your spiritual condition -- your smoking

habits you haven't overcome -- your other problems. Brethren,

that is just the reason you NEED the Feast of Tabernacles! You

cannot afford to miss it!

I met one man last year at the feast whom I had not seen for

six years! He confessed to me: "I HAD TO COME. I FOUND MYSELF

DRIFTING -- I knew I could not continue that any longer. So I am

here and will continue to be here henceforth."

Yes, it does make a difference!

A New Testament Command

The Church of God today is a New Testament Church. Its Head,

Jesus Christ, preached the New Testament gospel. Nowhere did

Jesus during His entire New Testament ministry ever observe the

temporary customs of the law of Moses.

Christ never once offered an animal sacrifice. Yet Christ

kept the sabbath and the annual festivals -- and we shall see He

commanded us to do the same.

Jesus kept the feast of Tabernacles (John 7:2, 10, 14, 37).

He set us an example that we should follow His steps! The

apostle John was inspired to write: "He that saith he abideth in

him (Jesus Christ) ought himself also so to walk, even as he

(Christ) walked" (I John 2:6).

Are we walking as Christ walked? Are we doing the things

Christ commanded?

Jesus commanded His apostles to teach their converts "to

observe ALL THINGS WHATSOEVER I HAVE COMMANDED You" (Matthew

28:20). You have been taught these things. But it seems some

have carelessly neglected to HEED that teaching!

The apostle Paul commanded Christians to follow him as he

followed Christ. What was Paul's example?

Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, not only observed the

sabbath and the annual festivals, BUT COMMANDED HIS CONVERTS TO

DO THE SAME! It is in your New Testament!

So the sabbath and the annual Holy Days were not done away

with after all. Of course! They originated before the law of

Moses -- and they now continue long after the law of Moses ceased

to be binding.

But notice the examples of Scripture. Notice the inspired New

Testament practice of God's Church. Notice why we do these

things today!

The New Testament PROOF

In I Corinthians 5:7-8 we have a New Testament command to a

church predominantly of Gentile origin. Notice Paul's

instruction! "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be

a new lump ..." Why? Why put out leaven, the type of sin?

"For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." Sin has

been paid for. Christ paid for and conquered sin in the flesh!

Therefore let us keep sin from recapturing us. Let us keep sin

out of our lives! How? By what annual reminder? Here is the

apostle's answer:

"THEREFORE LET US KEEP THE FEAST, not with old leaven" -- put

away leaven out of your houses each feast -- not only the

physical leaven and leavening agents, but also "the leaven of

malice and wickedness" and keep the feast "with the unleavened

bread of sincerity and truth."

No Easter here. No Lent here. But instead the New Testament

passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread.

In I Corinthians 11:18-34 the apostle had to explain in detail

how to keep the passover in the local congregation.

To these same Gentile converts at Corinth Paul writes: "For I

will not see you now by the way; but I trust to remain a while

with you, if the Lord permit. But I will remain at Ephesus until

Pentecost" (I Cor. 16:7-8). No Hallowe'en here -- or Christmas

or Whitsunday! But what do we find? The feast of Pentecost --

and in the predominantly Gentile city of Ephesus!

That should not surprise us. Fifty-four days after everything

that was nailed to the cross was abolished the disciples and

apostles were assembled to keep the day of Pentecost! Notice

Acts 2:1, "And when the day of Pentecost" -- one of the annual

festivals God ordained, not some pagan feast -- "... when the day

of Pentecost was being fulfilled, all were together in the one

place" (Panin trans.).

Here again is the New Testament example. What could be

plainer!

Now turn to Acts 20:6. "And we" -- Luke and those with him --

"sailed away from Philippi" -- a Gentile city -- "after the days

of unleavened bread ..." Notice. Luke did not sail after Easter

or some other pagan holiday. They sailed away after they had

marked the days of unleavened bread!

Example of the Colossian Church

Did you know that your New Testament reveals the Gentile

converts at Colosse were keeping the annual sabbaths, were

following God's calendar, and rested each weekly sabbath? It is

there and yet you probably have never noticed it! The very

scripture most often quoted against these days is, in fact, the

strongest proof they were being kept!

These Gentile converts, like the Thessalonians, "became

followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ

Jesus" (I Thess. 2:14). The churches of God in Judaea kept these

days. They followed the example of the Headquarters church in

Jerusalem. And the scattered churches of God in the Gentile

world followed their example!

Notice Paul's commendation of the converts at Colosse. "For

though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit,

joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your

faith in Christ" (Col. 2:5). Paul had never seen or visited with

these converts. The local church had been raised up by one of

Paul's evangelists. The apostle Paul had received a glowing

report of the church. The Church of God at Colosse was following

Christ -- doing the things He did, keeping the days He kept.

They had ceased their pagan customs. They had quit their heathen

practices. "And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in

your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he (Christ) reconciled in

the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and

unblameable ... if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled,

and be nor moved away from the hope of the gospel ..." (Col.

1:21-23).

These Gentile converts, verse 27, had been called out of the

world -- called to separate from the traditions of the world --

but they still lived in a world steeped with pagan superstition

and custom. They were under pressure from their neighbors to

give up their new-found faith. Their Gentile neighbors did not

like them taking up with Biblical practices. They did not want

any "Jewish practices" developing in their community! They wanted

everybody to continue with the traditions and doctrines of the

pagan philosophers, whom the world respected. They weren't about

to have their pagan holidays replaced by God's holy days, or

their sunworship rites superseded by the weekly sabbath, or the

pagan Roman calendar replaced by God's calendar.

Gentile Colossians Were Ascetic

Colosse was a very ascetic community. The people there did

not believe in enjoying pleasure. They believed in a religion of

severity. They believed in rigidly suppressing the body "in

order to purify the soul." They thought that any indulgence of

the senses was wrong. They fasted often, punished themselves,

were vegetarians in part, refused to eat those clean meats God

created for us, and thought drinking wine was terrible!

To keep everybody "in line" they brought social pressure, and

instituted local "blue laws" to keep the preaching of the gospel

from spreading. (See "The Church in the Roman Empire Before A.D.

170," by W. M. Ramsay, Chapter X.) These pagan beliefs were

commonly known to the heathen by the name "philosophy." Paul

used this very word in Colossians 2:8: "Beware lest any man spoil

you through PHILOSOPHY and vain deceit, after the tradition of

men, after the rudiments (or basic concepts) of the world, and

not after Christ."

Philosophy was the doctrine that you could pay for your own

sins by denying yourself the pleasures of the body. It was a

pagan doctrine which denied the need of a Saviour. It was called

philosophy because the pagan PHILOSOPHERS were responsible for

its introduction. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, among others,

taught that the soul was immortal, that the body was a prison

house, that the soul could be released from this prison house of

flesh only if it were purified from any desires of the flesh.

The early Catholic writers used this same expression in their

day to mean asceticism. "It was very common ... to call an

ascetic mode of life 'philosophical,' or 'the life of a

philosopher.' ... The growing sentiment had its roots partly in

the prevailing ideas of CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY, which

instinctively emphasized strongly the dualism of spirit and

matter, and the necessity of subduing the latter to the former,

and partly in the increasing moral corruptness of society." "The

Neo-Platonic philosophy of the times, through its doctrine of the

purification of the soul by its liberation from the body or

sensuous things, taught celibacy and ascetic practices

generally." (From pp. 252 and 546 of "Nicene and Post-Nicene

Fathers of the Christian Church," second series, edited by Schaff

and Wace.)

Those who followed this philosophy were stern ascetics. They

were the opposite of many other Gentiles who loved pleasure and

indulged in the sins of the flesh, whose motto was "Let us eat

and drink, for tomorrow we die."

Not so the Grecian Gentiles at Colosse. They severely judged

their Christian neighbors for the least infraction of ascetic

behavior. They did not like to see the Christians freely eating

meat good for food, or drinking moderately, or keeping the

sabbath and the annual festivals. That is why Paul wrote; "Let

no man therefore judge you for eating or drinking, or in

connection with the observance of an holyday, or of the new moon,

or of the sabbath days" (Col. 2:16, margin).

Here were Gentile converts, judged by relatives and neighbors,

for doing the things Jesus did, Gentiles being judged for their

part in the celebration of festivals commanded to be observed

forever. Here were Gentiles judged for keeping holy the days God

made holy! And yet this verse has been cleverly quoted by the

churches to make it say the exact opposite of what it does say.

It is time we noticed what this chapter really says. It is time

we see for ourselves the meaning of this scripture, and quit

taking for granted what it nowhere says!

Not Law of Moses

Probably most of us have taken for granted for years that Paul

is writing about the law of Moses in Colossians that the newly

converted Gentiles there were being led into "Judaism." This is

absolutely untrue! There is not one indication that there were

any Jews attempting to lead Christians into Judaism. (See the

plain admission of this in the Introduction to Colossians in the

"International Critical Commentary.")

Paul DOES indeed speak of Judaism in Galatians and Romans, but

not here in the book of Colossians. Notice with your own eyes the

startling proof here revealed -- proof that the converted Gentile

Colossians were being judged by their heathen neighbors FOR

KEEPING THE DAYS GOD MADE HOLY!

Consider verse 8 again. "Beware lest any man spoil you through

philosophy and vain deceit -- it does NOT say the law of Moses.

It does speak of pagans who adhered to "philosophy."

Continuing: "after the rudiments (fundamental beliefs) OF THE

WORLD, and not after Christ." The evil doctrines Paul is

condemning were OF THE WORLD. The world then was a GENTILE

world. It was a pagan Roman world, filled with foolish and vain

traditions. The Jews prided themselves on being racially

separate from the world. The Jews thought themselves superior to

the sinful Gentile world. So these traditions were Gentile

traditions which Paul warns us to beware of!

Now verses 9 and on: "For in him (Christ) dwelleth all the

fullness of the Godhead bodily." God dwelt in Christ, not in the

philosophers. "And ye are complete in Him, which is the head of

all principality and power." We are made perfect in Christ, not

through asceticism and human traditions. Christ is the Head over

all. He is the One we must look to, not to the highly vaunted

philosophers.

"In whom (Christ) also ye are circumcised with the

circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the

sins of the flesh by the circumcision or Christ" (verse 10).

Paul elsewhere reveals we are to be circumcised in the heart"

(Romans 2:29).

Christ conquered sin in the flesh. If we surrender ourselves

to Christ, He will enter into us through His Holy Spirit and

clean us up, conquer our sins -- circumcise our hearts or minds

spiritually. Physical circumcision involves cutting away a tiny

portion of flesh, but Christ circumcises the WHOLE BODY which is

full of sin. He enables us to completely cut away sin out of our

lives -- enables us to bury all our past sins in the waters of

baptism, as you read in Col. 2:12: "Buried with him in baptism,

wherein also we are risen with him through the faith of the

operation of God" -- faith in God's ability to supply us with the

Holy Spirit and raise us from a dead past to new life just as He

"hath raised him (Christ) from the dead."

Sin, Not Law, Blotted Out

"And you," Paul continues, "being dead in your sins and the

UNCIRCUMCISION OF YOUR FLESH" -- these people were, prior to

conversion, uncircumcised Gentiles -- "hath he (the Father)

quickened together with him (Christ), having forgiven you all

trespasses.

God forgives sin. These Gentile converts had sinned. They

had been following the foul, heathenish practices of the world

about them. They had been trying to pay for their own hurt

consciences by penance, by ascetism. But always they had their

past to live with. No matter what they gave up or denied

themselves, their consciences continued to plague them. They

still weren't forgiven.

NOW things were different. They had really been forgiven.

They were no longer bound to their past sins. They had no longer

the guilt of following human customs, human ordinances, human

decrees and vanity. Their sins had been blotted out; Christ had

taken them away. Every truly converted person knows what a

relief it is to have his sins BLOTTED OUT forever, never to

reappear in the judgment. And it was all accomplished by Christ

who "bare our sins in his own body on the tree" (I Peter 2:24).

What Was Nailed to the Cross?

Notice that CHRIST was nailed to the cross. HE bore our SINS.

When He shed His blood from the cross in our stead, He thereby

blotted out all our sins by paying for them in full with His own

life. It is SIN which was blotted out. Notice Acts 3:19, "that

your SINS may be BLOTTED OUT." "Have mercy upon me, cried David,

"blot out my TRANSGRESSIONS ... Hide thy face from my SINS, and

BLOT OUT all mine INIQUITIES" (Psalm 51:1,9).

Turn now to II Corinthians 5:10: "For we must all appear

before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive

the things done in his body, according to that he hath done,

whether it be good or bad." Are your bad deeds covered by the

blood of Christ? Are the SINS WHICH STOOD AGAINST YOU blotted

out?

Next, read Revelation 20:12. Here is what happens in the

final judgment. "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand

before God; and the books were opened ... and the dead were

judged out of those things which were WRITTEN IN THE BOOKS,

ACCORDING TO THEIR WORKS."

The record of your past sins stands at this moment AGAINST YOU

-- unless Christ's blood covers them, blots them out. Christ

died to blot our the written record of your and my guilty past.

The record of our past sins has been figuratively nailed to the

cross, taken out of the way.

Now we all can better understand Colossians 2:14. Notice this

verse as it stands in the King James Version. "Blotting our 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."

Haven't you assumed this verse to mean God's law? -- some

assume the ten commandments, others the law of Moses. But look

at the verse again.

What is blotted out? SIN! It does not say "the ten

commandments." It does not read "law of Moses," or "works of the

law." It reads "handwriting of ordinances."

What "ordinances" were these?

Sinful Pagan Customs

Let the Bible answer. Paul tells us in verses 20 to 23 of

this same chapter!

"Wherefore if ye" -- the Gentile converts -- "be dead with

Christ from the rudiments (fundamental principles or ideas) of

the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to

ORDINANCES" (verse 20). ORDINANCES! Notice it. But which

ordinances? Notice the answer in the next verse: "(Touch not;

taste not; handle not; which are all to perish with the using;)

AFTER THE COMMANDMENTS AND DOCTRINES OF MEN?"

There you are! They were human traditions! Ways of sin!

Continuing:

"Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in WILL WORSHIP" --

pagan asceticism -- "and humility, and neglecting of the body" --

appearing outwardly humble and self-denying, but inwardly

self-righteous -- "BUT ARE OF NO VALUE AGAINST INDULGENCE OF THE

FLESH" (last part from Panin trans.).

Did you catch it? These evil practices were pagan ordinances,

or customs of men -- based on the commandments and doctrines of

pagan speculative philosophy. They were HEATHEN ordinances,

HEATHEN customs forbidding people from touching, tasting and

handling those things God allows. We see the same customs today:

don't dance, don't drink, etc. in pseudo-Christianity today!

Those heathen Gentiles at Colosse did not want THE

RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. They wanted THEIR OWN righteousness.

"Don't eat this! Don't drink that! Don't touch something else."

In other words, a pagan religion of "don'ts!"

So the original inspired Greek for "handwriting of ordinances"

is not even referring to Moses' laws! In fact this is not a

proper translation! The original Greek reads "cheirographon tois

dogmasin." It does not mean a code of laws.

The Greek word for "handwriting" originally referred to "a

note of hand, or writing in which one acknowledges that money has

either been deposited with him or lent to him by another, to be

returned at an appointed time." (From Thayer's "Lexicon.")

It came later to refer to any acknowledgment of debt. We all

owe a spiritual debt to God because of sin. We have all sinned

and must pay that penalty or have Christ pay it for us. That is

the meaning of the word "handwriting" here -- all acknowledgment

of debt. But how was it originally incurred? What did the

Colossians do that brought on that debt of sin? The answer is in

verse 13. What was blotted out were TRESPASSES (verse 13, last

part) incurred through following SINFUL ORDINANCES, believing

LYING DOGMAS -- like the doctrine of the immortality of the soul

which was at the root of pagan asceticism!

Nothing is said here about any "law of Moses." Those Gentiles

had never heard of or kept THAT law!

So the written record of SINS which were blotted out involved

the frightful practice of evil pagan ordinances for which Christ

paid the penalty and God forgave us.

How Colossians OBEYED

The Colossians had been taught the gospel. They obeyed it.

They were doing the things Christ did. Christ was living His

life in them as they yielded to Him. They were being knit

together in love (Col. 2:2). Love is the FULFILLMENT OF THE LAW

(Romans 13:10). The Colossians were KEEPING God's law. Like

other Gentiles they had not heard of God's law before it was

preached to them. (See Romans 2:12,13.) They did not know the

way of love. But now they not only knew it, they were practicing

it!

They were no longer ascetics, trying to conquer the flesh by

themselves. They were conquering themselves through the Holy

Spirit. But God gives His Holy Spirit only to those "who OBEY

Him" (Acts 5:32). Because the Colossian Christians were obeying

God, it made their neighbors feel self-condemned and inferior.

Their neighbors began sitting in judgment of them -- condemning

them -- for following the ways of Christ which they had newly

learned. And what were these Christians being judged for?

Notice it! It was not for keeping Christmas and Easter and

Sunday -- pagan holidays, not for abstinence from certain foods

and alcohol! No indeed! But -- notice it:

"Let no man therefore judge you in eating and drinking"

(margin) -- the Colossians were no longer ascetics -- or in

connection with the observance of an holyday, or of the new moon,

or of the sabbaths."

That is what they were being judged for -- "in connection with

the observance" (as Moffatt translates it) -- of God's festivals,

His calendar measured by the new moon, and the sabbath!

The once-pagan Colossians never kept these days before! They

were heathen prior to conversion. Now that they had learned the

gospel, they were keeping holy the days God made holy. And Paul

is warning them not to return to or be influenced by their old

pagan ways -- the ways of their relatives and neighbors who hated

God's law and His festivals.

For years most of us have taken for granted that these verses

in Colossians were speaking of the law of Moses and rituals and

sacrifices. They are not! There is nothing here about the

ceremonial law -- about animal sacrifices and drink offerings.

The original Greek is "en broosei" and "en posei" and means

"in eating and in drinking." It does not mean meat and drink

offerings. Every competent scholar acknowledges this to be true

-- yet they ASSUME it does not mean eating and drinking but

sacrificial rituals!

No, these verses are speaking of the Christian liberty to

enjoy life! Jesus came eating and drinking (Matthew 11:19 and

Luke 7:34). Jesus set us the example. He was no ascetic! And

neither were the Colossian Christians any longer! They were

daily enjoying the Christian life in temperance and self-control,

and especially in connection with each feast, every new month and

the weekly sabbaths!

What Did They Foreshadow?

Now notice verse 17. "Which are shadows of things to come ..."

Or, better translated, "which foreshadow things to come." Did

these scriptural days foreshadow things to come? Indeed!

Does the weekly sabbath foreshadow good things to come?

Indeed it does! Not only is the weekly sabbath a memorial of

creation -- but it also fore-shadows the seventh 1000-years in

which man shall rest from his labors of sin. In speaking of the

SEVENTH DAY OF THE WEEK, in Hebrews 4:4, the apostle Paul goes

right on to show that that day foreshadows God's thousand year

millennial rest. But does that do away with the weekly sabbath?

Not at all! "There REMAINETH therefore THE KEEPING OF A SABBATH

to the people of God (Hebrews 4:9, margin). Sabbathkeeping is a

TEST OF OBEDIENCE. NO one shall enter into an eternal rest

unless he first, here and now, is willing to enter into the rest

of each sabbath, each seventh day of the week. And that is

exactly what the Colossians were doing -- observing the weekly

sabbaths.

In like manner the annual festivals, instituted as MEMORIALS,

also foreshadow the plan of God. They were given to the Church

in order to keep the Church in the knowledge of that plan.

Only one festival has been entirely fulfilled in type -- the

passover. Yet Jesus said that each year we are to celebrate it

again: "DO THIS in remembrance of Me."

Seventh Day Adventists and other groups claim that Colossians

2:16 refers "to annual feasts, new moons, and annual sabbaths" --

not to the weekly sabbaths.

THIS IS NOT TRUE! Whenever the expression "sabbath days" is

used WITH "holy days" and "new moons," the WEEKLY sabbaths are

ALWAYS meant! There is no exception. Read I Chr. 23:31; II Chr.

2:4; 31:3; Ezra 3:5; Neh. 10:33.

All annual holy days ARE annual sabbaths!

Notice that in all these verses the weekly sabbaths are

referred to IN THE PLURAL just as in Colossians 2:16! Col. 2:16

includes BOTH weekly AND annual sabbaths! If it abolishes one,

it abolishes the other. But as it establishes one, SO IT

ESTABLISHES THE OTHER AS NEW TESTAMENT PRACTICE.

The Body of Christ

"Let no man therefore judge you" in these matters, said Paul,

"but (rather) the body OF Christ" (Col. 2:17, last part).

This verse has troubled many. Yet it should not. Notice that

the word "is" in the King James Version is in italics. It does

not appear in the original. The original Greek says only: "the

body of Christ." What is the body of Christ? How does Paul use

this expression in Colossians?

Turn to chapter 1. In verse 18 we find that Christ "is the

Head of the body, THE CHURCH." And in Col. 2:19: "And not holding

the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands [has]

nourishment ministered ..."

The true Church of God is the body of Christ. Just as the

Spirit of God once dwelled in the earthly body of Jesus Christ,

so now the Holy Spirit dwells in each member of the Church and

together we constitute one body, doing the very work Christ did.

We are therefore Christ's body today! And Christ is the Head as

the Husband is the head of the wife (Ephesians 5:23).

No man is to sit in judgment of our Christian conduct, Paul is

declaring in Colossians 2:16-17. Man does not determine how we

should live. But it is the responsibility of the Church -- the

body of Christ -- to determine these matters! The Church is to

teach how to observe the festivals -- to explain the meaning of

self-control, etc. So these little-understood verses ought to be

translated clearly: "Let no man therefore judge you ... but

(rather) let the body of Christ (determine it). Greek scholars

recognize that the first expression "let no man" demands that

there be a subsequent expression which tells who is to do the

judging of the matter!

How plain these verses are. How clear that the Colossians

were keeping holy the time God made holy!

Since the true meaning of the expression "handwriting of

ordinances" according to the Bible is "acknowledgment of guilt

through (following human) dogmas" -- what about the "law of

commandments in ordinances" mentioned in Ephesians 2:15?

Another Common Assumption

Here again people take for granted the Law of God or the

"ceremonial" law of Moses! But it is neither! Notice hurriedly

verses 11-12 of chapter 2: "Wherefore remember, that ye being in

time past Gentiles in the flesh" -- not Jews, notice, but

Gentiles -- "who are called Uncircumcision by that which is

called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; that at that

time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth

of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise" -- having

no knowledge of God's covenants and His laws -- "having no hope,

and without God in the world."

But Christ came to bring those far off near to God. How?

Through the blood of Christ (verse 13). Christ reconciled us to

God -- reconciled the Gentile who was far off and the Jew who was

near. This is explained in verse 16: "And that he might

reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain

the enmity thereby: and came and preached peace to you which were

afar off, and to them that were nigh." So we now have access to

God by the Holy Spirit and whether Jew or Gentile are part of the

one body -- the body of Christ!

How did God reconcile us to Himself? Through the sacrifice of

Christ! Christ paid for our sins! He condemned sin in the

flesh. He conquered the carnal mind. "The carnal mind is ENMITY

against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither

indeed can be" (Romans 8:7). It was because of the enmity -- the

ill-will, the hatred -- of the natural mind in every human being

that Christ had to die. What stood between all humanity and God

was the natural enmity in every human mind. That is what

separated us from God. "But your iniquities have separated

between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from

you, that He will not hear" (Isaiah 59:2).

It is not the law of God that has separated us from God. It

is the violation of that law -- sin -- that separated us. That

is the meaning of Ephesians 2:14 -- "and hath broken down the

middle wall of partition" Notice that the words "between us" have

been added and are in italics. Granted that there was a physical

wall in the temple which separated the Jews who were "near" to

God from the Gentiles who were "far off," but merely reconciling

Jew with Gentile would not reconcile us with God. It is our

relationship to God that counts! The only wall referred to in

Scripture is the wall that separates man from God. Notice

Ezekiel 43:8. Because of idolatry -- sin, God says "there was a

wall between Me and them" (margin). That wall of sin -- the

natural ENMITY in the human heart and in society is broken down.

Christ paid for it by sacrificing His own life for ours --

"having abolished in his flesh the ENMITY" -- having paid for sin

and making possible the receipt of the Holy Spirit to conquer the

carnality of man, the carnal opposition of society with its ways.

Jesus said, "I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Through

the power of the Spirit in our lives, we, too, can overcome the

world, its customs, its false teachings, its heathen dogmas

masquerading in the name of Christ, the dictates of society!

That is what Christ abolished -- "Having abolished in his flesh

the ENMITY, even the law of commandments in ordinances". Notice

it!

The enmity against God is expressed by commands in the form of

"ordinances" -- "dogmasin," in the Greek -- the very commandments

of men, human tradition, heathen customs, the dictates of

society, which Paul condemned in Colossians. That is what Christ

abolished through His sacrifice. The Gentile Ephesians did not

know the law of God -- they never practiced the law of Moses. It

was their frightful sins which separated them from God.

Now they were reconciled to God, forgiven of their past sin.

They had the Spirit of God to overcome themselves and to overcome

the world around them, with its human traditions, its human

dogmas, its human commandments which were in opposition to God

and to His law! There is certainly not one word here about the

law of Moses or the Ten Commandments being annulled.

Yes, it does make a difference to God whether we obey Him. It

does make a difference which days we keep!

But what about Galatians 4:10 and Romans 14:5-6. What are the

days referred to here?

Esteeming One Day Above Another

Let's notice what the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 14:5, 6.

"One MAN esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth

every day alike. Let every man be FULLY PERSUADED in his own

mind" (Romans 14:5, 6).

By taking these verses out of their setting, people make Paul

say something altogether different from what he intended. Does

Paul say to observe Christmas, Easter, Lent, Good Friday, Sunday,

or the Festival of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven?

Does he say here that Jesus by His death did away with the

very days He kept during His whole life?

Does Paul say "GOD esteemeth one day above another" and "GOD

esteemeth every day alike?" NO! The Scripture says "one MAN

esteemeth one day above another." This tells us what certain MEN

thought, not what God says!

We are not to be JUDGED by what MEN think, but by the word of

God! John 12:48 reads: "The WORD that I have spoken, THE SAME

shall judge him in the last day." Jesus is not going to judge

you by what any MAN believes, but by the words He spoke!

Next, notice that these saints at Rome, having differing

opinions, were forbidden to JUDGE ONE ANOTHER as unworthy of

Christ. "Who are you that judges another man's servant? to his

own master he stands or falls. Yes, he shall be helped up: for

GOD IS ABLE TO MAKE HIM STAND" (Rom. 14:4).

Paul is not sanctioning nor condemning any particular periods

of time, but warning the saints not to JUDGE one another and

cause strife for having differing opinions about things THEY DID

NOT YET UNDERSTAND CLEARLY.

The Lord is the Judge of their deeds. "He that regardeth the

day, regardeth it UNTO THE LORD, and he that regardeth not the

day, to the Lord he doth not regard it."

Continuing, "Let every man be fully persuaded in his own

mind."

Does this give license to believe whatever you want? God

commands: "Lean not unto thine own understanding" (Prov. 3:5).

How are you going to be fully assured in your own mind UNTIL YOU

KNOW WHAT GOD SAYS IN HIS WORD? "The holy scriptures ... are

able to make you wise to salvation," wrote Paul (II Tim. 3:15).

By studying the Word of God to prove all things, and by

holding fast that which is good (I Thess. 5:21), YOU BECOME FULLY

PERSUADED IN YOUR OWN MINDS concerning what GOD says.

Converts at Rome Were Weak

The saints at Rome were weak in the faith, not having acquired

perfect knowledge. Paul says: "For I long to see you, that I may

impart to you some spiritual gift, to the end that you MAY BE

ESTABLISHED" (Rom. 1:11).

It is so plain. Here were new converts at Rome, without a

regular local congregation, still weak in the faith, who were

divided in their regard of certain customs. Paul told them not

to sit in judgment of one another, but to follow peace, because

GOD would judge them, after setting them aright through more

perfect knowledge which Paul was going to preach to them. In the

meantime they were to act in accordance with the best they knew

from GOD'S Word, not MAN'S word.

This did not give them liberty to do as they pleased. They

were to obey what God revealed. It would be sin if they

disobeyed AFTER THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH HAD COME. For to him

that KNOWS to do good and doesn't do it, it is sin (James 4:17;

John 9:41).

What Were These Days?

But what days was Paul referring to?

Let's read these verses in Romans 14 in their setting, rather

than take them out of their context. Notice! Paul is writing to

the saints at Rome, both Jew and Gentile. He admonished them to

receive those who are weak in the faith (Rom. 14:1), not to

dispute with them over unimportant matters and sit in judgment on

them. Some of these recently converted Gentiles, being weak in

the faith, refused to eat meats, subsisting on vegetables mainly.

The reason for this is explained in I Corinthians 8. Most

meat that could be bought had been offered to idols. Therefore

some, with conscience of the idol "ate it as a thing offered unto

an idol; and their conscience being WEAK is defiled. But meat

commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the

better; neither, if we eat not are we the worse" (I Cor. 8:7, 8).

There is the simple answer! Some Gentiles at Rome had been

converted and HAD GIVEN UP IDOLATRY. But they still held

superstitious beliefs in their minds, thinking that the idol was

something REAL.

But why did Paul break into his dissertation -- about eating

meat or refraining from eating it -- and mention "days?"

Notice the answer in the Moffatt translation of this passage:

"Then again, this man rates one day above another, while that

man rates all days alike. Well, everyone must be convinced in

his mind; the man who values a particular day does so to the

Lord. The eater eats to the Lord, since he thanks God for his

food; the non-eater abstains to the Lord, and he too thanks God"

(Rom. 14:5, 6).

Did you catch what Paul wrote? Not only were there weak

converts who were afraid of eating meat offered to idols, but

there were others also who customarily ABSTAINED FROM PARTICULAR

FOODS -- THEY SEMI-FASTED -- ON CERTAIN PARTICULAR DAYS. STILL

OTHERS REFUSED TO PRACTICE A SEMI-FAST OR ABSTAIN FROM FOODS BUT

REGARDED EVERY DAY IN THE SAME WAY.

The whole question surrounded the matter of abstention on

particular days. It is not a question of pagan holidays or God's

Holy Days. It is merely a question of the days upon which many

voluntarily abstained from certain foods.

Jesus said that our fasting should be done before God, and not

to be seen or known of men unnecessarily (Matthew 6:16). But

many Jews and Gentiles both practiced semi-fasts on particular

days of each week or month. The Jews customarily fasted "twice

in the week" -- Monday and Thursday (Luke 18:12). They also

fasted during certain months (Zech. 7:4-7). The Jews were

divided on this matter. The Gentiles also had their divisions

over when to abstain from certain foods. See Hasting's

"Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics."

In God's sight it does not matter when one abstains or fasts

-- but it does matter that we do it with a right heart. Paul was

going to Rome to straighten the brethren out on when and how to

abstain, but for the moment he wanted them to live at peace with

one another.

SO THESE DAYS WEREN'T GOD'S DAYS AFTER ALL!

There is nothing here referring to the Sabbath or the holy

days of God which Paul commanded to be observed by the Gentiles.

But what about Paul's warning to the churches in Galatia

against observing "days, months, times and years"? What were

THESE DAYS against which Paul preached? The answer will probably

stun you!

The Letter to the Galatians

Here is what Paul wrote to the Galatians:

"Howbeit then, WHEN YOU KNEW NOT GOD, YOU DID SERVICE TO THEM

WHICH BY NATURE ARE NO GODS. But now, AFTER you have known God,

HOW TURN YOU BACK AGAIN to the weak and beggarly elements

[Gentile traditions] where-unto you desire AGAIN to be in

bondage? YOU OBSERVE DAYS, AND MONTHS, AND TIMES, AND YEARS" --

(Galatians 4:8-11). I am alarmed about you, he concludes!

What is this that Paul is saying?

Read it again!

Did he say, "Ye observe the Sabbath and annual holy days such

as the Passover, Pentecost and Feast of Tabernacles"? No!

Paul said: "Days and months, and times, and years" --

something altogether different!

What Days Were These!

Notice this entire fourth chapter of Galatians. Paul begins

the chapter by addressing the JEWS -- not Gentiles, but Jews --

who had been enslaved to worldly traditions sinful practices

inherited from the Gentiles since the days of Alexander the

Great's conquest of Palestine.

These worldly traditions, which the apostle called "elements

of the world" (Gal. 4:3), came to be known as Judaism. These

were NOT God's laws, but the "traditions of the elders" (Mark

7:9) -- worldly customs the Jews had adopted. Paul addresses

these Jews as "we," because Paul was also a Jew. He says "we" --

THE JEWS -- were redeemed from "under the law"' -- that is,

redeemed from death -- the penalty of breaking God's spiritual

law. The law had a claim over our lives because of our sins --

because of following human, sinful practices (verse 5).

Beginning with verse 6, PAUL CEASES TO SPEAK TO THE JEWS. Now

he is speaking to the Gentile converts. He does not say "we,"

but "you." Notice it! "Howbeit, then, WHEN YE KNEW NOT GOD" --

remember, THE JEWS KNEW GOD, but the Gentiles had not known God

before the preaching of the gospel! Jesus said to the Gentile

Samaritan woman: "YE" the Gentiles -- "worship ye know not what:

WE" -- the Jews -- "know what we worship for salvation is of the

JEWS" (John 4:22).

Continuing with Gal. 4:8: "When YE knew not God, ye did

service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after

that ye have known God ... how turn YE again unto the weak and

beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire AGAIN to be in bondage?"

These converts to whom Paul is now writing WERE NOT JEWS!

They were Gentiles by birth. These GENTILE converts in times

past did not know God, were cut off from Him (see Eph. 2:12),

"were slaves to gods which were no gods at all." They had been

serving demons and idols, not the Living God. False teachers

were coming among them, perverting the true gospel, beguiling

them to TURN AGAIN TO THEIR FORMER WAYS. Paul was alarmed. They

were departing from the gospel and RETURNING to WHAT? "Days, and

months, and times and years."

Pagan practices! -- doing penance an Christmas, Easter, New

Year's, Sunday!

They couldn't be returning to God's festivals. They never

kept them before Paul preached about them.

What Are "Times"?

Next, turn to Leviticus 19:26 and Deuteronomy 18:10, 14. Here

Moses, according to the command of God, orders the Israelites NOT

TO OBSERVE "TIMES!" This is ABSOLUTE PROOF that the days Paul is

forbidding are pagan and NOT God-given. To observe TIMES

originally was a HEATHEN practice often attached to the heavenly

bodies, especially in determining the pagan calendar and the

heathen religious seasons.

Some today try to make you believe Paul was condemning Jews

for returning to the Sabbath and holy days of God, which they

claim were in the Law of Moses. But the Law of Moses forbade

observance of "times." Paul was writing to GENTILES who wanted to

return to observing penance on the Gentile "days" associated with

"times" -- pagan "times" or "seasons" -- such as the Easter and

Christmas seasons!

The Catholic Bishop Chrysostom, who lived in the fourth

century, admits that these superstitious TIMES which Paul

forbids, were PAGAN CUSTOMS practiced by "Christians" in his day,

as in the days of old. He says: "Many were superstitiously

addicted to divination ... upon them ... In the celebration of

these TIMES [they] set up lamps in the marketplace, and CROWN

THEIR DOORS WITH GARLANDS" -- as is done at Christmas time today!

(From "Bingham's Antiquities of the Christian Church," pp. 1123,

1124).

Besides TIMES, the Greeks observed special DAYS in honor of

the dead. "The rites took place on the ... unlucky DAYS

accompanied by complete idleness and cessation of business" (From

"Rest Days," p. 79). Today several churches celebrate pagan days

in honor of the dead, such as All Souls' Day and All Saints Day

[CALLED Hallowe'en by the world]. These are the heathen days

Paul forbids Christians to observe!

These Gentile Galatians were returning to the custom of doing

penance on the old pagan days -- days which now masquerade under

Christian sounding names!

"Many of the holy days in the religious calendar of

Christendom were BORROWED, as is well known, FROM THE FESTIVALS

OF ANCIENT PAGANISM" ("Rest Days," p. 306).

Paul denounces this vain and abominable practice. We are NOT

TO LEARN the way of the heathen (Jer. 10).

In connection with the old pagan idolatry, WERE NUMEROUS DAYS

OBSERVED AS IDOLATROUS PENITENTIAL FESTIVALS. These days were

consecrated to deities of the state religious cults and were

"UNLUCKY" because of the supposed influence of the gods!

These religious holidays were set aside as periods of penance

because they were "regarded as unsuitable for many purposes, both

public and private: for battles, levies, sacred rites, journeys

and marriages. We are told that they owed their unlucky quality

to the pronouncement of the Senate and pontiffs." (From "Rest

Days" by Webster, p. 171.)

As many as ONE THIRD OF THE DAYS OF the old Greek and Roman

calendars were marked as "unlawful for judicial and political

business ... and ... on which the state expected the citizens to

abstain, as far as possible, from their private business and

labour!"

No wonder Paul spoke of "days!"

And how many "worldly" as well as religious people still have

similar beliefs today! Such as "unlucky" FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH!

Paul was writing to the Galatians to enlighten their minds so

they would GIVE UP this foolish regard of heathen days.

Other Heathen Holidays

Notice that Paul also condemns the pagan custom of observing

"months and years" -- another pagan custom!

Certain MONTHS of the year were considered sacred to the Greek

gods, Apollo (April, October), Zeus (February, June), Artemas

(April), Bacchus (January) and many others which you can read of

in the "Encyclopedia Americana," article "Festival." God never

commanded His people to commemorate months.

But the world today has adopted the heathen months of the

Roman calendar -- and forgotten God's calendar!

Also certain YEARS were set aside quadrennially and biennially

during which were national idolatrous feasts and the celebration

of the Olympic, Ithmaian, Nemean and Pythian games. Every one of

these was connected with idolatrous worship and ceremony.

Paul was forbidding Gentile converts to return to these

heathen practices.

So, many of the present holidays of Christendom were

celebrated in the heathen world WHEN PAUL AND CHRIST WERE ON

EARTH, but they refused to observe them and commanded the true

Church not to observe them!

It Was Prophesied to Happen!

"Why," it is often asked, "did the Bible not warn us that

pagan holidays would be substituted for the holy days?"

The answer is that THE BIBLE DOES WARN US! It was prophesied

in advance -- over 800 years before Paul warned about it in

Galatians 4:10.

Turn to the book of Hosea. The prophet had a message for the

future -- for our day! Notice: "And I" -- God is quoted by the

prophet -- "will punish her" -- our people today -- "for the

FEAST DAYS OF THE BAALS!"

Sunday, Christmas, Easter, Halloween are feast days of Baal!

What could be plainer! Our people "forgot Me, says the Lord"

-- because they have rejected His holy days. "And in that day"

-- the very near future when Christ intervenes in world affairs

-- "I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they

shall be mentioned by name no more" (Hosea 2:13, 17, RSV) .

How clear! Israel today -- our people -- have adopted the

feast days of Baal. The greatest of church holidays -- Easter --

is named after the wife of Baal or Nimrod. God forbids us to

honor Him by celebrating these Babylonish feasts. God warns:

"Take heed ... that thou inquire not ...`How used these nations

to serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.' THOU SHALT NOT

DO SO UNTO THE LORD THY GOD. For every abomination which He

hateth, have they done unto their gods" (Deut. 12:30-31).

These pagan abominations are forbidden by the apostle Paul in

Galatians. THAT is New Testament teaching!

Misunderstood Texts in the Old Testament

God chose Israel for a special mission they have failed to

perform. He revealed to them His Sabbath as a sign so they would

never forget that He is the Creator. He also gave Israel annual

holy days, MEMORIALS, to commemorate Israel's deliverance from

Egypt -- A PICTURE FOR HIS CHURCH OF THE PLAN OF GOD IN

DELIVERING THE WORLD FROM SIN.

But Israel did not remain faithful to these God-given

festivals! They invented days of their own!

Several chapters are devoted by the prophet Ezekiel to a

CONDEMNATION OF ISRAEL FOR BREAKING THE SABBATHS GOD HAD GIVEN.

Take special note of Ezekiel 20:12-26 and 22:26. The punishment

inflicted upon the House of Israel was for desecrating the

Sabbaths.

What was the extreme evil of Sabbath-breaking? With the

desecration of the Sabbaths, idolatry was a natural consequence,

and Sunday, Christmas and Easter were introduced. THESE pagan

holidays God calls "abominations!"

Some claim there are texts in the Old Testament in which God

says "My" Sabbaths and festivals "I hate." This is not true. God

said: "I hate, I DESPISE your feast days, and ... YOUR solemn

assemblies." Notice it. "YOUR new moons and YOUR appointed

feasts my soul hateth: for they are a trouble unto me" (Amos

5:21; 8:10, Isaiah 1:10-15; Hosea 2:11) .

These were not divine institutions, but MAN-APPOINTED days

observed in Israel. These days God despised.

Ancient Israel did NOT continue to observe the holy days of

God. They refused His judgments and statutes (Ezekiel 20:18).

They copied the heathen idolatrous feasts of surrounding nations.

History proves this fact!

The chronicler of ancient Israel preserved a record of just

such A CHANGE IN THE LAWS of God, WHEN THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL

SEPARATED FROM JUDAH.

"And JEROBOAM ORDAINED A FEAST in the eighth month, on the

fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah,

and he offered upon the altar ... sacrificing unto the calves

that he had made the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in

the month WHICH HE HAD DEVISED OF HIS OWN HEART ..." (I Kings

12:32, 33). This feast is the origin of Hallowe'en!

Thereafter ISRAEL ALTERED THE NEW MOONS AND CHANGED THE SACRED

CALENDAR. They EXCHANGED THE SABBATHS FOR IDOLATROUS DAYS FOR

SUN-WORSHIP -- the rest day was transferred from Saturday to

Sunday. Israel, taking over the feasts of the HEATHEN BAAL --

SUN-WORSHIP turned them into IDOLATROUS rest days according to

the statutes of the kings of Israel (II Kings 17:8).

When the House of Israel is next found in history, as the

nations of Northwestern Europe, they are keeping the day of the

sun! So the Ever-Living God never hated nor abolished His

feasts. But He did hate the different days which Israel

invented!

Now let us continue with the history of the Jews.

Did Judah Remain Faithful?

Consider now what God says about "Jewish" feasts!

Now notice the first chapter of Isaiah. It is addressed in

particular to Judah. Like the ancient people of Sodom and

Gomorrah, the Jews instituted their own appointed feasts and

tampered with the period of the new moon. "YOUR new moons and

YOUR appointed feasts my soul hateth," said the Word of the Lord

(Isaiah 1:14). This was the beginning of what are customarily

called "Jewish feasts." Being instituted BY THE JEWS they were

naturally "Jewish."

But NOTHING is said about the Jews' instituting their own

Sabbath! It is not surprising then, that THE JEWS HAVE PRESERVED

THE RIGHT SABBATH of God to our generation. The house of Israel

(the Democratic nations of the Western World) which did not keep

the seventh day as the Sabbath, has NEVER OBSERVED IT SINCE.

Although the Jews added their own appointed feasts and new

moons, they ALSO RETAINED the Biblical ones -- "THE new moons and

Sabbaths, THE calling of assemblies." These they turned into

abominations and profaned by idolatry and labor. "I cannot

endure iniquity," says God, along with the solemn assembly." No

wonder GOD ABHORRED THE MANNER in which the Jews treated His holy

Sabbath and festivals (Isa. 1:13).

For that sin, especially, they were driven out of Judea and

DEPRIVED OF ONE OF THE MAJOR BLESSINGS OF GOD -- the joy of

keeping His days. They became the property of their enemies and

"the Lord ... caused the solemn feasts and Sabbaths to be

forgotten in Zion" (Lamentations 2:6). Jeremiah does NOT joy

over the abolition of the festivals, but LAMENTS OVER THEIR BEING

FORGOTTEN!

Notice that at the return of Christ -- when He brings "good

tidings" and "announceth peace" -- He also commands His feasts to

BE KEPT ONCE AGAIN (Nahum 1:15 and Zechariah 14:16-19 and Isaiah

56).

It is time we begin to follow Jesus' example and keep holy the

days God made holy, instead of neglecting them!

Let's all be at the Feast of Tabernacles!