Discovering the New Covenant by Greg Taylor - exAdventist Outreach

THE SABBATH IN GALATIANS
issues between believers that must not be tolerated. 2 Paul
warns that one of the last day deceptions will be the reintroduction
of the food laws as a requirement for Christians.
He declares that such teachings are the doctrines of demons.
Those are hard words, but must be noted because of the
seriousness of the warning. 3 The Epistle to the Galatians and
the Epistle to the Colossians are in perfect agreement with
the rest of the New Testament on this issue.
There is much instruction in Galatians about moral
living. While the Sabbath laws and food laws are not
binding, it must not be seen as an indication that Paul is
condoning immorality. He is actually calling the true
Christian to a higher morality, the morality of the Spirit. He
appeals to the Spirit and not to the Law. He points to Christ,
not the Law, as a point of reference. The appeal is never to
the Law in Galatians, or in any of Paul’s writings for that
matter. He includes the Sabbath with those things that are no
longer binding, and possibly dangerous, if made a
requirement for salvation. Paul clearly teaches responsible
morality and I will go into that later, but his appeal is to
Christ living in you, not to Law.
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill
the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit
and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to
2 This is another example of Adventists ignoring the New Covenant
Scriptures in favor of the Old. Interestingly, even in the Old Testament,
the Gentiles were never asked to abide by these clean/unclean laws.
Notice the command to Noah upon his exit from the ark in Genesis 9:3. It
made all living creatures good for food. The specific laws to Israel were
temporary and for the people of Israel only.
3 Many people in the SDA church are not aware that Ellen G. White for a
time forbade marriage. While she did not tell people that they could not
have a mate, she did forbid marriage relations for those that were
missionaries because the resulting children would be a hindrance to the
work. This was a cause of guilt and frustration among the missionaries.
The details are found in Document DF 97c in the White Estate vault.
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