Brother Wiggs!! Happy to give my input since you’ve asked me for it.
I have some questions for you MOS. Not trolling because I really like you I just would like to know if you know the answers to these questions.
1. Why do you as a Christian go to church on Sunday and not the actual Sabbath (One of God's Commandments, remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy)?
Yes, the Sabbath is actually Saturday (the last day of the week where God rested). Christ himself kept the Sabbath. If it is good enough for Christ why isn’t it good enough for the church?
It was the church of Rome that changed the weekly day of worship and fellowship from Saturday to Sunday and Reformed churches maintained this change. Now, I can’t speak to the full history of the change (I’m sure it’s a google away), but I do know a change was made and I’ve seen no scripture that indicates that Sunday is the new Sabbath. All I know is that Christ said that he is the Lord of the Sabbath and that we are to serve him. The Sabbath is not an example of man-made, religious custom up for interpretation….it was a divine law to be kept for the Jews. Christians worship on Sundays because Christ rose from the grave on Sunday.....hence the term "Resurrection Sunday". Pagans may have worshipped a sun god and therefore "Sunday" was the pagan day of worship, but the Christian church didn't align with the pagans but again helped subvert pagan worship with the weekly celebration of Christ's Sunday resurrection.
My church actually holds formal sevices on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturday and Sundays…..many churches are doing the same and I believe things are moving in the right direction. Reformed churches do not hold to the Sabbath as this OT commandment was not renewed in NT scripture.
Now, I would also add that as followers of Christ we’re basically commanded to keep every day holy. As Christ said, we should "hunger and thirst for righteousness". A day of fellowship and worship is a time to come together and worship our Lord and Savior and fellowship with one another as a body of believers in Christ. This commands naturally extends to the entirety of the week in that we are to extend fellowship with one another, worship the Lord our God, be that “salt and light” for the world and keep faithful and righteousness regardless of the day or hour.
2. Why do Christians celebrate Christmas and other pagan holidays when the Bible says not to?
To be very clear, Christmas isn’t a pagan holiday.
A day is not made “wholly unholy” because ungoldly pagans placed one of their festivals within it. As it states in
Psalms 118, each day is a day
“that that Lord has made” and each day that we give him the glory and praise affirms that.
The Roman Catholic church chose December 25th to celebrate the birth of Christ in an attempt to subvert the pagan celebrations that annually occurred at or around that same time; in essense, replacing pagan traditions with a celebration of Christ. In this instance their motivations were accurate in my opinion.
No one knows the exact birthdate of Christ. Some say it was in the spring and others the fall. That said, the church made a strong attempt to establish the annual celebration of Christ's birth in a way that both glorifies our Lord and Savior and symbolically suppresses the evil of men.
The verses in Jeremiah don't refer to Christmas trees....that's a forced fit many employ for the sake of making an argument. The verses refer to those people that fashioned wooden idols and decorated them for purposes of pagan worship. And where does one get wood? From trees in a forest. Christians do not worship Christmas trees.
Christians celebrate Christmas annually to give specific praise and glory to God because of the coming of the incarnate Son of God in Jesus Christ.
3. Why do you Christians not follow the dietary law when Christ said, I came not to change the law but to fulfill it. i.e. pork, shellfish etc?
Here we have the notion of clean and unclean foods in relation to the new covenant.
The early Israelites were called by God to be holy or “set apart” from the pagan nations around them and they adhered to law and practices that made that distinction more evident. Folks often say, “why is it a sin to eat lobster?” It’s not that the lobster is bad or unclean in and of itself, but the Israelites were set apart and did not blur the lines in all aspects of their lives. They ate fish because fish were animals meant only for water and did not have mixed physical characteristics like shellfish/lobsters do. Lobsters can survive in and out of water and have a mix of features designed for land and water so they were temporarily deemed “unclean” for purposes of maintaining the idea of distinction while the nation of Israel developed. Man then began to include other cultural concepts that indicated distinctiveness such as cultural practices for hair and head coverings, but as Paul mentions in these passages of scripture we are to “judge for ourselves” the appropriateness of these customs.
It was Christ that told the Pharisees:
Mark 7:15
15 There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. Of course there are some that will say the passage focuses on eating food with unwashed hands versus eating food with the customary washed hands. Further Christ was condemning Pharisetical traditions that they tended to place above God’s law. In my opinion, he addressed both the concept of placing “customs and traditions” ahead of his law (as Paul noted in his passage about headship) while at the same time indicating that eating an animal of mixed charecteristics does not defile a person or then break a law….it’s sin that defiles man. Ultimately Christ came to fulfill the law and become the curse for the law so that man can be made righteous.
Still we can further consider Peter's vision in Acts in which God deemed animals clean for eating:
Acts 10:9-16
9 On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. 10 But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance; 11 and he *saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, 12 and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. 13 A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything [g]unholy and unclean.” 15 Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.” 16 This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky.4. Where in the Bible is the rapture, please show me?
The word “rapture” is not mentioned in scripture much like the word “trinity” is not mentioned. Yet the demonstration of both is present in scripture. Now, I am not a pre-tribulation rapture adherent. I belief all followers of Christ will be subject to the great tribulation if they are alive at that time. We will be joined with our Lord and "caught up with him in the clouds" upon his return after that period of tribulation is past. There will be no sudden "vanishing of believers" or pre-tribulation rapture. I've read the "Left Behind" series of books, but only because I sometimes enjoy fiction.
5. If sin is defined as transgression of the laws, why do Christians say they are under grace and they believe that gives them the ok to sin? Meaning if you're under grace it's ok to do anything you want including, rape, murder, steal, and anything else.
Sin is as an offense against God. God is just, the law is God and the law is just. We break his law defiantly and offend him (or sin).
Believers in Christ are saved by grace through faith in Christ and thereby deemed righteous and justified before the throne of God. We are saved from God’s wrath and are sanctified by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and subject to his will for our lives. We forgo of our individual will and align ourselves with his will. That process of sanctification does not remove our sinful tendencies, but it’s also not a license to sin. As believers in Christ we adopt a repentant heart and completely turn away from our sin as best we are able. It’s the Holy Spirit that guides our future walk with our Savior in Christ and helps us to live as the salt and light for the world. Though we may stumble we are assured that we cannot be snatched from his hand. A relationship with Christ is about a lifelong journey in which we do all we can to emulate him though we will not escape the trappings of sin until he returns to claim his church. There is only one that ever existed in the person of Jesus Christ who was without sin.
I do have a couple of quick questions of my own that I’m curious about:
Do you give approximately 25-35% of your income (in whatever form that may take) back to the God as indicated in OT scripture. The Israelites tithed way beyond the often referenced 10% of their earnings (whatever form that took).
How do you interpret the following scripture:
1 Peter 3:8-17
8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:
9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.
10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:
11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.
13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?
14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;
15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.
17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.Hopefully I helped answer your questions because I’ve tried to answer honestly.