Covetousness and Sabbatarians

Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God…What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’” (Romans 7:4, 7).

A bicycle shop in the city where I currently live is closed on Saturdays. This is not because the owner is Jewish; it is because he embraces the belief that the observation of the Sabbath has been, is, and will always remain an everlasting command to all humanity.

Though there is not a single shred of Biblical evidence for it, a Sabbatarian believes that on every seventh day after the creation week, Adam and all his descendants were to rest on the Sabbath. It is believed that Sabbath commandment was introduced in human history at Eden, not Mount Sinai. It is also believed that the observance of the Sabbath was not fulfilled in Christ, and thus it was not nailed to His cross as per Ephesians 2:14-15 and Colossians 2:13-15.

To rationalize this belief, Sabbatarians contend that all the rituals and ceremonies of the Law were done away with at Calvary, but the Ten Commandments were not. Romans 7 is where Satan’s lie at the heart of this belief is exposed.

A Christian becomes “dead to the law through the body of Christ” so that he can be married to Christ (Romans 7:4). Which law is it? Is it merely the ceremonial law, or is it everything found within the Law of Moses—i.e., the ceremonies and Ten Commandments?

No guess work is needed. The latter answer is the correct one. The Law to which a Christian is dead is the Law which said “Thou shalt not covet” (Romans 7:7). All the ceremonies and commandments of the Law of Moses were done away with at Calvary.

“Thou shalt not covet” proves it.

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Author: jchowning

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